Even in our mid-60s,
Jim and I are happiest when we're physically active. We are wired to
move. Although we can't run any more we hike and bike as much as
possible.
The record cold, wet weather in Colorado Springs during the month
of May put a bit of a "damper" on our outdoor activities.
Casey didn't care if the trail
was a creek (above) or we got wet when it rained (below).
However, we still got out most days to ride our bikes and/or hike
with the dogs. We tried to time our hikes and rides to avoid the
afternoon storms but sometimes got caught out in them.
Labs are wired to move, too. Casey, in particular, is quite vocal when
she's got cabin fever and needs more exercise. I swear that little girl
can talk! (It's in doggie language but we get the message loud and
clear.) She and Cody had lots of
fun playing in puddles, snow, piles of little hail, and the overflowing
creeks on the far side of the Falcon Trail.
HIKING THE FALCON TRAIL LOOP @ THE USAFA
One of the reasons we like staying at the Air Force Academy so much
is easy access to a scenic 13-mile single-track trail that loops around the
enormous campus, ranging in elevation from 6,500 to 7,500 feet.
All or part of the loop makes a great hike or a magical roller coaster ride
on a mountain bike. We've both run and hiked the whole trail in multiple
visits to Colorado Springs, and we've ridden our bikes on smoother
sections like these:
The hillier segments are generally more rocky and narrow, with steep
drop offs. They're fine for
hiking, not so much for cycling unless you're a diehard mountain biker:
During this visit I took the dogs to some of my favorite sections of
the trail several times a week.
They especially like the creeks at the southern end of the loop.
Those were more full of water than usual during this visit because of
all the rain and snowmelt:
I also hiked around the entire loop twice, a total of 14 miles from
and back to our campsite.
The creeks were all running high both times. With the help of my
trekking poles I plowed through all of them except this one, where I was
able to find a detour on a little road with a bridge:
The photos in this section show various sections of the trail under
widely varying weather conditions.
We arrived on Sunday, May 2. Apparently that weekend a
marathon and 50-miler were run on the Falcon Trail. I
was surprised a couple days later to see these signs directing runners at one of the
intersections:
Cool! That's the first we've ever known of an ultramarathon being run at
the Academy.
The trail goes over several ridges around the loop. When it isn't cloudy
or raining they have great views of the Rampart Range, lower parts of
the campus, or the northern section of the city.
One of my favorite ridges is about a mile from the campground and over a
mile long on top:
Reservoir below the ridge on the east; northeastern
suburbs in the distance
Cadet area to the west below the ridge;
Rampart Range in the background
Another favorite spot is the highest point on the trail and the section
leading down from it past the creek that flows from Stanley Canyon and
into a fertile valley below.
I've gotten some nice sunny, summery-looking pictures from this area of the loop in
previous visits but most of the times I went over there this trip, it
was overcast or dreary. These photos are from the one sunnier days
I was on this section:
Also unlike our previous May visits very few flowers are in bloom this time,
even at the end of May at lower elevations on campus, and most of the new deciduous
leaves haven't come out yet:
High desert flora: wallflowers
and prickly pear cactus
There were fewer new leaves at lower elevations on the trail, too:
On May 7, five days after our arrival at the Academy, I took this
picture of the golf course from the Falcon Trail near the campground:
Beautiful, sunny day in Colorado Springs, eh?
That afternoon, while we were at our first orthopedic appointment a few
miles from campus, all hail broke loose. By the time the storm passed,
the northern part of the city had an accumulation of 4-8" of pea-sized
hail on the ground and streets -- and I-25 was shut down until
the freeway could be plowed! Good thing we didn't need the freeway that day.
I showed some photos of the hail on the street in the previous entry.
Within the next few days we would get three more hail storms (all small
stuff, fortunately) and 2-3" of snow. In addition, it rained nearly
every afternoon, saturating the ground further.
It would have been easy to just stay inside but
I kept going out to get exercise and photos on the Falcon Trail (and elsewhere) to
record this anomalous spring:
Even some dedicated golfers played through the
rain . . .
. . . but not in the snow!
On May 10 we got the one snowstorm that occurred in May. I'm not as much
of a snow-phobe as Jim so I couldn't wait to get out in it to take
pictures and let the dogs play in it. It was beautiful!
The next day I hiked the whole Falcon loop solo -- what a mess it was
then, and for the rest of the month!
Creeks flooded. Sometimes the trail was a creek. Puddles gave way
to mud. Erosion washed away soil and left ditches where the trail
is sloped. Continued use by mountain bikers and equestrians when the
trail was wet caused further damage.
Above and below: between a rock wall and
overflowing creek . . .
I just plowed through the mud, puddles, flooded creeks, rain, and snow.
It was fun in a perverse way!
No, I didn't enjoy it as much as the warm, dry, sunny days we have
previously experienced in our visits to Colorado Springs in May. It's
more fun to hike on perfect days than imperfect ones.
But I'll tell ya, weather like this makes me appreciate perfect days
more.
Here are a few more random photos of the Falcon Trail, also taken the
day after the snowfall:
Above and below: I spotted these four does
just off the trail, near the commissary.
They kept their eyes on me while I shot half a
dozen close-ups and talked softly to them.
Continued on the next page -- cycling at the USAF Academy and on
the New Santa Fe Trail and Pike's Peak Greenway
Happy trails,
Sue
"Runtrails & Company" - Sue Norwood, Jim O'Neil,
Cody the ultra Lab, and Casey-pup
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© 2015 Sue Norwood and Jim O'Neil
