Monthly Archives: April 2015

Colorado’s Open Spaces

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P1030916I recently accepted a seasonal position with Boulder County Parks and Open Space, and interpretive and outreach position very similar to what I had been doing with the National Park Service.  When I shared the news with my family, they were a bit confused.  One of my relative asked if this meant I was supervising playgrounds and recreational facilities like tennis courts and swimming pools.  It’s easy to understand their confusion, as Parks and Opens Space is veryunique to Colorado, particularly its Front Range cities and counties.

Two thirds of the land in Colorado is owned by some sort of government agency and can’t be developed.  This means lots of wide, open spaces, especially in western Colorado.  So you’d think there wouldn’t be much need for county or city parks.  But most of Colorado’s population is concentrated on what’s known as the Front Range.  The Front Range simply refers to the first big range of mountains encountered from the east — think Longs Peak, Pikes Peak, and other peaks in the 13,000 foot range.  The biggest cities in Colorado are all set along the front range – Fort Collins, Boulder, Denver, and Colorado Springs.  Fortunately, for Colorado, by the time the population started to boom along its Front Range, they had time to think about development and  make a plan.  This is where Open Space and Parks come into the equation.

All along the Front Range, as cities grew in population, the county and city governments decided it was important to create open space as a place where residents could recreate and use the land.  They also wanted to create a buffer to restrict urban sprawl from taking over.  In fact, the City of Boulder made history in 1967 when its voters approved a raise in sales tax specifically to purchase open space near the city’s boundaries, passing with 57% of the vote.  Boulder is not alone in doing so, in that several cities including nearby Golden have pursued the acquisition of open space as well.  Many of the counties along the front range have acquired thousands of acres of lands, including former ranches for use as Parks and Open Space.  Boulder County, for whom I will be working, currently manages over 97000 acres of Open Space and Parks.

These areas function with much the same purpose and mission as national parks and state parks.  The preserve historic and cultural buildings (i.e., ranches, mining), as well as providing recreation through hiking trails, mountain biking, fishing with highly scenic vistas (see above picture of Hall Ranch).  They also provide important refuges for wildlife as well, including deer, elk, moose and other creatures.  Open space and parks are not always completely open for public use, as they preserve areas for mating and other purposes.  However in contrast to state and national parks, there is no admission fee charged to use them.  Occasionally, there are areas where parking is charged to residents outside the county, because of limited space, but for the most part these parks and open spaces are free to the public to use and enjoy.

Right here in Nederland, we have two Open Spaces that provide important habitat and a chance to learn about our history in Mud Lake and Caribou Ranch.  Bryon and I have spent many a happy day either mountain biking at Mud Lake in summer or snowshoeing in winter.  As the moose population has grown on this side of divide, many moose have started to use Mud Lake for their home.  And Caribou has a rich mining history upon which the town of Nederland is founded.  I think we’re very fortunate in Colorado that we were able to plan our communities to include these important refuges for both people and wildlife.  Unlike the east coast, population didn’t really surge in earnest until the 1960s and 1970s, and we were able to make choices about how our cities and towns would develop.  We’re very lucky that in addition to our wonderful national parks and state parks, we have these parks right here in our local communities.  So next time you hear the word Parks and Open Space, you’ll understand better these unique resources for Coloradans to connect with nature, be awestruck by the myriad of wildlife, and learn about our rich cultural past.

 

Outdoor cats?

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iPhone June 201 694Not for long here in the mountains of Colorado…  Three years ago, the house next door was purchased by a couple from Boulder.  Our realtor told us they were an athletic, friendly couple and told me how much she thought we’d like them.  Not so much.  Trying to be the welcoming neighbor, I took the dogs for a walk and stopped by to say hi.  I could see right away, they weren’t dog people.  They didn’t want the dogs in the driveway, and backed away from them, like they were skunks or something.  And really, I was okay with that.  Not everyone is a dog person, and sometimes people as children have bad experiences with dogs.  It’s all good.

But one thing people moving to mountain towns in Colorado do need to understand is that mountain towns are populated with dogs.  People move to mountain towns so their dogs have lots of room to run, frolic and hike.  Most of our neighbors in Nederland do own dogs, and what I most enjoy about living here is the freedom our dogs have to hang out and just be dogs.  We live off a quiet, private dirt road that is maintained by our HOA.  There are no leash laws here.  So, most residents frequently take the dogs for walks on the network of dirt roads off leash.  And for two years, before our new neighbors moved in, this was never a problem.

Just a few weeks after they moved in, I was walking with our two dogs, and Shawnee, our border collie takes off onto their property, and I hear shrieking, blood-curdling shrieking, like someone is being murdered.  Turns out, our neighbors have cats, “outdoor cats” of all things.  Shawnee had treed one of the cats, and our neighbor was giving me the stink-eye.  I even tried bringing some tuna from our house to help bring her cat down, and she still was muttering under her breath at me.

