Colorado Trip: Crosier Mountain Trail

 From June 2021

Hiking in Rocky Mountain National Park is not dog-friendly, so we stopped at the Visitors Center in Estes Park to get hiking recommendations to include Callie.  One of the recommendations was the Crosier Mountain Trail near Glen Haven, Colorado.  There are a couple of different trailheads for this peak.  We started at the Devil's Gulch Road trailhead:  8 miles in and out and 2116' in elevation gain.

 

It was moderate hiking until the last section when the trail turned very steep.  We passed an older guy from Loveland during the final ascent and later chatted with him at the peak.  He had all kinds of wisdom to share.  One of the things that he told us is that rattlesnakes are not normally found at the elevations present on this trail, but that he almost stepped on a big one near the trailhead the week before.  In his best Clint Eastwood voice, he let us know that he carries a sidearm for varmints and such.  He was kind enough to take our photo.

 

Colorado Trip: Scamping at Olive Ridge

The weather outside is frightful, so we will turn on the time machine for awhile and document last June's trip to Colorado.

After a great time with friends in Fort Collins, we hitched up the Scamp at Boyd Lake State Park and took Hwy 34 to Estes Park before turning south on Hwy 7 to Olive Ridge Campground, located between Allenspark and Meeker Park at highway marker 14.  Elevation is 8350.

This national forest campground did not have electric hookups, water, dump station or Verizon service. There were pit toilets, firewood for sale, a camp host, garbage service, and bear lockers.  Coming in on the dirt road, the reservation loop was to the left, and the first come, first serve sites were to the right.  We arrived mid-morning on Tuesday, June 8th, and had several first come, first serve sites to choose from. The reservation loop was fully booked during our entire stay. By Thursday night, both loops were full for the rest of the weekend.  

Our campsite turned out to be a good choice, and we ended up staying for six days at $17.25/night.  There was enough solar for parts of the day to top off our battery

I would return again because it was an excellent base to explore Rocky Mountain National Park, the Arapaho and Roosevelt National Forests, and Estes Park.  Also, we had a moose visitor just beyond the fire ring.

Morning Hues

Callie would happily go along on Meetup hikes.  Unfortunately, she does not play well with others, and I knew that one of the hikers was bringing a large dog.  

As a compromise (yes, Callie negotiates), we got up early and hiked 2.5 miles in the dark before the sun came up.  

 

This is the intersection of Columbus and Main Street in Lodi.  It's a strange place.  Highway 113 (Main Street) northbound is to the right, while southbound is to the left.  Main Street has the right-of-way and has no stop signs.  Columbus Street ends at Main Street and has a stop sign. There is a slight bend to the left as one moves northbound on Main Street.  

Without explanation, northbound drivers often stop even though there is no stop sign.  This confuses the the drivers on Columbus Street who sometimes then pull out from the stop sign without having the right-of-way.  

To make matters even more confusing, there was a long time tradition in Lodi for southbound drivers to do a U-turn in the middle of the intersection in order to pull around and park on the east side of Main Street.  My coffeeshop customers often did this.  At least one police chief tried to stop the practice, but that did not go over well, so the custom continued.  

Despite all of the confusion, I've never seen an accident here.  People are moving at less than 25 mph, so  traffic manages to sort itself out.

That little pink blast of colors from the sunrise was gone in just a few minutes.  The rest of the day was cold and overcast.  Eight people ventured out for the Meetup hike in Middleton, Wisconsin.  I usually like to hike alone, but I've been forcing myself to get out into more social situations, as it's clear that some of my social skills have deteriorated during the pandemic.  

It was a good small group of mostly older people like myself.  We put in six miles on the paved trail running along Pleasant Branch Creek in Middleton.  Temps were in the low 30's, and the hike took about two hours, including a break at the half-way point.  Rain and Snow is expected for the next three days.

Frozen Trail

I started the morning by baking the sourdough loaf that proofed in the refrigerator overnight.

 

The cold temperatures helped to firm up the muddy area trails.  Gibraltar Rock Natural Area was a good candidate for today's hike.  All of those muddy footprints were frozen in place when I arrived.  I didn't see anyone or any dogs on the hike.  

