Rocky Mountain Over The Hill Gang Hill Topics

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1 Rocky Mountain Over The Hill Gang Hill Topics July 2010 Issue Special Interest Articles: Summit County Pot Luck Picnic 1 Section Chair s Message 2 Camping 2 Hiking 3 Other Day Hikes 3 Biking 4 Full Moon Hike 4 Extra Room? 5 Trail Maintenance Crew 5 Up Coming Activities 5 We re on the Web! See us at: SUMMIT COUNTY BIKING, HIKING AND POT LUCK PICNIC Saturday, July 17, 2010 Reserve by July 9 th Join in on the fun as we once again have our summer picnic, with an opportunity to hike or bike, in Dillon. We thank Jim and Nikki Fisher for graciously offering their home and hospitality, as they have done for many years. For the pot luck, participants are asked to bring a dish to share, serving spoon, beverage of choice, and a lawn chair. The club will furnish the main course. Bike riders and hikers will meet at 8:30 AM at the Dillon Reservoir recreation parking lot, located on Swan Mountain Road. Social members and guests will need to sign a waiver, on the day of, before participating in hiking or biking. Bikers: At 9:00 AM sharp, all bikers will be prepared to leave the parking lot. There will be a slower, lower mileage terrapin group as well as two faster, longer distance hare groups. The terrapin group will start from the parking lot and continue on a paved bike trail in the direction of Frisco. One of the hare groups will be taking the paved bike path into Frisco, and the extreme hares will be taking a more difficult climb to Montezuma via the Keystone ski area. Please bring plenty of water, a tire repair kit and pump. The wearing of a helmet is mandatory. Hikers: At 8:45 AM, hikers will leave the parking lot in cars to the Mesa Cortina Trailhead. The hike will be a CMC A-rated easy hike lead by certified hike leaders at a casual pace. The elevation gain is 400 for an approximate distance of 5.2 miles. Please bring plenty of water, rain gear, sunscreen, a hat, bug repellant, and wear hiking boots. Due to limited parking at the Fishers, upon conclusion of hiking and biking, participants will ride share to Fisher s home from the parking lot on Swan Mountain Road. Directions will be given to participants before ride and hike departures. Note: Ending time for the 2 levels of bikers and the hikers will likely be different. Please arrange your ride to the Fisher s with someone in your chosen activity group in order that you can take your food to the picnic when you return to the parking lot. All picnic participants, including those who are not hiking or biking, will be expected to arrive at the picnic between 11:30 AM and noon. Sign up by July 9th, indicating whether you are hiking or biking, and what you plan to bring to the picnic. Go to Sign in, click on programs, social activities, RMOTHG Summit County Picnic. If you have difficulty signing up, you may call CMC at for assistance. To cancel after July 9, please call Sue at Directions to Dillon Reservoir Recreation Parking: Take I-70 to the Dillon/Silverthorne exit 205 and turn left (South) onto US 6. Follow US 6 to Swan Mountain Rd. and turn right at the light. Drive about 0.4 miles to the dirt parking lot on the right. Meet at the east end of the lot. Joan Waldheim and Sue Osborn

