Category: Exploring

Posted in Exploring

Adventures in 2020!

Posted on by Louis Annino

So, a lot has happened in 2020…. Duh.

I know I haven’t checked in on this blog in a while and part of that has been my own struggles with everything going on around me. I haven’t really felt enthusiastic about sharing what has felt like a fairly negative year for me. When the pandemic hit, and stay at home orders began, I put blogging on the back burner and let the year so far play out.

However, I haven’t really stopped getting outside and I haven’t stopped taking the road less traveled for an adventure. Its just been… different.

Hiking near Bolton Valley Ski Area this Summer. Repping the Eldora Mask!

In May, my living situation in Colorado wasn’t working out, so I moved back to Vermont for the summer. It was a great opportunity to connect with people I’ve missed since my move and I spent a lot of my time playing the sport I love, Disc Golf!

When stay-at-home orders lifted, we began our tournament season with some new formats and modifications in order to best accommodate physical distancing and slowing the spread of this virus. It was really nice to compete and interreact with friends. In all, we ran over 10 events and had no virus outbreaks from our events. I’m really proud of everything we accomplished on the Disc Golf Vermont Tour!

The famed Hole 18 on Fox Run Meadows at Smuggler’s Notch Disc Golf Center

When the fall started getting closer, I started getting phone calls asking me to return to Eldora for another season of teaching skiing and riding in Colorado! After the successes I had last season, this request was a hard one to say “No” to and that brings me to where I am now. About two weeks ago, for the third time in a year, I packed up and drove across the country.

This is what a lot of Nebraska and Eastern Colorado look like!

This winter I am living much closer to Eldora and couldn’t be more excited to be a part of this mountain community. So far, my neighbors Ms. Moose and the deer family have all been very welcoming and given my proximity to some National Forest lands, I’m assuming I might see them more often!

A Moose hanging out in my backyard! How cool is THAT?!

Right now, I’m looking forward to whatever this winter brings and sharing as much as I can. Please be safe out there and hopefully we can all play in the snow again soon!

P.S. If you want to take a ski or snowboard lesson at Eldora this winter, let me know!

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Posted in Exploring, Hiking

Early Snow in Rocky Mountain National Park

Posted on by Louis Annino

If you know me, you know that I can get pretty excited when winter comes around and the snow starts to fly. In my 10 years of living in Vermont, I was always itching to get a couple October laps in at the local ski hill or throw the first snowball of the season. Last season, one of the first adventures for this blog was finding just a few stray flakes on Mount Mansfield at Stowe. Check that adventure out here. Now that I’ve moved to Colorado winter has hit the Rockies much earlier than it ever did in the Green Mountains, so clearly I needed to go for an adventure!

Snowy mountains as seen from Longmont, CO

So, after some quick planning, we hopped in the car and went for a drive to Estes Park and Rocky Mountain National Park. The drive was about an hour from my apartment and we watched the thermometer in my car dive downwards from 50 degrees in Longmont, all the way down to the upper teens by the end of our drive!

Estes Park was our first stop however. It was Elk mating season, and the elk were all over the place in this tourist town. Herds were congregated on almost every grassy area available. We even found some on the local golf course!

Fore!

After briefly stopping to see the elk, we continued into Rocky Mountain National Park. Almost as soon as we entered the park, we started seeing snow on the sides of the roads. At the first fork in the road, we followed the road towards more visible snow and entered into Glacier Basin. I was half expecting to see a glacier when we came around the corner, but instead found a winter wonderland. The snow was everywhere and truly seemed to appear out of nowhere. In reality however, it was probably the area’s geography causing the area to be shaded from the warmest parts of the day keeping the snow on the ground.

Wahoo! Playing in the Snow!

After a brief walk we continued along the road until its end. The road kept going up and up the areas hills and mountains until we reached the road’s end at Bear Lake. No bears were found, but instead a beautiful alpine lake with a relatively quick trail around it’s perimeter. I was amazed as we were walking around and had to keep reminding myself that fall had really only just begun and all this snow was an early season treat, because it certainly reminded me of what January might look like elsewhere!


October…or January?

Pretty quickly our hike came to an end, but not after a number of pictures were taken and a couple snowballs thrown. We finished up at Bear Lake and began the drive home, completing this adventure on a Sunday afternoon before my New England Patriots had the chance to kick off. Not a bad adventure for an October afternoon!

October…Seriously, this is October!

Posted in Disc Golf, Exploring, Hiking

First Adventures in Colorado

Posted on by Louis Annino

Phew! It has been a whirlwind of a year since I’ve moved to Colorado…

Wait… Its only been 6 weeks?!

Life since my move at the end of July has been incredibly busy. Starting a new job in a new state, applying to teaching licensure programs, settling into a new home, AND squeezing in moments for mini adventures has kept me incredibly busy. In fact, putting aside the joking at the beginning of this post, I honestly feel like I have accomplished in 6 weeks what might be accomplished over the course of a year or more at other times in my life.

So many projects, so little time!
Photo by Startup Stock Photos on Pexels.com

Now as the Fall is quickly approaching, I can look back on this summer and say that I’m pretty dang proud of the things that I have accomplished this summer! Not only am I settling into a new role in a new school year, I’ve also been able to get outside and explore Colorado a bunch. However, I haven’t been as good about taking pictures and videos to share with you all. With how busy and stressful life has been over these last few months, almost all of my exploration time has been some very important self-care time. I felt like cameras and in-the-moment sharing would have taken away from that purpose, so I hope you all will forgive me.

That said, here is a quick rundown of some of the things that I’ve been up to!

Disc Golf!

