Solo Beginner Hike 3-9-14 Deer Creek Canyon

What a beautiful day! Sunny weekends are much appreciated in March. Yesterday was cooler, though that didn't stop me from taking a 20 mile bike ride up the Platte river trail. Today is even nicer, perfect for a hike. I have committed to doing one beginner per month because i know a lot of people are hesitant to start out on a 6 or 7 mile hike. Rightly so, but i hope you guys are out there walking in your neighborhoods and such to prepare. This route would be great for beginners to do on their own. There was quite a bit of packed snow, slush, frozen slush, frozen mud, slippery mud on the route currently. It's just par for the course this time of year. I had one hiking pole the whole way, it's nice to add some stability on the slippy spots.
I did hike alone, This isn't the first hike where no one else showed, but this was the first without Karen either. She is still getting over her sickness and i "made her sleep-in" instead of hiking. Evan and Gilbert were supposed to come but Evan had just enough fun at a late birthday celebration to not feel up to hiking. I don't know about Gilbert, but i suspect that the time change may have played a role. It nearly messed me up this morning. No big deal, I tried to look majestic in the before and after pics even though i was taking a group shot of myself.

Snowshoeing

Hike Club has always been about taking advantage of nice weather to get outside, exercise, and take advantage of the beautiful state we live in. At this time of year that means dealing with snow. Then we take the next logical step and Hike club goes Snowshoeing. I've learned that the biggest hurdle to Snowshoeing is the gear. Karen and I are succeeding in living on a budget recently so i can't just go buy the things we will need.
I believe in REI, they are a great store for this kind of gear. What is really good about REI is they will let you return anything if its not exactly what you wanted, the reason they can do this is they will then sell you something more expensive. its a vicious cycle, that makes them a ton of money. Very smart REI, you wonderful bastard. If you've got the cash and really want the exact right thing for you go to REI. However, we can take advantage of the other side of this extra generous return policy by going to the "REI Garage sales" This is where REI sells that returned merchandise at deep discounts. Karen and I have gotten most of our really nice gear at these garage sales. Karen has a North Face goose-down Parka that she absolutely loves, easily a $300 coat we got for $80. I bought some boots for 2/3rds off retail, Karen got a nice insulation layer whose zipper pull was missing, $120 jacket for $11, she sewed a new zipper into it. Evan and I have gotten a ton of good stuff at these sales: hiking poles, camp stoves, snow gaiters, back packs. The selection is random, and at the flagship store there is a lottery to control the lines early on but if you need gear and have the cash there can be some great deals. Find a Garage sale here.
Also there are a bunch of websites that sell discounted gear like The Clymb (hit me up if you want to join because i get coupons if you join off my invite). Left Lane Sports is similar but i've not used them yet. Like the REI garage sales the selection and sizes are limited, but the discounts are good, and it's free to sign up.
Then there is Amazon. Columbia has some decent gear at good prices. I've got some compression shorts and a non-cotton base layer from Colombian that are fine. I got some Coldpruf cheap long underwear, we haven't tried out yet.
The point is you can spend a ton of cash getting ready to go play in the snow but you don't have to.

REI has a snowshoeing gear check list But like i've said before we need to understand the risks we face considering our location. I'm planning specifically to keep us away from avalanche areas; and trips short enough to be sure we can make it back to the car rather than be out in the wild overnight. For these reasons most of the list linked above is unnecessary in my eyes. I will be bringing all the navigational necessities. What we really need is to keep you warm and dry, the best way to do that is layers. Again i cite a nice REI page.
Now that we understand Layering we look at the gear.

Base Layers - pants and tops:
The best is Merino wool. Excellent wicking, low odor after activity, warm when wet. Really expensive, like $100 for a pair of pants. I like The Clymb. Evan decided to help us out with some gear for Christmas, we Love you Evan! He bought us merino wool undies, i think $56 for Merino long underwear for Karen and I. as i said i also bought us some cheap Coldpruf pants as well, I'll let you know how they compare once tested in the Man Lab (James May reference, 10 points).

