Living the Dream

Why I Support the Health Care Reform

2010-03-28T16:58:00.003-06:00

I truly believe that health care is a basic human right and quality of the health care should have no bearing on your income level. This health care should include (even emphasis) preventative care, routine checkups and screening. The way our health care system is currently structured this necessitates that we need to insure that everyone has access to health insurance, and therefore health care that they can afford. Because I believe so strongly that this is a human right and also because I believe that people are suffering because of the current (as of last week) state of the system, I am excited and hopeful for the health care reform. No, I do not agree with all of the bill but I am humble enough to accept that concessions on my behalf at least now have to opportunity to help some, even many that are currently suffering.

The Third Flatiron!

2010-01-26T14:41:00.001-07:00

Last Friday I had to run down to Boulder to pick up my new (used) skis. Well, I hate to waste a trip to the front range so Brent and I cooked up the idea of climbing the Standard Route on the Third Flatiron. According to the guide book, this may be the best 5.4 route in the world. This route has been on my list for many years now. The route itself is really easy. In fact, I have seen a picture of someone climbing it in roller skates! The draw of this route is it's length. The guide book lists it as 8 pitches long and I think the route is roughly 800 feet of elevation gain. Pretty long route, especially for these current short days. For conservative estimates, we tend to allow about an hour per pitch on route we have not been on. So the plan was set for Brent to pick me up at 6am and hope our fingers don't freeze off. The weatherman predicted a high of mid 30's and some clouds but no wind! Oh, and this faces due east so it goes into the shade around noon, making it pretty cold.

As usual, Brent showed up at 6:10 and we were on the road by 6:15. We rolled into the parking lot at about 7:10 and boy was it frosty! The sun was supposed to be up at 7:18 but with all the clouds out east, it didn't matter. We donned the packs and headed out into the frosty dawn. Soon we encountered the most scary aspect of the whole day: icy trails. I spent quite a bit of time regretting not bringing my shoe chains. Unfortunately, I left the camera on the kitchen table so all I have to show for the day is these crappy cell phone pics. It looks like I need to clean my lens! Here is Brent on the icy approach. It looks mellow but the trail part was pure ice and falling in those boulders would probably leave a mark.

We arrived at the base of the climb, racked up and cast off, leaving right at 8am. I took the first pitch and headed off into a sea of rolling pink granite. Trip reports on the web talk about people doing massive runouts and placing only 4 pieced on a pitch. Being a sissy, I was pretty skeptical that this was true or reasonable. However, it was true. The climbing was so easy and secure.10 minutes and three pieces later I was at the huge bolt marking the first belay. I clipped in and yelled off belay. Brent looks a little confused and yells back that I still have half the rope left. Allrighty! Lets see if I can get to the next belay and wrap these two pitches together. 2 more pieces and another 10 minutes and I find the next belay with 2 feet of rope to spare. I back the huge bolt up with a cam, and call down to Brent. He runs up the slab, cleaning the 6 pieces of pro in 200 feet of climbing. Two pitches in a little over a half an hour! We were rocking! Now if the sun would just burn off the clouds.
Brent takes the rack for the next pitch. After a bit he find the bolt marking the next belay. Since he still had about half a rope left he also decides to try to wrap two pitches into one. Unfortunately, the second half did not go quite as smooth. Since there is no distinct path, it is hard to find the bolts marking the belays and he kind of got a little lost looking for the next bolt. And then he ran out of rope. But after a bit of simulclimbing and traversing around he finally landed on the bolt and brought me up. By this time the sun had burned through the clouds and we stopped shivering.
The rest of the route was pretty much more of the same. I managed to wrap the next two pitches into one. Then it was a short wandering pitch for Brent and finally my last pitch to the summit. The last 30 feet to the summit did grab my attention. It turned into a fairly smooth slab with no options for gear. This bit of the route does get an R rating but it went fine. Here is a shot of Brent pulling up to the summit.

We reached the summit right at noon. The summit of the Third Flatiron is pretty spectacular. You literally tower over the plains to the east. It is small and exposed. In this picture you can see the First Flatiron just to the right of my hand. The summit we are on is similar but smaller and higher.

And here is a shot looking east.

Sorry there are not more pics. I was hesitant to pull out my phone during the climb because it is kind of hard to hold onto sometimes. Anyhow, the excitement was not over yet. It takes three somewhat short but still exciting raps to get back to the ground. The hike back to the car took 2.5 more hours because of the treacherous icy conditions on the trail. Brent was literally crab-walking down the trail for a good half mile.

We got back to the car with that proud summit feeling and met Molly at Mountain Sun for some burgers and brews to celebrate. Being an relatively new Colorado resident I am still enthralled that we can get on an 8 pitch route in January. In Iowa, the cold made it hard to climb 50 feet!

New Skis!

2010-01-26T13:15:00.000-07:00

Well, I finally made the switch from Tele skis to AT skis. For those not familiar with the difference, Tele skis (typically) use rigid plastic boots but the heel is never attached. This allows you to cruise along on the flats and climb up hills with skins. Here is Molly's Tele setup.

AT (aka Alpine Touring) also use rigid plastic boots but the heel can be fastened or released with the flip of a lever. The idea is that you release your heel for skinning up the hill and then lock it down for the downhill parts. Here are my new (used) AT binding and my super sexy new (also used) boots. Here the heel is locked down

Here the heel is freed by flipping that black lever up

I tried a season of Tele and never really felt confident on them. In fact, I never had any fun on 'em. I was always fearing crashing of plowing into trees. This morning Molly and I took the new skis and AT binding out for a test run, though we had a hard time finding enough snow. Ski Road was melted out so we headed to Hidden Valley. The snow there was pretty patchy but we managed to find a small hill to take a couple runs on. Right away, I was sold. Skinning up was easier because the binding actually pivots during the stride instead of just bending the boot. And skiing with your heels actually attached is so much easier! Sorry to all you hardcore Tele guys but I am too lazy and uncoordinated. Oh, another huge benefit is that AT bindings will actually release in a bad crash, saving your knees from an early retirement.

Salud and Magic Chrome Plated on the Pear

2010-01-14T14:02:00.000-07:00

Last Tuesday, Brent and I busted out for a long climb out on the Pear, up at Lumpy. The weather was supposed to be great, at least for January. 50 deg, sunny and just a touch of wind. Sounds perfect!

The classic route on the Pear is a route has the strange name of Magical Chrome Plated Semi-Automatic Enema Syringe. It is 5 pitches long but most people only do the first two pitches and then walk off on a huge ledge to the left. Way back in 2002 (I think) I did the first two pitches with Molly and Mike. In fact, here is a pic from way back when. Whew, look at how short my hair is!

The last November, Brent and I did the first two pitches again, this time a different way. It was about time to finish this route and do the final three pitches to the top. Since we had done the first two pitches we opted for a different route to start with. It landed on the same ledge as Magic Chrome did so we would just link up with it there. This alternate start is called Salud and goes at about 5.8. This route starts on a ledge that the guide book says you get to by an easy 3rd class scramble. Well, it is probably mellow without snow but with snow, it is pretty scary! It's funny how the approach can often be scarier than the climb itself. Here is Brent negotiating the worst of it.

This scary snow climb in tennies is followed by tunneling under boulder, complete with ice and snow.

Finally, it was time to climb! I struck out on the first pitch which was a mixture of bolts and gear. Wow, it was a really nice climb. Run out in the easy spots but gear just where you needed it. I should note that this what my first climb in my new shoes, TC Pro's. I was not sure how they would work so I ended up bringing my old trusty 5.10's along also. In fact, I chickened out and wore my 5.10's up the first pitch. I sure did not want to find out that the new ones were not that great on a run out 5.8 slab climb! Here is a shot looking down towards Brent on the first pitch.

And Brent pulling up onto the belay

Me at the belay. By the way, you can read about my little green pack here

Well, as usual, I forgot to take any more pics until Brent grabbed the camera when we were on the summit. The route was great. Most of the pitches were pretty easy with one last semi-hard section on the last pitch (5.7). Here are a collection of summit shots. Oh, and the TC Pro's are SICK. I have not climbed in LaSportiva rubber in a long time. These puppies stuck like velcro to the rock. Very pleased with them

The rap off the summit was this cool drop into a corridor behind the pear. This looks like a great spot for some summer climbing.

Ultimate Lumpy Pack

2010-01-10T19:30:00.010-07:00

Over the cold months I have been thinking of the ultimate pack for climbing. Now, I know that is a pretty bold claim and am well aware that my "ultimate pack" is considerably different than what others will consider to be ultimate. Before you start booing me let me give some background on why I consider this to be the end-all climbing pack (kind of).

Living in Estes Park, I find that I spend a considerable amount of time climbing up at Lumpy Ridge. Typically the routes I like to climb are longer than a pitch and require a walk off. Further, it should be noted that I am a slow climber and hate to get up early. If you combine these variables with typical Colorado summer weather (storms in the afternoon) you may start to see how my climbs usually culminate: hunkering down on a ledge hoping that I don't get hit by lightening, followed by a downhill suffer-fest descent in my too-tight climbing shoes. During the colder months I get to trade the fear of lightening for shivers and enjoy the added element of snow on the walk-off. If you have not experienced wading though snow in your climbing shoes you should definitely try it. It will change your life.

So now imagine you are standing at the bottom of a climb that may take 2-6 hours. The weather is either A) looking like it may storm or B) warm enough when you are moving but induces tremors when sitting. The descent is a steep, loose gully that may or may not have snow in it. Harder men than I will simply say climb fast and quit your whining. I am not a hard man so I am stuck with either trying to hang my jacket and shoes off my harness (fail) or wearing my approach pack containing only a pair of shoes and a jacket (awkward).

This very situation was presented to me last November while standing at the base of the Pear. As usual I opted for the hard-man approach. And, as usual, it sucked. During the walk out when the shivering had stopped and I had regained feeling in my feet I decided there had to be a better way. I poked around Neptune's, checking out the climbing packs but none of them really matched what I wanted. I wanted something that will simply carry my descent shoes, a jacket, and perhaps a headlamp but does not require me to carry two packs to go climbing. I wanted a something that was a pack when I needed to to be but otherwise took up very little space or weight.

Thus an idea was spawned. Why not make my own pack? I have been messing around with sewing my own lightweight backpacking gear so why not apply that to my climbing pack? The specs were simple:
1) Must be able to carry my Chaco's in the summer, approach tennies in the spring/fall, and boots in the winter

2) Must be able to carry my rain jacket in the summer, soft shell in the spring/fall, and down vest or polartec jacket in the winter (I wear my soft shell while climbing in the winter)

3) Must not interfere with my sissy-sized (i.e. large) trad rack or chalk bag and must not hinder arm movement.

So the R&D began and I quickly realized that the shoes could be used to create the frame of the pack if packaged correctly. Further, I wanted the shoes as near to my back as possible since they will be the heaviest item in the pack. I ended up with a "burrito" style closure with heavy duty velcro, directly inspired by Timbuc2 messenger bags. It was important that I could get to the jacket without accidentally dropping the shoes, so the shoes are buckled to the pack while the jacket (and headlamp if needed) is stuffed into a large pocket on one of the closure flaps. All this is packaged up nicely with a top and bottom lid and sealed with one of those awesome and indestructible Metolius buckles that you find on their crash pads. For materials I used Cordura 1000d (green) for the outside and 330d (black) for the inside. This pack may stop a bullet. I also added some wicking fabric to the parts of the pack that touch me. Finally I added a strong attachment point (the red loop) and quick release buckles to the shoulder straps. I went back and forth on the buckles quite a bit. Last thing I want is for this pack to fall off in the middle of a climb. Ultimately I decided that it would be pretty unlikely for both buckles to come undone and it would make it easier to remove the pack if I had thrown a bunch of slings over my shoulder. Plus, the pack is so short that it is sometimes hard to get it your arm in and out of the shoulder strap, especially when squeezed onto a small belay ledge.

OK, enough chit-chat. Lets get some eye candy. Here is what the pack looks like for my summer set-up. It will carry my trusty Chaco's (with the gum for emergency situations) and my Mt Hardwear Epic rain jacket on the left. I could easily add a cliff bar and a headlamp also. Note the sandals are securely strapped in and will not fall out when accessing the pocket.

To seal up the pack you flip the jacket flap over the shoes like this:

The flip the other flap over and seal it up with the buckle. It this pic you can also see the strong attachment point and the wicking fabric on the inside of the shoulder straps.

And finally a couple pics of me looking awkward while wearing the pack. Note how is rides high so as not to interfere with my harness/chalk bag and is narrow enough to not limit my arm movements. Note to self, need to shorten that strap. In the second pic, it looks like I did not have it tightened up enough. It is kind of low. But it shows how thick the pack is.

I found that I can kind of turn it inside out and make a nice little package with it. Not sure the final weight but it is quite light and packs down nicely. I would say it is comparable to my Patagonia Ascensionist softshell, which weighs in at 18 oz. Here are a couple pics of the pack when not in use.

Well, theory is great but what about practical application? I guess I'll have to go out and climb something. Bummer! Since I was inspired on the Pear, I though it was only fitting to try it out on the Pear. Fortunately, we got a perfect January day last Tuesday. 50 degrees, no clouds and only a bit of wind. Gotta love winters in Colorado. It was exactly what the pack was designed for. I had my tennies for the approach and descent, both of which had quite a bit of snow to negotiate. On the descent we were wading through knee deep snow in the corridor behind the Pear. It would of been rough in climbing shoes, especially since the route was about 700' long. For a jacket, I had my Patagonia Ascensionist softshell. Which also worked out perfect because the wind kicked up. Here is a pic of the pack before liftoff.

And a shot showing the pack after the first pitch

You can see more pics from the climb here.

