Mount Falcon Snow And Sun

I wasn't really expecting much of my outing on Sunday; I anticipated a cool, quick run where I'd spend as little time out as possible, and then hope my heated car seat would bring me back up to temp. Snow storm clouds were swirling above Mount Falcon as I got my gear together in the windy, cold parking lot.

That said, I've also experienced a slight shift in my attitude towards "bad" weather days. I used to think of them as sort of a negative unknown, but through experience they are now becoming an experiment... or a challenge... or an opportunity to learn or see something new. My negative emotions have not quite caught up with my newfound interest, but they will. So I had a bit of a sense of anticipation, in addition to bracing myself against discomfort.

This was the scene a few hundred feet up, with snow falling over the hogback:


It was chilly, windy and gloomy on the way up. My quads were still running on empty after my ski/run day on Saturday, and the 1,900 feet of climbing was a chore. The farther I went, the less energy I had and my legs seemed to require proportionally more and more oxygen to maintain my pace. After two miles, I was already running low. At mile 3.5 is a high point, and the trees below, that are remnants of a forest fire. Still gloomy. But at least there's a short downhill after this.


A ceiling of grey hung over the mountains, with tendrils of snow showers reaching down. I included this picture for a reason; notice the gap underneath, to the west, where the sky is clear.


Five minutes later, the setting sun dropped below that grey layer of clouds, and beamed, unobstructed, onto the mountainside.


Behind me, the blue-grey of a stormy sky contrasted brilliantly with sunlit trees. The entire sky was now a play of light and dark.


The light was almost dream-like, with a heavenly glow from the west, and disturbed skies elsewhere. You can see a couple of tiny snowflakes flying, but the sunlight momentarily took the chill out of the air.


The sun lit up the falling snow from behind, like some sort of curvy, late afternoon aurora.


Another view to the southwest again, with the snowfall lit up. I could see it swirling around, moving and changing:


A lone tree looked like it just withstood a bomb blast, with smoke still rising:


At this point I'm running back downhill in a race with the coming darkness, but I just have to stop every 200 feet and take a picture. Every direction is different, and the light is changing fast as the sun starts sinking below the horizon. There's only a few minutes of daylight left now.


The view below looks east, in a similar direction to the first image, with the snow intensifying on the plains. I didn't touch the color on this image; the grass is so yellow because the sky above was glowing, and possibly because the camera is picking up on the blue component and shifting the white balance a bit.


Mount Morrison is just barely visible above the trees:


And then the sun is all but gone. It was a mere 18 minutes between when the sun first shined through and when it set. I count 82 pictures shot in that time frame. I always say some of the best sights are right after a storm. Or, during a break in one.


The temperature was noticeably lower in the shadows, so I was now shifting my fingers around to keep them warm, and feeling the chill. I emptied the once-warm water from my bottle, because I realized it was cooling my hands. My camera was ice-cold so I stowed it in a pocket, and put on my windproof shell. While I was stopped I got out my headlamp and put it on, and then hastily headed for the parking lot 3 miles downhill.

I opted for the multi-use Castle Trail rather than hiker-only Turkey Trot on the way down, because it's more open and less creepy when the light is dim. The last 25 minutes I ran mostly by headlamp, and my pace slowed to about half the usual. It was dark when I got to my car.

And all of this is an example of why I'm starting to have a new appreciation for "bad" weather. You just never know what you might experience.

Total distance was 9.29 miles, time was 2:26, gain/loss 1,972 feet. This run included a trip up the side trail to the Western White House ruins, and lots of time stopped in awe or swapping clothing. I still haven't found the ideal cold-weather setup that involves minimal changes during a run.

I Needed A Face Mask

This morning the temp was 25 degrees, and a solid wind was hitting me during my run, resulting in my coldest outing this season. I kept having to stop to warm my hands, and covered my face every so often as I ran to let it warm up. It's time to look into a suitable face mask for running, as I think my ski mask is overkill.

1,000 Miles

I just barely ticked over one thousand miles for the year this morning. Woo-hoo! This may not be a lot for some runners, but it is for me.

My mileage per run is often low, so this is mainly the result of running more often during the last part of the year. The chart below reflects monthly data for as long as I've been recording with GPS. The last 3 months are all 26+ days of running:


I'm also not taking part of the winter off this year like I usually do. The big trick is going to be skiing and running, because after skiing Saturday, I still have no energy in the quads. This morning's token 4-miler up the neighborhood hill was positively groan-worthy. Not fun. But there's a little ridge at the beginning of the open space that affords the first open view to the west, and I decided to at least get to that point.