Callie enjoys the solitude too.

I was going to split wood this afternoon, but I decided to move wood instead to make room for the wood that would "eventually" get split.  

The pallet of wood behind the wheelbarrow has to come out to start the new row.  The row of gray wood to the right also needs to go into the pole shed for final seasoning.  That was my project for this afternoon.  I finished about half.  I'm not sure how much more I will get done this week.  Tomorrow, I'm hiking with the Madison Meetup hiking group, and then we have a few days of rain/snow again.

More Parks Along the Creek

The clouds vacated overnight to leave cold, blue, sunny skies.  Yes, that's an improvement.

After getting Justin up and going, Callie and I walked to town with a mission to take a photo of Veteran's Park, the third of Lodi's parks along Spring Creek.  As I walked down Main Street, I saw a fourth park that I forgot about.  Kinda obvious, really.

It's easy to miss between the Spring Creek restaurant and the Chamber of Commerce's small block building.  This time of year, Spring Creek Park is  barred off to prevent public access.  No, that's not a pandemic thing.  The park only gets used during late spring,summer and early fall.  In the winter, the city doesn't shovel or salt the steps or the platform, so the park is closed. 

For a quarter, a dispenser gives you a handful of shelled corn to feed the ducks.  On the far left center, close to the building, you can see some art created and installed by my friend Dean.  The City wanted something loosely representing cranes.  Sandhill cranes have made a big comeback in this area, although they are more likely seen and heard in the marshes outside of Lodi.  

The final park along Spring Creek is Veteran's Memorial Park.  Before going back to college for his MFA degree, Dean was an Air Force master sergeant.  He designed and installed the Veteran's Memorial Park sign.

Veteran's Park doesn't get much use (except on holidays), but it is the only park in Lodi that has the Ice Age Trail going through it.  Lodi is one of the few Ice Age Trail towns.  The trail runs straight down Main Street.  The Ice Age Trail is a national trail.  Others include the Appalachian Trail, Pacific Crest Trail and the Continental Divide Trail.    Because it passes through lots of private land, many segments of the Ice Age Trail have yet to be completed.

 

This afternoon, I spent a few hours driving Justin back to college and then returning home.  He wanted to watch the NCAA basketball tournament, and his sports cable package in the dorms is much better than our cable package (Hint:  we don't have a cable package). 

Parks Along the Creek

Today was a work day.  I was up early, making coffee and getting the wood stove going.  Justin is at home and doesn't sleep well in his home bed.  At school, he has a special hospital bed with a mattress that moves the pressure around so that he doesn't get bedsores.

Normally, he is a late sleeper, but he wasn't sleeping so I went through the process to get him up as soon as the wood stove fire was stable.  Julia got him showered, and then I got him dressed and transferred to the power chair.  

Callie is carefully tuned into the process.  She jumps up on Justin's bed and lays next to Justin like Justin's service dog used to do.  She knows to stay out of the way of the Hoyer lift and jumps down from the bed just before we finish.  

The sun didn't bother to fight the clouds this morning.  It was overcast and actively snowing during our walk.  Most of the early snow melted last night because the ground was warmer than freezing, but the temps dropped enough overnight that snow was starting to collect at the edges of the road and sidewalks.

Lodi has three city parks along Spring Creek.  Today, I took pictures at Haberman Park and Goeres Park which are next to each other and separated by Fair Street.  

I rarely see anyone at Haberman, except during the summer month(s).  The shelter is used for family outings and for free music concerts.  There are grills and an outdoor fireplace along the creek, but they literally overlook the gas station.  I've never seen anyone using those.  

Across the street is Goeres Park, which is heavily utilized during the summer.  There is a free swimming pool, baseball/softball fields, a playground, and walking paths. In the winter, there is an ice skating and separate outdoor hockey area on the other side of the park.

This afternoon, despite the chilly conditions, I'll be grilling teriyaki chicken breasts and asparagus.  Julia, Justin and Gretchen (Julia's step-mom) are playing cards.  Julia baked brownies for dessert.

