Colorado in the Fall

My mother and I spent the last week of September in Boulder, Colorado, house sitting for friends and taking care of their darling schnauzer, Cloe. It was the height of the turning aspens, reddening oaks, and ripening golden grasses. We had unusually warm weather, between 75 and 95 degrees F almost every day. The air was still, the aspens barely quaked, and of course held onto their leaves for everyone to enjoy.

Reflections and underwater grasses

On Monday we headed up to Estes Park and Rocky Mountain National Park. I think it's been about 15 or 20 years since I last visited Bear Lake and saw the Keyboard of the Winds formation. It has been one of my favorites since I drew a coloring book for the park back in the 70's. These days, they have an in-park Park-N-Ride. We left the van and took a nice big-windowed bus up the road to the lake. What a nice addition that is! I got to look around and see the scenery instead of being entirely focused on NOT driving off the road. They delivered us right to the trail head and we hopped off for the mile long walk around the lake. My mother, at 80, easily made the hike. She's in great shape but she has trouble with depth perception. The aspen were at their peak and since it was a week day there were no heavy crowds.

Bear Lake is pristine water with an occasional jumping trout. It was mostly still and reflective of the building cumulus clouds.

Bear Lake

There is a highway, a broad, sometimes three and four lane road, from Estes Park to Nederland, called the Peak to Peak Highway. It is one of the most spectacular drives in the country any time of year, but especially in late September. Once in a while an early snowstorm will just blanket the "fourteeners" and leave the aspen untouched making for spectacular photos. But this year we settled for a lovely drive.

Scene along the Peak to Peak Highway.

Aspen around Bear Lake

My friend Claudia came to Boulder on Wednesday. We went on a longer hike north and west of Nederland in a large open space that used to be a ranch. At one time the ranch was owned by Graham Nash, of Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young. He'd built a lovely "old" barn that actually housed a first class recording studio. There is a farmhouse on the property, down in an open valley, which has been featured in numerous movies.

The Ranch

Lone Aspen

On Friday morning, I got up well before dawn, donned my warmest clothes, stopped at McDonald's for some coffee and headed to Chautauqua Park in Boulder to take photos of the Flatirons illuminated by the rising sun. It was cool and the parking lot filled rapidly with cars of early morning joggers and young men with climbing gear. The Flatirons are hugely popular among rock climbers. After a bit of tromping through the stiff grasses and rocks, I found a perfect place to take some  photos of the formation. There were high clouds in the east that filtered the normally bright pink light, but the rocks showed well.  Outside of the Tetons, the Flatirons of Boulder must surely be the most photographed rock formation in the country. The light kept changing as shadows from trees retreated and the sky got bluer. By 8:00 the trails were crowded with people and the light began to flatten. A lovely morning spent in a lovely town. I do love Boulder. It would be nice to move back, but it would be too much like life-reversal. I lived there for 17 years. The future is elsewhere. 

Earliest morning light on the Flatirons

Late morning shot

Pretty asters in the
morning light.

Topless women and fruits galore

Boulder, Colorado, August 6, 2011

Boulder was my home for 17 years, and so it's tough for me to think of it as a tourist attraction. There are of course many wonderful things to see: the Flatirons, Chautauqua, the Pearl Street Mall (which was just a run-down street when I was a kid), etc. But there is, in the summer, a delightful attraction that the run-of-the-mill tourist may not know about unless someone tells them, or they simply follow the crowds as they coalesce in the park on Saturday mornings, all summer long.

It's the Farmer's Market, and what a scene!  A huge truck loaded with organic peaches had a line 40 people long at 7:00 in the morning. I stayed the weekend with my friend Deb. Her neighbor bought a crate of peaches, because, as she said, "I stood in line far too long to buy a little bag of them". She gave 6 to Deb, and then Deb gave 2 to me on my way out the door on Sunday. OMG! They were juicy, perfect, fuzzy, and delectable.

The park just south of the Pearl Street Mall, on 13th and Canyon, features a Russian Tea House that is a treat in and of itself, open year round. But up and down that street, closed off on Saturdays, are many tents and booths filled with colorful vegetables and fruits, canned goods, organic and grass-fed meat, potted plants and freshly cut flowers.

And half naked ladies.

You cannot imagine my shock to see a young woman wearing many necklaces, a hat, short cutoff jeans and nothing else. In my adult lifetime, I've forgotten many things, but I've never forgotten to put on a bra. That poor girl has been going braless for some time. Her breasts drooped, aureole brown, nipples pointing at the ground, boobs bobbling along as she walked. If nothing else I should think it would be uncomfortable. I couldn't help but stare. She didn't seem bothered by anyone looking at her. I glanced around, no one else seemed perturbed so I began to think this must be a common occurrence. I wonder when the nudity laws in Boulder changed? Or was it the crowds at the market were so thick no one actually noticed? Or worse, maybe the economy really is so bad people have lost their shirts!!

Next to the Russian Tea house a "food court" had been set up. A large tent at one end housed tables and chairs for the patrons while both sides were lined with vendors grilling up meats, stuffed gorditas, steaming pot stickers, fried wontons, spring rolls, and chimichangas. The smell was delightful. Deb and I had lunch and listened to two different acts play music. Between the music and the crowds, we could barely hear each other. If you are a people watcher, it doesn't get any better than this.

I almost forgot, as we were about to leave, that I wanted to purchase some flavored Balsamic vinegars and coconut milk carmels. It would never have occurred to me to mix dark chocolate and vinegar, but their sampling table won over my heart. I ended up bringing home three bottles: pear, peach and chocolate, plus a package of coffee-coconut carmels that are amazingly NOT coconut flavored (I actually hate the taste of dried coconut) and
quite low in calories for a piece of candy, another plus in my book.

From Deb's house to and from the market, we put in about 4 miles of walking. Boulder is the perfect town for long walks through neighborhoods and around the shopping areas. The temperatures were perfect, the air didn't heat up till around noon. We enjoyed the best of a summer morning, went home to a cool house and sat on her back deck under the umbrella to enjoy her luscious back yard brimming with flowers.