Showing posts with label Larimer County. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Larimer County. Show all posts
Monday, April 17, 2017
Exploring Back Roads
I've been wanting to get away from town, so, last week, I week out and drove places just to see where the road took me. Luckily, I have the use of my friend's Volkswagon Touareg and I was able to pack up my cares and worries and just drive, look, and expand my senses. I frequently find myself singing the Cole Porter classic "Don't Fence Me In" when I'm driving through open country with hills, dells, arroyos, folds, and small creeks. I honestly do feel the urge to have a horse under me and to go riding across the land that I see, wondering what hidden gems I'd find that I can't see from the highway.
The other day, I decided to drive up 71N in Boulder County, which turned into Larimer County, when the road became 37E. After a few miles, the pavement ended, and I was astounded to find miles upon miles of roads snaking through valleys and up hillsides and even to mountain tops. I had no idea that there were so many homes and ranchettes (as westerners call them) back in the hills. I found out that even though a vast majority of the homes are actually located in Larimer County, they have a mailing address of Lyons, which is in Boulder County.
I fell in love with the views and the quiet. Saturday, while my roommate, Beatrice was marching in Denver's Tax March, I took my sister, Kathy, and we went back up 71N, and explored even more of the back roads... It was glorious. We followed Stagecoach Trail up to the end of the road, and found ourselves sitting on top of the world. It was almost noon, and the only sounds were the birds in the trees and the sighs of wind in the pine boughs. We got out and explored the mountain top on foot - Kathy wearing sweat pants, a turtleneck and a vest, and me in shorts, a T-shirt, and slip-on Keds. We saw a field of sand lilies, tons of rock formations, a wide variety of lichens, wildflowers (but no pasque flowers) and cacti.
We traveled on Silver Sage Drive, Ponderosa Hill Drive, and fell in love with a house for sale on Gray Mountain Drive. The price might sound high to folks outside of the metro areas of Denver, but please take into consideration that the median cost of a home in Boulder is now $1 million. This is a 3 bedroom (plus study) home on two levels with two full baths and one 3/4 bath, with a 2-car garage. It was built in 1996, and has a front porch and a rear second story deck (the house is built on a slope and the garage is a part of the ground floor). The house itself is 2,450 square feet, and it sits on 27.24 acres of wooded land with multiple rock formations. The selling price is $435,000. One can keep horses and/or other livestock on the property - but there is very little level land, and it looks like the ground soil is, maybe, 3 to 4 inches deep. Perhaps a place for goats and chickens, but not for large livestock.... The views from the living room, kitchen, master bedroom, and the back deck are fantastic - the ground (which you own) falls away down into a valley far below, and there are folded hills forming the far wall. I covet that property!
The other day, I decided to drive up 71N in Boulder County, which turned into Larimer County, when the road became 37E. After a few miles, the pavement ended, and I was astounded to find miles upon miles of roads snaking through valleys and up hillsides and even to mountain tops. I had no idea that there were so many homes and ranchettes (as westerners call them) back in the hills. I found out that even though a vast majority of the homes are actually located in Larimer County, they have a mailing address of Lyons, which is in Boulder County.
I fell in love with the views and the quiet. Saturday, while my roommate, Beatrice was marching in Denver's Tax March, I took my sister, Kathy, and we went back up 71N, and explored even more of the back roads... It was glorious. We followed Stagecoach Trail up to the end of the road, and found ourselves sitting on top of the world. It was almost noon, and the only sounds were the birds in the trees and the sighs of wind in the pine boughs. We got out and explored the mountain top on foot - Kathy wearing sweat pants, a turtleneck and a vest, and me in shorts, a T-shirt, and slip-on Keds. We saw a field of sand lilies, tons of rock formations, a wide variety of lichens, wildflowers (but no pasque flowers) and cacti.
We traveled on Silver Sage Drive, Ponderosa Hill Drive, and fell in love with a house for sale on Gray Mountain Drive. The price might sound high to folks outside of the metro areas of Denver, but please take into consideration that the median cost of a home in Boulder is now $1 million. This is a 3 bedroom (plus study) home on two levels with two full baths and one 3/4 bath, with a 2-car garage. It was built in 1996, and has a front porch and a rear second story deck (the house is built on a slope and the garage is a part of the ground floor). The house itself is 2,450 square feet, and it sits on 27.24 acres of wooded land with multiple rock formations. The selling price is $435,000. One can keep horses and/or other livestock on the property - but there is very little level land, and it looks like the ground soil is, maybe, 3 to 4 inches deep. Perhaps a place for goats and chickens, but not for large livestock.... The views from the living room, kitchen, master bedroom, and the back deck are fantastic - the ground (which you own) falls away down into a valley far below, and there are folded hills forming the far wall. I covet that property!
