May 2, 2019

From a walk near Boulder, Colorado.

5 photographs from last Saturday, when we walked the trail that begins at the National Center for Atmospheric Research:

Boulder walk

DSC05544

DSC05555

Rocks near Boulder

Rock near Boulder

68 comments:

JackWayne said...

Budget in 2017 - $172M. I’m glad our overlords have a beautiful building and a wonderful trail to relieve their overlord stress. All hail Leviathan!

Maillard Reactionary said...

Geologist's paradise. Layers of sedimentary rock tilted at nearly 45 degree angles. The Earth has been busy out there, and not so long ago.

The vegetation says, lee side of the mountains.

WWIII Joe Biden, Husk-Puppet + America's Putin said...

That's a nice boulder.

Quaestor said...

Those are some uplifting photographs.

mesquito said...

It’s been about 30 years since I read The Stand, but I believe that atmospheric facility is where Steven King unleashed the Captain Trips plague on the world.

Meade said...

Beware rattlers!

gadfly said...

So where are all of the mule deer hiding?

Anonymous said...

Hiked that trail quite a few times back in the day. Thanks for the memories.

Phidippus: Geologist's paradise.

Indeed. Any geologically interested person road-tripping in the West should have the appropriate volume from the Roadside Geology series at hand.

Tommy Duncan said...

As you watch the behavior of the Democrats since the Mueller Report always remember that the Democrat base was promised an impeachment. They were promised Trump's head. Peter Schiff swore their was abundant evidence for impeachment. The Democrat base is at risk so the Democrats are at war.

Ann Althouse said...

We actually did encounter a rattlesnake. Rattling!!

Ingachuck'stoothlessARM said...

Intrepid Meade, and his Abogado
Went exploring, like Coronado
After sipping a little too much Amantillado
They could barely pronounce "Coddow Waddow"

Phil 314 said...

If you like Colorado colleges towns have checked out Gunniso, Grand Junction or Durango. Smaller towns and smaller colleges.

traditionalguy said...

Are those the Rocky Mountains? If not, their name can be changed. The Big Rockies sounds right. But where are the rivers?

Phil 314 said...

Also consider Flagstaff AZ

Yancey Ward said...

It has been almost 30 years since I last read The Stand, too, but I think in the novel the plague starts in Nevada. What happened in Boulder is that a false rumor went out that the facility mentioned was the source, and so the town largely emptied out prior to everyone dying. It is an important point in the novel that Boulder didn't have that many corpses to remove and burn, making it almost the ideal location for various groups sent there by their visions.

mesquito said...

Ah. Weird that I remember the false rumor as true.

Guildofcannonballs said...

Here in CO, I am watching an Elitch Gardens commercial with Crack's old buddy Mike Franti of Spearhead singing.

I chose wisely.

Guildofcannonballs said...

The Buffalo Rose was just renovated, while keeping the same Golden history.

Very happy to see it. Super nice folks all around.

Rennovated is better than renovated. I've met shady guys from Reno, interestingly in a sad way women named ^^^' too.

wildswan said...

"Angle-Dyne, Samurai Buzzard said...
Any geologically interested person road-tripping in the West should have the appropriate volume from the Roadside Geology series at hand."

So true. And in a way, anyone road tripping in the east or midwest needs those books even more. I knew to stop on the 4 foot elevation which divides the Red River of the North basin from the Mississippi drainage because I had my trusty Roadside Geology book. I knew the Baraboo rocks are the result of collisions as the North American continent built out from the core, i.e., Wisconsin, for the same reason. Otherwise I might have mistaken the two sites for two identical cornfields.
Reader of Annals of a Former World.

eddie willers said...

Make Meade run down into the picture[s] so we get scale.

Guildofcannonballs said...

Althouse is the key to cracking the ratchets racketing.

How does one get Althouse to feel so passionately about men being under-represented in college and post-grad programs as she so passionately felt about women, such as herself, being in that demographic?

Sadly, I doubt shame will work on someone with no bad habits and a history of high, free success.

Shame may be all I got, for reasons I won't allow you to consider deeply.

reader said...

Sunday afternoon I took my dogs for rattlesnake aversion training. Not an enjoyable process but hopefully effective.

Guildofcannonballs said...

When I was young and stupid, right exactly here at the Althosue blog, I gave pure beauty.

With this knowledge, anyone can do it.

Laslo Spatula said...

I saw the faces in each of the photographs.

I'm good at that kind of thing.

I am Laslo.

Original Mike said...

"Geologist's paradise. Layers of sedimentary rock tilted at nearly 45 degree angles. The Earth has been busy out there, and not so long ago."

I'm always struck when I'm out West how young most of the rock formations are. 50 million years ago? Meh.

Guildofcannonballs said...