Insulation layer - pants and tops:
Most likely you've already got this just because you live in Colorado. But if you're out for good gear, go for fleece, or a Soft Shell ( lightly waterproof, good for day to day warmer-winter-days coat. A simple hoodie can work but most likely it's cotton. You may have heard the saying "Cotton Kills." If not, what it means is Cotton is one of the most prevalent clothing materials, but when wet it looses all insinuative properties. So you get wet you get cold, and if you can't find/ get to external warmth it will take warmth away from you r body, which can lead to hypothermia and possibly death. Anyone who got caught in a rain storm or played in the snow in jeans knows what i'm talking about.
I'll say again, The plan for Hike Club is to do hikes where we will not get caught in situations bad enough that wearing Cotton will actually kill you. I'm sure you know you sweat while active, all that moisture gets caught in your clothes, unless you invest in wicking/breathable clothes. Wicking means that it moves moisture away from you skin as you sweat. Breathablilty is important in your outer layer because it lets that moisture (sweat) out of your Shell layer.

Shell Layer - outer waterproof coat:
The Breathablility of  fabrics is measured in two numbers. mm (millimeters) of water in a column that the fabric can keep out / Grams of water vapor that can move through a square meter of the fabric per hour. Yeah i know its complicated and you don't know why you care, check this out. Lots of good info on that page but the real take away is higher numbers mean more water proof-ness and more sweat leaving your body. However, i've heard garments made with the best fabrics still can have problems at zippers and seams. Bottom line breathability is good, Wicking is good, but unless you know for sure your hard earned dollars will be well spent, just go for waterproof and arm-pit zips ( opening at your arm pit to allow moisture out mechanically).  Additionally depending on conditions you can take off your coat. You just need a coat that will not let melting snow soak in.
Gaiters - lower leg coverings that attach to your boots and go over your pants up to the Calf.
Snow gaiters are great, and many snow pants have gaiters built in (if you get snow pants that have them built in, no need for additional gaiters). Gaiters will protect you from snow up to just below your knee. So with Gaiters the pants you wear can be less than waterproof, as long as you plan on not falling down. again, cotton kills to no wearing Gaiters and Jeans, but Gaiters and non-cotton hiking pant can be an option.
Karen and I went another way.  Since we've been camping there has been a need for rain pants. Rain pants are simply un-insulated waterproof pants. No built in gaiters and but can be breathable too. Again Amazon and The Clymb are good sources, as well as Ross or other overstock outlets. We got Karen a pair of polyester running pants that we are waterproofing with TechWash. It's a laundry additive that will help restore the waterproofness of your gear. It will also add waterproofness of materials with a tight weave like some athletic pants.

Your Feet:
Waterproof Boot are really important. Plan on walking/snowshoeing in snow that is at least ankle deep. The Merril's that i got at the Army/Navy surplus for $100 were waterproof when i bought them, after a year of heavy use they are no longer waterproof.
Wool socks are the greatest thing since sliced bread, probably before. Smart Wool is good but generics are good too. Just like Undies, Wool socks keep warm when wet.  FYI your feet sweat too.

Gloves/Mittens
Again, The Clymb.
Head and Neck insulation:
70% of your body heat goes out through your head. Wear a hat. Again Cotton Kills. I've got a Polar fleece hat the Mother-in-Law made many years ago that is awesome. Then there is the Buff, Like on Survivor, it's a tube of fabric that can be worn in any number of ways from a hat to a ski mask or just on the neck. I got us some for summer use on Amazon. They also come in Merino wool. I'd say invaluable, Snowshoeing or not.

Snowshoes
This may seem like the most important part, but i'm planning on letting the experts help. There are a ton of snowshoes options. But another plug for REI, who rents snowshoes and poles. if your a member you can gt a three day rental for $18 each person. Three day rentals means pick them up the night before, go play in the mountains, go home and drink, then return the shoes the next day. They will help you get the right shoes for you and your activity. We will be slowly hiking over rolling terrain that should answer all their questions except your weight.

So get some gear and lets go play in the snow, pics to follow.

Anniversary Hike

One year ago tomorrow Hike Club met for the first time. It was a disaster. Being the first hike i planned, i learned a lot. I trusted a hiking site that was just wrong. Much like Wikipedia, it's driven by users and someone added a GPS track from a hike that was vastly different than the one that was described. I had no idea how wrong it could be. The description said 3 miles. However the route we followed was about 7 miles. Thinking it would only take us about an hour i planned to start at 1 pm, which became almost 2 pm in reality. We were hiking up the hog back two miles from the cars and seeing the sun set, then climbing more and watching the sun set again.