The run was just under 4 miles, time 37:57, and a gain/loss of 462 feet. That's actually not a bad time; probably because I only stopped twice for pictures and was trying to get back home for work :) It was 25 degrees out, 20 degrees with wind chill. Frosty and cold; my face and arms felt it today, and I had to work to keep the fingers warm. Feet are still fine.

Winter Park Day

Saturday's main source of fun was Mary Jane/Winter Park ski area. The weather was stellar; although the start of the day was finger-numbing cold in the morning shadows, it quickly turned to a day of warm sun.

The prior day I had picked up the Marmot Up Track jacket at REI. I wasn't even looking for anything like it, but it fit well and looked nice, and I figured it would be good for ski days when it was not bitter cold, or for snowshoeing or hiking. It's a knit -- i.e. fine-pored -- medium-weight soft shell with a fleeced inner surface, so it provides a bit more warmth than just a thin shell. Saturday I wore it with a skin-tight base layer and medium-weight thermal layer, and by mid-day it was too much for the 20-35 degree temps (20 at the top or in shadows, 35 at the base) plus sunshine.

The drive up was early, to avoid the worst of the ski traffic. And when I say "ski traffic", I mean not merely the quantity, but the quality. People speed and drive so close to each other; didn't anyone take physics in school?

Although this was not a powder day, there were powder remnants. The surface was easy to get an edge into, and provided enough friction so that control in most moguls was easy. I think this shot is looking down Drunken Frenchman:


I spent the day skiing bumps (not the really tight, small ones, but wide blacks down to blues), and spent very little time on flat snow. I started out at Mary Jane, and there were lots of fun rough areas around the edges and in between runs. The insides of my skis got hacked up a bit due to my loose footwork and trying to use 105 mm-wide skis in bumps.

At one point I tried descending under the Super Gauge lift, but it was way rocky, so I veered right and onto Sleeper, hitting some totally ungroomed, sapling-ridden powder bumps along the way. In the shadows I didn't realize I was skiing off a pillow of snow sitting on top of a boulder until it was too late, but luckily it was only a two-foot drop. That section was BLAST but after skiing it twice, I decided I was living on borrowed time and should stop before I tagged a stump or a hidden rock and ended my season early.

After lunch I moved over to the Winter Park side and skied under Prospector and Eskimo. Over 'n Underwood was excellent. The snow was cut up so that you could slide and carve at will over bumps and ridges. Great stuff. This is the view of the green runs from the Snoasis lodge as I was re-hydrating, enjoying the amazing weather:


As usual, I took too many pictures of Parry Peak, but it's the guardian of Mary Jane, standing watch all day long. It's a really distinctive-looking mountain and it's always visible across the valley. I really need to hike/run it some time.


On the far left is the summit of James Peak, which I approached from the opposite side during a snowshoe outing.

I got my first taste of after-ski traffic this season by waiting too long to leave for home (but... I was having fun!). I used service roads for about 10 miles to get around the worst of it. Oddly, the traffic was pretty mellow -- for I-70 -- which was cool. I hate to spoil the positive mountain mood.

It was still light when I got home, and I always like to keep the fun going, so I went running for an hour, mostly after dark. I've been trying to run each day, and I'm going on 17 days now, so why break the streak? Unfortunately, I think Derrick has me beat in the streak category... by a tad. I stopped a couple of times and tried to get some night shots of the house lights on the flanks of Green Mountain with the sky still barely lit by sun, but I really needed a tripod.

Distance: 5.12 miles, time 0:56 minutes, gain/loss 429 feet.

Street To Nowhere

There is some city of Lakewood open space that I run through that has the remnants of a concrete gutter for a suburban street that was never completed. Judging from the fact that there are trees growing right where the pavement would have been, this was laid down a long time ago:


Since this road leads towards the current open space containing Green Mountain, which is now Hayden Park, I'm guessing this road remnant predates the designation of the open space, and at one and is probably the beginning of a street farther up the hill. There really isn't much room for houses in this immediate area, so it must have been leading somewhere else. Or mabye they didn't think it out very well.


I have to admit I enjoy odd spaces like this. Not because they are decrepit, or wasteful, but because they provide unexpected things. They are between things that are intended (homes, businesses), but have no current purpose of their own. Nonetheless, they have value for locals who use them for recreation and travel, and some of them end up as parks and recreational areas.