Front of the house on Gray Mountain Drive
Side view of house with garage and two of three out-buildings
View from the rear deck
View down into the valley, looking over the 27.24 acres
Saturday, June 4, 2016
Colorado Views
Near Westcliffe
Ground squirrel
View from Baker Mountain in Larimer County
Bison
Walker Ranch Trail
Diamond Lake west of Nederland
Lone Eagle Peak in Indian Peaks Wilderness Area
Friday, March 4, 2016
The Devil's Backbone
I love going to the Devil's Backbone in Larimer County, Colorado. It's a short drive compared with some other places I like, and it's free. One must pay to enter state and national parks, but the Devil's Backbone is a part of Larimer County's Open Space. The 2,200 acres on the east side of the formation are open for hikers, runners, mountain bikers and horse back riders. If you leave from the Devil's Backbone trailhead, you can hike 15 miles to Lory State Park, all on Larimer County Open Space.
The Devil's Backbone is a 2-mile-long hogback of Dakota sandstone that stands west of Loveland. The sandstone was originally the shoreline of an inland sea at the time of tyrannosaurus Rex, and cataclysmic earthquakes in past ages have set the sandstone on end. Some parts of the Devil's Backbone tower 200 feet or more above the ridge that the geological formation appears from. The sandstone has weathered into angular arches, and many photographs have been taken of the Keyhole, a now famous sunrise photo spot.
The Backbone is the nesting area for a number of raptors, and the trails closest to the rocks are occasionally closed during nesting season. Red-tailed hawks, great horned owls and barn owls are frequently seen in the area. It is also the home of mule deer, elk, black bear, and mountain lions. If you are a lover of plants and flowers, more than 120 species of plants have been identified within 100 yards of the trails. In the spring, you might be able to see the rare Bell's twin pod, a yellow flower that is found in very few places in Larimer, Boulder, and Jefferson Counties - and no where else in the world.
The Arapaho, Cheyenne and Ute tribes of Native Americans lived and hunted in the area for many centuries. Many tribal artifacts have been found in the area. Since the sandstone was once a part of a sea shore, many fossils of ancient sea creatures and fish are to be seen. In early settler days, the skeleton of an ancient American elephant with 5-foot-long tusks was found. This skeleton is now in Chicago's Field Museum.
And I have to admit that if I approach the Devil's Backbone in fog, or a snow storm, and can only see a few parts of the huge formation, I can easily believe that some monstrous thing is rising out of the earth, and shaking free…. I easily understand why it was called the Devil's Backbone by the early white settlers.
The Devil's Backbone is a 2-mile-long hogback of Dakota sandstone that stands west of Loveland. The sandstone was originally the shoreline of an inland sea at the time of tyrannosaurus Rex, and cataclysmic earthquakes in past ages have set the sandstone on end. Some parts of the Devil's Backbone tower 200 feet or more above the ridge that the geological formation appears from. The sandstone has weathered into angular arches, and many photographs have been taken of the Keyhole, a now famous sunrise photo spot.
The Backbone is the nesting area for a number of raptors, and the trails closest to the rocks are occasionally closed during nesting season. Red-tailed hawks, great horned owls and barn owls are frequently seen in the area. It is also the home of mule deer, elk, black bear, and mountain lions. If you are a lover of plants and flowers, more than 120 species of plants have been identified within 100 yards of the trails. In the spring, you might be able to see the rare Bell's twin pod, a yellow flower that is found in very few places in Larimer, Boulder, and Jefferson Counties - and no where else in the world.
The Arapaho, Cheyenne and Ute tribes of Native Americans lived and hunted in the area for many centuries. Many tribal artifacts have been found in the area. Since the sandstone was once a part of a sea shore, many fossils of ancient sea creatures and fish are to be seen. In early settler days, the skeleton of an ancient American elephant with 5-foot-long tusks was found. This skeleton is now in Chicago's Field Museum.
And I have to admit that if I approach the Devil's Backbone in fog, or a snow storm, and can only see a few parts of the huge formation, I can easily believe that some monstrous thing is rising out of the earth, and shaking free…. I easily understand why it was called the Devil's Backbone by the early white settlers.
