First Colorado Moot! (EXTREMELY PIC HEAVY!)
Posted: Wed Feb 24, 2016 6:41 am
This past Saturday, February 20th, we had our very first Colorado ranger moot! This was the first time I was successfully able to get more than one other person to don full kit and head out into the outdoors with me. In the end, there were five of us, and we had a blast!
I was unfortunately running somewhat behind in the morning due to unavoidable circumstances, so we got a rather late start, hitting the trail around 1:30 or so. The park was unfortunately packed full of people (it was almost 60 degrees and sunny, and a Saturday to boot, so everyone in Colorado apparently decided this was the day to do outdoorsy stuff), but we did not let this deter us. At Castlewood Canyon there are the ruins of a poorly-built dam that failed back in the late 1800's, flooding the whole Denver area - but they look an awful lot like something you might stumble across somewhere in Middle Earth. We hiked to the ruins, which is a fair way into the park, and then decided to make a complete loop by trekking up around the high cliffs on the opposite side of the canyon. Along the way we learned a bit about trail rations, starting fires with flint and steel, how (not) to smoke a ranger pipe, and how to collect water with modern filters for longer treks. We also saw a falcon and a bald eagle along the way - which I took as very good omens, since the eagles always seem to appear to aid the heroes when they need it most!
In the end, after a somewhat longer hike than we had anticipated, we left the park RIGHT as dusk was settling. Overall, it could not have been more of a success, and I can't wait for our next one!
Here is the link to the entire album on Facebook, which I highly suggest taking a look at! The privacy settings are on "public" so anyone should be able to view it.
https://www.facebook.com/michael.sherid ... 423&type=3
And here are some of the highlights of that album!
I was unfortunately running somewhat behind in the morning due to unavoidable circumstances, so we got a rather late start, hitting the trail around 1:30 or so. The park was unfortunately packed full of people (it was almost 60 degrees and sunny, and a Saturday to boot, so everyone in Colorado apparently decided this was the day to do outdoorsy stuff), but we did not let this deter us. At Castlewood Canyon there are the ruins of a poorly-built dam that failed back in the late 1800's, flooding the whole Denver area - but they look an awful lot like something you might stumble across somewhere in Middle Earth. We hiked to the ruins, which is a fair way into the park, and then decided to make a complete loop by trekking up around the high cliffs on the opposite side of the canyon. Along the way we learned a bit about trail rations, starting fires with flint and steel, how (not) to smoke a ranger pipe, and how to collect water with modern filters for longer treks. We also saw a falcon and a bald eagle along the way - which I took as very good omens, since the eagles always seem to appear to aid the heroes when they need it most!
In the end, after a somewhat longer hike than we had anticipated, we left the park RIGHT as dusk was settling. Overall, it could not have been more of a success, and I can't wait for our next one!
Here is the link to the entire album on Facebook, which I highly suggest taking a look at! The privacy settings are on "public" so anyone should be able to view it.
https://www.facebook.com/michael.sherid ... 423&type=3
And here are some of the highlights of that album!
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