Our First 14er

We climbed our first 14er this past Wednesday, Quandary. We were in a quandary over which peak to climb, so this seemed a good choice. We stayed with our friend Shirley in Dillon, and she said that this was the first peak she climbed with her dog Willie after moving here. The day was perfect, we started a little later than we meant to but after hitting the trail at 9:45 we were on top by 11:15. The pic is of Kathy at the peak, who was taking a pic of me as I came up after her. We enjoyed a good hour up there, seeing many of the other 14ers including distant Pike’s Peak to the southeast and Massive and Elbert to the west. The wooden cross that used to be up there when Shirley last did it was gone. There was no sign of any bad weather and several people and dogs were coming up in the afternoon under clear skies as we descended. We saw three mountain goats, two adults and a juvenile, who weren’t afraid of people. Quandary is a very popular peak as it is easy to get to the trailhead and can be done in half a day. There are several other 14ers in this category, and then there are some difficult peaks. We plan on attempting Long’s Peak next week, a very difficult 14er, with our friends Jason and Evan Blumberg, stay tuned.

The day before was a futile exercise where we wandered in the wilderness due to a missed turn. We were intending to hike up Bowen Peak which is just outside the park not too far from the Holzwarth ranch. For some reason I didn’t read the guide book correctly and applied the “take the right fork” line to a different fork. We found trails that looked like they were maintained to some degree so mistakenly thought we were ok until the last trail totally disappeared. We then found a good forest road that took us much further south, but at this point we had given up on reaching the peak. We eventually got back to the beginning and pieced together what we did wrong. I ate a piece of humble pie. So Bowen Peak will have to wait for another day.

Thursday we hiked up to Timber Lake, one of the two trails on the west side of the park that we hadn’t done yet. It was a very nice trail and the lake itself is a picturesque alpine lake nestled in by the western slopes leading up to Mount Ida. If we had more time, we could have explored an approach up to the mountain, but that will have to be left for another day.

News and Notes:
1. One of the campground hosts hit a Mama elk on the road and killed it. A short time later a young elk was found nearby with a broken leg. One of our co-volunteers stayed with it for two hours until a natural resource person arrived; at this writing I’m not sure what the fate of the poor thing was.
2. The three baby ground squirrels who had a nest right by our cabin appear to be gone. We saw that one of them was missing a tail but it no longer is around. That’s nature, but we are sad about them. RIP Thumper, Hoppy and Snuggles.
3. We saw and touched a 1940’s ranger hat that was marked with “US NPS”. It had been worn by our friend Vic’s father who had been a park ranger. It was in excellent shape and is hanging proudly on the wall in Vic’s cabin. Real rangers still wear “Stiff brimmed” or “ flat hats” as opposed to the floppy ones or ball caps that volunteers wear.
4. Kathy has received rave reviews for the tour she gives of the Mama cabin at the Holzwarth ranch. She does all that touchy feely stuff real good. Our ranger KBow has expressed interest in videoing it, Kathy hasn’t agreed to that yet though.
5. A couple staying in the campground told me that they heard some loud purring outside their tent during the night. They opened up the tent and the sound of the zipper caused the feline to run off. Later they heard the noise again and chased the cat off a second time, although they wanted to see it. It left a large imprint in the ground, much larger than a house cat. We’re not sure if it was a lynx or mountain lion. They were planning to sleep inside the next night.
6. Another death occurred on Long’s Peak this past week, the second of the summer there. A climber fell to his death during a technical climb, it was witnessed by two park rangers. We hate to hear about these events, but they will continue as long as people are climbing the peak.

