Difference between revisions of "2010-07-16 39 -105"

Latest revision as of 02:48, 9 August 2019

Location

Ken Caryl Ranch, just off C-470.

Plans

The dogs and I are headed for a morning hike.

Participants

Ralph, Tanna and Hendrix

Expedition

A fifteen mile highway drive took us to Ken Caryl Ranch, a neighborhood located in a pretty cool valley between the hogback just SW of Denver and the foothills beyond it. The hogback is a huge bunch of flat pieces of rock that were pushed up when the Rocky Mountains formed, which presently lie at a tilt, often allowing you to see the seemingly diagonal stratifications in them. Up near Boulder, this forms the [Flat Irons], and a few miles to the north of the hash itself is [Dinosaur Ridge], where the upheaval revealed several sets of fossilized dinosaur footprints. Last time I was up there I didn't see any velociraptor tracks, but they were probably just too sneaky to leave any trace behind.

Geology and paleontology aside, the hike was pretty nice. One hundred yards up a trail and then two hundred yards of relatively easy but somewhat thorny bushwhacking led us to the hash. The beautiful day and next ridge then beckoned us, so we headed up the hill towards the pass. Half an hour later, we almost got to the top, but then we didn't. The dogs had been doing some great scrambling, but the crux of the climb was a little too vertical for them. After hanging out in the shade by the stream for a bit, we headed back down to the car and home.

Photos

At the hash. Not sure why I couldn't figure this out on my first expedition.
Looking up towards the foothills.
Lovely trail up towards the pass.

Achievements

@@ Line 18: / Line 18: @@
 == Expedition ==
-Drove an hour to the national forest (through a sketchy 15% downgrade windy dirt road for a few miles) only to arrive and find that the reservoir was closed. They were doing some repairs to the road leading towards the dam, but methinks the reservoir was closed mostly to allow the forest to continue its recovery. Quite a bit was gone due to the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hayman_Fire Hayman Fire]] back in 2002. Pretty crazy.
+A fifteen mile highway drive took us to Ken Caryl Ranch, a neighborhood located in a pretty cool valley between the hogback just SW of Denver and the foothills beyond it. The hogback is a huge bunch of flat pieces of rock that were pushed up when the Rocky Mountains formed, which presently lie at a tilt, often allowing you to see the seemingly diagonal stratifications in them. Up near Boulder, this forms the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flatirons Flat Irons]], and a few miles to the north of the hash itself is [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dinosaur_Ridge Dinosaur Ridge]], where the upheaval revealed several sets of fossilized dinosaur footprints. Last time I was up there I didn't see any velociraptor tracks, but they were probably just too sneaky to leave any trace behind.
-We hiked in on the off chance that the reservoir was indeed open since a few other cars were around. The trail led us up, over, and down a ridge, giving us some beautiful vistas and the dogs a chance to run about. It ended at the bottom of the dam, where the South Platte River starts its journey again down towards Denver. Trivia: When the Cheesman Dam was created in 1905, it was the tallest dam in the world, at 211 feet above the river below.
+Geology and paleontology aside, the hike was pretty nice. One hundred yards up a trail and then two hundred yards of relatively easy but somewhat thorny bushwhacking led us to the hash. The beautiful day and next ridge then beckoned us, so we headed up the hill towards the pass. Half an hour later, we almost got to the top, but then we didn't. The dogs had been doing some great scrambling, but the crux of the climb was a little too vertical for them. After hanging out in the shade by the stream for a bit, we headed back down to the car and home.
-The river at the bottom of the dam was beautiful. The dogs got a dip and drink, but as storm clouds were headed our way, we thought better of jumping in ourselves. It was also a bit too rapid-y for the leisurely swim we had imagined in the lake above. The trail continued up around the lake on the opposite bank, but paths to it and closer towards the dam were closed. Foiled! After meandering a bit more and saying hello to the lone fisherman, we hiked a half hour back to the car. Bonus points were received for not getting in an accident on the way home when the car in front of us slammed on its brakes to allow momma and six ducklings across the road. Pretty darn cute.
-Hash fail, day win.
 == Photos ==
 <gallery perrow="4">
-Image:Ralph201007111.jpg | Pretty darn gorgeous.
+Image:Ralph201007161.jpg | At the hash. Not sure why I couldn't figure this out on my first expedition.
-Image:Ralph201007112.jpg | Pretty darn gorgeous part II (on the right).
+Image:Ralph201007162.jpg | Looking up towards the foothills.
-Image:Ralph201007116.jpg | Bernoulli's principle!
+Image:Ralph201007164.jpg | Lovely trail up towards the pass.
-Image:Ralph201007115.jpg | South Platte
-Image:Ralph201007113.jpg | The river is thiiiiiiiis wide.
-Image:Ralph201007114.jpg | Thanks, mom. I guess I won't be getting any dessert either.
 </gallery>
 == Achievements ==
-{{#vardefine:ribbonwidth|800px}}
-{{No trespassing
-    | latitude = 39
-    | longitude = -105
-    | date = 2010-07-11
-    | name = Ralph
-}}
-{{drag-along
-    | latitude = 39
-    | longitude = -105
-    | date = 2010-07-11
-    | partner = Erin
-    | name = Ralph
-}}
 [[Category:Expeditions with photos]]
 [[Category:Coordinates reached]]
+[[Category:Expeditions]]
+{{location|US|CO|JE}}


Fri 16 Jul 2010 in 39,-105: 39.5731138, -105.1707132 geohashing.info google osm bing/os kml crox