A hidden-in-plain-sight treasure

I've known since first seeing Altamira Apartments (my humble abode) that Bear Creek Park lay just behind it. I'd explored the dog park and the creek itself a bit, but had never entered the actual park part until this week. I immediately fell in love with it! It's such a beautiful area and it is literally in my back yard! I leave the back side of my apartment building and walk down Lower Gold Camp road less than half a mile, and I come across this!
After walking down the driveway into the nature centre building, there is a map that shows all the trails that reside inside the park. The first leads through a small forested area and runs along lovely and bubbling Bear Creek. Then the trail splits and turns into Coyote Gulch loop (which I think is my favorite part!), and then into Mountain Scrub loop, then leads back to the trees and creek and takes you through a lovely trail called Birdsong which provides facts and pictures of all the birds and animals you are likely to come across on the trails, as well as their tracks. A wonderful touch!

This is why Coyote Gulch is my favorite part of the trail: The views are incredible!

The wildflowers were in beautiful bloom as I walked the trail for the first time. I like this picture! :)

On my way out of the trail, I ran into 3 deer! In this shot, if you look carefully, you'll see a doe and her tiny baby that still has its spots!

Another deer was very patient with me and let me get very close. I sat in the grass and watched her for a long time before it hit me to take a video.

Later that day the skies shook with a powerful thunderstorm. The thunder was so loud it made my kitchen table and everything on it vibrate. The video doesn't do it justice, but you can hear the loud cracks of thunder. Enjoy!

Fajita night and Pancake Rocks!

A few weeks ago I had Abby and Sarafia over for dinner that we all helped make. We had some delicious spaghetti and garlic bread made even better by good company.
We had such a great time that we wanted to do it again, and this time we wanted our friend Megan to join in the fun! So we gathered at her adorable cabin home in Manitou Springs one evening and together we all made fajitas!

Megan had even hand-zested and juiced 10 limes so we could have authentic margaritas with dinner! And here is our lovely spread! Spiced steak, chicken, and veggies. We also had some delicious guacamole to start.

We finished the evening with a movie and conversation. Definitely a good time, any suggestions for what we should cook next? :)

Now on to my latest hiking adventure! I last hiked Horsetheif trail to the falls at the end, but that trail splits in the middle: One way is to the falls, the other is 2 more miles up to Pancake Rocks. A few of my coworkers and I all had the day off, and so we decided it would be a great day to hike up to see the Pancake Rocks. Sarafia's mom had warned her it was a rather strenuous hike, mostly uphill, but I figured since I had survived Section 16, it couldn't be that bad. It was hard, but fun with the company of Sarafia, Joey, and Jeremiah. It took us about 3 hours to reach the rocks, where we'd planned to eat the picnic we'd brought along. Jeremiah, by the way, is pretty much Bear Grylls without the British Military training. He pointed out wild strawberries that grew along the sides of the trail that we sampled (delicious!), as well as wild onion plants (taste like chives!).

Unfortunately, the clouds chose that moment to erupt on top of us, and suddenly we found ourselves in the midst of a monsoon...on top of a mountain. Luckily, Joey and 'Fia had seen a cave, so we all ran for it and had our picnic lunch in the cave while the rain formed tiny waterfalls all around us.

We ate our lunch and tried to wait out the rain, but after an hour, we realized we were just going to have to suck it up and hike back in the rain if we wanted to get back before it got dark. As you can imagine, rain falling on top of a mountain is COLD RAIN. I couldn't feel my hands for the better part of an hour, but finally the rain let up, and we all began to defrost. The hike was hard, but lots of fun! I hope to go back to the pancake rocks in better weather, so that I can stay a while and explore the area. The hike up to the rocks is beautiful and surreal, surrounded by bending aspens and towering evergreens. It's a high altitude climb, I'd guess we were close to 11,000 feet at the top, and the views were astounding. Thanks for a great climb, guys!

Ute Fall, Horsethief Falls, and near falls of my own.

So it's 97 degrees in the shade in a desert climate and you're about to leave work and the only air conditioned environment you have (besides your car): What do you do?

