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Kids and Exercise

The Best Way to Battle Childhood Obesity:
Get Your Kid Moving!

I heard a debate on CPR today about whether or not government money should be spent battling our country’s epidemic of obesity. As you doubtless know, the incidence of obesity is growing at an alarming rate — more than 15% of American adults are obese, and in nine states, over 30% of adults are obese.

But it’s our children who are most at risk. Childhood obesity has more than tripled in the past 30 years, according to the Centers for Disease Control — aided by video games, computers and other sedentary pursuits, and supersize portions.

So how do we fight it?

While experts no doubt are pondering solutions, sometimes I see the answer right in front of my eyes. Today I watched about a hundred kids aged 8-13 participate in Evergreen Park & Recreation District’s (EPRD) Kids Triathlon.  First they swam, then they rode, then they ran, before crossing the finish line and receiving a certificate.

Some of the younger, inexperienced swimmers needed pool buoys to keep them afloat for 25 yards across Buchanan Rec Center Pool. Some had their moms run along side them as they left the pool and ran to their bikes. Some girls rode onto the trail wearing helmets shaped like pink bears with little ears. One little boy was wearing an oversized “US Pro Cycling Challenge” jersey with matching riding gloves. Some were gasping and clutching their sides in pain as they limped across the finish line. Others charged onto the race course like Olympians, determined not to let anyone pass them.

But every child in this noncompetitive race had friends and family on the sidelines encouraging them. One mom waved a poster that said “Go, Alex!” Little girls waved pom poms and cheered for big brothers. Moms and grandmothers clicked photos and videos. The volunteer who managed the finish line called out to struggling youngsters, “That’s it! You got it! You’re almost there! You can do it!”

And you know what? I didn’t see a single case of childhood obesity today. Instead I saw healthy, active, happy kids, encouraged in their fitness pursuits by parents and friends in a friendly, noncompetitive atmosphere, on a beautiful summer day.

Battling childhood obesity? Perhaps it takes a village. And the Youth & Sports Expo on Buchanan Fields that followed the Kids Tri demonstrated that Evergreen is just the right kind of village to win this fight. It offers so many opportunities for children to stay active and healthy — from EPRD’s facilities, sports programs and teams; to Stingers soccer; to Nick’s Pro Fitness’s Tae Kwon Do classes; to Kinetic Dance; to the Tennis Bubble; to the trails on which we hike, bike and walk; and so much more.

So get your kids moving!

The Hammster

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Climbing Mountains – Getting to Know Colorado from the Top

My husband Bob has discovered mountain climbing.

At first it was 14ers. He climbed Mt. Bierstadt last fall with a networking group and got hooked on 14ers, vowing to try to climb every one in Colorado. For those not “in the know,” 14ers are mountains over 14,000 feet high. Colorado has more than 50 of them. (You can learn all about them at http://www.14ers.com/.)

Anyway, after a couple of 14ers spent with crowds of others also trying to scale the highest peaks, Bob bagged a 12er and had a revelation – the view from the top of a 12,000-plus-foot peak is still amazing – but without the crowds. Even a relatively shrimpy 8,700-foot or so peak like Mt. McClure, near Marble, which we climbed a couple of weeks ago, is amazing.

Now Bob is hooked on hiking Colorado. Every weekend he attacks a mountain. His only criteria – it should have a peak to aspire to. Recently my daughter and I joined Bob for a stroll to the top of Colorado Mines Mountain, which many will recognize as the peak with the weather station on the way to Winter Park Resort. It was amazing up there. We walked to the edge of a rockslide and sat on small boulder to eat our lunch. We gazed down upon two emerald green pools of water below with a lone tent set up between them, and pondered how it must feel like camping at the edge of the earth. In the dappled distance, we watched storm clouds rumble in. We breathed in the thin air, and stood atop the Continental Divide. We saw a marmot. We could see countless small trails on peaks all around us that we could hike on future trips, and our hiking thirst grew.

Perhaps I’m starting to understand those Mt. Everest idiots.

Naaah.