Our realtor friend had told us the new neighbors had a cat that was an outdoor cat.  We have cats.  We love our cats.  A long time ago, in a land far away, they got to hang outside on a nice green lawn with a fence where no wild animals roamed.  But let’s be reasonable.  We live in the mountains now.  Our neighborhood is populated with fox, coyote, bobcats, Great Horned owls, and other assorted wild animals that would love nothing more than to snag a tasty domestic house cat as an afternoon hors d’oeuvre.  We realize this, and wanting our cats to live long, healthy lives, keep them indoors now, as most of our friends do as well.  I really thought after a few months, these folks would get the message as well, be sensible, and keep kitty inside.

But yet again, this morning, I took our dogs out, and Shawnee heads over towards their house.  Our neighbor starts to yell at her, and I go clambering through the bush to get her.  Yep, she’s got the cat outside again.  And I’m the villain because our dog, doing what a herding dog does, went after her.  Honestly, I’m surprised the cat has lasted this long on these outdoor sojourns, and conversely, that my neighbor hasn’t gotten the message (don’t take your cat outside in Nederland!).  I’m sure eventually the problem will resolve, they’ll get sick of all those off-leash dogs wandering the roads and their property and move, or the cat simply won’t come back one day (I hope it doesn’t come to that).  Need more reasons for keeping your cat inside?  Here’s more than one hundred…

One of my favorite bumper stickers I’ve seen here in Nederland says, “Nederland, Colorado — a dog in every Subaru!”  Maybe an extra line should be added, “Where cats belong inside…”

Living in a Log Cabin

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Ned home in snowEver since I was young, I have been fascinated with log homes or log cabins.  There’s something so romantic and utterly western feeling about living in a home made of logs.  It makes me think of the early settlers, and the Laura Ingalls Wilder’s books, Little House in the Big Woods.  As I was reading that book as a little girl, I just knew that house was made of logs.  When I was a kid, we used to make road trips to Colorado, and sometimes would stay at lodges in Wyoming or Colorado with the exposed logs and beams.  It just felt so right, as if it fit in with everything wild around it, and was the ultimate connection to nature.

Even when I was living back in Maryland, I started researching what it takes to build a log home.  Surprisingly these days, it’s not as difficult as you might think.  There are many companies that sell kits or packaged log homes.  You can purchase a set, square-footage specific floor plan, and all the logs a pre-cut and shipped to you via a flat bed truck.  Of course, you’re still responsible for hiring contractors to set the foundation, hook up utilities, finish the interior walls, etc.  This type of kit is what we initially had in mind, when we started looking for land to purchase in the Front Range mountains of Colorado five years ago.

But then in my search for land, I happened upon a listing for a custom-built, modest home here in Nederland.  I was immediately drawn to it through the pictures in the listing.  But having bought a home before, I know that often seeing a home in person can be a big letdown from the listing.  However, as soon as walked through the door, I knew we were home.  It’s similar to that falling in love at first sight experience people sometimes use to describe meeting their future spouse.  I fell in love with our log cabin as soon as I walked through the door.  And I’ve been falling in love even more ever since.Ned home inside

Being located on a ridge with views of the mountains, surrounded by pine and aspen trees certainly contributes to the feeling of coziness.  I remember the first weekend we spent at our house, it was a raw and cold in late May with temperatures in the 30s.  We started a fire in the pellet stove and I was sitting in the loft up above our great room.  We hardly had any furniture, but that didn’t diminish the feeling I had of just feeling snug and cozy, as I gazed upon the exposed log walls, and stared out the windows at the trees.

There’s a lot of myths about log homes that simply aren’t true.  They are particulary vulnerable to fires, they are devoured by carpenter ants and termites.  They are drafty and cold, and not energy efficient.  We’ve found none of these to be true.  Do we have maintenance — absolutely, but what house doesn’t?  All I know is this — we routinely have 70 mph winds here in Nederland in winter, but I have always felt our house was sturdy enough to withstand any kind of weather.  And I have found it be warmer in the winter and cooler in the summer, than most stick-built houses with siding.

So my fantasy of living in the land of logs was ultimately fulfilled.  And I couldn’t be happier.  I believe in a path and journey that leads where you are meant to be.  Part of that journey for me was finding peace and a connection with nature beyond my greatest expectations, living in a log cabin in the mountains outside of Nederland, Colorado.

Note:  In an ironic twist, we turned on HGTV tonight and the featured show was Log Cabin Living.  I guess there are more people than I realized captivated by log homes if they dedicated an entire show to people finding the perfect log home….

The Journey of a Thousand Miles…

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JMT pictures 013Begins with a single step, or so an ancient proverb says.  A co-worker of mine recently quit her job to go hike the Appalachian Trail, which reminded me of how many are preparing to start the journey of a thousand miles or more this month.  April is perenially the month that most hikers begin their long-distance backpacking journey along the well-known Appalachian Trail (AT) back east and the Pacific Crest Trail out west.  With more than two thousand miles to cover, they need to begin by April to have a fighting chance to finish before the snow starts to fall in October.  With the recent popularity of the book and movie Wild, many are drawn to the idea of finding themselves through long-distance hiking.  My co-worker, Katie, is representative of what most people who choose to undertake such a journey are like.  She and her husband are young, and have little long-distance backpacking experience, which surprises a lot of people.  But in my humble experience, it’s not about your hiking experience as much as you mental toughness that will determine whether you finish or not, something my husband I have discussed at length.

