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Saturday, September 30, 2017

Your Weekend Digital Muse


On a bench above Lovely Ouray, the return route for our twice-weekly (read: weakly) 8 mile walk-with-handweights, Bobbie and I take a break and rest our eyes on Lake Lenore. It's a bucolic, Mayberry-like setting, what with the rainbow of inverted canoes lying in repose near shore, leaves of quaking aspen fluttering in the breeze, and a Whitehouse massif backdrop that, lately, lives up to its name. About the only thing missing is "Opie," skipping stones on the lake's placid green surface, while Andy and Aunt Bee look on in admiration.


Slightly below Whitehouse, aspen groves are (finally) showing color; better tardy than truant, I suppose out loud. Bobbie suggests that we need to hike up Corbett Creek and have a look. So we do, in spite of uncooperative blah clouds and spits of rain that challenge and frustrate persnickety photographers. All one can do is minimize the skyline on such days...chop heads off peaks and focus on da glory.


The Corbett Creek Trailhead is only a couple miles from home, but, given the gloom and my pathos, we drive. Fifty feet into the woods is a traditional Forest Service sign-in/registry. In big bold print, the last hikers writes, "Trail is terrible... rocky, unsafe and unmaintained. Come on Forest Service, Do you jobs."  

Probably some flatlander who's ignorant of the fact that the Forest Service does not maintain trails nowadays due to budget constraints. At least around here, almost all trail work is done by volunteers, and they are pretty good at keeping them in satisfactory order. So I'm curious as to just how terrible the trail is. Besides that, these are backcountry trails...not exactly "National Park" status, yet, anyway.

Ok, judge for yourselves. Off we go...dreary day and all.
Now go take a hike,
Your Weekend Digital Muse,
mark and bobbie

































FYI: The trail was fine...3 deadfall trees to stoop under or climb over, some loose rocks, and overgrown in a few places, all par for the course around here.


11 comments:

  1. Trails look OK to me. I usually do some maintenance on "my" trails as I use them.

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  2. Looks like a fine trail to me. Beautiful aspens. I know what you mean about crappy skies. Nothing but white is deadly for pictures. Why hand weights for 8 miles and how much weight??

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    1. I carry 8 lbs in each hand, bobbie 6 lbs. A good, long upper body work out...

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  3. Nice Aspen groves!

    I wonder if maybe that complainer should be sticking to groomed 'nature' trails and paved sidewalks. Then again, a root-heaved sidewalk-slab would probably send him/her storming into city-hall.

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  4. Glorious!! The trail is absolutely heavenly :) I'm addicted to your photos as I await each post with anticipation!

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  5. Stunning visuals! Trail didn't look too bad to me...

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  6. Finally a look at East Dallas trail head & environs, should have done it back in the 90's, in our prime:)
    Great getting together with you & Bobbie, all the physical exercise sure shows on you two. Keep it up.
    We did the Last Dollar Rd this am, made the most stops ever, agreed that the N too S direction is best. Have no idea how many times Al tripped the shutter. Lots of Sunday tourist, got a little congested in places.
    Will give you a call soon.

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  7. Looks like a nice fall hike! Interesting contrast with the mountains and foliage in some of your pictures. Maybe this is a stupid question, but have those stairs always been there on the way up to the Box Canon sign in your header photo? I don't think I have ever seen them before!

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    Replies
    1. No the stairs are new, there are refurbishing the old box Canyon sign and you’ll be able to hike up to it from the perimeter trail bridge across box Canyon. Good catch

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  8. Beautiful trail, just the way I like 'em, who wants a wide overly groomed trail??

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