A couple of days ago, we scrambled with visiting friends up a short, rocky trail to St. Mary’s Glacier, which is actually a snowfield. The rain fell, lightning flashed and thunder cracked, and we scurried back down. We could have continued on past the glacier and hiked a 12er, but the weather conspired against us. Still, despite the wet and the chill, people were there with babies in backpacks, and with dogs on leashes. And the view was magnificent.

Try it! To pick your next hike, try 100 Classic Hikes Colorado by Scott S. Warren. It is full of hiking suggestions, though we have found distances to be inaccurate. The descriptions, however, are very thorough.  Get out there this weekend and hike up a mountain!

–The Hammster

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Berrian Mountain: A Hidden Gem in Evergreen South

I recently hiked up to the 9,147-foot peak of Berrian Mountain in Evergreen South with my daughter’s Girl Scout troop.

Berrian is a Denver Mountain Park reached by driving up, up, up through a winding, hillside neighborhood off Rte. 73 near Conifer. Despite driving through the area countless times, I never even knew it was there.

According to Wikipedia, Berrian Mountain was named after George, Dan and Ray Berrian, who came from Kansas to Colorado in 1887. Previously, it may have been called McIntyre Mountain after Duncan McIntyre, who owned property on the east side of the mountain.

According to one of the kids on our recent Girl Scout hike, there are nine geocaches hidden near the trail up to the peak of Berrian Mountain, so bring your caching equipment ad a pencil! (If you don’t know what geocaching is, watch this space – a blog about this fun 21st century activity is coming soon!)

Berrian Mountain is considered a “Conservation/Wilderness Park,” which means it’s one of a group of isolated Denver Mountain Parks parcels that were never intended to be developed. It’s not easy to access and has very little parking next to the trailhead. (Find it on this map of Denver Mountain Parks: http://www.denvergov.org/Portals/626/documents/DenverParkMap_2010_mountain_pg1.pdf. For driving access, use this map: http://goo.gl/maps/mqovf

The trip is worth it – in the two-hour hike to the summit and back, you’ll encounter prominent mountaintops, forested ridges, steep slopes, rocky outcrops, and narrow riparian corridors. You’ll sweat. Your jaw will drop in awe. Your kid will complain about the hard work of climbing. You’ll feel invigorated. At the summit, you’ll be rewarded with a steep, rocky ridge to climb on, an amazing view of south Evergreen, and the knowledge that it’s all downhill from here!

–The Hammster

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Join the new Evergreen Multisport Club!

I love to work out, but I haven’t found the right group in Evergreen. The Denver Road Runners are too far away. Team Evergreen is too intense – I don’t always want to ride 50 or 100 miles over mountain passes. The Foothills Running & Cycling Club, which I helped found, decided to focus on Golden. I don’t want to have to drive 30 or 45 minutes to find workout partners — I want friends here in the mountain community, and friends who are pursuing the same healthy lifestyle as me.

So after three years of solitary workouts, I have taken the plunge and founded the Evergreen Multisport Club. I used that great online “Meetup” tool, which allows you to start a group and get it up and running immediately!

The Evergreen Multisport Club brings together athletes looking for training partners for running, cycling and swimming in our beautiful mountain community.

All ages, ability levels (from super slow to fast) and commitment levels (from casual duffer to intense competitor) are welcome, whether you are new to a sport, seriously training for a biathlon or triathlon, or just looking for someone to ride 20 miles with, or run 4 miles with, on a Saturday morning or after work on a weeknight.

Is the Evergreen Multisport Club right for you?

  • If Team Evergreen is too intense for you but you’re looking for a good workout with companions, the Evergreen Multisport Club is the place for you.
  • If you want to work out hard and be pushed by a peer, the Evergreen Multisport Club is the place for you.
  • If you’re just getting in shape and want support from a group, the Evergreen Multisport Club is the place for you.
  • If you want relay partners in races or multisport events, or a team to compete with, the Evergreen Multisport Club is the place for you.
  • If you want to discover new people and new trails, the Evergreen Multisport Club is the place for you.
  • If you enjoy eating brunch or throwing back a beer or two with a friend post-workout, the Evergreen Multisport Club is the place for you.

