Hiking Around a Mountain Lake

On June 8, 2018 By Isobar ExpeditionsIn Colorado, Hiking4 Comments

There probably isn’t anything more relaxing than getting away from the crowds and walking around a lake in the mountains with no one else around. With temperatures heating up, we are enjoying hiking once again and the higher altitudes mean more comfortable weather. We really enjoy this trail, which is one of our favorites, as we are able to make it as long or as short of a hike as we would like. We went on a weekday afternoon so that we could avoid the crowds and truly immerse ourselves into nature.

The trail is located about 20 minutes from our house and takes you past a couple of reservoirs. The first part of the trail is relatively steep, but then it somewhat flattens out. As we always say, you can’t go hiking in the mountains without expecting some difficult terrain. There are often people fishing in the lakes or sitting on the shore enjoying a picnic. It certainly made for a relaxing afternoon and a good way to start getting back into hiking shape. We are planning to get on a trail again this weekend, but this time we expect to choose a trail that we’ve never hiked before.

Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve in Colorado

On June 4, 2018 By Isobar ExpeditionsIn Colorado6 Comments

Located about 30 miles outside the town of Alamosa in Colorado, the Great Sand Dunes are a fascinating feature that has been created by nature over thousands of years. The giant sand dunes sitting at the base of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains highlight the diversity of habitats in southwestern Colorado, which ranges from wetlands, prairies, mountains, and forests. The sand dunes seem oddly out of place, it is almost as if a piece of the Middle East was scooped up and dropped in the mountain valley. The reality is that they were created after a large lake dried up thousands of years ago and the wind drove the sand to the base of the mountains.

The People Give Perspective to the Size of the Dunes

Although this year the mountains did not receive a lot of snow and therefore the runoff was minimal, usually there is a river or stream running at the base of the sand dunes, making the contrast even more interesting. One of the good things about the stream not being there was that we didn’t have to get our feet wet in order to get to the base of the dunes, but the bad part was that it was even more sand to walk through in the heat of the sun. It is not easy walking in the sand and even harder walking up the steep sides of the dunes. They may not seem as large from the distance, but the actual peaks of the dunes can be as high as 750 feet (230 meters).

As more and more people visit the dunes, one of the most popular things to do is to bring a sandboard and go sandboarding. People will spend hours climbing to the top and then boarding their way back down. Just to reach the top is difficult, so to do it over and over again in order to shred the sand is a real achievement. It also means that you will be surrounded by plenty of crowds as people flock to the area. There is camping nearby and you will find and endless array of motorhomes and RV’s. Since it is a national park, you can expect to pay $20 per vehicle to get into the park, which is good for seven days.

It took us about three hours to drive from Colorado Springs to the Great Sand Dunes, but it is well worth the drive. We hadn’t been to the sand dunes for over twenty years, so it was also a little bit nostalgic for us as we remembered bringing our young children there to play in the sand. We only spent a couple of hours at the sand dunes as climbing the hills is very exhausting and hard on the legs. Even though we were walking in the Sahara Desert only a few weeks ago, visiting this unique place in Colorado was really something special.

Carrasco National Park in Bolivia

On April 27, 2018 By Isobar ExpeditionsIn South America9 Comments

One of the most interesting places that we visited during our time in Bolivia was to the Carrasco National Park. It is in the Amazon Rainforest and is most famous for having a cave with Guacharo birds. These birds are virtually blind and are nocturnal feeders that eat the fruit of the oil palm trees. They are also known as “blind birds” or “oil birds” because of their unique eating habits as they are the only nocturnal fruit eating birds in the world that fly. Needless to say, there are a lot of other animals that can be found in the park and hiking through the park provides a variety of unique experiences.

Prior to starting our guided tour of the park, our guide took time to show us a variety of venomous snakes that could be encountered, which was certainly a little unnerving. We would learn, however, that there are a lot of other things to be cautious of when hiking in the jungle, such as poisonous ants, spiders, and frogs. There are even jaguars that remain in the jungle, but they are very rarely sighted, but that doesn’t mean that they don’t see you. After our preparation talk, the guide led us to the edge of a river, which he then crossed using a pulley in order to reach a cable car that he then pulled back over to transport us across the river. Certainly an interesting start to our adventure.

We then hiked through the jungle on a slightly overgrown trail with our guide hacking leaves out of our way with a machete. Just seeing the overgrowth on a trail helps explain why so much of the Amazon remains unexplored even to this day. Once we reached the cave with the blind birds, we entered quietly trying to see them huddled together on ledges near the roof. You aren’t able to get close enough to really see them, but then our guide hit a stick against the cave wall making a banging sound. In response, the birds howled back making a sound that resembles the roar of a jaguar. In fact, when the birds were first discovered by the local tribes, no one dared enter the cave as they feared that there was a jaguar inside and only later did they find out that the noise was from these strange birds.

We weren’t done exploring caves, though, as we would next enter two other caves to see different types of bats, including vampire bats. From there we continued to loop around the trail towards the entrance. At one point, our guide put his finger on the trunk of a tree and quickly pulled it away, but not before hundreds of tiny ants appeared from under the bark. There are no leaves or branches on the lower part of the trees and our guide explained that it was due to these poisonous ants. The locals will still tie a person convicted of a crime such as rape or incest to the trunk of the trees and thousands of ants will bite them until they die. Definitely a gruesome punishment.

We saw so many fascinating things during our hike that it is hard to describe them all. There are trees that are called “walking trees” because they grow multiple, above-ground roots and they will grow new roots to literally move to find more sunlight. Obviously they don’t really walk, but over time, they can move themselves several feet from their original location. There is also a form of tree vine that grows itself around other trees, eventually overtaking its host. The park is definitely host to many beautiful as well as dangerous things, but one of the things that can be found in the park was somewhat surprising. Unfortunately, the pro-cocaine government has allowed coca farms to claim lands within the park and at one point we actually walked through one of the farms, our guide whistling loudly to announce our presence.

If you want to get an understanding of the diversity of life on the floor of the Amazon, visiting Carrasco National Park will provide you with the perfect experience. This was our first visit into the jungle and we enjoyed it so much that we made sure to spend more time in the jungle during our trip to Ecuador. Hopefully at some point, the government of Bolivia will truly protect these parks or they won’t be around for people in the future.