Since then, I have particularly enjoyed Loggins & Messina when visiting Hawaii.  “Everything goes in Lahaina….”

My friend, Denver dentist Scott Greenhalgh who is taking us to the concert, told me that I should wear the clothes I wore to the concert that night.  Even if I still had them, there is no way I could fit this old body into those skinny clothes.  Something to aspire too…  Before the show, we plan to have dinner at The Keg in Lodo.  Very much looking for ward to it.  It will be good food, good company and good music!

The defense was fantastic, shutting down – and shutting out – the Patriots high powered offense in the second half.  Although they gave up a season high 17 points in the first half, as has been the case all season, they righted the ship at half-time and took control.

Kyle Orton looked like the quarterback that Coach McDaniel wanted when he traded away Jay Cutler over the summer.  He threw for two touchdowns (two eleven yard strikes to Brandon Marshall) and over 300 yards.  He spread the ball to all of his receivers – including Eddie Royal who came up with a number of first down receptions, Marshall, Gaffney, Moreno (who generated a lot of yardage both rushing and receiving) and his two tight ends – Daniel Graham and Tony Scheffler).

Even two untimely penalties against the Broncos punt receiving team late in the fourth quarter, which gave the Patriots life, weren’t enough to put the Broncos away.  The whole stadium held its breath wondering if the Broncos were going to fall to one of Tom Brady’s patented game-winning drives, but the Broncos just won’t quit.   This team just keeps on fighting.

We all left the stadium horse from shouting and cheering after Prater’s overtime game winner.  And many of in the crowd stopped over at a local bar while waiting to go cheer for the Rockies – another team that doesn’t know the meaning of quit.

Go Broncos!

Go Rockies!

This evening my wife and son went to the Journey of Hope Benefit Concert at Red Rocks.  The event featured several bands and the Colorado Childrens Chorale – along with Greg Mortenson, author of Three Cups of Tea.  The event was inspiring.  In addition to Greg Mortenson, the stars of the show were his daughter and five other children who had started foundations help impoverished children in the US, Africa and South America.  The foundations included the Little Red Wagon Foundation, Peruvian Hearts, and Africaid, among others.   Pennies for Peace sponsored the event.

There were a number of messages throughout the evening, but the central theme seemed to be that each of us can make a difference.  Even if we only help one child learn to read, that is one more literate child who will grow up to make a difference.  Bottom line, if each of us acts, we can change the world.

Pirate is one of the longest running galleries in Denver and will be celebrating its 30th anniversary in 2010.  Pirate can be described as “edgy,” and features contemporary art.  Ms. Hastings work will be showing with a local artist named BUG.

Opening reception: September 18, 6:00-10:00 PM.

Ms. Hastings started collaging when she needed a break from writing her thesis, and it later became a default creative outlet during periods of writer’s block.  She began doing both writing and collaging simultaneously, and eventually started merging language into the art.  For the most part she takes found objects, many of which are vintage or even antique, and combines unlike things to re-contextualize them into what she describes as a visual narrative.

She uses various papers, metal objects and scraps (many of which beg a current tetanus shot), woods, drawers, wax, and anything she can get her hands on and glue together.

Ms. Hastings is a Senior Account Manager for Page 1 Solutions, a website design and marketing firm specializing in Internet marketing for attorneys, dentists and doctors.

Torreys is supposed to be one of the easier 14ers and many people summit both Torreys Peak and Grays Peak on the same day.  Now, maybe I am overreacting because we did hike about 10 miles the day before near Mount Evans on the Chicago Lakes Trail.  In retrospect, we probably overdid it and should have taken it easy the day before attempting Torreys Peak.  We probably should have gone to bed early and relaxed that evening, but we didn’t.  And did we pay….

Bill, Ben, Diane and Dan with Torreys Peak in the Background

Fortunately, we did make it to the top.  But it wasn’t easy.  My 17-year old son and his friend came with us and they scampered up the hill like mountain goats.  They were often waiting impatiently as we dragged our sorry butts up to their resting spot and then they just took off again like it was nothing.

Shortly before the summit we went through a short snow bank near the top and dealt with some pretty harsh winds as we crossed the saddle between Grays and Torreys.  The winds were so strong that our friend almost turned back because he was having trouble keeping his contacts in with the wind, but he hung in there.  Then a short climb to the summit and we were there.

Beautiful!  Love those 360 degree views.  I can see why so many people are enamored with climbing 14ers.

What a feeling!  What an accomplishment!

The climb down was fairly easy.  Your feet take a pounding, but your lungs and thighs have a well-deserved respite.

I plan to do it again, but I learned my lesson.  Next time, I will take it easy the day before!

Yesterday, we went for an extended excursion on the trail from Echo Lake to Lincoln Lake.  The hike is about seven miles each way and took us about seven hours.  We stopped for lunch and for an extended break at Lincoln Lake.  It was worth every mile and every minute.  Lincoln Lake is beautiful.  It is nestled on the side of Mount Evans.  The water is crystal clear and the trout were jumping.