Regular workouts

The club’s first event, a 4-mile run in Lair o’ the Bear Park in Idledale on a recent Saturday morning, was marred by hail, pouring rain, and cancellations, but I went there anyway and ended up having a wonderful run and brunch with Julie S., another Evergreen athlete seeking friends in her community. We had four cyclists show up for our second event, a road ride in Ken Caryl; through fabulous red rocks.

The club is set up so anyone can post a workout and invite people to join them. We are having a social event on June 1 to get to know each other and talk about what we want the club to “be.” Join us!

Find the Evergreen Multisport Club online at http://www.meetup.com/EvergreenMultisportClub/.

— The Hammster

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The Swimming Hole and the Castle

On one of those late winter days when the air was unseasonably warm but the ground was still covered with snow, Lexie and I decided to take a walk in the Lair. Lair o’ the Bear, my favorite name for a park. We parked by the road at the western end and strolled down to the trailhead. Lexie was wearing shorts, a light jacket and snow boots. It was one of those Colorado types of days.

Swimming Hole
The Swimming Hole

Suddenly Lexie stopped and gasped.

“Mom!” she exclaimed excitedly. “This is the swimming hole!”

Lexie, 11, and her sister Kyra, 14, had gone to a Bear Creek swimming hole several times last summer with a friend and her mother, who had never been able to describe exactly how to find it.

But sure enough, and the very edge of the park, Bear Creek widened and had a slightly deeper, calm pool. It was flanked by large boulders for sitting on, trees for lolling beneath, and the water was still halfway covered with snow and ice. That didn’t deter a bunch of kids who had discarded their shoes and were splashing around in it while their parents watched, amused. On the third week of March! It was about 65 degrees, but that creek had to be closer to 40 degrees.

Dunafon Castle
Dunafon Castle

“You want to go in?” I asked Lexie. Fortunately, she declined, and we walked on down the trail, alongside cliffs, through deeper woods where the trail was snow-covered and slippery, and suddenly we came upon a wrought-iron fence along the left side of the trail. There was a gate that prevented us from crossing a stone bridge to the left, and across the creek was a small, exquisite stone castle, Dunafon Castle. You might have seen the crest on a flag while driving down Route 74 north of the Lair o’ the Bear entrance.

We stood at the padlocked gate and took in the castle, with its gazebo, sweeping grounds, and fountains, and shared dreams about fantastical other lives, other places, about magic and princesses and unicorns. A workman came around the bend with a couple of huge dogs to abruptly end our trip of fantasy, and we giggled as the canines frolicked with each other enthusiastically.

The whole walk was only about a mile and a half by the time we got back to the car.  But it took us back several centuries, off on flights of fancy, and even back to last summer!

–The Hammster

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Fire in the Back Yard

Yesterday I got an urgent text message in my cellphone through Reverse 911 that 100 homes were being evacuated near Pleasant Park Road in Conifer because of a wildfire.

Fire plume
View of the plume from a Kittredge hilltop

A fire? In CONIFER?? This is the sort of story I’m supposed to watch on 9News, riveted by the orange flames licking the edges of some distant canyon, not a few miles down Rte. 73 near the homes of a number of my friends. My husband and I ran outside and watched, openmouthed, as a giant plume of smoke billowed across the sparkling blue sky.

A few minutes later I discovered there was a second fire along Grapevine Road in Idledale, perhaps two miles away as the crow flies from our Kittredge house. I had driven right past that spot just two days earlier. Suddenly I felt incredibly vulnerable.

Natural Disasters

Everywhere that I have ever lived, there has been some sort of natural disaster to be wary of. Back east, where I lived two blocks from the Long Island Sound, we worried about floods, windstorms, and the torrential downpours that edged hurricanes. When I lived in Puerto Rico, a block from the ocean, we were also afraid of hurricanes, and a volcano erupted on the island of Montserrat. My husband lived in Tornado Alley for a while. I have felt the earth shake under my feet during an earthquake.

When we moved to Colorado, we thought we had found a home that didn’t seem to be a victim of Mother Nature’s irrational outbursts. No tornadoes, no earthquakes, certainly no hurricanes. But how wrong we were. Mother Nature is so erratic here – flooding us one season, parching us the next. (And of course, last year we did have a deviant earthquake.) We are at the mercy of the rain, the snow, the mercury – seesawing between abundance and famine. Those 330 days of sunshine a year that attracted us are also a curse!

