Rocky Mountain Brett

pieces of a third trip to Costa Rica, part 1

2011-12-04T21:55:00.001-07:00

11/22/2011
Tuesday morning, on the beach, partly cloudy skies. This is the sunniest day we have had, so we went straight to the beach after breakfast. We are the only 2 rooms in use as Casa Camarona, a terrific find in between Playa Cocles and Punta Uva. It's a relaxing spot so we booked 2 nights minimum. The last time I was in this area the water was glass but there must be a swell now - the waves are probably the biggest I've ever swam in. It's really something diving into/under a wall of water equally as tall as you, especially when you are already standing in 2'-3' of water already.
Today we have even bigger waves than yesterday, and rented boogie boards for some body surfing. I paddled out past the break and caught the first wave I tried. It was bigger than I expected... these waves suck up tons of water as they approach. You find yourself thigh-deep one second, then mid-calf the next, with a huge wall of water exploding over you. During one lull I paddled back out and found a particular set on the horizon I thought would be great to catch, but as they approached even the first one scared me to ride. I dove under it. The second was even bigger, and I noticed my board leash had snapped. When I came up between the second and third waves I swam to shore as much as possible before diving into the third and biggest wave. I couldn't get below it, and it sucked me up into it. That was a very unsafe situation. Thankfully that was the last of the set because I was exhausted and had swallowed enough salt water for one day. I swam in, found my board on the beach, and decided to wait for lower tide before another attempt.

Filling in details from the past couple days...
Sunday morning we went to Cahuita National Park and hiked about a mile out-n-back in search of wildlife. We ended up hearing Howlers but seeing none. The mosquitoes were bad inland. It rained off and on, so after lunch we headed to Puerto Viejo and checked into a 5 person room at Agapi with hot water, A/C and TV. It's a nice place but expensive. They have a sloth family on the property, so we saw a few sloths there. In the afternoon we walked to Playa Cocles. The swimming was nice but I got stung by a jellyfish and my arm looked terrible afterwards, like road rash from cycling or something like that. It was a strange sensation at first but felt like an electric shock, followed by numbness and pain in m elbow. The water was pretty clear so I was surprised to not have seen what stung me until we spotted lots of tiny clear jellyfish washed ashore in the sand later. After a nice dinner in downtown Puerto Viejo we bought a few beers at a super and headed home to watch Beckham's Galaxy win the MLS. We discovered Toña, a Nicaraguan beer that I had never had before but now highly recommend.
Yesterday we ate breakfast and decided to head out from Agapi. The goal was to head into Panama, Bocas del Toro, but with the rain it seemed smarter to travel little, find a hammock, and read away the rain. Where we are now is a great alternative to Bocas (and the possibility of our abandoned rental car getting broken into or floating away in this flood). We now have 2 rooms for way cheaper than Agapi, hammocks, lots of sun and big waves. After checking in we got in the water... there are consistent 3'-6' waves here, with the occasional 8'+ wave. We went for a jog for about 4km yesterday, almost all the way back to Agapi, which was very nice. After happy hour at our cabinas we drove down to Maxi's in Manzanillo. The food was good but probably 50% more expensive than when I was last there, with prices rivaling what you would pay in the States for Red Snapper or lobster. That has been an unfortunate recurring theme over the last few days... I believe the window of opportunity for stretching dollars way beyond reasonable expectation has closed in Costa Rica - at least in the Caribbean coast. Things seem to cost as much as they would in the States around here.

new quarter, new leaf

2011-10-09T23:02:00.001-06:00

The 4th and final quarter of 2011 has begun. It snowed on the Flatirons yesterday for the first time this season. It's almost time to focus on winter things. For many people, plants, and animals, winter is a time of dormancy, but I really hope that is not the case for me. I feel like I've been stuck in dormancy since I rode the Copper Triangle 2 months ago and need to get out of this rut. During a dinner with some friends last week I was asked if my current situation might be related to having finished my big goal of the year on the bike, and I think that's exactly what the problem was. I need to remember this in the future... I forgot one of my cycling goals. My original goal for riding was to keep my legs in shape for ski season... while I've certainly helped that cause with the early summer, taking essentially 2 months off has not helped my lungs or legs at all. I am surprised at a lack of motivation because I think cycling is so much fun. I guess I just needed a break, but I am hereby going to get back to running and riding - depending on which is easier with the weather.

So there you have it. Columbus Day officially kicks off my leaf turning.

After taking a look back at some of my goals for this year, I have accomplished many of them but have plenty of room for improvement in others, so it's time to either revise the list or get cracking. Here's to a strong finish to 2011.

another form of climbing

2011-09-25T22:57:00.000-06:00

I suppose it's fitting that now that the first of the leaves are turning yellow and Fall is clearly underway, I should write about summer cycling. I seem to be terrible about being timely on here. Alas, here goes:

My road bike and I have become quite accustomed to each other by now. I consider it a good friend :) I've ridden over 1,000 miles on this, my first road bike, and don't anticipate slowing down any time soon. My first ride of 2011 was actually in January, and I've ridden every month this year except May, which I attribute to planning for or being in Peru for half of. Anyways, after my return from Peru, Trey suggested we ride the Copper Triangle after discussing the ride a bit with Darren. I thought about it for a while and decided in late June to give it a shot with 6 weeks to prepare. I knew I wouldn't be setting any speed records during the ride but wanted to prove to myself that I could finish an 80 mile right with 3 mountain passes and 6,000' of vertical climbing thrown in for good measure. In 2010, the hardest ride I did was 60-ish miles and about 3000 vertical, so the Triangle would be pushing beyond that by a considerable margin.

I started training in earnest by linking some familiar rides to make a large one; from home over Old Stage then on to Ward, then up to Jamestown, and finally over the north side of Old Stage en route home. Without realizing it at the time, that ride came to over 50 miles and 5,500' of climbing. Since the 6000' of climbing was my primary concern in the Triangle, I felt like I would be able to finish that ride as long as the elevation didn't have too much of an effect on me. With that in mind, I spent the next couple Saturdays on climbs steeper than what I would find on the Triangle; Flagstaff to the dirt. Loyal readers, Flagstaff to the top is no joke. That road pushed me to my limit the first time I did it, just like NCAR had the previous summer(, which feels like such a long time ago now...). It felt so difficult the first time I did it that I had to return the next Saturday to redeem myself. Noticing similar foot numbness/pain as the previous weekend, as well as a handful of other longer rides, I decided to switch to road pedals/shoes and get a bike fitting. Eureka! That was 2 hours extremely well spent, and would recommend a fitting to anybody. With several micro-adjustments, new pedals, new shoes, and a new stem, I took my new setup to Cottonwood Pass to test out my lungs. Cottonwood was about 90 minutes of climbing, and went approximately 1000' higher than the highest point on the Triangle. After the previous few weekends of steep ascent, Cottonwood felt easy, with little to no altitude suffering. I was honestly fairly shocked at the lack of altitude problem, but had a blast and was confident going into the Triangle.

And so, the following Saturday, I went for a little bike ride for the 5th weekend in a row. This was my first ride of the Copper Triangle but hopefully will not be the last. We passed through the starting banner at Copper at 6:40 to a slowly rising sun, and headed up Fremont Pass at a good pace. It was chilly, so I wanted to get to a quick start and warm up without over-pacing myself. Trey and I rode together and apparently made good time on the first climb, since we seemed to pass nearly everyone who started within 20 minutes of us. We topped out the climb above 3,000' and decided to skip the first aid station after such a short time on the bike. I think we both felt really good and wanted to push on with the sun now above the mountainous horizon. 30 seconds after starting our descent to Leadville, however, Trey got a flat tire. Just as we both realized how much time the handheld pump was going to take a motorcycle stopped to help us, and we were back on the bikes. I felt great on the little climb back into Leadville and was ready to take on Tennessee Pass before stopping. As we turned from Leadville I knew that the next hour or two would be fairly easy going but Vail Pass still loomed in the distance. I had not been eating or drinking very well on my previous longer rides, so I focused on fixing that during the Triangle. I think that paid off, because as I left our first aid stop at Ski Cooper (not Copper...) I was not fatigued in any way with half the distance done... feeling as if we had just started. The ride from Cooper to Minturn was extremely enjoyable with some very fast downhill and excellent scenery. Battle Mountain gave me a bit of a challenge, and I became a bit concerned at the top about how Vail Pass would compare in the heat of the day as I waited for Trey. When the two of us started again, I noticed it approached 90 degrees when entering Minturn. After a short ride into West Vail from Minturn, we decided to skip the third aid station as well and push on to Vail Pass. The ride through Vail made me remember why I loved that town so much despite it's cheesy touristy atmosphere in most parts. [That whole Eagle river/county is such a beautiful area and really deserves more of my attention next summer.] It also gives just enough of a climb that I realized I was working pretty hard in the heat of the day just to cross town. I knew I had a monster of a climb waiting for me on the edge of town, but felt like I had more than enough left in my legs to make a good showing on the climb and point it back to Copper from the top. If nothing else, the temperature would drop as I climbed. Despite that, I had to stop for a restroom and hydration break at the 4th aid station (East Vail). [Note to self; there are two difficult pushes on that climb, and one of them is right away at the East Vail aid station after you pass under I-70 to begin the climb from town.] Having re-grouped with Trey, we both began our assault on the famous Vail Pass climb. I remember passing lots of people and feeling really strong in the beginning of the climb. I knew steeper sections were coming, but I felt good so I pushed at a pretty good pace knowing I only had about 7 miles of climbing left. After about 3 miles, we took a sharp right turn under I-70, then a very sharp left to what most people would consider The Wall of the climb. I had heard of this wall and knew if I could last another few miles I would be sitting pretty on the summit. Honestly, the toughest part for me was managing the passing of other riders who had either decided to get off their bikes and walk or were going as slow as the walkers. Without falling over or un-clipping, I made it through the traffic jam that The Wall created, and pushed on to the top. With about 2 miles to go in the climb, I ran out of water and food at the same time. I didn't realize I was eating and drinking fairly regularly throughout Vail Pass, and my body was very unhappy about running dry. The last mile or two were grueling, and only then did I realize how tired I was. I pulled over to the 5th and final aid station on the summit of Vail Pass and rested my legs while waiting for Trey. I had a few minutes to rest before he arrived and we hit up the food/beverages. Although we weren't technically done, I knew my legs had completed the task, and I was extremely proud of the accomplishment. It felt like a notable achievement, one to remember years down the road, and I was really happy that I had made it through. After a picture or two and a fun cruise back to Copper with gravity doing most of the work, we had a pasta meal and hit the road to Boulder.

Completing the Triangle feels like the next logical step in a series of physical accomplishments since moving here; my first 14er, my first 10k run, running above treeline on 14ers, hiking/skiing Silverton for two exhausting days, riding 60 miles, climbing 5000' on a bike... and now the Triangle. I can only hope the list continues and I am fortunate enough to remain in good shape and to be able to continue to push myself beyond the beyond. The long story short is that Boulder just might be one of the best towns on Earth to be a person who enjoys climbing, whether on belay or on two wheels. Colorado is certainly one of the best states for both.

Pensamientos en Perú, día 10

2011-08-09T21:19:00.005-06:00

5/29/2011

I'm writing this from memory 10 weeks later. I've been bad about updating this site lately.

Sunday. We woke up and had breakfast in the hotel. I don't think anybody was feeling quite 100% but we all were ready to start the day and see the last of the sights before heading to the airport after dinner. After breakfast we walked the hotel a bit and saw ornate and beautiful ballrooms that must have been incredible 50+ years ago. The furniture, chandeliers, carpets, etc. all reminded me of fragmented memories in my grandparents' homes from my childhood. There was a church service getting ready to start directly below our room, and we were told that we weren't allowed to walk around anymore by one of the bellmen despite there being no signs or warnings. We headed upstairs and packed for our last outing. I felt a bit stir crazy, so a dancing / photo session helped lift the mood before leaving the hotel.

We walked past a lot of the things Shelly and I saw yesterday, then continued on to new sites. In search of a market to spend the last of our soles, we wandered into a market that took us a bit by surprise, to say the least. It was more of an everyday shopping center, with anything from wedding dresses to beads and fabric to a butchery. The meat area smelled terrible and gave me serious pause for giving up animal products entirely for a while. Having no Inka fabrics or tourist items, we moved on. I'm not sure why that market was mentioned in Lonely Planet - perhaps for tourists needing to sew a button back on a shirt as cheaply as possible...? Anyways, we continued on to a few churches and centuries-old buildings in Lima. We walked through stark contrasts of socioeconomic statuses. It seemed to vary with each crosswalk, and ultimately became a bit too much to digest. It was a grey, humid, and generally uninviting day. It felt like everything was dirty. As with the rest of the trip, I struggled to make sense of what I was seeing and understand how it affected me.

Perhaps needing a sense of cleanliness and normalcy, we took a taxi back to Miraflores... it's hard to say whether that was part of it, but it did feel easier once we were there. We returned to the Inka market where we all bought a few things and watched a women's volleyball match, then ate lunch in what might be comparable to the cafeteria in a Super Target, and walked through a large amount of Miraflores. I couldn't figure out exactly what it was, but it seemed a lot nicer being in Miraflores. There is a lot more wealth in that part of town, but parts of it aren't that different than central Lima. The city parks were better maintained and overall it was a lot cleaner. Taxis and restaurant employees were hounding us for business, but people weren't begging and didn't look desperate. I think it was just a lot harder to look the real disparity right between the eyes in central Lima. I wondered if tourism wasn't partially why Miraflores is maintained nicer than central Lima and felt a bit guilty for being responsible for some amount of injustice. This trip confused me.

After lunch we headed to Huaca Pucllana to see some pre-Incan ruins. The site is right in the heart of a neighborhood and is surrounded by modern streets and buildings which are known to cover up more ruins. Despite that, there is no effort to remove said streets and buildings, which was incredible to me given that the ruins are as old as Constantine declaring Christianity legal in the Roman Empire. If this were Europe, the people would be demanding further excavation. The neighborhood residents seemed far more interested in the upscale gourmet restaurant that shares the same name as the site. More confusion. The tour was informative and relaxing, and included a spotting of the ugliest dogs of all time (as well as llamas, guinea pigs and a coca plant, all of which seemed out of place to me).

