After cycles of cloudy, lightning, thunder, rain, clear through the day and night, we woke to a soft white filtering the sunrise and droplets on everything.

Veteran's Honor

One of these things is not like the others.

Once we finally got to Cumberland Pass in Laurie's Mazdaspeed3 just before noon, we were the only people around. We got out and wondered at the views as we wandered around on the large, relatively flat area that made up the pass. Soon a lone motorcyclist rode up, parked his bike and started looking around at the views with Laurie and me. About 10 minutes later, a group of four motorcyclists showed up and we all started talking about the conditions of the roads, where we'd been where we were going, etc. The first motorcyclist discovered his front tire was flat, came over and asked the other cyclists we were talking to if any of them had a hand pump — he had apparently forgotten his. I told him to hold on, because we had an emergency kit in the car that had an air compressor. We got the compressor hooked up to his valve stem and had his tire pumped up in a few minutes. He headed towards Pitkin and asked if we were going back that direction, so if his tire went flat before he got to Pitkin we could help him again. Although we originally planned to drive to Tin Cup, we had nixed that plan because the road to Cumberland Pass from Pitkin was very rough, gullied, rocky and slow going, and all the people who had arrived from Taylor Reservoir said the road was terrible and they were on dirt bikes, ATVs or Jeeps. We assured him we'd be along to help if he needed it.  Not long after that Various ATVs and more motorcyclists arrived. Everyone was friendly, had comments about the roads and the scenery, and stories to tell. It seemed that no matter what people were riding or driving, no matter what our backgrounds were, we all had one thing in common — we had prevailed, conquered the mountain and made it to the top of the world on Cumberland Pass at 12,015 feet  (3,662 meters) above sea level.

While is says 15 M.P.H, the max speed I could set the cruise control on was 5 M.P.H.

While you might expect a group of young folks on these large 500 cc and 600 cc dirt bikes, most of the riders were around my age.

Happy to be on top of the world

Motocycles and various ATVs.

Vitual Tour of Cumberland Pass.

Click here to go to the web page with the tour.

One ATV had Bowser, a 175 pound Saint Bernard, in the back. When he saw Laurie and I walking toward the ATV, he slipped through an opening in the bars he wasn't supposed to fit through, and he got tangled up in leashes. Laurie held onto Bowser while the owners and I got him untangled. Bowser was very excited, ready to play, and the owners didn't want him to get loose and then have to chase him all over the top of a mountain. We finally got him untangled and back in his proper place in the ATV.

Laurie and Bowser

Bowser giving Laurie a big sloppy saintly kiss

Laurie's Mazdaspeed3 with the motorcyclist who had the flat tire in the background.  With all the socializing, wandering round, checking out the old mine shafts, and then more socializing with all the different people who had come up to the pass, we were there for almost 2 hours. On our way back down, we came across the cyclist who had the flat tire on his way back up to the pass from Pitkin. We stopped and talked for a few minutes. He found some campers who had tools and tire irons, so he was able to change the tube in his front tire. He said he figured out that he had not forgotten his pump and tire repair kit, but that they had been stolen. He had his bike shipped out to Utah from Missouri. He had zip-tied the pouches where he had his gloves, pump and tire kit, but after he picked up his bike from the shipper, the zip-ties had be cut on the pouch where his gloves were and the gloves were missing. He hadn't noticed that the pump and tire repair kit were missing until he had the flat on Cumberland Pass.

Downpour downtown

The rain began with a downpour in downtown Albuquerque starting around 4:30 PM yesterday afternoon. It was still raining hard when I headed home at 7:30 PM, and continued raining all the way home. When I turned onto our road by the cattle ramp, all I could see as far as the "brights" on the headlights would reach was water covering the road from edge to edge until it faded into black beyond the falling rain. I drove on the flooded road all the way to the property, where the mulch-covered driveway was doing its best to absorb the water. Once inside, I checked the rain gage, and it showed 0.54 inch precipitation at 8:15 PM. The rain continued to pour all through the night and finally stopped before sunrise. At 6:50 AM this morning, the rain gauge read 0.90 inch of rain. The weatherman on the radio had predicted 1 to 1.5 inches of rain from the storm. I went out before sunrise this morning to see if the road was still flooded, but only small puddles remained at the east end of the road — the dry ground had already absorbed most of the water. When I headed to work a little after 9:00 AM, a large puddle remained on the road near our cattle ramp.

Twelve hours of nonstop rain, resulted in 9/10 of an inch of precipitation

A large, persistent puddle near the cattle ramp

On the way to Cumberland Pass, CO. Napoleon Mountain on the right and Fitzpatrick Peak on the left.

Mt. Democrat, Fremont Pass, CO.

Golden Gate Canyon State Park, Boulder Co.

