Wandering the desert

“Is this how the Israelites felt?”

I’d only been hiking for about an hour and a half on the red, rocky trails of Dominguez Canyon. It was a gorgeous Colorado day: a high of 70 with clear skies, just the break one could use after the cold winds of winter. But the midday sun gets hot enough to bake those canyon walls, making you feel like a loaf of bread swelling in the oven.

Dominguez Canyon is a cool little area which I only had a few hours to explore. A few weeks back, Berkely and I joined a group of new friends to explore the Big Dominguez Creek Trail. Unfortunately, I had limited time to explore (I just needed a quick hiking fix for the weekend) but what little I saw was incredible.

Two years in and I’m still so fascinated by the various environments that thrive in Colorado. The rock faces are fascinating and tell a tale of life thousands of years ago. I even saw my first Colorado lizard out here.

The trail has plenty of small rocks and sand, so be warned if you’re thinking of wearing knit-like sneakers to hike out here. The trail is mostly flat so it makes for a nice walking/wandering pace. Just be sure to bring plenty of water, especially in the warmer seasons. I’m told the desert canyons get brutal during the summer.

Ice, ice baby

Forearms. Antebracium. The region of the upper limbs extending from the elbow to the wrist. They are important pieces of our complex bodies, creating movements and motions in our hands. Without forearms, I would struggle to pursue my favorite childhood pastime: eating. Despite all this knowledge, I never really paid attention to that part of my body. That is, until I went ice climbing this weekend.

Ski hills and pizza slices

It’s a sad thing seeing a native Floridian try to ski for the first time. The round bodies are made rounder by excessive layering. Stiff legs take rigid steps in an attempt to walk in something other than flip flops. Wobbly legs spreading into a split formation before giving out and causing a one-man wreck on ice. They seem so pathetic as you, the skiing prodigy, breeze by gracefully, shredding snow all over their foreign blubber.

It was at this point where I furiously shake my heat pack-filled glove at you and fruitlessly attempted to hit you with a poorly shaped snowball.