A set of 7 photos from a November, 2013 hike in Staunton State Park in Colorado. View Photo Album
Author: Finious
Staunton State Park Exploration
I recently drove up to the new Staunton State Park just past Conifer, Colorado. It’s an easy, fairly short drive from Denver, very close to where I used to live in Pine Junction, Colorado. As you can see from this Staunton State Park trail map there are a bunch of routes to chose from whether you prefer to hike, bike or horseback ride. The day started a little brisk with fog and mist in the mountain river valleys, but turned out quite warm considering it is November in Colorado.
Having never been in the park I chose to keep it simple and take the main Staunton Ranch trail through the heart of the park. I would then take a little balloon loop hiking a short way up the Marmot Passage trail close to the top of a ridge to the west, then head back along and down the ridge on Scout Line trail until it rejoined the Staunton Ranch trail I came in on. Continue reading Staunton State Park Exploration
Conscience, Morality, Civilization
Maybe it’s odd that a passing comment by a character in a Tom Clancy thriller got me thinking deep thoughts this morning, but it did…
“A conscience is the price of morality, and morality is the price of civilization.”
“Patriot Games” by Tom Clancy, Page 97.
I do not agree with this. Especially the last part about civilization.
Midland Hill
Almost a month ago (Oct. 26th) I drove up to Buena Vista, CO and took a VERY long hike. I took an approx. 3.5 mile loop trail up on Midland Hill (or Sleeping Indian as the locals call it) to visit the grave of my old dog Buddy. Apparently a bunch of deer wanted to visit my old canine friend too, as they came along while I sat enjoying the view.
Later, about 3/4 of the way through my hike, I decided to take a branch trail that goes WAY up to the highest point on the hill. The result was that my total hike ended being more like 7 miles or so, with about 1500 ft elevation gain. Let me tell you, all of that elevation gain happens over a very short distance, making for one steep hike. I was pretty exhausted as things finally leveled out on the top of the ridge and had to stop for a long rest and a snack before the short hike to the peak. Took the following photos from there.
CLICK PHOTOS TO SEE LARGE VERSIONS ON MY FLICKR ACCOUNT
Review: Boneshaker
Boneshaker by Cherie Priest
View book info on GoodReads
My Rating: 
2 out of 5 stars
First Published: September 2009
Read from: October 03 to 25, 2013
Boneshaker – More of a “Mind-number”
Very unusual for me, but only read half of this book. Just couldn’t get into it and had a lot on my plate at the time so finally gave it up as a lost cause. Nothing technically wrong with the writing, but considering all the fantastic elements it had to work with (steampunk, zombies, extended civil war era post-apocalyptic wild west,) it seemed very unexciting and unimaginative. I have read others’ reviews saying that the book started slow, but I believe I was close to, if not past, the half-way point and while some things were finally happening, even the “run for your life” scenes seemed…
Well, to put it in one word: “meh…” Continue reading Review: Boneshaker
YOU are unique in the Universe
I’ve been re-watching the seventh season of the new Doctor Who series. This extended quote from The Rings of Akhaten written by Neil Cross is really amazing on so many levels. The words were spoken by The Doctor to an innocent little girl who believed it was her destiny to sacrifice her life for her people, but they could have (and should be) spoken to anyone — the bullied, the suicidal… to everyone. Continue reading YOU are unique in the Universe
You Have a Story Worth Telling
You have a story worth telling. First, here is what we’re not entitled to: being listened to by the masses. The honest truth is that attention is earned. But there can be incredible epiphanies that come from telling yourself your story. There are so many possibilities inside you. It’s a worthy thing you do, exploring those paths.
Everybody starts with an audience of one, and nobody has the right to silence you, not even your own inner editor.
Ancho-Beef Stew, I Love You
I have been trying to be a little more ambitious on my “weekends” off and do some more serious baking & cooking (usually my “cooking” amounts to refrigerated or frozen meals I can pop in the microwave or oven and chow down on with little to no preparation or assembly). Last week I baked cookies from scratch, (making Oatmeal Scotchies with mixed results).
This week I used my Crock Pot to cook up a pretty awesome Ancho-Beef Stew recipe I found in a magazine and baked some pretty good corn bread from a mix (Marie Callender’s Low Fat Original Corn Bread). Probably a copyright violation, but I’m posting a link to my copy of the stew recipe here with some notes and variations on things I did differently a/o might do differently in the future.
Review: Wool – The Wool We Pull Over Our Own Eyes
Wool Omnibus (Silo, #1) by Hugh Howey
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Wool by Hugh Howey was a very engaging and well written novel (actually a collection of 5 novella’s, but really just one big continuous novel). While its basic concept of a post-apocalyptic society living in a silo to escape the toxic outside world wasn’t particularly original; the skill with which everything was written, the well thought out world of the silo, and the way the plot enfolded and secrets were revealed was expertly crafted.
Continue reading Review: Wool – The Wool We Pull Over Our Own Eyes
Skyrim: One Voice, One Violin
Having been massively addicted to Skyrim recently, (yes, I know I’m late in finally playing it,) I thought this music video of a rendition of Skyrim’s theme song was very cool. Besides being a very well filmed & edited video, the music was done entirely by one guy’s voice and one gal’s violin (using tons of tracks obviously). I also loved the live action “in-game 1st person POV” shots, complete with Skyrim’s HUD. Pretty fun stuff.