First "exit" (off-ramp is even less apropro) off Poudre* Hwy. 14 we pull over and partake.

Bunch (literally 4 or 5 little under 5 year old kids) of people just 100' downriver. We bring my dog and literally 1 minute or maybe 90 seconds and "rattle rattle rattle rattle" and I look over and it is still contained withing the sand but A FUCKING RATTLESNAKE is moving around a bunch in the river bank and Oh Shit!

My dog thank God was about 6' away when he kerplunked himself Poudre-wise. We all saw and jumped and said WTF???

This rest area had plenty of paved ground, and permanent grills, and I think maybe even a fricken bathroom. Not some out of the way Mountain sidescape.

First exit on Hwy. 14 if you are heading W off 287.

Everyone I've told has said "yeah it's their land, you are the interloper" like since they ain't ever got bit when they go out and about, if you think you might you have a guilty conscious and ergo will get bit.


You want to make money? Give me $8,000,000 and we will name our store "Liquor in the Poudre" and retire from a well-used semi-pun, shamefully. Gates didn't invent more that Jobs did, but they got rich so we might as well too. We just have to lie to ourselves everyday that "money is boring" or "money doesn't matter" like women tell themselves everyday "tall men aren't boringinly dull James Comey most of the time" like Angela's gay husband on The Office.

Maillard Reactionary said...

Thank you Angel-Dyne. I never heard of the Roadside Geology series, but I will look it up and see about getting a set.

Don't know when next I'll be out that way but might as well be prepared.

Guildofcannonballs said...

Essentially education is who punches whom.

Congrats.

WWIII Joe Biden, Husk-Puppet + America's Putin said...

I'm counting the number of times I hear crazy old men yelling out loud their Jew hatred here in B-town. I'm on crazy old man #3.

LYNNDH said...

You do know you were also in Bear and Mountain Lion country. And Crazy Loon Country. I live in Larimer Cty but it has been infected with Boulder crazy.

Guildofcannonballs said...

"I garner people's respect." - Michael Scott.

rehajm said...

3 snakes in the yard. No venomous examples. Copperheads will soon follow...

Guildofcannonballs said...

Althouse ought write a book "I'd rather be Barry Fey than a Rolling Stone."Because I will write it, and it will stupendously observe all of our host's un-tropes, natch.

JackWayne said...

Couple this with abandoning Afghan pilot training because too many have gone awol in America and it looks like Obama’s Just War is another Democrat shithole.

FullMoon said...

The 12 year old mother that ran away from Tennessee is in Arkansas with a man, so everything seems ok.

https://www.fox13memphis.com/top-stories/12-year-old-mother-missing-after-running-away-found-safe-by-police/944790669

stephen cooper said...

Swans are beautiful creatures - miraculous, actually.

To change the subject a little, but not completely ....

When I was a kid I used to watch Yogi Bear cartoons.

Today, for some reason, I was thinking about old Yogi, and the thought crossed my mind -----

As God is my witness it is very very sad that the poor creature, who only wanted every once in a while to enjoy a picnic basket or two, almost never ---- and as far as I know , maybe never ---- really got to enjoy a picnic basket.

Think about it, isn't it sad?

Well God loves us all, so there's that, but still ....

I mean, if you could find a picnic basket for Yogi Bear and give it to him, wouldn't you?

I like to think I understand this world but there is so much I do not understand.

William said...

I think I read somewhere that rattlers originally developed their rattle to keep large heavy animals in their vicinity from stepping on them. This works fine with moose and buffaloes but the rattle simply enables humans to locate the creature and kill it. As a result rattlers are losing their rattle. Nowadays, the more evolved rattlers simply strike without warning and then go back to sunning themselves. Enjoy your nature walks........You need trees with moss for real atmosphere.

Guildofcannonballs said...



"It won't be long, and baby I'll real feel strong."

Dwiat Yaodam

Guildofcannonballs said...

Dumb old Clinton's smell like horses.

Does Bill need more money for his HIV treatments? He looks like Hell.

Guildofcannonballs said...

Trump woulda shot about 115 at Augusta.

No other potUS coulda reached 130 (or below).

Guildofcannonballs said...

Ultro Ratlimo

Guildofcannonballs said...

Weed 42

Yancey Ward said...

"I mean, if you could find a picnic basket for Yogi Bear and give it to him, wouldn't you?"

No. He was the star of a long running Hollywood production. The dude probably spent his day snorting coke, banging wannabe starlets, and ordering full picnic baskets from The Cheesecake Factory.

grackle said...

Hillary must run as the Democrat candidate in 2020 – and win. She has no choice if she wants to stay out of jail.

The coming indictments from Attorney General Barr of various well known deep state actors is going to make the deep state very, very desperate. Comey, Strzok, Clapper, Brennan, Page and McCabe are a few of the deep State actors that we are familiar with. The only mystery at this point is which of those named above will be the first to face a jury. The indictments will create a domino effect as these various actors seek plea agreements in exchange for squealing on their fellow criminals.

