Hiking, day 33: Antelope Trail

Another great day on the trail!

Lots of deer on the top of the mountain today!

Hiking, day 32: Antelope Trail

I'm sticking to my favorite local trail for the most part through the pandemic - partly because it's the closest to my house, and partly because it's a small trailhead and thereby limits the amount of people I can come in contact with.

Combining trips today - finally found toilet paper on the way out, and then picked up hand sanitizer from one of our local distilleries, Spirit Hound!

Hiking, day 31: The Hike for Beer, Part II

Each Sunday I'm planning on hiking from my house to our usual Sunday afternoon destination brewery. Here's some shots from today...

A different view of the remains of the Longmont Flour Mill.

Hiking, day 30: Historic East Side

Another, and a bit longer, hike in the neighborhood today now that we're in full shelter-in-place mode.

Empty sidewalks by the park and train tracks.

The former Longmont Presbyterian College building, now apartments, built in 1886.

A carved eagle into the remains of a tree.

Hiking, day 29: Collyer Park

Decided to take it a bit easier today and just did an extended walk around a nearby park.

History of the park.

This is a relatively new art installation in Collyer Park, that looks like a squirrel no matter what direction you're looking at it - at least to me, anyway.

Hiking, day 28: Antelope Trail

I had been planning on going back to Heil Valley Ranch today when I got an email that Hall Ranch had just reopened. I hurried out to Antelope Trail, and ended up being literally the only one on the trail - a first!

A look back at the empty trail head parking lot (other than my car). Usually, this place is so packed I sometimes can't even park and have to go elsewhere!

 

Click above for the full panorama - this is at the top of Antelope Trail where it joins with several of the other trails.

Hiking, day 27: Wapiti Trail

The weather and the trails continue to improve! While we're all dealing with social distancing and stay at home orders, it's still important to get outside and exercise safely. I'm really happy to say that on all of my hiking trips lately, that everyone seems to be taking it seriously and giving each other enough space to pass. Keep it up, Colorado!

I've mentioned it before, but this is still one of my favorite views to photograph, with the Flatirons in the distance.

I was stopping to take a drink of water, and didn't notice right away that I was standing just a few feet away from no less than ten deer!

This creek is usually dry during the winter - it's starting to run again with the snow melt - spring will be here soon!

Hiking, day 26: Rabbit Mountain

The trails are starting to dry out - and one of the first to always reopen is Rabbit Mountain in Lyons, CO.

Hiking, day 25: Hiking for Beer

While we're practicing social distancing, we're still trying to safely support our local businesses. Since today normally would have been our weekly cigar night at one of our favorite local breweries, I decided to walk there and back (as we usually do), but this time with the goal of fitting as many crowlers and bottles in my backpack for the return home.

A view of the Callahan House, one of the large historic houses in West Side Longmont.

A view of the Greenway, still under reconstruction after the floods a few years ago.

Beers!

Hiking, day 24: Kanemoto Park

Since the snow, most of the trails have been closed until they can dry out. So today, I headed over to a part of the Longmont Greenway that I haven't checked out until today. Today's choice was intentional: we were supposed to be flying to Kyoto today, but our trip had to be postponed due to the current health crisis. I'm especially bummed because while 2019 was a rather slow year for traveling for me (and this blog), 2020 had been promising to be much better: Japan, Hawaii, and Australia. At this point, it's looking more and more unlikely that any of these trips will happen...but we can always hope.

Kanemoto Park is named after Japanese family that was historically influential to the city of Longmont. They commissioned this Tower of Compassion for all to enjoy. Each level represents The Meaning of Compassion: Love, Empathy, Understanding, Gratitude of All Things, and Giving Selflessly of Oneself.

One of the small waterfalls along the Greenway.

Hiking, day 23: Before the Snow

In Colorado, we're accustomed to some crazy weather & temperature fluctuations. Today is absolutely beautiful, but we're expecting a couple of inches of snow tomorrow. So here are some photos from the Bitterbrush Trail at Hall Ranch in Lyons, CO.

I'm always amazed to see how much cactus there is in this tiny, different ecosystem in this particular valley.