Hike a trail of course!

No, I'm not crazy, I'm a Colorado resident, and that's what we do...apparently. When the going gets tough, the tough climb a mountain!...and realize whatever they were doing before wasn't tough AT ALL.

Luckily, this trail promised to end in a waterfall, so if we all ended up over heated, there was always the option of jumping in some freezing mountain stream. Bonus.

The trail we (me, Sarafia, Megan, and Megan's dog!) picked is called Horsethief Trail, and the falls appropriately matched as Horsethief Falls. The trailhead was up in the mountains, about a 40 minute drive away. By the time we got there, it had dropped at least 20 degrees, making it perfect hiking weather. Hooray for altitude!

We parked and got out in front of this huge tunnel. What a cool trailhead!! ...But it wasn't the trailhead. Aw.

THIS is the trailhead. Looks much more like...well...like a trailhead. Dirt, gravel, and uphill. In fact, the first half of this trail was mostly uphill. Boo for altitude. :)
I liked Megan's dog. She's an Australian Sheppard, full of energy and goes directly to water wherever she finds it. We got along great. :)

After hiking through the rain, the sun, thunder, trees, hills, campsites, an college survival classes (no joke), we found the falls at last. One part looked like a giant water slide...I was tempted, but the rocks at the bottom didn't look like they'd be much fun to land on. :) But if you know anything about me, you'll know that when I meet a waterfall, I will try my best to climb and conquer it.

Horsethief Falls was no exception. :)

As we left the trail the rain that had followed us began to move off into the distance. The clouds cleared, and we saw the beautiful silhouette of the Rocky Mountains to the northwest.

On the way back, Sarafia took us through a tiny old town called Cripple Creek. It once was a booming mining town, and now is full of Casinos and free range donkeys. Not even kidding, the donkeys walk freely around the town, so watch where you step. ;)

We ended our evening at an Italian restaurant by Megan's house in Manitou Springs, then retired back to her place to have some of Megan's fiance's homemade beer and some laughs. All in all, not a bad way to beat the heat!

I had to include this picture because it was so flipping cute. One of my fellow Shift Supervisor's at Starbucks is quite handy at making little pictures in the foam made when we steam the milk for drinks. I asked for a hot chocolate to take on my break with me, and he handed me back this lovely piece of art-in-a-mug.

And look at it's staying power! The heart was still there even after I drank all the hot chocolate!

The title of this blog promised more than one Falls, and I shall deliver! After hearing about the adventure Abby and I went on behind Ute Falls, Sarafia wanted to see it for herself, so I went back with her one day before work. We walked the trail all along the creek up to the Falls, and did our best to stay dry. Here's one of my death defying jumps along the way. :)

And once we made it to the Falls in one piece, I decided the pictures behind the falls didn't do it justice, so I took a video of the journey behind Ute Falls. Enjoy!

There is also a video of the journey up to Horsethief Falls.

And here's Horsethief Falls!

And as a preview of what I'm sure will be many blogs to come about my adventures in Boulder for the show I'm in called Colorado Children with Imagination Makers Theatre Company, here is a video I took so I'd know what kind of shoes to look for to complete my costume. Of course they do provide the costumes, but of course it is very challenging to provide footwear for a 6'3 female with size 12 feet...to say the least, so they've asked me to search the resale shops for something suitable. In order to best match the styles the other actors will be wearing, I took a video of the pile of shoes to remember what they looked like. One of my fellow actors was kind enough to narrate it with me. :)

Red White and Married

Over the 4th of July weekend my sister Katie married Rob Sowder effectively leaving me the last remaining Battern daughter. While I am completely aware of the enormous responsibility of that fact, I have to admit, they know how to throw a good party. And that leads me to my next staggering duty: finding a way to somehow throw a better one. Let me show you what I'm up against:

The groom and his groomsmen waiting at the alter for the show to begin.

First up: me. Katie had 2 bridesmaids: My sister Jane and I. I was the maid of honor, and because Jane is married, she was the matron of honor. See what she did there? Clever girl, that Katie.