It truly amazed me that we saw almost no signs or indication of special significance to our stops outside of the books we were reading today. Once again, Perú confused me in that regard. I wondered again if Limeñans (and therefore Peruvians in general) have any concern for preservation of the past in Lima. I could understand wanting to forget the Spanish Inquisition and the elimination of ancient cultures now celebrated by Peruvians as their ancestors, but I couldn't understand the general lack of respect for Huaca Pucllana. Or Machu Picchu for that matter. One of the strongest impressions of Peruvian culture for me in this whole trip was that they don't care about preserving their history unless it makes money to preserve it (a la Huaca Pucllana and Machu Picchu). Maybe they actually don't care, or maybe they instead just don't know their history. Maybe the government doesn't want to spend the money. Maybe they don't have the resources to preserve more. I can't say for sure, but that's a huge distinction between somebody from the United States and Peru in my opinion. United States national parks or historical sites exist for the enjoyment and betterment of the citizens of the United States and not for financial gain. I for one am thankful that I can tour Gettysburg, Ellis Island, The Alamo, Little Bighorn or Canyon de Chelly in a preserved state, and cannot understand how the average Peruvian doesn't care about national treasures like Machu Picchu, Nazca or Huaca Pucllana. We saw a perfect microcosmic example of this leaving Huaca Pucllana. Two boys playing soccer with the site's fencing as their goal... a classic Sunday afternoon game. One of the boys kicked the ball over the fence and cared only about getting his ball back. I don't know that he damaged any of the pyramid by climbing over the fence and climbing it, but all I could do was look on in amazement and laugh. I'm sure that kid would have been in serious trouble at an Egyptian or Mayan pyramid. Many times this level of what I would consider disrespect frustrated me but didn't seem to bother locals. I wanted to impress upon them in some way that this was important. Perhaps I should have, or maybe I was just supposed to learn a bit more about being a traveler.

After Huaca Pucllana we walked back to Kennedy Park and people watched, rested, and ate dinner at a pizza place where all the employees were totally engrossed in a volleyball game with the Peruvian national women's team, and finally grabbed a taxi to make our way to the airport as the presidential debates began. The taxi ride was a positive memorable experience. The car itself was basically falling apart and looked unofficial, but the driver was very nice. We had discussed before getting in that we should consider the same taxi to get us back to the hotel as well as then to the airport as long as the driver was cordial. After receiving a reasonable rate and a few minutes of pleasant driving, I asked as well as I possibly could whether he would wait for us at the hotel while we grabbed our bags and then take us to the airport. He hesitated at first but agreed once I assured him our bags were ready and we wouldn't be long in the hotel, and offered another reasonable rate to get to the airport. On the way to the airport we stopped at a gas station and had to get out of the car due to fear of explosion. The engine had been converted to natural gas, which looked to be immensely cheaper than gasoline. After that stop, he switched back and forth on the radio between a Christian gospel CD and the presidential debates. I tried to follow along with the debate as much as possible, but the channel kept cutting out, so we listened to the CD more than the debate. The driver was simply nice, and it made all the difference. When we arrived at the airport he explained that he wasn't licensed to enter the airport, so we were dropped off outside the airport and walked in a side entrance that looked a bit suspicious. All the locals were doing it, so it didn't bother me. We all thanked the driver and made our way inside... simple kindness made all the difference and was such a stark contrast to yesterday's taxi event. I'm happy that was our last impression of Lima's people.

Our plane needed a tire change so we were late departing. I wanted to write but instead took the time to nap and try to put my thoughts together about the trip. I know I was hard on Peru, and don't want to give the wrong impression. I had a good time. I learned a lot, saw a lot, ate great food, got a ton of exercise, saw the ocean, etc. But I also had a hard time understanding many things about Peru. None of the other countries I've visited have been this way. I would go back, but I think the next trip would be very different. I wonder if I'll feel the same way about other countries... time will tell.

Pensamientos en Perú, día 9

2011-07-04T00:25:00.003-06:00

5/28/2011

Travel morning. After breakfast we loaded into a taxi and made our way to Lima. Once again we had a few encounters to make us feel more taken advantage of than welcome... the last 9 days have been very hard for me to understand in that regard, but more on that later. The cab ride to the airport was a prearranged price of S/.8, which was cheap, and nice to know in advance. Tony was obviously very sick and seemed to have a hard time the whole plane ride. We didn't have set plans for our afternoon in Lima, but that seemed fortunate at the time since it looked like any plans would be replaced by r&r. I wasn't as sick as Tony but my stomach turned, gurgled and rolled all day. Yesterday's milk adventure was clearly a bad idea.

After collecting our bags we talked to a couple of drivers but couldn't find a ride to Hotel Bolívar for less than S/. 45, which was way too much. I told the driver as much several times, but we had yet to learn where to find the better prices (exit airport building, follow the sidewalk left then right, actually out of the airport property to the main street). We paid less than S/. 45 to get to/from Miraflores, considerably further, last week... arrgh. Throughout the whole trip to the hotel our driver kept telling me that Hotel Bolívar was too expensive, in an unsafe are, and we should stay somewhere else. I told him we had already paid and got a good price. He also said he knew a better place he could take us to in Miraflores. I told him we had already stayed in Miraflores. He said it would be very loud and hard to leave the city (to get to the airport tomorrow night) because of the presidential debates. I don't know if he thought he was being nice or helpful, or thought I was a complete moron who would go along with anything he said, but it was horribly annoying. I didn't respond and stopped listening. The guy pissed me off to no end. When we got to the hotel unfortunately we didn't have the exact fare and he pretended to have no change for our S/.50. Our bags had already been taken inside by the hotel staff, so Shelly and I waited several awkward minutes while Tony retrieved extra money to get correct change. The driver asked if he could just keep the extra S/.5 as a tip, and we had to laugh in frustration about how ridiculous the situation was (it is neither normal nor customary to tip cab drivers in Lima, and the fare to central Lima shouldn't be more than S/.30).

Immediately after putting our bags down, Shelly and I left Tony and walked the pedestrian mall in search of a pharmacy. 5 minutes later we returned with several pills and a liter of electrolyte replenishment fluid. The pharmacist asked a few questions about symptoms, cause, allergies, etc., explained usage, and everything cost about $2. Something easy; phew! We then went back to the mall to get our bearings and make a first pass at seeing the sights. Using our books as a guide, we walked to several 400+ year old churches, the main plaza, a market, Victorian buildings, etc. When we reached the main plaza, where the Peruvian president lives, thousands of people were transfixed by jumbo-tron televisions. It took us a minute to figure out what the heck was going on... I assumed it was related to the presidential election, but it was the soccer championship between Manchester United and Barcelona. Nearly everyone was cheering for Barcelona. We watched for a minute and moved on in search of food. I ordered arroz con pollo, the cheapest chicken dish on the menu. I got to choose between thigh or breast, and was given literally the biggest pile or food I've ever ordered, for less than $6. I couldn't believe how much food I got, and sadly didn't come close to finishing it. Central Lima seemed refreshingly easy, cheap, and very clean.

We window shopped on our way back to the hotel to check on Tony. Prices for food, clothes, and just about everything were amazingly low. It seemed we finally had found the real cost of living in Peru. I was relieved to know it wasn't a myth. Tony was resting and on the road to recovery. After a few hours we ordered some room service for him for dinner and ate at the hotel restaurant... I was still full from lunch so just had dessert. There are mixed emotions about tomorrow being our last day.

Pensamientos en Perú, día 8

2011-06-19T14:07:00.004-06:00

5/27/2011

We took today as a rest day. After breakfast I walked into our courtyard and saw Nefisa and Pete relaxing... the same couple who had camped next to us on our second night of the trek and chatted with over coffee on the next day. The 5 of us all seemed to need a slow day, and we ended up chatting away the morning... about travels, London, Boulder, running, ski/snowboarding, etc. They're biking from Patagonia north on a 6 month trip, after having done a similar sabbatical adventure through India and southeast Asia... seems like something I should look into. We grabbed a good lunch together and then parted ways.

The 3 of us walked Cuzco for the rest of the day. Part of our adventure included a stop in the grocery store... we found super cheap prices on everything and I jokingly thought that this is where we should have been shopping the whole time. We also walked through the Mercado Central.... wow. I think we were the only tourists there. I saw café con leche for S/.1.50 (roughly $.45) so I sat down for a cup. I received a cup filled 95% of the way with curdling and boiling milk. I filled the rest with very good coffee and drank my cup, pretending I wasn't drinking curdled milk fat. Quite the experience. At one point what looked like string cheese stuck to my lips and hung from my mouth after taking a sip... Tony and Shelly laughed. I couldn't finish the bottom of the cup with all the stuff floating in there. Afterwards we walked past vendors selling cow noses... it looked like they had used an axe and chopped right in front of the eyes ( teeth, skin, nose, bone, and lower jaw were all left on). I guess you would add that to a soup?? Pig heads were for sale on the next table... eyelashes included. The pigs seemed to have a content look on their decapitated faces... very strange. I had to block it out and keep walking. I have a much better appreciation for our sources of food after this. I also have a greater desire to alter my diet towards vegetarianism. Quite the market. So much of this experience is foreign to me, but great to have seen in person and done.

Pensamientos en Perú, día 7

2011-06-18T14:06:00.006-06:00

5/26/2011

We're on the train heading to Ollantaytambo, where we will de-board and take a shuttle van back to Cusco, after seeing Machu Picchu this morning. It's a fairly sunny day and we have a cool breeze coming in the window. In short, it's a much more comfortable day than yesterday. 4:40am came too soon, but I slept well. A pillow and a mattress were greatly appreciated. We were some of the first people in the archeological site after waiting in line for a bus ride up in the dark. Saulo gave us a 2 hour tour, after which we said our goodbyes and took a second pass to just take everything in. I also needed a second pass through the site because my camera batteries died 5 minutes into the tour!! I knew they were low, but didn't worry because they were just the second of 3 pairs of rechargeable AAs I brought... I thought I had only burned through 1 so far but my third pair was dead, so I had to leave and re-enter the site after buying new batteries in the gift shop. Problem solved.

Regardless of how much or how little you know about the Inkas, nothing can prepare you for seeing Machu Picchu in person. It's nearly impossible to believe what was accomplished so long ago, and that such an advanced culture fell so quickly... it makes you wonder what else they could have taught us. The forethought, wisdom, and preparation required to create Machu Picchu is simply incredible. Tony and I decided that the theory that the Inkas only lasted 100 years as a civilization was not accurate, because it would have taken over 100 years to build Machu Picchu. We also struggled to believe some of the things Saulo told us, which has prompted me to buy a book about Machu Picchu when I get home.

Tony, Shelly and I sat on a series of terraces with a vantage point looking down on the rest of the site just to absorb our surroundings. The place moves you to reverence. I tried to bring my imagination to its most vivid and actually picture what it might have looked like with the Inkas surrounding me. We sat in silence, pondering. We talked quietly about the legacy modern man will leave in comparison... destruction, holes in the earth, and piles of rubble. We, who have the tools and technology to build wonders like Machu Picchu far easier, choose instead to build dams and nuclear power plants while living in homes that fall apart after just 20 years of negligence... sad. We discussed the following hypothetical situation:

I honestly don't think it could be done... it would take generations, and even then would be extremely unlikely.

We were all very happy with our morning and eager to get back to Cuzco for the next phase of our trip when yet another bad memorable experience took place... buying bus tickets to get back to Aguas Calientes. This part of the story frustrates me so much to write... after having such a terrific morning our moods were immediately switched to the complete opposite. Perú makes me feel bi-polar. I feel like there are only high highs and low lows, but nothing in between. Anyways, here's what happened -- I don't know why, but our trekking company only supplied one-way tickets for the bus. There's no ATM at the site and they don't take credit cards at the bus stop, so if you have no cash, you walk down. ($8 for a 12 minute bus ride is a complete rip off. Whey they don't just include the round-trip bus fare in the price of the entrance fee is beyond me. There are plenty of issues with the US national parks, but I think Peru could benefit from some friendly advice in this regard. Also, for $15, you would expect the road to be nice. Not so. Anyways...) We were told there was an ATM at the site so we weren't concerned that we couldn't find one in Aguas Calientes despite looking and asking. (... which also makes no sense given that the singular purpose of that town seems to be taking heaps of cash from citizens of the developed world...) Because of all this, we needed to come up with $24 to get down to town but were low on cash. It's almost too bad I didn't think to tip Saulo with my "bad" $20 bills because all my $20s were rejected by the bus ticket vendor. I don't like being a disgruntled traveler, but I am really tired of pulling $20 bills from Peruvian ATMs only to have them rejected by Peruvians. All you get is, "I can't change this..." and the money slides back to you. I don't know who started this paranoia about counterfeit or imperfect dollars, but seriously, a note to all travelers to Peru: do not try to use USD in Perú. Avoid at all costs, even when amounts are posted in USD, pay in Soles.

Long story short, we were able to "make bail" with a mix of Soles and $1 bills (thank God we had 6 singles)... otherwise we would have been the ones begging. Afterwards we grabbed lunch at the same place we ate dinner the night before (partly because we had to pick up our train tickets from them, but also because we knew we wouldn't be pleaded to death to come in and dine there). I had the tropical fruit pizza, which had bananas, papaya, mango and pineapple on it.... excellent! The waitress literally built a pile of wood, tore a cardboard box to pieces and added them, then used a wooden match to make the fire in the oven which cooked our food. After lunch we picked up our bags from the hostel and caught the train.

...later in the day, back in Cuzco...

In Ollantaytambo we loaded into a van and made our way past Inka ruins and the high plateau with giant glacial peaks in the distance. There's no doubt the Sacred Valley is worth exploring. On the bus were two Colombian girls sitting in front of me; one from Calí and one from Bogotá.
They were nice and even curious to know whether they spoke like Nelly.
Colombians are easy for me to pick out now; they seem to be the only ones I can follow 100% in a conversation. I can definitely follow other native Spanish speakers, but I drop words and phrases when listening to them. For this reason, not to mention several others, I think Colombia is my next new country (let's be honest, the thirst for travel is insatiable... there will be more...).

