Aircraft-Bird Encounters Rise

One bird strike made headlines, but many occur -- including Denver

The surprise water landing of a US Airways plane in the Hudson River last January. Investigations revealed that a major bird strike had knocked out at least one engine. All 155 passengers and crew survived, with few injuries, and Captain Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger became an instant hero, making the talk-show circuit and landing a book contract. It turns out that the very aircraft the Sullenberger ditched in the frigid Hudson,

Associated Press reporter Michael J. Sniffen has been looking into bird strikes and has unearthed some amazing figures -- ones we don't generally think about when we fasten our seatbelts low and tight about ourselves and make sure that are seats and tray tables are in their full upright positions. Sniffen reported:

"Airplane collisions with birds or other animals have destroyed 28 aircraft
since 2000, with New York's Kennedy airport and Sacramento International
reporting the most incidents with serious damage, according to Federal Aviation
Administration data posted...The FAA list of wildlife strikes, published on the
Internet, details more than 89,000 incidents since 1990, costing 11 people their
lives. Most incidents were bird strikes, but deer and other animals have been
hit on runways, too.

"The situation seems to be getting worse: Airplane collisions with birds
have more than doubled at 13 major U.S. airports since 2000, including New
Orleans, Houston's Hobby, Kansas City, Orlando and Salt Lake City. Wildlife
experts say increasingly birds, particularly large ones like Canada geese, are
finding food and living near cities and airports year round rather than
migrating.

"The figures are known to be far from complete. Even the FAA estimates its
voluntary reporting system captures only 20 percent of wildlife strikes. The
agency, however, has refused for a decade to adopt a National Transportation
Safety Board recommendation to make the reports mandatory.

"...The Federal Aviation Administration says there were about 65,000 bird
strikes to civil aircraft in the United States from 1990 to 2005, or about one
for every 10,000 flights....air traffic control towers routinely
alert pilots if there are birds in the area."

Alysia Patterson filed a Denver-specific AP report, in which she recounted that DIA "led the nation in bird and wildlife strikes last year" -- 318 during the first 11 months of 2008. Of some comfort to passengers, Patterson was told by the FAA's Mike Fergus that DIA has "an aggressive wildlife mitigation program, [and] pilots are more aware of the problem and more apt to report a strike."

Whenever I've felt a jolt when taking off from or approaching DIA, I have assumed that it was turbulence of some sort. Next time, I'll speculate (to myself, not to my seatmate) that it might be due to a bird strike.

Medicine Bow Peak: Strike Three

Weather deterred us once again from climbing iconic mountain in southern Wyoming

Wyoming's highest mountain is 13.804-foot Gannett Peak in the Wind River Range, and the 13,775-foot Grand Teton, the centerpiece of spectacular Grand Teton National Park is runnerup. At 12,013 feet, Medicine Bow Peak is not even in the same elevation league. Still, with a location in the scenic Snowy Range of south-central Wyoming, it has lured my husband, Ral, and me three times in th past few years. The first time, we left Boulder in the pitch-dark, began climbing early from the Lake Marie Trailhead but were only about half-way across the flat broad mountaintop before being spooked by lightning visible in every direction and retreated. The second time, we spent the night in Fort Collins and thought we had a head start, but again, the weather closed in when we were crossing the top, and again we turned around.

This past weekend, accompanied by our Boulder friends Andrea and Dana, we wanted to try for a third time. To be closer to the trailhead, we spent the night at the Old Corral Hotel in Centennial, Our plan was to ascend via the shortest, steepest route from Lewis Lake to reach the highest point -- roughly 1,200 feet of elevation gain in considerably less than 2 miles. Heavy clouds filled the sky, even in the morning, so it wasn't looking good. Our immediate destination was the junction with the trail to the summit -- just in case the clouds lifted and the sun emerged. They didn't.

Lakes Trail from Lewis Lake

From the trailhead at Lewis Lake (below), we passed lakes and tarns, lingering snowfields and spectacular wildflowers that filled meadows and seasonal marshes, poked up through willows and coniferous shrubs, and magically grew on tiny ledges on rock cliffs. I'm afraid my little camera can't do justice to the splendid displays.