Today six brave souls, intended to recreate the original Hike Club hike. Of the 6, two were on their first Hike Club hike, and one on her second. Since i've learned from my mistakes and have been planning hikes for a year now, we started at 10 am. The beginning of the trail was muddy and slushy but we made our way across a ton of packed snow up the Morrison Slide trail to some amazing vistas. As we left the Matthew Winters park into Red Rocks we came across a friend. Bryce is part of Hike Club, but showed up 40 minutes late and based on where we parked he picked the wrong way round the track i posted on facebook. Again a logical fallacy based on that bad intel from the dreaded incorrect hiking site from a year ago. He was making good time trying to catch up with us, but we were going the other direction. Bryce did the 7 miles in about two hours and meet us for drinks and food after.  Maybe next time we'll hike together. Bryce also told us about a trail detour on our planned route.
I had a suspicion that the road bridge we were going to cross was the obstacle that had prompted closing the trails. But being a bad ass i decided that we should take the closed trail and see what we can make of the probable water crossing. As we reached the road and could see the construction site where there used to be a bridge that we needed to cross, which i'm sure was damaged in the flooding this summer, Evan burst out laughing. Saying it was a typical Hike Club blunder, I'm sure he was thinking we were going to have to turn around and take the detour I had opted against. He also said we were really recreating the original hike by completely underestimating the time necessary to complete the hike. I reasurred everyone and suggesteed we go take a look. Once I entered the construction site, i knew i was right, the stream was only a few inches deep. And the crew had built a small foot bridge, it was not a serious obstacle. I'm sure they set up the detour to keep hikers out of the construction zone, we were just to bold/stupid for that.

Then we climbed the hog back, we took your time, we admired the scenery, we looked back on the trail we had taken to get there. The last time we hiked this route, It was our first hike in months and Karen was gassed. The route we took over the top of the hog back is the literal definition of false summits. Last year 5+ miles into a 3 mile hike Karen was exceedingly more vocal about the difficulty of the task we had set out on. One nameless hiker had been trying to lift her spirits by saying "it's all down hill from here." When in fact it was not and he had no idea what he was talking about, ever. Which only angered poor Karen. Since then we have always joked on hikes using that blatantly incorrect statement to lighten spirits when the going was tough. If you drive south on C-470 from I-70 and look to the west you'll see the ridge we were following to the north. You may notice that there is a saddle or low spot in the ridge. Last year when we could see the saddle and had realized how much climb was left in the hike Karen broke down. She looked at me and said "I can't do that." I gave her a sympathetic look and said to the love of my life "Baby, you don;t have a choice." She took it like a champ, climbed the hill and we made it back to the cars. One of the newbies on this hike Ange, is a hardcore rock star! She was a literal analog of Karen one year earlier but she beat all those stupid false summits and finished like a champ! We got back to the cars just under five hours later at 6.8 miles. This was no beginner hike, and our newbies did awesome.
All things considered it was a great hike. I've been thinking about doing this hike for Hike Club's anniversary for months and it came off like gang busters. Today i am very proud of my accomplishments and everyone who has hiked with us.
I had a thought on one hike last year about taking a series of pictures and turning them into a Gif as people move through the shot. Here are two from today:
https://imgflip.com/gif/6ypab#BBl3Kwx1MbAUVPa6.01
https://imgflip.com/gif/6yph9#PfHj3dpLBxdtSrp2.01
As always there are a ton more pics of the Hike Club Facebook group. If you're not in Hike Club let me know we'll get you signed up.
Nate

I've set myself a goal.

18 months ago Karen and I made a major life change. We started following the south beach diet, if you don't know its no simple carbohydrates (beer, bread, sugar pasta, doughnuts, all the really good stuff), smart about fats and as many veggies as you can stuff into your mouth. In combination with Hike Club activities and camping we lost some major weight over the summer. Weight loss waned as the weather changed and then there was December or Carb-cember as we started calling it. We have been able the stay on the diet, or continue to live this new life by not punishing ourselves when we have cheat meals, or evenings, or weekends. In Carb-cember we were really bad. We didn't abandon the diet completely but there were way too many opportunities to cheat: Karen's annual cookie party, Holidays and travel, Dinner parties where i'm making Pizza ( no, you cannot have Pizza without beer). Which inevitably leads to a new years resolution to re-double our dieting efforts. Now it's February and were doing good. We had a dinner party last night where I made Beef Cheek tacos and we drank all the wine. Tortillas are off plan, but as our only major cheat so far this year were on track. I still have a great deal of weight to lose which brings me to the subject of this post.

