Denver to Boulder Day 2
Broomfield to Boulder
This is part two of my walk from Denver to Boulder. Part 1 is here.
Snow and Fire
The new year started with a welcome dusting of snow. Welcome, first of all, because snow is cleansing and refreshing, the world born anew. A good sign for a new year that wasn't automatically instilling optimism. Welcome, also, because I'd been worrying about fire.
The Marshall fire was the most damaging fire in Colorado history. It killed two people, destroyed nearly 1,000 structures and resulted in the evacuation of 37,000 people. I was planning to walk through Boulder County open space, very near the town of Marshall, pretty much exactly where the fire had started. It was also exactly the same time of year, 3 years to the day, in fact. If the same sort of fire happened while I was I walking, I would... but I hadn’t been able to come up with a suitable plan, other than to keep an eye out for smoke. So, I was glad it had snowed.
For Lease Signs
I packed up and checked out of the hotel room, only to immediately scramble in my pockets and backpack for my headphones, an absolutly essentially item. They were not in any of the coat pockets, nor the normal backpack pocket where they should have been. I returned to the hotel and retrieved my room key from the women at the desk, but a search of of the room returned nothing. I found the headphones, comfortably draped around my neck.
In my mind, all of the suburbs close to Boulder are new and prosperous. However the shopping center where I started my walk had a number of empty storefronts, and the handrail at the hotel was separating from the concrete. Not much further on, I passed a former gas station. These buildings were fairly new, but still seemed to struggling with tenants. I walked on feeling that Chuck Marohn, might have a point.
The Backyard Paths and Fictitious Downtowns of Superior
The further I got out of Downtown the more plentiful paths became. I think this has to do with walkability being an amenity. Developers think walkability means paths and they throw them in, and then people can walk their dogs on them.
Superior would be my last suburb before the open space, and it had gone full send into paths. I think I could have nearly traversed all of Superior without going on a regular sidewalk. While i welcome these paths, it did lead to some slightly odd places, most notably a giant circular section, like a massive roundabout for paths.
Along with the paths there was also more wayfinding, which was also good to see. One of these signs presented me with a route for ‘Downtown Superior’. When I was born, Superior had a population of around 250 people, and I far as I knew it is almost entirely residential. So I didn’t think ‘Downtown Superior’ was a real thing. In turned out to be a planned development of multifamily homes and single family homes, with a small park at the center, still very much in the process of being built. It certainly isn’t a downtown, but denser development, some mixed use, lots of paths, access to open space, it seemed like Superior was doing some of the right things in terms of walking. These all still may be undermined by its location on the very edge of a sprawling metro area. I saw a few people out and about, dog walking or taking a new years stroll.
The End of Denver
Cities end very suddenly. Denver ended for me ended at a modern suburban cul-de-sac, with a path leading onward. I went through a gate took one more step and that was it, I'd run out of Denver. Denver, done.
Open Space
After a day and a half spent walking in the city, I now had several miles of open countryside to cover. When I had planned my route, I thought this would be a nice way to finish up the walk. I was looking forward to it, but found myself, like with much of this walk, more anxious than I had expected. There is something intimidating about simply walking out into the countryside, hoping to reach civilization again on the other side.
There was no reason for concern though. I was wished a happy new year by several very Colorado looking people, out for a very Coloradian New Years hike. I've gotten used to the Missouri woods, and the near total lack of trees took some adjusting to. Open space indeed. There were excellent views of the Flatirons and the sky, but unlike when I walk in the woods, I felt as exposed as sheltered.
Cows
By signs and All Trails, I had been warned of several things on this stretch of the walk: mud, mountain bikers, and cows. The only one that I was concerned about were the cows. I'm not that comfortable with animals, and have no idea at all about cows. So I hoped I wouldn't come across any. This being open range, that didn’t happen. At first they were fairly far away. Then I turned a corner and a bunch of cows were rudely standing the on the trail. Thankfully, at the point a women walking her dog was ahead of me, and she passed through the cows unscathed, detouring slightly off trail. I followed her route and managed to survive the encounter. The cows, being cows, didn't seem at fussed at all.
Welcome to Boulder
At the end of the open space, I hit my first unplanned detour. A tiny one that required me to go the wrong way around the trailhead. Totally a non-issue. I felt grateful that I hadn't had any bigger problems. There could have been real issues, like if one of the paths through the open space been closed or impassable. If a road is closed to cars, there are detours and warnings, Google maps will direct to an alternative route. There really are no real time updates on walking conditions, no Waze for walking.
For nearly the entire walk I had been on sidewalks or paths. Just before Boulder was the only part of the walk that was not. Martin Drive, turned out to be one of my favorite sections of the walk. It was quiet enough so car traffic was not a huge deal, and had enough sufficiently eclectic properties to give something to look at, but there was still the occasional horse, and enough open space to make me feel like I wasn’t in the city just yet.
Then I was greeted by a literal and metaphorical welcome sign. The sign said "Welcome to Boulder" and also some irrelevant things about speed limits. I had successfully walked from Denver to Boulder!
Final Stretch
At this point I was confident I would reach the finish line. However, that finish line was still four or so miles away, and I was affirmatively tired. Boulder, consistent with its reputation, seemed like a very nice place to walk around, but at this point, it was time to put my head down and just get to the end. I put on a podcast and marched through neighborhoods filled with Crosstreks, before reaching the University of Colorado Campus. I normally love walking through college campuses, they really are one of the few American locations that are actually designed for walkers, but I was too tired to really explore or enjoy it. Instead I simply tried to pick the most direct route through it as possible.
Done!
Pearl street mall was crowded when I got there (it was a holiday and a lovely day for a walk). I reached the finish line after walking for 16.9 miles, in about 6 hours, including a break for a lunch. I had covered 37 miles in two days, quite a bit more walking than I had planned. I took a selfie, turned off the GPS, and texted the family. I had originally imagined sauntering down Pearl Street, but the legs were not in a sauntering kind of mood. Instead I found the nearest establishment that would serve me a beer and sat down at the bar. It goes without saying that the beer was excellent.
Lyft Home
I took a Lyft back to Denver. I had originally planned to take the bus back, but tiredness and the idea I could be home in time for New Year’s Dinner won me over. It cost $40 with tip, and took about 35 minutes. My thought as I sped at 70mph past places I'd spent the two previous days covering at 3 mph, were actually fairly gleeful. There is a note on my phone that says: "Weeeee cars are so fast".
I've driven on the Boulder Turnpike dozens of times, hadn’t really spent any time in the places along it. They weren't even real places to me, just highways signs. Now I passed places I recognized, places I had feelings about, places I had been. They were real places to me now. My Denver, had grown.
So thats what it was like walking from Denver to Boulder. The next post will focus on some bigger takeaways from the walk, as well as what I would differently next time. I hope you enjoyed reading about this little adventure. Please let me know what you thought.
Happy Walking!
-Chris