The three-from-one conifer below is just a few hundred feet from the Lewis Lake trailhead.

The last of winter's deep snow still lingers on August 1, but its steady melting is what makes the flowers so dazzling.

Below, death camas, which also goes by wand lily and several other names.

Pale yellow Indian paintbrush, aster, elephantilla (that's the stalk) and one of the senisios or some other yellow composite.

Queen's crown is light pink in the Snowy Range but in the Colorado Rockies is usually dark red.

I can't identify the two small flowers below from this photo, and I didn't have my tundra book with me to look them up at the time. Still, I loved seeing the tough, low-growing blue and pink blossoms side by side, literally between a rock and a hard place.

After about 1 1/4 miles, we reached a three-way trail junction and had another decision to make. We had already discarded thoughts of the the steep ascent to the summit. A second option was to continue down to Mirror Lake and return the way we came, but if the skies opened, we'd be miles from the car. The third was to retrace our steps to Lewis Lake and drive to the Mirror Lake Trailhead and start up from there.

As we were discussing these options, up from the Mirror Lake side came a man carrying -- not skis, not a snowboard, but golf clubs. Surely, a mirage. The "mirage," named Ed Woods, travels a huge Rocky Mountain territory for Caterpillar. If you're on Facbook, you might be able to see Ed's golf images by clicking here.

Of course, we started chatting. And after we exchanged the usual pleasantries and questions of fellow hikers, Ed told us about what Caterpillar has been doing. As card-carrying, environ-conscious Boulderites, we were gratified to hear the company's heavy equipment is burning cleaner and more efficiently. While this doesn't make the enormous open-pit mines in Wyoming and elsewhere any easier on the eyes, at least the equipment is less polluting and using less fuel than in the past. Ed, his golf clubs and his companion headed up to the summit, while we turned back and drove around to the Mirror Lake Trailhead to check out the Lakes Trail.

Lakes Trail from Mirror Lake

The trail begins through the trees but soon Lookout Lake comes into view. Set against Medicine Bow Peak's steep eastern and rocky face where snow packed onto gullies even on the first day of August, it is a immensely scenic route.

The flowers were, if anything more abundant than on the first trail, but again, my modest camera in no way captures it. Below, avalanche lilies (aka, glacier lilies). This is a small cluster. We also saw large expanses carpeted in these lovely yellow blooms that come up in the wake of melting snow.

We saw very few blue columbines but many white ones, some with a yellowish cast, others a tad pink.

Parry's primrose, a gorgeous wildflower that loves moist areas, appeared in rivulets from recently melted snow and on moist slopes above the lake.

Across the valley, we saw a single snowboard track down the center of this lingering snowpatch. It's not clear on the image below, but it was visible to the naked eye.

A jumble of enormous quartzite boulders are landmarks along the most dramatic section of the 2.7-mile-long Lakes Trail.

The rugged scenery and the fabulous flowers chased away our initial disappointment. As my husband commented, if we had succeeded in climbing Medicine Bow Peak, we probably would never return and do these lake hikes. Now, maybe, just maybe, we will come back one more time. 

Medicine Bow-Routt National Forest, 2468 Jackson Street, Laramie, WY 82070; 307-745-2300.

Colorado Ski License Plate Approved

Long-anticipated snowsports license plate should be available this coming fall

A few years ago, I was one of some 4,500 Coloradans who signed a petition requesting the introduction of an optional ski/snowboard license plate. Late on Thursday, April 30, the Senate approved Bill 161 authorizing this plate (the House had already passed it), and it is now awaiting Governor Bill Ritter's signature. According to Colorado Ski Country USA, which helped organize and promote the petition effort, the plate "should be available in time for next ski season." It will cost $50 in addition to the normal fee and will carry the tagline, "Ski Country USA." I'm planning to request one.