Final Verdict? Pretty sweet. I never felt like it was in the way. In fact, I hardly noticed it at all. It would probably be a bummer in a chimney but what can you do about that? I do wish I would of put a zippered compartment on it somewhere to hold my headlamp and cliff bar. It felt like they could slip out of the jacket pocket when I was pulling out my jacket. The easy solution is to just zip them up in my jacket. In the hotter months I'll probably have to carry water but a smaller bottle like you carry on your bike will fit nicely in the jacket pocket. A little elastic loop may be on order to keep it upright. Also, I wish it had a more convenient handle.

New Years Resolution...

2009-12-28T13:42:00.002-07:00

OK, you may be able to guess it. After being inspired by Joe's blog I am going to blow the dust off this baby and see if I can breathe some life back into it. I feel bad because there has been so much to write about. However, I am just going to start clean. Here are some quick predictions as to what the next year will bring....

Winter has come to the mountains and I think I may now have a partner who is pumped to get in it. Brent and I have been starting to accrue the needed gear. I scored a killer pair of winter mountaineering boots on Mountain Project. Still on the lookout of a pair of used ice tools. Doug mentioned selling me his but he may of been joking. How rad would it be to have Snivley's old ice tools!

Along those same lines, I just watched a movie with my nephews about these guys back country snowboarding. Wow, it pumped me up. Heck it even pumped Molly up! It is called "On my own two feet". I am ready to burn those stupid tele-skis and commit to my board. Sorry Arnold! Furthermore, the movie has the nephews pumped up for spring break. There is big talk of a 4 day igloo/back country snowboarding trip and I am starting to scout locations. It'll probably be in the Indian Peaks area.

Every time I go out rock climbing I fall in love with it even more. I have lofty goals for this year. My head is starting to catch up with my strength (I hope). I have a 5.11d trad route picked out as a project. Brent is pumped to get onto some long alpine route. Perhaps the Diamond is on the list but it still seems too daunting to say it out loud. I'll definitely be hiking back up to Castleton with Joe in the spring. I would like to get up a 5.12d sport route called Psychatomic. And this is all on top of an ever growing hit list of routes in Lumpy!

As for work, this coming year is shaping up to be a make-or-break year. Our software is finally going to be released in March. All indications point to it being a great success but you never know. If it is just a fizzle... well, I suppose I could always go back to school and finish my PhD.

Hmmm, what else. We'll probably get a new truck before the end of the year. Molly has been swimming 4 times a week and is talking about a triathlon.

Hang on! It is gonna be a good year!

New gaming interaction

2009-06-12T10:44:00.003-06:00

Check out this sweet video that Microsoft released. Granted, much of it seems simulated but the vision is awesome. I am anxious to see how much of this is "real".

Of course Sony has some new stuff too. Their video isn't as slick as the xBox but the tech demo seems more realistic.

Interesting VR Idea

2009-06-12T10:41:00.003-06:00

I came across this video which shows an interesting idea for "fish tank" vr. Note there is not stereo (shutter) glasses but because of the head tracking you still get a really nice stereo effect. May have to try this with the Wimote head tracking.

"Science leads you to killing people"

2009-06-04T21:11:00.003-06:00

OK, so I always though Ben Stein was a reasonably bright guy even though I was not too impressed with his "Expelled" movie. But then I came across the most amazing quote from him... "Science leads to killing people". Now I know what you are thinking because I would think the same thing with a quote this ... nuts. It must be taken out of context or made up. That I why I am posting the video here. His is talking about the holocaust.

I find it incredible, even astounding that he would say something like that. It is even more appalling that the interviewer agrees with him. Tomorrow as you go through your day take note of all things in your life that have been created (or at least enhance) by science. The food you eat, the car you drive, most likely your lively hood are all affected by science. In fact, I cannot think of a single aspect of life that has not been affected by science. If Stein wants to maintain any credibility he has two choices. Take it back or simply start a movement where he treats science like vegans treat meat.

On second thought, neither of these would restore any credibility. His ship has sailed.

Mainliner!!

2009-05-20T19:33:00.004-06:00

So the Foxes came to town and that means a lot of partying, very little sleep, and excessive amounts of climbing. For those that don't know Jim and Julie (and fam, now!), they are a great couple we met back in Iowa a few years ago. Jim and I climbed a ton together back there. We went at least a full year of climbing outside every week, rain or shine. This is quite a feat, considering how cold it can get in Iowa! Many 5am starts in subzero temperatures.

Anyhow, with Jim in town I wanted to do something pretty big. Jim is a solid trad climber and we have had lots of fun climbing together at the Red in KY (where they currently live), but we have never been on anything longer that two pitches. We had talked about doing some alpine stuff in the park but after getting some beta from a local guide we decided to switch our target to something in Lumpy. When looking at Lumpy ridge from town, the climbs with the longest approach are on the Sundance Buttress, so naturally, we had to climb that. Plus it is the most imposing looking buttress on the ridge, except for maybe the twin owls. The classic route up the buttress is a 6 pitch 5.9 called Mainliner. Perfect! I had been eying this climb for a while now but it is pretty committing so it was nice to have a partner that was pumped to get on something big.

We set the alarms for 4:30 am and then made the poor choice of partying until after midnight. The wake up was painful but we managed to be at the trail head by about 5:15 with a belly full of oatmeal. Here we are getting ready for the hike

We cruised along the Black Canyon trail, passing the familiar turns to the Book and the Pear. After about an hour we arrived at our turn to Sundance.

Up to here the trail had been pretty flat but after the turn, you were rudely reminded that you are in the Rockies. Another half an hour of hard hiking ushered us to the base of the buttress, where it was surprisingly cold. The hike and late night was not agreeing with Jim so I got to take the first lead. Here is Jim at the base of the climb as we are getting ready to start.

The route started with a hard layback right off the deck but then quickly eased to fun climbing with good gear. You can see the starting crack on the far right of the picture. It has been a while since in have lead trad on such steep rock but the holds were good and you could get pro anywhere you wanted. Unfortunately, even with Eli's great description of the route (here) I still managed to get suckered off route in a crack that blanked out 15 feet shy of the belay. Looking down, it was obvious that I should of traversed to the left much lower but now I was committed. Up looked hard and runout so I focused on a delicate traverse to the good holds about 12 feet to the left. Unfortunately, this zig zag path was going to cause some serious rope drag plus put Jim in a serious position if he were to fall following the traverse. The only way to avoid it was to run it out as much as I dared before putting in some gear. Fortunately, the holds were good and I managed a fairly respectable runout. After a bomber nut and an airy traverse back to the right, I arrived at the first belay ledge, a tiny stance just above a roof (just visible in at the top of the picture). To me, this felt like a long pitch. I would guess it to be pretty close to 50m.

Jim climbed up and cursed his way thought the traverse. He spent some time at the cramped belay ledge trying to gather his cookies. The altitude, partying, and long hike was conspiring against him but a power bar and water brought him around, and once he started the second pitch he began to find his rhythm.

Pitch 2 started out on low angled rock that was loaded with good crystals making the climbing easy. After about 50 feet it gets steep again and you have to pull through a steep but short crack to gain a series of small ledges. Eli's page said to go 100' to a ledge but in retrospect, I think we should of gone further. Our first belay might of been lower than his. Anyhow, Jim found a nice ledge at 100' and brought me up. By this time, I had the whole body shivers going. Full on convulsions from the cold. All I could do was sit there and watch the sun slowly creep towards us and hope the cold wind would die down.

This ledge put us at a crack that leads up to the famous stem box. After some head scratching we realized that we must of been too short on our pitches because Eli's page describes this as part of the second pitch. Even more glorious that the stem box was the sun hitting the rock about 10 feet above the ledge. I re-racked quickly and jammed my way into the to warm embrace of the sunlight. The stem box was some pretty cool climbing with awesome small nut placements. It would probably be tough if you were short, though. I wished I had done some stretching before getting into it.

I set a belay at the base of a steep hand crack leading into a left facing corner, which matched Eli's description of pitch 3 and brought up Jim. This pitch felt pretty short, probably less than 100'. Here are some shots of Jim coming though the stem box.

And rolling up to the belay

Jim took the rack and tackled the steep crack in style. We both agreed that this was the crux of the route. Here is Jim working it

After about 100' he set a belay on a nice sloping ledge and brought me up. I took the rack and headed off, hoping to get to the top of the route. After about 30 feet of moderate climbing the difficulty eased. But then I ran into the final crack. A wide flaring crack. I took off into it but only had one big cam left. I managed to get about halfway though it before I had to place it. I kept scooting up hoping to find some smaller stuff that I could protect but it became obvious that I was going to need some more big stuff to protect it. So I down climbed it, set a belay and brought up Jim. Here is a Jim joining me at the belay. He is still a bit cold.

Jim quickly made his way up the flaring, wide grunt fest and gained the easy slabs above. He lassoed a tree and brought me up. Victory! Here we are pumped to be on top

The descent was as advertised, exposed 4 class steps. I sure would not want to do that in the rain. The hike out was long and hot with a nice surprise, Molly was waiting on the trail below the Pear to cheer us on. Then it was off to Ed's for fish tacos and a cold brew. What a day!

Stats for the nerds out there. Approach took us 1.5 hours. My watch died during the ascent so I am not sure of the rest of the times. We left the TH at 5:30 am and were back to the car around 4pm. For a rack we had double cam up through the blue and a good selection of nuts. This route has awesome nut placements throughout.

Ski Vid

2009-05-20T19:23:00.003-06:00

A few weeks ago Brent, Molly and I headed up into the snowy back country of RMNP for some skiing (Molly and I) and snowshoeing (Brent). Simply put, we had a blast. We just got a fresh dump of snow and the weather was perfect. You could not ask for a better day. We did the usual Flattop tour up the Flattop trail for a bit then coming down the easy north-east slopes to join the trail that goes to Notchtop. Here is a vid I made of the trip.

Time Lapse Video

2009-04-20T21:10:00.008-06:00

Time lapse photography is one of those things that I have been wanting to try out for quite a while now and I finally got around to it. This involves setting up a tripod with your digital camera on it and taking several pictures at regular intervals for a long period of time and then string them together in a video. What I have never been able to figure out is how to get the camera to take pictures at a regular interval without having to sit there and push the button or lug a laptop around. However, though the power of the internet I recently discovered that I can actually turn my old TI-85 calculator (yes, calculator) into a intervalometer, which is a fancy word for something that causes your camera to take pictures at regular intervals. Here is my journey so that others may learn.

First off should mention that very little of this is my original idea. I got most of my info from these sites:

Digital Photography School
Instructables
Geeked

So, as it turns out, the output jack on a TI-85 and the remote trigger for my Digital Rebel are both 2.5mm stereo audio jacks. This is similar to a typical headphone jack but a bit smaller. To trigger the camera to take a picture you simply need to pass some voltage though this and snap! Conveniently, you can write a simple program in the calculator to do just that.

So first thing was to find, dust off and replace the batteries in my old TI-85.

Next, I had to write some code. This was the first hurdle. Most sites say to use a Send() command but the TI-85 does not have that function. After a little poking on the internet I found that you can use an Outpt("CBLSEND", var) command instead. Here is the code I used

: Prompt A
: While 1
: For (H,1,A,1)
: End
: Outpt("CBLSEND", A)
: Disp A
: End

What this simple code does is prompt for a value for A and then sends a signal down the cable at a steady interval, based on A. I am not sure but I think A is the number of program loops to do before sending a signal. Whatever it is, setting A to 100 gives you about one signal a second.

Next it was time to hold your breath and make the connection. I plugged the cable into both devices and let 'er rip, praying for no smoke from the camera. Fortunately, there was no smoke but there was no shutter action either. I busted out my trusty meeter and verified that 3 volts was pulsing through the cable but the camera wouldn't take a picture. After a little more poking on the web, I discovered that the signal needed to be coming out of the the other part of the jack (the tip) to trigger the shutter. The upper part of the jack simply triggers the focus. So I whipped out my wire cutters and alligator clips and fixed that right quick.

After plugging it all back in together and hitting a few button the camera began to magically take pictures!

Well by now I was really pumped to put this baby to work. The recent snow was melting off pretty quick so we decided to hop on the bikes and roll over to the 10 minute boulder for a tennis shoe session. It is called the 10 minute boulder because it takes about 10 minute to get there on a bike.

Rolling up we were disappointed to find the left side guarded by a huge puddle. There was brief discussion to roll on to a new area but the call of the stone was too great.

I set the camera on a tripod and taped the calculator on. We figured that we would probably boulder for about 20 minutes. Knowing that in the end we wanted a video frame rate of 15 pics per second we settled on setting everything up to take a pic every 2 seconds. It is important to set everything on the camera to manual and turn off the preview setting. I also lowered the resolution to the small setting so it would write to the card faster. After a few test shots we were off!

During the session we took about 750 pics. Back at the house I decided I wanted to enhance the pics so I set up a batch session in Photoshop that automatically resized and applied a few things to all the pics. Then I found a free software called JPGVideo to take the pics and turn them into a video. Super easy to use. You just point it at the folder that has all the pics and hit the Go button. 10 minutes later you have a video. To make it nice I added some titles and music in Camtasia.

Cursive - From the Hips

2009-04-17T09:35:00.002-06:00

Between hearing Tony talk about these guys and seeing them on Letterman I have become a huge fan of Cursive as of late. Anyhow, I found their Letterman performance on YouTube and thought I would share...

Ski tour

2009-04-15T12:28:00.004-06:00

Alright, so I am going to try to get back in to blogging again. Instead of trying to catch up from the last blog I think I'll just start fresh. This morning I did a quick tour up to about the tree line before work. Woke up at the horrible time of 6:15 and was on the road by 6:45. I was the second car in Bear Lake parking lot so I pretty much had the place to my self. The weather was to die for. Bluebird skies, zero wind, and about 30 degrees. The goal was to see how high I could get up Flattop before I wore out. Once at my high point, I would traverse north and then ski down the bunny slope on the east flanks.

