Colorado: Buffalo Mountain - Aug.15

Buffalo Mountain

 

One way to get the most out of life is to look upon it as an adventure.

~William Feather

I've been waiting to tell you about this hike. Glory B! This, no doubt, will be one of the highlights of our trip. Not because it was any prettier, but because of the physical intensity of it. Cliff and I decided, sort of spontaneously, to hike up Buffalo Mountain. We had read that there were old cabin ruins on the trail before clearing the tree line. That's what I wanted to see. We, also, learned that the hike could be broken into 3 sections. The forest up to the cabin, the boulder field, and the summit section.  And at the summit, you could see mountain goats. Round-trip length, if you went to the summit, was 5.5 miles. Well, I had no intention of going to the top. Knowing the distance would be much shorter made the decision to hike much easier.

We drove to the trailhead, gathered our backpacks and headed up the trail. The trailhead sign said there could be moose in the area, so I was on the look out. Never saw a moose. The alpine forest was so pretty and peaceful to hike through. The Colorado pines towered above us blocking most of the sunlight. In the beginning, the trail was mostly dirt....well worn and only a slight incline. The farther into the woods we got, the trail became steeper and was dotted with roots and rocks.  And in time, we came to the ruins of an old cabin. I thought I had read there were a couple, but we only saw the one. And when they said ruins, that's what they meant.

After arriving at the cabin, and talking to a few people that were on their way down, we decided that the boulder field wasn't that much farther and since I still felt pretty good, it would be a shame to go that far and not go to the boulder field.

Well y'all, the trail took a turn for the steep and rocky. Steep, rocky and rooty! At some point we were actually climbing up and over rocks. I had to stop many, many times to catch my breath and let my heart rate return to normal. The combination of thin air and steep terrain is why Whitney has not been able to get me on one of her 14'ers. My lungs just doesn't work like theirs. Ha!

Somewhere between the cabin and the boulder field, we realized that we were unprepared for that kind of hike. I had one bottle of water and Cliff had a half a bottle of Gatorade. I tried to conserve my water as much as possible. When we had made it about half way from the cabin to the boulder field, I needed fuel. All I had in my backpack was a peppermint. Cliff had an airplane size pack of cashews and a gel pack. I ate the peppermint and we shared the nuts and gel. I'm telling you that a peanut butter and jelly sandwich would have come in mighty handy at this point. But we ate what we had and journeyed on.

Cliff was not having any problems, but the closer to the boulder field we got, I began to feel nauseated and got a headache. I felt like if I breathed too deeply that I was going to throw up. I felt dizzy when we stopped to rest....which was often. My heartrate was way up and breathing was difficult. During rest stops, it didn't take long to recover, but then I could only go short distances before  having to stop again. Now, you may be asking why in the world would I continue to put myself through that. Several reasons, actually. This was an adventure of epic proportions! To be able to say that I climbed a mountain, the views...THE VIEWS....and to be able to share being outdoors and hiking with Cliff was enough.

Finally, we made it to the boulder field. I was a mess, but the views that surrounded us were so magnificent. Once my breathing and heart rate returned to normal, I was able to soak them up. Cliff explored a little bit of the boulder field and I'm sure he wanted to go to the top, but I was done. After taking lots of pictures and resting some, we headed back down. Rain was in the forecast for the afternoon and we didn't want to be on the mountain, if it started lightening.

On the way down, my breathing and heartrate were not a problem. We were gaining oxygen and I felt invigorated....except....my legs were now pretty much shot. My thighs quivered almost constantly and my toes were pushed to the front of my shoes causing lots of discomfort. There were times that my feet slid on the steep gravel/dirt areas where there were no rocks or roots to brace my foot against. I slipped and fell on my buttocks, once. Scared the bejeebies out of me. Even so, we made record time coming down.

Buffalo Cabin Trail Hike Stats (to boulder field only):

Elevation at the start: 9784.9 feet

Elevation at the end: 11,390 feet

Elevation gain of: 1377.9 feet

Total miles hiked: 3.75

Time to ascend: 2:45 hours

Time to descend: 1:30 hours

Total hours hiked: 4:15 hours

Starvation rate: Unmeasurable

Scenery: Out of this world beautiful!

Would I do this hike again? NO! Well, maybe if I were to train for these kind of conditions....steep hiking and climbing. Give me a year and then ask me again.

Starting to get steep.

 The cabin ruins.