We were dropped off in a plaza a few blocks from Renacimiento, and had a short walk uphill before reaching "home sweet home" again. We collected the luggage we left behind from Maria and proceeded to create a laundry explosion... wet socks, pants, and several other kinds of clothing hung throughout our apartment after doing 3 loads of laundry in the kitchen sink. My hiking clothes are still foul, but are a marked improvement from yesterday. We can only hope they dry before we fly back to Lima... t
ime to call it a day.

Pensamientos en Perú, día 6

2011-06-09T22:49:00.004-06:00

5/25/2011

Saulo partied hard last night (after a 4 hour game of soccer while we lounged and chatted), and had a hard time getting going this morning. We knew it would be a long day, but got started about an hour behind schedule (about 6:45). Coca tea and pan, our typical breakfast, were ready long before Saulo got up... I think Enrique had to go back to our tent 3 times to get Saulo up. Once we did get going, the going was quite touch. Llactapata is on top of a ridge and Sahuayaco is on the river at least 2500' below... maybe 4000'. As a joke from the coffee incident yesterday, we kept telling ourselves that we only had 10 minutes to go... 10 minutes passed many many times. The views on the way up were great though. Llactapata was somewhat underwhelming, but the view of Machu Picchu (pronounced peek-choo instead of pea-choo like everybody pronounces it in the US) was spectacular. On a clear day it would be a terrific vantage point. The descent back down to the river was hellacious and challenging, requiring total concentration. The ground (again, despite being the "dry" season) was so wet and the trail so steep that we all slipped, but thankfully never enough to get hurt. Tony's knee gave him terrible pain... all of us were approaching our physical limits. It was ungodly humid and hot. We set a fast pace to get to lunch as fast as humanly possible. Views across the river on the way down were nice, but the bridge to cross the river was sketchy!! I honestly fear somebody will die on that soon.

After crossing the bridge we walked past an enormous waterfall created in part by the electric plant we were near, and a trout hatchery. The electric plant was where we entered the national park, but the park was effectively unsigned. I have to say, that was terribly confusing, and Peru should be ashamed on 2 counts;

What is this monstrosity of an electric plant doing within a national park boundary containing one of the earth's Wonders of the World?
What kind of an entrance to a national park goes essentially unidentified?

There were electrical safety signs everywhere but no signs pointing the way to the ruins or indicating park boundary. Totally famished, hot, and exhausted, we ate our final lunch made by Enrique and said our goodbye. We felt much better but were still sore and soaking wet. Personally, I believe I set some kind of sweating record today. My clothes smell awful and my backpack was drenched.

After lunch we walked along a train track for what felt like an eternity... perhaps 7 miles. I would guess today was a 14 mile day... very long. Despite being tired, the views of the river beside us and Machu Picchu above were phenomenal. It truly looked like an Indiana Jones movie; a huge river flowing fast with house and truck sized boulders in it, dense jungle on all sides, and 2000' cliffs on all sides. Machu Picchu is in a truly stunning setting. I'm excited to learn more about the Inkas tomorrow. The signage to indicate our progress was poor at best... a single handwritten sign pointed the way to Aguas Calientes from the train tracks, 6 miles from town. Later we saw "Aguas Calientes --->" scratched into the sand beside the train tracks. (Again, what's up with that, Peru??) I was disappointed.

When we finally made it to our hostel, I was given a room with a faulty lock. At 5:15 it would be fixed in 10 minutes. I waited to shower and at 5:30 went back down to the desk to get an update. "10 minutes." I showered and re-packed my bag. Feeling a ton better, in dry and clean clothes, I rested until 6:45 when we needed to meet for dinner. Saulo was talking to the same man at the desk, who then told us both for the second time that a man would arrive in..... 10 minutes to fix the lock. I nearly lost it. It had already been 90 minutes, and we needed to leave to eat dinner, so I voiced my disappointment in the most cordial Spanish I could muster. I don't know whether "10 minutes" is Peruvian speak for "leave me alone" but I was tired, hungry, and not happy to hear that nonsense again. To make it worse, he claimed there were no vacant rooms I could switch to. Saulo worked it out so I am in a 3 bed room with a nice bathroom and working lock. Major upgrade. This town kind of pisses me off... if the Inkas could see it! Even when walking to dinner with Saulo (an obvious local) and talking to him en route, the 3 of us were constantly bombarded with people shoving menus in our faces and pleading us to eat at their restaurant. 4-for-1 happy hours, discounts, etc. It's a desperate gimmick and frankly pathetic. I don't think these people appreciate the gravity of Machu Picchu... the park managers, the town of Aguas Calientes, maybe the whole country. It's sad. Although I have had a tremendous and eye-opening, fantastic trip, I feel a "what's wrong with Peru" segment coming on. I need to be at breakfast at 5:00am sharp, so that will have to wait. I'm hoping my mood has changed by then.

Pensamientos en Perú, día 5

2011-06-09T22:16:00.004-06:00

5/24/2011

We slept in this morning, but after breakfast bid farewell to the remote village we called home for the night. Today we descended from roughly 11,000' to 6500' at the town of Sahuayaco (also called Playa), several miles upstream from Santa Teresa. This is a legitimate town with a school, electricity (last night a single solar panel powered the only light), and even TV. We're camping in the front yard of a family that has a TV with satellite, a bathroom with a flushing toilet and a tiled shower. They're fairly well off compared to others we've seen lately; their 14 year old daughter is wearing earrings and has a brand new Nike jacket on... allegedly going to Rio with her high school in September. She was quite flirty when we showed up, so I seemed to get more info from her than most would. I asked her what she wanted to be when she was done with school - a singer in Cuzco. She had no interest in continuing her parents' business and said most of the kids in town move to Cuzco when they finish school. It sounds like they don't really care to stay in a rural setting.

Before we arrived, we continued to follow the river past primitive homes... thatch rooftops, no electricity, "bathrooms" which are actually just holes in the earth that flow into the river, "showers" made of a hose fed by a line from the nearest creek surrounded by plastic tarp offering minimal privacy, etc. This is a hard life. I almost can't imagine it, and doubt these folks could imagine my life. It's really hard to put into words, yet part of me wants to move here and try it out for a while. Farm a mixed-use acre or two... bananas, grenadillas, cacao, avocados, lemons, coffee... we walked past those and more on the trail today. At the same time, it's hard to think about how one lives that way. It's such a different life than my current one. In addition to the plants, we've also passed chickens, pigs, alpacas, cattle, turkeys... these people live off the land.

My thoughts are scattered tonight.... so much to write down. We caught a glimpse of Salkantay upon departure this morning. What a stark contrast! If this is the dry season, I can't imagine the wet one here. Water rages downhill all around us. We walked 7-10 miles today, and it was whitewater the whole time next to us. I told Tony and Shelly I had never seen such a continuous set of rapids like this... class III - V water for miles...

It was a short day today; when we stopped for lunch we had arrived here and thus were finished hiking for the day. We spent a large part of the afternoon talking to a couple who are doing the trail sans guide. She's Canadian, he's from New Jersey. They're living in London but taking a 6 month sabbatical. I ordered a coffee from our host mother before we started chatting. "10 minutes, ok?" 10 minutes became 30, but it was worth waiting for. Excellent coffee, the best 2 cups of my life, drip-made from the beans grown organically on the nearest hillside. I keep saying this, but what a beautiful and interesting setting this is. It's such a different way of life and existence than the one I know. I really can't do it justice... time to call it a night.

Pensamientos en Perú, día 4

2011-06-08T00:57:00.005-06:00

5/23/2011

It's almost lunch time on day 2 of our hike. Enrique, our cook, is surely churning out another masterpiece. Yesterday we had asparagus soup and lomo saltado for lunch. Dinner was chicken noodle soup from scratch (probably the best chicken noodle I've ever had) and rice + chicken. Dessert was Mazamorra... simple but delicious. Immediately after dinner we went to bed, with a strong rain outside that lasted most of the night. I had a hard time getting to sleep because my heart was racing... I thought it was because of all the coca tea, but maybe it was altitude. At roughly 5am this morning we woke up. The rain at camp was snow higher up, so we saw the surrounding peaks in a different way, which was neat. Getting to our campsight on day 1 is also quite the story...

We woke up yesterday before 5 and were picked up by a van to leave Cuzco. I wish there had been time to take pictures along the way. Heading north out of town, the city is built onto the sides of cliffs nobody would try to build homes on in the States. Out of town, we began to descend and saw locals running, working, even playing volleyball... at 5:30 on a Saturday morning! Winding our way down the valley it began to become apparent the scale of the terrain was like nothing I've ever seen. Rivers have carved out relief here the likes of which simply don't exist in the lower 48. Hillsides so steep they wouldn't be farmed in the US were bursting with produce. When creeks joined and turned into a river, we turned onto a dirt road and ascended to Mollepata, where we had breakfast and I had the pleasure of using a seatless toilet (also lacking TP or paper towel, which seems to be the norm). After breakfast we hopped in a truck for 30 minutes to the start of our trek. The driver and I saw a gato salvaje run across the road... 25 pounds, looked like a leopard. We basically hiked the road to Salkantaypampa, but I enjoyed the experience. (After today's hike, I'm glad we started easy; we're all sore.) The day's hike was basically following a drainage to its source, stopping halfway for lunch. The magnitude of relief from river to surrounding peaks is unmatched outside of Alaska in the US. Literally thousands of feet above the river was the road, and the peaks higher still. We got to camp a few minutes after passing the Mountain Lodge House, which was waaaay out of place in its surroundings.... the Vail of the Salkantay trek. With hot showers even. Anyways, we got to camp with a stunning backdrop. A peak whose name I now forget was dominated by a massive glacier on its south face. I've never seen anything like it. Saulo, our guide, said he's seen it shrink dramatically even in 5 years... sad.

This morning Enrique served me coca tea in bed as I woke up, then we had a pancake breakfast before starting the hike. It was nearly 7 miles to our lunch site, which involved about 700 meters of climbing. Shelly, Tony and I all hiked well, and even ended up passing (nearly or ) all groups who started before us. Many people needed to actually ride horses to get to our highest point, over 15,000' - a new altitude record for us. Once again, it's difficult to find words for how big these mountains are. Unfortunately, Salkantay (and us) was shrouded in clouds, so we only caught glimpses of the glaciers on its side, but based on the enormous alluvial fans, house-sized boulders in the glacier's channels, and the booming avalanches around us, it was clear there was a "wild mountain" 5000' above us even from the high pass.

After stopping only briefly for photos and an Inka coca leaf ceremony to thank Salkantay or safe passage (we each buried 3 leaves under a rock; 1 for the world of gods above, 1 for the human world, and 1 for the underworld where humans passed to), we descended. It was still very cold and drizzly until we stopped for lunch. Clouds rose up valley (from where we were headed and are now), but when they broke, you could see massive glaciers above us.

It seems I need to get used to immediate and dramatic changes on this trip, because right after lunch we found ourselves in a dense jungle. In a single day we passed through fresh snow, cloudy grassy highland reminding me of Scotland or New Zealand, and finally to jungle with orchids and bamboo lining the trail. It is currently the dry season but water is everywhere, cascading enormous and incredibly steep mountains.

I almost don't want to try to write about my current location, because words will fall short. We're on the precipice above the convergence of 3 rivers which apparently form one. The gorge below is almost like an inverted pyramid, which steep peaks on all sides rising from the water. The first 2 rivers form a Y, then another branch comes in before flowing on as a continuous stretch of rapids for miles. Upon our arrival at camp, close to sunset, the cutest little girl (Marina) walked up to me and started playing with my camera. I taught her how to turn it on and how to shoot. She had seen a camera before but didn't know how to work mine. Then she wanted to know how all the buckles and straps worked on my pack. When that got old (i.e. she discovered the candy we brought for this exact event in my pack), she put on a somersault / spin / jump show for me. Adorable. I'm glad my Spanish has improved because I'm sure she doesn't speak English. I doubt anybody in this village does.

Pensamientos en Perú, día 2

2011-06-03T23:08:00.014-06:00

5/21/2011

Saturday night in Cuzco. This navel city is hard to describe. I feel like you could stay here 2 weeks and not have seen much... or had the time to properly digest your surroundings at least. Let me first catch up on yesterday.

Yesterday

After finishing writing yesterday's installment, we ate a fairly simple breakfast, took fairly adventurous showers (the water temperature was constantly in flux), and ventured out into our new surroundings in daylight... still gray as can be, but daylight Lima style nonetheless. Our first stop was the Inka Market, and we were not disappointed. Most of the people were selling fairly similar items, but there were definitely stands with unique items. It was fun chatting to the vendors and getting a glimpse into what Cuzco might have in store for us. All the people were amicable and the prices reasonable. For lunch we took an amazingly cheap cab to an expensive but outstanding cebichería called Pescados Capitales. It came highly recommended from our cab driver the night before... we were not disappointed. Local elite businessmen and women (nice watches, make-up, expensive purses, new phones...) dined all around us. The food was incredible and it was clear our trip was off to a fantastic start. After lunch we decided to head to the ocean and catch a glimpse of the Pacific. We wandered south through a string of parks that eventually led us to Larcomar, a mall with apparently some of the finest shopping in all of Peru. I admit to being disappointed to see chain restaurants and hotels from the US in the area, but there was enough local flare to keep it interesting. The parks were more enjoyable though... the perfect way to spend a relaxing day in Lima.

As sunset (what sun?) approached, we headed back towards home base to drop off bags and get ready for our flight to Cuzco in the morning. We had an incident where we couldn't print our boarding passes after being checked in online by the Star Perú office (not to mention only receiving 1 of the 3 boarding passes via email), so we thankfully were able to drop in again and get everything sorted out before they closed. Afterwards, we walked the Kennedy Park area and had a drink or two at a Cuban bar. We were the first in the bar, but by the time we left the place was packed. Instead of eating there, we went to a very nice restaurant closer to Larcomar for a late dinner and then walked back to the hotel for an early flight across the Andes.

Lima, at least Miraflores, is very nice. If all of Lima were like this, it would be way better than people give it credit.

