Mile High Mountaineer The newsletter of the Denver Group of the Colorado Mountain Club www.cmc.org March www.hikingdenver.net 2016 www.facebook.com/CMCDenver Volume 49, No.3 www.twitter.com/CMC_Denver THE WINTER TRAIL RUNNER By Peter N. Jones CMC Press Author “The Best Front Range Trail Runs” I prefer to run the loop clockwise from the trailhead off State Highway 93 on the west side of the mesa. This direction allows A view from the top of Mount Falcon looking east for a nice warmup, provides unique views of the city of Denver from the eastern As the cool air of fall hits the Front Range, and then the Red Mesa Loop Trail before shoulders of the mesa, and finishes with a people tend to put away their mountain descending back down Plymouth Creek Trail solid climb before a speedy descent returns bikes and dust off their skis and snowboards. to the trailhead. Lengthening this run by you back to the trailhead. However, fall and winter are two of the best taking the Golden Eagle Trail out and back seasons to play on the many trails found (one mile roundtrip) is particularly worth it. Peter Jones will be hosting a free trail- around the Denver area – there are less Mount Falcon. Just south of Morrison running and ultra-running clinic and slide people out so you often have the whole trail lies Mount Falcon. It doesn’t look like a show at 6:30 p.m, March 30, Denver REI, and to yourself, the views are better because there mountain from the trailhead because the 6:30 p.m., March 16, Boulder REI. Register is less moisture in the air, and playing in the actual summit is located back and to the online at rei.com. crisp air leaves you feeling energized. west over a small set of foothills. The main Three of the best open space parks for trail – the Castle Trail – enjoys a southern trail running in the fall and winter are Deer exposure, which makes it a perfect winter Creek Canyon, Mount Falcon, and North trail to run. Table Mountain. All three are in Jefferson A favorite is the Castle Trail/Turkey Trot County and are owned and maintained by Trail/Castle Trail to the small shelter at mile the Jefferson County Open Space Division. 2.95 where a gravel service road takes you Maps can be found online at Jeffco Open west to the historic Walker Home Ruins and Space Parks and Trails. a big meadow with spectacular views of the Deer Creek Canyon Park. Deer Creek Continental Divide to the west. The Castle Canyon is a gem of an open space park, Trail reaches the western parking lot. located southwest of Denver off C-470. North Table Mountain. This is an One of the best runs is the outer loop, excellent run in the fall or winter. It is often beginning on the Meadowlark Trail. This too hot in the summer as it lacks any shade, loop continues in a clockwise direction and is one of the first trails to melt out after a on the Plymouth Creek Trail, Plymouth snow in the winter. Mountain Trail, the Homesteader Trail, Castle ruins on Mount Falcon March 2016 • Mile High Mountaineer 1 CLIMB EUROPEAN HIGH POINTS AND SUPPORT TAKING FLIGHT: CMC’S BACKCOUNTRY SNOWSPORTS INITIATIVE ANATOMY OF A BIRD by Mike Foster, MHM Columnist A new form of CMC adventure travel trip goes out June 2016: a visit to the The anatomy of a bird has evolved to produce a creature that can fly. This high points of Bulgaria (Mt. Musala) means reducing weight wherever possible, and Macedonia/Albania (Golem Korab). streamlining external features, and simplifying The trip features a small group (limit internal ones. The wing, for example, weighs 10); moderate pricing; and a $200 tax- almost nothing, yet it is an airfoil, generating deductible contribution to BSI (for more lift and reducing drag. A number of air sacs info about BSI, visit the Conservation in the neck, chest, and abdomen provide pages on the CMC website). We’ll also visit buoyancy. Wing bones are hollow, structural bones contain air pockets, others are fused to a number of cultural sites from the Roman, add strength and smoothness. The tail is a fan Byzantine, Ottoman eras; plus historic of feathers. A light bill (birds have no teeth) churches and museums. moves the center of gravity back toward the Hotel Lion, Barovets, Bulgaria by Steve Bonowski abdomen, giving birds better balance for flight. Relative to their body size, birds have larger The trip dates are June 18-30, 2016. Leader is Steve Bonowski, experienced CMC hearts that beat faster than humans or other international trip leader. For more information, visit the adventure travel portion of mammals, generating a richer mix of oxygen, the CMC website, or contact Steve at: [email protected]. Space is limited! powering