Digression — walking Boulder, Mt. Sanitas trail (Oct. 15)

I had occasion to spend most of the day in Boulder today, while I waited for some recall work on our car to complete.  I decided to walk Mapleton Ave. from 29th west to the Mt. Sanitas trailhead, and then hiked the Mt. Sanitas trail loop.  Then daughter Tiffany was nice enough to bring me a pizza lunch, and dropped me off at the 29th St. mall.  I then walked from there east on Arapahoe to about 60th St.

Boulder was hit fairly bad by the flooding a little over a month ago, but the areas I walked were recovering well, and I didn’t see a lot of damage.  There were half a dozen places on Mapleton that had what appeared to be sump pumps draining a bit of water from basements.  And the Mt. Sanitas valley trail was shut down due to a wash-out from the water, so I had to take the slightly longer Dakota Ridge trail on the final part of the loop.

The following pictures are pretty much in the order I took them throughout the day.

Clean Energy license plate

Clean Energy license plate

 

Orb

Orb

 

apartments?

apartments?

stick fence

stick fence

nice looking chair... for the taking

nice looking chair… for the taking

 

spook

spook

 

spectre

spectre

 

owner came out to talk... said these were pelicans.. art from Mozambique

owner came out to talk… said these were pelicans.. art from Mozambique

 

hedges

hedges

 

embedded

embedded

 

secluded Buddha

secluded Buddha

 

Flatirons in the distance

Flatirons in the distance

 

HELL (world?) sign

HELL (world?) sign

 

interesting architecture

interesting architecture

 

art from one side

art from one side

 

art from the other side

art from the other side

 

Children at play

Children at play

 

gateway

gateway

 

modern look

modern look

 

nice house

nice house

 

election time in Boulder

election time in Boulder

 

up a level or two

up a level or two

 

very steep back yard

very steep back yard

 

this old house

this old house

 

no sign of Ajax today (a dog, I presume?)

no sign of Ajax today (a dog, I presume?)

 

another interesting house

another interesting house

 

rock fence

rock fence

 

unrotated photo to ease reading # 1

unrotated photo to ease reading # 1

 

unrotated photo to ease reading # 2

unrotated photo to ease reading # 2

 

sky profile

sky profile

 

sky profile close-up

sky profile close-up

 

church

church

 

how do I get in?

how do I get in?

 

Catholic church

Catholic church

 

Catholic church statue

Catholic church statue

 

church door # 1

church door # 1

 

church door # 2

church door # 2

 

church door # 3

church door # 3

 

Catholic church inscription

Catholic church inscription

mansion

mansion

 

cute dog

cute dog

 

First Church of Christ Scientist

First Church of Christ Scientist

 

Lutheran church

Lutheran church

 

Historic Mapleton

Historic Mapleton

 

gets pretty steep uphill from here

gets pretty steep uphill from here

 

Grill Mansion

Grill Mansion

 

 

across from the Grill

across from the Grill

 

 

another laughing hyena?

laughing hyena?

 

street bench by the Grillstreet bench by the Grill

 

sandbags to keep the water out?sandbags to keep the water out?

laughing hyena?

another laughing hyena?

 

 

 

Grill Mansion

Grill Mansion

 

 

 

Historic Mapleton School

Historic Mapleton School

close-up

close-up

MapletonSchool 1888

Mapleton School 1888

In front of Mapleton School

In front of Mapleton School

 

heading toward Mt. Sanitas

heading toward Mt. Sanitas

 

Portal of the Day

Portal of the Day

 

Large Halloween front yard

Because I could not stop for Death… he kindly stopped for me…

 

Funny license plate

Funny license plate

 

leaves changing color

leaves changing color

row of apartments

row of apartments

Seventh Day Adventist

Seventh Day Adventist

 

Rock Fountain?

Rock Fountain?