Monday, October 12, 2015
Stupid, but Fun and Beautiful
I did something incredibly stupid yesterday - it ended up being a fun, beautiful, and eye-opening experience, and, thankfully nothing terrible happened, so I was just very lucky. We were lucky, since Beatrice went along on the escapade. What did I/we do? I looked at several maps, but didn't take any with me; the SUV I was driving doesn't have GPS (not that I know how to use it, or even want to know how to use it). We decided we needed a day away from the city and decided to go driving in Larimer County - around Rist Canyon, the Cache la Poudre Canyon, and the Red Feather Lakes. I'd driven around Rist Canyon and the eastern part of the Cache la Poudre. I didn't think anything about not having a map with me. We had brunch and set out...
We took a few back roads up to Fort Collins and Laporte, drove through Bellvue, and headed west along Rist Canyon. We headed north along Stove Prairie until we hit the Cache la Poudre, then headed west toward Rustic. I later found that Larimer County contains 2,634 square miles; and the majority of roads are not paved. We had taken along some snacks and water to quench our thirst - but hadn't thought about toilet paper and/or bathroom availability. Duuuhhhh. That shows that I'm a dumb Eastern tourist.... Luckily we had some plastic bags and a new box of Kleenex in the car.
We ended up in the Rawah Wilderness area, and kept turning right or left arbitrarily. Looking at a map last night, I realized that, at one point we were just 3 miles south of the Wyoming state line... but the views were glorious! Open valleys and prairies, mountains and buttes, lakes, creeks and rivers - horses, cattle, buffalo, open range signs and lots of cattle guards to cross. Mule deer, elk, moose, squirrels, birds of all kinds, chipmunks, pack rats, marmots - all there to see and hear. The lonesome skreee of a hawk on the wing and the raucous call of a Stellar jay... It was totally magnificent. Blue skies with a few clouds; temperatures in the upper 70s (F), and a continuous breeze.
We finally decided the only way to get home was to backtrack our original drive - which we did until we hit Stove Prairie; then we followed the Cache la Poudre back to Laporte. It was a fantastic day. No worries. No radio. No telephones. No television. No people - except Bea. We laughed and joked and talked about our families and growing up. We talked about religion and politics. We talked about respect and history. We laughed until we cried. It was a wonderful day with a friend.
We took a few back roads up to Fort Collins and Laporte, drove through Bellvue, and headed west along Rist Canyon. We headed north along Stove Prairie until we hit the Cache la Poudre, then headed west toward Rustic. I later found that Larimer County contains 2,634 square miles; and the majority of roads are not paved. We had taken along some snacks and water to quench our thirst - but hadn't thought about toilet paper and/or bathroom availability. Duuuhhhh. That shows that I'm a dumb Eastern tourist.... Luckily we had some plastic bags and a new box of Kleenex in the car.
We ended up in the Rawah Wilderness area, and kept turning right or left arbitrarily. Looking at a map last night, I realized that, at one point we were just 3 miles south of the Wyoming state line... but the views were glorious! Open valleys and prairies, mountains and buttes, lakes, creeks and rivers - horses, cattle, buffalo, open range signs and lots of cattle guards to cross. Mule deer, elk, moose, squirrels, birds of all kinds, chipmunks, pack rats, marmots - all there to see and hear. The lonesome skreee of a hawk on the wing and the raucous call of a Stellar jay... It was totally magnificent. Blue skies with a few clouds; temperatures in the upper 70s (F), and a continuous breeze.
We finally decided the only way to get home was to backtrack our original drive - which we did until we hit Stove Prairie; then we followed the Cache la Poudre back to Laporte. It was a fantastic day. No worries. No radio. No telephones. No television. No people - except Bea. We laughed and joked and talked about our families and growing up. We talked about religion and politics. We talked about respect and history. We laughed until we cried. It was a wonderful day with a friend.
Sunday, June 10, 2012
Union Rags Wins Belmont; Wildfires
I was completely wrong regarding Union Rags. His win in yesterday's Belmont Stakes was a real triumph, especially his battle with Paynter in the depth of the stretch drive. He is related to Hyperion and *Forli, the stallion line we used at Sleepy Hollow - but I honestly didn't think he had enough bottom to win a race that is a mile and a half long. Apparently, too, my disliking his eyes is irrelevant.