As the fire rages in Conifer, a number of my friends have fled their homes, and many others live in the fire’s path. Friends and family from back east, who have seen our fire on the national news, call and email asking if we are OK.

A Fire Plan

Our family spent dinnertime tonight creating a fire plan. We prioritized what needed to be done if the Reverse 911 call came in about a fire in OUR neighborhood. Get US out safely, of course. Also the cats, important papers, hard drives, Grandpa’s violin, Great-Grandfather’s Revolutionary war epaulets, family photos, what else?

Our lovely cedar-and-stone house sits at the edge of 40 acres of beautiful ponderosa pines. There’s some comfort in the fire hydrant that sits at the edge of the front yard, but less comfort in the pine boughs you can reach from the back deck. Forget about “defensible space” — we chose this house because of the woods. We love the smell of the pine in the air, especially on windy days. But today, as I look at those pine trees, I see a threat.

So I’ll call my insurance company tomorrow, make sure I’m covered in case of fire, post the Family Fire Plan on the bulletin board — and pray I never need to use it. And then I’ll go help make sandwiches to help feed the firefighters in Conifer, and pray they get those flames stamped out soon.

Stay safe.

— The Hammster

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Cracks

I drove by Evergreen Lake this morning and saw it: the first crack. A big long crack along the lake, running from the mouth of the creek almost to the dam. The first omen of approaching spring.

Walk on the lake
A February walk on the lake with my friend, Linda Kirkpatrick

Just a week and a half ago I was walking all over the lake with my daughter after ice skating at the Lake House. We saw several clusters of fisherman huddling together in the cold over a tiny hole in the ice, hoping for a catch. A few were inside little tents.

We examined a big snow fish sculpture and a castle. We pretended we were on the North Pole, far from anyone. We listened to the distant laughter of skaters. We reveled in the whiteness that surrounded us.

But today, the lake was deserted. No fishermen. The sculptures melting into shapeless blobs. The skating rink empty.

A blue jay couple flitted around the trees near my car, alerting me to what the future has in store.

Hello, spring.

–The Hammster

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Transitions

I hate transitions.

That is, I hate the transitions between seasons. When I am in a season, I am thoroughly and completely committed. I live, eat and breathe that season. It’s winter? I want to ski, snowshoe, feel the snow crackle under my feet, and embrace the cold! It’s spring? I expect warmer weather, birds singing, crisp hikes up Three Sisters. Summer? Cycling, fishing on Evergreen Lake, sunny skies, wine on the deck. Fall? Golden aspen trees, crisp evenings, football games.

But Colorado, with its bipolar weather, pokes holes in that theory. First of all, it’s never really winter, is it? It might be minus 5 for a few days, but then, overnight, the mercury can shoot up to 60 degrees, and what am I supposed to do with that? I can never pack away my warm weather clothes, or my cold weather clothes, because Colorado might change its mind and morph into another season, and I need to be ready

Take today, for instance. 65 degrees, halleluiah! Of course, last Saturday I was hitting all the terrain parks at Winter Park on skis with my husband and daughter. But OK, I can make the adjustment. 65 degrees. I grabbed my road bike, donned riding shorts and a long-sleeved shirt and headed out Upper Bear Creek. And I FROZE. The cold air from the ice and snow still embracing the creek alongside the road reached out into the air all around me and bit. Hard. When I got home, I was shivering, despite the 65 degrees on the sign outside Evergreen National Bank

Come on, nature — give me some predictability! I need to know what to expect!

But the truth is that one of my favorite things about living in Colorado is that we are not held in the tight fist of winter from December through March, like we were back east. There’s always hope that a cold snap will be broken up by a couple of spring-like days. The variety, the surprise, make living in Evergreen so great. So I will try to embrace the transitions! I will enjoy the warmth of this warm winter week, secure in the knowledge that next week we may be back in sub-freezing temps, and perhaps Spring Break will be snowy!

–The Hammster