Jane Janicki, the matron of honor.

Here comes the bride: Dad walks Katie down the aisle.

Katie and Rob saying the vows they each wrote for one another.

Since the ceremony was outside, Katie and Rob poured two vials of sand together to create one large vase of sand in lieu of lighting a Unity candle, since the breeze would most likely have just blown the flames out. I sang twice in the ceremony, and during the sand-pouring I sang "When You Say Nothing At All".

After being pronounced man and wife, Katie and Rob began their processional down the aisle as Mr. and Mrs. Sowder, and I sang "At Last".

The ceremony itself was lovely, of course. The weather was perfect, the pavilion was charming, all in all a successful wedding. The real problem here, people, is the reception. Held at Arlington Racetrack, the dinner and dancing was to be held in the Governor's Room which is a beautiful room with a wall of windows that face and overlook the entire racetrack and the beautiful lake and landscape in the center of the track. It also comes complete with a wrap around balcony that boasted chairs, tables, and the best view in the park. To make matters worse the food was delicious and the drinks were free. Now you can begin to see what I'm up against, can't you?

After dinner and desert had been cleared away and the speeches delivered, the dancing began.


This of course is the obligatory 'first dance' for Katie and Rob, set to "Smile" by Uncle Kracker.

Then the Father-Daughter dance in which Katie cleverly started playing a sappy cliched song, but then the DJ mixed into one of Dad's favorite: "Walk of Life"

Then, the coup de gras. Being that she was married on July 3rd, the park had scheduled a firework display that evening once all the racing had finished and the sun had set. After dancing and talking with family and friends for a few hours, we all made our way outside to get a good spot to view the show. We all look around and begin to notice a couple of important people have vanished. Katie and Rob are no where to be found. Suddenly, the huge three story jumbo-tron screen down on the racetrack flickers on, and who should be on it but Katie and Rob, smiling up at us. And if that wasn't enough, Katie has changed into a different gown. She is now sporting a sequined version of the American flag, and Rob's tie is decidedly more patriotic than the ivory one he'd worn to the wedding.

They are introduced to the thousands who are in attendance at the park that day, and invited to start the fireworks show by pushing down on a giant lever. The crowd erupted into cheers and the sky erupted into colors.

So, to sum up, a wedding on a lovely day, at an amazing horse race park where guests were invited (encouraged!) to bet on the races, giving everyone the chance to yell at the horses and increase their fun-having quota exponentially, great food, free drinks, two dresses, an appearance on a JUMBO-TRON, fireworks, dancing, and great music. Not gonna be easy to top.

I have to call Siegfried and Roy.

All jokes aside, it was an amazing day full of so much fun and great times with friends and family. Thank you to Katie and Rob for showing us all the time of our lives, and congratulations! Have a great time in Ireland!

Father Daughter Dance

Mr. and Mrs. Sowder

More from Pike's Peak

I realized I had neglected to upload the video Sarafia and I took while on the top of Pike's Peak, so I apologize for robbing you all of this comic moment in history. Enjoy.

Pikes Peak or Bust

I've been having loads of fun with friends and the sun lately, since the weather here has been incredible! Lots of sun and pool fun with Abby and Sarafia. I had them over one night for some pool fun followed by a lovely spaghetti dinner and a movie. Abby made the spaghetti, I made the garlic bread (and burned some of it....but I ate the burned pieces!) and Sarafia made the lemonade.

Sarafia and Abby in my kitchen. :)

A couple days after that, Abby left for her home state of Michigan to have a small vacation with her family. She'll be gone for almost 2 weeks and I miss her terribly already!

On a whim, I called up Sarafia to ask if she'd want to make the drive up to the summit of Pike's Peak with me. Originally, I'd wanted to see the Peak for the first time after I'd hiked the Barr Trail that leads up to the top, but realistically that will take quite some time to get me physically ready for such a task. Also, my curiosity was quickly peaked when I spied a small light on the very top of the mountain early one morning when I was opening Starbucks. It glinted so close to the sky it nearly blended in with the stars that still shone, and I immediately wanted to know what and who was up on top of that mountain at 4am.

