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Check out the blog I am writing along with Kelsey!

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Trouble Maker

Who knew Kelsey would be the one causing trouble through airport security?

Oklahoma

Tuesday we arrived in...

You may ask yourself, "Why would you go to Tulsa?"  You would not be the first to ask such a question, nor will you be the last.  Kelsey and I have two sets of friends who live in Tulsa and each are getting married during the time that we will be in Europe.  So we decided to come visit them before we head out.

The drive here was pretty uneventful.  I wish we had taken a picture of the "DO NOT DRIVE INTO SMOKE" signs because they amused us.  Maybe we will see them again on our way back to Texas before we fly out.

It has been raining pretty much non-stop since yesterday.  We have been entertaining ourselves by visiting with our friends and walking around downtown.

Graham suggested that we drive by the Oral Roberts University.  The buildings all look like an ostentatious 60's interpretation of what future buildings would look like.  Quite odd.

We didn't get very good pictures because it was raining and we were too lazy to get out of the car.  I think the building below is where they film and broadcast their televangelist show.

We missed the opportunity to get a shot of the prayer tower... or maybe I shouldn't say declined the opportunity.

Apparently Oral Roberts saw a vision and God told him to build a hospital in the middle of nowhere. The building went bankrupt and was turned into office buildings.  It's just odd to see this towering building with no other tall buildings around.

After being sufficiently creeped out by the area, we decided to do some bouldering at the local climbing gym.  The building used to house a dive shop so the back had a deep pool.  The cool thing is that they used the bottom of the pool as the start of the lead climbing wall.  Pretty smart!

Watches and Guns and Rocks, OH MY!!!

Monday we headed to Arlington from Seguin.  I really don't miss driving in Texas.  People love to drive whatever speed suits them in the left lane.  So you have to pass on the right and they get upset.  It drives me crazy.

My dad cooked some killer pasta with turkey and mango meatballs and we enjoyed some red wine.  We spent the remainder of the evening looking through rocks and minerals that my mom inherited from my uncle.  It may not sound exciting to most people, but he had some amazing stuff.

I also played around with his Rolex watch and a Springfield XDm .40 cal pistol that I inherited from him (I did not inherit the Rolex, it is way too cool for me).

"Lake" House

My parents rented a house on the Guadalupe River outside of Seguin, TX.  It is advertised as a "Lake" House, but it is just a dammed river.

Factoid:  My dad always told me that there is only 1 natural lake in TX, Caddo Lake.  After quickly researching this today, all my childhood dreams were shattered.  There are actually several natural lakes.  And Caddo Lake is now dammed to raise the water level.

Back to the "Lake" House:  So far we have 6 adults and 4 kids here (my parents, siblings, and their children).  Later we will have another 2 kids and 6 more adults.  Holy cow!

There is a dock at the end of the lawn with a nice sloping rock shore.  In 2 days, we have already spent hours swimming in the river.  This primarily involves the adults treading water at the end of the dock while the kids jump in and then swim to shore.  It is quite a workout!

My dad had a great idea of renting a golf cart.  So far it has been the main attraction of the trip.  We have been taking expeditions to find wild animals and other natural curiosities (bamboo and wild watermelon).

We still have several crazy days of relaxing, swimming, and putting around in the golf cart.  Woo hoo!

Travel to Tejas

I spent the last 3 days in Ohio visiting Kelsey's parents.  We had a great time entertaining her family and close friends on Saturday night.  Luckily the night eventually led to rhythmic melodies with tambourines, egg shakers, and an afuche cabasa.  A video of the event may have been captured, but it will not be posted here.

Today we had the pleasure of flying and airport waiting for about 7 hours to get to Austin.  My cousin and his girlfriend picked us up from the airport and we sailed through rush hour traffic with lively conversation.  It was great to spend time with him since they live in China now.  After a delicious dinner at my aunt and uncle's, we are settling at my sister's house.  She was kind enough to let us borrow her car for the evening and during the day on Tuesday while she is out of town.  Hopefully we will get to see a few of my friends tomorrow before returning the car to my sister and then heading to a lake house with my family.

Apparently we arrived just in time for the weather to get nice and hot (100+ degrees).  That's the Texas I remember!

Almost Airport Amusement

I dropped my car off in storage today and Kelsey had asked me to grab some extra undergarments for her from her car. I stashed them in my cargo pocket and went along prepping our cars in storage. Making sure the batteries were disconnected and the cars covered in plastic. I went through 3 sets of socket wrenches before finding a set that had a 10mm to disconnect the batteries. Good thing I have lots of tools!

My good friend Robin was kind enough to spend the afternoon with me and drop me off at the airport so I didn't have to deal with a taxi. THANK YOU ROBIN!!!!

I got to the airport and proceeded to the security line. After pulling out my laptop and liquids and emptying my pockets I was ready to get scanned. I gave my pockets one final pat down and realized something was in my cargo pocket.... close call! I quickly slid the contents into my bag and proceeded to the scanner, giggling to myself.