Today

In short, yesterday was a relaxing scene from any city in the developed world. Today, however, was uniquely Peruvian in every sense. This, dear friends, is another world. It was obvious from the minute we sat down in our cab and left the airport. The streets are different... the people are different... the food is different... If wealthy Miraflores in Lima is your only frame of reference for defining Perú, you would not be faulted for questioning whether this were even still Perú. I believe, however, that this is more the Peruvian norm. Speaking specifically of the Quechua women in town, I think even the average Limeñan would have a difficult time finding common ground. This is definitely not Kansas, Toto. Cuzco is a very old town; even the current buildings (built on top of Inka stonework) are centuries old. The topography kind of reminds me of San Francisco orMontmartre in Paris. But again, they're not very similar beyond that. Lots of things are very small here. The streets are steep and narrow. The people are short - the beds are too. The cars are tiny... Anyways, you just basically need to see it for yourself.

We flew into Cuzco early. The Andes are truly stunning from above. Our flight was uneventful and calm; it was just nice to see the sun again. As mentioned above, it was obvious from the start that Cuzco had very little in common with Lima. As our taxi passed the San Pedro market, we knew where we had to go as soon as we got settled in. After unloading at Renacimiento and drinking a cup of mate de coca, we headed down to the Plaza de Armas en route to lunch only to discover the Plaza is no place to lollygag. It is full of people desperate to sell art, shine shoes, or solicit donations from tourists in a feverish and horribly annoying way. It was one of our first glimpses into "the opposite end of the spectrum" if you will. Tourist police were arresting solicitors for bothering tourists as we walked past. I felt accosted but didn't think it necessarily warranted jail time... sad. We left the plaza for a light lunch and were serenaded by a mobile Trident commercial; a guy singing Oasis, Coldplay and Guns 'n' Roses songs while playing guitar on the sidewalk. I definitely did not fly thousands of miles to hear 20-year-old Patience (which is apparently making a comeback as a trance/pop song in Lima), but I guess that's one interpretation of good ol' gringo marketing in South America.

After lunch we had to make a quick stop back at the hotel for our trek introduction and to finalize payment. What should have been a 15 minute simple introduction, "see you at 5:15am..." and exchange of money turned into a painful event lasting at least an hour and a half. There was confusion over how much we had already paid, how much we had left to pay, and how many days we wanted to spend on the hike. The conversation went something like:

When we finally did agree on a duration and balance due, all of use were beyond frustrated. With the end of this torture in sight, we began unloading a massive pile of twenty dollar bills onto a table for counting, assuming the worst was behind us. The lady accepting payment then starting making a separate pile of rejected $20... and I about lost it. She told us she couldn't accept those bills (that we had withdrawn from an ATM just down the hill) because she couldn't exchange them if they weren't perfect. The slightest fold, tear, or writing on a bill earned it a place in the rejected pile. We literally had zero remaining "perfect" $20's remaining when she was done, despite pulling out more than enough money beforehand. I have since discovered this is a Peruvian norm... and a horrible, horrible experience to have to go through. Honestly, this experience (repeated multiple times throughout the trip) became the single most infuriating part of any vacation I've ever been on. Let this be your warning, fellow Peruvian traveler.

With the trek debacle behind us, we walked back to the San Pedro market and apparently passed through a black hole en route... that place is an alter universe. You can find anything from handwoven clothing to fruits I'd never seen before to sculptures and wood carvings to cheeses, chocolates or candies, to a full on butchery with a turn down any aisle. The meat displays would not fly in the US for sure; entire pigs gutted and ready to cook, cuts of beef sitting out in the open air with flies flying around, whole chickens with their throats slit piled up on top of each other, pig heads and cow noses with hair on and teeth still in... and every vendor is a humble and kind 4 ft tall woman with the exact same wardrobe as the next. I probably looked shell-shocked to people who saw me... at a loss for words. I wanted to take pictures to record the memory but found myself unable to out of respect for the vendors. I'm sure they're used to it but I felt bad when I initially reached for my camera so I just put it away.

[

Market photos from other folks:

http://www.tonyrogers.com/images/2009_peru/index_sanpedro.htm

http://crashwilliams.wordpress.com/2011/04/14/the-other-side-of-cuzco/

]

We bought some fruit and coca candy for the hike. After the market, we headed towards the Plaza San Blas area and were the first ones to sit down for dinner at Pacha Papa. Eureka! Before we left, the restaurant had filled up completely (same as the Cuban bar), and for good reason. The meal was terrific. I had lomo saltado for the first time as well as an appetizer made of various (grassy!) cheeses and several kinds of potatoes I'd never seen before. Tony had alpaca anticuchos... we all ate very well.

Anyways, to sum this chaos up, yesterday was great in its own way, today was too, and tomorrow starts 5 days of a totally different experience. 3 very contrasting days. Today was probably the most I've ever stepped away from my everyday culture, but in a good and inviting way. It was beautiful yet uncomfortable, frustrating yet outstanding, exciting yet sad... the prototypical Latin American day as I've been told.

Pensamientos en Perú, día 1

2011-06-03T21:55:00.005-06:00

5/20/2011

3 months ago to the day I was skiing Steamboat. Suffice it to say I'm not in Steamboat today, nor will there be any snow. The trip began yesterday when I boarded DIA>IAH headed south... more south than ever before. I took a window seat after the middle seat had been taken, and it was clear the woman in the middle was nervous about her English. I hadn't heard her speak yet (instead of standing up and getting out of the seat to let me pass, she just pulled her legs up into the seat) so I couldn't place her. When she said she was from Bogotá I switched to Spanish, and a weight lifted for her. Me too... somebody new to test my Spanish on. We spoke the majority of the 2 hour flight. She is a traveling brand manager for pharmaceutical items and had been to a lot of various places but never in the US before. The funniest part of our conversation was her asking me what elk were called; "They look like Bambi and are café all over except for their white butts..." (in Spanish). I was happy to have had a bit more Spanish practice with a stranger before getting to Peru.

Shelly and I sat together from Houston to Lima. After about 45 minutes out the window below us came the familiar site of thousands of 20,000' Cumulonimbus calvus clouds, which I've only ever seen form over warm, tropical water. I actually felt for a minute that we should just land and stay in Central America. Costa Rica to be exact... I really love that country, and I had just been thinking of how lucky I am to live in Boulder when this happened... thinking of running 6 miles the day before on the Mesa Trail in the rain. Anyways, I saw the clouds, and below them a beach. Then, halfway, dry and untrammeled mountains... almost void of any human imprint. Nicaragua? Later lots of stars, then a very large city. Quito? 45 minutes later we landed. The Lima airport is huge.

One of my bottles of hand sanitizer exploded while my backpack was transported as checked luggage... my pack was a bit wet, but no worries. Our hotel in Lima is very nice. Our room is on the top floor with a rooftop terrace outside. I believe if the skies were clearer (so you could see) and/or the air didn't smell of dank rotting fish, it would get a lot of use. Aside from the overwhelming fish smell, I believe you could probably place this setting in any big city in Latin America. The driving/honking, buildings, humidity, noises, etc. are very similar to San José, CR, at least. Last night we got settled in and then walked for a drink. We must stand out a lot because every empty taxi that drove by slowed down or honked at us; fairly annoying. 1 round of pisco later it was after 1am so we walked home. That scene sets this apart from San José: 1am and large groups of old men playing chess on public picnic tables with chess boards tiled into the table... 1am and people just sitting down for full-sized dinner. Miraflores stays up really late.

This is the warmest 65 degrees I've ever felt. It is unbelievably humid here. So far so good though. I believe things will get interesting after breakfast.

2010-2011 ski season coming to a close

2011-04-23T23:20:00.006-06:00

Today was my 17th day on skis this season, and a 100% throwback to 4/12/08. I was truly stunned at how good the snow was today. It was almost the exact more-than-happy feeling and satisfaction as it was 3 years ago. Clearly my passion for skiing has not faded... I'm still not the world's best, but it has grown on me way more than I ever expected it to upon first moving to the mountains.

It wasn't just the snow that was good, though. I don't mean to brag, but I skied fantastic today. I don't know if it was the condition of the snow, what I had for breakfast, or some other magical component, but I skied really really well today. I turned when I wanted to, I skied way faster than usual (I'm a slow skier), I skied for longer without tiring, I jumped off of lots of things... it was just easy play. You hear about people in other sports that have days or games where it just feels simple. Jon Diebler's game against Penn State this year where he made 10 3-pointers, he said it was like shooting the ball at the ocean instead of a tiny hoop. Today kinda felt like that for me.

I started off with a quick warm-up lap down low and found some really nice fresh skiers left of straight down the Challenger chair. It's always really nice in there. Then I decided to head a bit higher up, so I headed towards Sunnyside chair and eventually up to the Panoramic Express. It was cloudy with fairly flat light up top, but the Pano chair did not disappoint. I did several laps up there... the terrain isn't very steep so I went faster than usual. At one point I was heading down and found myself charging, full of adrenaline, and going so fast that I realized sharp turns to check my speed would cause a crash, so I rode out the speed through a bit of chop in really wide turns until it fanned out. I stopped to rest my legs when things flattened out only to notice the trees were untracked, so I headed in. Parsenn Bowl was busy but I was alone in the trees with boot deep fresh all to myself. Closing day! I was really happy with the discovery so came back for another lap before heading up Sunnyside again after visibility became too poor to continue all the way up. I headed for the trees between Columbine and Bluebell and found more jackpot there. I wasn't the only one to have spotted the goods, but I was the only one in there on both my laps. I'd never skied in there before but am happy I have a new spot to explore next year. The pitch is nice and the trees are spaced out well... you have to watch out for a few big drops though, so keep your speed low until you are familiar with it. After a couple laps there I decided to head to a section of cliffs/chutes that I'd seen but never been, skiers way left through the trees of Roundhouse on the way to Corona. I found very different snow in there.... and tough navigating through big drops. I also found what may be the biggest tree in all of Mary Jane. The cliffs yield some really nice views to the northeast toward the continental divide. The more you ski in the more solitude you find. Once again, I was all by myself in there. I know it's not very wise, but I seem to enjoy skiing alone more... I don't know why. After two runs there, each of which required a skate all the way back down to the base, I realized it was getting a bit soft and bitey at the bottom, so it was nearing time to call it a day. It was still snowing hard over the whole mountain, but the snow was getting heavier and stickier... I knew either a run to explore more new ground or a Trestle closer was in order.

I remembered closing my Super Pass season with a run down Trestle feeling as fitting as a great Squirming Coil to end a Phish show... Today's last run down I had hopes of finding the mythical Topher's Trees. A friend told me how to get there, which I won't share with you :), but I've seen the plaque and now know the way, so you can be sure I'll be there next year. While I didn't quite make it all the way to Topher's secret stash which is now legendary, I was in completely uncharted territory (in MJ, for me, at least) which turned out to be pure bliss. At one point about half way down from the chair to the car, I stopped to catch my breath and admire the solitude. I mistakenly stopped about 10 feet above a guy apparently doing the same thing. He looked at me with a completely content grin on his face. "Pretty nice, huh?" was all he said. I think we were both beside ourselves. All I could do was nod, "Yup." The trees reminded me almost exactly of a run at Silverton from a month ago.... the same pitch, the same spacing, the same feeling... it was eerie. But fantastic. I truly could not have been happier with the day.

I love how big Mary Jane feels. You see tons of cars in the parking lot but it's easy to get away from everybody on your own track through the trees. I'll go ahead and say now that in hopes of history repeating itself again, you can bet that I'll be at The Jane on Closing Saturday of 2014. From my Topher's exploration, I skied Corona all the way to the Jeep, unclicked as I opened the door, and headed home with another season in the history books.

A breakdown of my days at resorts this season:

1 day at Telluride and Powderhorn
2 days at Steamboat, Silverton and Loveland
4 days at Copper
5 days at Winter Park

Silverton deserves a full write-up here as well, but time will tell if I get to that. In closing I'll say this, though. On our run on Rope Dee Dope 2, I was completely filled with a total euphoric feeling of content and satisfaction. I remember audibly thanking God for giving me the physical ability to be able to do what I was doing in the present moment. At the bottom, I looked up and tried to freeze the view into memory by staring up at the run for a long time before heading to the cat track and the bus waiting to take us up on another glorious run. That was, to date, the best and most rewarding run of my life. I really can't forget that feeling and hope I make it to Terrapin Station again real soon.

Inside Job film

2011-04-12T23:49:00.004-06:00

I know I'm long overdue on updates here, and have many things to write, but am especially compelled right now to try to tell everybody I can to see the film Inside Job. I try to not use the word "terrorism" lightly, but this film effectively proves that Wall Street is a virus or welcomed terrorist organization to our government and the global economy.

Inside Job is a documentary about the 2008 global economic crisis that was caused by only a few dozen men who today, amazingly, find themselves largely still with the power to cause another identical crisis without repercussion. These coked-out stripper-fanatics find themselves rich beyond belief, in positions of great power, and I would assume with the same mindset that they're too big to fail or can't be blamed for whatever actions they take to gain more power or wealth. They're employed by our government and shaping it to their liking (i.e. rewriting tax laws and deregulating to bend rules). Even today, these douche-bags are speaking out to encourage Congress to allow us to exceed our 14.3 TRILLION dollar debt ceiling... I'm wondering if we shouldn't just call it quits, allow the US to default on its treasury obligations and start the civil war which would inevitably allow Canada to invade (most likely scenario, right?). They have raped the average American citizen of their taxes and income, diluted the ability of this once great nation to educate its youth, pave its streets and prosper. They're still employed on Wall Street and are even heads of America's finest universities. They drove companies into bankruptcy and walked away with millions only to became contracted advisors to those same companies to the tune of one million dollars a month... these are companies which the American taxpayer now sadly owns because they were too big to fail.

Narrated by Matt Damon, the film clearly explains what happened, how, and why... and presents the explanation that this same thing can and will happen again unless major change is brought about. I don't like to think of myself as an alarmist or extremist, but over the last several years I have come to wonder whether the United States isn't destined for implosion in the very near future. Our education system is deplorable. Our national debt is unfathomable. Our collective concern is minimal. It seems more and more that we're heading in that direction. In short, this country is up shit creek. I used to think that apathy and ignorance were the two greatest fatal flaws in this country, but now I wonder if Wall St. greed isn't actually #1 on that short list.