 

 Literally, only a few logs left.

 

Getting steeper.

I took a sip from this stream. Not recommended, but I wanted to see what true mountain water tasted like. It was tasty and very cold.

 Views between cabin and boulder field.

 

Yes, we climbed this.

Not far from the boulder field, now.

 

Almost above the tree line, now.

 



 We made it. Views from the boulder field.

 

The cairn marking the way through the boulder field to the summit.

 

 Lake Dillon as seen from Buffalo Mountain.

 

Cliff surveying the boulder field....

This would be the climb up through the boulder field. But, that is not the top. It's a false summit. The true summit is over the top another mile.

 A close-up of the area we climbed to...above the tree line to the boulder field.

 

We climbed just above the tree line. Somewhere just right of the center of this picture.

 

This quote sums up my feelings for the day. I will look back on this as a great adventure. As hard as it was, I'm so glad I did it. 



I'll look back on this and smile because it was LIFE and I decided to live it.

~Author unknown

 

Laurie

Colorado: Chipmunks on the Sapphire Trail - July 31

Today was not a particular good day for me. I'm still feeling the effects of being at an elevation of 9000 ft. I still find it hard to breathe at times and feeling nauseated with a lack of energy. So, L&S and I took it easy today. Cliff and Whitney went for another bike ride of 12 miles before she had to go home.

After Whitney left, we went for a ride in the car around the lake. Cliff wanted to show us a hiking trail near the bike path. This particular spot is called the Sapphire Trail. We will do the hike later in the week, but while there, we saw Uinta Chipmunks and Golden-Mantled Ground Squirrels everywhere. The difference in the chipmunks and squirrels is that the chipmunks have stripes on their faces; squirrels do not. People were feeding them sunflower and pumpkin seeds. The critters are so used to being around people that they will feed right out of your hand. Lidia and Sawyer started feeding them and coaxed a couple to eat out of their hands, too. This became Lidia and Sawyer's favorite spot. They can't wait to go back for the hike and to feed the critters, again.

This afternoon, we took L&S to the pool. Lidia swam 21 freestyle laps and still had energy left to play with Sawyer. Sawyer wanted to swim in the 10 ft. pool, but there is a height requirement. If you don't meet that requirement, the lifeguard requires them to swim one length of the lap pool without touching bottom. Sawyer swam it and the lifeguard put a wrist band on him to signify that he passed the swim test. Sawyer was so proud of himself for passing.

Uinta Chipmunk

Golden-Mantled Ground Squirrel

 Eating from Sawyer's hand.

Rain was threating....

....so, we headed home.

Come back for the next post. The scenery is unreal!

Laurie

PS: Sawyer keeps us in stitches with the things he says.  Today, I saw him looking in a mirror and touching his eye. When I asked if his eye was bothering him, he said, "No, I just realized I had eyelashes on the bottom of my eyes."  LOL!!

We Made It!

We made it to Colorado! No matter how many times we come here, it never ceases to take my breath away. Literally! Ha!

It is so beautiful! We are at 9000 ft., so altitude sickness...well, the struggle is real, y'all.

Problems with the altitude doesn't seem as bad this time, though. But it will take a few days to acclimate, just the same. I get headaches and if I do anything vigorous, nauseated. Having to take lots of deep breaths, is the norm. It's funny how different Cliff and I handle the altitude. He has no problems at all. We have Lidia and Sawyer with us and they seem to be somewhere in between. They've both experienced headaches a couple of times and Lidia has to take deep breaths at times, but other than that they have been little energizer bunnies.

There's a nice playground just down the bike path from us and L&S love it. We've walked to town for pizza, rode our bikes across town to the Rec Center to swim and going on a hike today, when Cliff gets back from his bike ride around the lake. I expect our activities to only pick up from here.

I haven't taken any pictures yet, but you know I will. Well, except these taken with my phone.

I'll be back in a few days with lots to show and tell. Oh, by the way, it's 55 degrees F at 9 a.m. this morning. The highs have been in the 70's and no humidity. I'm loving it!!!

Thank you all for your prayers and wishes for safe travels! I greatly appreciate each and every one!!

Talk soon,

Laurie

PS: I posted this picture from my phone, which is the devil to do. So, if the picture doesn't show up, I'll fix it when I can get on Cliff's computer. Just check back later. You'll want to see it...it's pretty.

PPS: Attached photos....