Hike Across the Park

Hike West to East and Back
We hiked this past Tuesday from the west side of RMNP to the east, arriving at the Bear Lake trailhead. It was a sunny and beautiful day. We also added a side trip up Halletts Peak, where the views were spectacular. We met some of our co-workers, as well as our ranger KBow, on the east side and had dinner at the Mary’s Lake Lodge and stayed in a motel in Estes Park that night. The next day, we hiked back but hit terrible weather. We started under cloudy skies and walked up into the clouds with no views and high winds. Fortunately, we never got a combination of high winds and rain, but were greeted by the rain as we descended on the west side after the wind had subsided. No big deal, we hiked the last five miles in a steady rain and arrived at our destination feeling like water rats, but safe. Oh yeah, it was fun watching KBow tear down parts of cairns that were helping mark the trail. She didn’t think they belonged in wilderness, but there was no way she was going to be able to tear them all down. I think they would be very helpful during whiteouts or when snow is on the ground and you can’t see the foot path. The Wilderness Act doesn’t specifically mention cairns, but the idea is that the land should appear untrammeled by man.

Get Together - We had a gathering of the folks we work with at Holzwarth Historic Site (where we also live, as a reminder). Included were KBow and her husband John and her friend Pam from NPS Services Center in Denver. KBow enjoyed the cairn we made for her right in the road leading into the site; they had to steer around it. What a perfect night, we grilled Alaskan salmon with Wegman’s Santa Fe sauce, under a gorgeous moon and calm weather and were able to sit around the fir comfortably. Pam had worked in numerous parks before and told us that her big career milestone was when she became the gate bitch while she worked at the Grand Tetons. She rode with another ranger and had to open the gates with a NPS key, needing to distinguish which of the many locks to unlock the gate with. Wait a minute, that sounds like what Kathy does on a continual basis as we come and go through the Holzwarth Historic Site! Gate Birch! Belongs on her resume, Pam assured her.

Recognition Dinner & Sad Farewell
There is two weeks left for us and many others here at RMNP. But the “Circle of Excellence” dinner and recognition event for all the many volunteers was held this past Saturday. Those of us who were new at RMNP this year were given special recognition (they want us all back) as well as several others who have been long time volunteers here, putting in a thousand hours or more. Rah rah to us and them. We also had to bid farewell to two of our student (SCA) interns, Sarah and Alyssa, who are returning to their college studies, We were saddened to say goodbye to them as they were both wonderful to work with over the summer. We hope to hear from them as they work to finish their studies and find their place in protecting our planet for the future.

Isabella Bird & Mountain Jim
Isabella Bird was an amazing traveler and author who visited the Rocky Mountains in the 1870’s and climbed Long’s Peak with Mountain Jim’s help in 1873. She wrote “A Lady's Life in the Rocky Mountains” which was a best seller and helped to promote the area around Estes |Park which would eventually become the national park. Isabella traveled to many other remote parts of the world and wrote many other books. One of the reasons that she traveled so much was that she would fall ill when not traveling. As long as she was in the grip of adventure and the unknown, she would feel better. She reputedly had a romance with Mountain Jim, and he proposed marriage to her. But she chose travel instead, which reminds us of our friend Tracy who worked with us last year at Bryce.

More things a Ranger wish they could say:
1. If you get closer to that moose, you can pet it!
2. You can only shoot the wildlife using a camera with blanks.
3. Let me pick that fringed gentian for you, but you can pay the $10,000 fine.
4. There is no speed limit in the park, but you may have a limit of what you want removed from your wallet.
5. That’s a nice dog you have there, and we hope the $100 fine for bringing it up this trail was worth it to your dog.
6. Mountains don’t care, and if you get stranded in high country during bad weather, we hope you don’t care that we expect you to stay the night and we’ll see you in the morning.
7. Do you want your child to earn their Jr. Ranger badge or do you just want us to give it to them?

The New York contingent here in RMNP (besides us):
Kbow’s husband John, NYC upbringing and Hartwick College, grad.
Karen, the west side’s SAR coordinator and medic, from Sacandaga Lake.
Seasonal Ranger Sam, from Bath, teaches science in Granby High school.