There are popular films about corporate greed such as Fun with Dick and Jane which aren't alarmist or concerning, and there are plenty of documentaries about corporate greed (Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room is also good) to leave you want for a bomb, a CEO's address, and some spare time, but this has to be the most rational and best one I've seen. I would honestly argue it should be required viewing for all United States citizens and registered voters. I should stop now or risk getting thrown in jail, but for more info you can also check out the NY Times review of the same film: http://movies.nytimes.com/2010/10/08/movies/08inside.html. Seriously, watch the film.

2010-2011 ski season in full swing

2011-01-23T17:26:00.004-07:00

I started this ski season off slowly, with only 3 days in December; day 1 on tele's at Winter Park, day 2 at Copper on my alpines for a great powder day that completely worked my legs (my first in my new alpine boots.. more on that later), and day 3 back at Winter Park splitting equal time on alpine and tele.

I started on tele because early season snow conditions didn't provide any reason to go on my alpines, but primarily I didn't want to ski another day in my old alpine boots. I still have them, but I made the decision to fork over the cash and move on to try to progress my alpine skiing this season in stiffer boots that actually fit me. I had read and been told that boots are the most important piece of ski gear to get right, and I now have first hand experience with that as well. All last season I was constantly adjusting my boots... tightening to try and stiffen them up to react, and then un-tightening because of lack of blood flow to my feet... and it was horrible. Simply put, my first pair of ski boots didn't fit me well and were too soft for what I was asking of them. My latest pair of boots (so far) could not be further from that situation. They're extremely stiff and responsive, and require almost no adjustment during an entire day on the slopes. Having boots that actually drive my skis is obviously critical, but I don't think I realized what a difference it would make. It has unquestionably improved my skiing. I now, for really the first time, understand how to drive my skis - steering with flexed ankles and knees instead of torso or quad muscles. And it is really wonderful. I feel like I've ranted about that long enough, but honestly, I feel like this year is way ahead of last year already by making a simple equipment change which I probably should have made early last season.

Despite having 3 nice days, I really didn't feel like I was off to a good start, and something was missing. Welcome January. January has been truly outstanding in terms of skiing (I've skied 4 of the last 16 days) and I can't wait to see how the rest of the season turns out. The first of my 4 days this month was a really nice bump day at Mary Jane... a good endurance test, if you will... lap after lap with no breaks and variable snow conditions. The next 2 were great powder days at Copper. This year has really reopened my eyes to what a great mountain Copper is. The first included walking from the cat ski pickup to the top of Tucker Mountain (sounds insane and probably is) when one of the cats was broken down... another great endurance test, but highly rewarding. The 2nd was a Wednesday PTO day that was hands down the nicest snow I've skied in Summit County across all 4 seasons I've been skiing here. Notes to self: Tucker Mountain, everything off the Mountain Chief lift, Union Meadows, Gold digger trees...

The snow this Wednesday, however, was trumped today, by the lighter variety Brian and I found all day long at Loveland. [Based on how great days have been trumped so far this season, I fully expect to be skiing waist deep Steamboat champagne in February. Time will tell. Anyways... ] We really seemed to hit the jackpot. Even the runs that were intended more as traverses yielded some of the most blissful turns of my short skiing career. Loveland being Loveland, it was windy as can be and there were some really variable / rock hard patches, but overall the snow was phenomenal. We had 3 great runs on The Ridge, very nice deep freshies in glades on several runs, and clear blue skies to boot. Today's snow and conditions are exactly why people fall in love with skiing.

I feel like each day out I get a bit more confident, and today helped a lot with that. I think I'm getting better at recognizing snow conditions and adjusting my form for powder, crud, hard pack, etc. I know my cycling over the summer has helped my legs and cardio conditioning, so I must keep up with that this spring/summer/fall. My legs are requiring fewer stops to recover and I'm keeping up with my peers. I'm still not good at jumping cornices or dropping in on steep descents, but I'm working on that. I actually for the first time feel like a fairly solid (not great, but very capable) skier. Long story short, I'm really psyched about how this season has gone, and am excited for the 2nd half.

welcome 2011

2010-12-31T23:09:00.005-07:00

This is my 3rd year of writing about the year ahead. Last year's post was fairly short. To summarize, here were the 2010 goals...

Conversational fluency in Spanish. I have a tutor for this and so far I'm headed in the right direction.
- Huge progress made. I'm by no means a native speaker, but I'm getting a lot better in my Spanish every month.
Working fewer nights and weekends. This must happen.
- This was accomplished in a big way as well; maybe too much so. More on that later...
More regular reading of the Bible. 2008 definitely saw a dip in my time in the Word and memorization of scriptures. I need to change that trend this year.
- Very little progress made. This goal extends into 2011 for sure.
In 2007 I made it to Vail for some lift-assisted downhill riding one day. In 2008 I logged zero days. In 2009 I want to increase that number... if I could also get a few days in around Crested Butte that would just be the cat's freaking meow.
- No progress made, although I did make huge strides in cycling. I might have to tweak this goal a bit.
Avalanche certification and snow climb classes leading to couloir climbs and backcountry skiing (in the Indian Peaks in particular). No questions or excuses. This must happen. Specific objectives include Skywalker Couloir, Quandary Couloir, Mt. Toll and the Brainard Lakes area. This should plant the seed to set Mt. Rainier as an objective in years to come. [30th birthday? It does me no good to have named my cat after a mountain without having climbed it, right?]
- Some progress made. Hopefully this will continue into 2011.
More 14er ascents. We'll inevitably explore new ranges this year, which I'm looking forward to. I'd like to start the season early this year and extend it as late as we did this year. Hopefully without sounding like a snob, I'd like to take the most pleasing (and attainable) line to the top and not just the standard route if the standard route would be considered less interesting. I want each ascent to be as inspiring as Huron was for me, and more about the experience in the mountains than just ticking a peak off a list.
- Progress made.... I'm 1/3 finished with the 54 14ers. Hopefully there will be more outings to write about next year.
Phish is back on the road. I will attend at least 1 show!

Cross this one off the list. I saw 2 shows this year and couldn't have been happier with both. I've now seen them 8 times. If I can see more, great.

The 2011 version of the list is basically:

Spanish
- I'm probably heading to Peru in May, so Spanish improvement will need to continue. Having specific dates and trips has helped me in the past, so it should this year too.
Excel at work
- The work goal is a bit of a weird one for me right now. 2010 on the job was good for me, with a project that effectively lasted the entire year. I think, however, it was a bit vague and at times I lost focus. I found myself floundering. I found myself in a major lull towards the middle/end of the year and actually questioned how much longer I would be a software developer. I'm really not sure what to think about that, but I hope whatever direction this year takes me, I aspire with vigor in that direction. I know that I am a project person; I am at my best and most passionate at work when I am working on a project I don't necessarily know how to complete when I start but am curious about how to complete. Maybe I need a new problem to solve. I really like who I work with and what I do, so who knows what this means. Time will tell.
Time in The Bible
Improve my running, cycling/riding, climbing, and skiing
- I want to be better at climbing hills on my bike. Here are two ride goals: Jamestown/Ward and Copper Triangle.
- I want to run a half marathon or at least a couple 10k's, and improve my 5k time of 25:04 from last summer.
- I want to ski expert runs on my tele's and have 2 great days at Silverton before the end of the season.
- I want to climb outside more than 2010, which is to say, zero days...
maintain zero credit card debt
- I will be at 3 years in the condo as of March 9, 2012, so if I want to either sell the condo or move to a different place with the condo as a secondary property I will need to be in a good spot financially early in 2012.
bonus: keep a better bedtime/wake-up schedule
bonus: go extended periods of time without eating meat or drinking alcohol
bonus: see Ohio State football in person again

This list probably seems ridiculous, because it essentially asks me to simultaneously work on physical and spiritual health, as well as do my best on the job and my primary hobbies while managing my finances. That is nearly everyone's ultimate goal, and attained by almost nobody. Eliminating distractions and staying focused will be key.

Pasajes de Costa Rica, viaje 2, día 9

2010-11-15T21:42:00.002-07:00

10/31/2010 Sunday

Happy Halloween from above what I would guess is Caribbean water owned by Honduras. Delta is once again carrying me back to native soil. The day started with a power outage at the hotel. Thankfully the coffee was already made. Breakfast was good, with toast, banana, pineapple and watermelon. After that my first hot water shower in probably 10 days. Brilliant!! Simple pleasures, I guess... After a slight cockroach incident I walked from 29th to 15th along Paseo Colon and caught the bus to the airport. The owner of the hotel gave me directions to the station on a map, and I said, "Ok, just just turn right at 15th street?" to which he replied, "Well, you won't find 15th street. The numbers are just for the maps... we don't use them. You'll know because the road gets narrow." No joke... my gringo brain still has trouble with the addresses here. For example, the official address of the Colombian restaurant I ate at last night is, seriously, San Jose de Costa Rica, 100 metros norte de KFC del paseo colon. What?!?! Anyways, the bus cost 450 colones (about 80 cents)... public transit is so cheap here it's unbelievable. A taxi would have been almost $20. In the airport I bought a chorreador... amazingly, it was a better price in the airport than anywhere else I traveled. A Canadian girl from Luna Llena (Montezuma) recognized me and we chatted for a bit. [I didn't remember much about her other than getting an ATV stuck in a river and a very personal conversation she was having with her friend rather openly. They were discussing very private psychological and sexual freedoms her and her boyfriend had talked about or done. It surprised me they didn't mind mind other people hearing them... I definitely wasn't eavesdropping; we couldn't help hearing them from our card game. I also remember this starting a conversation about how easy it is for an American to recognize a Canadian, but how difficult it is for the rest of the world to distinguish between American and Canadian English.] I also recognized several people from the ATL airport from the flight down... small world. Shopping for Cuban cigars I talked to a Tica who was working, dressed up as a witch and handing out candy. [We're now flying over a chain of islands surrounded by water so turquoise it looks fake. My guess is San Andrés, Colombia but who knows. That place is on my list... Also, the best part of flying Delta is still the Biscoff cookies.] She is apparently finishing college and then hopes to travel in the US; has a friend living in Colorado. She told me her favorite language is English, especially how it sounds when spoken by native speakers. That surprised me, given how so many people like the sound of Spanish more than English. Apparently along with electronics, it is also cheaper to buy running shoes (she was a runner) from online stores in the US and have them shipped to Costa Rica. Bizarre. This girl was so nice. All Ticos, really, are. Easy to talk to, genuine, with big and authentic smiles.

Overall, this was a good trip. I honestly wish it had rained less but regardless I got to see more of Costa Rica and relax. I don't think there were many major epiphanies but I think I proved to myself that I'm capable of travelling in other parts of Latin America where English is less prolific. Up next could be Peru, Colombia, Bolivia, Chile or Argentina. I obviously couldn't hide the fact that I wasn't local, so I was greeted with "hi" as often as "hola" but feel like I did well with Spanish. The exception to that rule is San José. Josefinos don't seem to speak much English and don't seem to care whether you speak Spanish (but typically not in a rude way). I also learned my next trip needs to be 2 weeks at a bare minimum. 1 is simply not enough. I learned some things about Tico Spanish:

It is much more formal (usted) on the Pacific side than the Caribbean (tú)
Conversationally, they end a large percentage of sentences with, ", ¿verdad?" or ", ¿cierto?"
Young guys start and end sentences with "mae" (i.e. Dude, that wave was great dude!)
They use vos / sos but it seems fairly rare... maybe mostly non-locals

I know a year ago I wouldn't have noticed these things. Progress. And speaking of, it seems now I'm ready for winter. I need to really crush it on the skis and keep up the cycling through the winter. I have a lot of goals... time to write 'em down and get crackin.

Pasajes de Costa Rica, viaje 2, día 8

2010-11-15T12:25:00.006-07:00

10/30/2010 Saturday

I am in about as different a position as is possible to be in after just 24 hours. No beach 100 meters down a gravel path... paved highway instead. Closed windows, a cool temperature, hot water readily available. Cable TV even. No bugs in the room to bite during the night. You get the idea.

For the 2nd time this trip I woke up to catch a 6am bus. Last night after the movie ("Silence of the Lambs") I decided it was time and packed up. Ara gave me a hug and wished me safe travels. Then I walked into my room and saw a big spider... probably 1" x 2" with eyes reflecting green. I turned the lights on and the fan all the way up so she left. I kept the fan on just in case. Gabby also caught the San José bus to go back to school after visiting her dad, so we sat next to each other on the ferry. She's going through college 2 classes at a time while working about 60 hrs / week. Incredible. Once back on land, the bus stopped at the Coca Cola station. What a zoo! I will avoid that in the future if possible. I was so exhausted from riding in a bus for 6 hours that I took a cab all of 5 blocks (₡500 ~ 95 cents), checked in and laid down for a nap. I discovered college football on ABC from a Denver channel. (The same horrible political ads from home on TV all the way down here... uggh) After almost 3 hours of drifting in and out of sleep I got up and walked out for dinner. I had planned on going to Machu Picchu like last year (nearby, delicious, accepts credit cards...) but it was before 5pm so they weren't open. No problem; right across the street was a Colombian restaurant, Mi Parrilla Colombiana. Jackpot :) My waiter was Colombian and even showed me on a map where my aguardiente came from. My dinner was the bandeja paisa; rice, beans, a fried egg, ground beef, sausage, plantains and a platano tortilla, avacado and chicharrón (pork belly... when in Rome, don't ask, just eat) on all one plate. I also had a beer and a shot of aguardiente plus café con leche and vanilla flan for dessert, all for $17 with tip and tax. Very reasonable. My budding Colombia fascination was spurred on by this meal, so I think I have to go there next. The restaurant was very nice; Colombian MTV in the background (not over the top), with paintings, maps and photos celebrating the owner's homeland. [sidenote: based on the musicians on the TV, I have to say, Colombia has an immense wealth of talented musicians] I think I need to improve my aguardiente skills though; I overdid the salt. There were several kinds so I just told him to pick whichever he liked the most. I got a plate of limes, a pile of salt, and 1 chilled shot. My waiter told me to shoot, not sip, and watched with anticipation. That stuff goes down really easy. He seemed proud of his selection for me and was happy to hear I liked it.