Sun Tease

 

At 7 a.m., the sun fought valiantly against the overcast sky which has dominated for four days.  Unfortunately, the clouds won, and we had another day of cold temperatures, drizzle and sleet.  Snow squalls are a possibility tonight, along with wind gusts of up to 50 mph.  You would think that the wind would blow the clouds away, but there seems to be an unlimited supply this week in south-central Wisconsin.

Julia went to early morning boot camp while I slept in and then made spelt berry porridge for her return.  We source the spelt berries from a local farm/grain mill.  Preparation is about 45 minutes, but I much prefer the taste and texture of the spelt over oatmeal.

 

Callie badgered me into a five mile town walk immediately after breakfast.  Our route is getting a little old, so I detoured to the back side of Lodi's Main Street.

The structure over Spring Creek is currently a wine bar but was a popular restaurant when I owned the coffee business. The cooks would regularly come over for quad shots of espresso on their breaks. 

The wine bar owners put in a couple of glass floor tiles that allow customers to see the creek below through the floor.  The owners are getting old, and the building is for sale.  I would imagine it's a bit tricky because no land comes with the building.  No one that I know is quite sure how the original building permit was obtained.   One of my regulars at the coffee shop used to vaguely explain, "It's easier to apologize than to ask for permission." 

Truckin'

 Today, it didn't rain all day.  It rained and then it sleeted for awhile and then it rained.  

Julia and I played pickleball this morning at the Poynette Village Hall.  At 4 o'clock I had a short window of opportunity when it was not raining.  Callie was not amused about having to wait so long for her walk.  How do I know?  She told me in her own way.  She does this "yip, yip, yip" thing when she is impatient.  It started raining about a half mile from the end of the five mile walk, but I didn't get soaked.

 

This photo of me was taken in 2004 as a candid shot by the local newspaper photographer.  I usually ordered eight bags of coffee beans at a time.  Bags weighed in the 130-152 lb range.  The truck driver would double park in front of the shop and hand me the bags which I would run through the coffeeshop to the roasting room in the back.  The first time I tried to carry them over my shoulder.  I got smart and bought that little cart. 

Flying Chaff

Another rainy, cold day.  The area trails were too muddy to be fun, so I walked again into Lodi and then back home again. The ground is still frozen so the water runs off the hills and collects in the ditches.  Just a little bit of snow left, and it isn't pretty.

I ran out of coffee this morning, so coffee roasting was on today's to-do list.  

 

In the commercial roastery, most of the chaff goes up from the roasting drum and through the chimney.  A small amount of chaff enters the air when the beans discharge into the cooling tray.  It's a relatively small amount of chaff because my commercial loads were 20 lbs of beans while my home roasting loads are only a pound.

Roasting in the bread machine is an open-air process, so when the chaff releases from the beans, it all tends to fly into the air. 

Roasting green coffee with a bread machine is as easy as it looks.  The chaff is fully released after about five minutes, more or less.  The beans turn a cinnamon color as they reach what's known as first crack, an audible sound similar to popcorn popping.  Most of my roasts stop just before second crack.  Roasting takes about fifteen minutes and then another four minutes for the beans to completely cool.

High Tech cooling tray

 

Dark roasts are usually taken to after second crack, which sounds like Rice Crispies and milk.  Coffee taken to French Roast is black and oily.  

At my coffee shop, the French Roast was called the BBB Special Blend.  It stood for badly burnt beans.  We still sold a lot of it.  People like what they like.

This isn't a fairy tale

 

It's the first of several consecutive rainy days.  I walked to town with Callie and managed to get to the north end before sprinkles turned into a steady rain. We were both soggy by the time we got back home.  I tried to shake off the rain like Callie does, but with less success.  The house was warm from my early morning wood stove fire, so I settled in for a day of reading.

I have two online newspapers that I read every day:  the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and the New York Times.  I started reading the Milwaukee paper when I was in grade school and had my own paper route in middle school.  Delivery of the Milwaukee paper isn't available in my area. 

Newspapers are dying, and it makes me sad.  Reading a physical newspaper over morning coffee was a great personal pleasure for many years of my life.  The only physical paper available for delivery to me is the Wisconsin State Journal. Annual subscriptions are $268/year.  Over the years, its owners have shrunk the paper, the staff, and the news content, while growing profits.  