So the following day, Saturday, Sarafia and I headed to Pike's Peak Tollway as soon as she left work. Not gonna lie, I was nervous about the drive. I'd heard rumors about the hairpin switchbacks and the narrow gravel roads with no guard rails. I'd never driven in such an environment, and as far as I know, neither had Sarafia. Since she has a 4-wheel drive vehicle and I have a 1999 Toyota Corolla, we decided it would be best if she drove, just in case. So off we went, Pike's Peak or Bust.

About halfway up the mountain lies Crystal Lake Reservoir. It's as clear as its name says it is, and as cold as you'd expect a water source halfway up a mountain to be! It's a beautiful Lake and lots of Colorado folk drive up there to fish or hang out on its small but lovely beaches. Sarafia and I stopped to look around and take some pictures.

As most of you know, I can't resist the water. So Sarafia and I made our way down to the lake and took off our shoes to dip our toes in the frigid and crystal clear water. As we watched the minnows play in the sand and mud stirred up by our feet, we suddenly heard a very small and very scared cry behind us. A small girl was running along the beach crying. She was obviously lost, and crying for her mother. Sarafia, maternal heart that she is ;), jumped immediately out of the water and towards the crying girl, completely forgetting about her shoes and socks. I watched, bemused, as she comforted the girl, stopped her crying, won her trust, took her hand, and lead her back towards the Reservoir gift shop and snack bar all in about 3 minutes. I simply picked up her shoes and followed.

After letting the woman in the gift shop know that we had found a lost child, we looked around the parking lot and area and the little girl pointed out her family's car, so at least we knew they were still in the park somewhere. We decided to sit and wait outside the gift shop for the girl's family. She'd finally told us (told Sarafia, who she refused to let go of :) ) her name, and we sat and listened, thinking we'd see her family searching or at least hear them calling for her. We waited and waiting without seeing or hearing anyone. I eventually started to get a little ticked off. I mean, if YOU had lost a four year old child next to a RESERVOIR on the top of a MOUNTAIN, wouldn't you be a little frantic? Eventually, after her family could not be located, the woman running the gift shop called in a Ranger who came and sat with us for a little bit, gathering information from the girl. He then left her in our care once again as he went to search the trails for her family.

He came back about 10 minutes later with a man (who barely looked to be in his 20's) and a little boy. They collected the little girl with nothing more than an embarrassed 'thank you' and a tiny nod. Really? You lost your little 4 year old girl on a MOUNTAIN and all you can do is look embarrassed when you find her safe?? How about relieved, grateful, happy, that we found your child and not a pedophile, or a mountain lion? Needless to say, Sarafia and I were a bit frustrated with the situation as we left to continue our journey up the mountain. But continue we did, and the amazing views soon wiped away our lingering annoyance, and replaced it with awe.

The last checkpoint before you begin to rapidly gain altitude and you enter the "Alpine Zone".

The views over the side of the road begin to get more and more heart stopping!

Finally, after about a 40 minute drive, we arrived at the summit! And it was FREEZING up there! A couple of Asian tourists took this picture for us, so sorry that it's off center. Then they asked if I'd be in their picture, so of course I said Sure! and climbed back up into the picture, so somewhere on some Japanese facebook there's a picture of me. Heh.

Sarafia made a friend and the Summit snack shop/gift shop/Cog Railway Station.

This is the monument built to honor Katherine Bates. After her first trip up to Pike's Peak, she was so inspired by the amazing views that she went home and penned the poem that would become the patriotic tune we all know and love: America the Beautiful.

And after seeing the views from the top myself, I certainly can see where she got her inspiration.

That dirt edge you see at the bottom of this picture, is the edge of the ROAD. Yes, quite unnerving. But the views are great!

Views from the Peak.

