FULL MOON ON SAND CREEK DECEMBER 2011

Full Moons have Names. The December name is the Cold Moon or the Oak Moon. We're gonna go with Cold Moon.

I caught the Platte River Trail at Alameda going down stream.

The trail had compact snow and ice. not hard to ride on, just no sudden turns.

I love to ride in winter. It's quiet and you can see animal tracks in the snow.

A pigeon posed for a picture.













There was some construction going on under 6th avenue. The trail is open.

OK, here we are at Frog Hollow where the detour starts.

I'm going to check the progress on the closed portion.

Here's a good sign. Although the trail is closed it's been plowed.

The path is 100% complete. They're landscaping the path to make it ready. Wow this is a world class path here. It is going to be beautiful.

According to the plan the path won't open until April but I can't believe that. Another month at the most I think.

Yep, all the concrete is in, most of the big machines are gone.

That crane in the distance is removing the steel plates that created the cofferdam. I guess whatever they were doing is done now.

This is the new underpass where the dam was. See where the dirty brown line is on the bridge? That's the old waterline. It was removed because of the light rail. The bike path had to go under the bridge and to be that low the dam had to go.

Here's a look up Lakewood Gulch. That trail should be open soon. This first part is a huge improvement over the old concrete canyon.

I hope the trail opens soon for these poor sign's sake.

OK, now there's a real detour. I-25 bridge right next to Mile High Stadium. Bike paths on both sides of the Platte are closed here, you take the road that winds around Mile High Stadium.

A workman told me they're demolishing the bridge which should be interesting because that's I-25. I guess they'll be deconstructing and constructing simultaneously because they're not going to close I-25.

Soon you reach this path which goes up a hill. When you reach a road, turn right and ride down hill to the Aquarium.

Bingo there you are. This is small island of land bordered on one side by the Platte and one side by the freeway. There are not many ways to get here by car. Someone once asked me how to get to R.E.I. in Denver but I said although I've been there many times I've only been there by bike. Corner of Cherry Creek bike path & The Platte River bike path..

Once at the Aquarium turn into the parking lot then keep going downhill. I rode the last part across an open area in 4" of untracked snow. Whee!

Then across the trolley tracks and onto the Platte Trail.


















Looking over Confluence Park. Denver. My kind of town.

Looking back the other way at the Platte.

Cruising along the Platte.

Pretty soon you come to Globeville Landing Park.

This shelter in Globeville Park once save me from a fierce rain storm.












From Globeville you can see the Denver Coliseum and the moon.

A little further along there is the animal transfer station. Good news sheep, I saw a trailer backed up to transport you out of here. The bad news is it's a refrigerated trailer. Bye my beloved animal friends. I hope you all had a great life.

This is where the Burlington Ditch is diverted from the Platte river.

The Burlington Ditch takes most of the Platte but only for a mile or so, then the Denver sewage treatment plant releases huge quantities of treated sewage. It must be safe enough to drink because the city of Aurora takes Platte river water another mile downstream for drinking water.

Hey, water is a scarce resource. If you gotta drink someone else's pee, so be it.


Here's the 411 on the Burlington Ditch.

You also go near Riverside Cemetery. There are two
Medal Of Honor recipients  buried there. Both from the Civil War.

Oh you crazy Moon.













It was a crisp clear cold day. I thought I got good pics with the camera I use.

There's the moon over the Burlington Ditch.

The Front Range Trail is an effort to have a path from Wyoming to New Mexico along the Front Range and beyond.

In the summer time you'd never see that nest. In the winter time you can see hundreds of these along the way.

Here we are at Sand Creek. Moon in the background.

Sand Creek has been in the news lately. Strange bad chemicals are leaking into Sand Creek from the refinery nearby.

There's the boom trying to collect the nasty chemicals seeping into Sand Creek.

Sand Creek in the news, and not in a good way.

Sand Creek Trail is mostly dirt so it doesn't get plowed.


















There's the most excellent city of Denver in the distance, Burlington Ditch on the left.

Suncor Refinery. The likely culprit although it's complicated. Suncor has only owned this refinery for a few years.










Here's where it got interesting. See the ice encrusted dam that has a pond behind it. As I went by the pond I saw a Beaver sitting in the unfrozen part chewing on a stick.

You have to look close but there's the beaver, After I took a couple of flash pictures he swam towards me. I stood perfectly still. When he was about five feet away he slapped his tail on the water (beaver danger signal) and swam away. Then a minute later two beavers swam out to investigate me, I stood still. They probably smelled me rather than saw me. While the two beavers inspected me a third remained on the frozen portion of the pond.

That would be this beaver. On the ice next to the open water. I am not a nature photographer as evidenced by my nature photography.

To see it in person, that is the objective. Gonna have to do more night rides.

Then it was back on up the trail.

Crusing Sand Creek on a frigid night

Sapp Bros Truck Stop.














I tok a picture of the construction project but what is that? I see an eye and a mouth. What is that? A trick of the camera lens? Idunno. Weird.

At the light rail construction zone there is a detour down a road that takes you to Havana where you connect again with the trail. Then I rode the trail next to Havana and went to Peoria then I went South to E. Colfax and caught an RTD #15 back to Denver. God Bless the RTD. They always get me home.

Four star chillin' ride.