I imagined the TSA rep asking what was in my pocket, and my gleeful response would have been "Women's panties!" I thought about putting them back in my pocket just for fun, but my bag was already in the scanner. A missed opportunity.

Sent from my iPhone

Nuthin' But Rain

Rain and rain and rain and hail.  Doesn't look good for any outdoor activities today.  Since I woke up, it has been raining pretty much the whole day.  Good thing I needed to spend time dialing my pack in and cleaning up.

Maybe I'll spend this evening playing with my camera to learn all the cool functions available.  I certainly won't be able to go climbing in this wetness.  :(

Motorcycle Ride

I have the luck of being friends with Gregg Orlinsky.  My friend Gregg has multiple motorcycles and likes to ride them with his friends.  Today we rode them to Steamboat Springs.  It was a gorgeous day!

We had lunch in Steamboat and then rode back.  On the way back we went towards Kremmling on 40 then cut back on 134 to 131.  Riding through high alpine meadows on twisting roads is a great way to spend an afternoon on a motorcycle.  Wish I could do it more often!

The day started to get even better when we headed to Homestake for some climbing.  Unfortunately, it started pouring rain, hailing, and lightning... sooooooo we packed up and left.  At least we got one route in.

Good Beer

In case you didn't know, this beer is delicious!

Gilman Climbing

I have a few days to play before I leave the Vail Valley.  I was hoping to climb The Diamond on Longs Peak, but my partner had to cancel.  Which is just as well because I have heard that there have been a lot of issues with lightning and weather this year.  Instead, I have been climbing at some of my favorite haunts around Vail.  Saturday was a day of climbing in the shade at Homestake, and today I went to Gilman Canyon.  It was hot today, so the partial shade we found was incredible.  Here's a shot of my friend leading our first route just as the sun was coming over the ridge.

It was a great day of some challenging new climbs.

I've been spending my other free time researching places to visit during our trip to Europe.  There are so many beautiful places.  So many things to do, places to see, experiences to enjoy.  It would be easy to spend years touring Europe and still not go all the places we would like to.  Our challenge will be to narrow down our priorities so we can spend our time enjoying the places we visit instead of just visiting lots of places.

Back In Action!

It has been a long time, but I'm back!  Main reason: moving out of Vail and traveling for 3 months.  Where you ask?  Let's start with the U.S. to visit family, then spend two months in Europe.  Yey!

How can this happen?  Kelsey sold her condo so we have no rent payments.  I'm sad to depart from the beautiful fantasy that is the Vail Valley, but I have to grow up some time.  The last few weeks have been packed with... packing!

Today was the last day of packing and moving out of our condo.  It was weird to see it so empty.  It felt so much bigger!

I'm certainly going to miss the sound of the creek from our bedroom window lulling me to sleep.

The empty garage left me feeling unsettled.  It housed so many tools of happiness, and now they are mainly in my car.  So I guess it's not so sad.  Just the reminder that they won't be stored in a location where they could be deployed at any moment.

Well, I have another week to play before departing from my ex-home.  My goal is to update on a daily (lofty goal) basis.  So I can't really say goodbye to Vail yet, but I will certainly miss a condo that we could call ours.

Flower

There were a bunch of these flowers by where we parked for a job yesterday. I liked them.

Lake Creek and Mid Homestead Hill

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Willow and East Thorn

I've got pictures and a trip report to add, but here is my trek from Sunday. Over 15 miles in 11 hours.


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Me Go FAST!

I went for a road ride yesterday. The weather was beautiful and I felt great. I started from work and went up Buck Creek to the gate at Mountain Star, then over to Wildridge. Climbed to the top there and then back to Mountain Star and down. On the way down Mountain Star, I hit the fastest speed I have ever gone on a bike... 53 MPH!!!! It wasn't scary until I tried to stop. That took a bit longer than expected. Good thing I had given myself plenty of room to slow down.




I obviously didn't take this while riding, but it shows my max speed from the ride.

Notch Mountain Traverse

Last weekend was pretty stellar. Went camping in Mushroom Bowl (behind China Bowl on Vail Mountain) Friday night. It was pretty secluded and we had a raging fire. After a short hike the next morning, I went for a quick mountain bike ride from Meadow Mountain to the Grouse Creek trailhead, and then climbed that afternoon with Blake. We wanted to camp that night, but couldn't decide where. We ended up deciding to hike up Notch Mountain the next day. I wanted to get more familiar with the area since many of our SAR missions are in that area. We camped in his new WilderNest on Tigiwon Road. That thing is friggin' HUGE!

We slept in on Sunday and got on the trail around 10:00 a.m. after a delicious breakfast sandwich. I'm hooked on them ever since my friend Alex introduced me. Bacon, egg over medium cooked in the bacon grease, cheese and jelly, all on toast. SO GOOD! The hike up to Half Moon Pass was quick with some good views.




Here is Blake just before the top of Half Moon Pass.




This was my first view of Mount of the Holy Cross from the trail leading up to Notch Mountain. It's pretty obvious how it got the name Holy Cross.