Images like the one below tend to be pretty corny, but I post this one of the quartet of VIPs smilingly posing with the plate prototype as thanks for shepherding the bill along. The photo from the Colorado Senate Majority Press Office shows CSCUSA public policy and communications manager Ari Stiller-Shulman; bill sponsor Senator Dan Gibbs, CSCUSA President and CEO Melanie Mills, and Hertz Corporation’s Southwest fleet manager Brent Lessing. The caption that came with this photo identifies the foursome "from left to right," but there are two rows, so I don't know exactly who's who. Sorry. I am guessing that Lessing's presence means that car-rental agency will order them for its Colorado fleet. After all, the company has been promoting its "skierized" cars for years.

World's Best Airports

The Airports Council International recently released its annual lists of the world's best airports, based on customer satisfaction surveys conducted on-site. Some 200,000 such surveys are regularly conducted throughout the year. Asia took the top four spots, with Halifax, Nova Scotia, finishing the top five list:

THE WORLD'S TOP FIVE

1) Incheon, South Korea (ICN)
2) Singapore (SIN)
3) Hong Kong (HKG)
4) Central Japan (NGO)
5) Halifax (YHZ)

BEST AIRPORT BY REGION

Africa
1) George (GRJ)
2) Port Elizabeth (PLZ)
3) Cape Town (CPT)
4) Johannesburg (JNB)
5) Durban (DUR)

Asia-Pacific
1) Incheon (ICN)
2) Singapore (SIN)
3) Hong Kong (HKG)
4) Central Japan (NGO)
5) Taipei (TPE)

Europe
1) Zurich (ZRH)
2) Southampton (SOU)
3) Porto, Portugal (OPO)
4) Keflavik, Iceland (KEF)
5) Moscow Domodedovo (DME)

Latin America & Caribbean
1) Guayaquil, Ecuador (GYE)
2) Cancun (CUN)
3) San José, Costa Rica (SJO)
4) Mexico City (MEX)
5) Lima (LIM)

Middle East
1) Tel Aviv (TLV)
2) Abu Dhabi (AUH)
3) Doha, Qatar (DOH)

North America
1) Halifax (YHZ)
2) Ottawa (YOW)
3) Austin (AUS)
4) Houston Hobby (HOU)
5) Jacksonville (JAX)

BEST AIRPORT BY SIZE

fewer than 5 million passengers
1) Halifax (YHZ)
2) Ottawa (YOW)
3) Guayaquil, Ecuador (GYE)
4) George, South Africa (GRJ)
5) Southampton (SOU)

5 – 15 million passengers
1) Central Japan (NGO)
2) Tel Aviv (TLV)
3) Austin (AUS)
4) Houston Hobby (HOU)
5) Jacksonville (JAX)

15 – 25 million passengers
1) Taipei (TPE)
2) Zurich (ZRH)
3) San Diego (SAN)
4) Moscow Domodedovo (DME)
5) Vancouver (YVR)

25 – 40 million passengers
1) Incheon (ICN)
2) Singapore (SIN)
3) Minneapolis St. Paul (MSP)
4) Detroit Metropolitan (DTW)
5) Shanghai Pudong (PVG)

more than 40 million passengers
1) Hong Kong (HKG)
2) Dallas Fort Worth (DFW)
3) Beijing (PEK)
4) Denver (DEN)
5) Bangkok Suvarnabhumi (BKK)

Denver International Airport Unveils Calatrava Addition

$650 is the current price tag for Phase I and $950 for finishing DIA's original concept

Come 2016, assuming a dramatic proposal is approved, Denver International Airport (DEN) should have what travelers to and from many (if not most) major world airports take for granted: a hotel attached to the terminal and a rail connection with the downtown core of their respective cities and, in countries with decent train service, beyond -- all wrapped up in a dramatic sweeping new-for-Denver international style designed to complement the existing main terminal topped with a little Teflon range of peak-like tents..