The skin up went fine. The trail started out hard packed and chunky but softened as the day wore on. I managed to skin up for about an hour before I had enough and set off on north into the trees. While heading north I tried to keep a fairly steady altitude because I knew I had to pass above a large rock outcropping.

After about 10 minutes I popped out onto the nice open slopes of the east flank of Flattop. Perfect for someone like me with limited ability to turn. After a quick snack and adding a few layers (anticipating some good falls) I stripped of the skins and let gravity have its way with me. I actually am starting to feel some turns now. Still pretty rough, through. Not ready for tree runs by any means.

Anyhow, the climb took about 1.5 hours and the descent took about 30 minutes. Here is a short vid I captured at my high point.

And a map of the trail

View Flattop Skiing in a larger map

Still alive and kicking!

2009-03-12T18:02:00.004-06:00

Wow, it seems like it has been a while since my last blog. It is not that I have grown tired of blogging it is just that live has been a bit crazy lately. So much stuff to do! Things at work have kicked onto high gear as we are feverishly trying to wrap up a product and get it out the door. The goal is some stable software for bug testing by the end of the month. Unfortunately I am the only one able to do the coding so that puts quite a burden on me. Oh, the joy of a small company! The good news is that we have enough projects and cash to hire someone to help me out for at least 3 months so I talked my buddy Brent from Iowa into coming out to Estes and seeing what we can do. I hope things work out well and buckets of cash roll in so I can keep him around for more than 3 months. Unfortunately, he won't be ramped up in time to help me with this end of the month deadline.

I am pretty stoked about Brent coming out here. I am getting itchy to get on some longer climbs and he is fit, fast, and seems to be able to handle a little suffering. I do not think he has been on any long trad route so I am hoping he is down with it. Don't get me wrong. I love climbing with Molly but every now and then I need to realign my life by getting on something that causes some mental anguish. I hate to see Molly suffer but Brent...

I have been able to get out once in a while. A few weeks ago we had a sunny day of climbing up a Lumpy. We found a nice route called Crackle Crack that consisted of bomber jambs and excellent gear. It felt good to climb a crack again. It makes me yearn for the desert.

We checked out an area down in the Big Thompson canyon called Jug rock. It is a sport climbing area on some strange conglomerate rock. Lots of large crystals embedded in the rock that you don't really want to trust but you have to anyway. I liked the climbing but Molly didn't care too much for it. It had a steep but somewhat short approach.

So, there was a quick catchup. Hopefully, I will be a better blogger now. We'll see. I have some many things to talk about but just not enough time.

BC Tour up towards Longs

2009-02-15T17:56:00.003-07:00

I sit here exhausted on the couch looking forwards to an evening of electronic entertainment after a good afternoon out in the mountains. It is days like these that I am glad I have a TV. I often threaten to get rid of it but these are cheap plastic threats. I am so tired right now that if I didn't have a TV then I would go to bed even though it is only 5:45 and I haven't had supper yet. Reading is definitely out. I supposes I could probably just listen to the radio and watch the fire. Obviously I have enough energy to Blog but I feel myself fading quickly. Anyhow, let me attempt a short TR about what wore me out today.

I had planned on working most of the day today but with a combination of getting a lot done in a little time, having a new exceptionally good idea to mull over, and bright blue skies, I quickly grew tired of my desk and began to scheme. It was too cold to climb, or at least to enjoy climbing. Plus there was some of the heat sucking wind. I had a few hours so running was not ideal. I guess that left skiing, even though I just went yesterday. Molly was out because she wanted a quick workout so she could work on stuff around the house. So I threw a king sized Snickers and a liter of water into the pack, grabbed the gear and peeled out of the drive.

The plan was to see how far up Longs I could go before my turn around time of 4pm. I hoped to at least get above the treeline but was really shooting for the Boulder field. As usual I was grossly overestimating how awesome I truly was. On the drive to the TH I got a clear view of Longs. You can see by the haze that the wind was whipping up there and really moving snow. Both Longs and Meeker looked like they were steaming. But it was nice down by the road so the plan was still a go.

Pulling into the lot I was surprised to see so many cars. I ended up encountering about 10 snowshoeers up there. I starting huffing up the trail around 2:30, giving me 1.5 hours to see how far I could get. With the help of the iPod I quickly found my rhythm as I started covering ground. 15 minutes to the first junction, another 15 to the sharp turn by the creek, and then 10 more to the camping area. I had covered this far a few weeks ago but turned around just past the camping area because the trail disappeared into deep, soft, demoralizing drifts. Today, thanks to all the snowshoeers there was a great hard path slicing through the trees making progress much easier.

At about 1 hour it began to catch up with me. I stopped for a few and ate my giant Snickers, now frozen. If I chomped down on it I could break off a piece in my mouth and then essentially gum it down like an old man without his dentures. I tried to build a little seat in a local drift but soon realized that sitting with skis on would be problematic.

Rested, fueled and starting to feel cold, I cranked up the iPod and took off for my last half an hour. The song "Wolf Like Me" by TV on the Radio gave me the motivation to set a sweaty, gasping pace. From here on out it was some pretty steady climbing. As I gained on the mountain the wind gained on me. Right around 4 I was into the scrubby bush that marks the transition from forest to alpine tundra. Without the trees the wind was free to roam as it pleased, stinging the face and making the snow thin and hard. The Boulder field was still a long ways off, it was my turn around time and the sun has already sunk behind longs. It was time to turn around. Here is my high point.

The snow up here was rock hard so I tried to head down with my skins still on. That proved to work poorly so I stripped them and began to snowplow like it was going out of syle. On a high note, I have learned how to strip my skins without taking off my skis. It involves a lot of balance, which is a strike against me. I may of ended up in a bush but I didn't have to take em off!

I think the most challenging feature about BC skiing (at least the actual skiing part) is how quickly the snow consistency changes. I had settled into a nice snow plow, scraping along a rather steep section of rock hard snow when it suddenly turned into a nice soft slab, pitching me headfirst down the hill into 2 feet of loose powder.

I am sure it is funny to watch me crash in the mountains. When I crash and I am alone in the backcountry, my first reaction is panic. I thrash, swear, panic, and generally wallow for a good 25 seconds. After about 25 seconds I begin to wear out, pull a muscle in my neck or the back of my arm, and rational thoughts start to get more attention. By this time, my skis (and therefore my feet) are pointed in opposite directions, a pole is probably missing, and I am kind of sitting/laying at an odd angle in my custom snow recliner. Oh, and the thrashing tends to completely cover you with snow, including your goggles, which are steamed up by now. Now I generally force myself into what I will call system reboot. I sit quietly and do a check for pain, look around to make sure no one is looking, try to pinpoint why I am freaked out, clean out my goggles, and generally come up with a plan. 5 minutes later I am back on my feet swearing to give up skiing forever. Repeat until you get back to the car.

On a positive note, I am noticing that I can now get down the packed trails without much problem. I really only get into trouble when I venture off the trails into the trees.

Hidden Valley Skiing

2009-02-14T16:12:00.004-07:00

Molly and I started out Valentine's day by first sleeping in, then walking down to The Egg and I for a late breakfast, and then heading up to RMNP for a little BC ski session. Oh, I bought her flowers too! Anyway this blog is about the skiing.

Quite a while ago, there used to be a small ski resort called Hidden Valley. I am not sure when, but at some point the land was reclaimed by the parks department and the ski area was shut down. Now it is part of RMNP. I have heard from several people that this is a great spot to learn to BC ski. This is because the slopes are not very steep, making them easier to ski plus greatly reducing the avalanche danger. So, with a plan we grabbed our stuff and headed out.

As it turns out, Hidden Valley is also one of the few places they allow sledding in RMNP so it was packed with kids and families. However, we quickly left the circus behind and were soon skinning through the quiet woods while fresh snow fell all around us. Here is Molly trying to catch some snowflakes on her tongue.

We followed a skin track up a fairly wide drainage. Because of the falling snow, it was difficult to see where we were headed but we figured we would just head up until we ran out of energy. Here is Molly getting smelly

After about an hour we decided that we had enough climbing, so we found a flat spot and stripped the skins off our skis.

Here is Molly getting ready to drop in

And here she is showing me up. She made it back to the car with zero crashes. I dug in twice.

We made it back to the car in about 10 minutes. I know I had a big grin on my face. Molly is still not quite convinced that it is worth all the work but I'll keep working on her.

So after a hot shower and a quick nap, we are getting our fancy duds on and heading out to the Dunraven for a fancy supper. So far, it has been a Valentines day to remember.

EDIT: It is now the day after Valentines day and I just wanted to finish the story. We ended up taking a 26 minute nap (Mikey told me about the 26 minute nap and it works!) and then heading out to the Dunraven Inn. Wow, what a great restaurant. Wine, steaks, seafood, bread, pasta, salads, and finally black coffee. Outstanding. Too bad it costs so much. I could eat there often. The ambiance there was perfect, romantically dark with candles and really friendly staff (but not the fake friendly or cheesy friendly). According to the menu, there has been some form of a structure on this location since 1907. Plus, they have this strange tradition of customers stapling one dollar bills on the wall. Odd but really cool. The bills are each decorated by the person who stuck 'em up. The foyer is completely covered in one dollar bills, even the ceiling. They estimate there is more than $16,000 stapled to the wall. Awesome...

BC Ski tour up towards Notchtop

2009-02-13T15:43:00.002-07:00

A few days ago I needed to get out and it was too cold to go climbing so I decided to head up into the mountains for a little ski tour. After checking the internet for current conditions, I landed on a plan to go from Bear Lake up towards Lake Helena and Notchtop. I thew some things into a pack, grabbed my gear, hopped in the car and was off. Molly was busy working on the fireplace so this was going to be a solo mission.

Pulling into the Bear Lake TH parking lot I was surprised to find a mere four cars in the lot. I guess it was a cloudy Tuesday afternoon. It was a bit cold (low 20's) but the wind was absent so I knew once I got moving, I would warm up quickly. I clipped on my skis, cranked the iPod and was off and by the time I hit the first junction, I was roasting. Here is a shot looking back at the junction.

As you can see by the sign, there was plenty of snow. This side of Flattop is well known for getting piles of wind transported snow. Along the way, I stopped and chatted with a friendly snowshoer who had been out since 6 am (it was 3:30!). As I gained altitude, the snow got deeper and the tracks got fewer.

The snow was generally light powder for about 8 inches and then a hard slab. After a bit I broke out into an open meadow under the east slopes of Flattop. I had heard that this was a pretty good spot for some easy, safe skiing so I decided to check it out. I picked a safe route to skin up the hill and was soon huffing and puffing my way up. At a nice little patch of trees about halfway up the slope I dropped my pack and took off my skis. I was being very conservative and decided this was high enough for today. Below me lay a wide open 25 degree slope of untracked snow. 25 degrees is important because it is very uncommon for avalanches happen at that angle. For fun I dug a snow pit and checked out the layers. I dug down about 5 feet and still didn't hit anything. I guess those little trees sticking out of the snow are bigger than I expected. I poked around the snow a bit, trying to get a feel for the layers. Understanding the layers of snow it a critical part of understanding how avalanches work. I tried to perform stability test where you cut out a column of snow about 2.5 feet square and them pound on the top of it with your shovel. I ended up smashing the column without any fractures or sliding, which is a good sign (I think!). After sipping some hot tea, I decided I had better start back. I stripped the skins off the skis, packed back up and clipped back in. I made it down the hill, making wide turns and only crashing twice. The first crash taught me a very important back country skiing lesson. When going down hill, make sure you zip everything closed. Crashing out there is like diving under water. That snow is deep and it gets everywhere! My first wreck left me completely buried and snow packed into everything. Oh, and dreads are like a snow magnet.

Safely at the bottom of the hill and now quite wet, I decided against a second descent and began the quick ski back to the car. Skiing the trail was fast and fun. What took me at least an hour to slog up, I covered in about 10 minutes. I arrived back at the car with a huge smile on my face. I think I'll go back out tomorrow....

Handy backup software

2009-02-12T10:33:00.002-07:00

Recently I came across a handy piece of free software called SyncBack. It allows you to setup a schedule for syncing folders on an external hard drive with folders on your computer, making it really convenient to back up important files on your computer. For example, I have it set up to back up all my work files every night at midnight, it backs up my photos every Monday night, and it backs up my music every Tuesday.

Anyway, I found it very useful and easy to use so I thought I would share my experience with the world. If you want to check it out, here is where you can download it.
http://www.download.com/SyncBack-Freeware/3000-2242_4-10413802.html?cdlPid=10999140

Cyber-Anatomy gets $70k grant

2009-02-07T11:37:00.003-07:00

Good news on the work front. Out little company (Cyber-Anatomy) just received a $70k grant from the state of Iowa. Hard to argue with that! Here is a link to the article in the Cedar Rapids Gazette

http://www.gazetteonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090206/BUSINESS/702069913/1007

-Amos

Some rocking music

2009-02-05T18:27:00.002-07:00

So I am sitting here clicking the mouse trying to desperately get some work done. I am working on adding a quizzing module to our software and it seems to be fighting me every step of the way. What I thought would take a day has stretched into 4 now and there is still a lot to do. But on the bright side, I have recently found a new band to listen too while my work hates me. I am currently rocking out to Kings of Leon. I have heard a few of their songs on the sat radio and really like this guys voice. I finally got around do downloading a few of their songs and am loving it. I did not buy a whole album but instead bought a few odds and ends songs. If you are interested in checking them out I consider their best songs to be Fans and Sex On Fire. Here is their MySpace page

http://www.myspace.com/kingsofleon

Enjoy!

