Gold Hill Trail Run

A week ago I ran in Summit County on the Gold Hill trail, which is between Frisco and Breckenridge, CO on Hwy 9. Portions of this run are also part of the Colorado Trail. I've run on several segments of the Trail, in Summit County and near Durango, and it's all been great.


The mountains in the Google Earth image are those of the Tenmile Range. Breckenridge is off-image to the left, Frisco is on the right. The trail head lies at 9,500 ft and the high point for me was around 12,000 ft. Total run length was just under 12 miles.

This being June, there is still snow at high altitudes, and I ended my run due to time and these piles of snow in the trees covering the trail:


Note to self: shop for Gore-Tex trail shoes.

If you continue on this trail it goes over the Tenmile Range to the Copper Mountain ski resort, a run that I have done before. When I did that longer run, I had planned to run back over the mountain ridge, but while standing on the other side staring back up at the ridge several thousand feet above me (at 4 PM), I opted to run around the mountains on the bike trail instead. Some day I'd like to complete that run as originally envisioned.

Here is a photo taken from the halfway point. If you compare this with the Google Earth image you can see this mountain above and slightly to the right of the yellow line. It's the poetically-named "Peak 2".


I think my aprés-run recovery nutrition was a chicken sandwich and chili at the Wendy's in Frisco. Mmmm. Good chili.

Obama's Silence On The Iranian Election

Even granting my dim view of Obama and his cherished moral code (altruism), I'm surprised he has not said something publicly on what is going on in Iran.

I would have at least expected a wishy-washy pragmatic statement about how we must respect the sovereign rights of those who promote international jihad and wish us death, as do the Iranian hard-liners, thus selling the protesters down river, morally speaking. The fact that he has said nothing is both a moral failure and a political failure.

The moral failure is that Obama does not value the struggle of individuals to throw off the yoke of the state. This I expect, because Obama does not value individual freedom, and therefore does not defend such protesters abroad, or free markets at home. He is an unabashed advocate of the idea that we must subjugate all personal concerns to the greater needs of society. Therefore it is perfectly natural for him to stand by and watch an authoritarian government crush protests and continue its reign of suppression of the individual.

The political failure is that it shows him to be a man of inaction, who if he acts at all, will only do so when goaded into it by public opinion. For this reason, I expect him to issue the above lukewarm statement eventually, only if the degree of public disapproval reaches a certain level.

Either way, this is not the type of man I want leading our country.

Longs Peak Trail Run - "Y Not?"

Due to the slight "Y" shape of the run I usually do on the Longs Peak trail, I'm calling this track "Y Not?", because I like to run both branches of this trail. The trail head lies at 9,400 ft and the high point today was around 12,100 ft. Total run length was a bit under 10 miles. Usually the "Y" at the top is more pronounced because I run farther, but I chose to cut it short due to snow.


This run follows the trail that ultimately leads to the summit of Longs Peak, the most dramatic 14,000 ft peak hike in Colorado's Front Range (it's a terrific, dramatic and satisfying hike). I typically don't go all the way to the top, but instead branch left to Chasm Lake, backtrack and branch right to the Longs Peak Boulder Field. However, this being mid-June, the snow had not yet melted from the trail and I turned back a bit earlier than usual. It's also early in my high country running season and I don't mind working up to it.

Here is the view of Longs that you see on the way up, once you get above the trees:


Here is a photo of the first obstacle, which is just below Chasm Lake. I was not sanguine about crossing this particular snowfield in my running shoes (note the hiker with the ice axe):


Below and to the left is a slide into sharp boulders. Such a fall could mean a mountain rescue, and I'm not going to put myself or others in that position. I own some Kahtoola spikes but I did not bring them this time. The spikes rock; you can go straight up packed snow and ice on them, and even run in them.

The trail above Granite Pass (the right-hand trail branch, which curves around the back to the summit) was also snow-packed. It's hard enough to run above 12,000 feet, on a trail that is basically a rocky 10" to 20"-wide trench worn into the tundra. With soft snow, it's a slippery mess. No thanks! I'd rather not be on crutches next week!

In spite of the clear blue skies you see in the photos, one hour later clouds blew in and it rained (typical), but I made it back to my car before it hit.