So I've heard a lot about a creature called a "Yellow-bellied Marmot"since I've come to Colorado. Apparently they live in very high altitudes. I'd yet to have come across one, until driving back down Pike's Peak Tollway, when I saw not one, but TWO of the critters! We managed to snap a picture of one, it looks like a mixture between a groundhog and a beaver.

We stopped at the Inn that marks the halfway point up the mountain, or the area before you enter the Alpine Zone, or just after you leave the Alpine Zone depending on which direction you're traveling. The cafe inside was right up my alley, and my parent's alleys as well, so I took a picture. If you know my family, you'll see why it made me think of them. :) And then there was a large bear...with an even larger bear butt. So of course we took a picture. And no, the bear isn't real. It's stuffed. :)

So Sarafia and I made it back down the mountain safely, and about an hour later my ears finally popped and I could hear again. :) A great trip, and an experience I whole-heartedly recommend to all who travel to Colorado Springs for a visit. The views are legendary and indescribable (to all of us who are not Katherine Bates), and I can't wait to summit another fourteener, as the native mountaineers say. :)

Stay tuned, more adventures to come!

Manitou Adventure

An outing with Abby is always an adventure, but this hike would turn out more adventurous than either of us had counted on! I had read about the old Manitou railway hike on www.localhikes.com (of course) and wanted to hike it as soon as possible! The trail was unique in that it lead you through 6 tunnels that were carved out of the mountain almost 200 years ago for a railroad. While the railroad is long gone, the tunnels and the trail still remain, and it sounded like a good time to me! Abby agreed, and we met up in the early afternoon and set off on our Manitou Railway adventure!

Here we are up the trail; which starts just behind a guardrail on highway 24, west of Manitou and near Waldo Canyon.
For the first half mile or so, the trail winds along above the highway.

The rock ledges and cliffs are quite lovely on the way up the trail. :)

And then, seemingly out of nowhere, the first of the tunnels appears in the rock wall. Of course Abby and I both immediately scramble for our cameras. :)

The first 3 tunnels are pretty short, and you're able to see light immediately. The fourth tunnel is longer and requires a good flashlight to navigate safely. The tunnels were fun and full of echoes, old fire pits, and lots of surprises along the way.

One of the shorter tunnels.
The views coming out of the tunnels were amazing! Especially exiting the first tunnel, it was like entering another world! You hear the traffic from the highway behind you, but as soon as you emerge from the first tunnel all you hear is nature an all you see is beautiful cliffsides!

The third tunnel leads almost immediately into the fourth and darkest tunnel on the trail.

The longest tunnel lead into pitch blackness. Eerie, isn't it? :)

But we eventually found the light at the end of the tunnel. *snicker*

We did leave the trail at one point to explore another side trail we found, and we ended up being trespassers. Whoops! :) But we eventually found our way back to the trail and back into the tunnels.

The last tunnel was neat because it still had the original wooden support beams that the trains would have passed through.

The website did warn that the trail ended halfway through this tunnel when you reached a cinder block gate. Beyond the gate was private property, and you weren't supposed to pass it.

There was quite a surprise waiting for Abby and I at the gate, however, and I must admit it made us feel right at home. :)

Needs some work, but it could be a great location? Haha. We laughed hard when we found this!

Knowing Abby's love for trespassing (just kidding, friend! ;) ), I wasn't surprised when she passed through the gate anyway and headed up the tunnel for a few more feet. There were a lot of interesting things to be found in the dark tunnel, ancient bath tubs, this old fashioned cement mixer/pourer...

Lots of interesting things. But the real adventure started when we turned around and made our way out of the trail and back to my car.

The website I find my hiking trails on is great for a lot of reasons, but one of my favorite things about it is that it allows for anonymous reviews of every hike. It's nice to be able to read what all the hikers that went before you had to say about the experience. They leave great tips about easy ways to follow the trail, what conditions to expect, landmarks not to miss, and in the case of this trail, dangerous places to watch out for on the trail. I had read on review that warned of an area that had been seriously washed out and had left little to no path. It was only a very small part of the trail, maybe about a five foot patch. I recognized it as the place I'd read about as soon as Abby and I came across it the first time. The trail was almost completely washed vertical in one area, and the entire cliffside was made of nothing but perilously slippery gravel pieces. The shelf we were hiking on was pretty darn steep in that area, and falling off of the trail would leave you sliding down gravel covered side of the mountain for probably a good 200 feet before the ground would stop you, and by then you'd be sliced to ribbons by all the tiny granite gravel pieces and tree roots you'd hit on the way down, not to mention bones that would probably break when you finally hit level ground.