Lincoln Lake

The trail starts with a brief climb up from the Echo Lake campground, followed by about a mile long drop.  The rest of the way is a slow steady climb up to Lincoln Lake.  Most of the way is through pine forest but just before the turnoff to Lincoln Lake, it opens up into an old burn area with lots of beautiful silvery-gray gnarled dead trees coming up out of a grassy meadow.  The grass and underbrush was starting to show some nice fall color.  In fact, the mountains in the distance looked almost orange below treeline from the combination of green and red grass and brush.  It was beautiful.

We left at about 11:00 and got back just after 6:00.  We saw a total of seven people on the trail.  One couple got to Lincoln Lake shortly after us.  We passed another couple and then a solo hiker who were returning about a mile before we got to the lake.  Then, on our way back, we passed a couple of backpackers who were heading out to camp for the night.  On the whole it was extremely quiet and we had the trail – and the forest – to ourselves.

Chicago Lakes Trail

About a month ago, we hiked the Chicago Lakes trail with a good friend who was visiting from Washington, D.C.  We estimated that hike to be about 10-11 miles (round trip) with about 1,700 feet in elevation gain (although with the initial down and then up, the number was probably closer to 2,000 total elevation gain.

The Chicago Lakes trail was one of the most beautiful hikes we have ever done in Colorado – and certainly the most impressive of the summer.  With all the rain we have been having, the fauna was still very green.

The First of the Chicago Lakes

The initial climb of about a mile opened up to the Idaho Springs reservoir.  We stopped there for a little bit, but there were a lot of people coming and going, so we quickly moved on.  There were more people further on up the trail, but it definitely thinned out.

We thought about turning around about a mile before the first of the Chicago Lakes because we were planning to hike Torreys Peak the next day, but we pressed on.  When we finally made it to the Lakes the beauty of the scenery made it all worthwhile.  That is one hike that definitely want to do again.

Hells Hole

We do have one more hike in the Mount Evans area planned for later this fall when the aspen start to turn.  That is Hells Hole.  Good friends of ours have done it in previous years when the aspen  were peaking and rave about it.   Their pictures back up their story.  I can’t wait!

Black Bear eating birdseed in Morrison/Evergreen, CO

Thursday morning at 2:00 am, my wife pushed me out of bed when one of our bird feeders crashed to the ground.  I am a deep sleeper and didn’t hear a thing, but I dutifully got up and walked groggily to the window to see what was up.

I found a bear crouching on the edge of our patio scooping up all the bird seed.  With my heart racing and adrenaline pumping I checked the sliding glass doors which we sometimes leave open.  Fortunately, they were closed and the bear didn’t seem to care about me.  Then I went for the camera and was able to get this photo before my wife told me to stop taking pictures and get that bear out of her garden…

I am not much of a match for a 400 lb black bear, but I grabbed the first thing I could find – a broom – and started to open the sliding glass door.  Fortunately, the bear was more afraid of me than I was of him.  He hopped over the wall and climbed a big pine tree about fifteen feet away.

By this time, my whole house was up and gawking.  One of our dogs got out and was racing around our deck barking her head off (fortunately, she never got close to the bear).  We all watched the bear watch us from the tree for the next 15 minutes.  It kept snorting and huffing – I assume to warn us to stay away – although we didn’t need much encouragement.  I kept my eyes on him while I made a few short dashes out to collect our bird feeders and sweep away the remains of the bird seed that he had started eating.

Finally, he climbed down the tree and ambled away.

We have lived in the foothills of Conifer and Evergreen for fifteen years and have seen several bears and even a mountain lion.  We just returned from a trip to Alaska where we saw lots of black bears and brown bears eating salmon, but this one was a little close to home.  I haven’t started looking for a realtor yet, but you never know.

Today, we went with Reynolds Park, much more familiar stomping grounds for us.  We did all the trails on the mountain side of the park including both Eagle’s View and Raven’s Roost.  This hike also included a lot of elevation gain, but not quite as much as the Meridian Trail.  There were lots of cars in the parking lot, but we didn’t pass a single person until we made it to the top of Eagle’s View.

All in all, a great weekend.  But my feet hurt….

Near the top there is an overlook with a bench that looks out over Aspen Park.  We both noted how much Aspen Park has grown since we first moved to the foothills over fifteen years ago.  In addition to Conifer High School, we saw the huge King Soopers complex, the rebuilt complex that used to house the drug store and City Market.  There are many other new buildings along the frontage road as well.  Not in view, but also there, is the new Conifer Safeway shopping center.

It is still beautiful though with great views of rock outcroppings and mountains easily visible from almost every vantage point.

The 2009 lineup features the Carl Sonny Leyland Trio, Festival Feetwarmers with Anita Thomas, After Midnight Jazz Band, Gypsy Swing Revue, Hot Tomatoes Dance Orchestra, Marty Eggers’ Ragtime Quartet, John Royen Trio, International Sextet, Joni Janak and Centerpiece Jazz with special guest Rich Chiaraluce, Celebration Jazz Band, Gremoli, and Colorado favorite Queen City Jazz Band with vocal great Wende Harston.

If you live in the foothills and are looking for something fun and different to do, check it out.  It is a good time and great music.