After reading the newspapers, I scan my newsfeed via Feedly.   I try to stay away from the news for the rest of the day. 

Most of the books that I read are fiction. I have about ten authors that I regularly follow.  These include C.J. Box, Steve Hamilton, Jonathan Kellerman, and Don Winslow.

I think I found another one to add to the list:  Noah Hawley, author of Anthem. I'm only about half-way through his recent book, but it's one of those rare books that has grabbed my attention.  He captures the conditions for the messed-up world that we live in perhaps better than anyone that I've previously read.  Here's an excerpt:

"...in the Age of Inverted Reality, the-stolen-cookie-that-was-never-stolen is now known as an alternative fact. Proof is irrelevant.  Reality has become a personal choice, denial of reality a weapon.  If a man gives a speech in the rain and later insists that the sun was shining the whole time, and if he then wages war against those who show him photos of the rain, calling them liars, branding them as evil, he is not lying so much as asserting power over truth itself."

The plot, involving a movement of thousands of teens committing suicide after the pandemic, is way out there.  Recommended.  There's a simple message on the back book cover:  "This isn't a fairy tale."

Throwin' Down Wood

I've been sleeping really well since the Daylight Savings' time change.  Several days per week, Julia gets up early at 4:50 a.m. and goes to her morning "Boot Camp" work out at the high school.  When I owned the coffee business, I woke at 4:50 every morning, but that isn't my preference anymore

I heard her get up and forced myself to go back to sleep--probably took less than three seconds.  I didn't wake up until about 6:30.  My first groggy thought was that it was raining.   Nope, she was back and had turned the shower on. 

This morning, I made up a batch of sourdough for baking tomorrow morning and then played a couple of hours of pickleball.  This afternoon, Callie and I hiked Gibraltar Rock.

There were a ton of people at Gibraltar.  Both parking lots were nearly full.  No off-leash dogs though, so it was fun to take Callie along.  On top of the cliffs, I walked by a large family, noticing there was a very special off-trail wheelchair with treads instead of tires.  When I mentioned that I had a son with Duchennes who would love "the nice ride," she let me know that her young son has Beckers muscular dystrophy and that the chair was the result of a lot of fund-raising.  It warms my heart when I see that families of disabled kids go the extra mile for special experiences.  

We didn't have a tank wheelchair for Justin, but he did have a lot of special experiences, including swimming with reef sharks in Bimini for his Make-a-Wish.  And we definitely took his conventional wheelchair to places that took it out of warranty coverage.  These days, we have a hard time getting him out of his dorm room, but that's where his tools are (computer, phone, tv) and where he feels most independent.  Everyone has to hike his own hike.

This afternoon, I spent a couple of hours in my woods, throwin' down wood.  It sounds a lot cooler than it is.  I cut up a fallen oak tree on our property a few days ago.  The rounds are way up the hill.  I threw the rounds down the hill until I could get them close to my woodpile. It's a whole lot easier than using a wheelbarrow. 

The rounds start where I'm taking the photo and are scattered up the hill from where I'm standing.  It only takes a couple of throws for the smaller pieces of wood.  The bigger rounds generally take three throws unless I'm particularly lucky in the way that they bounce down the hill.  Julia has her boot camp.  I have my wood throwing and processing.

While today was beautiful, rain is predicted for the next three days.  When it stops raining on Friday,  I will hand-split the rounds for wood heat during the winter of 2024-25. 

 

Next winter's wood is already in the pole shed.  I've got enough stacked and seasoning for the winter after that. 

Spring Creek: Spring

 

Spring Creek, Lodi, Wisconsin

 

Blogs are supposed to be fun.  I'm going to switch up the style of this blog a little. Shorter posts with more frequency.   The first day of spring seems like a good time for renewal.  

Callie and I took a long walk from home to town today.  This afternoon, Julia and I played pickleball at the high school.  Nine people showed up; this was the first time masks were not required.  

After a cold morning starting out at 27 degrees, the day has turned beautiful, sunny and near 60.  It's been a long winter, and I can start spending some time on the three season porch.