Experienced tech entrepreneurs and investors sat alongside people who had just moved to Boulder hoping to start a company in this small city, which is breeding tech start-ups at an attention-grabbing rate. In the first three months of the year, 11 Colorado tech start-ups raised $57 million in venture capital, solidifying Boulder’s place among the country’s up-and-coming tech centers.

via Boulder, Colo., a Magnet for High-Tech Start-Ups – NYTimes.com.

via Western cities fare best in well-being index – USATODAY.com.

The Ice Bear energy storage unit operates in two basic modes, Ice Cooling and Ice Charging, to store cooling energy at night, and to deliver that energy the following day.

During Ice Charge mode, a self-contained charging system freezes 450 gallons of water in the Ice Bear’s insulated tank by pumping refrigerant through a configuration of copper coils within it. The water that surrounds these coils freezes and turns to ice. The condensing unit then turns off, and the ice is stored until its cooling energy is needed.As daytime temperatures rise, the power consumption of air conditioning rises along with it, pushing the grid to peak demand levels. During this peak window, typically from noon to 6 pm, the Ice Bear unit replaces the energy intensive compressor of the air conditioner.The Ice Bear unit, fully charged from the night before, switches to Ice Cooling mode. The Ice Bear uses the ice, rather than the AC unit’s compressor, to cool the hot refrigerant, slowing melting the ice as it travels through a series of copper coils. A small, highly efficient pump pushes ice-cold refrigerant through a modified Ice Energy LiquidDX® evaporator coil installed in the conventional air conditioning unit.The Ice Cooling cycle lasts for at least 6 hours. Once the ice has fully melted, the Ice Bear transfers the job of cooling back to the building’s AC unit, to provide cooling, as needed, until the next day. During the cool of the night, the Ice Charge mode is activated and the entire cycle begins again.

via Ice Energy :: Ice Bear: How it Works.

Getting there.  Protrails listed the GPS Coordinates.  I punched them into my Garmin nüvi 205 .  Up until now I have only used addresses so thought that was cool. Will have to load up my favorites with trailheads.  Yes its a new toy.

BTW the Coordinates are N40 07.471 W105 26.517 Ceran St. Vrain Trailhead

Photos from the hike on Ceran St. Vrain Trail

Great scenic drive through the mountains. Popped in some DMB and cruised. FYI the last 2 miles are on steep but passable dirt roads.

This is my first time hiking with my Vibram FiveFingers.

I have only been walking in them about 3 weeks so I wasn’t sure my feet would be ready for the rocky challenge. The trails I have been on in Colorado are a mix of rock, earth and mud.    At first the trail was pretty smooth so no different than walking on the sidewalk.

After a while we started climbing and the rocks become more pronounced. The photo above was taken on some of the worst of it.  It almost felt like someone massaging your feet as you could feel every contour.  Over all I give the FiveFingers 5 stars.

Upside: I could feel the contours more and felt like I had better traction. Downside: I stubbed a toes once cause it was sticking out.