The Projcet: Day 1

2009-02-04T19:48:00.004-07:00

So after watching too many videos on the internet of people climbing hard trad cracks, I decided that I needed a project. Something really hard. After a little poking I found the perfect candidate. A 70' finger crack on the Little Twin Owls in Lumpy. It was perfect because it was:
1) Hard! Desperate, insecure, painful, slick, overhanging finger crack. Rated 5.11b but generally accepted as a sandbag so probably closer to hard 11.
2) One pitch and I could scramble to the anchors, so I didn't have to worry about leaving gear
3) I saw a picture of Lynn Hill on it
4) I could aid it and have enough cams that size to keep the "freak out" level low
5) Approach, while about a mile long has a minimal amount of hills.

So we packed the gear and headed out to receive our beating. I knew that there was going to be a lot of hanging on gear, aiding, and top roping. But as usual, what really happened was quite unexpected.

After a brisk 20 minute hike we dropped packs at the base and took stock of what we were in for. Here is a pic. The route is the obvious crack arching towards the left.

After some discussion, I racked up and got ready to start off. Here I am realizing how much this is going to hurt.

I reached up and placed a small cam as high as I could and clipped it. I managed to find a sloppy hand jam and reached up, desperately looking for a finger lock. I found a rattly layback kind of hold and moved my other hand up for what looked to be a sinker lock but was not. The crack is kind of back in a groove, making it hard to get any locks in. Then my feet popped off and I was sailing back towards earth. Molly caught me but I was just a few inches off the ground so she lowered me. This was going to be hard and painful.

Then something strange happened. Molly asked if she could lead it. So, after getting only one piece in (which I placed from the ground) I gave the sharp end over to Molly and we racked her up.

And up she went! She mostly aided the crack but she made headway. After about 25 feet she came back down and let me have another crack at it.

I took the rack, tied back in and took off. Even on top rope, the climbing was desperate and I ended up grabbing gear through much of it. I got to Molly's high point and realized that I was not having much fun. Over Christmas I jammed my finger climbing with Joe. The finger is still swollen and sore at times but I thought it had mostly healed. In hind sight, perhaps a finger crack like this was not good for it. It was throbbing and hurt to bend. I managed to place another stopper higher in the crack but could not clip it. Disgruntled, I asked for the dirt.

We discussed our options. I was ready to scramble up the back of this thing and clean our gear on rappel but Molly wanted another go at it. So she racked up again and hoisted to her high spot. I am not sure how long it took her but she made it up another 20 feet or so before the sun started threatening to set.

So, after a valiant effort Molly asked for the dirt and I set off to scramble up the back of this thing with a rope and something to rappel with. This also turned into somewhat of an epic. We were climbing on what was essentially two towers of granite, each about 70 feet tall. On one side there were a series of ledges that one could negotiate to get near the top. For the last 15 feet or so, you actually climb a widening chimney between the two towers. As you get higher, the towers tend to round over, making the chimney wider and wider until you have to make an exposed move to get on top of one or the other. The tower I had to get on top of was no wider than the back of a horse. Once you mount this stone horse, you have to scoot along the ridge for about 10 feet before you reach the safety of the anchors. Now if this scooting was only a few feet off the ground, it would be no big deal. However, when you are looking at 70' of air on either side... well, it is a big deal. I sat in that chimney between the towers for a long time, thinking about my options. To go back down and finish aiding the crack would put us well into darkness. Between me and all the scooting to the anchors, there were absolutely no cracks or any form of protection. Freaky. In the end, I hatched a plan that was shaky at best. I tied into one end of the rope and threw the other end down to Molly on the ground, where she put me on belay. However, between her and I there was nothing but a sickening arch of rope. No gear so a fall off her side of the tower was not an option. However, if something were to go wrong during the dreaded scoot I could bail off the opposite side of the tower and Molly could catch me with the rope, assuming the rope stays crossing over the top of the tower. It was the best we could do so I pushed down the dread an climbed onto my stone horse.

It was actually quite casual. The scoot was over in a few seconds, there was plenty of stuff to hold on to, and at the end of the scoot there was a nice place to sit and leisurely hook into the anchors. Next time I could probably do it without a rope, as long as there is no wind! After a quick rappel down the crack and some cleaning of gear, we were packed up and headed back to the car.

The day did not really go as planned but I would still mark it as a success. I was hoping for a couple day project but this one looks like it could take much longer. Plus, I'll have to wait for my finger to heal a bit more. I was thrilled to see Molly volunteer to hop on the sharp end of a hard trad lead. It shows me that her confidence is growing. Plus aiding hard stuff is a great way to learn how to trad climb.

Until next time....

The Golden Cliffs with Eric

2009-02-04T19:07:00.002-07:00

Last Saturday E and I hooked up for a little climbing down in Golden. The weather forecast looked decent for Saturday (sunny and mid 50's) so we planned on hitting Clear Creek again. There was some scheduling issues at first because Eric was supposed to cook for Tracey's parents on Saturday evening so we settled for an early start. Then Eric came down with a nasty cough. It was so bad that Tracey's parents canceled dinner! But did that deter Eric from climbing? No way! He called me Friday night and with a groggy voice routinely interrupted by fits of hacks, told me the good news. He could climb all day! So we angled for a more civilized meeting time of 9am at Noa Noa for some breakfast and java.

Saturday dawned clear and bright. I could tell it was going to be a good day on the rocks. Eric was a bit late for breakfast but made up for it by picking up the tab. He downed two burritos in the time it took me to finish a bagel. That boy is a machine. His cough was better and once fed, we were set to jet. We dumped the gear into his car and roared out to the canyon. Unfortunately, we weren't the only thing roaring through the canyon. We pulled into the pullout for our cliff and the car literally shook with the wind. We could see where we were planning on climbing and although it was sunny, we could see trees fighting to stay rooted. A couple climbers hopped out of the car in front of us in full puffy jackets with hoods and hopped around trying to stay warm while they loaded up. Eric looked at me and said "I only brought shorts" and then broke into a fit of coughs. I looked down at his legs to verify his story. He was not lying. We needed an alternate plan. We discussed heading to the Spot in Boulder (a bouldering gym) or a climbing gym in Denver but we ended up settling on checking out the Golden Cliffs instead.

The Golden Cliffs are a cliff band at the top of a big hill overlooking the town Golden and the Coors brewery. They face south and literally cook in the sun. I had climbed there a few times before but never had much fun. The rock always seemed kind of strange. But it looked warm and out of the wind. With the help of the internet (iPhone!!) we found the parking lot, which was already nearly full. Apparently we were not the only ones looking for warm rock. Looking up at the cliffs we could see many groups either already up there or making their way slowly up the long hill.

Packs were quickly thrown on after stripping down to t-shirts and sandals and an uphill slog ensued. It passed quickly because we had plenty to talk about and before we knew it, we were at the base of a cliff already crawling with other climbers. With no guide book we just picked a route that looked good and racked up. Eric took first go and easily fired the first route of the day, after which I re-lead and cleaned it. We repeated this cycle all day. I was amazed at how liberating it was to climb without a guide book. We just climbed whatever looked fun. Fortunately, the Golden Cliffs are packed with routes. Throughout the day we climbed about 8 routes and didn't wander more that 50 yards from where we started.

The weather was to die for, especially considering it was January. Sunny and still. I spent half of the day without a shirt on and got my first sunburn of the year. By the time lunch rolled around the crag was packed with your typical sport climbing scene. People and dog everywhere. Someone had a banjo. All the stereotypes were represented. The 10-year old leading routes that were too hard for me. The guy yelling beta for every move. The couple completely outfitted with all the latest and most expensive gear, all of it shiny, new and matching. Regardless, the vibe was fun and festive. Everybody was there to climb and have a good time.

Around 4 the clouds started to build, the temps began to fall, and I was feeling worked. I could tell Eric was feeling it too so we bagged one more route (which turned out to be the best one of the day) and headed down. I ended up only taking one picture that day. Mostly because the climbing wasn't very picture worthy. Here is a shot as we were packing up to head down.

Eric dropped me off back at the truck and we parted ways, both feel exhausted. It was a great day of relaxed climbing with an old friend and no guide book. And the rock was much better than I remembered. Excellent!

The Six Shooter

2009-02-04T10:50:00.002-07:00

Sorry about all the vids today but I came across another video that I really liked. This is a route that I would love to get up some day. I am gonna need to train some more though...

Sick crack climber

2009-02-04T10:43:00.001-07:00

I first watched this video a few years ago but recently came across it again. This guys is pretty awesome! I wish I could climb crack this well. Someday, perhaps...

George's Tree

2009-01-28T11:11:00.002-07:00

Last week we had some incredibly nice weather so Molly and I decided to head up to Lumpy to try a crack called George's Tree which I spied on an earlier trail run. Now, it should be noted that the climbing at Lumpy has always intimidated me. The routes tend to be long and slabby with flaring cracks, which spotlights my two weaknesses: slab climbing and tricky gear. I have climbed at Lumpy a handful of times, all of which have ended with bailing early. Plus the approaches tend to be a major workout on their own! However, there is something about Lumpy that keeps me coming back. I can see the Twin Owls taunting me from my front yard. Somehow I feel that if I can successfully climb at Lumpy then I can successfully climb anywhere, which is probably pretty accurate. The grades here are very stiff and traditional. Anyway, on with the climbing.

The approach was as we expected, long and steep. I think it took about 1.5 hours of toiling under heavy packs. I knew setting off that I would likely aid the route so I packed a ton of gear: 3 full sets of cams, 2 sets of stoppers, two ropes, etc. Very heavy! Here is Molly getting through the steeper section.

At the top I asked Molly what she thought of the approach. Here was her reaction...

We had planned on keeping it pretty casual, so the first priority was to make some lunch. Here is Molly making my favorite sandwich of all time. Tomato, basil, mozzarella, and kalamata olives. Oh so good!!

Our lunch view

Basking in the warm sun with an awesome sandwich.

After lunch there were no more excuses so I started to rack up. The plan was to aid up 70 feet of classic Lumpy flared crack to a pair of bolts, and then work the route on top rope. Aid climbing is when you place a piece of gear in the rock, then clip some webbing ladders to it, climb up as high as you can in the ladders and place another piece of gear. Repeat until you reach your goal. I have never been a big fan of aid climbing. In fact, this was to be my first actual aid climb. I prefer to free climb. This is when you climb the rock itself without using gear to move upwards. The gear is just there to catch you if you fall. However, aid climbing is a good skill to know in case you get stuck on something that is over your head. Plus it helps you learn how to place gear and what will hold you. Here I am racking up

The climb itself went slow. It took me about an hour to get to the bolts. However, in that hour my confidence in Lumpy rock grew exponentially. Molly did a lap on top rope and also learned a lot about climbing this new type of rock. It was fun to watch her progress. The first 10 feet involved much flailing and grunting but then she started to develop her technique and by the end of the route she was cruising. Once down, she rewarded herself with one of Tom's homemade shortbread cookies.

I jumped back on it and climbed it again on top rope, this time free and felt surprisingly secure. Cookie for me!

By this time the shadows down in the valley were racing up towards us so packed it up and headed back to the car with high spirits.

It felt so good to finally leave Lumpy feeling successful and I have to say that I am even more hooked. I finally found the confidence I needed to have fun climbing at Lumpy. Everything feel possible now and I anxiously wait to head back out there and climb some more. Unfortunately, the weather has turned back cold so I have to sooth my jitters with trail running and skiing. But when spring hits.....

Newbies attempt to go Backcountry Skiing

2009-01-27T18:20:00.003-07:00

A couple weeks ago I talked Molly into heading out into the back country for a little skiing. Considering we both know nothing about how to do this, it turned out as one would expect. But hey, how are you supposed to learn if you never get out?

Our biggest concern was avalanches. We went to an avalanche awareness clinic a few days prior that convinced Molly that certain death awaited us. I managed to get a very reluctant Molly to consider a route that would be considered more of a cross country ski trail as opposed to a downhill ski tour. Plus the avalanche forecast was favorable. The plan was to take off from Bear Lake TH and head towards Notchtop, keeping a sharp eye out for open 30-40 degree slopes to avoid. Here is a shot of us just leaving the parking lot.

Right off we knew we were in for it. It was cold with a gale force wind coming off of Bear lake. Plus Molly pulled a neck muscle while putting on her skis. I felt clumsy, cold and pretty silly falling down in front of all the tourists walking around in boots and snowshoes. We skinned away from the lake as fast as possible, hoping to leave the crowds (and wind) behind.

It did not take long to figure out that this was hard work! Like any new sport, this was using muscles that apparently did not get used much because we were beat after about 20 minutes. Here is Molly when we decided to turn around.

So I made the silly decision to strip the skins off my skis before heading down. For those not familiar with bc skiing, to get up a the hill you stick this felt like stuff on the bottom of your ski. Then when you are ready to ski down a hill, you pull it off. Well, I grossly overestimated my skiing skill, especially on a narrow packed hiking trail. Molly was able to snowplow like a champ. My method involved desperately grabbing tree limbs.

We made it back to the TH feeling a bit dejected. Next time will hopefully go better. Be the hammer!!

Music this week

2009-01-27T17:28:00.004-07:00

Yes, it is time again for my album pick of the week. This week I am going nearly polar opposite from last week's pick. Now I have a real love-hate feeling towards rap. I love the energy and flow of rap but I have very limited capacity for two major themes in mainstream rap: disrespect for women and chest thumping. I really could care less how cool, tough or rich you think you are. Anyhow, a few weeks ago we watched a somewhat disturbing Christian Bale movie called Harsh Times. One of the songs in it was Return of Tres by Delinquent Habits. After a little poking on iTunes I found the album with this song on it, downloaded it and have not been disappointed. It definitely has that Hispanic LA/Cypress Hill feel to it. Many of the lyrics are in Spanish so I really don't know what the songs are about, which may be why I like it so much. I enjoy not being able to understand what they are saying. It makes the vocals flow by like another musical instrument. Plus it is nice background music for frenzied programming.