It's about time, considering that DIA is the 10th-busiest airport in the world and the fifth-busiest in the US. Officials have revealed the conceptual design of what will be called the South Terminal designed by superstar architect Santiago Calatrava. The rail link is to be via  RTD’s FasTracks East Corridor, which is also to be built. Calatrava's shop has designed a train station, a signature rail bridge (below) and a plaza. A 500-room hotel and conference center (probably to be branded by Westin) connected to Jeppesen Terminal is also part of the plan, which was originally part of DIA concept when the airport was still on the drawing boards some two decades ago.

The hotel, the landmark bridge and the train station, known as Phase I of the South Terminal Redevelopment Program Phase I, are estimated to cost $650 million. Phase II includes another new parking structure and renovations to the Jeppesen Terminal Great Hall, which was designed before the age of haute security with screening area clutter imposed on what was originally envisioned as an expansive, soaring futuristic space. Maybe in the process of renovating the terminal, someone will also figure out what to do with the terminal's center design element that had been a fountain of dancing waters and an indoor planter. It has been plagued by leaks and other flaws, which are inconsequential to the airport's operations but do impact on the passengers' aesthetic experiences. Phase II, if/when implemented, could cost an additional $250 million.

Calatrava has designed visually stunning and instantly recognizable structures such as the Sundial Bridge in Redding, California, the TGV Railway Station in Liège, Belgium, the new Sondica Airport terminal in Bilbao, Spain, and the Olympic Sports Complex in Athens, Greece. With Calatrava's name attached to so much of the project, the name of the hotel architect, "Gensler," kind of gets lost in the wash. It too is a global design and architecture firm.

The projected timetable is for the signature rail bridge  to be finished by early 2013, the terminal station two years later and RTD’s train itself scheduled begin carrying passengers between Denver Union Station and the airport in 2016. The 22.8-mile airport corridor is the first for RTD to use commuter rail technology, with larger and heavier cars than the existing light rail system. Click here for more information,including the project description and additional renderings.

Travel Thumbnail: Terry Bison Ranch

Tourist attraction attached to serious working ranch

This is the ninth of a series of periodic reports on specific places I've visited -- and which you might want see to as well.

The Place: Terry Bison Ranch, south of Cheyenne, Wyoming
 

The Backstory: Often when we have visitors from overseas or the East Coast, I or we take them to Cheyenne for a better glimpse of a real Western town to show how it resembles and how it differs from the Wild West they've read about and seen on large and small screens. Just after crossing the Colorado-Wyoming border, I generally pull off the Interstate at the Terry Bison Ranch exit. We drive into the visitor part of the ranch and almost always spot some bison, This is actually pretty easy to do, since the "tickler herd" is kept nearby for visitors to look at and photograph. Still, it is always a thrill to see the shaggy beasts, and then we move on. A few days ago, during a Frontier Days visit to Cheyenne, I  did some of the touristy things the Terry Bison Ranch offers and learned more about this impressive operation. Sure, the ranch is touristy, but it does provide a predictable bison-viewing opportunity that doesn't exist in too many places -- and considering how many accents I heard and T-shirts from other parts of the country I spotted on the train, predictability is a good thing. A squadron of pink T-shirted day campers was also on the train, and although are little locals, they were excited to be on the train and thrilled to be able to toss food to the bison.
 
The Story: Chris Terry established the ranch 1881 and built the original ranch house was built four years later. Eventually, Terry sold it to Senator F.E. Morgan, whose elegant city home in the heart of Cheyenne is now a bed-and-breakfast called the Nagle Warren Mansion, where I stayed. Click here for the report on my stay. This huge ranch rambles across the high plains under the big blue dome. 
 

 
The Place: The tourist part (properly called Terry Bison Ranch Resort) is an adjunct to the enormous 27,000-acre Iron Mountain Bison Ranch where thousands of bison graze to become such meat products as ribs, chuck roast, steaks, brats, buffalo chili and nuggets marketed under the Great Range Bison label. I think of this set-up like the front and back of the house in a restaurant or theater -- the resort is the front of the house that the public sees and the back is the working part. Two brothers, Ron and Dan Thiel, respectively own the public and working-ranch operations. Taken as a whole, the ranch is so intertwined with the history and important people of southern Wyoming that its sign (above left) bears more than passing resemblance to the Wyoming state flag.
 