I grew up as a kid with empty lots on either side my home, and woods behind. There was ample opportunity for exploration, for finding bugs, toads, turtles, plants and flowers, and for climbing trees. All of these things were totally un-designed and unintended, yet they were waiting out there to be discovered and enjoyed. They were opportunities that undoubtedly led to my adult love of the outdoors, curiosity and exploration. So, sometimes such streets do lead somewhere.

Thursday Run

It was a run in solitude up Green Mountain in Lakewood on Thursday. I suspect this was mostly turkey-related, but also because it was brisk out. A wind brought the temp down to maybe 20 degrees on high exposed areas. Other than that, it was a beautiful late afternoon, and I felt pretty strong, probably because my runs have been short this week.


I included the image below just because it shows how the houses are built right up to the edge of the open space. On the right are the flat tops of the Table Mountains in Golden, and the Indian Peaks just barely visible through the low spot in the very back:


There are a lot of interesting trees; some of them living, some not. I imagine there hasn't always been enough water to supply them. I probably take too many tree pictures.


This is the tail end of the run, down a ravine to several neighborhood access trails. There is a tiny, trickling stream in the gully to the right, and I keep checking now and then to see where it starts. I have not found the origin yet.


It was a short run: 4.6 miles, 56 minutes, but with 920 feet of gain/loss because I ran to near the top of Green.

I found what I think is the most gradual/runnable trail to the top from the northeast edge of the park, and was able to keep a sustained pace going while I wasn't futzing with photos and clothing. There is a water tank near the end of Exposition; run up behind it, then follow the trail above/behind it to the left (southeast), and take the first ravine right past a fenced-in area, and up to the summit ridge. I took a right the top, and shortly thereafter dropped right through the weeds onto what I think is the Summit Loop trail, then followed another ravine back down.

Thanksgiving, Temps

Anyone who follows my blog knows I have a lot to be thankful for this year, and if you're reading outdoor blogs, I'm sure you do too! Even living in the flatlands of eastern upstate NY, I used to get out onto the suburban bike trails to nurture the nascent running bug (I took lots of pictures of that, too). Hey, it's all outdoors in the fresh air.

The harvest theme of the holiday also works well this year, because food in America is getting better every year. Colorado has a good mix in this regard: ranchers (check), farmers (check) and people who want good food, well-produced (check). Oh, and lots of brewers making great fresh beer (check). As time goes on I gravitate more and more towards local whole foods, and not because I demonize large corporations -- I don't, but simply because I want something good.

What to do today? The temperature reading below is from the live weather station at Loveland Basin next to the Eisenhower Tunnel this morning. Wind chill: -20 Fahrenheit.


Sorry folks, I'm just not hearty enough to brave mountain temperatures like that, especially when the real wind is a couple thousand feet up on the ridge lines, not in the sheltered valley where the weather station is. It could easily go down to -30 or -40 wind chill up there. My hat is off to anyone enduring that.

It's a balmy 19 degrees at my place, a bit below 6,000 feet. I'll give thanks for that, too.

Thanks to Apple store Boulder for replacing my swollen laptop battery this week for free, even though I was out of warranty :)

And thanks for all the great bloggers out there posting about the cool stuff they are doing. I started following trail/running/outdoor blogs only this summer, believe it or not. One day I just started reading and copying feeds from peoples' blogrolls, and links from those blogs, and so on, and it snowballed into like 20 blogs just in one session. I'm up to 60 in the outdoor category. Thanks for all the kind words and great ideas!

That reminds me, I should update my blogroll; right now it only contains philosophy and political blogs. D'oh! Where's the love?

As for family, we are a typical modern, widely-distributed nuclear unit, so my closest relative is on the other side of Colorado, and I'd really like some down time this weekend instead of travel. I drive legally and stop a lot, so it takes me at least 5 hours to get to the Western Slope, or 8 hours to the southwestern part of the state. I'll be seeing family for the end-of-year holidays soon enough.

Blustery

It was a chilly, windy morning. A storm was blowing in and all exposed areas of the landscape were getting scoured by cold wind. I started to head up to the open space, but it was blowing at a constant 20-25 mph at 30 degrees, and my face and arms were what I would call "pre-numb". It was not so much the conditions pe se, as the fact that I was dressed for less wind. These squirrels with their backs to the breeze, hunkering down under their own tails, says it all:


I'm not sure how runners in the high country manage this, because 30 degrees doesn't hold a candle to morning conditions up there at 9,000-10,000 feet. Wind chill is going to be at or below zero for the next few days.