A weekend with Eric and Tracey

2009-01-25T10:41:00.003-07:00

Last weekend Eric and Tracey were able to make the trip up to Estes from the Spring to spend a weekend with us. Due to work schedules, they ended up getting here pretty late on Friday but we still rocked the night away with Rock Band. If you haven't tried Rock Band yet I recommend that you quit reading this blog and immediately make friends with someone who has it. It is a great party game. We need to pick up one more guitar and then 4 people can play at a time (vocals, drums, bass guitar, lead guitar). Anyhow, here is Eric tearing up on on lead vocals with his attractive band in the background.

Molly playing some blues riff

This pic makes me think of Animal from the muppets

After much persuasion we even talked Tracey into singing a song. Next time you see her ask to hear "Eye of the Tiger".

Saturday we woke up late and wandered up to the Mountaineer for breakfast, where Bernie (the waiter) was sure Eric had been there a few days ago with a different girl. The original plan was to go snowshoeing up in the park but the late start and beautiful weather lured us to warm granite rocks instead, so we decided to check out an new area called Big Elk Meadows which is about 10 miles out of town. We packed the crash pads and headed out.

After hiking about 10 minute through the cold woods we found ourselves climbing a steep hill into the warmth of a blazing sun, thanks to an old forest fire that destroyed all the trees.

Note that I gave Eric the new monster sized crashpad to carry. I got it a few weeks ago with my Christmas money and this was it's maiden voyage. The tag is still on it!

Enjoying the hike

The steep hill dropped us off in the middle of a granite boulder playground known as the Dragons Nest. I am guessing the name has something to do with all the burned trees. Layers were quickly removed and shoes quickly applied. We warmed up on a few easy slab routes near the Gill boulder.

We spent some time working a sweet V3 on the Gill boulder involving bad feet and a huge throw to a crystal. I stuck the move and then chickened out on the top-out. Next time up my feet popped during the throw and I managed to simultaneously flapper both hands (def: flapper is somewhat common in bouldering where a chunk of flesh is dug out of a finger by a sharp hold and left flapping and bleeding). Glad Eric had some tape! Eric sent it handily on his next go and was man enough to pull the top-out. After all, he knows John Gill, the guy this boulder was named after. We moved on to a large boulder with a crack but it was pretty uninteresting. There was a great line on it but the landing was smack dab on a nasty pointy rock, so we moved on to the Y boulder around the corner.

The Y boulder is built for bouldering. Flat landings with a variety of routes on good rock. And the top is high enough to feel serious but not desperate. We started on the awkward center route, on which I am ashamed to admit that I used my knee. Poor form, unless you are Jimmy. Here is Molly working the awkward section

We moved on the the left arete. Here is Eric beasting his way up. It looks like Tracey just stuck a gymnastic move in the Olympics.

This expression is not posed. I literally heard a growl.

Pulling over the top

Here is Molly working another route on the right side the the Y boulder

We were fortunately to catch a fleeting glimpse of the infamous Rocky Mountain Sasquatch

The day continued as a blur of frenzied bouldering that ended in raw finger tips, sore abs, and stinky feet. Here are an assortment of shots...

We rounded out the night with dinner at Ed's, Rock Band, Tropic Thunder, and part of Oh Brother Where Art Thou before we fell asleep.

Sunday we woke up to cloudy skies and wind. Bummer. So we rolled down to the Big Horn for a leisurely breakfast while we discussed our options. We settled on some moderate roped climbing up at Lily Lake. At home we packed the gear and layered up, knowing it would likely be a cold day.

Eric got the day rolling by leading an real nice slab with an incredible view of Longs. It was a great route that we could all enjoy. Here are some shots.

The only bummer about that route was that is was right in the wind and cold! So we moved down the hill a bit to a new rock that seemed to be a little more sheltered. Eric promptly busted up another beautiful slab route with with some spicy gaps between the bolts. Here I am keeping Eric off the dirt

Here is Tracey sending the route with a frozen Lily Lake way down below

Molly sending

Me heading up

In the crux. It is hard to tell but the run out between the bold at my knee and the one below was pretty substantial. The climbing was easy between the two but a slip would not of been pretty. As I was nearing the clip the peanut gallery below started talking about how nasty a fall would of been, how high I was and generally messing with my head. Not cool. Fortunately, the crux was well protected.

After this route, the wind started back up so we decided to end the day on a couple hard routes, which Eric easily onsighted with frozen fingers. Unstoppable.

We closed the weekend down with some Indian food at the Thai Kitchen (yeah, I know) before Eric and Tracey headed back the the Front Range. It was a great weekend and we both look forward to hanging out a lot with those guys.

The most beautiful song

2009-01-20T11:31:00.002-07:00

I hope everyone experiences what I am feeling right now. It is that profound feeling that is stirred up from the soul when you hear a particular song that resonates with your being. It is that song that you put your headphones on, set the iPod to repeat, turn it up and close your eyes. Or, in my case, feebly attempt to translate your feelings into words.

I am sure how a particular song hits you is like tasting wine. The reaction is highly dependent on your taste, the mood and what is happening around you. That bottle we passed around the campfire with old and new friends in the cold Moab desert night would probably be horrible served with individual glasses and a table cloth, but that night it was unbeatable.

The same is true for this song that has now starting it's fifth repeat. I just finished watching Obamas inaugural speech which filled me with hope and patriotism. To avoid working I started surfing iTunes, looking for the song I heard last night on the movie Little Miss Sunshine. The artist is DeVotchKa and unfortunately, the song I liked from the movie could only be purchased with the entire album. However in looking through other music by DeVotchKa, I came across the song How It Ends.

This is by far the best $0.99 I have ever spent.

Climbing Cat

2009-01-13T11:30:00.002-07:00

I came across this video and it made me laugh so I though I would see if I can embed it in my blog. Here goes nothing!

Music of the week

2009-01-07T10:29:00.003-07:00

I listen to a lot of music while I work and a lot of it is kind of off the radar. After some discussions with friends over the Christmas holidays I decided to start mentioning what bands are currently getting played on my computer. This week I keep flipping back and forth between Bright Eyes' "I'm Wide Awake and It's Morning" and Bon Iver's "For Emma, Forever Ago". Both are very mellow. I'll start with Bright Eyes.

Bright Eyes perfectly captures the "bare your soul" type of music. In that sense, it reminds me of some of the early Dashboard Confessions stuff. His voice sounds frail and the lyrics seem to come straight from his diary. Songs like Poison Ivy and First Day of My Life get me all sappy.

Bon Iver was suggested to my by Tony. Apparently this guy spent a winter of seclusion in a hunting cabin up in back country of Wisconsin, during which he recorded this album (he added background vocals and other instruments later). It is emotional and somewhat raw. He sings falsetto for most of the record, which threw me at first. His lyrics do not touch me like Bright Eye's do but I am definitely drawn to his style. It reminds me of Band of Horses, which I listened to for nearly the whole summer. My current favorite track is Skinny Love.

Well, hope you enjoyed this and I welcome any suggestions. You can stream music from both bands at MySpace. Here are their links:
http://www.myspace.com/brighteyes
http://www.myspace.com/boniver

Couple of Hikes in Lumpy Ridge

2009-01-05T17:25:00.003-07:00

Over the past couple days, Molly and I have rediscovered the beauty of hiking at Lumpy Ridge. We hiked up to the Twin Owls last Friday and then up to Gem Lake yesterday (Sunday). Wow is it beautiful up there. The orange granite contrasting against the green trees, white snow, and blue sky. The rock has a certain shape to it that I find almost soothing. A lot of rock giving a hard, cold, edgy feel but this rock seems warm, smooth and rounded, almost sexy. OK, this is starting to feel a little weird so I'll move on to the pictures.

Like I said, these pics are from two different hikes. The Twin Owls day was extremely windy, somewhat overcast and in the mid 20's. The Gem lake was sunny, still and cold (15 degrees). And the pics...

Twin Owls hike

Gem Lake hike

Mike and Amy, Last Full Day

2009-01-05T16:09:00.002-07:00

New Years Eve! We all got a late start this morning. The general plan was to get some climbing done and then take a tour of the New Belgium Brewery down in Fort Collins. So we loaded up around lunch time and hit the road with our crashpad and my horrible guide book for Colorado Bouldering. The objective was to hit Carter Lake outside of Fort Collins and pull down on some sweet sandstone. After a bit of navigational difficulty (again, horrible guide book) we finally found Carter Lake. I was a bit miffed to find out we had to pay $7 to play there. That seems like a lot of cash, especially in the winter when there is no one around. After some more navigational difficulty (grrrr) we finally found the trail to the rocks. The rocks themself are strewn across a hillside above Carter Lake, which is a man made resevoir. The rock itself was mostly rough sandstone with lots of embedded pebbles. It felt weak and I was constantly worried about pulling off holds but everything held. I was probably just not used to it yet. I'll spare you the gory detail of all the boulders we hopped on and just post pics.

Mike shoeing up

Amy on possibly her first ever boulder

Me nearing the top

Mike and I working a V1 crack.

Scouting

Not sure...

Trying to unlock the secret

Mike trying to keep a straight face

We all enjoyed this route

Here I am PUMPED to be outside touching rock

So after about 4 hours climbing we rolled on down to Fort Collins to the New Belgium Brewery. Unfortunately we missed the actual tour but they do have a tasting room where you can sample all 12 of the beers they brew. I suppose it is a lot like a wine tasting. They bring them out in a certain order and you are supposed to sniff them, take a small sip, then plug your nose and take another sip and then exhale through your nose. It is interesting to try to identify how the different ingredients make different tastes and styles. Here we are nearing the end and no, we did not finish all that beer.

After the tasting I was desperate to find a Chicago style hot dog but we struck out and ended up at Chipolte's. Not as good as Pancheros but awesome none the less.

We finished the evening watching movies and welcomed the new year while watching Ace Ventura.

The next morning, Mike and Amy hit the road for the long drive back to Iowa. We will miss them and hope they get back out here soon.

Mike and Amy, Day 2

2009-01-05T15:57:00.003-07:00

Tuesday we slept in and started the day with a great meal at the Egg and I. Excellent coffee and omelets! Unfortunately, I had to do a little work so I ended up stuck in front of my computer for most of the day. This work stuff is for the birds! Mike and Amy spent some time wandering around Estes and then came back to the house. I think Amy was feeling the altitude a bit so she opted for a nap while Mike entertained himself on the Bachar ladder in the back yard.

My conference call lasted a lot longer that I expected so by the time it was over we had very little daylight left. Plus it was pretty cold and windy. The gals opted to stay home while Mike and I ran off to Lily Lake with the hopes of sneaking in a climb or two.

By the time we arrived at the TH we only had about 1 hour of light left and the wind was ripping. So we opted for some scrambling/tennis shoe bouldering instead. Here are some shots from the hike.

Mike working the hard move down low. It is especially hard with cold hands and boots. Plus the hold in his left hand is a bit creaky so it feels like you are going to rip it off onto your face.

Getting higher. You can see Lily Lake and the parking lot in the background.

Mike working his chimney technique. This is always one of my favorite spots on the hike.

We ended up by the sinkholes on top with the sun quickly setting. After a quick descent back to the car we went home and finished the evening watching movies in front of a roaring fire wile sipping on the prefect martini, both thanks to Mike.

Mike and Amy, Day 1

2009-01-01T22:51:00.002-07:00

Mike and Amy made the long drive out to Colorado to help Molly and I welcome the new year. They arrived late Sunday night. After a bit of discussion, we decided to roll on down to Clear Creek canyon on Monday for a day of climbing. The weather forecast was to be somewhat warm (for December) and sunny, an excellent combination. After dropping a rental car off in Loveland and we busted down to Clear Creek Canyon just outside of Golden. The Highlander crag was fully in the sun so we made the somewhat arduous approach, which the lowland Iowans felt. When we left the car the temps were in the high 30's but by the time we got to the cliffs we were in the sun and warming up quick.

We quickly racked up for a 5.9+ and Mike belayed me. It was hard to believe we could be climbing shirtless on the last week of December.

The route was sustained and awkward but we all took a shot at it. Here is Amy giving it a go. This was only her second time climbing outside and the exposure gave her a run for her money.

Here is Molly sending

Here is our outstanding picnic rock.

After lunch I led up an intimidating 5.10. It started out with a couple hard moves over a small roof. The second clip was awkward and felt like I may hit the dirt if I blew it. Not my favorite position to be it. After the initial roof the route crepted delicately up 50 feet of tricky slab. Here is a shot of just past the first roof.

And working through the slab

After the slab, there was a second roof to pull through, which was super exciting (aka scary). Big holds and lots of air under your heels. Unfortuntately I back clipped the draw and ended up taking. Here is a shot after the roof.

Above the roof is another 30 feet of slab to the anchors. The climbing wasn't difficult but with all the air below my heels, it felt hard.

Here is a shot of Mike using his new GriGri to keep me off the dirt.

Here is a shot of Mike getting close to the second roof.

By this time the sun was starting to dip so we decided to pack up and hit the trail. Here is a shot of the group before heading back to the car.

We finished the evening by checking out the big REI store in Denver and then rolled back to Estes for some noodle bowls.

Snowy Hike up Lily Ridge

2009-01-01T22:34:00.002-07:00

A few weeks ago I snuck out for a quick, cold hike up Lily ridge. There was a fresh couple inches of snow on the ground and a lot of wind drifts. Temps were in the teens and the wind was howling but it was a great time. The snow and my clunky boots made terrain which was once easy seem treacherous. Here are a few shots...