Summer 2014

Lake Dillon, Colorado

Hey y'all. Remember me? What? You thought I dropped off the face of the earth, didn't you? Nope, I'm still here. I have just had a busy, busy summer. Actually, I'm sort of on top of the world right now.....literally....at an elevation of  9100 ft., to be exact. Yep, Cliff and I are in Colorado. We are staying on the beautiful Lake Dillon....not far from Keystone, Breckenridge, Copper and Vail ski slopes. As we speak, I am looking at the mountains draped with clouds. The sun is actually peaking through today and I can see snow patches on the tops of a few of the mountains. You wonder how in the world, especially with the intense sun, can snow still be on the mountain top. Well, here at 9100 ft. it has been in the 60's during the day and 40's at night. I can only imagine how cold it must be at 14,000 ft. They call these 14'ers, by the way. Whitney and Jason love to hike them. As a matter of fact, they are taking Cliff on a 14'er hike this Sunday. They are going to hike Mt. Elbert. Apparently, at an elevation of 14,000+ feet, it is the second highest peak in the lower 48.

I'm not going! I didn't even get invited. Hang on, you'll see why.

Coming from sea level to 9100 ft. proved to be somewhat of an issue for me. Immediately upon arriving, I got a headache and couldn't breathe well. Then came some nausea, fatigue and not much of an appetite. After consulting with WebMD, I discovered that these, indeed, are symptoms of altitude sickness. I need to contact WebMD to let them know that there is another symptom.....bloodshot eyes.  The treatment is to take it easy, stay well hydrated, take something like Advil and even eating a high carb diet. If the symptoms don't subside in a couple of days, then they recommend going to a lower altitude or get this, go to an oxygen bar. Did you know they had those? Me either! But they do. And, you can buy cans of oxygen at the local sports store. Well, I am happy to report that I didn't need to go to the oxygen bar. I followed WebMD's advice and Jason bought me some altitude sickness pills. They helped, too.

We came here for exercise and training.....and well, to visit Whitney and Jason, of course. They are spending the weekends with us. This place is a mecca for exercise. You can literally walk right out of the door and be on a bike/run/walking trail. Our trail goes all the way around Lake Dillon, which happens to be about 18 miles. Great for Cliff's Ironman training for sure. He wasn't bothered with the lack of oxygen until he decided to do a triathlon in Silverthorne only 2 days after arriving here. He said he just could not get in enough oxygen on his swim. He probably felt like a fish out of water. It took him way longer than usual to finish the swim. I was starting to get worried. But alas, he emerged and was off on his bike. I knew he would recover on the bike....that's his thing. And the run wasn't too bad either. He placed 3rd in his age group. Go Cliff! 

Cliff and me at the finish of his triathlon...the Highest Triathlon in the World.

 

This little guy has a great sense of humor!

Even though I was experiencing some altitude sickness, I really wanted to try running. So Saturday, Whitney and I went for a 4-mile run. I say run loosely, of course, because I had to walk a lot. I was just coming back from a 2-week recovery break because of a hurt ankle. Not to mention, the running path was hilly. Uphills are a challenge anyway, but to run them in a 'lack of oxygen' state is far beyond challenging. It's downright brutal. We managed to finish the run and our time wasn't too shabby, considering. Downhills rock! And, the scenery....OMG! I don't know if there is anyplace any more beautiful. Well, maybe. But good land, this place is pure gorgeousness.

On a 4-mile run at Lake Dillon, CO.

 

Sunday, I rested after Cliff's Triathlon and then Monday, I needed to run 8 miles. I'm still in training for the Revel Rockies half-marathon....remember? I knew I would need some time to acclimate to the lack of oxygen, but I felt like after running 4 miles Saturday and not having any trouble that I could probably handle 8 miles. I started out slowly and was doing well. I ran around the lake to the dam, over the dam and into a very wooded area that led to a campground. By the time I got to the campground, I had ran about 4 miles and my water supply was gone. I saw a bathroom...decided I may as well and then was off to look for some water (primitive potty...no water). Surely, a campground would have some water. Well, everywhere I looked was primitive camping; no water hook ups. And then I saw a sign for the Camp Host and decided to take a chance. Sure enough, there was a water spigot outside his camp and I was able to fill up. I ate a GU gel and drank some water and was on the way back. Cliff was out on the bike, somewhere. He was finishing his ride and tracked me on his phone (we have an app called Find My Friends - great app!).  He saw that I was in a remote area and came looking for me. He found me just as I was leaving the campground, made sure I was ok and had plenty of water and then went on his way. It was a little warm that day and in hindsight, I think I may have been a little ambitious attempting 8 miles only three days after arriving from sea level. When I got back to the condo, I started feeling bad. I was getting nauseous. I showered, went straight to bed and tossed around like a beached whale trying to get back to the sea. And then it hit me......my breakfast, water, Gatorade and gels wanted out. And up they came. OMG, I was sick! I went to bed and rested for a long time. Physically or should I say fitness wise, I felt fine. I just needed oxygen. I felt bad for the next couple of days and then the altitude sickness seemed to just go away. I have acclimated, mostly! Yay!