 

Boulder Community Hospital

Boulder Community Hospital

 

No Bicycles

No Bicycles

 

I assume this is because of road repair in Sunshine Canyon due to flooding

I assume this is because of road repair in Sunshine Canyon due to flooding

 

Thank you sign

Thank you sign

 

Hospital entrance

Hospital entrance

 

Map of Mt. Sanitas trails

Map of Mt. Sanitas trails

 

Creek at the trailhead

Creek at the trailhead

 

Starting to the left; hopefully coming back from the right

Starting to the left; hopefully coming back from the right

 

Mt. Sanitas history

Mt. Sanitas history

 

rock wall

rock wall

 

steep stairs

steep stairs

 

white chalk marks on climbing wall

white chalk marks on climbing wall

 

looking down at Sunshine Canyon road

looking down at Sunshine Canyon road

 

Boulder to the east

Boulder to the east

 

looking down at the return trail

looking down at the return trail

 

Haystack Mountain and Longmont off in the far hazy distance

Haystack Mountain and Longmont off in the far hazy distance

 

Williams Village towers (C.U. dorms), and highway 36  leading off to Denver

Williams Village towers (C.U. dorms), and highway 36 leading off to Denver

 

power line over Mt. Sanitas

power line over Mt. Sanitas

 

wires going eastward

wires going eastward

 

gnarly

gnarly

 

mini-flatirons along the trail

mini-flatirons along the trail

 

hikers ahead of me... almost to the top

hikers ahead of me… almost to the top

 

view from the top, looking east

view from the top, looking east

 

marker at the top

marker at the top

 

looks like this may have had a USGS plate at one time

looks like this may have had a USGS plate at one time

 

which way to go?

which way to go?

 

on the way down now (which is sometimes harder than going up, because of slipping)

on the way down now (which is sometimes harder than going up, because of slipping)

 

large uprooted tree lying beside the trail

large uprooted tree lying beside the trail

 

rocks with pits

rocks with pits

 

futuristic looking house on the way down

futuristic-looking house on the way down

 

gully wash-out along the trail

gully wash-out along the trail

 

Sanitas Valley trail closed because of flood wash-out

Sanitas Valley trail closed because of flood wash-out

 

looking back up at where I've been

looking back up at where I’ve been

 

trail closed

trail closed

 

lost stocking cap

lost stocking cap

 

Now I’m back down to the trailhead, and my daughter Tiffany was kind enough to give me lunch and a ride.  The rest of the photos are walking back east from the 29th St. Mall on Arapahoe.

Flatirons from 29th

Flatirons from 29th

 

 

I believe that rock formation is Devil's Thumb (from 29th St. Mall)

I believe that rock formation is Devil’s Thumb (from 29th St. Mall)

 

 

 

 

SCOTT CARPENTER

Coincidentally, Scott Carpenter passed away just 5 days ago.  He was born and raised in Boulder, and was one of the original seven NASA astronauts.  The two following pictures are from Scott Carpenter Park in Boulder.

Scott Carpenter wiki

Scott Carpenter Park

Scott Carpenter Park

 

Scott Carpenter Park sculpture

Scott Carpenter Park sculpture

 

BOULDER DINNER THEATRE/ SPAMALOT

Boulder Dinner Theatre has put on consistently high quality shows for as long as I’ve been in Colorado.  Jennifer & I saw Spamalot in Las Vegas about 4 years ago, and enjoyed it immensely (with John O’Hurley (Mr. Peterman on Seinfeld) as King Arthur).  We are definitely planning on seeing it at BDT.  Since I enjoy the Andrews Sisters music, I assume we will try to make it for ‘Sisters of Swing’ as well.

Boulder Dinner Theatre home page

Always Look on the Bright Side of Life youtube

Boulder Dinner Theatre

Boulder Dinner Theatre

 

What else is happening along east Arapahoe???

Ball Aerospace

Ball Aerospace

 

Flood assistance # 1

Flood assistance # 1

 

Flood assistance # 2

Flood assistance # 2

 

Granville Phillips

Granville Phillips

 

Flatirons Golf Course

Flatirons Golf Course

 

My first car was a red '66 mustang

My first car was a red ’66 mustang

 

South Boulder Creek

South Boulder Creek

 

South Boulder Creek

South Boulder Creek

 

 

 

 

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