2007-05-21
Anne U. White Trail, Boulder CO
It's named after Anne Elizabeth Underwood, who, after marrying Gilbert White, a Prof. of Geography at the University of Colorado and the "father of floodplain management," became Anne U. White. They were active in preserving open space around Boulder, including getting the land for the trail donated, so just before her death from cancer in 1989 it was named for her.
Gilbert White said, "Floods are 'acts of god,' but flood losses are largely acts of man." This was in 1942, 63 years before Katrina.
It's the Anne U. White Trail. Not a park. Not much of a trailhead. Parking for maybe a half-dozen cars, plus maybe a half-dozen more on the road about a quarter-mile away. Land on either side of the trail is privately owned, so you're supposed to stay on the trail. Which is OK, because it meanders along Four Mile Creek with mostly steep walls on either side. A trail guide says it's 1.5 miles, but some locals said it just goes on and on, probably onto more private property, but nobody seems to mind.
It's a great trail for kids, because it's just hilly enough to challenge them. There are at least 20 places where you have to step on rocks to cross the Creek. (It might be 19, because my 6-year-old crossed one of them twice, and I'm not sure what happened to the count. Her socks got wet on number 3 or so, but she was wearing a local shoe called a Croc and it didn't matter.)
I took my Leica M8 along and it seemed to take a usable picture anywhere I pointed it. Some of them are even good pictures, or so I think. You can judge for yourself. (Technical note: The light was dim for the first half of our hike and I kept my f2 lens almost wide open. I couldn't have gotten away with that on these landscapes without the precision of the rangefinder focusing.)
Anne U. White Trail, Boulder CO
Anne U. White Trail, Boulder CO
Anne U. White Trail, Boulder CO
Anne U. White Trail, Boulder CO
To find the Anne U. White Trail, go South on Hwy. 93 from Boulder towards Golden, take the right turn to Eldorado Springs, and turn around when you get to the parking lot at the end, at which time you'll realize I've given you the wrong directions. You don't think I'm going to help you find this little wonder, do you?