Hike Hike 5

Flatiron 1 or 2? Boulder, CO

The flatirons in winter. (Bad picture taking skills though)

Finally I managed to reach the top of one of the flatirons. This time I did it with Chi Liang, Raymond and Suresh. In the winter time!

Pose!

Took us slightly more than 3 hours to to go the top and down again. Shouldn't be that long though, the path was filled with snow and slippery ice, that's why. But then again it just adds to the challenge and I have to say it was really really challenging.

Near the base, not so hard going up.

Going up was not so difficult. Everyone semangat kept walking and climbing. Coming down was a different story. We were slipping and falling and trying to hold on to the smallest of roots at times because we might just slip and tumble all the way down the mountain. The path is not like a road with side barriers. If you fall here, then you really fall.

See how scary going down with all that ice.

As usual, the moment we reach the top is the most satisfying moment for me at that time. Just sitting there in the outdoors, having a kit kat, with the cool breeze and the hot sun on your skin.

Aaaahhhhh.....

Looking down where we came up from

See the sun?

How would I rate it? The climb? Best so far because of the challenge . The view? Bear Peak still the best. Maybe I should go again in the summer and get a faster time.

Hike Hike 4

Bear Peak, Boulder, CO

Where we start. At the National Center for Atmospheric Research.

So far this is the longest hike I've been on. 6 hours plus total. But once you reach the top, everything is worth it. Really worth it..

Actually it shouldn't take that long to complete the hike. The thing is, we had a big group. 50 something people, very big group for a hike. So faham faham lah, macam macam orang ada.

So instead of going straight up the mountain along the steep path, we took a big, big loop around the mountain. It wasn't much of a hike, more like a walk because the incline wasn't even noticeable. Imagine the threads of a screw, lebih kurang like that lah the path. It only got steeper towards the top where we couldn't go around anymore and had to go straight up.

View from halfway.

Old men again.

We took a lot of stops in between to have some snacks and all that so that added a lot of time to the journey. But then again the view at the top memang gempak lah. Third highest peak in Boulder. 8000+ feet. Again, really worth it.. Everyone was talking on the way up, but once at the top, all quiet. So peaceful.

Finding a place to sit

CU campus is somewhere on the left.

Luas pemandangan...

On the way down it got more interesting because we took the steep path that went straight down. So there was a lot of jumping, and tree hugging so that we don't speed down. Took just 1 and a half hours. Much faster.

Good hike, but next day legs all sore. That just shows how satisfying the climb was.

Hike Hike 3

Flatiron Loop, Boulder, CO

Flatirons 1, 2 and 3 from Chautauqua Park

Google up Boulder and you most probably will come across the Flatirons. There are 5 Flatirons and it is called that because it looks like an ironing board. We took the trail from Chautauqua park and made our way towards Flatiron number 3. Chautauqua park itself was very high up that we can see the whole of Boulder before we even started hiking. Now the view along the way:

More old men?

Shade.

That's where we were heading. Flatiron #3

This one wasn't that long, almost 2 hours I think, up and down. But sad to say we didn't reach the tip of the Flatiron. Wasted. Damn. The problem was with the signboards. There's one that says " flatiron loop" and another direction says "flatiron access". How to decide? So we took the loop and ended up going downhill after a while. Sad.

The path not taken. Damn.

But the view and the surrounding was nice. Best one so far for me. Finally found a proper forest. The trees here in America are not as lebat as the ones in Malaysia. Climate kot. So, susah wanna find trees with a lot of leaves. Nice trees and challenging trail.

Trees! With enough leaves!

Above the trees.

The trail.

Walking on rubble.

Too bad. Definitely need to come back here another time. Maybe climb all 5 Flatirons someday.

Flatirons #3 on the left. Next time, on the edge at the top.

Denver Denver

Labor day weekend what to do? We went to Denver.


The city life is a lot different from Boulder, finally saw some big buildings after 3 weeks. Did you know Denver is called the mile high city? Actually its because there is this one step in one of the buildings that is exactly 1 mile above sea level. And the tall buildings creates like a tunnel for wind to blow through, so we were slightly shivering the whole time.


Anyway what did we do? First thing we did was have a French breakfast which cost 10 bucks. Why? Because it was cold outside and we were there too early so the other shops not opened yet.

We walked along the 16th street mall (and coincidentally its a 1 mile stretch in the mile high city) and go window shopping and people watching. People say that Boulder is one of the skinniest city in America, and after being to Denver I understand why they say that.

Next we went to the Colorado foodfest at the civic center park. You know what we saw? Gula Melaka dessert. Raymond and Suresh bangga already. But apparently on the banner, gula melaka came from Indonesia. ?????

Lego Lion at the foodfest

Then is the Denver Art museum. Damn huge. 2 buildings, 1 building 7 floors. We only managed to cover 1 building. The lady at the tourist information center in town said that it was "phenomenal". And to me it was. Really enjoyed it. The stuff there was art from each continent from different eras. And of course stuff from the wild west.

From the "Dirty Pictures" section. Big footprints on a sandy mountain. Aerial view.

Deep. Meaningful. Sad.

Tribal art.

Our last stop was the Denver Downtown Aquarium. KLCC Aquaria feels more grand to me but still this one was fun. We got to touch stingrays!

Cleaning the tank.

Jellyfish 1

Jellyfish 2

Jellyfish 3. Looked at it for quite some time. Hypnotizing.

Still got more things to do in Denver. Maybe next time. Anyway more pictures soon on facebook I think.

Hike Hike 2

Red Rocks, Boulder, CO

Old man?

This is my second hike, not far from Mt. Sanitas, can walk there also. The red rocks loop that we took wasn't very challenging, less than 1 hour to the top. But the view was very nice so we lepak for quite sometime on the highest rock we can get to.

That's where we're going

Now we need to climb up the rocks

I don't know how those rocks got up there on the hill but it looks like God just stacked the rocks on top of each other. The arrangement made it look like it can crumble at anytime but it was solid enough for us to climb up.

View from the back macam muka

Macam gaajah

See the arrangement, we can still climb on it though

The view

Another view

Wanna know high we were? compare with the people on that rock

It was really sunny at that time, no clouds in the sky if you see all the pictures.

The whole Red Rocks is burning bright!

Since it wasn't a long way up, on the way down we took a detour and found a river, which was very cold even under the summer sun. And we walked and walked and came to a forest fire prone area and we went through the ash covered forest without knowing that it was off limits. Quite dangerous and slippery the path, going downhill somemore.

Sejuk

My phone can take panorama shots.. haha

Anyway, lil wayne will be performing somewhere near Denver on Hari Raya. 45 minutes from Boulder. Too bad I can't go. Damn. Keri Hilson there too. Double Damn.

Hike Hike

Mt. Sanitas, Boulder CO

So this is my first hike here in Boulder. Quite near to CU campus actually. We walk all the way from home to the mountain and then walk back home again. Exercise everyday, boulder lifestyle.

On the way to the start

Mt. Sanitas took us 3 hours plus to go to the top and back down again. Going up was fun, quite steep in a few places especially near the top. The path up was not bad, a lot of big solid rocks to step on but going down there were more loose stones so if your shoes no grip then jaga a bit lah.

Going up

A boulder

Once we almost reach the top the wind was blowing real hard and the sound it makes is just like the sound of a small waterfall. Exactly the same. Made me think, takkan lah got river on the mountain. Then of course from the top, the whole of Boulder can be seen.

The view

Another view