A great thanks to the crew at the Lake City Med Center for fixing up Phil’s tummy problem!  Also, Hara (spelling?), for the ride from the trailhead to town, and Melody for the help in town and getting back to the trailhead tonight. 

3 days to Molas Campground.  Then 3-4 days to Durango.  See you soon!!

We’re pretty much set at this point. We are planning resupply points in Breckenridge, Twin Lakes, Mt. Princeton, Lake City, and Little Molas Campground. Of those, we’re mailing ration boxes to Twin Lakes, Princeton, and Little Molas. The boxes are pretty much packed.

Still settling on a stove. The cat-food can stove is the likely winner, but we need to figure out what quantity of fuel to carry and how to carry it. Seven days worth of denatured alcohol works out to be quite a lot of fuel.

If you are interested in joining us for a day or more somewhere along the trail, use our SPOT map to keep an eye on our location. We’ll hit the OK button each night when we make camp. We won’t be carrying a cell phone on this hike., and planning a meeting point is logistically difficult anyhow given the vagaries of foot travel in the mountains, but you are welcome to try to meet us at the next trailhead. Bring some fresh fruit, please!

Sanitarado, Boulder, CO: 22 Miles
Friday, May 21 – call for time.
What: A one-day run/hike from Mount Sanitas to Eldorado Mountain
Type of event: Mountaineering/running/hiking
Course: Point-to-Point
Elevation: 9750′ ascent
Technical Rating: Class 3
Season: Spring-Fall
Description: A one-day run/hike from Mount Sanitas to Eldorado Mountain, along Boulders front range mountains, including all points between. I will likely go the opposite way: Eldo to Sanitas.
Start: Mount Sanitas TH
1. Mount Sanitas via Sanitas Trail
2. Down Sunshine Valley Trail
3. Through Red Rocks Park, across Canyon to Flagstaff via View Point Trail
4. Up Flagstaff via Flagstaff Mountain Trail
5. Down Range View Trail to Flagstaff Road
6. Up Green via either EM Greenman or Ranger Trail
7. Down Green via Green Bear Trail to Bear Canyon
8. Up Bear Peak via Bear Peak West Ridge Trail
9. Cross to South Boulder Peak via the trail across the saddle
10. Descend Shadow Canyon to the Mesa Trailhead
11. Eldorado Mountain via Rattlesnake Gulch to North Ridge or NE Ridge
12. Descend the same route, follow road back to South Mesa TH

Never Summer Traverse
June ?? – Flexible Date(s)
C-DOT, you’re already signed on for this one!
What: A traverse of all or part of the Never Summer Range
Type of event: Mountaineering/running/hiking
Course: Point-to-Point
Distance:
Elevation:
Technical Rating:
Season: Summer
Description: A 1 to 4 day traverse of the Never Summer Range. Brutal.

Aspen, CO: Four Pass Loop
25.91 mi.
Strenuous
Four 12,000-foot passes, classic alpine views and a rugged loop around Colorado’s most-photographed peaks make this 26.5-mile backpack a Rocky Mountain epic.

Continental Divide Trail: Copper Mountain to Bakerville, CO
66.86 mi.
Strenuous *****
Travel across lush forest, grassy meadows, and exposed alpine slopes to the rocky crown of Grays Peak on this 67-mile section of the Continental Divide Trail.

Fort Collins, CO: Comanche Peak Wilderness Loop
22.26 mi.
Strenuous
Explore remote Rockies scenery and WWII history on this 22-mile hike in the Roosevelt National Forest.
Just north of Rocky Mountain National Park, the 67,500-acre Comanche Peak Wilderness features alpine meadows, rugged cirques, and mountain streams—but not Rocky Mountain’s crowds. And on this strenuous 22.3-mile loop, you’ll get a WWII plane along with your classic Rockies scenery.

Take the Beaver Creek Trail (#942) to Forest Road 142; turn right and follow it to an alternate trailhead at 1.1 miles. Drop to Beaver Creek, then watch for a glimpse of Comanche Reservoir at mile 3. Just past the lake, enter the wilderness and hike through a bluebell-strewn meadow to the Brown Lake trail junction. Head north along Brown Creek; a series of first-come, first-served campsites begins at Timberline Lake.