Instead of hitting the wide open slopes of Green Mountain, I opted to slink around various streets and strips of undeveloped city land that were more sheltered. However, I wanted a view of the storm, so I topped a ridge just to snap a picture. You can see the grass bending over. Snow is falling on the leftmost foothills.


Run distance: 6.1 miles, time 1:01, and elevation gain/loss 649 feet.

I've been having trouble getting settled early enough in the evening to get up in time for longer runs. Hopefully I can correct that.

A Tea Party From The Tea Party?

I was pleasantly surprised to find an insightful article about the Tea Party movement today while having lunch, and squinting at text on my iPhone, in the form of this article on the NPR web site.

I have to admit it's ironic to see good commentary there about a movement that would stop funding for public radio if it got half a chance.

Basically the idea is that there are at least two significant divisions within the Tea Party: the religious right, which is in the movement because Republicans have not been religious enough for them (!), and fiscal conservatives such as Objectivists and libertarians, who are in the movement because many Republicans have betrayed the concept of limited government, and/or have done a poor job of defending it. The article does a nice, objective job of sketching out this division, and it's worth a read.

I posted a comment, and emailed a modified version (the email is more compliment and less commentary) thanking the author.

This article is refreshing because aside from sympathetic conservatives, much Tea Party "coverage" consists of obscene name-calling and pointing out racist statements on placards, with no thought given as to what is going on socially, and why the Tea Party is really happening. To such critics, it's all about "hate", "racism", or a conspiracy run out of a secret bunker by the likes of Karl Rove; after all, nobody rational could possibly be unhappy with socialism! Inconceivable! LOL.

As an Objectivist, which is as about as extreme a fiscal conservative and atheist as you can find, I am appalled at the attempts by the religious right to co-opt the movement to advance their social agenda. We Objectivists are liberal on many social issues, so we don't want the type of religious policies advocated by some Christian conservatives. As I've said before, that's fine in one's personal life, but it's not fine when you're talking about forcing it on other people who don't believe in it. On common social issues, we probably have more in common ideologically with the Log Cabin Republicans than we do with the likes of Jim DeMint.

Lately I've been wondering if Objectivists, libertarians and other fiscal conservatives might need to start a second Tea Party movement, to separate from the first Tea Party movement, if it goes too far astray from a real defense of individual rights.

Loveland Ski Demo Day

I wanted to summarize some of my impressions of a few skis that I tried out during the Colorado Ski & Golf demo day at Loveland Ski Area on Saturday.

My objectives were: 1) try something new, 2) try the new obSETHed and Armada JJ, and 3) check out something that might work in tight Mary Jane-style bumps. All skis I tried were this season's model. The tested length is in parentheses.

Salomon Lord (169) - A great ski. I'm glad Salomon went back to using wood cores in their skis; the feel is so much more easygoing, stable and strong. This ski slipped around bumps with ease and bit into the wind-blasted hardpack confidently. Really easy to ski. It's 86mm under foot, so it would make a nice all-mountain ski. I wouldn't go to it for powder or wind-packed deep snow -- it's too small -- but for anything else at a resort, it would be great.

Salomon Twenty Twelve (171) - Billed as a park ski, this is narrower than the Lord and has vertical sidewalls. Also a very nice ski that handled hard snow a little less effectively than the Lord, but still held on. Also easy to ski. I found it a bit grabby in bumps, but that could have been the tune.

Armada JJ (175)- After all the great press, I wanted to see what this ski was about. It held well on hard snow, was decent in bumps, but was a little too stiff for my taste. At my weight (150 lbs) and skiing style (mellow to moderately aggressive), it just didn't really give and settle into troughs and irregular surfaces very easily, although a larger skier would have no problem flexing it to their satisfaction. It probably rules in powder, but there was none to be found Saturday, and I don't really need a powder-specific ski unless I move to Sandy, UT. My K2 obSETHeds are great in pow and I like them better on other surfaces. Personal preferences aside, I would agree that this is an excellent ski.

K2 obSETHed (179) - I have been looking forward to trying this ski since learning they added more rocker this season. It's also a cm wider, although that's not a plus for me; I like the width as it is. The ski is definitely bigger; the centimeter added to the waist makes it seem geared slightly more towards powder than last season. It still skied well in bumps and held on hardpack. However, the increased rocker is probably not enough to make me swap mine after having them for only half a season. For advanced/expert skiers who don't already own the obSETHed and are looking for a great all-mountain ski for the west, and don't have to have metal layers or a stiff ski, this is a ski you should consider. I love mine.

