Adam Brucker

Woke up at 4:30 this morning to drop Jennie off at the airport and rather than go back to bed, I decided to get an early start and tackle a hike that I have been wanting to do here in Boulder for a while.

Parked at Chautauqua and headed up the Mesa trail to the Royal Arch trail. About 4 miles round trip and maybe 2,000 feet of vertical gain. Not the toughest hike but, as the French would say, es la no joke either.

I learned three thing while hiking.

1. Foxes will make the most amazingly unsettling noises when confronted on the trail by two dogs. Think the abominable snowman stubbing his toe mixed with a cat getting hit by the ice cream truck - it was that bad.
2. Older Canadian people will talk to everyone that they meet on the trail and they can’t’ help but tell people that they’re from Canada. Seriously, they can’t help it - “I’m from Canada.”
3. You can get cell reception at the top of the arch. You can even talk for 10 minutes in a loud voice to your boyfriend about what you are going to do later tonight.

A few pics (look for the climbers on the top of the Flatirons):

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