Wilder Gulch to Ptarmigan Pass hike, CO

The last two weeks of July are said to be the peak wildflower time in the mountains west of Denver, CO. This hike was visible proof of that. We saw meadows and fields flecked with bright colors of yellow, red, purple, blue, violet. Wildflowers included Indian Paintbrush.

What is a "gulch" exactly? How does it differ from a valley? Both go between mountains right? The dictionary says a gulch is a deep, narrow ravine, especially one marking a stream.

On our hike along the gulch, through meadows and conifer forests, we got spectacular views of the Ten Mile Range, and Ptarmigan Hill was frequently visible in the distance.

We saw several chipmunks, some birds and many butterflies and moths. But alas, no elk or moose, though we did see what we think was a moose print.

The hike is punctuated throughout by a more than a dozen running streams of water, which you pass over. Fifteen streams to be exact. Helpful stepping stones over the water for most of them.

At the pass, Ptarmigan Hill looks like a "scramble" of 500-750 foot. A group of hikers we observed at the house on the top had to walk over a snow/ice field near the summit, and we saw one of them sliding down on his butt for quite a ways! Looked potentially dangerous, but fun. Given our 4pm wine tasting plans, and the fact that we are still acclimating, we opted to skip the summit and just observe it from this nice saddle/pass area.

We're certain that many flowers that weren't open in the morning were open and turned toward the sun by the afternoon when we returned. Beautiful!

See 19 photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/vickijbrown/sets/72157622178744516/

8 miles, 1,400' elevation gain
Destination: Ptarmigan Pass = 11,765 feet high
Route: trail begins south of the lower parking lot, descends into the gulch and then climbs to the saddle of Ptarmigan Hill
5-1/2 hours in total (including a lot of time taking photos!)

Loveland Pass West hike, Colorado

This was a fantastic hike for our first day at elevation in Colorado. It required some elevation gain, but not too much too quickly. Most of the walk was along a ridge-rimmed bowl, with unparalleled 360 degree views. At the end point, marked by a stone wind shelter, mountains are visible in every direction. The parking lot seemed impossibly far away, though it was only about 1.8 miles along the ridge and perhaps 1.3 miles as the crow flies.

Occasionally a snow field edged with reddish orange appears along the route. Mike suggested the color is from the clay in the area's soil.

Mountains visible from the pass include Keystone and Breckinridge ski areas, the Ten Mile Range, the Saguache Range, the Williams Fork Range and Mt.Sniktau.

At the stone wind shelter, we met an enthusiastic, wide-eyed young man from the Chicago area who was traveling west using his XM-outfitted car and camper, a GPS and a laptop to offload all of his photos. His goal was to make San Francisco and spend time on the west coast, but he was so enamored by the mountains of Colorado that he said he might not make it. He planned to purchase the "Summit Hiker" book by local Mary Ellen Gilliland and start hiking the area. I told him that I could spend the entire summer in this area of Colorado and still not see all of the beautiful mountain ranges and passes.

Loveland Pass was built in 1879 and superseded Argentine pass, which at 13,132 feet was the area's first major east-west route. A must-see for everyone!

While here, we went for two geocaches in the area. The first, a micro cache, we found easily near the parking area. The second, about 500 feet up the trail in a group of boulders, proved more elusive and we gave up pretty quickly. That one will go down as a DNF (did not find).

More photos of Loveland Pass West:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/vickijbrown/sets/72157622178959092/show

4 miles, 489' elevation gain
Destination: Stone wind shelter = 12,276 feet high (just below a perennial snow field)
Route: trail west from the parking area then north around the ridge around the alpine bowl
3 hours in total

Prairie Dogs at Davidson Mesa Park, Louisville, CO

Tall grasses blowing in the wind. Majestic Rocky Mountains to the west. A big blue sky. Curious prairie dogs standing up on their dirt mounds as you walk by, and then scampering to their holes. Bright sun but no humidity. And several hundred feet below, the McClaslin Road and the houses in Louisville, CO, a quaint community near Boulder.

The prairie dogs were an unexpected delight -- the highlight of the walk along the mesa. A fabulous short walk on our second day in Colorado.

More photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/vickijbrown/sets/72157622187608504/show/

~4 miles, minimal elevation gain
Summit: Mt. Tom = 4,051 feet high
Route: outside trail around perimeter of park
1-1/2 hours in total (including time taking photos of prairie dogs)

Gray Jays meet us on Mt. Tom's summit

What a wonderful trail to Mt. Tom! I was glad to finally make it, as I had attempted this with Mike in the winter and the steep grade about halfway through scared me so much that I turned back. Doing that in snowshoes would have been tricky. And I was just learning...

We had three significant steam crossings, for which I was grateful to have hiking poles for balance. It was heart-rending at one point to watch a large black dog run back and forth along the bank, trying to find a good crossing point. He stepped in twice, whimpering as his paw hit the cold water. Finally, with the coaxing of his owner across the stream, he plunged in and made it across in just a few seconds.

To reach the true summit, you must take the left trail at the junction near the top. Miraculously, we were the only ones there -- except for two bold birds, which I later confirmed were juvenile Gray Jays. Both begging for food, of course! There was really no view at all. We were completely fogged in. At least it didn't rain!

The descent is actually fairly easy -- lots of moderate steps down; no long steps over big boulders as with the Mt. Percival trail on Saturday.

I LOVED this trail! Must do it again. With snowshoes!

