On the Road Again

Palmer Lake Reservoir Trail. Palmer Lake, CO.

I wrapped up my business in the Springs on the Wednesday, the 30th, so now I can continue my travels. The freedom to roam is intoxicating.

A journey of a thousand miles

First stop, an unplanned hike at snowy Palmer Lake reservoir.

I've been in Colorado for four months. Except for one New Years party, I haven't set foot in Denver. 'Probably should pay a visit before getting out of a Dodge,' I sensibilized. So after lunch, I found a university in the city to serve as a landing and launched out of Colorado Springs.

Bye, bye Pike's Peak.
I miss you already!

A friend in the Springs mentioned this Palmer Lake to me for hiking. It was on the way, so pulled on my exploring socks, pulled off the highway, and got to wandering. I met some nice people with interesting stories, my pant bottoms drank in the falling snow, and I felt aloft in happiness.

Snow Falling on Cedars

'NO SWIMMING
NO TRESPASS'

An icy crossing

Dem rocks dey be rockrimmon'

A visitation by a snow angel

I concluded today's travels in Denver. I'm at the Univ. Denver at the moment. The campus is beautiful, the students are well-dressed like proper city folk, and the library is very posh.

Yellow stairwells

Y'all city folk have nice things

An unscientific observation of differences between
university students in Colorado Springs and Denver

Colorado College girls dress for outdoors, hiking boots

2015-2016 Tuition & Fees

$48,996

2,050 enrolled

47% male / 53% female

17.9% accepted

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UCCS girls dress like kids

2014-2015 Tuition & Fees

$8,982 in-state

$21,522 out-of-state

9,489 enrolled

48% male / 52% female

92.4% accepted

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University of Denver girls must reach a certain level of attractiveness to be accepted. dress like city-folk. ladies elegance, scarves and posh long coats.

$44,178 yearly tuition

5,643 enrolled

46% male / 54% female

acceptance  76.7%

Conclusions: 

Colorado College - private, low acceptance rate, expensive tuition. Elite humanities majors with family money don't need to dress up.

UCCS - public, high acceptance rate, low tuition. average people dress in Kmart brands.

University of Denver - private, high acceptance rate, high tuition. City folk need to dress classy to look the part.


University of Denver. Denver, CO.

Maps

Long term projection for my trip is I'm heading north towards Washington state. Would like to see as much as I can on the way. Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming is a possible route. I've heard to respect the size of the park, one should set aside one week minimum. I say it's do-able.

Afterwards, I want to pass through Portland, Oregon then reach the Olympic National Park in northern Washington. All that might be too much on my plate to dehydrate into a month, but see - I'd like to finish my car travels by the end of April, because I have fantasies for another longer trip brewing in the brain. It involves one coast in the west, another in the east, about 3,000 miles of geography in between, and probably a bicycle.

I want to bike down from Washington to San Diego, California then travel coast to coast. Five months was the reported time for an Aaron Huey who walked it solo with a dog (Jan 22 - June 25, 2001). Running and hiking would be more true to myself, but I might go by bike to cut down the travel time. I don't want to be halfway across the country when winter hits. I anticipate taking every opportunity to wander around and explore while I'm traveling. I'll make a decision at the starting line.

Mice and Men

Now, I believe it's not good to reveal intentions before they are about to happen - something unforeseen could block the way. Especially for decisions that haven't been finalized. Private intentions should be started before they are made public.

But y'know, declaring this trip has had a positive energizing effect on me to set my plans into motion. I have a destination again, and this time a loooooong journey to keep me moving. Time will tell if I can live up to my own hype, or if my foot is planted my mouth.