In the microcosm of universes painted in circles of light and dark, Anaxyrus woodhousii and Stenopelmatus fuscus made their rounds on terra firma.

The Climax Mine on the Fremont Pass, 11,318 ft (3,450 m), is quite an operation with an interesting history.  As the sign reads, molybdenum is used to harden steel. If you ever had a bicycle with a chromoly frame, you were riding on a molybdenum mix.

Laurie was wearing similar colors to the molybdenum ore cars on display in the outdoor museum across the road from the mine. The colors inspired her to do the molybdenum mambo. You can see a gif of the molybdenum mambo at: https://photoofthedayetc.wordpress.com/2017/09/25/the-molybdenum-mambo/

Orb spider rebuilding her web on the bridge over the clearwater ditch. The web is gnarly because it gets blown apart by the wind during the day, and she rebuilds it every night.

Ralphie, CU Boulder's mascot

The year two-thousand seventeen marks the 50th Anniversary of having Ralphie the buffalo as CU Boulder's mascot.  The current Ralphie is a rather calm female who patiently stands in her portable corral surrounded by buff herders who don't let anyone get too close. When it's time to move Ralphie to her trailer, 15 rather buff, buff herders surround the corral, pick it up about a foot of the ground, and walk Ralphie to her trailer. Four cheerleaders lead the way, followed by the head buff herder clearing people out of the way as the herders, corral and Ralphie moved along the sidewalk. When they got to the trailer, the buff herders backed the corral to the ramp and quickly herded Ralphie into the trailer. Ralphie seemed more than happy to go into the trailer as she went in really quickly — I missed the action as she was in the trailer and the door was closed before I could get through the crowd that had surrounded the corral to watch the action. After she was loaded, the buff herders secured the corral on the side of the trailer, all the buff herders climbed onto the sides and top of the trailer or got into the truck, and the truck slowly pulled Ralphie away in her trailer to the stadium where she would perform at half time.

Ralphie hanging out in her portable corral

Cheerleaders lead the way

Head buff herder clears the way

Buff herders on parade

Walk this way

On the backside of the buffs

Recording Ralphie being loaded on the trailer

Getting ready to run off with Ralphie

securing the last section of the corral on the trailer

Head 'em out boys!

Ralphie on the run to the stadium for the half time show

Sunrise in the mist over Pitkin

Originally named Quartzville, Pitkin, Colorado was founded in 1879 and renamed to honor Governor Frederick W. Pitkin. The 1880 census recorded a population of 1891. Ten years later it had lost 80% of it's population with the mining bust, falling to 371. The population slowly declined over the next 80 years where it hit a low of 44 in 1970. The population has stayed around 60 since then; however, 2000 was an outlier with the census showing 124 year-round residents. The 2010 Census recorded a population of 66 with a 2016 estimate of 69. 

Pitkin is at 9,242 feet, roughly 28 miles northeast of Gunnison, CO. It's a small and friendly community with a lot of seasonal residents, including Bob and Lin Hope, owners of the Pitkin Hotel where we stayed Sunday night. Lin and Bob are both recently retired geologists who purchased the Pitkin Hotel partly because it has the Bunkhouse where they can host geology seminars in the summer. Lin said there are various large groups of people who stay in the Bunkhouse every year. They open the first of June and close around the end of October. The rooms are cosy, and there is a large commons area, a commercial kitchen, and a large grill so you can prepare any food you desire if you have the ingredients. When we got there, a couple of guests were grilling steaks, and preparing potatoes and vegetables for dinner. The sign outside the kitchen read "Ring for Service and Then Help Yourself" 

Frost on our Mazdaspeed3 spoiler Monday morning at sunrise

Pitkin Hotel, built in 1904

Guest Room 2

Guest Room 1 where we stayed

Second floor landing and hallway

Cowboy Bunkhouse

Room with two beds

Commons room

Oh deer!

Pitkin Hotel and City Hall

This is one of the first large tailgating operations I came across. They asked if I wanted to try some of the food, and I politely declined, but once they found out I was from New Mexico, they insisted I try one of their breakfast burritos.  I was handed a burrito and a beer, but I told the host I didn't drink beer and he said "Great! Gives me a good excuse to have another beer!" This tailgate setup was sponsored by WMC, Inc. an engineering consulting group out of St Louis, I believe, who is opening a branch in Denver. On the menu for free were various burritos, bratwurst, pancakes, hamburgers, eggs cooked to order, beer and an open bar. And the hosts were so gracious and friendly.

I imagined Tailgating to be a process of showing up early to the parking lot of a football stadium before a game, pulling out coolers and hanging out around the coolers drinking whatever beverages are allowed, and whooping it up a little in preparation for the game. Not in the least at CU Boulder, as I got a crash course in Tailgating 1 Oh! 1 on Saturday, September 17th when the CU Buffalos faced off against the Northern Colorado Bears.