We should expect wholesale voter fraud but I expect that Trump will be so popular that even that piece of perfidy will not be enough. They will stop at nothing to get rid of Trump, including, in my opinion, murder, which is why I worry about a Trump assassination.

etbass said...

“The coming indictments from Attorney General Barr of various well known deep state actors is going to make the deep state very, very desperate.”

I ‘ll start believing it when the first indictment is issued. And I’m not holding my breath. We have bee waiting years now while Horowitz farts around.

grackle said...

I ‘ll start believing it when the first indictment is issued.

Fair enough. But it would be pretty silly of Barr to sit in front of a senate committee, proclaim that Trump was spied upon and then do nothing about it. Barr does not seem to me to be that type of person. Barr seems to me to be a type I came across in the Navy and elsewhere: A by the book man. These individuals carry out laws, policies and procedures by the book.

Why? Perhaps because if you do things by the book you have almost no chance at being officially faulted for carrying out your duties. And it’s actually the easiest and safest way to do your job without fear of official retaliation from above who might be annoyed at your actions against their favored individual or group.

As you may have guessed, I’m pretty much by-the-book myself. The one exception almost got me fired.

An old military belief: If you are guilty opt if you can for a civilian jury trial. If you are innocent always go for a court martial. You never know what might happen with civilian judges and juries. But you know a military tribunal will go by the book.

rhhardin said...

Save thousands in travel expenses, Vietnam train driver records. This one leaving Hanoi is good, for running through alleys
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vT-YG0eytI8

and this for hitting a water buffalo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H0Gi7hMdIj4
(start around 2:14:0)

Narayanan said...

I've seen mentioned that Trump was mentored by Roy Cohn.
How does Barr stack up with Cohn?
Was Cohn by the book!?

grackle said...

I've seen mentioned that Trump was mentored by Roy Cohn. How does Barr stack up with Cohn? Was Cohn by the book!?

Somehow I cannot picture Barr as a mentor of Trump. Or vice versa. So the analogy suffers. Or is this an attempt at guilt by association? Based on something “seen mentioned” somewhere?

And what does it matter that Cohn was/is not a by the book individual? Did Cohn ever work for Trump as does Barr? This comment is so fucked up it’s hard to analyze.

Readers, do you ever wonder why do they so often hide behind vagueness and innuendo?

gadfly said...

A long shot of the Boulder Flatirons would orient the Atmospheric Research trail as immediately in front of the rock formations that make Boulder uniquely beautiful. If you want Boulder's ugly side, a bike up Boulder Creek will do the trick.

Narayanan said...

What if I see it as positive that Cohn mentored Trump?

And how that shows Trump's good judgement ability of people?

Not everyone thinks negative about Cohn.

gadfly said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
tim in vermont said...

Turns out that liberals have a God-like perfect knowledge of the consequences and implications of all of their policies. Because. of this, all who disagree with them on any policy are not just liars, but evil. Discussion is unneeded, unhelpful, and any disagreement is simply hate.

It’s so childish. This is what comes of the corruption of philosophy and the silencing of dead white men. We forget how to think.

tim in vermont said...

“Our house, is a very, very, very fine house
with three snakes in the yard, life use to be so hard..."

rhhardin said...

Alabama Rep. John Rogers would make a fun governor. Who doesn't want a guy nobody can understand making political speeches.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kQP2_mDuBpQ

It's not Creole because sometimes you can understand a word.

tim in vermont said...

(U.S. Steel) United States Steel Corporation is investing more than $1 billion in the place where our reputation as a trusted industry leader was first forged more than a century ago: our Mon Valley Works near Pittsburgh.

Don’t worry PA liberals! Joe Biden will protect your state from this kind of stuff! And shut down fracking!

tim in vermont said...

The book detailing Obama’s butt hurt at the election is out. It makes for some great reading. The irony of Obama calling anybody a “con man” is pretty rich. Of course he claims credit for the great economy we are now enjoying.

Humperdink said...

Yogi Bear was a wannabe crook trying pilfer someone's picnic basket. Wouldn't eat berries and honey like the other bears. Oh no, had to steal, or at least attempt to steal, someone else's production. Want to celebrate that? Not me.

tim in vermont said...

The funniest thing about the book is Obama’s cluelessness about why the Democrats would lose “Blue Wall” states. He doesn’t seem to understand that the party has spent years fighting against the good jobs in those states that Democrat working class people relied on for a good living. When Democrats say “working class” what they mean are people collecting benefits, not people who drag their ass out of bed every morning to a job.

