The Real McCoy
I was certainly impressed with Jeff showing up early this morning
and breaking trail in 6" of fresh snow up the Brook Loop. He was
to start sometime before me (I knew not how early he started). I
started 6 minutes late at 7:06. We were the only cars in the parking
lot.

I was glad for track to follow, but found conditions very slippery,
unlike usual snow conditions. The snow was super light and cold, but
on top of a very warm surface and it was very muddy and slippery
underneath. I wasn't wearing my screw shoes since I wore them the
day before and left them in my truck, so they were still very wet.

I slipped all over the place, but kept running, albeit very slowly.
I'd occasionally look up the trail, but didn't see Jeff, only his
tracks. Just as I crossed the creek at the start of Shadow Canyon,
I spotted Jeff ahead. I caught him at the top of the last significant
hill and we chatted a bit before I went by. I knew if I kept up the
effort, I could break an hour - pitifully slow under usual conditions,
but a decent effort for today's deep snow.

It was now my turn to break trail and it was so beautiful out. A pure
white covering across the trails, trees, mountains. Yesterday I ran 10
miles, 3000 vertical feet and 2.25 hours with Warren. We had fresh tracks
for 80 minutes of that run, but it was only 2-3". Today it was quite a
bit deeper. I slipped and went down hard once, dorking up my left knee
by hyperextending it and bashing my right knee. Dang. My left knee
continued to give me some problems. I did it the day before as well. I
need to stop doing that.

I finished in 58:58 and sat in the truck reading until Jeff got down.
He handed me a CD of Steve Earl and listened on the way to work. Nice
stuff. Jeff was 1:30 or so on the loop and now he's got an official PR
to start whittling down. The snow conditions added nearly 50% to a fast
time. I suspect Jeff can close to an hour with the same effort on dry
trails, but by the time the trails are dry, he'll be fitter and faster.

- posted by Bill Wright @ Monday, January 31, 2005

 
My letter to the Editor of the Boulder Daily Camera newspaper in response to another letter on the topic of Open Space access. This appeared in the paper on 1/6/2005:

---------------------------

I was both pleased and dismayed with Kye Colby's Jan. 4th letter concerning the current Open Space Visitor Management Plan (VMP) debate. I'm pleased that the Camera is providing such a great forum to debate this issue in public. The City Council meetings that I've attended are important forums, mainly to inform and lobby the powers that be, but the public doesn't hear these discussions - at least not much of the public since the seating is limited and the attendance even more so. I suspect this isn't due to lack of interest, but more due to our busy lives. The paper solves this problem nicely as much of the Boulder community peruses the Daily Camera. In this regard the Camera is serving a vital function that benefits everyone in the community. Thanks.

However, the content of Colby’s letter frustrated me. It reminded me of the tortuous City Council session where the public was restricted to just listening and not responding to the outrageous and false claims made by the members of the Open Space Board of Trustees. Here Colby sets up a straw man and then knocks it down.

No one is proposing off trail access in areas with adequate trails. I’m a staunchly pro recreation on our open spaces, but I deplore braided, social trails and so do all the recreationists fighting the new plan. Couching the argument in these terms makes me think Colby is either ignorant or disingenuous. Since he’s an employee of OSMP, I’m forced to conclude the latter and that he is deliberately trying to mislead the public.

Colby asks in the last line of his letter: “Is it really that much of an inconvenience to ask that people stay on the trails and enjoy the vast open space we have by simply being in it?” The answer is an emphatic “Yes, it is too much of an inconvenience!” The reason is that you cannot be “in it” at all. The call for maintaining (remember this isn't a new privilege, but a proposal to further restricting users) off-trail access is specifically for the areas that are designated for no off trail access (50% of the open space land) and that have no trails in them! Hence, the clause for no off trail access in the current VMP is in effect a closure of these open space areas and we cannot be “in it.” With this clarification, wouldn't even Kye Colby be against the no-off-trail-access clause? Keep open space open!

Thanks for the opportunity to express myself,

Bill Wright
1954 Breen Lane
Superior, Colorado 80027
daytime: 303-443-7447 ext. 108
- posted by Bill Wright @ Thursday, January 06, 2005

 
Cold Mountain

When I sent out the email for a run up Bear Peak this morning, the response was underwhelming. Stefan was the only one there, when I showed up embarrassingly late. He is so reliable, so tough, and such a nice guy. It's always a good morning adventuring with him. And this trail run would be a mini-adventure to be sure. It was 2 degrees and snowning, but there was only about two inches of snow on the ground. Unfortunately, it was on top of a lot of ice. We decided to just go for a bit and see how things went. After awhile I said we should go an hour and then turn around. But after an hour, Stefan wanted to continue to the summit (of Bear Peak), which we made after 1h28m. This is probably 4-5 miles and 2700 vertical feet. The descent down Fern Canyon was crazy icy at the top and we had to just bushwhack through the woods for a lot of it. We followed someone's track for the first 4 minutes and then had untracked powder until we finally connected with our ascent route. The entire loop took us 2h17m and when we finished it was a balmy 5 degrees! I ran the entire way in my down jacket! Yes, at times I was slightly warm, but when it is 2 degrees out that is a problem I can deal with. Stefan is such a great motivator. I know he will ALWAYS be there and never want to turn back until the deed it done. We didn't go hard and chatted the entire way. Pure fun. No injuries, except to Stefan's Yak Trax, which he destroyed in his first run. I did the same to mine (the beefier version at that) after only 4 or 5 run last year. These don't hold up well to the rocky trails leading to the summits. Now we could run on the flat trails, but what would the point of that be? I mean, no summits??? Do people really do that?

Bill
- posted by Bill Wright @ Wednesday, January 05, 2005