a former gymnast with a neverending case of wanderlust
I love my job. But by the end of the semester, I’m usually pretty burned out. Part of it is the workload; toward the end, I spend my weekends grading assignments and writing exams rather than being out in nature. The other contributor is the fact that I’m an introvert, and standing in front of… Continue reading Colorado Day Hikes: Goose Creek Trail
The final day of our Memorial weekend trip was upon us, which meant one thing: whitewater rafting time! We were signed up for a full-day trip on the Arkansas River with Noah’s Ark Rafting. I booked this trip back in January, at which time I debated between Saturday or Sunday and joked that, no matter… Continue reading Rafting the Arkansas River through Browns Canyon National Monument
I’m trying something new this year, which is to do a little less research related to our travels. I’m still doing some; I like to know at least vaguely what’s going on and be educated enough to ensure we aren’t going to find ourselves in a situation we’re not prepared for. But I’m learning it’s… Continue reading Colorado Destinations: Chalk Creek Canyon, St. Elmo, & Salida
Memorial Day weekend in Colorado is a total crapshoot, weather wise. Some years it’s cold and rainy. Some years it’s warm and sunny. Some years it snows. And some years it does all of these things and then some… which, to be honest, is kind of what happened this year. But I digress. Despite the… Continue reading Colorado Destinations: Cottonwood Pass & Buena Vista
Like most Colorado mountain towns, Georgetown and Silver Plume were founded by miners. Georgetown was named after prospector George Griffith, who struck gold in the area in 1859. While this triggered a small gold rush, the gold mining operations in the region were only mildly successful due to the relative lack of gold in the… Continue reading Colorado Destinations: Georgetown-Silver Plume Historic District
Let’s begin by answering the obvious question: it’s pronounced mess-tah-HAY. Mestaa’ėhehe Mountain is named for a Cheyenne woman who was also known as Owl Woman. Owl Woman was married to William Bent, a white settler, trader, and co-founder of Bents Old Fort trading post on the plains of Colorado in the 1800s. Their marriage was… Continue reading Colorado Summits: Mestaa’ėhehe Mountain
I started a new job last August and I love it for many reasons, one of which is my coworkers. I work with wonderful people, including quite a few who like to hike… which means I now have some new hiking buddies! This past April, Pat and I spent a lovely spring Saturday hiking to… Continue reading Colorado Day Hikes: Chicago Lakes (the winter version)
I was sorting through some old posts on here recently and stumbled across this one from a few years ago about my 2010 trip to Colorado National Monument. I imagine many of you can relate to the cringey feeling you get when you read something you wrote so many years ago. And, of course, the… Continue reading Colorado National Monument
Colorado has turned me into a winter person. I swore that would never happen, but it appears I was wrong. Growing up in Montana, I never liked winter. It's cold and dark and lasts way too long. Then I moved to Washington for college and, in addition to cold and dark, winters there are humid… Continue reading Colorado Day Hikes: Butler Gulch
There are numerous canyons extending into the Front Range of the Rockies. Some are the routes for major highways from the plains into the mountains, but others have been set aside for recreation. One of the latter is Eldorado Canyon, located just a few miles south of Boulder, Colorado. It’s a narrow canyon with tall… Continue reading Colorado State Parks: Eldorado Canyon
Handstands Around the World 