K2 Revival (174) - This was another candidate for a narrow bump ski. It has the same feel as the other K2 factory skis (like the obSETHed) and handled well. It's a bit more skittish than the Salomon Lord on hard snow, but it was also more easygoing in bumps.

Lib Tech Jib NAS (172) - My first Lib Tech ski and I was impressed. The wavy edge (Magne-Traction) is designed to increase edge grip, and it works, just like a serrated knife. The ski was actually a bit too grippy for the wind-packed snow on Saturday, and they just wouldn't skid when I needed them to. However, on hardpack or soft snow, I think these would perform well.

Demo day winner: the Salomon Lord. I'm thinking about trading my 2008 Dynastar Legend 8000s for this ski, to use on narrow bumps and hard-snow days.

Just FYI, some previous years' demo day favorites were: the 2009 Atomic Snoop Daddy, and last year's obSETHed (which I purchased on the way home).

South Highline Canal Run

On Sunday I felt a bit sore from skiing and running on Saturday, and winds were kicking up again, so I wasn't in a big hurry to go out and do a long run. Skiing is a bit punishing on the legs; not in a pounding way (at least not in my case), but in a sustained-tension kind of way. I was sore on the sides of the hamstrings, in the same way as I get from a hilly run of several hours. I decided to take it easy and got out later in the afternoon on the Highline Canal trail, which I had passed before, but never used.

It probably looks more scenic in my photos than it actually did when I was there, being a meandering gravel lane between farms and houses, and across country roads. However, the mountains are always in the background, and the cottonwoods and farms provide interest.

The starting point was right off Waterton Road, with the rocket factory, a.k.a. Lockheed Martin, in the background.


The sky around Denver on Sunday was very hazy, almost misty. Even from a short distance the mountains were mere outlines, as in this view over Platte Canyon Reservoir:


The trail follows the canal on a raised berm, and most sections looked something like this, with large cottonwoods fanning over the trail:


It was more like something you'd see in Europe -- where there are still quite a few large scenic navigation canals -- rather than in the highway-driven United States. Some parts of the canal were dry and some were not, so I'm not sure to what extent it still serves its original practical purpose of irrigation.


The return trip at dusk:


Another view over the Platte Canyon Reservoir, with the tiny wake from a single bird swimming across the middle:


If I run this again, I might be inclined to bring pepper spray. A couple of farms have territorial dogs that run up to the fence and bark aggressively. Thankfully the fences worked. Is it possible to train dogs not to bark at recreational traffic that passes by the fence all day, every day? That would drive me nuts if I lived there.

Run distance was 7 miles, total time was 1:13, elevation gain/loss was a whopping 68 feet. I guess the original engineers did a pretty good job of leveling the canal.

Video: Wind At Loveland Ski Area

The conditions did not feel as bad as they look in this video. Thankfully, it was maybe 35 degrees out, so although you could probably get frostbitten if you worked at it, it was comfortable in windproof gear.

Cold Smoke

It was a bit breezy in the mountains today. Every ridge line had snow sailing off it in curls and plumes. Photos taken at Loveland Ski Area on the Continental Divide.

Objectivist Round Up

This week's Objectivist Round Up is hosted by The Secular Foxhole. The Round Up features posts by bloggers who advocate Objectivism, the philosophy of Ayn Rand. Enjoy!

Lenticular Cloud Season

Cooler weather seems to produce more lenticular clouds. Check out some of the epic formations that have been seen before. Below are some tamer versions from this morning northwest of Denver, which morphed during the hour+ of my run. The group on the left started as one oval-shaped cloud hanging by itself.

Run distance: 8.28 mi, time: 1:31, elevation gain/loss: 1,163 feet.

Morning Sun And Snow

There was a slight sheen of ice on some spots this morning and as always, it was chilly until I hit the sunny hillside. I think it was 25 degrees when I started. Thank goodness for sunny mornings. I wonder if it will make any difference when it's 10 degrees outside?

Tuesday Blue Sky

Sunny and moderate this morning at 35 degrees. I did a quick run at an easy jog, both up and downhill. Distance 5.3 miles, time 0:59 minutes, gain/loss 700 feet.