News & Notes:
1. Kathy talked with a couple in the Visitor Center who had tried to help a man back up from one of the faces of Long’s Peak a few years ago, then watched in horror as he fell to his death. They said they now don’t take any chances and are extremely careful when hiking any difficult terrain.
2. We met a delightful family from the UK, the youngest child was the most talkative. He was a very bright 7 year old, and spoke in that proper Brit way. Some of his quotes:
- “Apparently a bear had been in our campsite the night before.”
- “I managed to step in some fresh bear poop.”
- “There were 300 bison who were causing a major blockage.” (Yellowstone)

3. A man in his 30’s was reported of having either a heart attack or stroke while up near Thunder Pass yesterday. But since he was in good shape and walked down the trail on his own to a waiting ambulance, he could have suffered acute altitude sickness. The symptoms can be the same: head ache. nausea, general weakness, shortness of breath to name a few.

Special Assignment

La Poudre Pass Patrol Cabin
We got to use this cabin for two nights earlier this week. It was nice not having to carry our gear, we mainly took just food and clothes. The cabin is right on the northern park border, near the Long Draw Reservoir and the Roosevelt National Forest. The cabin is rustic, has no electricity and is heated by a wood stove. We got water out of the Grand Ditch that runs into the res. I made the mistake of hauling a 22 liter bucket of water up the slope of the ditch and youch! Strained my neck. That was a bad idea. The gonzo rangers that stay up there (both male and female) can probably haul that bucket no problem. My neck feels better now. I taught Kathy how to split wood, and she did a good job and no one got hurt.

We had to cajole Ranger Mark to get use of the cabin, and he gave us a 'special assignment' as part of the deal. It was just to be in our volunteer uniform and have a presence up there. We were to turn back anyone attempting to come in on bikes or with dogs. None did. By the cabin, we only saw four hikers the first night and two ditch guys the next night. It was a real quiet place. One of the hikers was a man hiking barefoot. A tenderfoot like me cringes just to think about that. Kathy took his picture. Kathy saw a moose the second day and we both saw what we thought was a coyote the last morning as we were hiking back from the USFS campground. Looking at the picture later that Kathy took revealed it was a red fox.

Thunder Pass and Snow Lake
What a great place Thunder Pass was! We hiked up there on our second day of our LaPoudre cabin trip. It is also on the northern border with USFS land, and we then hiked into it to get to Michigan Lakes and beyond to Snow Lake, a pristine alpine lake. We saw a bald eagle circling above the lake, our first bald eagle sighting in RMNP. We ran into our friend Mark who knew we were staying at the patrol cabin and suspected that we might be up there. He heard my booming voice and saw both of us from a nearby ridge and rushed down to greet us. Hmm, didn’t realize my voice carried so far.

Summit County Bike Path
After my terrible experience biking last week, we drove down to Frisco and took the bike path from there to Breckenridge. Then back to Frisco and beyond to Copper Mountain and back. It was nice not having to deal with trucks or vehicles. We managed to bike for over four hours between rainfalls. We hooked up with our friend Shirley at her place in nearby Dillon. She used to live in Binghamton and has been in Colorado for most of the last 14 years. We hope to go back and use her place as a base to do a 14er, yet to be determined which one.

Bowen Gulch
There are spruce and fir trees in this national forest area that are over 400 years old. We went up to it one evening to check them out, they were magnificent. Back in the 90’s, they were planning to log the trees and protestors organized to prevent the logging. They succeeded and now the forest service protects the trees. It reminds me of the events that led to protection of the old growth in the IBM Glen in Johnson City, NY. There is growing awareness that old growth forests are rare and unique and can’t be replaced easily, so they need to be spared from the loggers’ saws.

National Forest
We like to go to national forest land as it has a lot to offer. Most national parks border USFS land and USFS land offers an ‘escape’ from the busy parks. It got me to thinking about the similarities and differences between the Forest Service and Park Service jurisdictions, from the perspective of a user like me.