Looking down over the terrain

Looking west towards the heart of RMNP

A self portrait on the ridge

Some Christmas shots

2008-12-28T15:56:00.003-07:00

Well our week in Iowa screamed by in a fantastic blur of time with friends and family. We rolled into Solon on Friday evening and partied/climbed with Joe and fam, during which I jammed the crap out of my ring finger. A week+ later it is still swollen and sore. Saturday found us scarfing down finger food in Washington with the Asbury/Patrick/Reid crew, which was the start of our 2 day "Thanksmas" celebration. On Sunday we moved the party down to Mount Pleasant and collectively devoured 6 feet of Subway sandwiches. Monday we crashed a potluck at our old lab and then partied/climbed/rolled sushi into the wee hours back in Solon with the Tuesday Night Bouldering crew. Tuesday we cruised down to Burlington, hooked up with Mikes family and destroyed some Mexican food. Wednesday we helped Mike finish up some last minute Christmas shopping and then made our way over to Molly's parents house. Thursday was a flurry of wrapping paper, Amana ham, and way too many frosted cookies. Friday we met several old friends down at Mr Motos for breakfast and coffee. After a quick visit to El Taco Casa we landed back at Mikes house to watch the boys play Rock Star. Then Saturday we did the long drive home. Whew!!

As usual I did a horrible job of documenting the trip with photos. We did get a great new lens for our camera so I did manage to snap a few shots on Thursday. For all you camera geeks out there, these were shot with a fixed 50mm lens with an aperture of 1.8. This is a great lens for shooting people because it has such a shallow depth of field which really makes your subject pop from the background. Also, the wide aperture allows for shooting inside without a flash. Here are a few shots.

Somewhat creepy....

My new cams

The kids playing their new DS's

Molly in her new jammies

The lego ship Isaac and I built

Molly and Kari hogging all the dip

Me playing the Ninja game

Ginger playing Pong

Witnessing Joe's amazing talents

Rasty spreading his version of holiday cheer

IT HAS ARRIVED!!!

2008-12-11T18:48:00.002-07:00

Yes!! The ski season has arrived!! Oh JOY! As a teen I was heavily influenced by Warren Miller's movies and have yearned to live the dream life of a ski bum. I still remember when the movie Aspen Extreme came out. What could be cooler than living out of a van and skiing all day. Well, I haven't quit my job so I don't think I actually qualify as a ski bum yet. But I do have something that is nearly as good, a season pass to Eldora Mountain.

So the mountain officially opened on the Friday before Thanksgiving but it has been a little hectic to make it down there until last Tuesday. After a night of sleep reminiscent of an eight year old before before Christmas we packed a lunch and headed out. I should also mention that this would be our first day back on skis. Molly and I both switched to a snowboard about 10 years ago but we want to eventually get out into the backcountry, which is tough on a snowboard. So, after much reading and carefully watching eBay we both arrive at the mountain with a new (well, used but new to us) Telemark ski setup. Here we are getting set up in the parking lot.

We had spent the previous night watching internet movies on how to tele ski and thought we might have a chance of surviving our first run. However, upon closer inspection of the map, we discovered that the only lift that seems to be running only services blue and black runs. What? No green runs? I should note that only about 30% of the runs were open because it is so early in the season. Here is Molly contemplating the bruises she is about to recieve.

Well, there wasn't much we could do about it so we hopped on the lift and away we went. Here are some shot of us on the lift.

Wow, those pics make it look cold! The weather was actually perfect. Temps were about 18 degrees, which sound cold (and is when you are on the lift) but it make for light snow and I always get really hot when I ski, espceially when I don't know what I am doing.

Tele skiing is a little different than alpine skiing because you heel is not fixed to the ski. This requires a different technique for making turns. It is supposed to look kind of like a lunge with both knees bent and you uphill foot slid back so that you are on the ball of your foot. I would include a picture but neither of us were able to do it! It looks so easy on the internet! Oh well, we have a whole season to work on it. Here are some shots on the mountain.

Well after about 4 runs our legs were shaking and beat from all the "lunging" and crashing. At one point I shot off the edge of the run into the trees and got buried in the soft snow. I had to get out of my skis to get back to the run. Anyhow, it was a great day. Here is a shot of me on my fist day as a part-time ski bum. Note the joy in the eyes and snow in the beard. Good times!

Solo TR Setup

2008-12-11T17:55:00.003-07:00

Warning, this is kind of a climbing nerd blog...

Recently, I have been trying out a somewhat new climbing technique called Solo Top Roping. This essentially allows me to go out on my own and safely climb some routes. This is differnet that my usual "style" of climbing because I do not have a partner with me. Anyhow, I close friend of mine does this quite a bit so he was able to get me going on it. However, when searching my usual climbing resources, I found it difficult to find any information so I decided to post my method.

Standard disclaimer: this is a somewhat advanced technique. If you are not comfortable with jugging, rappelling, and transitioning between the two, you should probably get those down first. Also, remember that you are on your own so if you forget something in your pack, you may be stuck!

Step one is to get to the top of a route and rig up a bomber anchor. The usual rules apply (redundant, equalized, non-extending, etc). Here you can see my 3 bolt anchor with a cordalette. Then you attach your rope with a figure 8 and a couple biners. I typically use at least one locker. Also, pad any edges the rope will pass over. This is important because the rope is not moving so the same spot will rub on the rock as you weight and unweight the rope.

Depending on the route, you may want to rap the route and clip the draws. This is nice if the route wanders or is overhanging. Here is what it looks like from the bottom.

Now you can start rigging yourself up. First make sure you have everything you need because it is a pain to get more stuff after you are hooked up. I attach my backup first. I use a Tiblock clipped straight into my belay loop. NOTE! It should be pointed out that I rigged my Tiblock backwards! Yikes! The rope should be on the inside of the biner.

Next, I add a Mini-Traxion above the Tibloc, again clipped directly to my belay loop.

Then I make a chest harness from a double sling and tie the Mini-T to it. This keeps the Mini-T high, reducing the distance of the fall to almost nothing. This also keeps the locker from being accidently crossloaded.

Finally I add some wight to the rope by tying a water bottle or my pack to the bottom of the rope. So, as I climb up, the rope slips through both the Mini-T and the Tibloc but if I fall or need to take a break, the Mini-T clamps onto the rope. In other words, both of them will easily slide up the rope but not down the rope.

Critiques of the system:
Some people are skeptical of self belay with a Mini-T because of teeth on the cam. There is talk of it shearing off the sheath of the rope if you take a whipper on it. If I were using this to solo lead climb, I may find that to be concerning but I only use this on a TR setup that is slabby to slightly overhanging. The falls I take are never substantial and I would not use this on anything that could possible generate anything close to a whipper. My falls are usually in the 2-3" range, which is mostly from rope stretch after the Mini-T has engaged.

I do slightly worry about cross loading my backup Tibloc and next time I see one of those lockers with the plastic crossbar, I will snag it. However, even if my Mini-T fails and I do end up on my backup, the fall will be small (maybe 6 inches). That being said, I do keep an close eye on it when I am climbing.

Estes Cone, take 2

2008-12-11T17:16:00.002-07:00

Well, it has been a little while since I added to my blog and consequently I am a little behind. About a week ago, Molly and I gave Estes Cone another shot. The weather had been cold and cloudy for about four days and we needed to get out. The forecast for last Saturday called for low wind and mostly sunny skies. Perfect! So we packed the bags and headed out to the Lily Lake TH.

As you may remember from a previous post, the summit of Estes Cone is about 4 miles from the Lily Lake TH. We had started this hike before but ran out of time. This time we hit the trail at about 11 am, so we had plenty of time. The temps were in the low 30's, so it was a little crisp if you sat around too long. Here is Molly pointing out our destination.

The Storm Pass trail branches off the Lily Lake trail soon after leaving the parking lot. Immediately we noticed that no one had been on this trail lately because there were no tracks in the snow, which was about 2" deep and unconsolidated. Here is Molly as we started in to the trees.

Initially we were concerned that it would be hard to follow the trail but it was actually quite obvious. It helped that the majority of the trail passed through a dense evergreen forest. Along the way we got to take a guess at various tracks in the snow. Here are a few of the highlights.

Probably a squirrel

Guessing a coyote

Not sure what made this

I think both of us were surprised at how difficult the snow made the hike, at least on the way up. It was kind of like walking in sand. Here is Molly feeling the climb.

We stopped for a bit to much on some Kind bars and pistachios. It is hard to beat pistachios on a hike. Here is Molly laughing at another one of my hilarious jokes.

and me hogging the pistachios

Along the way we saw something pretty cool but hard to describe and impossible to take a picture of. There were these somewhat small puffy clouds that seemed to have a rainbow overlaid on top of them. They were beautiful. It reminded me of one of those trippy Grateful Dead posters. Maybe someone laced my pistachios with acid. Sounds like something Molly would do.

After about 3 hours we reached the trail junction where the summit trail branches off of Storm Pass trail. Up until now, the trail had been pretty easy to follow, even with the snow. Unfortunately, right after the junction it became very difficult to follow and we quickly lost it. Getting to the summit would not of been a problem because we were only about a third of a mile away but we both became concerned that we may not be able to find the trail on the way back down. After a short discussion we agreed that losing the trail in the winter was not a good idea so we turned our backs to the summit and headed down. Kind of a bummer but it was a wise decision and a storm was brewing over Longs peak. We were both sure that we could of made it but it just felt a little risky. I think I'll start carrying my GPS during the winter.

The walk back to the car went fast. We both longed for our skis but the thin snowpack would of destroyed them. While the hike up took 3 hours, the hike out only took about 1. Here I am excited to be nearing the parking lot because were heading Eds Cantina for some burgers and fries.

All in all, it was a very nice hike. It feels good to be able to get out in the mountains in the winter. Here are some random shots from the hike.

Expelled! A film review

2008-12-05T19:18:00.001-07:00

Well, it has been a while since I had a good rant so I think it is time to warm up my fingers and get on my soap box. Today’s topic is a movie I watched last night called Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed. This is a film by Ben Stein where he looks into the whole Intelligent Design (ID) vs. Evolution (or Evilution according to Summit doctrine) thing. Here is my take on it. But first a small disclaimer!

My intent here is not to insult anyone but simply to put my thoughts on paper and hopefully spark some intelligent discourse. This topic is centered round science and scientific research, which is near and dear to my heart. If you prefer not to have your sacred cows in the spotlight, then you may want to skip this post. Anyhow, off we go…

The film presents an argument that Intelligent Design is not getting its fair shake in the scientific world of research. And who is behind all this? The “Darwinian Establishment” of course (I think they meet on Tuesdays at the VFW). It supports the argument with a few interviews with people who bucked the system and then mysteriously lost their jobs. Unfortunately, the film then jumps the tracks, loses sight of it’s thesis and spends the rest of the movie attempting to discredit evolution, strays into the murky “how did it all start” discussion, and finally makes the spectacular suggestion that Hitler wouldn’t of been so bad if he didn’t believe in evolution (it was a “necessary condition”).

Magicians have a saying “the big move hides the small move”. That is what I feel happened in this movie. What needs to be shown is that ID is a valid science. Discrediting evolution does not make ID a valid science. Neither does pointing out that evolution doesn’t explain how it all started. And the whole Nazi thing! Crimey! What was the purpose of that? Surely they were not suggesting we should ignore all the benefits we enjoy from the theory of evolution (your flu shot for instance) and cut out evolution research or teaching because the Nazis used it as an excuse. Isn’t that what they are claiming is happening to ID, except of course that evolution has already been proven to be a useful science, especially in studying viruses and bacteria.

Once you get past all the hand waving, or the big move which is hiding the small move, you can start to focus on the small move. The underlying story is that ID is being held down by the man because it attacks a sacred cow. Simply put, this is ridiculous. In the science world there is no such thing as sacred cows or “the man”. Attacking and disproving current ideas is what science is all about. It is how you make your name and how you get that all important grant money. I have seen and participated in this first hand. A short story…

10 years ago, my (soon to be) advisor at the U of I was a lowly assistant professor with very little grant money (maybe even none at all). He had a hypothesis about human movement and with the help of his PhD student, got a rough model up and running, collected data, did the analysis, drove himself 10 hours to a conference in Detroit and presented it to the current leaders in the field. It was not well received because it flew directly into the face of the current establishment. What it did lead to was a heated “discussion” in the hallway that nearly ended in fisticuffs. However his data was good, his methodology was solid and people knew it. Fast forward and he now runs a research center of 100+ people, is tenured, was recently recognized as bringing in more grand money to the College of Engineering than any other faculty member, and is considered a significant figure in his field. This is how science works.

So if there is no man to hold them down, why is ID not taken seriously in the scientific community? The answer is somewhat boring. It lacks a conspiracy theory or an underdog. It is simply that there has been nothing presented to take seriously. You can safely bet your retirement money that if there was a solid idea out there that over threw the usefulness of evolution, whoever cooked it up would quickly be rich and famous. Well, maybe not rich. We are talking about academia, after all.

But what about the people that lost their jobs? Remember what that guy in the movie said about “beware of one hand clapping”? A quick search on the internet and you will find the other hand.

If the ID crew wants to be taken seriously then they need to man up and take responsibility for being accepted. This is not going to be accomplished with lawsuits, Hitler claims, or expensive lobbyists. They need to dig in and do the work. Gather data, perform tests, and do all the stuff that scientist get paid to do. If there really is something there, people will notice. Anybody can come up with a hypothesis but the onus is on them to prove it. Until then, it’s a personal belief, not science.

A Week Long Turkey Celebration!

2008-12-01T15:51:00.007-07:00

Well we just finished a week long party with Molly's family. Unfortunately, I did a poor job of taking photos. Hopefully some people will post them. Then I will swipe their photos and add them to my blog.

