White River National Forest: Hoosier Pass Loop

 This morning I awoke in the campground to morning light bathing Peak One in alpenglow.

I packed up camp and then made my way through Breckenridge and up to Hoosier Pass.

 From the pass I started a nice, short hike making a loop on Forest Roads and the Crystal Lake Trail. I passed by some dispersed camping sites in a wooded area at the start of the hike, but soon climbed up to some great views.

As I continued to follow the road, views opened up to Quandary Peak.

Soon, I found the Crystal Lake Trail, a steep, gravelly climb. Towards the top of the climb was a mine shaft and amazing view.

I picked up another dirt road here and started to descend back to Hoosier Pass. There were amazing views up into a basin surrounded by high peaks. It appears to be called Platte Gulch.

Once back at the car, I drove to I-70 and headed east out of the mountains. I made a lunch stop at Westbound and Down, then descended into the heat of the plains. 

DeCaLiBron Loop

 Last night I drove into Colorado and stayed in a hotel just west of Denver. This morning I awoke at 4:30 am and made the drive west up US 285 through South Park to the town of Alma. From Alma I drove to the Kite Lake Trailhead for my hike of the DeCaLiBron Loop.

I arrived just as the sun was rising and used the pit toilet before hitting the trail. I opted to hike the loop counterclockwise and so I would ascend the loose scree of Mount Bross first. At the start of the trail up the Bross slopes is a sign reminding hikers that the summit of Mount Bross is on private property and off-limits. 

A little further up the trail is a small waterfall.

 Soon the climbing started in earnest. There were great views of the surrounding high peaks. 

I crested the slope of Mount Bross to "claim the peak." The Colorado Fourteeners Initiative says that the highest part of the slope counts as the summit since the actual summit is not legal to climb to. 

The the slopes of Mount Bross the trail levels off a bit. Soom Mount Lincoln comes into view. I climbed up Mount Lincoln's slope with views back towards the saddle between it and unofficial 14er Mount Cameron. 

There is a pretty prominent false summit just before the actual Mount Lincoln summit. 

I climbed it pretty easily and soon found myself on the actual summit 

for a selfie. 

There's a nice view down to a pleasant looking lake from there.

After a few minutes of relaxing and enjoying the view, I started to move again. It was a relatively gentle ascend across Mount Cameron.

At the summit I had a couple I met there take my photo.

I took a look back towards Lincoln, 

and then started the descent to the saddle between Cameron and Democrat. It was a fairly easy descent to the saddle with lots more great views.

I stopped at the saddle to take a break and found my energy level pretty low and my stomach bothering me a bit. I considered heading down to the trailhead but eventually opted to make the climb up to Democrat instead. It was pretty slow going, but the views were still really great. I could even see down to Kite Lake where I had started my journey.

Eventually I found my way to the summit of Mount Democrat. I met a man from Czech Republic at the summit and we chatted for a bit and he took my photo. 

I think this summit had the best views of the day. I took a panoramic photo of the scene.

After a short time on the summit, it was time to head down. I made pretty good time on the descent, especially the less steep parts of the trail. On the way down I encountered a mountain goat.

Before I knew it I was back to the car and ready to relax. I opted to get a campsite in Breckenridge at the Peak One Campground that I had camped at last year when I climbed Mount Quandary. I got lunch at the Breckenridge Brewery.

A Weekend at the Jersey Shore

 For the past couple of days,

we have been relaxing at the Jersey Shore. Noelle and I have been enjoying some birding on the Delaware Bay beach.

We have also gone to the ocean beach at Cape May's Poverty Beach.

An Evening on Roosevelt Island

 After taking a break from the heat and humidity by relaxing in our hotel room, Noelle and I went to grab a bit to eat at Crompton Ale House. Then we headed back to the hotel. Sierra and Noelle walked to the nearby McDonalds to get her something to eat. Then Noelle and I headed up to Herald Square where we hopped on a very crowded train to the Roosevelt Island Tramway. The Tramway is billed as a fun and scenic tourist destination, but I just found it to be a hot and cramped ride across the East River to Roosevelt Island. I feel pretty bad for the residents who live on the island that need to put up with all the tourists creating waits and lines for the tram. 

Anyway, we arrived on the island and immediately set out to explore. From the Tramway terminal we headed to the east side of the island and started to make our way north. Immediately, there were nice views of the Queensboro Bridge and Queens.

A little further north we could look across the East Channel of the East River to the Ravenswood Generating Station. As we approached the industrial building was bathed in a beautiful golden light. 

As we continued north boat traffic, including a few NYC Ferries passed us.

We made our way past the Octagon,

to the Roosevelt Island Lighthouse.

Besides the lighthouse, there is a sculpture exhibit called Girl Puzzle there. 

 As the sun started to make its descent below the Manhattan skyline to the west, we started our walk south along the west side of the island. The sunlight piercing through clouds and the skyscrapers was very dramatic!

We arrived back at the Queensboro Bridge and sat at a bench watching the sun set and the skyline awaken. I was able to get a few night skyline photos looking into Manhattan,

and also looking into Long Island City, Queens with its photogenic Pepsi sign. 

Instead of taking the Tramway back across to Manhattan, we opted to take the subway from the very deep Roosevelt Island station.