Pasajes de Costa Rica, viaje 2, día 7

2010-11-15T12:05:00.003-07:00

10/29/2010 Friday

Finally a day without rain! It wasn't exactly clear skies all day but still, no torrential downpours. I did some reading in the morning and then surfed a bit. The tide was low and going out, so the waves were small, but that was good for me. It was my first time without an instructor so I was happy enough to be able to pick the right wave, stand up, and ride it all the way in. I did that several times. I was on a shorter board and it was very noticeable, but still not impossible.

Afterwards I walked the shops a bit and bought a painting of a scarlet macaw on banana paper... my 1 souvenir from the trip. The girl who owned the shop was born here and has lived in Santa Teresa all her life. She said her owning of the store was coming on 2 years next week. Hers, like all the others, had a pile of muddy flip flops outside. The road is so bad you honestly would just be mopping up mud all day long unless you made people go barefoot in your store. I would guess 30% of the road is potholes full of mud. It was re-done last December, brand new, but needs re-done again already. I have mud all up my legs and the back of my shorts just from walking on the road. After surfing yesterday my instructor and I were picked up by an ATV for a lift to the shop. I rode facing backwards, legs hanging off the back, behind the driver. When we got back, no more than 1/2 mile on the road, my legs looked like I had taken a mud bath. In the dry season it's dust instead.

There's a 6:30 and a 2:30 bus to San José from here. I'm not sure how long it takes. I don't want to get in really late but if I can spend more time on the coast, I will. Just doing nothing but watching the waves and listening to the palms sway is fine by me.

Pasajes de Costa Rica, viaje 2, día 6

2010-11-14T22:56:00.005-07:00

10/28/2010 Thursday

I slept pretty well but the room was really hot. Or humid. Both. I'll probably use the fan tonight. Shortly after waking up the power went out for several hours. Marta was quite upset in a joking way. She cracks me up. I went to the bank and they had power. I got really upset at myself for the bank teller having to use English to tell me where the pharmacy was. Our entire conversation had been in Spanish until I could not understand her saying, "frente de la calle" through the glass. She didn't speak English so she had to ask somebody how to say it in English. I was mad my mental ear didn't pick up on what she was saying. At any rate, the pharmacy did not have power, but I picked up some after-bite aloe stuff but actually now think my right hand has some kind of poison ivy. I was careful not to touch plants I didn't recognize on this trip so I don't know what happened. That and the bug bites seem to be improving. I read for a bit and decided to take the road north instead of the beach... walked almost to Manzanillo without rain. I walked the beach back to Casa Zen and walked up to check on surf lessons / rentals. I decided to do the lesson right then. The guy who I setup the lesson from was Israeli and thought I was too, so I had no idea what in the world he was saying until he switched to English. After about 90 minutes I had caught several waves, and I was exhausted. My instructor was from Santiago, Chile and was funny. We kept swapping back and forth between Spanish and English in the conversation, but his instructions were always in Spanish. ¡Eso, eso! I have the board for 24 hours so I should be able to surf again in the morning for a few hours.

A few people showed up to stay here today, to the staff are happy about that. Speaking of the staff, they're hilarious, probably the most animated talkers and story tellers I've ever seen. I think Aracely takes the cake... she's tiny (about 5'2" and thin) but works tirelessly. Even if you put her on mute her stories would still make you laugh. She has a huge smile and talks with her whole body. Her voice sounds very young. I've heard she has 3 kids, 2 of them in Nicaragua. They must have been 3 lbs coming out... I'm not sure how she did it otherwise. Somebody keeps calling here and she's dealing with that... wrong number over and over.

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Tonight's movie was "Invasion" and the power went out. Afterwards I checked my email over the wifi at the cafe on the corner. The girl I ordered my chai from was Argentine... holy crap. Jaw meet floor. She had dark skin and dark hair, but very contrasting hazel eyes, skinny legs in designer jeans. Mi. a. freaking. mor. Did I mention that an Argentine accent with English is my favorite version of English? I only talked to her and her friend (an Israeli girl with some of the longest hair I've ever seen) for a minute but she used "vos" instead of "tú" with me and I was able to follow despite being a thrown off momentarily. My Spanish listening is definitely improving, despite the bank incident.

Pasajes de Costa Rica, viaje 2, día 5

2010-11-14T22:38:00.004-07:00

10/27/2010 Wednesday

Speaking of doing things alone, I have discovered that I am the only one with reservations at Casa Zen for the 3 nights I'll be here. This is bizarre considering this same week last year they were turning people away. It will just be the sound of the rain and me here tonight... a bit of a weird feeling about that. I should make progress on another book, to say the least. Me and the staff watched "Nightmare Before Christmas" tonight. (Also, several of the staff here recognized me when I got here, which surprised me.) But before that... I came by bus from Montezuma. The bus "stop" there is a gravel lot. Luckily there were buses and people standing around, or I would have walked right by it. I had to ask the driver which bus to get on... they weren't marked. On the 2nd bus (Cóbano > Santa Teresa) I talked to an Argentine guy for a while. He showed me photos of Chile and Argentina on his camera; one of Aconcagua (climbing it is a life goal) from what must have been near the first base camp. I showed him photos from the top of Mt. Democrat. When I got to Casa Zen it started raining. After a while it cleared so I walked the beach north a mile or so. I really hope it's sunny tomorrow. The beach was nice but a lot of wood and trees down. The storm that brought the tornado to Manuel Antonio must have torn apart a lot of the coast. I don't know if it's La Niña here as well or not. Either way, it seems everyone is tired of it. Tomorrow I'll get busy one was or another... feeling inactive and idle. Surfing should fix that. That reminds me, the only other person getting a ride to Montezuma on the speed boat was surfing here today. I guess the waves in Montezuma weren't ideal. [I thought they looked great, but all breaks seemed to have major consequences if you fell. Not so here.] He was from Israel, spoke pretty good English.

Pasajes de Costa Rica, viaje 2, día 4

2010-11-14T22:08:00.003-07:00

10/26/2010 Tuesday

The rain started last night (around 10pm, I would guess based on the moon... I put my watch away on purpose). The canopy is still ingesting this morning. The sky yawns and goes from emitting mist to (only barely more coagulated) rain, and back. It's going to rain a lot today. A big bushy-tailed red squirrel lazily eats berries in the treetop next to me. On the ground a raccoon / anteater mix thing walked by. In the distance I cannot distinguish the horizon. It was obvious yesterday. I didn't have a plan for today, and the weather has ensured I catch up on reading in wicker chairs from a second-floor balcony. It's a nice day for a hammock, which is fine because the book I'm reading is quite good. His descriptions of skiing epic days at Wolf Creek, and skiing in general, have me really excited for ski season. I know exactly what the dude is describing. It's one of the best feelings on earth. So is this... Costa Rica. I feel really spoiled that I can enjoy both. I'm not exactly sure what I should (or have to) do to get that feeling to go away. For starters, I'm going to walk into town when the rain stops.

-----

Night. It turned out a fairly uneventful day. I ended up going for a bit of a hike, though, when the sky cleared. The beaches north of Montezuma are beautiful ...but full of trash. Very disappointing. Pretty but in need of cleaning. I bought some groceries and stayed in, chatting with a newly married couple (an English guy learning Spanish from his Spanish wife) and then playing rummy with a girl from New York, a Canadian, and a Westminster, CO native. Later a German guy joined. He told stories of hiking snow-free 6,000m peaks in Bolivia. It sounds like a trip to Bolivia and Peru for mountaineering is in order. I also finished the book... a good read. The author reminded me of Darren, which made me think of traveling alone. I know that's looked down upon a bit, but then again I do a lot of things alone. More than I should. I'll get that figured out soon enough.

Pasajes de Costa Rica, viaje 2, día 3

2010-11-07T23:55:00.003-07:00

10/25/2010 Monday
Yesterday was quite a day. It's hard to believe it was just my first full day in the country... an extreme variety of experiences, starting at 6am. I woke up at first light even with all the curtains closed. I believe the temperature also played a role there. At any rate, I was met at the hotel at 8am by a guide for Manuel Antonio National Park and was paired with a Canadian couple for a "3 hour tour." Our guide's English was very good. He encouraged me in my Spanish while we walked ("and, Brett, how do you say that in Spanish?..."). Right out of the gate, we saw lots of lizards, monkeys, sloths, etc. The beaches were also beautiful. At the end of the tour my guide walked me back to the hotel.
I already had decent photos of Capuchin and 3-toed sloths but wanted to try to find some Howlers and go for a swim, so I went back to the park in the afternoon. I had some great luck and ended up finding some Howlers and a 2-toed sloth, which I took a ton of photos of. After the sloth sighting I spotted a big lizard on a volcanic rock a bit further down the beach. It looked like a great photo so I walked closer. I got within 20 feet and mistakenly walked into a swarm of big black flies that seemed to have stingers. They didn't seem to notice for a minute, but once they decided I was worth paying attention to it was as if I had kicked a hornet's nest. I didn't get stung but dozens landed on my shirt, legs, backpack, in my hair... I must have been quite a sight for everybody else on Third Beach, flailing and running away. Humbled and confused as to what just happened, I decided some beach time was necessary. I stayed at Third Beach for a while but ended up swimming at Second Beach. Not for long though... After diving into/under several sets of waves I got caught off guard and made a fool for the second time in as many hours. I dove under a head high wave which had a twin right behind it. The first one lifted me directly into the second one (I didn't dive deep enough) so I literally got put through the wash, extreme rinse cycle... First a full back flip under water then thrown around to the point where I didn't know which way was up, honestly. It was about the same experience as getting flipped in a tiny kayak in class 3 rapids, from my recollection, but the kayak memory seems less chaotic. At least nobody saw the beach disaster, but still, I decided 2 strikes was enough and I didn't need a third.
For dinner I walked next door to Backpacker Hostel Costa Linda, the same place I saw people feeding a group of Squirrel Monkeys earlier... bananas. Better than french fries, but still not good. I had the chicken curry, which was awesome. Pineapple, paprika, chicken, rice - I need to try to reproduce when I get home. The 3 brothers from the van to Manuel Antonio walked up to my table and ate dinner with me. A girl from Georgia (Elizabeth) joined. I recognized her from the beach / park earlier in the day. She has an interesting story, traveling from farm to farm as an organic farmer (in the WWOOF program), hoping to learn Spanish. A Dutch girl (Mareshka from Amsterdam) joined us. She had come up from Corcovado where she was the only person stay at her hotel... apparently saw jaguar prints on the beach frequently. I must visit there. We got a deck of cards and started playing drinking games. Long story short, we lined up a row up empty bottles about 7 feet long, and Elizabeth wasn't even drinking. We actually drank the bar out of Pilsen so we switched to Imperial. Amazingly my bill was $21. That's a lot for Costa Rica, but not bad for a huge plate of food and about 7 beers. After beer 4 or 5 I switched to coffee (free all the time there). As if mixing depressants and stimulants wasn't bad enough, I actually got a craving for a cigarette (?!) and acted on it. Twice. Mareshka was smoking and it smelled really good. Considering I have only smoked maybe 2 cigarettes in my life before, this was bizarre. The wheels pretty much came off.
Needless to say, I was shocked that I got up and caught the 6:30 bus to Quepos > Jacó. Jacó does not seem like my kind of town. I caught a van to Playa Herradura and the speed boat to Montezuma from there. (The speed boat is not for the faint of heart.) I'm at Luna Llena now. I think I could stay here for a long time. It's a steep hill up from town and basically build into the canopy. Howler and Capuchin monkeys are in the trees literally 5 steps out my door. The capuchins in particular jump with reckless abandon from the roof into the almond, palm and banana trees. Pura vida. There are tons of wildflowers in bloom, butterflies, etc. A bizarre reddish rodent just walked by. The tide comes in, the tide goes out. There's not a lot going on here.
I just learned the use of the deep gutters/ditches next to all the roads are. Not only would it be impossible to lay pipes in the ground where landslides obliterate roads on a consistent basis, but also, and this is fairly common, the drains from the sinks run directly into the ground. I feel kinda bad for the soil for all that, and hope that improves in the future. All the frogs drowning in soap are probably not happy... but with all the rain we're having now, it probably isn't their biggest concern.
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I forgot to mention where we got the cards for drinking games last night. A British guy at the table next to us loaned them. He and his girlfriend were on their way back to San José for surgery follow-up. He had stitches that day from a surfing accident. Apparently he had (used to have?) a deviated (until today?) septum and was able to finally breathe out of both nostrils for the first time in years after getting whacked right between the eyes by his board.
The moon is coming up now. It's really dark here so the stars should be great if the clouds break. I've noticed a few things... This is a very different crowd than everywhere else I've ever stayed in Costa Rica. People are making dinners from scratch with groceries from the super down the hill. I think I'm the only American - the Europeans are all (most, not all) chain smoking and drinking wine. It's a more mature crowd... mostly older too. More independent. Nag Champa has been burning a long time and seems to help with the mosquitoes. I've never seen this kind before... it's burning in a coil that looks like it belongs on a stove top. A very slow burn (about 1/2 a rotation - 180 degrees in an hour). The radio is on, blaring 20 year old American music. It's horrible. The van driver to Manuel Antonio was playing similar stuff on Saturday, by choice. All the worst USA break-up songs of all time. I pray everybody knows this isn't actually what we listen to anymore. I have a strange desire to apologize at a yell for Richard Marx, Hall & Oates, and the Bengals. We've moved on. I admit to owning a Richard Marx CD. I sold it 20 years ago. I also just realized the Asian theme here; Nepalese prayer flags, Buddha statues and paintings, incense.
Even after the hour-long speed boat and multiple showers I still have sand in my hair from yesterday's disaster in the waves. I need another shower now. In need of a cleansing after last night. I had a vegetarian dinner, without alcohol (500ml of Gatorade and several liters of water instead today), right on the beach. I just watched the bats fly around and the sun set. I might run some hills tomorrow. The hill down to the beach probably averages 15% and would be nice on a bike. Yep, a cleansing is in order.