2 Hill Topics July 2010 Issue Page 2 of 6 SECTION CHAIR S MESSAGE It is hard to believe that the fourth of July is rapidly approaching. It seems like yesterday that I put away my skis for the season. Our summer activities are in full swing with many athletic and social activities. The hiking and biking groups are extremely popular with 25 to 35 participants signing up for every activity. As a result, the coordinators have been splitting these large groups into two or more sub groups. On hikes and bike rides where the rout is a loop, the leaders will simply start the sub groups in opposite directions. For out and back routs, separate groups are started ten to fifteen minutes apart. The hiking group has a problem in that the U.S. Forrest Service and Jefferson County Open Space have restrictions on the size of groups allowed without having to obtain special permits. They generally like groups no larger than 15. The bike coordinators are challenged with large groups on routes that involve a lot of alternative turns. Dave Grimes, Wayne Tomasello, and Pete Spandau have done a wonderful job in planning routes and keeping these large groups together. I would have a hard time in riding these same routes on my own. On the social scene, your club has several summer activities planned including the Summit County hiking and biking cookout and the camping outing in August. Enjoy the summer activities and be safe! ] Å fàéé~xáuxüüç Our annual Rocky Mountain Over The Hill Gang campout will once again be at Turquoise Lake near Leadville. We have reserved a limited number of sites for the three nights; these will be shared sites. You are encouraged to make reservations as soon as possible as the sites fill up fast. Amenities at the campground include flush toilets and drinkable water but no showers or electrical hookups. The beach and beautiful lake are easily accessible from the campsites. Activities include hiking, biking, fishing, boating (bring your own boat), happy hours and campfires. RMOHG will provide the meat for dinners on Tuesday and Wednesday evenings; wine for all "happy hours"; paper plates, napkins and plastic utensils. Participants will provide their own dinner on Monday evening; make potluck contributions to dinners on Tuesday and Wednesday; and bring snacks to share for "happy hour" each evening. CAMPING WHERE: Baby Doe Campground SITES: Shared; to be assigned upon your arrival at the campground DATES: Check-in: Monday, August 9 th, 2:00 PM. Check-out: Thursday, August 12 th, 12:00 noon) COST: $25/person RESERVATIONS: Accepted on a first-come, first-served basis, only upon receipt of ALL of the following: Your check for $25/person (made payable to Marta Rodeheffer) Your contact information: Name; street address; telephone numbers (day and evening); and address Whether using a tent or RV (indicate size) Total number in your party; names; anticipated number of vehicles Any special needs Turquoise Lake SEND TO: Marta Rodeheffer Camping Coordinator, RMOHG P.O. Box 2435 Evergreen, Colorado Marta will send confirmation of your reservation via . Directions to Baby Doe Campground and other organizational details will follow. Address any questions or comments to Marta Rodeheffer, Camping Coordinator, via martarodeheffer@msn.com or (with message tape).

3 Page 3 of 6 Hill Topics July 2010 Issue HIKING That information will tell where, when to meet and logistics about the hike. You will then sign up for the hike on the CMC "trip sign-up" roster. Most of the hikes are rated "A"; some will be rated "B"; and others are offered on other days. There are a few areas that have restrictions on the number of hikers. We will honor that. That may mean some will be on a wait list. We encourage you to perhaps hike in a small group of your own. Whenever possible we will offer an alternative hike. Following is a tentative list of hikes for July. Sometimes we may change a location due to weather, trail conditions and unforeseen circumstances. Hiking coordinators: Herman Gulch Colorado seniors are truly enjoying the outdoor life! A number of you have been hiking and biking with RMOTHG. We have had several hikes so far, mostly at lower elevations. Now that summer is here we can get up to higher elevations where the air is cooler, most snow has melted and the streams, creeks and lakes are soothing. If you are interested in joining us please notify by at name listed below to get on our Hike List. We notify those on the list by a few days before the weekly hike. Marion Dries mjdries@ymail.com Jim Stookesberry stookesberry@msn.com Tentative July Hiking Schedule July 7 July 14 July 21 July 28 Black Powder Pass/ Boreas Mountain Herman Gulch Mayflower Gulch Blue Lake OTHER DAY HIKES During June we moved to higher altitudes hiking above 11,000 feet for our Three Little Indians hike and above 13,000 feet for Sniktau and Rosalie. We encountered some wind and weather and had a real adventure on the return trip from Squaw Mountain. We hiked in rain, a lot of thunder, and some lightning. The last hour of the hike we were in sleet, and when we returned to the parking lot we were wading through 2 inches of slush. Fortunately, we had an experienced group of hikers who could handle this and who all had the right clothing for the rain and wet weather. We were also fortunate to have a good Leader-In-Training, Frank Barber. For July we are planning to continue hiking at higher altitudes and to increase the distance. Our first July hike will mark our first hike this year in the Indian Peaks Wilder-ness. We will also have our first C hike the Eccles Pass Loop. Carl & Marc Atop Mt. Sniktau at 13, 234 feet Tentative July Other Day Hiking Schedule th July 9 Jasper Lake rd July 23 Eccles Pass Loop