Do you see the fox on the log? He was not afraid of us, at all.

Just going about his business of hunting dinner.

Yesterday, Cliff and I went for a bike/hike/run. It was so beautiful. We biked to the trailhead, then hiked through a meadow with wildflowers. We saw the fox, pictured above, pouncing on mice and he didn't even mind that we were there. We saw cute little chipmunks and small squirrels. And then, we entered the wooded portion of the hike, up the small mountain. At the top, we could see gorgeous views of the lake below and the surrounding mountains. It was breathtakingly beautiful. We took our time, stopped at the overlooks and finally made our way down on the other side to a dirt road that led back to the trailhead. We hiked up the hills on the mountain and ran the downhills. And, we ran the dirt road leading back to the trailhead and bikes. Back on the bikes now, it was starting to get chillier and the wind had picked up....and then came the rain. It didn't take us long to get back to the condo, but I was huffing and puffing just the same. There is a very steep hill as the path approaches the condo. I didn't think I would be able to ride the bike up, but Cliff told me how to gear the bike down and make it easier to pedal. I made it....I couldn't breathe, couldn't talk or even sit up straight, but I made it. And the thought of vomiting again was real. But, I didn't even do that. I was tired, but felt fine afterwards. I had made a breakthrough. Who needs oxygen, anyway? Our total miles for yesterday was 7.94 miles.

Here are a few pictures from our hike........

The meadow with the Lake Dillon in the background.

There were pretty wildflowers scattered all around the meadow.

You can't see them very well here.

 

A close-up of some of the wild flowers.

Cliff at one of the overlooks.

The trail back down the mountain.

The dirt road that leads back to the trail head.

You can vaguely see the condo in the background, across the lake.

And a view from the condo looking towards a part of the mountain where we hiked.

 

I have so many pictures that it is hard to pick and choose. I want to show you all of them, but I would be here until next week trying to download them. So, I'll have to share a few at a time.

Today, I am going on this neat run that is all downhill. I ran part of it Wednesday and then it started raining on me. You know The Weather Channel's motto....turn around, don't drown. I figured I better heed their warning. Anyway, have you ever seen the "crookedest street in the world" in San Francisco. Well, this section of the running path is almost that crooked. It's like switchback city and it's all downhill. Loved it! Hopefully, I can make the whole 5 miles today without getting drenched, again.

UPDATE: Today's 5-mile run was rained out. Figures. I need to get an earlier start. However, after lunch, Cliff and I did go on another short hike between rain showers. We are going to do the whole thing next week. It was another pretty one, so I'll be sure to bring my camera and share those pictures soon.

Well, after catching you up on the last few days, there is still so much more to tell. I'll have to do it in spurts. I don't think any of us can handle the whole whopping summer all at once. And I'll continue to share our Colorado adventure with you along the way.....pictures and all.

But for now, I'm going to bullet the summer highlights, thus far. I'll go in depth with those a little later on.

June and July:

• Lidia and Sawyer spent a whole lot of time with us this summer...LaLa Heaven!
• I've been running a lot. Had to take a couple of weeks off, early July, due to some tendonitis in my ankle....I'm better now and rearing to go.
• We bought a lake house on Lake Greenwood in SC....A total shocker.
• Lidia and Sawyer are now avid fisher children....Just wait until you hear this story.
• Lidia and Sawyer learned to kneeboard.....It was Deja Vu and pure joy.

Upcoming:

• Cliff, Whitney and Jason's 14'er on Mt. Elbert near Leadville, CO.
• Revel Rockies Half-Marathon - Whitney and me.
• Cliff's Ironman in Louisville, KY.

Hope everyone is having a great summer. I sure am!

Talk to you soon,

Laurie