I was taken hiking in the mountains against my will.

After taking a scenic detour by Coors brewery and then through Golden we got back on to I-70 to Silverthorne exit 205 on highway 9 then left on Henney road. The turn onto this road was left out, so after one bicyclist's set of the directions, and another 10 miles later it was followed by another left onto frontage road 1725, then it was a steep gravel road to the parking spot at the trail head. Signs everywhere welcoming people to White Water National Park.

The trail starts off by Green Mountain reservoir where some beaver have made home. After you cross a small foot bridge is when things start getting fun. After the bridge the trail isn't maintained as well making for some areas that are well traveled, but for the most part it this hike isn't a walk in the park. Well it's not if you avoid the service road. If you want to see the top of Cataract Falls, if I had to guess, it' about eight thousand feet to the summit. Where you find a small stream rushing off the edge the world. It was absolutely breath taking. I started snapping pictures with my phone, and got some good pictures. Me being typical of my sign followed the most difficult of paths, and the poor, poor people in my group followed faithfully. It took longer than we thought it would to get back to the cars by going straight down the mountain. It was a clearly marked trail, markers hung from the trees and directed the way. It was a pretty gnarly path though so we ended up leaving later than anticipated, and I was an hour and half late to work. On our way back we drove through Idaho Springs again on another one of those scenic detours. They haven't been in the mountains as much as me, and I was trying my hardest not to be a back seat driver. All I could do was sit back a laugh to myself; I didn't care, this boss tries to work me harder than her other employees because I've been there the longest and get paid the most.

It's a fairly easy hike, but if you're up to the challenge there are places to climb up some really easy ledges.

This daylog started two days ago.

It was a beautiful morning with a slight breeze, so there wasn't much of a sunrise, the pollution and clouds that usually trap the different colors didn't stand a chance. It silhouetted some houses and trees with pale pinks and oranges. Just the beginning to another day.

Twelve minutes to six and I'm cooking hash browns and eggs for my loving girlfriend. I felt sleeping in today would be a waste of a good day. Half awake I make everything with too much pepper, and I didn't lose my temper. I was completely cool and out of it. I still hadn't realized I wasn't still asleep in bed while I heated the oil. Even the pops and crackles as the food sizzled couldn't arouse me out of my stupor, and I wasn't truely conscious until I fired up the vaporizer and finished the bowl from last night. But before I could get me head on straight, breakfast needed to be concluded. The eggs went unchecked while I fumbled with the shredded bits of potato, and when I made my triumphant return, the eggs had become foamy but not too late to salvage.

Later, after I took a short nap and officially got ready for the day, I thought about working on filling the lawn mower node. Maybe right after I get home from work, or at least I'll work on finding an angle for the piece. But most likely I will start work on it later when I have more time and after I complete yet another day of, what I deem is, the perfect first-hand experience. Before I did that though, I wanted to get back to adding to this rather short piece on a day in my life. I extend the scope so I don't suffer mass downvotage because it's lacking in content. What can I say, telling people what I watched on Tv doesn't make for good writing.

I was scrambling for ideas to fill this with, and nothing was coming.

Then while I was at work that night I was informed I was to go hiking on Friday. He gave me no choice but to say yes. This is what friends are for; to take you to do things you didn't think you would want to do.

I spent the next day trying to wiggle and squirm my way out of going, but he wasn't having it, he even decided I should bring some weed for the trip up there. I spent the whole day thinking of excuses. At work the next day our boss, the one who invited him, said nothing about the trip to me and I thought I was free. Then while shooting pool after work, he told me he will call up our boss and tell him I wanted to go. There I was back on square one.

I obviously failed.

After a day of rest and a good night's sleep, this morning has turned out to be very cool with El Niño casting many clouds upon most of the land. The sun is rising later now, the dew is lasting longer, the season will be turning.

It should be an easy day with 10 lawns needing to be cut. We should be done by noon. Then I get paid, but because this guy loves to give out advancements for things like hiking trips it will only be half of what I can usually expect.


August 24, 2009 | May 12, 2010

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