Tag: olathe

Goodbye Olathe

Karen DLeave a comment

I feel like I have to tear myself away from our little home away from home in Olathe. The peace and calmness that I feel here fills my soul. But alas, leave we must. I take one last stroll around the farm lanes, coffee and camera in hand. The cows are grazing near the house this morning, and the redwing blackbirds are chirping along the fence, and even the horse is neighing at me. Goodbye, snow covered San Juan Mountains that I get to gaze upon every morning. Goodbye, family of house sparrows that are nesting in the eaves who wake me every morning.

We pack up the car and head out, headed toward Boulder, with a stop in Glenwood Springs for lunch. About 30 minutes into the trip, our navigation tells us to do a u-turn because there is a crash on I-70 that’s has the interstate closed. This little redirection routes us through Grand Mesa, elevation 11,237. On the drive up, the aspen groves are glorious with their bright white bark and newly grown leaves. There is snow, and a lot of it, and frozen lakes. We stop at the visitor center and see snowdrifts taller than we are! We are so thankful for this little misadventure!

Back on the road, we arrive in Glenwood Springs around 2 pm, and stop in at Grind right across from the train station for another “linner” that will tide us over until tomorrow. it’s a quick stop because we are ready to be out of the car! Two more hours in the car, drop Caroline at her house and head to our hotel in Broomfield to rest and get ready for the last event of our trip together, the Bolder Boulder 10k! None of us is really amped to run after all our hiking, but we know it will be a fun time.

Early departure at 6:30!

The last day of hiking

Karen DLeave a comment

Our initial intention was to explore Crested Butte or Telluride, but we are weary of riding in the car, so we decide to check out the Colorado National Monument, which is not a monument in the sense of a structure, but acres and acres of sandstone buttes and mesas, lava rock and gneiss. We are out of the house by 8:15 with sandwiches packed and are excited to drive a different direction and see different scenery.

We are hiking the No Throughfare Trail, which is sandy rather than dirt and roots. Geologic formations surround us, yet we are hiking alongside beautiful wildflowers, cacti and aromatic shrubs (stay tuned for an episode of Flora of Colorado).

I’m hiking slowly scanning the hills for BigHorn sheep, but the most I see is humans.

About a tenth of a mile before the waterfall we are hiking to, the big black rain cloud I’ve been eyeing ahead of us lets out a large clap of thunder and it starts spitting rain. The crew is ahead of me on the trail but I have to stop and stow my camera out of the elements, get my rain coat and hat out. By the time I maneuver everything into place and make it to the waterfall, they are done taking pictures there and we turn around and start hightailing it it back.

I’ve had a bad hiking experience with thunder and lightning before, so I am a bit tense about being out in the thunderstorm. So, when we get a super loud clap of thunder, I scream like a little girl. I don’t feel bad because Kim is letting a choice four-letter word fly.

Soon the rain turns to hail. Good Gravy it can only get worse if we get stuck in a flash flood! But we don’t, that’s just my mental drama, the rain and hail stop in about ten minutes and my heart rate goes back to normal.

We stop for a picnic lunch and grab some corny group photos, then head to Peach Street Distillery in Palisade for a much deserved adult beverage. Then back to Olathe for our last night in our superb accommodations. We reminisce about family road trips of our youth. The gas station bathrooms where you had to get the key inside and it was on a long piece of wood, the disgusting cloth towel roll to dry your hands and the dads who wouldn’t stop for a bathroom break until the car needed gas!

It’s our last night in Olathe and we have truly been blessed with great weather, great friendships, and more fun than humans should be allowed to have. Tomorrow, we drive to Boulder.

Kim, Vicki and Caroline all earned trail names today. Kim: “Pockets” because she is always wearing pants/shorts/tights with pockets, and her phone always pocket dials or starts the Garage Band app when it’s in her pocket. Vicki: “The Gneissest” because she truly is the nicest. She goes with the flow, doesn’t bust our chops like the rest of us do to each other, and is truly the nicest person. Caroline: “Cupcake” because she is the best hostess. She has provided home made meals for our stay, helped with the itinerary, chauffeured us around…..we are in such a better state than if we’d been left to our own organizing.

