weekend of hiking

i didn't have nearly as terrible a time breathing during our weekend hikes as we thought i would. on friday we drove about 50 minutes to golden gate canyon state park and did a leisurely 4 mile stroll along raccoon trail:











we missed the fall colors peak a few weeks ago, but it was still really pretty. it's nice to take advantage of the time we have as a student and an unemployed person as well as see colorado for the time we'll be here. afterwards we decided to unwind from all of that unspoiled beauty by stopping by boulder for some beers and food, taking a small, 2-lane highway called something like the boulder canyon highway. we had just passed some reservoir when a friggin mountain lion loped out onto the highway, about 5 yards in front of my hood, and continued on to the other side of the road.



not my image... but you know that. pretty, eh?

we were so shocked, i think the only noise i made was ummmmmmmmmmmm.... whooooaaaa... or something to that effect. mountain lions are relatively common in the east bay, but i've never laid eyes on one, and i've certainly never had one run in front of my car. jesus christ that was cool. we still can't stop talking about it. they are bigger in life than i pictured in the dancing cartoon world that is my head.

saturday we decided we needed to see more mountain lions, and drove about 2 hours to rocky mountain national park. as warned, this joint is fucking busy on weekends so we had to check a couple of alternatives before landing on the bierstadt lake option, and then hiking down to bear lake. no bears, sadly. or fortunately, if you're smarter than me.

that hike was pretty long, about 7-8 miles, and after the five hours were over, i was ready for a huge amount of food and a hot tub. hiking is fun because you can eat about 4-5 meals in a day, and you can include those salt and pepper kettle chips without feeling bad about them. the scenery can be nice, too.



view from the top of the 1 mile of switchbacks right after the trailhead



bierstadt lake



a lot of the trail was this idyllic, foresty shit. nice.


we didn't see any more mountain lions, but we did see little twerpy things like a chipmunk, and this little thing -




which trevor claims is a chipmunk despite the fact that we actually saw a chipmunk and it was normal and stripey looking. i maintain that this is some sort of alpine squirrel. but anyway, they're ballsy little fuckers, but i guess you have to be if you live at 10,000 ft. and are the size of a holiday cheese ball.

for these hikes, i broke out my only piece of fleece wear, in the form of pants. pants that flood, too.


hungry human species in native fleece wear

applause. yes, i know, i really need to shoot down to my nearest patagonia and rectify the lack of fleece in order to fit in here, but i'm putting it off as long as possible. to be fair, the few coloradoans that i have actually met weren't wearing fleece... just football jerseys. this town is filled with avid sports fans to the point where i definitely stick out for my sports ambivilance. but that's another post altogether.