Bobcat Ridge Natural Area...

In 2000, a 10,600 acre camper caused fire ripped through an area south and west of Fort Collins, Colorado. 

The conflagration left behind a scorched land and stands of ghost trees.

On my 11 mile hike, I saw wild flowers, grasses and aspens taking root. Rabbits bound around and crows cawed overhead. A family of coyotes yipped but went unseen. 

The seemingly stark hillsides are now a place of solitude and introspection. When the animals aren't saying something, a steady breeze provides the background music.

Many years from now a Ponderosa Pine/Douglas Fir plant community will be calling the shots here. Be patient, it'll happen, but not in our lifetime.

I give the city of Fort Collins two thumbs up for preserving this work in progress for future generations. 

Mother Nature hates a void and she's always looking for work.

Jeff

Speaking about works in progress: "A Wandering, Wondering Jew" blog now has an email subscription if you are keen on my musings or photos or both.

Find it right below the blog title.

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Some days you win...

some days you lose and some days you get rained (and lightning) out.

The Sub-Eleven Foot Expedition Team plus one tall Irishman had all intentions of hiking across Rocky Mountain National Park this weekend.

 With the sobering thoughts of a nearby fatality lightning strike the previous day, we left Bear Lake parking lot. The weather forecast was sketchy to scary at best. We were making good time and above tree line near Flattop Mountain, when we decided to turn back. The clouds were quickly turning from snowy white to filthy laundry gray. They appeared thick too. Our window of safety had slammed shut. 

A smart hiker knows the mountains will be there another day. They are more patient than humans. I'm disappointed but it was the right decision. I was so looking forward to my dinner of dehydrated Pad Thai! 

BTW. A few hours later, a second person was struck and killed by lightning in RMNP.

Mother Nature is beautiful if it doesn't kill you. 

Be safe out there,

Jeff

Now on a lighter note:

Announcing the resurrection of the "Sub-Eleven Foot Expedition Team." 

Good buddy Nelson and I don't measure up to eleven feet combined. Hence the name.

There's a vicious rumor out there, we are intolerant of height unchallenged people. Not so!

Doug McGraw will be joining us at his nose bleed altitude of 6'4" on our forty mile, four day transit of Rocky Mountain National Park.

I'm sure the long and short will all get along fine. Just so Doug doesn't pet us on our heads in passing.

My tour of Colorado will continue with a Weminuche Wilderness hike and a Maroon Bells Wilderness five passes trip.

Please join me in my future posts. Check in at your convenience. If you like what this blog is all about, please pass it along. 

I am working to try to make it one of the more interesting, entertaining and at times informative travel blogs out there.

Thanks!

Jeff

Three years ago...

today, a careless driver smashed me and my bicycle like a Ping Pong ball at 50 MPH. 

I woke up in a ditch with First Responders tending to my many wounds. Later on at the ER,  the Doc told me I had sustained eleven broken vertebrae and one broken sternum. I had road rash everywhere and a piece of my nose went missing. (I knew I had a large proboscis but this wasn't the way I wanted to reduce it).

During the lengthly healing process in Fort Collins, Colorado many friends and former colleagues came by to see me. I called these visits, "welfare checks." 

One notable guest was Randy Mirowski. He's my former Captain, Chief and fire service teacher. He's a devout Christian and a friend for life.

Here's what this pious man told me, "Jeffy! You survived the accident for a reason. The good Lord knows you have a message to convey. There's a plan for you."

So...what's my message?

An apple a day, keeps the doctor away. Nope, a cliche our parents told us.

Buy a camper van, and be the person who lives down by the river in it. Well, it's working for me so far, but probably not for everyone.

Here it is: Every time you get on a bicycle, please, don a properly fitting helmet. The one and only reason my skull wasn't smushed like a watermelon in a Gallagher comedy skit was the use of a helmet. This simple safety device saved me.

Please don't ride a bicycle without one.

The good life we all yearn for can be snuffed out in one final blink of an eye.

Jeff

Butler Wash...

An oldie but goodie...

just west of exciting (yawn) Bluff, Utah is a treasure trove of ruins and ancient art work.

All you have to do is find a single tract dirt road leading to a dead end and beat your way through the wash. Careful, the brush has a tendency to bite, scratch and hinder forward progress.

Then head up a canyon and more than likely you will make an archeological discovery. 

At Procession Panel, I came across this old fashioned pornography. To paraphrase, Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart.

"I shall not today attempt further to define the kinds of material but I know it when I see it."

Cheers from windy Flagstaff, AZ. 

Boulder, Colorado...

Where the locals only partake in four events. 

They are either: 

A) Working out.

B) Walking their dog.

C) Working out with their dog.

or D) Enjoying a Happy Hour (sometimes with their dog).

No one seems to work. I guess a small percentage do. How else can the drinks and dinner materialize during HH?

This is a city of uber athletes. People look at me and think, "he moves along well for a fat guy." If you aren't trail running, you are considered a sloth. 

Anyway, it's a fun, eccentric and atypical place to hang out. It's always a feel good time here.

Live from Boulder,

Jeff

My brother Mike.

I know what you are thinking. "I never knew Jeff had a twin brother." 

Nope, Mike is my older brother. He's my mentor, my advisor and my hero all rolled into one. 

He's also one of the most generous humans on the planet. The only way to beat him to the check is to slide the wait-person a credit card while he's distracted by his first cocktail.

A long time ago, an ex-girlfriend and I met up with the family. I warned her, "Mike is a lot nicer than me." After she engaged him in conversation for a short time. She tugged on my shirt, leaned in and said, "You are right. He is nicer!"

I am a very lucky man to share the same Mom as he. 

I'm back in Colorado now after a whirlwind trip to NYC. Who's up for Big Beers at Old Chicago in Fort Collins, on Tuesday night?

Cheers!

Jeff