The next day, veer east on the Flower Trail and scope out views of the Mummy Range to the south en route to the B-17 wreck at mile 10—parts of the engine and wings are still visible from the 1944 crash. Drop to Beaver Park and join the Little Beaver Creek Trail, passing ponderosa pines and aspen groves on the way to a campsite at 16.9 miles. On your last day, take the spur at 17.2 miles to the Fish Creek Trail and follow it back to the Beaver Creek Trailhead.
TO TRAILHEAD: From Fort Collins, take US 287 north, then turn west on CO 14. Go 26 miles to Pingree Park Rd./63E; turn south and go 15.6 miles. Turn right on Forest Rd. 145/Buckhorn Rd. to Tom Bennett Campground; trailhead is 1.4 miles ahead.
Denver, CO: Deer Creek Loop
http://bp2.trimbleoutdoors.com/ViewTrip.aspx?tripId=437099
Miles: 50.00 mi.
Rating: Easy

Colorado Springs, CO: Cooldown
http://bp2.trimbleoutdoors.com/ViewTrip.aspx?tripId=131907
Miles: 34.66 mi.
Rating: Moderate
Cycling?
This hilly tour of Colorado Springs features some great cooldown spots along the way. Ride along the west side of the city with some ‘steepish’ climbs and fast downhills. Stop along the way for some amazing scenery of the city and Garden of the Gods/Pikes Peak. At Old Colorado City stop for some ice cream at the Colorado Creamery. End the ride at one of the only “beaches” that I know of in the Colorado Springs area at Prospect Lake in Memorial Park.

Admission is free, but seating is limited, so attendees are encouraged to come early for a good seat. To see the full schedule of programs in the 2010 Our Wonderful World Adventure Series, pick up a brochure at the library or visit
www.estesvalleylibrary.org.

• Recycle something you wouldn’t usually recycle
• Turn off your computer at night
• Turn off lights when you leave the room (it’s an untrue that it is less energy to turn a light off and back on again than to just leave them on.)
• Cook something today using local, native produce or meat.
• Turn your heat down a click or two.
• Walk, bike, or rollerblade (yes, you should do this!) instead of driving
• Visit your local National Park for free!

Feel free to comment below and add your own ideas!

In addition, many national park concessioners are offering special promotions that are certain to add to your fun.

If you have any suggestions for how we could improve future slideshows, please email us.  Or if you have any questions we didn’t cover last night or just want to go paddling some time, email us at:
philandapryle@elevatedattitude.com

And an update on the salmon provided by Farmed and Dangerous:

Victory! Massive new net-cage salmon farm proposal denied

A proposal by Grieg Seafood to put in a massive new salmon farm along a migratory route at Gunner Point in the northern Georgia Strait has been denied! The Strathcona Regional District’s decision to restrict the proliferation of open net-cages on this important migration route has sent a clear message to industry that closed containment is the only acceptable direction for the aquaculture industry in BC. Read more»

British Columbians set to walk for wild salmon

In the streams and rivers of BC, the wild salmon migration has begun and citizens across the province are gearing up for a migration of their own. Initiated by researcher and wild salmon activist Alexandra Morton, the Get Out Migration will focus on bringing widespread demand for change to open net-cage industrial fish farming out into the open at the same time as our vulnerable wild salmon are migrating to the ocean. Read more»

First Nations group wants net-cage farms out!

Over the past year, CAAR has been travelling in the Fraser and Thompson River Basins, meeting with representatives of a number of Indigenous Nations to share information about the potential danger to out-migrating juvenile salmon as they pass by open net-cage salmon farms in the northern Georgia Strait. We have been well received and heard grave concerns that net-cage farms may be partly responsible for the loss of wild salmon – an essential part of the land and culture. Read more»

Weigh in on international standards for salmon farming

The Salmon Aquaculture Dialogue (SAD), a science-based forum initiated by World Wildlife Fund (WWF) in 2004 to engage NGOs and the world’s largest aquaculture companies, is working to set international standards for salmon farming. CAAR has been actively involved in this multi-stakeholder dialogue to help develop rigorous standards that minimize or eliminate the key environmental and social impacts of salmon farming. Read more»