Differences:
1. USFS – timber, NPS – trees
2. USFS – game, NPS – wildlife
3. USFS – widespread (dispersed) camping, fires allowed, NPS – designated camping, fires often not allowed
4. USFS – motorized ORVs often allowed, NPS –usually not allowed (exception – snowmobiles in some parks)
5. USFS- hunting. NPS – no hunting
6. USFS – low visitation, NPS – higher visitation
7. USFS – free with some exceptions, NPS – entrance fees
8. USFS – regulations, NPS – more regulations

Both have Similarities:
1. can include wilderness
2. accept Inter-Agency pass
3. use volunteers
4. offer boundless recreation
5. fire management practices, will often team up


News and Notes:
1. The president declared a free weekend in the national parks and other federal lands this weekend. We thought it would increase traffic into the park by great numbers but it may have only increased a little bit.
2. It was also the last summer weekend for a lot of Colorado school children as many of them go back to school tomorrow. Some of the kid oriented programs in the park have ended for the season because attendance will be down.
3. Sunday afternoons on I-70 heading from Vail to Denver can be heavily congested with vehicles. Everybody is heading back home after a week or weekend in the mountains. I’d hate to be there, but I smile a little bit when I think about the Dutch couple who wanted their son to get his Jr. Ranger back last Sunday afternoon but didn’t have time go to a ranger program or even see the 24 minute park film because “They had to get to Denver.” I forgot to tell them about the traffic they would be facing, so much for getting back to Denver in time.
4. Three rescue operations were conducted on August 10 in RMNP. One of the rescued visitors had to be airlifted out by helicopter (injured on Long’s Peak) and one was brought out ten miles by horse.
5. Last week another person was airlifted out who had been on Long’s Peak overnight. He was unable to recall what happened to him but they were able to determine that he had been struck by lightning.

Vasquez Wilderness

We were assigned sheep duty this past Monday which meant we had to go up to an area where the sheep had been lambing and count the sheep we saw. The area had been closed to visitors but had just reopened and there were others going up there to observe the sheep. Looking down on them from a higher viewpoint, we only saw ten sheep and only one lamb among them. Three looked to be yearlings, the rest were ewes. Over thirty had been spotted just the day before, and then none were spotted the next day by other observers. Sheep are naturally skittish and can be stressed very easily so they may have moved on due to the visitation they were receiving. We will see if they are spotted again.

We found out who Larry 1951-2010 was. This was the inscription on a wooden eagle we had come upon at a Ditch Company camp. Larry had been a ditch worker who had a heart attack last year, then succumbed this year from heart problems. He had some connection to bald eagles. RIP.

We went out of the park with our friend Mark to the Vasquez Wilderness this past Tuesday and climbed Vasquez Peak, which is just under 13,000 feet. Starting at Berthoud Pass, at 11,300 feet, we followed the Continental Divide Trail, getting above tree line very quickly and got up on a high ridge after summiting Stanley Peak. We inadvertently got off the CDT when we got near Vasquez Pass as the path we were on took us away and down towards the Henderson Mines, a molybdenum processing plant. After figuring out that we needed to get down to the pass before going up the peak, we took a detour and found ourselves at the pass looking way up at the peak before us. The guide said it was only 500 feet up but I think it was more than that. We had lost all that elevation and had to gain it back, what a haul going up but it was wonderful on top. We could see the peaks up in RMNP and saw that they were totally covered by clouds. We scurried back, expecting rain and t-storms but none ever materialized. They got pounded with bad weather that day in RMNP, so we chose the right place to be.

We went to Estes Park to get Kathy a new G-string, for her guitar that is. They had a pretty good music and gift store there, and I ended up getting a Key of C harmonica, now if we can only play in harmony. Along the way, we hiked an upper section of the Ute Trail before the rains came. While hiking ahead of me, Kathy pulled a piece of glass out of her head and showed it to me. I thought she was kidding, but she insisted it was in there from the accident we had last October and had finally worked its way out. E-gads. I then remembered her telling me that her hair dresser had spotted it and told her it would eventually come out. It’s about the right size for a ring stone, I think it’s a keepsake.