The festivities started on Monday afternoon when Molly's parent arrived after setting a land speed record for moseying across the Midwest of 1.5 days! They were sporting a fancy new silver Toyota Corolla and a 21 pound turkey, frozen solid. Not to mention various gifts of chocolate, jalapeno/cilantro mustard, Jeff Foxworthy jerky, Sterzings (!!) and my personal favorite, snowman Peeps. We celebrated their arrival with some delicious burgers/taco salads at Ed's Cantina.

Tuesday was a workday for the men and a shopping day for the ladies. The project started out as a simple rewiring job for the office. The house was wired such that the fridge, microwave, toaster oven, half of the lights, and 90% of the outlets were on one breaker. This caused my computer to shut off randomly, which resulted in immediate loss of whatever I was working on followed by intense rage. Technically, the original plan was to simply ground the upstairs outlets so that my battery backup would not short out the computers, but when your house was built in 1939 there is no such thing as a simple electrical fix. The day involved several trips to the hardware store, 100 feet of Romex, much crawling and poking around the dark dusty areas of the house, plaster dust in the eyes, and extensive use of a hammer. Now my computers are running clean and smooth on their very own breaker, which feels great! I have not lost any work in 5 days now! Oh happy day!! Molly no longer has to announce when she is using the microwave.

Wednesday started with a delicious breakfast up at the Mountaineer. After a bit of "real" work in the morning I checked the weather for the day. The forecast called for clear skies so while the ladies cooked up stuff for the Big Meal, Mike and I cooked up ideas to get into the mountains. We settled on a 2 mile hike up Lily Mountain. We chose this hike because it was somewhat low in elevation (<10,000 ft) so we wouldn't have to deal with too much snow. Plus, while Mike loves the altitude, it does not love him back. And the trail head is a convenient 10 minutes from our house.

The hike starts from a nondescript pull off near Lily Lake. It is essentially one giant switchback, heading north (and up) for about a mile then switching south (and still up) for the last mile. The first mile is really nice. Evergreen trees everywhere mixed with boulders, cliffs and views. The last mile tends to be thicker trees with less views and steeper climbs, culminating in an outright scramble to a spectacular summit. What a summit! The view to the west is a full panoramic of all the significant summits in Rocky Mountain National Park, starting with Meeker to the south and ending with the Mummy range to the north, all of which were dramatically covered with snow. To the east you could see over the foothills and off into the great eastern plains. And spread out right below your feet was the whole Estes Park valley. Absolutely stunning. However a strong, cold wind kept loitering to a minimum and we were soon descending. As usual, the hike back to the car went much faster and we were soon home, anxiously awaiting the arrival of Joe and fam, who pulled in later that evening.

Thursday was a glorious day of gluttony. Lots of delicious food, laughing, and lounging. Highlights include the kids beating Kung Fu Panda, eating turkey to Bob Marley (guess who got to pick the dinner music?), laughing at the crazy hair on the dogs in the dog show, Elf, Owen doing a perfect impression of WALL-E's digital voice, charades, a roaring fire, and watching Ironman.

Friday was the big shopping day for the ladies so they set off early for the front range, leaving the guys to fend for themselves. We did a tour of Tom's woodshop (our neighbor). Wow, he does incredible work. Joe was feeling a bit under the weather, so Mike and I took the kids up to Lily Lake for a little scrambling. The weather was gorgeous. Isaac and I were down to t-shirts for a bit. The trail above Lily lake wanders through various boulders offering a multitude of excellent "tennis shoe" bouldering. We found small boulders for Owen to summit and taller boulders for Isaac and I to attack. A good time was had by all. We got back to the house and a nap seemed to have fixed Joe's ailment so we decided to build ourselves a "Bachar ladder". This is essentially a rope ladder with rungs made from 2" PVC tubing. It is hung from something high (a tree in our case) and the bottom tied to something low such that the ladder hangs at an angle (another tree). The idea is to "campus" up and down the rungs only using your arms. Essentially a brutal hand over hand pull-up workout. We were successful and I am still sore.

Friday night was the big Estes Park parade. What a great festive event. We all bundled up and walked downtown in the dark. The main street was lit with Christmas lights and lined with people at least four rows deep. Everybody was enjoying the festive spirit and falling snow. It was picturesque: fresh snow, Christmas lights, festive people, steaming coffee, and a parade of elves, police, postmen, pirates (right Kari?), and floats. The Pirates is kind of an "you had to be there" joke. Molly and I swung into Kind coffee to get a round of steaming lattes and missed the start of the parade. When we did find everyone, the nutcracker float was just going by. Being somewhat excited by the great atmosphere and freshly revved by caffeine, I confused the nutcracker for a pirate, to which I started yelling "Arrrr Matey!!" etc.

Saturday started off with the departure of Mike and Gin. They were not sure if they could get back to Iowa in a day and Mike had to be at work on Monday. They got a late start (9am) but make it all the way back home in a respectable 13.5 hours. The weather on Saturday morning was cold and windy with the sun shining once in a while. We kicked around several ideas including bouldering (Joe's finger was hurting), snowshoeing (not enough snow), shopping down at the front range (eh....), roped climbing (a little cold) and hiking (yes!). With the current weather and the fact that the boys got out yesterday, Molly volunteered to handle the young-uns in town while Joe, Kari, and I wandered in the mountains. We settled on a plan that would likely involved a lot of my personal favorites; scrambling and bushwhacking. The goal was to start at Lily Lake, meander up towards Jurassic Park, and then run along the ridge to the summit of Lily Mtn.

I think at the start of the hike we were all a little concerned about the conditions. The trail starts next to Lily Lake where icy cold gale force winds were howling. It would come across the lake and whip up all the snow which stung us in the face like needles. Fortunately, the trail quickly climbed off the lake shore and into the trees, where it was much calmer. We managed to stay on the trail for about 10 minutes but by then the lure of the unknown was too much and we were off scrambling up slabs and wandering among the trees. Along the way Joe and I excitedly inspected each boulder we came too, looking for that elusive secret spot of bouldering. I absolutely love being in the mountains and off the beaten path. After much caressing of possible boulders and ogling over various cracks, we made it to the the summit, or at least our summit. Lily Mtn was a little bit further down the ridge but we were happy with where we were. The outstanding views of the mountains that Mike and I enjoyed a few days earlier were unfortunately obscured by low clouds and blowing snow. However the views to the east were still great. As expected the winds were howling on the summit and it didn't take long to get motivated for the descent. We chose a different path back down so that Joe and I could maximize the possibility of stumbling into the next mecca of bouldering. Towards the end, I think Kari had finally had enough of our wandering path to the car because I heard her say "I hike with morons". That night we celebrated with another feast at Ed's Cantina. To say their fries and burgers were enjoyed that night is an understatement.

Sunday, the last of the Pyles packed up and started the long drive back home. On the way they encountered snowstorms and numerous cars in the ditch but made it safely. Molly and I spent the entire day on the couch and beat Kung Fu Panda. Now the house seems empty, which the cats seem to appreciate but it makes me thing of the next great adventure. Time to start planning...

The Loch

2008-11-20T14:44:00.002-07:00

Yesterday after a great conference call with a client Molly and I decided to celebrate with a quick afternoon hike up to the Loch in RMNP. The weather here has been pretty fantastic. Yesterday it was sunny, calm and in the low 60's. Perfect weather for a little hike.

We busted out after lunch and left the TH around 12:45. We didn't know what the trail would be like so we packed our ice axes and crampons. I was secretly hoping to find a nice snow gully to climb but it did not come to pass.

Here is a shot of Molly gearing up at the Glacier Gorge TH. It was strange to see this lot so empty on a nice afternoon. To get a spot here during the summer you either have to be lucky or early.

The trail was about 80% snow covered. Unfortunately, the snow was hard packed and slick, making progress somewhat slow. This was also my first hike of the season in actual boots. I have been wearing my Inov8 trail running shoes almost exclusively while hiking. But because of the possibility of deep snow and/or strapping on crampons we had to switch to heavy stiff boots. Oh how my feet longed for the soft comfort of my tennies!

We quickly passed Albera Falls, which was nearly completely frozen and silent, and made it to the Loch by about 2:30. I think we only met 5 other people out there.

We walked down to the far end of the Loch and shot some pics. We considered hiking up to Andrews Glacier but ended up heading down because it was getting close to our turn-around time of 3. Here are some shots around the Loch.

The hike out took a little over an hour. By the end my feet were aching and I was tired of slipping on hard snow. Plus the temps were falling. By the time we got to the truck, it was probably in the 30's.

And the Winner is...

2008-11-18T12:17:00.002-07:00

Well, my bout with leg cramps seems to have come to a close. I think I have gone about 36 hours with out a cramp now. Hooray! I tried several home brew remedies thanks to the internet and suggestions from friends and family. Most did not seem to have an effect. The strangest came from my own family...sleep with a bar or Zest soap! Unfortunately, we could not find and single packs of Zest up here in the mountains. We could only find them in bulk. Plus it could take 30 days to start working, so I kept my options open. What did seem to work though (besides constant application of a heating pad) was Cod Liver Oil, as suggested by Holly Peterson. Thanks Holly!

Now, I must admit, I am still a little skeptical that the Cod Liver oil is what made the cramps go away. It seems more likely that my cramps just ran its course. I also started taking a multi-vitamin, which makes me feel really old. Last time my parents came to visit, they would take a fistful of vitamins with breakfast, which I found amusing. In the past week I went from not taking anything to three horse sized pills every morning. Karma.

So, the bottom line is I spent $14 on this liver oil, it doesn't seem to be hurting me so I am going to keep taking it until the bottle runs out. A day after I started taking the oil, the cramps went away. Your mileage may vary....

Good Times with a Good Buddy

2008-11-18T01:10:00.004-07:00

There are some things in life that are so good, they defy description. Dark chocolate on a windy summit. Tuna and bagels on a three day backpacking trip. A steaming hot shower after skiing all day. Crusty scabs and sore muscles after a good day of climbing. Today I got to savor the sore muscles. Unfortunately, there are no scabs to pick at.

Last week, my old buddy Eric called me up to see if we could climb together over the weekend. Eric and I have been friends since middle school. In fact, he and I started climbing together way back in the day. I am not even sure why we started to climb. We certainly didn't know any climbers. We bought a rope from Farm King, fashioned a swami belt out of old blue jeans, and began exploring the chossy river cliffs of Burlington. 18 years later we are still at it, albeit with a much better rope!

So, after trading a few e-mails, we decided on meeting at Clear Creek Canyon outside of Golden. It was a nice halfway spot for both of us and neither of us had climbed there before. The girls had better things to do so it ended up being a guys day out. I cannot remember the last time just Eric and I went climbing.

We met in Golden at a local coffee shop, loaded all the stuff into Eric's car and headed into the canyon. The canyon was tight and the rock looked chossy but was actually quite solid. I think it is called schist. Blocky with nice cracks and edges but generally ugly. It reminds me of the rock up high in RMNP, like on Notchtop and Hallet. Since our parking spot was only about 6 miles outside of town and it was a warm November weekend, I was surprised to see we were only the 5th car. Still plenty of room!

After a quick discussion about who had the better clipstick we shouldered the packs and started off down the road, which was quite busy. Cars and trucks constantly zoomed by a little too close for comfort. Just before a tunnel we crossed the road, hopped the barrier and started a steep climb up to the base of the climbing area. Man was it steep and loose! It almost felt like you needed a rope. It would be tough to bring little kids here but I did see some dogs. Here is Eric getting up some of the steps

We got to the base of our wall (the High Wire wall) and were surprised to find only one other party there. The sun was still about an hour from hitting the base but it wasn't bad. Probably mid 50's.

After a little discussion, we decided to come out swinging and get on a 5.11d (or 5.12a if you check the internet) called Road Kill, which is getting pretty close to my limit of difficulty. Eric took off and lead a great slab section to a ledge, then up some vertical rock to a pair of anchors below a roof. At this point we were a little confused as to where we were so he clipped the anchors and lowered off. After a little more guide book consultation, we discovered that this route was actually two pitch route. Well, who could pass up a two pitch sport route? So, we pulled the rope down, and I re-lead up to the anchors. Wow, was that lower section hard! It was a little less than vertical but very few holds. As Eric said "if you breath wrong you will fall off".

After reaching the two bolt anchor, I rigged a belay and brought Eric up to me. Here is a shot of Eric on the vertical section, below the hanging belay.

And here he is at the belay, getting ready to head off into the next pitch.

About 20 feet above the belay was a intimidating stacked roof. This would definitely be the crux of the route. It started with an awkward mantle onto a ledge. Here is Eric setting up for the mantle

And here he is getting psyched for the upper roof. You can also get a good view of my sweet but uncomfortable hanging belay. I am hanging that green and red sling, attached to the bolts.

Here is a shot of Eric after successfully negotiating the roof

After the roof, Eric clipped into some anchors and I lowered him back to the belay. I was too chicken to lead the roof (plus I was worried that it would be hard to clean) so I did it on top rope, cleaning the draws as I went. Here is a shot of me getting into the meat of the climb. The dreads to a good job of indicating steepness.

Here I am after the roof desperately trying to shake out my pumped arms.

Once I got to the anchors up top, I was able to rappel down to Eric and we both got down to the base.

Next we decided to try out Peoples Choice, 5.10d. It was a decent route. Mostly fun easy moves with a section of really hard slab climbing in the middle. Here is a shot of me on the easy part.

Next we hopped on Double Deuce. Super sweet route! Very long. I think it was 140' to the anchors and had 17 bolts. Very awesome. Because it was so long, Eric had to belay me from the top because we didn't have enough rope to lower him to the ground. Here is a shot of Eric way up high. This shot was take well past the halfway point on the route.

Here is a shot of me just below the belay

Looking down to the road

Eric rocking out at the hanging belay

We had to use two ropes tied together to get down. Here is Eric on the rappel

I tried to get a shot of Eric rappelling with me in the frame but all you can see is my melon. If you look close you can see our backpacks at the base.

