tuesday january 6

first, a reminder that the fcac meeting is tomorrow morning at 7:30 am at the foothills learning center. they are expected to make a final decision on what to recommend to council.

echo and i had a nice quiet in the snow street walk this morning, then halle & i went out at lunch again today- and boy was it wet & sloppy! we walked the grove to the flc around chickadee ridge & back down to the lower 8th st parking lot. it looks like a freeway. it amazes me to see the evidence of how many people use the trails this clearly.

there is a good layer of ice under this snow, and though it was soft today, i suspect it will freeze up again and we'll be back to the skating rink. and after that it will be very wet and sloppy.

we met a guy walking out and i help halle back from running up to his dog. he said "it's ok" and i explained that i am teaching her not to go charging up- both because it scares some people and dogs & because i don't like being charged. i don't think he got it. his dog wasn't a charger, which is good, but it always surprises me when people don't seem to understand why you'd teach your dog not to do that.

anyway- the cliffs across the road seemed really close for some reason- which is odd because it was raining and misty.
came on this on chickadee ridge. it's possible that it wasn't a dog that dug out under this sagebrush, but it sort of looks that way. having a dog in sight prevents this sort of behavior, which in turn gives the "on leash only" or "no dogs at all" folks less to complain about.

of course, it's entirely possible that this was done by one of the chronic loose subdivision dogs or not by a dog at all.

it was a beautiful walk. the bitterbrush and sage bark looked black because it's so wet. a nice contrast to the snow & the grass peeking out.

and the obligatory rose hip shot- so nice & red against all of the gray.

will keep you posted on what happens tomorrow, and the next steps as the process moves through city council. have a great evening!

venturing out

halle and i headed out after my lunch hour conference call. even with the snow & ice there has been lots of traffic- this is coming in from camel's back. it is solid ice under the snow- halle & i both slipped a few times, yaktrax & 4WD (or 4 paw drive) notwithstanding.
this is boudreaux, who i think we have encountered before. he was off leash in the on leash area and came charging over to us even as his owner (tried to) called him back. i dropped halle's leash, which is going to be my mo as long as it's icy and people can't control their dogs. no point in getting pulled over. this was around 2:10 just inside the reserve. B's people were walking out the 9th street entrance.

this is the guy i ran into at the top of the trail leading up from the ponds to red fox. he had a black lab, yellow lab and vizsla, none of whom were leashed (on leash area), all of whom were well ahead of him on the trail, none of whom came to him when he saw me with halle on leash & tried to call them back. we just kept walking. he did apologize.

these guys were skiing down the short trail on the west side of the pond that leads up & over to red fox.

i mentioned that they were helping to pack down the snow and turning the hill into a solid sheet of ice. they suggested i walk a different trail if i thought that was a problem. very nice, thoughtful guys.

the best part is the jumps that someone built in the trail presumably to catch some air. be careful if you run this way, because i'm betting that they won't be very visible in flat light, but they are unexpected and could trip people up. not to mention how nice it would be if someone came flying off the bottom one as a person or dog came up the trail behind the fence.

my nice quiet snowy walk didn't start out so peacefully, but it got better.

it was beautiful, and the snow was still falling.

there is lots of ice under the snow- i suspect the trails are going to be icy for a while. and when this melts, they'll be wet again.

have a great week- please keep me updated if you've been on other parts of the trail system & have something to add-

more trail reports

from sue martson-

I ran the MRP yesterday, Sunday up around Bucktail / Shanes from Elephant Rock off Horizon Drive. Trails were in great condition, except for some very deep mtb wheel ruts on the lower trail that parallels the road. Very little ice, 95% of the trails in MRP were clear. It was cold, so not muddy at all.

Ran this AM in Camelsback, the short loop from the park, past the ponds / Watertower on Red Fox, to the FLCenter, then down to the Grove. Well, more like shuffled. Skating rink from the park to past the ponds. Sheer ICE under that snow all around the pond area. Watertower road is good as is Red Fox once you are past the ponds. Trail coming off Kestrel to the Grove is ice. Grove is ice. Ran road back to C-back as I had already fallen twice and was fearful with dog on leash pulling me off balance.Be careful out there in Cback. MRP is 100% better.

weekend trail report

notes from tracy:

i was on several diff trails below the learning ctr yesterday morning. the ice rink fm the 9th st trailhead was much much improved. major human and dog prints on the part of lower red fox that skirts the left side of the pond and proceeds uphill toward the main red fox trail - can't blame all that rutting on cyclists, since i saw zero bike treads in the area. obviously a lot of runners w/ dogs were running that trail when it was way too wet to be out there. chickadee ridge clear, 8th st extension clear, red fox clear other than patches remaining off the 9th st trailhead, red-winged blackbird icy in areas and mostly solid ice through the scary trees part to the pond. didn't get to the grove.

i heard reports that the path skirting the right side of the pond up to the lower parking lot was a sheet of ice - that's so common that i don't go that direction in these conditions, even w/ yaktrax.

echo and i ran (using the term loosely!) the streets in the snow this morning and it was beautiful. hope to get out with halle to hull's this afternoon- will update then.

info?

if anyone has been on the trails, please send me a note & let me know how they look so i can share.

thanks!

greenbelt thoughts

an email from carla-

It's likely that if people aren't using the trails, they are using the Greenbelt instead. Seems the greenbelt has similar problems as well. Although people tend to be better about leashes (except for people with those stupid flexi-leads) I've witnessed/or learned of at least 4 bicycle accidents on the greenbelt this last year.

A lady I used to work with, broke her thumb, got a concussion (her helmet cracked in half, she got staples to close a gash in her head), quite a few bruises, and her husband broke a rib. All because a kid tried to pass between people through the center of the pavement.

I have had NUMEROUS people fly by me on my bike when I am already going relatively fast and they do not say 'on your left'. I run Indi (w/a modified attachment leash) on my bike and many times it scares Indi because he doesn't always hear them coming and neither do I because of the wind against my hearing aid causes me not to hear as well. Sometimes I feel I should get a t-shirt w/ big printed words on the back... ON YOUR LEFT!!!

I tend to use the greenbelt more because I'm quite far from the foothills. But I worry about the safety of me and my dog.

note from mk- we have heard that people are not as good about leashing on the greenbelt as they should be, either, given that it's all on leash. the issues of being polite & following the rules for both dog owners & bike riders occur all over the city.

happy new year!

happy 2009 all.

it's painful not to be able to use the trails (especially after holiday overeating!), but i guess we'll keep exploring new routes through the neighborhood & working on leash manners........

that's one of the best things about the four legged exercise partners- they aren't too picky about where they go as long as they go!