America’s Switzerland

Karen D1 Comment

After a good night’s sleep and a morning that did not require an alarm, we got our hiking gear together and headed out to our first hiking adventure in Ouray. Called “The Switzerland of America” due to the Alps-like peaks that surround the town, it’s elevation of 7760 meant our first hike of the trip would most likely be a struggle. After a quick stop in the visitor’s center, where we were greeted warmly by knowledgeable staff (and free cookies and sunscreen), we headed out to the Perimeter Trail, which encircles the town. This trail is no gentle hike..it starts out steeply uphill, and we were surprised at how difficult it was…we really felt out of shape, But the views we got of the town as we climbed were simply breath-taking, no pun intended. We made our way to Cascade Falls and stopped for some photos.

View from Perimeter Trail
Cascade Falls

We hopped off the trail and headed into town for some lunch before tackling Box Cañon. We decided to dine outside at Maggies Kitchen,…the burgers were delicious and the staff delightfully entertaining. We found out one of them was from Virginia, so perhaps there was some kindred spirit thing going on!

After lunch we walked through town popping in and out of shops, eventually making our way to Box Cañon. What a site to see! The incredible force of nature on display with a 285 foot waterfall plummeting into a narrow canyon.

We were intrigued by the list posted outside the visitor center of wildlife recently seen…we felt bad for the “lesser chipmunk” (which I think is actually the “least chipmunk”) for its unfortunate name indicating a substandard species!

On our way back to Olathe, we took a side trip to view Mt Sneffels, one of the most photographed sites in Colorado. Words and pictures don’t do it justice, but I’ll leave it at this: wow.

The five of us had joked about giving ourselves trail names, like Appalachian Trail through hikers do. Well, I’m the first to get mine. I’m now called Nature Nerd, and I’m okay with that. As my niece said, it’s good to be a nature nerd because someday, someone’s going to have a specific nature question, and you’ll be able to teach them something. And considering we are striving to learn something new each day of this trip, I might be able o make sure that happens.

Early departure tomorrow….headed to Mesa Verde National Park!

A long travel day

Karen DLeave a comment

The day started early – 3:30 am for me. While I was mostly packed, I still hadn’t decided on which hiking shoes to take, and whether to wear them or pack them. Decided to pack them since I couldn’t fit everything in a carryon and backpack anyway, so why not travel in comfy shoes!

I finished packing everything,made a breakfast sandwich for the road and tiptoed quietly out of the house, so as not to wake my mother, who is dog sitting for me.

My ride arrived on the nose of 4:45 and we were at the gate by 5:35 am. I settled in with a cup of coffee and waited for the rest of the travel team to arrive. Thankfully, we had uneventful flights, not counting the very hard landing in Denver. Gotta give the pilot some slack, though, it’s super hazy due to Canada wildfires. I couldn’t even see the mountains to the west as we left the airport. Eventually they came into view but it was not the typical breathtaking sight I’m used to.

We have a 5 hour drive to our AirBnB in Olathe, so off we go to try to get there before dark. I 70 West through Glenwood Canyon is one of my most favorite parts of the drive, and today did not disappoint.The varying topography and geology is fascinating

We are thrilled to find our AirBnB is even better than the pictures. We have an incredible view of the San Juan mountains from the living room, which is mostly floor to ceiling windows.

We East Coasters are pretty tuckered out, so we head off to sleep pretty early. Tomorrow – a leisurely start and a trip to Ouray.

Road trip!!
There should be mountains straight ahead, but too much of the Canada wildfire particulates obscured the view.
The view from the AirBnB

What to do in Colorado?

Karen DLeave a comment

Thank you Colorado for mailing me all these wonderful brochures and catalogs! There’s one for all the areas of Colorado, complete with a paper road map (remember road maps??!), which I will, in excellent nerd fashion, highlight and add tabs to for ease of navigation. Too much of my dad in me, I guess.

Since we are staying in Olathe, I requested information on Alamosa, Grand Junction, Mesa Verde, and Telluride and all of those tourism bureaus were super quick to respond. PDF catalogs are all well and good, but there’s nothing like having an actual catalog in your hands to peruse and notate on potential sightseeing options. We’ll have to figure out what is achievable from our location, without spending too much time in the car.