I couldn't resist a stop in Boulder's Chautauqua Park after the rain passed and it turned into an absolutely amazing sunny afternoon:


The sun was warm, the colors sharp, the trees and flowers were out in full force. It was one of those perfect afternoons that seem like a gift, where all is right with the world.

Canon SD1200 IS Blurry Images

If I were superstitious, I would stop doing reviews of products.

Twice now I've praised technology products only to have them turn around and bite me for it. First it was the Apple MacBook Pro (MB470LL/A) that can't run Vista effectively even though Apple claims it is supported. Now it's the Canon PowerShot, which -- at least in the particular cameras I have purchased recently -- has lost its sharp image quality.

I've been without a functioning camera for about 1 1/2 frustrating months now. I bought an SD1100 IS last year that worked fine, but unfortunately I left it at a stop on the way to Santa Fe in January, and since I didn't want to be without, I promptly bought another one at a Best Buy on the way.

This second SD1100 began to exhibit problems, so I sent it in for repair. It came back worse! I sent it back with sample photos thinking it had been repaired incorrectly, and they wanted me to pay this time. Instead of spending $90 on a camera that I thought might be a lemon, and wanting to get a working camera in my hands, I spent $170$188* on a brand new SD1200 IS. It was just as bad -- right out of the box! I tried a second one from Wal-Mart because of their lenient return policy. Same problem! Ugh. I still have the same lousy SD1100 and no way to fix it effectively, when new lenses and cameras are just as bad.

At this point I can only conclude that either A) Canon has relaxed its standards or B) they are producing bad lenses and don't realize it yet. I am going to write them with the serial numbers in case they can track down a problem. Until they improve their output I'm not going to buy another PowerShot.

I hope nobody read my praise of these cameras, bought one, and is now having similar trouble. I sympathize! It's been very frustrating.

This seems like further evidence of the economic entropy I wrote about.

Meanwhile, I'm looking at the Panasonic Lumix series, whose images have a different look (more overall noise vs. Canon's emphasis on edge sharpness), however many of the samples I see on Steve's Digicams have good sharpness over the entire image area, which is important to me. Steve's has test images of each camera, which is a huge help in evaluating products in the electronics market segment, where return policies can be tricky or costly due to restocking fees (although I usually avoid merchants that have such fees). Unfortunately, their test images from both the SD1100 and SD1200 are better than what I'm seeing on mine.

UPDATE: Here is a sample to illustrate. These crops were taken from the same photo using a brand-new SD1200 IS (similar but less-pronounced blurriness was present in the second SD1200 I tested). The left side is the center of the photo, the right is the upper right corner of the same photo. It was taken in manual mode without any zoom (i.e. wide angle). Neither portion was magnified or reduced and they are at the original resolution; I simply copied the sections and placed them side by side.



UPDATE 2: Although this is not what I would consider to be a 100% scientific test, both objects were in approximately the same focal plane, and no such discrepancy existed on my older PowerShot cameras. I know this line of cameras and what worked before, and does not work now. Because the phenomenon shifts, and varies in intensity, it's also a bit tough to get consistent tests. For example yesterday I had an image where the top was clear (both background and foreground) but the bottom half was blurry regardless of distance of the object from the camera. Go figure.

One difference in these problem cameras is they all have image stabilization (hence the "IS" in the name). IS compensates for hand movements, and I'm wondering if it's involved. However, I've turned IS off and get the same results. It still could be something loose. No idea. Maybe I'll try to locate an older model PowerShot that does not have IS.

Anyway, I've done about all I can do until I gather my materials and contact Canon.

Meanwhile, caveat emptor.

*Correction: The SD1200 price was $188, not $170.

Barr Camp Run

The Barr Camp is conveniently situated at roughly the midpoint on the trail to the summit of Pikes Peak, at the 6.8 mile mark and at 10,200 feet above sea level. The camp makes a convenient midway point for a run turnaround if you want a bracing half marathon run ;)


And by "bracing", I mean my body usually screams for me to stop for most of the ascent. I don't run this trail all the time like some Manitou and Colorado Springs locals seem to do. On weekends at least, this trail seems to have almost as many runners as hikers, and there are lots of both.