muscles that contract faster and sustain rhythmic work longer, and circulating air more efficiently. It takes two or three in- ESTATE PLANNING WORKSHOP and-out breaths for a quantity of air to circulate May 11 at AMC through a bird’s lungs and air sacs before being expelled, but all of the oxygen is absorbed, The Denver Group will sponsor an estate-planning workshop May 11 exclusively for Denver Group whereas humans retain only about 20 percent of members and their spouses. It will be held from 4:00 to 5:30 in the Baker Room of the AMC. The speaker the oxygen in each breath. is Robert Collins, a longtime CMC member, for 50 years an estate planning attorney, now retired. He will Birds maintain average body temperatures help you define your estate planning goals, discuss wills and trusts and other means by which you can of 104 to 111 degrees F, enabling greater achieve those goals, explain the post-mortem process, consider charitable planning techniques, and talk muscle strength and quicker contractions. For about what you might look for in an estate planning attorney. example, a chickadee can flap its wings up and Estate planning is constantly changing as income taxes increase, federal estate taxes are reduced, down (one stroke) around 27 times a second; and the economy recovers. This is not an event the purpose of which is to generate a gift to the CMC. hummingbirds do over 50 strokes per second. The purpose is simply to educate. To sign up, please email Bob [email protected]. First come, first To maintain such high energy, birds need to serve. Attendance will be limited to 20. Hiking attire welcome! Light refreshments will be served. ingest food regularly during the day. Lacking teeth (to save weight), they have two stomachs to decompose and process food. The first amounts GUNNISON GORGE to a bath of acids, to separate out nutrients, with Derek Kehmeier the second (the gizzard, larger in birds that eat March 17, 6 p.m. seeds, shells, fish and plants) grinds up harder materials. Some birds swallow particles of sand By Celia Dunlap, Fly Fishing Section Chair or mud to assist in the grinding, larger birds even On Thursday, March 17, Derek Kehmeier, manager of Black swallow small pebbles. The sand and pebbles are Canyon Anglers, will present “Fishing the Gunnison Gorge of the evacuated. The bones and fur of creatures preyed Black Canyon.” This is Black Canyon Angler’s 32nd season, specializing upon by raptors (and some other species) are in wilderness float fish trips through the Gunnison Gorge. bundled together in the gizzard then regurgitated Derek has been fly-fishing and tying for 30 plus years, an ex as pellets. bank president who gave it all up to work in the fly-fishing industry. Many birds can process a meal in under Join us at Wrigley’s Bar and Grill, 18200 West Colfax Avenue an hour, and even their poop saves weight, 6:00 p.m. happy hour by using little water. To dispose of wastes, 6:30 p.m. roundtable discussion birds secrete uric acid, in a lightweight paste, 7 p.m. presentation humans secrete urea, which is highly toxic, and requires lots of water to dissolve. Even Food available for purchase before the presentation. Free. birds’ food is adapted to keep weight down: Members and non-members are welcome to attend. sap and nectar are light but high in energy; seeds are densely packed with SAVE THE DATE: SAVE THE DATE! nutrition; insects Annual Pot Luck Dinner to benefit the weigh little after April 21, 2016 Eckart Roder Education Fund their wings, legs, and skeletons are Thursday, April 7, 2016 What: Leader/Sr Instructor Gathering 5:30pm – 8:00pm, AMC, Golden regurgitated. American Mountaineering Center Foster is a Format: Leader Best Practices Slide presentation by Doug Kruesi Suggested Donation: $15 naturalist and Panel Discussion historian who RSVP required - please contact [email protected] or When: 5:30 – 8:30 pm (303) 996-2752 by March 31, 2016, with your teaches classes on dish and number attending! Established in 2003, birding. His column Where: AMC Conference Rooms the Eckart Roder Education Fund was named in on birding will honor of longtime CMC member Eckart Roder Registration: Available mid-February appear on a space- Meadowlark at Chatfield, and supports the educational programs of the available basis. Audubon Society of Denver Colorado Mountain Club. 2 Mile High Mountaineer • March 2016 DENVER GROUP SCHOOLS See HIKINGDENVER.NET for complete information on Denver Group Schools Registration: Go to cmc.org, CLASSES. Refund Policy: Requests must be made in writing to school director. If 30 days or more before first day: Whole amount minus $10 processing.