My legs just feel like they don't want to do anything for the first 20-30 minutes each morning. Which is unfortunate, since the first 30-45 minutes of these runs are uphill and I could use the help ;)

Wearing Snow

A cold, damp wind was on me the entire time up the hill this morning. When I got to the open space, it was just high enough to become snow flurries, turning the mountain into a mild version of a snow globe. It was sticking to the trail and to me.


The trail was a bit slippery, more so because of the round rocks. I just had to run in between them, and take it slow when I couldn't tell what was underneath. This downhill is at my midway point. You can barely make out houses below, on the left:


Running in open fields is an advantage when it's cold but sunny, but a disadvantage when you'd rather have the sheltering branches of pine trees keeping your trail and body dry.

The buck and his two girls were coming home their wild night out, and they trotted up the mountain in parallel with me, keeping their distance, heading for the hidden ravines of Green Mountain for a daytime nap. We seem to be on the same schedule.

Distance: 6 miles, time 1:09, gain/loss 1,028 feet.

Morning Buck

The morning was a crisp 25 degrees and sunny during my run Friday. Wore track pants, short sleeve and a long sleeve, and it was comfortable, if a bit chilly in the shadows. Distance 5.7 miles, time 1:07, vertical 880 feet. As usual, lots of photos.

The handsome guy trotting downhill below was hanging out with this two girlfriends, and all three of them nervously got out of my way. Apparently he doesn't realize he could easily stomp and/or gore me to death if he wanted to, and doesn't need to worry. Fine with me.

Review: Food, Inc.

I watched the movie Food, Inc. a few nights ago, and despite some reservations found it to at least be informative, although politically misguided.

The movie is essentially about the fact that the food industry has become a system of mass production and, in some cases, of unpleasant or harmful abuse (real and imagined).

I admit my expectations were somewhat low. I was anticipating something more along the lines of a Michael Moore's emotional yet analytically vapid productions, such as Sicko and Capitalism: A Love Story. This film had quite a few negative things to say. However, it is a bit more sober and interesting, even for a laissez-faire capitalist like me.

To see why, consider a few of its themes:

1. A negative view of the large size of food industry businesses.
2. A positive view of government power when it's used to mandate food industry practice.
3. A negative view of the control of government by the food industry.
4. A positive view of small/organic/non-factory farming.

The first two are often tied to a progressive political outlook, which I don't share. I'm more interested in how a business gets to be large than whether it is large and dominates an industry. There is nothing inherently bad about market domination, provided such a position was earned, rather than facilitated by special legal favor.

However, number three is compatible with capitalism and number four is pretty much neutral, provided is not part of one's opposition to commercial success. Another way of viewing the latter is simply as providing good, healthy food. That should be a non-partisan positive value.

Some points I found interesting were:

Subsidies - The degree to which government farm subsidies warp the overall food market. The most disturbing connection was made between these facts: 1) we subsidize corn production, 2) corn is used to feed animals because it is cheap and it fattens them at the highest rate possible, 3) corn by-products are also consumed by humans, and 4) we have an obesity epidemic. Basically, our food policy is helping to fatten us. This is an oversimplification and there are other factors, but this is one factor. Tax-funded subsidies are distorting markets to provide foods we don't really want, and making those foods artificially cheap compared to healthier foods and what would be produced in a truly free market.

Immigration policy - Our current restrictive immigration policy results in an ugly and contradictory black market in labor. Food business needs the workers, yet politicians need to pose as standing "tough" on lawbreakers, so some get deported. The illegality of some workers subjects them to exploitation through the threat of deportation.

Real food - One of the points I was on board with was the advocacy of eating good food, and I mean not only high quality, but for example animals raised the way they are supposed to be raised, and treated humanely as possible. The shots of the large feed lots and slaughterhouses were indeed depressing.

The corruption of the radical - I mean this tongue in cheek, but Gary Hirshberg, the current CEO of the Stonyfield Farm organics brand, and self-described liberal, spoke about how his success as a "capitalist" (by that I mean entrepreneur, not his ideology) has allowed him to spread his ideals to a wider audience. All I could think was: "Duh, what did you think capitalism was? You have to make people happy to get them to keep buying your product". I can't speak for Hirshberg's other ideals, but selling good food and spreading responsible practices is an example of how free trade (as opposed to companies buying off legislatures to snuff the competition) can be a force furthering values for everyone concerned.

