Boulder ~

Yesterday was busy, Mom had many appointments & I was chauffeur.  It was late in the day by the time we were done.  That gave us the excuse, as though we needed one - to head to Louisville & the Blue Parrot Restaurant!  What used to be the back door, is now the side door :-)  You go in, take in the smell & can order take out, by the quart or gallon!  Spaghetti, huge meatballs, Italian sausage etc.!  Years ago - miles of beautiful prairie stretched as far as the eye could see between Boulder & Louisville.   Now - that once open space is covered by acres of houses.  So sad for those of us who remember the way things used to be.

Driving back to Boulder on Baseline road, the snow was moving down the face of the Flatirons - the mountains were almost dark purple.  As we dropped down the hill - I saw the STAR on Flagstaff!  I couldn't believe it!  It was a true blast-from-the-past - taking me back to my days as a kid & how excited I was each December when the star heralded the beginning of the holiday season.  I remember the year it was turned into a peace sign!  Ah - the 60's!  :-)

Today, we woke to 4" inches of power snow!  I'd forgotten the joys of true powder!  I just had to get out there & was so happy I'd remembered my snow boots!  I shoveled the sidewalk - it was so easy!  Nothing like the heavy, wet snow that we in Western, WA are familiar with.

Just a block from the house~

I took a walk, kicking it into the air like a kid.  Just a block to the Multi-Use path that heads toward the neighborhood where I grew up right at the base of Mt. Sanitas.

Mt. Sanitas

It was snowing lightly - beautiful white flakes, soft as cotton falling through the thin air.  Enchanting...

First Ridge~

I zoomed in on the first ridge, where I would hike on my way home from elementary school to visit the horses who grazed there.  Sickened to see that they've allowed houses to be built :-(  Oh well, time marches on - it's not the small, wonderful town I remember anymore & hasn't been for a very long time now.  No, I wouldn't move back...

All the solid homes built in the neighborhood in the late 50's are now being bought & torn down.

Mom's beautiful home~

New homes are being built, huge & lot line to lot line.  Some are very nice~

Very tasteful~

 Others, in the majority - are of a more modern look, appealing in a way - but just not in keeping with the original style of the town.  My opinion only - & we all know how tastes change!

New style~

Finally, there are the rigs on steroids!  Two of these parked on Mom's street!

This will get you there!

I almost laughed, the Bronco looked like a toy next to these!  It's been years since I've been here in Winter & for someone who says she doesn't like the cold anymore - I've changed my tune.  Dry cold isn't bad at all!  :-)

The Summit of Mt. Pilchuck!

Mt. Pilchuck Outlook, Oct. 20, 1991 - Connie, Butch, Abby & Jentry

After we moved to the "Homestead" our long-time good friends Guy, Mary Ann, Michael & Jeremy Stitt came to visit!  I was showing Guy the view out my windows of Mt. Philchuck on a beautiful, crisp fall morning.  Guy - said;  "Wouldn't it be great to hike up there & see if we could see your place from the top?"  Butch jumped right in & agreed, as did the boys!  We packed up, drove up to the parking area & started hiking, hiking, hiking.   Was so much fun to see the yellow hand prints on the rocks to mark the way.  Views were spectacular, until the clouds started moving in!  The higher we climbed, the more we moved into the clouds.  
Not daunted, knowing that we were closer to the top than to the bottom -- we continued on!  When we looked up at the outlook on the top & saw the size of the boulders that we'd have to scramble over, Jentry was Not happy!  The gaps between the Boulders were very wide & Very deep in many places!  Fine for people, but not for small Beagle dogs!  
Never a bunch of quitters -- we began the scramble!  Finally -- Jentry & Butch came up with the idea of putting Abby on Jentry's back.  Jentry -- (Who has hiked since she was able to walk -- cutting her teeth in the Colorado high country.) was undaunted.  Abby was Determined!  She put her paws over Jentry's shoulder, crouched low to Jentry's back & hung on.  We used to say that she was the most "defiant" Beagle in the world & there was no way she wasn't going!

Guy, Michael & Jeremy

We all made it!  What a thrill!  No view though :-(  All that way & those high hopes, only to have them dashed in the cloud cover...  Never mind!  Two other hikers were eating their lunch in the lookout.  Abby couldn't' have been more EXCITED!  If you know Beagles at all -- you know there is nothing in the world they won't do for food!  Abby went through her entire repertoire of tricks & entertained us all!

Butch hiked up again with my brother Jim & our niece Nora in July of 1996, but I haven't been up higher than the parking area since.

Just so you don't think that I've given up hiking -- I've hiked up to the summit of Mt. Sanitas outside Boulder, with my brother - twice now.    Most recently Aug. of last year.  I knew that Mt. Philchuck was roughly a "Mile-High".  I also know that Denver is called the "Mile-High City".  It's fun to look up at the summit of Mt. Philchuck & think that Boulder's elevation is roughly equivalent.

Boulder from Mt. Sanitas - Aug. 22, 2010

One mile = 5280 ft.

Mt. Pilchuck - 5340 ft.
Granite Falls - 391
Elevation gain - 2166


Mt. Sanitas - 6863 ft.
Boulder, CO - 5430
Elevation gain - 1357


Interesting to compare --  certainly more challenging for me to climb Mt. Sanitas, short, steep climb & I'm not used the elevation.  But Mt. Pilchuck offers a longer climb & more gain!