Of course, one of the first things I’ve kept myself doing is playing disc golf and going to local-ish disc golf tournaments. My level of play has definitely fallen to the wayside with less time to practice and adjust to disc flights being different at elevation, but I’ve still been having a blast. Ive played tournaments at Arapahoe Basin, Winter Park, Aurora, and Colorado Springs. Each venue has been different from the last. One thing I’ve noticed is the lack of trees for obstacles in this state. It has been so different than playing in the heavily wooded courses of Vermont.

At this point, I’m feeling as though I’ve finally adjusted to playing at elevation, and I’m hoping to see some better results at my upcoming tournaments!

I haven’t been playing that well, but the views have been amazing!

Camping!

One thing that I was hoping to do more of this summer was camping. Before I had decided I was moving to Colorado, I was hoping to spend a lot of nights out sleeping in my hammock and enjoying the forests of Vermont. Moving certainly changed those plans, however, I was very excited to combine one of my disc golf tournaments with a weekend camping in Arapaho National Forest! It was a treat to spend the night being COLD, knowing full well that it was near 100 degrees back in Longmont earlier that day. The mountains of Vermont certainly bring about weather differences from the Champlain Valley where I was living, but nothing like the 50+ degree difference I experienced that weekend!

Comfy enough!

Fly Fishing!

On another trip to the Winter Park area, I was able to wet a line for the first time in a long while and catch some trout! I had been given a recommendation for a fishing spot on the Fraser River in Winter Park, but when I lost cell signal and couldn’t recall the full directions I had been given I found the first small stream I could find and gave the fishing a shot. As it turns out, the small alpine meadow stream was loaded with small brook trout and I was able to catch my first Colorado fish.

My first Colorado fish! What a giant!

Hiking!

Since moving here, I’ve been lucky enough to explore the St. Vrain River Greenway as it winds around my apartment complex, as well as a couple other quick day-hikes in the mountains. I’m hoping to explore some more before the snow flies, so stay tuned!

Yup, that’s some August leftover snowpack! Pretty soon fresh snow will be flying!

What’s next?

Coming soon, I’ve got a few more disc golf tournaments to finish out the season. I’ve also got plans to visit the Great Sand Dunes on a long weekend in October. Please remember to subscribe to both this blog as well as my YouTube Channel so that you don’t miss a moment of the action! I cant wait to continue exploring this awesome state!

Posted in Exploring

July Hike on Mt. Mansfield

Posted on by Louis Annino

Earlier this month, we decided to drive up the Mount Mansfield Toll Road in Stowe, Vermont. We walked the Long Trail from the Mansfield visitor’s center up to the summit of Vermont’s tallest peak! It’s certainly different seeing this mountain in the summer rather than in the winter. All those ski trails were covered in beautiful wildflowers and the icy winds were just a cooling summer breeze!

Posted in Exploring

First Week in Colorado

Posted on by Louis Annino

I’m officially in Colorado and couldn’t be more excited. I flew in to Denver this past Monday. It was a little bittersweet to leave Vermont, but I’m excited for what my new home has to offer. Since landing, I’ve been hard at work setting up my apartment. Between DMV trips, Comcast headaches, and unpacking a moving box, I haven’t been able to get into full adventure mode just yet. I’ve ventured into Boulder for a couple rounds of disc golf, but that’s been about it. Despite staying close to home base I have to admit, after spending 29 years living in New England, almost everything is feeling like a new adventure. I’m amazed every time I drive out of my apartment complex and I can clearly see snow still hanging onto the Rocky Mountains. I’m also really intrigued by the flora and fauna of the area, that seems so different from the ecosystems I’m so used to. I even bought a used book on birding when I visited the bookstore in Boulder. It seemed like great coffee table material and I figured that birds might be a good place to start learning about Colorado’s critters.

I start my new job on Thursday, but I’m hopeful that over the course of the next couple days I can get outside a bit more and really start to find what the area has to offer! Stay tuned!

My last sunrise in Vermont was certainly a beautiful one. See you later Vermont!
Posted in Exploring

Where Have I Been?

Posted on by Louis Annino

Hey all! Just wanted to give a quick update to the blog. I had the goal to produce articles and videos each week, but I haven’t lived up to that…

So what’s up with that? Well, to say that I’ve been busy would be an understatement. I’ve had time to get out and adventure, thank goodness, but it was for me, and not necessarily for this site. I needed the outside time to help keep myself focused on a major change in my life…

I’m moving to Colorado!

(Near Boulder)

Organizing this move has taken up much of the energy that would have otherwise gone to this blog, and I’m sorry for that. However, I’m really excited for the opportunities that this move will also bring to the Adventure Logbook. I can’t wait to share my NEW experiences in a NEW state. I hope to be back in a rhythm of blogging as soon as I’m settled in. That could be as soon as the beginning of August, but more realistically some time in September. If you know Colorado, feel free to leave adventure ideas or places to explore and share in the comments. Thank you for your patience and see you all soon!

Posted in Exploring

Lake Champlain is Completely Frozen

Posted on by Louis Annino

On the news this week, I learned that Lake Champlain is officially completely frozen over! This is something that doesn’t happen every winter. In fact this is the first time since 2015 that this has happened. Last time, I was pretty bummed that I didn’t take the opportunity to walk out in the middle of the frozen lake. So, to avoid that same regret this time around, we decided to take advantage of the beautiful day and walk onto the ice near Oakledge Park in Burlington, VT.

That is a big frozen lake!

There were a number of other groups on the ice as well. People were taking pictures, going for bike rides, catching fish, and overall enjoying the spectacle of the State’s largest lake being frozen. My favorite thought was remembering summer days spent swimming at Oakledge, and comparing that mental image to how far from shore we had walked. Luckily, we were able to take some pictures and videos all while staying quite dry.

Lake Champlain certainly seems locked in the icy grip of winter, but surely that wont last for TOO much longer. Spring will come soon!

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