Union Rags won by a short neck over Paynter, with Atigun in third place. My four picks for yesterday finished in third, fourth, fifth, and sixth places. Union Rags won the Belmont over a fast track in 2.30.42; Secretariat won the 1973 Belmont in 2.24 (and gaining speed with each eighth of a mile he ran). I will happily admit that Union Rags had terrible traffic problems in both the Derby and the Preakness, and I honestly didn't think he could win the Belmont. My hat is off to you, Union Rags! - The complete order of finish was: (1) Union Rags, (2) Paynter, (3) Atigun, (4) Street Life, (5) Five Sixteen, (6) Unstoppable U, (7) Dullahan, (8) My Adonis, (9) Ravelo's Boy, (10) Optimizer, and (11) Guyana Star Dweej. Union Rags and Dullahan were the betting co-favorites just before the start of the race.
I can smell and see a smoky haze all over and through Boulder. Another wildfire has erupted in Larimer County, to our north - this time starting in Rist Canyon, one of my favorite areas; it's being called the High Park fire, and is about 15 miles north west of Fort Collins. The fire was first reported at 8 yesterday morning, and was estimated at 2 acres. This morning, it has grown to over 10,000 acres, with 18 homes burned down - and it's running toward the Poudre Canyon, which is still dealing with its own fire. There are Clean Air Alerts throughout Colorado and New Mexico, due to smoke, ash and particulates in the air. There have been over 1500 evacuation notices delivered by reverse 911 calls - and winds are blowing about 5 to 10 mph with gusts up to 45 and 50 mph. The entire town of Bellevue has been evacuated. Not only do we have the fires in Larimer County, there is also the huge still-burning fire in the Gila National Forest in New Mexico, but there is also a new 10,000+ acre fire north of Ruidoso, too. (And the Eastern Shore of Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia has a Clean Air Alert out due to low-lying ozone....) And the wind is certainly whipping around Boulder this morning.
I had a wonderful day yesterday - lazed around most of the morning and early afternoon, watching HRTV, the switched to NBC for their Belmont coverage. Kathy showed up and watched the race with me, then went and picked up a mutual friend, grabbed supper at the China Gourmet, and joined Jim and I for supper. The four of us sat around the table and talked for almost 4 hours, while consuming our Chinese food, a fruit tart, and freshly made strawberry, and peach, ice creams. It was a very relaxing, laid back, pleasant day.
Union Rags won by a short neck over Paynter, with Atigun in third place. My four picks for yesterday finished in third, fourth, fifth, and sixth places. Union Rags won the Belmont over a fast track in 2.30.42; Secretariat won the 1973 Belmont in 2.24 (and gaining speed with each eighth of a mile he ran). I will happily admit that Union Rags had terrible traffic problems in both the Derby and the Preakness, and I honestly didn't think he could win the Belmont. My hat is off to you, Union Rags! - The complete order of finish was: (1) Union Rags, (2) Paynter, (3) Atigun, (4) Street Life, (5) Five Sixteen, (6) Unstoppable U, (7) Dullahan, (8) My Adonis, (9) Ravelo's Boy, (10) Optimizer, and (11) Guyana Star Dweej. Union Rags and Dullahan were the betting co-favorites just before the start of the race.
I can smell and see a smoky haze all over and through Boulder. Another wildfire has erupted in Larimer County, to our north - this time starting in Rist Canyon, one of my favorite areas; it's being called the High Park fire, and is about 15 miles north west of Fort Collins. The fire was first reported at 8 yesterday morning, and was estimated at 2 acres. This morning, it has grown to over 10,000 acres, with 18 homes burned down - and it's running toward the Poudre Canyon, which is still dealing with its own fire. There are Clean Air Alerts throughout Colorado and New Mexico, due to smoke, ash and particulates in the air. There have been over 1500 evacuation notices delivered by reverse 911 calls - and winds are blowing about 5 to 10 mph with gusts up to 45 and 50 mph. The entire town of Bellevue has been evacuated. Not only do we have the fires in Larimer County, there is also the huge still-burning fire in the Gila National Forest in New Mexico, but there is also a new 10,000+ acre fire north of Ruidoso, too. (And the Eastern Shore of Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia has a Clean Air Alert out due to low-lying ozone....) And the wind is certainly whipping around Boulder this morning.
I had a wonderful day yesterday - lazed around most of the morning and early afternoon, watching HRTV, the switched to NBC for their Belmont coverage. Kathy showed up and watched the race with me, then went and picked up a mutual friend, grabbed supper at the China Gourmet, and joined Jim and I for supper. The four of us sat around the table and talked for almost 4 hours, while consuming our Chinese food, a fruit tart, and freshly made strawberry, and peach, ice creams. It was a very relaxing, laid back, pleasant day.
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