All around, not a good scenario.

We managed a clean crossing on the way in, me being much more nervous about it than Abby (as usual ;) ), but it was a different story on the way out. As soon as we came around the curve in the trail and saw the washed out part of the trail ahead, I slowed down and said: "Uh-oh, here's the part I don't like again."

No sooner had these words left my mouth than the gravel shifted out from under Abby's feet, and down the side of the cliff she went. I was stunned for a second, and stood paralyzed as I watched Abby fall and begin to slide down the side of the mountain. I'm pretty sure I yelled her name, and all I remember Abby doing is putting her feet out to try and slow herself, and yelling "Catch me, catch me, catch me!"

Which is exactly what I did. I saw a tree root sticking out of the side of the cliff next to me, grabbed it with one hand while I slid down the sharp gravel to catch Abby with my other hand. Thank goodness for that tree root, because without it I have do doubt Abby and I both would have taken off down the slippery cliffside. There was almost no way to gain any kind of purchase in the gravel, but I dug y shoes in as best I could and clung to the tree root as Abby began to pull herself back up by the arm I was clinging to.

Now, you'd think this sounded like a pretty desperate situation, right? I suppose it was, but all Abby and I could do was laugh as we tried to fight our way back up onto a solid footing. At one point I actually had to say "Stop laughing! You can't pull yourself up if you're laughing!" Which is true, since for some unknown scientific reason, you lose all strength in your muscles when you go into a laughing fit.

Anyway, she pulled herself to safety, and using the root, I pulled MYself to safety, and then we proceeded to hang onto an outcropping of shrubbery and laugh until we couldn't laugh anymore. After getting a hold of ourselves and removing ourselves from the dangerous area, we finally lost the adrenaline and giggles, and began to take stock of ourselves. Abby's arms were pretty cut up, and I looked down to discover blood dripping down my leg. None of this was surprising considering the sharp gravel we'd both taken a dive it, and I affectionately named it my "Indiana Jones wound" since I felt like an action movie hero for those few moments when I had reached out and snagged Abby's arm.

She even took a picture of it. This blog is privy to more wounds than it should be.

Well, after that ending to our Manitou Railroad trail adventure, Abby wasn't super keen to continue adventuring like we'd planned. I was going to take her to Ute Falls, or Graffiti falls. You should recognize that name from an earlier blog. Abby'd never seen the falls, and I'd never been behind the falls, so we'd planned to see it after finishing the tunnel trail. It was a warm day, so I thought it would be fun to walk into the stream and see the cave behind the falls.

Being the hardcore girl that she is, Abby put aside her near death experience and we made our way up to the falls.

Remember how amazing the falls are from in front?

Well they are a MILLION times cooler from INSIDE!

The water was a little cold, as mountain streams are made mostly from snow melt from the peaks, but it felt wonderful after two hikes, and it was so much fun to see the 'inner workings' of the falls! The cave under the falls is quite large, and full of other tiny waterfalls and interesting rock formations. The water from the main falls is falling HARD and FAST, and hurts if you get caught under it, but there is a big enough opening close to the cave walls that you can sneak by without getting pummeled by thousands of gallons of falling water.

The experience behind the falls filled our adventurous spirits back up and we were both happy that we'd gone, despite our already trying day. :)

This lion on the wall of the falls represents Abby's courage and determination to adventure through adversity (and the tiredness of pregnancy! ;) ). She's an awesome hiking partner and I'll take her on every trail I can get her on before her due date looms too closely! :)

Hope you're all having a wonderful week! Stay tuned, more to come!