Intellectual property (IP) - The case of Monsanto and its apparent rule of the soybean industry through its genetically-engineered crops is a puzzling case for me, and frankly I'm not 100% certain what to conclude about it. Monsanto sells an engineered soybean that is resistant to another one of its products, a toxic and effective herbicide. The combination of these two products results in very high productivity for farmers, which is great if you like soy. At the same time, Monsanto farmers can no longer keep seed (something that has been done for millennia) or they may be held liable for stealing Monsanto's soybeans, since the soybean was effectively patented. Furthermore, Monsanto can go after non-Monsanto farmers unlucky enough to have their soybeans pollinated by nearby Monsanto plants, unless they can prove it wasn't intentional. I understand the importance of IP in allowing companies to recoup their investments in long product development cycles, and I don't regard large or dominant companies as inherently bad (the economic/historical justifications for that attitude are faulty). However, I'm unsure what to make of this particular application of IP rights, and I certainly don't trust today's legal climate to be even-handed, objective or correct. My provisional opinion is that it seems a little out of balance.

Joel Salatin - Joel Salatin, a farmer and author, had some interesting ideas about local farming, and if he lived nearby I'd be buying food from him for sure. The Wikipedia article lists him as a self-described "Christian-libertarian-environmentalist-capitalist-lunatic-Farmer". LOL. That fits with what I saw. He's original, advocates high-quality and sensible farming, and has a healthy distrust of overbearing government, which he correctly views as an unjust impediment to individuals in many ways. I'm not sure his big-picture ideas are correct, as he seemed to be edging into a process-oriented critique of technology or something like that, and then the camera shot ended. Nonetheless, a smart guy.

The main drawback of the movie is that it did not seem to realize the implications of its own premises.

For example, Michael Pollan seemed to have a good grasp of food history and good ideas about what might be best for humanity in the long run, and properly took the government to task for subsidizing foods and businesses that are not really best for us or needed in the quantities they are produced, such as corn and soybeans.

However, he seemed to support similar government intrusions when they are made on behalf of ideas he agrees with. I am willing to grant his intentions are good, but this sort of hypocrisy is just killing this country. The notion that power is OK if it's in the right hands is simply a bad idea. It was wrong when Plato advocated an all-powerful philosopher king, and it's wrong today. Because such power will always corrupt, it also leads to a tragically cynical view of humanity, which both requires and justifies its own enslavement through its alleged wickedness. This is not the view of humanity that resulted in this country, and it is not the view we should take going forward.

It is not even the view America currently takes with regard to individual criminal law. We have laws to deal with the wicked, but they are applied only after they have committed harm. We don't mandate individual behavior to attain certain social goals. We allow people to be free because they have an inalienable right to it, even though they might harm others. We don't license people to leave their homes to shop. We leave them free to shop according to their own judgment, and only act against them if they harm someone. We let people walk freely even though any stranger could walk up to someone and stab them in the heart at any time. Innocent until proven guilty.

On the other hand, because of the prevailing interpretation of the interstate commerce clause, trade is subject to any and all restrictions, limited only by legislators' need to placate their constituents. Businesses are not left free to act unless they harm someone; they labor under restriction after restriction on their freedom, regardless of whether they have actually done something wrong. Individuals who create and trade are guilty until proven innocent, and treated worse than potential murderers. This principle is the exact opposite of the one we use in criminal law, it is wrong, and it is sending this country inexorably down the road to socialism.

So, if you want to learn a bit about the food industry and its unholy alliance with government, this film is worth a look. If you are expecting plausible policy recommendations, you'll need to sift the good from the bad, or look elsewhere.

First Real Snow

It's not much snow, but it softened my footsteps. And more important, it's 30 degrees, snowy, windy, in the morning and I'm on a trail running :)

I looked back at November 2009 and I ran 4 days and 13 miles (!) for the entire month. This month, with two days off for my IT band I'm already at 9 days and 56 miles. Not exactly epic, and it includes a few token runs barely worth doing, but I was out there and doing it.

I was surprised how hot I was in 30-degree temps today. I had worn a shell because it was snowing and windy, and it was entirely too hot once I got going.

Chatfield Reservoir Run

The weekend long run was at Chatfield Reservoir, so I could take a break from hills a bit, and because it was the only part of the city that was sunny on Sunday. It looked like the rest of the Front Range from Boulder south was getting rain starting midday.


Distance was 20.05 miles, time 3:48, and elevation gain/loss 332 feet.