Pasajes de Costa Rica, viaje 2, día 1

2010-11-04T22:32:00.004-06:00

10/23/2010 Saturday
This trip caught me off guard. Two weeks ago I had no reservations. Ideas but no plans set. I thought about winging the whole thing but now am happy I have the plans I do. I'm not sure what I'm expecting from the trip, but I'm excited. On the flight from DIA to ATL I sat next to the lady who read and crunched sunflower seeds all flight... no sleep. From ATL to SJO I read 1/3 of a biography about a ski bum from Wolf Creek. It was a bit confusing flying through a tropical storm reading about neck-deep powder. I think this trip signifies the end of fall for me. A little bit of summer before winter in November. My Spanish is definitely better. On the SJO flight I talked to a Tico in Spanish. He was returning from Boston... loaded up on electronics. Apparently it's much cheaper to buy that stuff in the US. Good chat with the taxi driver too. I'm not en route to Manuel Antonio. I'm really pumped for the park tomorrow. I got a text that OSU beat Purdue (49-0, exactly as I like to see) so now the phone is off.

8pm. Just wrapped up a funny dinner that has me wishing I had a whole week booked at Vela Bar. My room is awesome. A fridge, A/C, fan, attached bathroom, tons of windows. I booked a guide for tomorrow and discovered with WiFi during dinner... not to mention experienced probably the hardest sustained rainfall of my life. Horrific waves of clouds are sweeping in off the Pacific. We're in a lull right now. But seriously, on the drive in, it was raining so hard that the windshield wipers on full blast weren't really helping visibility. Streams gushed across the road. Every trough/lane of the Spanish tile roof here seems as if somebody has turned a faucet on at the top of it... curtains of rain. It's a refreshing change from Boulder. And speaking of small worlds, on the bus ride in, one group was from Austin and the other were from San Diego with ties to Active and RegOnline.
Once I was established, I ate. The theme of dinner became, "well, I've never had that before..." Rainy season is 2 for 1 happy hour, so I got 2 blackberry coladas (I thought it would just be half price but actually was given 2). The sailfish casado was excellent. My waitor was extremely nice; asked me where I'd been already, where I was going, commented on my Spanish and asked how I had learned, etc. The room and staff here are great. I hope tomorrow is too. This trip went from backburner to "pick up right where we left off last Halloween" in about 6 hours.

You're not who I thought you were...

2010-10-20T21:33:00.007-06:00

Well, I've been here before. Staring a horrible Ohio State loss right in the face, wondering how I had been duped again. Just weeks before I had been convinced that it seemed only Alabama was a worthy opponent to this Buckeye team. I knew that this wasn't the best Ohio State team I had ever seen, but they seemed good enough to win all their games, even in a strong year across the Big Ten. With an explosive offense clicking and Pryor much improved as a passer and decision-maker, it seemed like the defense (usually the stronger side of the ball) could at least contain opponents to fewer points than the Terrelle show would put up. That clearly was not the case in Madison this week. The defense couldn't contain to save their lives, and the Terrelle show never showed up. Jim Tressel was out-coached and his team was embarrassed on both sides of the ball from the opening kickoff to the final second. Wisconsin simply outsmarted our defense, and their defense was far more aggressive than the Ohio State offense. They set out to protect home turf and did so with alarming success.

I take this crap personally. When they lose I question myself...

How could I not have seen this coming? What led me to be duped by another team with no heart? I must be really gullible.
Maybe my football IQ is really low.
Why would I get so mentally invested in a team that is mediocre at best?

Ohio State football is a strange addiction. There are more fan blogs with solid analysis and football intelligence than a lot of NFL teams... more than any other college team I've compared on Google.** People from Ohio don't care as much about the Indians, Browns, Reds or the Bengals than they do the Buckeyes. With LeBron in Miami, nobody gives a rip about the Cavs. There are no beaches in Ohio to spend Saturday enjoying in the fall, no mountains to climb and be distracted by. There aren't even other in-state schools to pull would-be fans away like you have in California or Alabama. There are only the Buckeyes.

And yet, sometimes it looks like the Buckeyes don't seem to care. With that in mind, here are a few things that need addressed:

Everyone and their grandma is returning punts or kickoffs for TDs against our specials teams this season. I have no explanation for this, other than the cheerleaders have clearly stolen the OSU special teams player's jerseys and snuck onto the field.
Pryor has said many times that he hates losing. I believe him, but I don't know whether the rest of the team feels the same way he does, including the coaches. Tressel seemed content to punt instead of going for a few 4th downs to try and squeak out a victory. I don't understand that. I just don't get the sense that the coaching staff and players have an intense desire to win. You're the effing Ohio State Buckeyes for crying out loud. You MUST win. Who the hell taught you it was OK to lose?!? In my lifetime OSU has won only 1 national championship. It better not be 30 years before they win another. These coaches and players need to realize how awful losing is, and to overcome that complacency. I want to see them push the other team over, get back up, and push them over again, without any question, ever, as to who was the better team or who wanted to win more. Along the same line, it feels to me like there is a mental ceiling on these guys. If they play anybody ranked higher than 8 or 9, they pee their pants and don't believe they can win. C'mon guys, is this not THEE Ohio State University we're talking about here? Where's the confidence?
I don't know another team or coach that CAN NOT get the ball in the end zone like Ohio State can't. It's like there's a damn vortex Tressel teams are afraid of in the end zone. There might as well be bad vibes associated with 7 points or something. This has been the case for years, so I attribute it to play calling (predictable), the offensive line coaching (abundant lethargy), and whoever is in charge of getting these kids hungry for victory. There are tens of thousands of people who would like to (and may actually be qualified to) steal an Ohio State coaching job. I'm not saying ditch The Vest, but it might be time to shake up the old dogs in Columbus town and replace them with people that are hungry for paydirt.
I'm not entirely against predictable play calling (see Wisconsin), but I am vehemently opposed to unsuccessful play calling (see Ohio State). Wisconsin was incredibly predictable yet incredibly successful on Saturday night. Tressel seems stubborn as hell sometimes, and flat out stupid to call the same play 3 times in a row from 1st and goal on the 3. There are waaaaaay too many good offensive weapons on this team to go down in flames the same way 3 times in a row.
Which brings me to my next point. Why try using unproven plays and players in favor of what worked in the past? I know that runs the risk of being predictable, but it seems dumb to avoid going to the guys who got you to your #1 ranking in favor of true freshman. Why the hell didn't Saine see more action in Madison? Stoneburner might as well have not gotten on the plane in Columbus... it's like he wasn't on the field. Yes, Posey has had butter fingers lately, but instead, Pryor threw to C. Brown (freshman, 3rd string?) and Fragel (sophomore, 2nd string) when we needed key plays.
In the face of adversity over the past several seasons, Tressel tries to put on a magic show. I think this started with USC in '08. It makes us look stupid. Do you really need to try to survive with silly trickery? That tells me you don't have faith in your team. If I were an opposing coach ranked higher than 12, I would be excited to host a Tressel team right now... you know they're going to shoot themselves in the foot at least once with a dumb idea we haven't seen yet and won't see again this year. The play calling in the Indiana game just 1 week ago was probably the best offensive scheme I've seen from Tress in several years. WHERE DID THAT GUY GO?!? Again, there's some kind of mental ceiling on these guys.

I know Madison is a tough place to get a win... the Badgers have the best home record this decade in the Big Ten. Ok. And there are a ton of injuries on this team. Ok. Yet I was still surprised they couldn't win on the road. Clearly Pryor is more injured than anybody is supposed to know. Maybe Stoneburner is still hurt but nobody was supposed to know. Homan and Bryant are out for a few games, leaving the limping secondary in even more pathetic shape. This defense is quickly becoming a freshman-only squad. I guess the experience will prove valuable in the future, but still, this is a tough time to watch the defense. It seems it's just time to watch the season play out with low expectations and hopefully be satisfied with a Michigan win and a bowl win. Damn.

People have questioned whether I would get bored if every game was a blowout. Nope. Nofa king way. In fact, I probably will never be content with an Ohio State season unless every game goes 49-0... I'm not talking about Boise State creampuffs here either. I want to see Ohio State beat everybody, every good opponent, 49-0. No excuses, no exceptions. In the '06 season OSU played in a #1 vs #2 matchup 3 times... they went 2-1. That is not good enough. I know I have unrealistic expectations for these guys, but still, it is what it is. I'm excited to see Nebraska in the Big Ten next year, and hope that leads to more ranked opponents and tougher schedules in the future for Ohio State. It's the only way they're going to get better.

According to Woody Hayes quotes, he would have the same thing to same to this team:

"Even the best team, without a sound plan, can't score."
"Football represents and embodies everything that's great about this country, because the United States of America is built on winners, not losers or people who didn't bother to play."
"The only way we'd get beaten was if we got a little fat-headed, if we didn't train right, if we had dissension on the squad."
"To hell with exciting. I'd rather be drab as hell and win."

My stupid DVR didn't even record the game for some reason, so I'll need to re-read the play by play to confirm some of these things, but perhaps it's just best I can't re-watch the heartless crap from Saturday. I don't know who that team was out there, masquerading as Ohio State, but if those bastards show up again.... I'll have no choice but to devote myself to a team whose fans are content with 8-4 seasons. Please, Jim, I'm begging you... don't turn me into a Clemson fan.

** Examples: http://menofthescarletandgray.com, http://www.elevenwarriors.com, http://www.insidetheshoe.com, http://blog.dispatch.com/buckeyesblog, http://www.thebuckeyebattlecry.com, http://www.alongtheolentangy.com.... there are dozens more.

Buckeye thoughts

2010-09-20T23:02:00.002-06:00

So, we're 3 games into the season. I told myself I wouldn't go completely crazy this year and watch every game multiple times (doing the research to see who missed what to let the other team back in the game, or how solid the defense actually is, etc) but here we are again and I'm back on the wagon. It's a blessing and a curse, and I'm fine with it. Anyways, here are some things I've taken from the first 3 games, and some thoughts about the games to come.

Game 1, Marshall
Still some work to do, but I'm pumped. They're pretty darn good... :) Had enough points in 3:14 to win the game.

Pryor - A. Would have been A+ if not for the lame duck on the fumbled snap. Near perfection if you ask me.... I was grinning ear to ear! So proud... so proud.
backs and receivers: A.
O line: B+.... Pryor got sacked twice. What?
D line: B. only 1 sack.
safeties, LBs and corners: A-
Special Teams: C. Tipped PAT, blocked FG for 7 points the other way... not acceptable.
Tress / coaching: 529 yards of offense!?! Who are you and what have you done with Jim Tressel?

Game 2, Miami
I was at this game for my first ever game in the 'Shoe. May it not be the last... my photos are on flickr. I have to say that far and away the most dominant college athlete I've ever seen in person is still Vince Young (and not Pryor), but Pryor physically is more intimidating in person. He is a beast! He just hasn't yet singlehandedly dismantled a team like VY did... weekly... with ease. I was also impressed with the fans at that game. Everyone we sat near was very knowledgeable, was able to discuss offense/defense schemes, how the previous play succeeded or blew up, etc. It was a great atmosphere.

Thoughts.... I was really happy to see Pryor play as well as he did. There's no doubt Pryor played better than Jacori. I was also happy to see that they can win a shootout if they must. That's good to know for later in the season. Despite being a big win (Pryor's first week 2 victory), this game raised some major concerns:

the first quarter: Coaching fail. Maybe. I'm not sure if Tress was just sizing the 'Canes up or what, but he was leading the offense with fear. The 2nd and 3rd quarters prove that fear is our enemy. When Tress lets the offense play to their full potential, almost no defense can stop them.
red zone offense. The Buckeyes made it to the red zone 9 times, resulting in 3 TDs, 5 FGs and 1 missed FG. I have that as 36 of a possible 63 points. 27 points still out there on the field! Not acceptable... not even close. At the game, the crowd kept saying at halftime it should be 42-10 or 35-3 and they were right. Most of the offensive praise directed to OSU during this game should be taken back. We simply cannot beat Alabama with field goals. Nobody can.
special teams. Apparently the Marshall disasters were not flukes. Sorry, Basil and Buchanan, but the kickoffs and punts are terrible. Line drives straight to the receiving team has and will continue to haunt Buckeye fans. True Freshman or not, this needs to stop.
the defensive scheme in the 2nd half. I don't know why Tress put the brakes on, and I'm glad the big play wasn't there to swing momentum, but I don't know why they were content to play zone and allow the 10 - 18 yard passes the entire half. Pressure and blitzing seemed to be giving Miami fits, so I'm not sure why they stopped.

Time will tell if Miami is any good or not. I'm not sure if we should be really happy with this win or not. I will say this, however... Before the season I was concerned about the defense - specifically the secondary. I've never been very high on Chimdi Chekwa, but WOW have Torrence, Hines and Barnett stepped up! Moeller is also having a great season, back after missing all of last year. We still miss Thaddeus Gibson, Kurt Coleman, etc. but the defense is still the Silver Bullets for sure. Barnett in particular played a great game against Miami, and it's a shame he will miss the rest of the season, but I am really excited to see his Junior and Senior seasons. That boy can hit!

Game 3, Ohio
I don't have a lot to say here. I'm happy to see Tress still opening up the playbook and putting lots of points up. Pryor had a couple drives that showed a mental lapse of sorts, but I will forgive them given the game was already over. I hope, however, that he continues to learn to take what the defense gives him rather than trying to force something (causing interceptions). His 2 INTs were a bit disappointing, but overall he's off to a great start... sooo much better than last year mentally. Aside from Pryor, the defense continued to impress. The offense was more than sufficient, but the running game needs to step up in a big way for the Big Ten schedule.

I suppose the special teams are improving, but it's still shameful and embarrassing. This team might survive the Big Ten schedule undefeated with these special teams, but surely won't win a bowl game unless they improve.