The Barr Trail is also used for the Pikes Peak Marathon and Ascent races, which go all the way to the top. Back when I lived at 500 feet above sea level, I used to regard the Pikes Peak Marathon as the province of raving lunatics. My attitude has changed a bit since running longer distances and having spent some time here. When I summited the peak for the first time I was able to run 23 of the 27 miles (I fast-hiked the section above tree line on the way up).

Because of the incline railroad and automobile access to the summit (a.k.a. "the easy way up"), there's a restaurant and gift shop at the top, which was a blessing on that chilly and foggy day; I had a hot chocolate and a donut before running back down. You don't get that luxury on every mountain top!

The trail itself has plenty of interesting features. The first mile and a half consists of east-facing switchbacks that are somewhat exposed. Even at 9 AM, it gets surprisingly warm, so I usually choose to fast-hike it. For me, it's faster that way. You get nice views of Manitou and Colorado Springs to the east.

Above the switchbacks, the trail levels off a bit and heads west up the valley. This is where you get your first glimpses of Pikes Peak from the trail


along with some nice views left across the canyon. There are some interesting rock formations, and at one point you go through a rock arch made up of large boulders.

Next, the trail passes up through a grove of aspens


and into the high pine forest on rolling ridges. Because you are now at around 9,000 feet, this area is cooler, and catches breezes coming down the valley. At the upper end of this area near the camp, there are the Ridge Flies, as I call them. For some reason, about a half mile before the camp there is an open section that always has non-biting black flies (at least they don't bite me when I'm running). I have no idea what they're doing there but it's the only place on the trail that has them.

Finally, the Barr Camp itself is a set of cabins and camp sites. You can reserve space in the cabin(s) and stay overnight, and there are even meals at certain times. I'm sure you can fill your water bottle or hydration pack, too. I usually just turn around and enjoy the great downhill run on granite sand and pine needles.

Once you're back down, if your feet are hot or feeling beat, you can stop along the creek on the way into town and soak them. At this time of year it is ICE COLD. I could only stand about 3 seconds at a time.

Then it was off to Copper Canyon brewery for lunch, because a nice IPA is my notion of an ideal recovery beverage ;)

There are some other interesting things in Manitou and surrounding areas. But that will have to wait for another post.

Barn Swallow Visitor

One spring evening three years ago, something flew out of the walkway as I entered my front door. At first I thought it was a bat, but I eventually figured out it was a barn swallow that was perching above the door, apparently waiting for stray bugs flying near the front light.


When I'd come home after dusk, it would be there staring down at me, probably wondering if I was going to grab it. I got used to not making sudden movements, so as not to disturb it. It stays for a couple of hours each evening.

Since then, it has appeared each year around the same time, repeating its routine for a couple of weeks. Barn swallows migrate all the way down to South America, and given some animals' ability to return to the exact same spot each year, it makes me wonder if this is the same bird each time. Who knows?

One evening soon, I'll look up and it won't be there, gone for the season.

Run Changed Due To Lions

I arrived at the South Mesa trail head near Boulder after work yesterday around 7:00 PM, planning to run up the Mesa Trail for a while and then circle back down. This photo was taken near the north end of the trail but gives you an idea of the terrain:


A runner who had just gotten back was looking in my direction, and eventually asked something like "Are you planning to run?" It turns out he was at the junction of Mesa and Shadow Canyon trails and was accosted by a couple of juvenile mountain lions. One of them had faced him down, probably out of curiosity and inexperience more than anything, but he repelled it with rocks so it didn't go further than that. Needless to say, he looked a bit... um... stressed by the whole experience.

I thanked him -- a couple of times -- and said I think I'll run South Boulder Creek instead (which is on flat, open farmland a couple of miles away from the mountains). It's not as interesting as Mesa, but I only have to avoid the free-range cows wandering over the trail, which makes for a mildly amusing obstacle course.

As for the lions, I'm all for wildlife that leaves me alone, but I don't take kindly to wildlife that regards me as dinner. It's one reason I tend to favor busy trails, and trails that lack natural cover and are outside the cougar's natural habitat. So far, so good; I have fairly acute sight and hearing and stay very alert when I run, but in three years of solid trail running I haven't seen so much as a paw print.

Then again, a stealth predator that was easily spotted wouldn't be a very good hunter, would it?