5.6 miles, 2,151' elevation gain
Summit: Mt. Tom = 4,051 feet high
Route: Avalon Trail, A-Z Trail, Mt. Tom spur.
5-1/2 hours in total (including time on summit)

Thunder on Mt. Percival

We knew we didn't have much time before the anticipated afternoon T-storms, so we started out to do the popular Morgan-Percival loop on the southern fringe of NH's White Mountains -- knowing that we could abort partway should the weather turn bad.

It was a typically White Mountain ascent to Mt. Percival (i.e., lots of big rocks and boulders to clambor over). Near the summit, we avoided the boulder caves and opted for the cliff ledge approach instead.

It was a race against time as we heard the first clap of thunder just as we had the summit in view. We considered continuing over the ledges to join the Crawford-Ridgepole Trail and make our way to Mt. Morgan, thereby finishing the loop. But with the thunder and lightning, that would have meant some significant exposure both to Mt. Morgan and on its summit. So we high-tailed it back down the same trail upon which we came. It rained and thundered and lightning'ed (is that a word?) for most of our descent. Some of the rocks were very slippery when wet, made all the more difficult because of their steepness. But we made it back safely!

4.0 miles, 1,450' elevation gain
Summit: Mt. Percival = 2,212 feet high
Route: Mt. Percival trail, off of Route 113.

Running Brook Vineyards - a pleasant surprise!

When you arrive at Running Brook Vineyard and Winery, you think you're in the wrong place. The entrance to the tasting room, which is also the wine-making area, is on the side of a large old barn. We were greeted warmly by the winemaker and owner, Manny Morais. He proceeded to delight us with his colorful descriptions of his wines, wine and food pairings, and his views on the terroir of Massachusetts.

Our favorite of the whites was the 2007 Chardonnay. It boasts a nice complexity and would be great with food.

Running Brook's reds have a lighter color than many other reds. Manny explains that he ferments the wine with the skins on for only 5 days -- vs. the typical two weeks. Thus they are not as deep in color.

Though I generally enjoy Cabernet Franc, I preferred the 2004 Cabernet Franc Merlot blend (40% Merlot) over the 2005 Cabernet Franc. The Merlot grape seems to balance the strong tannins of the cab franc grapes. This is a nice table wine.

I didn't particularly like the 2005 Cab Franc Rose because it was unfiltered, and therefore somewhat effervescent. If it was filtered, however, I think it would be dry, but not too dry, on the palate.

Running Brook makes "champagne" (sparkling wine), too. It's called Celebration 2001. The winemaker said it received quite favorable reviews over French champagnes at a recent wine tasting. I think it was quafable, but I can't be certain, as it was too warm and therefore mostly flat.

Make sure you taste their dessert wines, all of which are very good:

* Auslesen 2007 -- the "noble rot" is done with chardonnay grapes instead of reisling grapes. It's sweet, but not sickly sweet like some Ausleses. Smooth, too. Manny recommends this with some fruit mid-afternoon.

* Late Harvest Vidal -- this is the "raisin" wine -- the taste of raisins lingers on the palate. This would be a great after-dinner drink, Manny says.

* Frost Wine (Eiswein) -- this is the sweetest of the three, and delightful.

If you want to visit the New England wineries, and don't have a lot of time, skip the overly commercial and unremarkable Sakonnet Vineyards and visit Running Brook instead. It produces full-flavored whites, reds, roses and sparking wines that please the palate and will make you believe in the concept of "regional wines" (those not grown in such known wine regions as Napa).

Sakonnet Vineyards - Unremarkable

Mention New England vineyards and locals think of Sakonnet in Little Compton, RI. It is well-known because they have done some great marketing. Their tasting room is quite nice, with interesting merchandise for sale. The people behind the counter are jovial, knowledgeable and charming. Great atmosphere. Great people. Great service.

So what's wrong with this picture?

It's the wine. It's -- shall I say? -- unremarkable. Even disappointing. Here are my quick tasting notes:

• Vidal Blanc 2007 - too sweet.
• Gewurztraminer 2007 - good summer sipping wine. Delightfully light. Not too sweet. Best of the Sakonnet whites. Won a Silver Medal at the Monterey Wine Festival.
  
• Petite White (new release) - a mix of Vidal and Gewurztraminer. Ok. Less sweet than Vidal alone.
• Cock of the Walk (white)- green apples (Granny Smiths) and cantelope. Would be good with food.
• Chardonnay 2005 - odd taste... buttery and metallic
• Rose - Cabernet franc grape. A little too sweet. Nice finish. More body than most roses.
• Petite Red (new release) - 5 grapes (Cab, Cab Franc, Pinot, Lemberger and Chancellor). High in tannins. Better than pinot. Some complexity.
• Cock of the Walk (red) - 3 grapes (Cab, Lemberger, Merlot). Said to have a "smooth clean finish". But I found it highly acidic, highly astringent. Terrible.
• Rhode Island Red NV - 2 grape blend (Cab, Chancellor). Earthy. Best of the Sakonnet reds.
• Cabernet Franc 2005 - didn't like
• Pinot Noir 2007 - astringent. Yuck. Don't care for it.
• Port 2006 - Chancellor grape, fortified with brandy. Earthy. But sour aftertaste/finish.

I give the winery credit for trying -- an A for effort, sincerity and enthusiasm. Oh, and the O.T.C. (Original Wine Crackers) are quite delicious -- on their own. I prefer plain ol' oyster crackers to cleanse the palate between wines vs. these. The O.T.C. are a bit too sweet in my opinion to do the trick.

I recommend going to Running Brook Vineyards (about 30 min. away in North Dartmouth, MA). You won't find a beautiful tasting room or gift shop there, but you will taste some decent wine. Try them both and let me know what you think!