Bryon and I were initially drawn together over our love of hiking and backpacking.  We met online (who doesn’t these days?), and the one sentence that jumped out from his profile was his biggest accomplishment, through-hiking the Appalachian Trail.  Though I hadn’t completed anything of that magnitude, I had recently hiked 220 miles on the John Muir Trail (JMT) in California, and was still on a high from that experience.  Completing the trail inspired and empowered me, leading me to consider the idea of undertaking the Pacific Crest Trail.   Our first date consisted of my sharing pictures of my recent JMT trip and us talking all things hiking and backpacking.  More recently, we saw the movie, Wild, and both of us had the same inclination after walking out of the theater — let’s go hike the PCT!  JMT pictures 011

My first introduction to “through-hikers” as they are called was in Pennsylvania while training for my JMT trip.  I would put on my big backpack and hike sections of the Appalachian Trail during the weekend to get trail fit.  I remember walking to the trailhead and smelling something rank and disgusting, coming upon two AT hikers who were sitting on the road.  They smiled at me, and said, “Hey, there’s a great all- you-can-eat place in town that serves spaghetti, it’s just a 10-minute walk from here.”  I remember feeling so proud — they thought I was one of them!  I didn’t bother to correct them, and set off on my 12-mile day hike thinking, I can do this…

My experience on the JMT was very similar to Bryon’s on the AT.  A lot of people set out with high hopes, and in great physical condition, but mentally can’t handle the rigors of walking day after day.  About 25% of those starting the AT finish, with success rates on the PCT reaching closer to 40 percent.  Interestingly enough, most of those who quit do so in the first two weeks.  While my JMT trip was much shorter, I encountered similar rates of people dropping out, with most people quitting in the first few days, including the three other people in my group.  All of them quit after five days — one who was woefully unprepared for the weather and elements, and another who quickly suffered from foot problems due to his overly heavy load.  Foot and knee problems are a common occurrence, as most people, despite their best efforts, over pack.  I found a product called BodyGlide to be invaluable, putting it on my feet to prevent blisters and chafing.  I also put the “hiker barrels” to good use at the resorts we passed through.  Hiker Barrels are basically large barrels where through-hikers chuck stuff they don’t want or can’t use.  I ended up throwing a lot of extra stuff in the barrels just to lighten up my load, but also scavenging them for snacks and food.

JMT pictures 031Truthfully, both Bryon and I found it’s not your physical condition that matters as much as your mental toughness.  After walking 10 days or so on the trail, you get pretty fit, but it’s the discipline of persevering during difficult times and not getting bored walking day after day that really tests you.  I encountered several challenges on my hike, including a sprained ankle, terrible diarrhea, and getting caught in an early season snowstorm three days from the end of the hike.  I endured what was the single worst hiking day of my life, walking through intermittent bouts of snow, sleet, and a cold rain with temperatures hovering in the mid thirties.  I awoke the next morning to frozen boots and morning temperatures of ten degrees.  But after getting over the morning chill, I thrilled to the sight of 14,000-foot peaks capped in snow set against crystal clear blue skies.

The other thing that Bryon and I discussed in earnest was the insurmountable hunger and obsession with food.  No matter how much food you carry, it is never enough to make up for the calories you burn walking 15 miles or day or more, climbing 13,000-foot passes.  You dream about food all the time, mainly things that you can not get on the trail, like fresh fruits and vegetables, juicy hamburgers, ice cream.  Instead of a “five-second” rule for eating food off the ground, we had the “hungry backpacker” rule, which basically means you’ll eat anything edible no matter where it’s been.  I remember finishing the JMT and sitting down to an enormous breakfast of pancakes, eggs, and sausage and just tearing into it.  These people sitting next to me watched me with interest, I’m sure wondering how an 118-pound woman could eat with such voracity.  I hadn’t realized how incredibly thin I was until I got to the motel to take a shower.  My legs were still strong, but my upper body was very thin and I had most notably lost my chest — I now had “granny boobs”!

I admit, I envy people like Katie and the others who are setting out right now on what is bound to be a memorable and perhaps life-changing journey.  People often ask Bryon and me, “didn’t you get lonely?”  It’s amazing how unlonely one can be hiking in the woods for days on end.  I don’t think I have ever been more present, and grateful for being alive than through-hiking.  I remember the incredible scenery, the moments of seeing bears in the wild, nibbling on berries, and thinking how few people in the world will ever see that place and experience that particular moment.  Returning back to civlization, I realized that I too yearned for a different path in life, mainly one that would bring me closer to the mountains and connect me to nature on a regular basis, which eventually led us back out west.  Reflecting on my own experience, it’s not hard to understand how the experience profoundly changed Cheryl Strayed, or the many others who follow in our footsteps.  Let the journey begin…