Biking around here can be hazardous. I will spare you the details, but a biking outing along US 40 and SR 125 was very unpleasant due to three rude drivers. Some drivers, and in this case they were all driving pickups, think that bikes don’t belong on the road. Bikes are given rights of the road in all fifty states. But why drivers have to use their vehicles as weapons, escapes me. There were four other bikers from England who witnessed the third incident when a truck pulling some ATVs just laid on the horn and didn’t let up until he was well past me. I assume it was a man. He earned a one finger salute from me. I stopped to talk with the four right after and finding out they were from England, felt compelled to apologize for our rude drivers. They said that drivers can be rude in England too. So maybe it’s a universal thing. I would rather bike in the park, but a co-worker almost got clipped the other day by a trailer who had their steps out. We’re looking at doing a bike path that runs between Breckenridge and Vail.

We were treated to lunch by the Walk Backwards team on Friday. It’s a kids program that comes into Holzwarth every Friday morning and we always give them a hand with things as we are here anyways and their program starts earlier than our tours. Walk Backwards is a chance for kids to see what life was like a long time ago. They all get to dress up in old-timey outfits and do chores and play games like kids used to do, way before video games and mp3 players. The park’s team of five puts a lot of effort into this program, they dress up in old outfits too and give the kids a lot of special attention. I get a kick out of watching it. So thanks to the Walk Backwards team for what you do and thanks again for lunch.

We had a bite to eat and a brew at the Grand Lake Lodge, an historic lodge that had been closed for the last four years. It is said to have the best front porch view in America, as it sits above Grand Lake and the view is spectacular. The owners had been trying to sell the place, they had six offers that all fell through for one reason or another. So the family decided to get it back in business rather than let it sit idle. Several businesses in the Grand Lake area are just barely holding on right now, waiting for better times to come back.

The next time you see me, I may have short hair. In national park areas, it can be a challenge finding a barber or hair dresser who will cut your hair for a reasonable price. So I decided to invest in an electrical hair trimmer, it will pay for itself after one cutting. It may not look professional, but I figure I can just wear a hat until it grows back out.

Quotes that can get you into trouble if you are a ranger:
Referring to someone who gets too close to moose: “That is self-correcting behavior.”
“You can eat anything in the woods, once.”
“Lightning travels pretty fast, you think you’re faster?”
“Feeding the wildlife is not allowed, but feeding the rangers is required.”

Into the Mummy Range

Mt Chapin, Mt Chiquita and Mt Ypsilon are the southern peaks of the Mummy range. We climbed them this past Tuesday with our friend Mark who works in the entry station here in the park. We decided to hike down from the Alpine Visitor Center on Fall River Road to the trailhead, it added three miles and 1000 foot of elevation difference, but saved us from driving a long ways around, as the road is one-way and we would need to catch it on the east side. Most of the climbing, over 2000 feet, took place going up Chapin, the first peak. We then only had to drop down 400 feet then ascend about 1000 feet up to Chiquita. There were three marmots on top at a rock shelter, and were hanging around as people had left food there for them. Bad. They couldn’t be chased away easily, and one was very aggressive; it even tried to steal Kathy’s hiking pole! Once that happened, we picked up our packs and other stuff as who knows what this feisty marmot would have made off with! There were several varieties of alpine flowers, they have already peaked but still are an amazing display. Chiquita was a little higher than Chapin, being just over 13,000 feet. Ypsilon was the highest, a little over 13,500 feet. Our highest peak yet in the park. There were great views on all 3 peaks, and much of the hike was above tree line in the alpine zone. We couldn’t make out the ‘mummy’ in the range, but maybe because we were on the mummy’s nose or something! We celebrated our accomplishment back at the visitor center with $4.25 hot dogs.

It has been a pretty rainy week, which is good for lowering the fire danger here. There was little sitting around outside in the evenings as they were wet too. It’s hard to believe that we are already past the half way point of the summer. But maybe we will make it through without a major fire. I’ve got a feeling that the end of summer is just around the corner. Our friend Mark thinks that the fireweed changes color at the end of the season, it’s very red to begin with. Ranger Harry says the boohoo plant will come out in the alpine zone to signal the end of summer. We will have to keep an eye out for these.