4 Hill Topics July 2010 Issue Page 4 of 6 BIKING Rich and Bev Strand are taking a hiatus/retirement from leading the Terrapin Group of RMOTHG cycling. I want to say Thanks for their efforts in the great success of this Group. The Strands have been instrumental in filling an important part of RMOTHG Cycling. They made it possible for the beginner and slower riders to enjoy our outings. Also, Rich has always insured that new riders were familiar with bicycling safety procedures and were comfortable during the rides. Rich and Bev will be missed and without them as designated leaders, the Terrapin Group will have alternating leaders until a new permanent leader volunteers. Rich is always concerned about safety, so from his influence, I have compiled the 10 Essentials for cycling with RMOTHG: 1. Helmet 2. Water 3. Snacks 4. Sunglasses and sunscreen 5. Clothing for change in weather 6. Identification and medical card 7. Flat tire repair kit 8. Map 9. First Aid kit 10. Small tool kit cxàx fñtçwtâ Rich Leading The Terrapin Group Tentative June Biking Schedule July 2 nd Chatfield Reservoir July 9 th Platte River Cuernavaca Park to Carson Nature Center July 17 th Saturday Dillon to Frisco July 23 rd Ralston Creek July 30 th South Cherry Creek Full Moon Hike If you missed the winter moonlight snowshoe (see our picture to the right) come join Sue Henley and Jeff Flax for a summer full moon hike on Sunday night, July 25. Bring your friendly friends and dogs. All guests will have to sign a CMC waiver. We will hike for about 2.5 hours. The location is TBD but check the CMC website after July 10 for the official hike description, location, and trip number. Head lamps or flashlights are necessary. Questions: call Sue Henley at

5 Page 5 of 6 Hill Topics July 2010 Issue DO YOU HAVE AN EXTRA ROOM/BED IN YOUR HOUSE? The American Alpine Club is looking for people to provide housing for national and international guests for July 29, 30, 31, Aug. 1 (four nights). They will be attending the Managing Human Waste in the Wild/Exit Strategies conference at the American Mountaineering Center in Golden. This conference is going to discuss the leave no trace of human waste that is becoming a significant problem on many of our highly used mountains and natural areas in the U.S. and the World. Due to the recent economic times, many of these guests and their agencies have had their budgets cut and need our help. If you speak another language let us know that too, so we might be able to match guests to you. Housing in Golden or close by is preferable to minimize transportation issues. Sponsoring persons will receive 2 free passes to the Mountaineering Museum. You can learn more about the conference at egies. Please contact Sue Henley by Sunday, July 11 if you can help out or if you have further questions. RMOTHG TRAIL MAINTENANCE CREW Grab your heavy duty work gloves and come out for 1 or 2 days of RMOTHG Trail Maintenance Crew. The RMOTHG has been asked to provide a work crew 2 days in middle of July to repair trail. This is our chance to say thanks and give back to the forests we have been hiking, snowshoeing through all year. We will leave from APEX Park at 7:30 AM and return by 4:30 PM. In addition to bringing your usual pack, lunch, hats, rain gear, suntan lotion and camera; bring heavy gloves, at least 3-4 liters of water, and wear boots. All tools will be provided. We will carry them into our work site. Safety and trail work will be taught on site so no previous experience is necessary. Please watch the CMC signup site for more details about where, when we will be working under the title RMOTHG Trail Maintenance Crew. Questions? Call Sue Henley July 17 th August 9 th thru 12 th September 12 th September 26 th UP COMING ACTIVITIES Summit County Bike/Hike Cookout Camping at Turquoise Lake American Indian Walking Tour and Tocabe Restaurant Annual Dinner Meeting at Mount Vernon Country Club

6 Rocky Mountain Over The Hill Gang A Section of the Colorado Mountain Club Denver Group July 2010 RMOTHG Section Board Members Section Chair Jim Stookesberry Section Vice Chair Pete Spandau Secretary Dorse Cooper Treasurer Barbara Schwarz Members at large Marion Dries Lue Fratantuono Dave Grimes Sue Osborn Wayne Tomasello CMC Denver Council Rep Sandy Curran Activity Coordinators Membership Gurney Bartlett Snowshoeing Pete Spandau Elaine Kallos Jeff Flax Barbara Schwarz Ski Touring Joe Leahy Biking Pete Spandau Jeff Flax Wayne Tomasello Hiking Marion Dries Jim Stookesberrry Carl Slater Joe Leahy Activities Joan Waldheim Sue Osborn Newsletter Wayne Tomasello wtomasello@comcast.net ROCKY MOUNTAIN OVER THE HILL GANG 8390 W. 63 rd Ave. Arvada, CO PLACE ADDRESS LABEL HERE