I basically ran from one end of the reservoir to the other, with some extra running thrown in until sundown. I took two bottles of water, which barely lasted 15 miles before I refilled them. Don't ask me how Anton "The Camel" Krupicka can run 68 hard miles with one 20-oz. water bottle and a drink from a "semi-trusted stream". I'd be passed out somewhere behind Pikes Peak right now.

When I looked at my watch on the flats, I was usually averaging 9-minute pace at maybe 10 bpm below max aerobic heart rate (just guessing). Moving pace slowed to 9:30 towards the end. I ended up at 11:24 pace with all the stops for the 126 photos I took, water, a couple of hills, etc. I'm not going to quit taking pictures because I enjoy it, but maybe I can minimize stops a bit.

I started the run at the southern Discovery Pavilion/Audubon Center parking lot off Waterton Road. If you don't have a boat and you're not using a picnic area or beach, this is a good spot because there's no entry fee. The reservoir is a couple of miles to north from there, although there are marshes and the Platte River nearby.

Because I didn't know where I was going at first, I took the obvious gravel road north out of the parking lot. This is a typical stretch:


There were 4 types of trail on this route: dirt singletrack, gravel roads, asphalt and concrete (and a short run on the shoulder of the road to gain the top of the dam). The main routes are concrete but there was only one stretch where I had to use paved trail: there is a wide concrete channel to the reservoir on the west side, and I had to go around it on the road (there's a concrete bike path on the other side, which I took on the return trip).

I would stick to the woods when running this park, because the twisting singletrack in the trees and along the river was fantastic. The more secluded trails were all but deserted even on such a beautiful day. I probably saw more people fishing than on the trails through the woods. This is on the Platte River:


Below is a typical trail through the trees, which is maybe a bit more open than most of it. The wooded terrain was similar to what you'll find at Cherry Creek Reservoir or South Boulder Creek.


As concrete trails go, these were actually pretty nice. The grass was mowed on the sides so I ran there some, but the trail also takes some interesting twists and turns. This mind-numbing straightaway is an exception to that rule:


I tried to stick to trails through the woods or brush, rather than paved trails. However, when I got closer to the dam, that strategy caused me to have to bushwhack up a hill from the reservoir to avoid a concrete channel. At least I got a nice view at the top, looking south:


The brush was scratchy, there were rodent holes, and it was probably prime rattlesnake terrain. I walked the 100 yards to the road carefully. I also had to avoid various small cacti:


Next time I'll climb up to the road sooner to avoid this part, but it was nice running near the beach while it lasted.

I crossed the road and hit the bike path for the last stretch north before the dam, and it was a fairly nice section with some rolling hills and turns. The path ends abruptly at the road over the dam, leaving you wondering what to do next. I ran the 50 yards to the top on the shoulder to check out the view. There's a little pull-off and some benches and a shelter at the top, but it didn't beat my view from "Cactus Hill". The road continued down behind the dam, but it was unpalatably arrow and there was no trail.

This was about the 9-mile point, and I guessed I'd need more water before 15 miles (straight back to the lot was about 6 miles), so this was my turnaround point. I had snacks and water in the car. Here is a picture of the bike trail heading south from the dam:


Some nice open fields at the edge of the woods:


Another shot of the Platte River later in the day:


As the sun fell lower in the sky, it became harder to see out in the open. At the same time, it occasionally made for a dream-like glow, such as the light filling this shallow ravine:


At about a half hour before sunset, I started seeing deer in the woods. And on the trail.


I did a little out and back at the end because I had some extra time, so I would finish my run at sunset. I hit 20 miles right at sundown; a good arbitrary stopping point.


After running this I'm pretty sure I could run around the entire reservoir with a pack containing more water and a snack. Since a straight shot along the west side is around 6 miles, I'm guessing the lap from the Waterton lot without detours would be less than 20 miles. The map shows a restaurant on the south side, which is a possible source of water if it's open. I'm not sure there's another water supply anywhere along the way, other than "semi-trusted streams" here and there, which would warrant a water filter. There is no official path from the east end of the dam to the Highline Canal, but on Google Earth I can see the double lines of a dirt road. In these days of high security, I don't even know if I can traverse the dam.

Monday was an easy 6.5 miles, mostly after dark, on streets and sidewalks. I felt good in general, but realized too late that my right IT band was tight and hip was getting irritated. I was still a couple of miles out and would have preferred to stop. I guess I didn't stretch out and roll quite enough last week, because I usually keep such things at bay. I may have bought myself a Tuesday off.