The park had two dramatic search and rescues last week. The first had a good ending as a young climber was rescued by four park climbers. She had been stranded on the Diamond, a rock face on Long’s Peak. They flew a helicopter to the top of the peak and rappelled down to bring her back up. This happened during the dead of the night; she was lucky. The other story didn’t end as happily; a skier died while skiing on a glacier in the remote southeast corner of the park. I met a protection officer who told me one of his colleagues had to guard the body overnight before they could bring it out, a grisly task, I was also involved in a carry out of a woman who fell and broke her arm near Adams Falls on the East Inlet Trail, which is not even a half mile from the trailhead. She wasn’t able to move without pain and needed oxygen so the law enforcement rangers brought up a litter. I was roving at nearby North Inlet and heard all the communications over the park radio so went over to lend assistance. Ranger Harry, a guy old enough to be my father was part of the crew and thanked me for showing up. He did as much work as anyone of us younger ones. Since she weighed 230 pounds, they could use all the help they could get. It took a while to get her stable and strapped in securely, and the crew was in contact with an emergency doctor in Granby. On the way down the doctor wanted an update on her vitals but the crew leader decided it was better to keep moving her down so he declared that they were going to “load and go”. We got her down to a waiting county ambulance where an EMT took over. Apparently the park crew thought the EMT would have gone up the trail to the scene but for whatever reason he waited at the ambulance. Since it wasn’t a life and death situation it probably didn’t matter that much. I got back almost an hour late that night, and when Ranger Harry saw me a few days later he asked me if I was going to get extra pay like he was. Haha, my pay of zero dollars won’t increase with the OT.

We hiked with some other co-volunteers up to Lone Pine Lake on the East Inlet Trail. We had all worked as ‘rovers’ at the trailhead of the East Inlet, but had never hiked up past the first mile. It was a beautiful hike, going along the creek for part of the way, but then rising high above for some great vistas. The lake itself was serene and pleasant, at over 10,000 feet. We were told to go up the trail beyond the lake and we found another great vista where we could look down on the lake and beyond. A trail crew with ACE, American Conservation Experience, was building stone steps and crushing rock along the way. What back breaking work! One of the workers was from Denmark and one from Wales. The Dane said he didn’t mind the hard work and working in such a beautiful place. We also met a wilderness crew of three, 2 guys and a young woman. They had just bushwhacked down from a neighboring peak and were wet from going through damp vegetation. One of the guys was drying his pants off by hanging them on a bridge. We talked with them about their job, and they agreed that being out in the wilderness and camping and hiking was a pretty good deal, considering they were getting paid for it.

I’m reading a book “Enos Mills’ Colorado” which has a number of essays written by Enos Mills, father of Rocky Mountain N.P. He did more than anyone else to make sure it became a national park with all the protections that comes with that. He was a great naturalist and author and ran a hotel in Estes Park called the Long’s Peak Inn. At the age of fourteen, he had come out to the Rocky Mountains of Colorado from Kansas to improve his health, staying with his father’s cousin, Rev. Elkanah Lamb. His health improved dramatically in the mountain climate. He climbed Long’s Peak for the first time the next year. He got to meet John Muir and John Burroughs, and developed several other important connections that would be crucial in getting support for RMNP. He held several other jobs as a young man, one of them being a snow observer for the state of Colorado, a position he later described as ‘strange’. One of his outings as a snow observer was to go on a round-trip snowshoe journey from Estes Park to Grand Lake, a distance of 25 miles in deep snow over the mountains. According to his account, it was a treacherous journey, narrowly escaping death several times. On the trip heading to Grand Lake, it took him almost 16 hours, arriving at 11:00 that night. His trip back the next day to Estes Park went better as he took a different and less treacherous route. Enos Mills died tragically young at the age of 52, from injuries sustained in a subway accident in New York Cityof all things. He left a wife and daughter who was only three. I met a woman visitor the other day who knew his daughter. He could survive the Rockies, but not the NYC Subway.