Garden of the Gods

Over the holidays we visited my parents in Colorado. One of my favorite places near their house is Garden of the Gods. Although it was only early afternoon, the December sun was low enough that the light on the rocks was interesting and contrasting enough to help yield some interesting photos.

It reminds me of someplace Zane Grey would write about.

Old Rag Mountain

We tried to go rock climbing at Old Rag last weekend. Really, we did.

There are somethings you should know about Old Rag before you try to go rock climbing there.

The first thing to know is that dogs are not allowed on the trails leading to the cliffs. The reason for this is that the up the South East side of the mountain is quite dangerous (Class 4+ scramble) and not suitable for four legged oafs. It is quite possible for a dog to make it to the cliffs, however, they are effectively forbidden.

Which brings us to the second point, Old Rag mountain is an extremely popular hike. On a nice day, you will likely encounter hundreds of people hiking on Old Rag. In spite of the scenic, lonely drive to the parking lot, expect it to be jammed with busses and cars, and the trail a solid line of people. With respect to your dog, it will greatly delay your accent to have to introduce and protect your dog from the human onslaught. Carrying 40+ lbs of climbing gear will mean that you are taking the easy trail up, while everyone is taking it down.

Give your self plenty of time to explore the cliffs to find the climbing areas, as they are not well marked or easy to identify from the trail or the guidebook. Access to the bottom of the cliffs is via bushwhack and scrambles along faint trails and cairns.

On the bright side, we did have a nice, scenic hike. The Volvo 740 wagon proved it's metal, as we were able to haul four adults, climbing gear, and a dog in relative comfort to the trail head. The approach was clearly pushing the limits of what one can expect from a 100 hp/120 ft-lb 4 cylinder engine, however, with it seriously laboring up the steep hills in second gear.

It is always nice to be somewhere other than this city.

Capital Offence

This Saturday, the the girly and I took a small jaunt into the District (meaning, we left the land of lovers into the land of the taxed and unrepresented) (no not Puerto Rico).

A filthy, unwashed mass among the masses swarming the capitol.

We took the cattle car orange line to the Smithsonian stop, and then took a multi-hour long stroll along the length of the mall.

One of the things that I had not expected was the sheer volume of people there. DC is, by far, the largest tourist trap in the country. There were people everywhere.

There was also a protest or rally happening.

Let me paraphrase what the speakers were saying.

"GOD...BIBLE...AMERICA...REVENGE...BIBLE...AMERICA...BLESS...BIBLE...GOD...PSALMS...AMERICA...AMERICA...GOD...BIBLE...REVENGE..."

I now realized why protests don't cause change. There is probably a protest and rally in DC every weekend. I'd ignore it too. The Park Service has fenced off sections of the mall so the grass can regrow since the hoards have stampeded it to death.

And oh, hoards there were.

Hoards at the congress building, hoards at the monuments, hoards at the bathrooms, hoards and the reflection pool, hoards at the cross walks. Hoards hoards hoards hoards hoards. It was a windy day, too. I'm sure that kept the feeble inside with their soaps, but it was not enough to render the helm of our great nation desolate.

I honestly wonder how the president and the FLOTUS can find a quite place to make out with all the hoarding going on.

American public: 307,006,550 peeping Toms must be assuaged!

I told you guys I was going to blog this.

Whitehouse being loved to death.

A small hoard tramples the mall.

The Red Baron Hoards the capitol building

Hoards rap down the dome.

This must be one of those joke photos where the important thing is behind the photographer. (e.g. 'This is me at the Washington Monument'). Her photo will probably have nothing but her flavour of the week and some unremarkable cluttered background in it. She's probably just taking it to make him happy. I bet she's going to dump him soon.

All I could hear was Lisa Simpson trying to get a word in edgewise.

An very intriguing aspect was the the light poles. The street light poles do not appear to have been changed or painted since sometime in the 60's, yet the lights themselves have had some amount of maintenance. The result of an intriguing juxtaposition of new metal and peeling relic.

Broken the lock, added new hasp. Broke it again. Yei string.

Juxapose.

Peels like burnt skin.

Odd notions:

At least they own up to driving poorly.

The Canadian embassy is one of the cleanest buildings in the city.

Flags and eyeballs at the FBI.

Water, water, everywhere.

Autumn Vespas

Not that kind of fountain.