Category Archives: Experiences

Grounded

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I was hiking down a nearby gulch after work last week, when I saw what I thought were the fingers of a leather glove sticking up through the snow.  When I took a closer look, I realized they were raptor talons.

I dug down through the snow and ice and uncovered an eagle.    This was next to a power pole.  I determined the eagle had been electrocuted when his/her wings crossed two of the wires.  The power pole even had a raptor guard on it, but that didn’t save this eagle.

I later confirmed that it was a juvenile bald eagle, a little over a year old.  It was a meaningless death that left me sad.

Power pole where the eagle was killed, with trianglular raptor guard on the left.

Introspection

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I hiked up to Pawnee Pass (elevation 12,700 ft.) this week.  The tundra above tree-line is entering its autumnal phase of dark reds and browns.  Coupled with the rocky aspect of the area, things were not looking very verdant. It was a cool 55 degrees up on the pass.

Niwot Ridge above treeline. The gold colors are a harbinger of autumn.

It’s seems like every year at this time, I become a little bit manic, oscillating between angsty elation and quiet introspection.  The volume control on my dreams is cranked way up. I need some quiet inside my head.

Mother Ptarmigan keeping an eye on me and her three chicks that are nearby. In the winter she will turn all white.

I have a big birthday that ends with a ‘0’ coming up. I know it’s just a number, but I’m starting to feel a generational gap. I used to feel that pretty much anybody over the age of 20 was still in “my group”.  Perhaps being single makes me more delusional in that regard.   These days I’m starting to feel there is a more of a boundary to the lower end of “my group.”

At the top, Lefthand Reservoir. Below that is Long Lake. Unnamed lake at the bottom.

I’m okay with that. It’s just a bit of perspective shift. The views of life from up on the pass were great!

N160JN

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There was nothing morbid about it.  I wanted to visit the site of a plane that had crashed 40 years ago in the wilderness, where the wreckage still remained.  One of the main reasons this interested me: it was going to be a very challenging hike physically, also one where I would have to plot the course myself since there are no trails to the site.

Well actually, the route started at a very popular trailhead, and the first couple of miles were spent passing people and their dogs on the trail.  I wasn’t in the mood for people.  I couldn’t wait to take the detour that would take me off the trail, up steep mountain sides, past beautiful unnamed lakes, and over snowfields where very few people tread.

Unnamed lake looking towards South Arapaho Peak, the one I climbed a few weeks ago.

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