Basically the whole campus is open for tailgating from a few small groups to large, well organized groups setting up for pre-game festivities. Everything is "Buff" and at first I thought it concerned all the young people with athletic bodies running around, but I was soon set straight that "Buff" is for "Buffalo". They have a live buffalo mascot named Ralphie, who performs at halftime. Besides multiple grills, food warmers, beer on tap, and lots of coolers filled with beverages, each formal and informal tailgate had "Cornhole" boards set up with people trying to toss beanbags through the holes in the boards. I got the complete rules of Cornhole explained while making the rounds.

Besides the various setups in most of the parking lots around campus, Franklin Field outside of Folsom Field Stadium had tents set up for various activities around the perimeter of the field. In a large grassy field in front of the Duane Physics and Astrophysics Building they had tables with umbrellas, a bandstand, a bar, and Ralphie, the buffalo, in a corral. The President of the Regents, I believe, was being introduced while I was wandering around the area. Then I came across the Golden Buffalo Marching band lined up around the Imig Music building, ready to march to the stadium. The band formed a long line as they must of had 200 or more musicians.

Almost everywhere I walked, people stopped me and asked if I was with the Colorado Daily, and then chatted and explained the various activities associated with tailgating, history of the campus, the architectural style, and the buffalo culture. I was offered food and drink at almost every tailgate party where people inquired about who I was with. All the people were very friendly and hospitable. I also ended up talking to different police officers and they said they had a good crowd and that there was rarely any fighting or other serious trouble at the tailgating or the games. Coming from New Mexico, I found it hard to believe they didn't have fights, but I certainly didn't see any hostilities. 

The Buffalos lost to the Bears.

Pancakes going on the grill.

Tailgating in style with champagne, salad and steak sandwiches.

One of many Cornhole games with CU boards.

Big screen and tents on Franklin Field.

Virtual Tour of Franklin Field.

Click here to go to the web page with the tour.

Tables on the field with the Duane Physics and Astrophysics Building in the background.

The Buff crew moving Ralphie.

Recording Ralphie.

Golden Buffalo Marching band lined up around the Imig Music Building.

Cheerleaders lined up to lead the march to the stadium.

CU Sousaphones and a little short of Seventy-Six Trombones

A "Lonely Hearts Club" member.

And yet another crowd of tailgaters.

The Buff Bus.

The opposing team.

Party on!

The CLASP V conference was held in the Wolf Law Building at the University of Colorado, Boulder. Many of the walls in darkened hallways were covered with photos of students, and various legal quotes from what I assume to be revered legal scholars. I began to wonder if among the various writings on the walls, the Preamble, Articles and Amendments to the Constitution of the United States of America might be found framed and hanging where all the law students could read the words that, as future lawyers and judges, they would file lawsuits over, and rule on the “constitutionality” of laws sometimes passed by elected representatives in legislatures and Congress, but more often laws enacted by executive order and regulatory agencies. 

So I wandered around the public areas of the law school looking for the Constitution of the United States of American. I did not see the US Constitution on the wall if it were in plain sight; but that’s not to say it was not there. It might be just a tiny thing, that was easy to miss. The original Preamble to the Constitution is only 52 words, and the original seven articles and ten Amendments were four hand written pages on parchment; but even with an additional 17 amendments, the current US Constitution is around 8,000 words and barely fills 20 pages in 12 point Times New Roman. Seems a perfectly reasonable size for framing.

Actually, I would have been more surprised the find the US Constitution or any part of it displayed prominently in a Law School, than not finding it. I would guess finding the US Constitution on display in a Law School is about as likely as finding the Ten Commandments in a public school. I think there is an unwritten rule of separation of the US Constitution from Law Schools, because while one might think a degree in “Constitutional Law” would be all about the Constitution it’s not. Constitutional Law is really about how to subvert the Constitution, dismantle the Constitution, even destroy the Constitution because the Constitution is old, out-of-date, doesn’t address modern values, and most importantly, it stands in the way of progressive thought and activist values. 

Instead of changing the US Constitution to reflect modern life, Congress simply ignores it, so lawyers for special interests and activists claim any judgments against the advancement of their clients’ agendas are “unconstitutional” when they have no clue of what those 8,000 words have to say about anything let alone their clients’ agendas. 

Thus, as I wandered and wondered about the Law School building, it started to have a very warped and twisted look to it with all those faces on the walls, young students diligently studying case law and judgments handed down on the constitutionality of legal actions made with no real reference to the Constitution. 

High speed drivers
Sun falls low
Catch that light
Stop, click, go

High plains drifters
Night swallows day
Follow stars
By Milky Way

White line fever
Headlights blast
Long, slow hours
Home at last