Day #289 Trip to Boulder, Colorado

Boulder, CO

Eldorado from above

Mining Road above Boulder and Eldorado

Trails above Eldorado

For those of you who may wish to go south next winter, may I suggest you make a point of stopping off in Boulder, Colorado. There are miles and miles of wonderful trails there for both walking and/or cycling.
You can hike/cycle along the base for miles, or disappear up and into the mountains, for miles.
As you drive west from Kansas across the rolling plains, you cross the border into Colorado and see, at least 30 miles away, a massive intimidating wall of rock in front of you which is the Rockies. So abrupt! So high! This goes south and north as far as the eye can see. It's like a great barrier and you wonder how on earth the pioneers could have crossed it.
Right at the base of this wall without being in it is the city of Denver, or 30 miles north, Boulder. Boulder is a university town with an aboriginal 'curse' that says whoever sees Boulder will forever have the desire to return there. True!
I stayed in the community of Eldorado, a state park, just inside the mountains next door to Boulder, and accessed the trails from there.
As you can see, up on the eastern edge of the mountains you can look out and see Boulder, CO, and the plains of Kansas beyond.
Turn around, and you see an old mining road that is up there, and hear a train that passes occasionally an even 500 ft. higher up the mtn. and then disappears into a mtn. tunnel.
Luckily, I had two mid-sized dogs with me, because a long way in I came upon a warning sign for what to do if you met a cougar - stretch your arms out to make yourself as big and wide as possible, yell, stand your ground. What they didn't mention is that cougars have a 90% kill rate, and usually get you silently from behind...one of my great worries for doing the TransCanadaTrail alone next year.
The last picture is higher up where there are still lots of trails rolling along. This area is of more gentle mountains, but still, most of the people are hiking here; not cycling, although not unusual to see some running, not crawling, up and down the steep inclines.
Gentle is the PEI Confederation Trail; Boulder trails are not gentle except down on the plain. Still, you'll love the wild flowers high up, and the cactii further down - just do not dig them up or you could be in trouble.
It's certainly worth the memorable experience and I count myself among the lucky to have done it, albeit slower than most.
Karen