After that route, we climbed a short steep 10c that was pretty much a one move wonder (Passing Lane, I think) and then capped the day off with a stellar 5.9 called 5th of July. Excellent climb. It was long, had good holds but still made you think a bit.

By now it was starting to get dark so we packed up and headed down to the car. Back in town, Eric and I got a quick bite at Ali Babas and then parted ways. It was an excellent day. I will definitely climb there again. It was also great to climb with Eric again. It always amazes me how deeply friendships are formed when you go climbing with someone. Personally, I have many acquaintances but I can count my true friends on one hand, all of whom I have shared a rope with.

Back to the Begining

2008-11-11T00:14:00.004-07:00

Well, it is another sleepless night of fighting off leg cramps. I actually went to see a doctor today. Over the past few weeks my leg cramps have grown progressively worse. Yesterday, they were almost constant. I searched the web for ideas and tried everything including chocolate milk, dill pickle juice, bananas, stretching, Ibuprofen, vigorously beating the offending muscle, gently massaging the offending muscle, gatoraid, ice, and heat. For the record, heat was the only thing that seemed to work. I think Molly was finally fed up with me jumping out of bed, hollering and beating my thigh every 20 minutes so she scheduled an appointment. I explained to the Dr my symptoms and his actual response was to shrug. For good measure they took some blood. I suppose there is a price to pay for living "hard and fast", not that I am very fast. The doctor helped me to see the (obvious) answer to my pain. Park it on the couch for a few days. Easy for some, but hard for me.

So, tonight as I tried to force my self to sleep I started thinking back. While wandering down my foggy memory lane I realized that I probably had some pictures somewhere that needed to be put out on the internet. Couple that with my new found addiction to blogging and here we are.

When thinking back over our adventures one thing that strikes me is the number of failures we've been through, and I don't mean that in a negative way. People tend to see failure as a very negative thing. These people don't hang out with me very long. I have found that my addiction is adventure. Adventure, by its very nature, is laced with failure. I mean like 85% failure rate. I find that failure is what makes success sweet. Which brings me to a story....

In 2003 I discovered (through the internet) a mountain called Pingora. This thing is a beautiful tower of white granite that can only be summited via a technical route (ie you need rope, harnesses, etc). The name is Shoshone for a "high and inaccessible place". If that wasn't enough, it is buried in the middle of the Wind River mountains. It is situated in the center of a circle of granite spires, aptly called the Cirque of Towers. To even get into the cirque you have to hike 8 miles one way, crossing Jackass pass (I have seen on the internet that it is called that because that is the only person that would cross it). The first 5 miles are relatively easy until you reach Big Sandy Lake. The last 3 are a grueling trudge with massive elevation gain. To make it even more remote, one must drive 40 miles of rough dirt road to even get to the trail head. And the dirt road starts about 70 miles from the nearest major town. Oh, and its bear country. To a young, Iowa climber with no backpacking experience and a relentless addiction to adventure, this was irresistible.

On July 26, 2003 the plan was set into motion. Molly and I found ourselves bumping our little Corolla down the 40 miles of wash boarded roads to the trailhead. The plan was to camp out at the TH and then head in the next day. We figured we could bust out 8 miles in a day, climb Pingora on day 2 and head out on day 3. Oh, where we in for a cruel surprise.

Here is a shot of us on the road. You can see the mountains we were headed for in the background.

After a restless night of sleeping (we were not used to sleeping in bear country) we packed the bags and prepped for glory. One of the first things we noticed was the incredible amount of mosquitoes. Of course, I convinced myself that the mosquitoes were simply attracted to the cars and as soon as we leave the TH we would leave the mosquitoes. Molly was not convinced but I had the keys.

We packed the pack with everything we had. We were set for anything. I think we even had down jackets. While this approach follows the boy scout motto of "be prepared", it does have a downside... very heavy packs. Now, most seasoned backpackers will have a story about how crazy heavy their bags were on their first trip but I think we have most of them beat because this was not only our first backpack trip but also our first serious alpine climb attempt. So we had ropes, cams, biners, stoppers, etc. Furthermore, being a somewhat chicken climber, I packed plenty of climbing gear.

Here is a pic of Molly posing between the packs. Note the mosquito net and, of course, the smile. I think she is starting to realize what my plan really means.

So we shouldered our pack and set off. Another bad sign was that we had to help each other lift our packs to get them on. Word to the wise, if a pack feels heavy when you start your 8 mile up-hill walk, you are in trouble. Here is Molly on the trail. Note that my theory on the mosquitoes doesn't seem to be holding.

So the trudging began.

After a bit we reached a nice meadow with a beautiful stream. I was sure we had gone at least halfway to Big Sandy. Afterall it is only 5 miles. I checked the map. According to it we hadn't even gone 0.5 miles yet. I somehow convinced myself that the map was wrong. Here I am before checking the map.

We stopped for a drink and a snack. We watched fish in the river and took picures of the flowers. We pretty much did everything we could to avoid putting our packs back on. Eventually though, we had to. And off we went. We walked and walked while the mosquitoes bit and bit. At one point I collapes onto a log and was immediately swarmed. I decided to try a little experiment. For one minute I killed only the mosquitoes that landed on my water bottle. Here was the result

We kept walking. After a while my hips started bleeding from my pack but we kept walking. Later a friend used a saying that seems to describe that walk. "It was like I died but they wouldn't let me." I think it took us over 8 hours to walk the 5 "easy" miles to Big Sandy lake. I vividly remember collapsing on the banks of Big Sandy. I was done. Full on bonk. If it wasn't for Molly, I probably could of died. Fortunately, she had enough juice left to cook up a warm dinner.

That day I felt the sting of failure in a physical way that I had never experienced before. I had pushed to my physical brink and yet we were supposed to do 8 miles that day but only did the 5 easy ones. I wanted to hike out the next day but my hips and feet were too sore to let me carry a pack. We talked of abandoning our gear or stashing it and coming back later. This is the price for adventure.

It took two day for my hips to recover enough to let me wear a pack again. But in those two days I found the things that really talk to my soul. Things like hand washing dishes in an icy mountain river

The joy of living simply and quietly with my wife

How much I miss a warm shower

or a bathroom with no mosquitoes

How good a Slim Jim can taste

But most importantly the joy of a difficult dream. The day before we headed out, we started up toward Jackass pass with just daypacks and I got to see Pingora.

It was still more than 3 hard miles away but that was as close as I got on that trip.

The hike out was not as bad as the hike in but was still rough. I think it only took 5 hours.

This is the first year (2008) that I have not been back to the Wind River mountains. We have headed in there 5 times now with the intent to climb Pingora and I have yet to even touch it. But the dream still lives! I am already planning our 2009 trip, just don't tell Molly.

Here are some random pics of that 2003 trip.

Another Brick in the Wall

2008-11-10T19:16:00.003-07:00

Finally, it is finished! We wanted to spruce up the front yard a bit so we got a crazy idea to build a couple rock walls. We built two walls, one was a large semi-circle around a tree in our front yard and the other was along our driveway and sidewalk. Two months, 4.5 tons of sandstone, and way too many wheelbarrows of dirt later we are finally done. Here are a few pics of the journey...

Here I am prepping the site for around the tree. You also get a nice view of our lovely stump. No one knows where it came from but it has been there for years. Someone hauled it in and dumped it. I started hacking on it with my ax and whittled away some of it before Tom (the neighbor) took it for an alter and pulpit he was building.

This was just after the first 2 tons were delivered. This was when it still seemed fun to build a wall.

Getting the perfect fit

Starting to see the shape

And the final product for the wall around the tree

Starting on the wall next to the driveway. We also replaced the steps, which were originally railroad ties. We put in three large slabs of sandstone instead. Here is the hole

Here you can see the stairs and the wall starting

Excavating along the driveway. I really like how this pic makes it look like I am bending the handle.

Progress on the driveway wall. I didn't get a picture of it but we had another 2.5 ton of rock delivered.

Displaying my dominance

Rounding the corner

Nearing the end

Me hating rock walls

The last rock!!

Out of 4.5 tons of rock, this is all we had left. In fact, the dark rocks were ones we dug up in the yard.

Some pics of the final product

One final note. In putting the pictures up I noticed they were mostly of me. While I would like you to think that I did most of the work while my photographer shot pictures, the opposite is true. Molly logged probably four times as much work on the wall as I did. I think most pictures were of me because she was amazed to see me doing physical labor instead of clicking the mouse. In fact, most of the neighbors now refer to her as Molly the mason.

Provisional Patent

2008-11-10T14:59:00.002-07:00

Big news on the nerd front! Karim and I have submitted a provisional patent on the software we have been developing. It isn't a full on patent, just a temporary one that protect our stuff for a year, during which we submit an application for a full patent. It may or may not get accepted but if it does, it'll be pretty cool!

Storm Pass Trail

2008-11-10T11:44:00.002-07:00

On Saturday Molly and I headed out for a quick afternoon hike in RMNP. We had hoped to climb up Estes Cone from Lily Lake but didn't get to the TH until 2:45. The Cone was 8 miles round trip with a lot of elevation gain so we knew we didn't have a chance to get up and down before dark (sunset was at 5). So we picked a turn around time of 4:15 and just planned to see how far we got.

The hike started off from the Lily Lake parking lot and headed south around the lake. We were surprised to see that the lake was nearly frozen over. The temp was right around 40 with overcast skies. It was the kind of weather that was chilly if you were sitting still but once you got hiking, it was great.

The Storm Pass trial quickly branches off from the lake trail. In fact, it branched off so quickly we missed it and ended up having to backtrack when we noticed that we had walked nearly halfway around the lake.

The Storm Pass trail is very beautiful. After leaving Lily lake you drop down into a valley thick with pine trees. Mmmmm, the smell. An impressive foot bridge over a creek marks the end of the descent.

Now it was time to start walking uphill. I think the last 3 miles to the summit are all uphill but the grade is pretty mellow.

After a little bit of hiking you start to get above the valley and the views start to open up. Plus there are excellent boulders along the way to play on.

Here is my happy to be outside face

The trail kept on gaining altitude

It was starting to get close to our turn around time so we checked the map for the nearest summit. We had to get on top of something!

So we decided on THAT ONE!

Of course it required a little bushwacking, which is something I really enjoy but Molly isn't quite so fond of. We ended up cutting through a forest that had been burned in the past. Lots of dead fall and small trees.

After a bit of scrambling we ended up on top, where it was windy and cold!

From the top we had a nice view of Lily Lake (and the parking lot) where we started.

After a few minutes on top, we dropped down into the trees again and bushwacked back to the trail. The hike back to the TH was fast and mostly down hill. Along the way we discovered this old fireplace sitting back in the woods. There must of been a cabin here back in the day.

Well, we beat the setting sun back to the car. By the time we got there, the temperature had dropped to the mid 30's and there was a cold wind blowing off the lake. It was a great little hike. Probably about 5 miles over 2 hours. It is always nice to get out into the mountains and getting off the beaten path is a nice bonus.

Quick Run up the Twin Sisters

2008-11-09T01:47:00.002-07:00

A few days ago I needed to get out so I decided to try out a trail down the road from us called the Twin Sisters. This trail has always stuck in my mind because I remember a my boss from many years ago (when I was an intern at Centro) telling me how hard it was. Anyhow, the trail is about 7 miles south of town. It climbs steeply for about 4 miles to the summit of one of the Twin Sisters.

The climb itself is a great condition/training climb. Steep! I think there are about 20 switchbacks. It starts out kind of boring through thick forest but eventually breaks into some sweet views.

Here is a view from about 2/3 of the way up looking down into the Estes valley.The upper section gave way to some pretty rocky trailThe views at the top were well worth it.Of course I had to get a summit shot. Unfortunately, without a tripod you end up with a lot of face! Here I am jamming to Band of Horses
All in all, it was a great workout. I think it took me 3 hours car to car.

Welcome!

2008-11-09T00:54:00.000-07:00

Well, I suppose it is time for me to get current and figure out what all this Blogging hoop-a-la is about so here I go. And if you are unlucky enough to be reading this, welcome to my wandering world of thoughts, rants, trip reports, and random things from my life.

So, how do we get started. I guess that I should point out that it is nearly 1 am and my old friend insomnia is in town for a visit. Typically, I send him off with a stiff drink but it is the weekend so I figure I will ride it out. I find it amazing that I can sit on the couch and nearly fall asleep watching TV at 7 pm but as soon as I crawl into bed my legs start twitching and my synapses start a snapping. My current theory on this is that I live an over stimulated life and as soon as things get quite, my brain has time to wander. Anyhow, back to the point... it is 1 am so be warned. I am not firing on all cylinders.

I have entitled my Blog "Living the Dream". Words cannot describe how fortunate I feel. In a nutshell, life is good ... very good. I have a dream job of essentially cooking up crazy ideas and putting them into motion. I have a great marriage of nearly 10 years (!!). 2 months ago we pulled off the impossible and moved to what I am is convinced is the best small town in the country (perhaps the world), Estes Park CO.

So, to sum it up, I have a well paying job with no set hours and world class climbing, mountaineering, skiing, backpacking, and hiking within 10 minutes of my front door.

Now, I sincerely hope this does not sound like I am bragging. When I look at our current setup I am truly humbled. I do not deserve this. Furthermore (and perhaps worse) and am acutely aware this will likely all end. Maybe it'll last a year. We are hoping for two. But, if we are lucky....

Thus, this Blog. This blog is my diary of our time in the sun. I hope to live these years hard and fast. This blog is to be my memento.

Well, I think I am getting sleepy now (perhaps because I am being stimulated) so I'll wrap it up with a quote from Jimmy Eat World

"There's no such thing as the real world"