At Hike Club we mock others on the trail. Trail runners get the most harsh criticism because if the obvious stupidity of their chosen activity. Were up there hiking and its tough, we do many miles and thousands of feet and feel it the next day. Then this ass-hat goes running by showing us all up. Mocking ensues once they are out of ear-shot. Back in October i realized i could go hiking by myself.  Which means not only do i go whenever i'm ready, i can go as fast as i want and get some good exercise. I was on top of Red Rocks on the Morrison Slide trail, half the little loop goes across a small table top; I was trying to walk fast enough to keep my heart rate up, but across this flat section i couldn't walk fast enough. Then coming down the other side a woman my age was running up the other direction. I thought to my self, if she can run up this hill, I can certainly run down it. I quickly learned i had the wrong gear for this activity, my backpack was bouncing all over. I rearranged it and strapped it all down as best i could and kept running. Slowly at first and only down hill after trying to run up a hill and almost dying (side note: how die turns into dying is why i hate writing English). I finished the last 1.5 miles running as much as i thought i could. It was actually fun. moving that fast on the trail was great, choosing my foot placement was a challenge enough to keep me from thinking about how shitty is to run. As I reached the trail head, the woman who inspired me was at the end of the trail where it narrowed to meet the road, She saw me bounding down the trail and politely waited for me to pass and cheered me on. I took that as a sign i had made the right decision.

I've been running Jeffco trails as often as i can since then. I'm still nowhere near able to run up the major hills but i keep a pace that keeps me breathing heavy. I've acquired new gear too. I got a small hydration pack for Christmas and it's very nice. It carries my water, coat, keys, and wallet very nicely; and has enough straps to keep it from bouncing. We had a pretty good snow the last few days and the gear that allowed me to run today are Yak Traxs. The weather was great. Not a cloud in the sky and no wind to speak of. 95% of the trail was packed snow, perfect for these guys. Didn't slip even once. On the steep parts i could see foot prints where people had slid, I'd put my foot right on the slip-print and run on. I'm curious to see how long they last. but for $25 they are already worth it. I also started using Run Keeper to track my exercise. The first time i finished a run it wanted me to set a goal. I've got big plans for this summer, our first 14er, more zip-lining, backpack camping. All of which are easier if i'm lighter. The zip-lining we did in Alaska last summer was simply amazing, and was a weight loss goal already that was really easy to meet. My father had hinted that my Christmas present would require me to be under 250 pounds. I told him that wasn't happening, mostly because of the short notice, cold weather and Carb-cember. But thinking about that, my birthday would be a good time frame to set that goal. So it's on. 250 lbs by April 27th. It's official, I've promised my phone that I will lose the weight, and if i disappoint my phone it may never let me google again. Better not mess this up.
Some pics from the run today:

Mt Falcon beginner hike 1-25-14

We had a great beginner hike! Julia and Matt came up from C Springs to hike with us, and did a great job especially considering Julia was hiking for two. My sister Jenna, Evan, Gilbert, Lindsey, also joined Karen and I on a beautiful January morning.
We were all prepared for cold but quickly shed those layers as we started up the Turkey Trot trail. This 1.7 mile first leg climbs 1100 feet up to meet the Castle trail about half way to the top of the park. Turkey trot is a hiker only trail that is less steep than the Castle trail which we followed back down to the cars. All told we did just under three and a half miles in about two hours. A very reasonable hike, perfect for beginners.
The Mt falcon site has maps and directions to the trail head.
 Mt Falcon is just south of Red Rocks and has great views of the front rage and Hogback.

While coming down there is a section of trail that has been widening itself and has some wooden road blocks to keep hikers on one side so that the unused half of the trail can be reclaimed by nature. They were the perfect opportunity to have a little fun. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RohKkYe6GdQ


 Some of Hike Club's regulars can be on the young side, with youth comes exuberance and energy, sometimes they bounce. Us old farts try to keep the kids down through wit and sarcasm. Typically we mock them by jumping off rocks and yelling Parkour! It's more like that episode of The Office than the rest of the YouTube videos with the same name. I know its really stupid but you can't go viral if you don't try.


The Mt Falcon park was originally owned by  John Walker who had grand plans of building a Summer White House in the early 1900s. That plan never happened but he did build a huge house. After hiking the lower loop we drove to the upper parking lot and hiked out to see the remains of the stone foundation of his house. The trail form the upper lot to the Walker Home Ruins is about 1 miles round trip with very little elevation change. It's very worth the trip, I highly suggest it.