Mt. Sanitas

What a gorgeous day!

Today I have so much to do that I shouldn't be sitting out here in the hammock chair with my PDA and my coffee, writing in my blog. But the skies are so blue, the sun feels so good on my feet, the coffee tastes so lovely! The temperature is a bit chilly, the mercury only rising to 50-degrees, but the afternoon is supposed to be glorious.

I have my last load of laundry in the machine. I have my cases out and ready to pack. This afternoon I need to do some shopping for my friends back in the UK; I have a list of things to get that are either cheaper or completely unavailable over there. But right now, I am content to sit here, write, and watch Saga napping I the patch of sun that hits the front step at this time of the morning.

One thing I have not had the chance to do this week (which I must rectify this afternoon) is make a trek up into the mountains. I am not sure that I am up to full-fledged bouldering again; my torn ACL has been giving me no problems, I just am not sure I want to take any chances with it right now. Perhaps a trip up to Mount Sanitas this afternoon would be in order. I haven't climbed Sanitas in a year-or-so.

Mount Sanitas, so I am told, is named after the hospital that used to be right next to it. The hospital was a Sanitarium. I have often asked why they would have named the mountain so late in the game, I mean, obviously the hospital was not always there. Did someone say "Hey! This would be a good place to put the insane asylum?" the moment they founded Boulder and then they started construction immediately? Then, a few years later they said: "Hey, look! There's a mountain right smack-dab next to out Sanitarium. Let's call it something in honor of the hospital! Mount Loonie!"

All kidding aside, Sanitas is a wonderful hike. I have been heading up to Sanitas for years now. The scenery from the top is lovely! The Rockies off to the west, Boulder to the east, Denver rising in the distance to the southeast. I remember once a couple years ago, I had just gotten my new car, I was climbing Sanitas with a friend. I was about a half a mile from the parking area when we rounded a corner and the parking area came into view. There was my new car, there were people standing near it (by their vehicles) talking. Wondering the range on the transmitter, I pushed the button on my key to lock the doors and saw the lights flash telling me that it had done its job. I then called over my friend and said "watch this." I then hit the button twice. This causes the horn to blow. The group jumped (apparerntly thinking there was someone in the car), looked in the car, and then returned to their chat. My friend and I carried on up the mountain.

There are parts of it that are pretty rough, others that are quite simple to walk. (Or if you are a completely fit Boulderite, simple to run!) Every weekend, you'll see trail runners out there. And since boulder has voice command laws (as long as your dog is in your voice command, he or she needn't be on a leash) there are always dogs there as well.

I do not think that I will bring Saga. Last time I was there a huge dog (I have no idea what it was... Perhaps it was a great Dane mixed with something it was hip-high on me!) gave Saga such a fight that she slipped her leash and ran off. It took me ten minutes to get her to calm down and come back to me.

Yes, I do believe a hike will be in order today. But first I've got stuff to do, so I had best get my butt out of this chair and get to work. Shame, though. It is such a lovely morning...

Don Bergquist - 24 June 2006 - Lakewood, Colorado, USA