Well actually, I was going to head over to Roxborough State Park, but I got there and a line of cars was stopped waiting to enter the park. It seemed like they were full and letting cars in only as cars would leave, so I turned around and drove back to Chatfield Reservoir. I needed to get a run in without too much extra time spent waiting. I can go to Roxborough some other day.
But first, I have a government shutdown photo! I was driving up Alameda near Lakewood's Federal Center area (which is sort of a tiny Washington, D.C. with all the government satellite offices, and offices of various important national organizations like the Ski Industry Association) and noticed that the sidewalk next to the National Park Service building was blocked off with orange netting and cones. Bear in mind that this is the same sidewalk that runs by every office and business on Alameda unhindered, and the same sidewalk that is open when the NPS offices are closed on the weekend. Yet only the section in front of the NPS building was blocked. Hmm. Apparently, locals didn't care for the barriers:
My legs were a little tight at first on this run, but they loosened up and I may have even felt better the second long run day in a row. I usually have some sort of significant discomfort on longer runs, and thankfully that was not the case this day.
Lots of users on horseback out on the trails:
Love the big old cottonwoods next to the Platte River:
Wilson? Where are you Wilson?
I thought that shot looked like a desert island in the Pacific, except for the gold foliage...
Sailboats were all turning around a certain buoy and then returning the way they came. I don't know if it was a race, or just a bunch of boats coincidentally doing the same thing, practicing as if they were in a race. I don't know sailing culture.
For the second day in a row, I ran along the water, and it was a fun change from the norm, since we don't do a lot of beach running in Colorado. When the trail disappeared or the shore was too steep to run on, I just waded into the water. The water was cool, but not painful like in the mountains. It was fun.
Another anomaly is seeing ocean birds in Colorado, like pelicans. But I guess they fly from lake to lake, and end up here in transit on their migrations.
The view back south, on the way up to the top of the dam:
I saw this tiny spider on the middle of the bike path, which had a body like a fuzzy, rust-colored black-eyed pea. And no matter where I moved, it would NOT let me get behind it or to its side. I tried for a full minute. Hilarious, and pretty impressive. If I were a Pixar employee, I'd put it in my next animated feature.
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| "Hey, hey hey! I see what you're doin' theah, stay where I can see you! Yeah, that's right. Whoa, whoa.. hey... hey!, I'm talkin' to you!" |