Obama’s party kicked those Democrats to the curb and Hillary doubled down, claiming she was going to all but end fracking. Drive through PA sometime, it’s a lot like Texas in terms of energy production. What is Slow Joe’s plan to win that state back?

Humperdink said...

So why do conservatives despise the MSM?

Stephen Moore has withdrawn his name from consideration for a position on the Federal Reserve. Moore is a conservation economist, who was under a full frontal assault by the mainsteam media.

From an interview with Moore with Tucker Carlson last night: "The most amazing thing, ‘The Washington Post,’ ‘New York Times,’ they got my divorce settlement from 10 years ago unsealed so they could just put all of this dirt on me that had nothing to do with my qualifications to be on the Fed.”

Humperdink said...

Best (and funniest) description yet on the democrat candidates running for president:

"The field of presidential aspirants is not as deep as it is wide. It contains many but not much. No towering figure overshadows the others, as Hillary Clinton did in 2016. Instead, a pack of dwarves stand atop their toes to ride the rollercoaster, with their collective height mattering little to the gatekeepers. None yet measures up to the “You Must Be This Tall to Ride” sign." (Daniel J. Flynn, American Spectator)

rhhardin said...

I'm suspicious of anybody Trump appoints to the federal reserve board. Trump doesn't quite understand why you'd slow down the economy. It's so that the number of dollars aren't bidding at the same time for more stuff than the economy can do at once.

How free the economy is to grow is the important fact, and Trump's right on that - get rid of regulation that prevents it. Which is why there's thus far little inflation. But it hits a limit even so, somewhere, to growth, and you reach a point where prices are freer to rise than jobs to expand.

iowan2 said...

263,000 jobs added for the month of April. Higher than the estimated 180,000. Unemployment at 3.6%. Lowest since 1969. I was taught 5% was full employment.

I understand Democrat candidates are fighting for the working class. President Trump only allows them to freely find a job.

grackle said...

What if I see it as positive that Cohn mentored Trump?

Please – don’t be so transparently deceptive. It’s obvious that you were attempting, albeit rather clumsily, to disparage Trump with the failed analogy of your first comment.

And how that shows Trump's good judgement ability of people?

Readers, realize that any builder in NYC has to necessarily deal with all types of corrupt individuals – politicians, labor union Mafia bosses, crooked lawyers, licensors, permit issuers, etc.

But that isn’t my point. Cohn was retained briefly by Trump for a single specific case years before Cohn was revealed as a crook and thereby lost his reputation and his license to practice. After Cohn lost their case Trump dropped him. Trump couldn’t know at that time that the future would expose Cohn as a crook. Admittedly, Trump is smart but he cannot see into the future like a fortune-teller.

Not everyone thinks negative about Cohn.

That’s a very safe statement. His mother, maybe?

Nichevo said...

Yancey Ward said...
"I mean, if you could find a picnic basket for Yogi Bear and give it to him, wouldn't you?"

I have a tovarishch who would like to explain. If you'll allow me to pass on his words:


"Allow me to introducing myself. I am Boris Badenov, world's greatest no-goodnik.

The trouble all stems from misunderstandink. Yogi Bear, like moose and squirrel, is Pottsylvania deep cover operatif. Is actually polar bear in brownface.

Zo, your capitalist "picnic basket" is not what is wanted. Yogi Bear (actual name "Baba" Yaga Beria) is controlled by Boo-Boo (real name Bobka Sykesovich), who is managing addiction to pikiniki, which is Pottsylvanian controlled substance unknown in decadent West. Without this, friendly bear will not cooperate in espionage attempts on Jellystone Park (trying to find secret missile base guarded by Rangers).

Due to size and long use, Baba Yaga consumes pikiniki by the pood (is ancient Russian, er, Pottsylvanian, grain measure like decadent Western bushel). So when bear demands "pick-a-nick basket," what actually wants is dose of drug. Sad!

Paul said...

WISH I WAS THERE!!!!

Maillard Reactionary said...

stephen cooper said: "I like to think I understand this world but there is so much I do not understand."

Amen, brother. We all feel Yogi's pain, his unrequited need. But at least he can nibble on nuts and berries in season, and certainly, in Jellystone Park, there have to be trash cans and small cars (not always easily distinguishable to a bear) to tear open.

But for real pathos consider the plight of Wile E. Coyote. Although considered by many, or at least himself, a genius, he never gets the Road Runner. What he does get is run over by trains, blown up by dynamite, crushed beneath falling anvils, and countless other disasters just in the search for subsistence! (He looks famished, whereas Yogi, while not obese, is certainly not at death's door nutrition-wise.)

The tragic dimensions of Wile E. Coyote's story have yet to be plumbed. There could be an English Literature PhD in there somewhere for the right scholar.

Known Unknown said...

These are lovely photos coming from a CyberShot, which I guess I've underestimated as a camera.