Spiderwebs were scattered around the top of the mountain. We found this guy feasting on a moth. He also had a few flies waiting to be eaten. That really made Blake happy.




From the top of Notch Mountain with Holy Cross impaling me.




Blake found a nice spot for a cheesy pose.





I may take up sword swallowing, but that's about all I'll swallow.




Goofed off on the top of Notch Mountain and then decided to traverse over to the other side of the notch. My friend did it the day before and gave us a little beta (scroll down for a definition) on how to get there. After a little easy scrambling, Blake found a key hole for us to climb through. It led right to the top of the south side of Notch Mountain.




Enjoying the view of the Holy Cross valley.




This is part of the Halo Ridge route. You hike from the Stone Hut around to the top of Holy Cross. I'm thinking of doing a big loop from Half Moon Pass to Notch Mountain, around the notch, around Halo Ridge to Holy Cross, down the ridge to East Cross Creek, and back up Half Moon Pass. It would be a LLLLOOOONNNNNGGGGGGG day, but a cool loop.




On the way to the Stone Hut. The rain showers were just south of us. We were pretty lucky to stay dry all day.





Alot of groups hike up to the Stone Hut to look at the Holy Cross. It has a fireplace and big picnic table in it. Since it is so high and exposed, there are a few lightning rods on top with wires spread all around outside to keep the hut from being blown up by a strike.




Inside the hut. Blake has a good eye for photography lighting.




Relaxin' on the table.




The hike down was really long. It took us just as long to get up Notch Mountain as it did to get down. You can usually hike down alot faster, but there were so many switchbacks that it took us nearly 2 hours. I tracked most of the trip on my phone GPS, so you can check out the map below.


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First SAR Mission

Over the past few months I have been attending meetings and training sessions so I can join Vail Mountain Rescue Group (VMRG). They do search and rescue (SAR) for Eagle County. I was deployed on my first mission Wednesday night.

The page went out about 5 p.m. that evening. When I called in, the incident coordinator asked if I could stay out overnight. "Yes." So I grabbed my gear and was at the staging area shortly thereafter. Two hikers had camped at East Cross Creek the night before. They summitted Mount of the Holy Cross that afternoon, and got off the trail on their way back to their camp. We were told they had pants, shirts, sweaters, rain gear, a cell phone with a dying battery, and some water bottles. No food, water, or any survival gear.

Nine of us were set to go and we were broken into 2 teams. They put me on the rapid-search team. We hit the trail at 7:45 and made it to the top of Half Moon Pass by about 8:30. So we gained about 1,500 feet of elevation over 1.9 miles in 45 minutes. Just as we were reaching the top, we got another page that we were to stand down. The hikers had been communicating with command via cell phone. Command had guided them to the trail so they could return to their camp site at East Cross Creek.

Apparently this is a pretty typical mission. We may get deployed, but we often are told to return before we even find the missing party. I really enjoyed it because I learned how a real scenario works. The sunset view from the top of Half Moon Pass wasn't bad either. Actually it was one of the most beautiful sunsets I have seen in a long time. These pictures just don't do it justice. Here is a view on Mount Jackson to the west.




This is an incredible view of The Gore Range to the north-east.




Since The Mount of the Holy Cross is one of 2 Fourteeners I have left in the Sawatch Range, I'm really looking forward to getting back out there soon. Hopefully I'll have many more pictures to share.

Mt. Harvard (Test)

I found a free application for my phone that will track my location via GPS and transmit my location to a webpage. I turned it on while on the top of Mt. Harvard (the 3rd highest peak in CO), and forgot to turn it off. So it tracked me from the top until I realized it was still on this afternoon. Once I deleted all the data points after the time I got back to the trailhead, I came up with the map below.


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I'll add some pictures later, but this is what I have so far.

Spring's a-comin' ... eventually

A week and a half ago the weather was gorgeous. Spring was here. 70 degrees and clear blue skies. Since that weekend it has been snowing like crazy! And I have mixed emotions about all this winter-isn't-gone-yet-just-teasing-you-with-Spring stuff. I had already started to get out and jog, taken my bike to the shop for a tune, etc. I was ready and excited for Spring. Especially considering the lack of snow we had in the latter part of the season. Then it gets cold again and we have been bombed with snow. Not the crappy heavy snow, but the light soft powder that people dream about skiing. I was knee deep... at least!

So I'm glad we are getting lots of incredible powder to play in. But I'm ready for weather where I can hike Hanging Lake again. You know, walk out onto a huge log in the middle of a crystal clear green lake suspended way up on the side of a gorge? (No, I don't have a really fat lip. That is my tongue.)





Overlooking the valley on the way up to the lake. A little side-chute from Glenwood Canyon.





Yep, Spring pretty much rocks. Please come back.... after you're done dumping more powder on us of course.

On a side note... here's a shot I took at Ski Jooring in Leadville. I never took the opportunity to post it here. It was the first picture I took that day and just about the only good crash.