The Experience: Summer is high season at the Terry Bison Ranch Resort, which is family-friendly and also accommodates groups. You'll find a general store stocked with souvenirs and basic groceries, trail rides, a small rodeo arena, a tiny fishing pond, old-time photo studio and assorted accommodations for people (cabins, 13-room bunkhouse, RV sites, tent camping sites) and horses (boarding stalls indoor and outdoor stalls, with or without hay). You'll also find Kid Corral, a rustic children's playground with old-style, non-plastic apparatus, pony rides, small Ferris wheel and a little barrel train (tickets required).
 
The main attraction for casual visitors is the Terry Town Rail Express (adults $12, children , which rambles along a two-mile loop track to the small show herd, passing corrals housing such exotic animals as ostriches, llamas and camels. Guests ride in open cars in summer and in a smaller, heated enclosed one in winter. Bags of feed pellets cost $1, and children of all ages from tots to grannies enjoy tossing them out to the animals in the bison pasture. The herd lumbers over during the lengthy stop, because they like the pellets. Even in this controlled situation, you can see alpha bulls chasing others away from a good pellet drop zone.
 

 
Most people like to look at the animals, and others like to shoot them. Looking at this tender Terry Mountain Ranch scene of a mother bison and her calf, it is hard for those of us who don't hunt to envision raising a rifle and shooting one like here at the neighboring Iron Mountain Ranch. But for those who thrill at going for big game, Iron Mountain offers guided hunts for $500-$5,000.
 
The train respectfully passes the grave of Tinker the Bull, the ranch's majestic stud bison who died earlier this year of old age at 35. In 1986, Ron Thin bought Tinker, a champion bull of the North Dakota Bison Association, to be the breeding bull for Terry Bison Ranch. Visitors marveled at this 2,300-pound bison bull who, in his 31 years of breeding, is estimated to have sired about 1,200 calves.
 

 
Dining: The Senator's Steakhouse and Wild Buffalo Saloon near the Terry Bison Ranch entrance has a barn-like atmosphere, with high ceilings, lots of wood, red-checked tablecloths and lots of Western antiques and artifacts. "Taste Ticklers" and lunch items are served from 11:00 a.m. to closing, and dinner items are also available beginning at 5:00 p.m. Bison is available in numerous forms, and even people who could never shoot one enjoy eating the meat. Bison burgers, bison bratwurst, bison rib eye, bison short ribs and buffalo meatloaf. The restaurant also offers beef, chicken (called "Yardbird"), seafood and even vegetarian options. Appetizers and side dishes are heavy on fried items. Also available are a soup and salad bar, good TBR beans, a kids' menu, desserts and a full bar. 
 

 
Location and contact information: 51 I-25 Service Rd East (Wyoming Exit 2), Cheyenne, Wyoming 82007; 307- 634-4171

National Trust's Endangered Places List

Mid-century hotel, crumbling hangar, historic bridge all make "the list" of threatened places

One of the saddest lists to be issued annual is the National Trust for Historic Preservation's annual list of the country's most endangered places. Some are considered obsolete, in need upgrading or replacing. Sometimes historic places are falling apart due to remoteness, neglect and a lack of money or caring to maintain them. Sometimes it's just the opposite because the land is deemed more valuable to developers than as a physical link to our past. Here are the 11 most endangered places on the 2009 list -- the Trust's 22nd annual list:

Century Plaza Hotel - Los Angeles (right)
Miami Marine Stadium - Miami
Dorchester Academy- Midway, Georgia
Lāna'i City - Lanai, Hawaii
Unity Temple - Oak Park, Illinois
Ames Shovel Shops - Easton, Massachusetts
Memorial Bridge- between Portsmouth, New Hampshire, and Kittery, Maine
Mount Taylor - Grants, New Mexico
Human Services Center - Yankton, Sout Dakota
Cast-Iron Architecture - Galveston, Texas
The Manhattan Project's Enola Gay Hangar -Wendover, Utah