Frozen Dead Guy Days in Nederland, CO

March 08, 2008
Justin and I have been furiously researching gear for our trip all week, but we did manage to get out of the cabin on Saturday to attend the annual Frozen Dead Guy Days festival in Nederland, CO. The fest is in honor of one man's attempt at do-it-yourself cryogenics - his beloved grandpa is awaiting reanimation in a Tuff Shed in the small mountain town of Nederland. This gained some notoriety a few years back... click here for more.

Given the nature of the festival, it should come as no surprise that the highlights include a parade of hearses, a polar plunge into a frozen lake, and the obstacle-course "coffin" races. Great fun to be had by all :)

We drove the beautiful Peak-to-Peak highway from Meeker Park down to Nederland and rendezvoused with Lily and Stephen at the Ned Teen Center at high noon... or something like that ;) Anyways we watched the parade:



and the polar plunge and some of the coffin races, before we got too cold and had to go to a little cafe for hot chocolate.

After that we visited a local shop called The Alpaca Store and met some very friendly alpacas who sold me some lovely yarn.


Then we checked out the local used book store and headed home. On the way out of town, we stopped to look at a spectacular antique steam shovel that is part of the Nederland Mining Museum - I think we'll have to check it out the next time we're in town.

Links:
web album
pics in google maps
kmz file for google earth

Hike to Cub Lake - Feb 13, 2008

I'm finally getting around to posting all the geotagged photos I've been taking. I have a backlog of hikes and photos... so without further ado, here are the photos from my very first "geotagged" hike :)

Hike to Cub Lake, Rocky Mountain National Park - February 13, 2008
This trail is swamped with hikers in the summer, which really detracts from its enjoyment, but this time of year the trail was almost empty and quite beautiful.

On the way to the trailhead we stopped to admire the view from Moraine Park and to pay our respects to the resident elk:






Clouds were brewing in the mountains when we started from the trailhead, but fortunately we made it to the lake before we lost the good sunlight. The trail was covered with snow and we had some trouble finding it in the beginning. As we've discovered hiking out here in the winter, you are at the mercy of the people who forged the trail in the snow before you. It may not be the right trail, but if you try to leave it you'll find yourself waist-deep in the snow! We thought that snow-shoes would help, but the snow is so powdery we'd need pontoons to keep from sinking in.





The lake was very beautiful and very cold with a strong wind coming down from the peaks and ominous storm clouds. After lunch, we raced the clouds back down to the car before it snowed on us.

All in all, a nice little hike :)



Check out the full web album here: Cub Lake Hike Album

To see the photos and our trail in Google Maps: Google Maps Album

Or for Google Earth download this file: CubLakeHike_13Feb08.kmz
(and be sure to have Geographic features and Parks & Recs turned on)

And let me know what you think!