Overall

This year's defense is probably the hungriest I've ever seen. They swarm the ball with fury and are absolutely hellbent on turnovers and interceptions (with a 12-2 turnover margin so far). In the Red Zone they become even more intense, and it's really impressive.
I believe Tressel truly is in the middle of a run the likes of Woody's last decade. It's amazing to watch, and it's a great time to be a Buckeye fan. I hope he stays for 20 more years, no matter how boring. [I have definitely become a better student of the game as a result of watching his teams. I doubt this is a surprise given my appreciation for Tressel, but I'd say I am much more a fan of the defensive side of the game than the offensive. I suppose I find it a more interesting chess match.] If nothing else, his teams are smart enough to avoid trouble with the law, and leave a good national reputation off the field untarnished. This year specifically Tress is coaching largely without fear and with the desire to leave a good spread between the Buckeyes and the opposing team. As long as he doesn't revert to overly-timid ways, I think the success will continue. [Tress isn't always ultra-conservative... when backed into a corner, he has the ability to bust out Holy Buckeye! worthy commentary... 4th down, trailing to Purdue on the road... sounds like last year...]
Pryor really is on the road to greatness. With the defense as it is and Pryor running the offense, the sky is the limit for this team. He continues to mature, and is light years ahead of where he was last year. Assuming he stays for a 4th year next year, which he has said he will do, we're in for a real treat. There will be a lot of seniors gone, but hopefully next year will be as fun to watch as this year has been so far.
From what I've seen, Alabama seems to be the only worthy adversary in this season. Some Buckeye fans are scared to think of it, but to that, I say bring 'em on. I absolutely want them to win their bowl game, and would hate to watch Ohio State lose to another SEC team in a national title game, but I say give it a shot. I had confidence that Miami was not going to be a problem, and I believe Ohio State would be ready for Alabama. I honestly think that playing against any other team at this point (*assuming OSU plays to their full potential and doesn't sleep at at the wheel*) would yield a forgone conclusion. I want to see just how good these guys really are... because I don't think they're the best Buckeye team I've ever watched, but they might be the best team this season. OSU plays well in Glendale, and I'm for a road trip to AZ any day.

preseason polls and $3 will buy you a cup a joe

2010-08-24T23:42:00.006-06:00

I just watched Erin Andrews host College Football Live. Any day Erin Andrews is on TV is a good one, but this one in particular got me thinking about college football (it's a daily thing of late) so I decided to put my thoughts on here, just once, in preparation for the season. I'll start with the first poll, then look at some conferences, and lastly ramble on about Ohio State for far too long...

The Poll

This is stupid and based purely on reputation. I don't even think the voters looked at the teams before ranking them. Look at the players lost, last year's bowl games... it's can't be explained.

Alabama. Fair enough... where else are you going to put the reigning SEC and national champs? With the SEC in a possibly "down" year (more on that later), it might be easier than last year to get back to the national championship game in Glendale, but 'Bama lost more than their share of talent too and apparently have weaknesses. The @LSU game is going to be HUGE... both teams could be undefeated going into it.
Ohio State. I am clearly biased, so yeah I think they deserve to be here. Based on returning starters, last year's final game, and the potential for improvement, I don't see anybody that should be ranked higher. Like I said, I am clearly biased.
Boise State. Are you serious? These jokers got a #1 vote, too!!!!!!! I hope desperately that they get killed by Va Tech in game 1. Otherwise, we're actually going to have to watch this JV squad beat the rest of their pathetic opponents on national television. Based on strength of schedule alone, they should be declared ineligible for a BCS game this year. Right now. Sure, they beat TCU to win their bowl game last year..... but it was TCU.
Florida. With a first year QB? I'm sorry but this is just not gonna happen. Urban Meyer is smart, and their schedule is pretty desirable, but a freshman is going to make freshman mistakes. I think they'll go 9-3, but in a loooong shot, could actually still win the SEC if Les Miles beats Saban at home then Florida beats LSU in the SEC championship rematch. I don't think Urban Meyer's wife's lucky Buckeye in her purse will bring thaaaat much luck.
Texas. Once again, with a first year QB? Gilbert showed both promise and freshman mistakes in the BCS title game. Simply put, without Colt McCoy, Jordan Shipley and Sergio Kindle, this is just not last year's 'Horns. Mack Brown is going to need a lot of luck and coaching (that's why they pay the man) to support this ranking.
TCU. See #3 above. Go Beavers? And Baylor. And Wyoming... eek.
Oklahoma. They got a #1 vote too. I'll bet my Jeep (not worth much) that came from a voter in..... Norman, OK. Unfortunately I actually believe they should be ranked higher.
Nebraska. I am not aware of any key losses. They should be ranked higher.
Iowa. Again, I am not aware of any key losses. With a nice win in their BCS game closer last year and an extremely favorable schedule this year, they should have momentum on their side. I say move 'em up a few notches.
Va Tech. I have no idea. They seem to have a tough schedule, with Boise State (uggh) in week 1 and a monster of a November, so OK fine... let's see if they deserve it.

I'll stop here. As far as I'm concerned, 6 - 10 should replace 3 - 6 though. I guess we'll have to settle that on the field.

The Big 12

I will happily root for Texas and Mack Brown all season long, but doubt they'll beat both Oklahoma and Nebraska unless both those teams lay big eggs. Otherwise, their schedule looks extremely safe. But again, a freshman is going to make freshman mistakes.
Oklahoma could be a solid team. The problem is, if they beat Texas, they have no excuse not to finish undefeated. Crap.
Nebraska will surely have revenge on their mind when Texas comes up north. The problem is, if they beat Texas, they have no excuse not to finish undefeated. (Echo...) Double crap. That will leave us with a Big 12 championship game of some interest, but one that has only beaten 2 ranked opponents all season long. Yawn. I really hope Texas beats 'em both and puts this nightmare to bed. But what if Texas or Oklahoma plays Nebraska in the championship game and Nebraska wins this time after losing in the regular season? Nope... it might be a decent team that wins the Big 12, but it'll be a winner with a simple schedule. Maybe their schedules are the reason these 3 are ranked so high to start... who knows.
Everybody else is apparently irrelevant aside from delivering knockout upsets along the way... we'll see if that holds true.

The SEC

The SEC went 6-4 in their bowls. But I don't care about the bottom teams... neither Auburn nor Northwestern should have been in a bowl to begin with, but fine, you can have that overtime win, SEC. Georgia beat Texas A&M and Arkansas beat East Carolina... so what? Let's not talk about that WTF national championship. An injury is an injury, but what the hell was that, Colt? Who knows if 'Bama would have won it or not. Ahh well. That was last year. This year we're missing Tim Tebow. And Mt. Cody. Aside from Mark Ingram, the SEC seems to be missing its Peyton Manning, Adrian Peterson, etc. icon this year. All I can say is I hope the media's porno fantasy for the SEC gets a little lukewarm. Let's be honest, the SEC East is not strong. The SEC West will still be very interesting, and the SEC is still a solid conference. The undeniable king of late... but this year may start to show other conferences are following "closer than the experts think." Alabama is still the team to beat, but I think Les Miles might be due for a big win or two.

Big Ten

I'm not going to jinx the Buckeyes by talking badly about the rest of the Big Ten. All 4 of the Big Ten bowl wins last year were against top 15 teams. Relevant wins. I think there were plenty of reasons to be happy to be a Big Ten fan last year. Except for Michigan. C'mon, morons. Fire Dick Rod and get somebody up there who can recruit to make you relevant again. His scheme worked in the Big East but it gets plowed over in the Big Ten. Unless he recruits all the track state champions from every state in the Midwest and teaches them how to play football, it's gonna be a long time before you're anything but embarrassing. Spoken like a true Buckeye fan I suppose...

Ohio State

This year is going to take an extreme amount of amnesia and focus. There shall be no thinking of Heisman trophies or championship games. One week at a time. Do not sleep on anybody... including Purdue. And no coaching with fear like in the USC game.

Marshall on a Thursday night? This is bizarre. I hope there are no surprises working out the kinks... but I really don't like night games in The Shoe.
I honestly don't think the Miami game will be all it's cracked up to be. Day game! I hope Tressel lays it on pretty thick. Maybe I'm jaded, but I am not afraid of the Hurricanes. I watched Miami several times last year in anticipation, and they had plenty of exploitable weaknesses. I can't wait to see it in person.
4 weeks of lesser opponents. BUT NO SLEEPING!!!!!! This is the part of the season where the average margin of victory grows to 28. That's right, Tress, I want to see you beat Indiana at least 38 - 10. Hang 31-0 on Zook (nope, don't like him) in Champaign while you're at it.
At Wisconsin is going to be a really tough game, but Pryor played very well in Camp Randall in '07 to lead a come from behind victory in (I think?) his first road start. He can do it again. He has much more offense on his side this time, and a solid rush defense to stop the Badgers. I'm sure the Badgers are going to make this close though...
Purdue. Revenge. 35 - 0, please.
At Minnesota. I know I'll be shunned for saying this, but the Gophers have showed promise in the last couple years. This should be a big win, but do not sleep on them or look ahead to the last 3.
Penn State. This will probably be a typical 13 - 10 kind of game, but with PSU a bit off their game and a (hopefully) super power of an offense for the home team, perhaps this will be more like 24-10 this year? I hope.
At Iowa. I have this as the hardest game of the season. I'm not going to say I'm worried, but this is going to be won tooth-and-nail. The Hawkeyes will want revenge and could still be undefeated. If Tressel plays to win like he did (mostly) against Oregon, this will be a victory. If he doesn't, yikes.
Michigan. Ya know, if Dick Rod's job is on the line this could be mildly interesting. They might have 6 losses already coming into this game. I sure hope it's a freaking blowout in favor of the home team. Then again, Michigan has beaten vastly superior Buckeye teams in the past. NO SLEEPING!!!

I will close with this...

Dear Jim Tressel,

Please don't be afraid to win with unquestionable authority this year. Surprise me. Don't err on the side of good sportsmanship and lay up for field goals as time winds down in the first half. You cannot afford to in Wisconsin or Iowa. Please don't be afraid to destroy Purdue to show us that you actually cared about that loss last year. Play conservative but never assume a 14 point lead is safe. Step on the throat and stick the dagger all the way in when you have the chance. Please don't give voters any wiggle room when deciding who to vote into a national championship if Alabama, OSU and Boise State all go undefeated. Let Terrelle be Terrelle. Don't be a jerk, but kick the crap out of every single team across the field. I know you remember what it's like to raise a glass football in January in Arizona... I want to see that again.

Brett

how does it feel to be one of the beautiful people?

2010-08-15T21:05:00.003-06:00

Yesterday I was at the Mile High Music Festival watching Derek Trucks and Susan Tedeschi be their typical amazing selves when I noticed some people (a girl and a guy) dancing to my left. They really struck me... I can't describe it other than to say they were some of the happiest people I'd ever seen. The expressions on their faces in turn made me so happy I wanted to go up and hug them. Not a single care in the world between them... Naturally, we were at a music festival, so you're probably thinking they were just completely stoned or hammered drunk, and not likely to make it home safely. If you guessed the former, you would be partially correct. They were dancing barefoot, guy shirtless with thick dreadlocks halfway down his back, girl in hippie skirt and simple fabric top, hemp necklaces, using a hula-hoop, etc. But that's not the point. You could see in their faces a simple joy. And they weren't weekend hippies like most of the people there (you know, the ones obviously wearing their token tie-dyed shirt or patchouli dress, the one that mom doesn't know about). This was the real thing. To make this couple even more amazing was the fact that both of them could have been models of some kind. The girl was drop dead gorgeous (no make-up, no need for that) and the dude would probably have made more than his fair share of billboards. But by the looks of them, you would know that they gave that stuff up long ago. I felt like there was something to learn from them. They had figured out how to let go and be content. Maybe they were from around Denver, but I didn't get that impression. It made me wonder what it would take for me to completely let go and just take off. To wander but not be lost. To learn to let the wind carry me wherever. How different would the US be if people didn't have such permanent things; jobs, houses, 401(k)'s, routines...? People sometimes say that they had plans to do X or become Y but then life got in the way. I think that's crap; worry and fear got in the way. It made me wonder what it would be like to travel until I ran out of money, then get a job there to fund the next adventure, repeat. There are a lot of different professions I think it would be interesting to try out for a few months and then move on. I guess that's not how it works these days. But maybe it should in some places. It made me think about some of my happier moments. In general (and maybe it was just the atmosphere my mind was wandering in but...) some of the funnest times of my life have been at music festivals or concerts. It's a toss-up right now, but the anticipation for a show is about the same as the anticipation for a perfect powder day on skis. If Phish books a summer tour next year, I'm going to try my hardest to be there for as many shows as possible. On the surface it might sound selfish or hedonistic to drop out of society or something like that, but it just seems like the right thing to do. There's a time and a place for things, and maybe next summer will be that for a road trip for me.

Pushing beyond the beyond

2010-08-01T21:17:00.003-06:00

The last couple weeks I've been trying to push myself beyond physical limits. There are a few reasons for this.

I have a 100km / 62 mi bike ride coming up in September for charity. I've ridden most of the pieces of the ride in the past but haven't put them all together in one sitting before, so I want to be ready for that.
(more compelling) Ski season is coming back around soon. Seriously, there's a cold rain outside right now. Snow was in the forecast for Chicago Basin this weekend. It'll be here soon.

After the Massive run, I've been wondering how far I could push beyond what I thought my limit was in various physical activities. To that end, I started this little run by riding NCAR two days in a row. Last year it would take my legs a day or two to recover from riding NCAR, but I actually felt like I rode better on Friday than I did on Thursday. Noted improvement from last year #1.

After taking the weekend off, I remembered that I had a 5k race to run on Wednesday. Having never previously run a 5k competitively, I wasn't sure what kind of time I could finish in. Last year I recorded runs at a consistent 10 min/mile pace in preparation for my 10k portion of the Boulder marathon, but this was a shorter distance, so I hoped to keep it under 30 minutes. My run on Monday night (as a warm up for the race) was a comfortable 9 min/mile pace. With that in mind I hoped to finish sub-27 minutes but wasn't sure what I could do beyond that. As it turns out I came in at just above an 8 min/mile, 25:04. [Despite this time, which I was proud of, I still ran the slowest of the 8 of us from my office. My coworkers are freaking thoroughbreds.] Noted improvement from last year #2.

Thursday, the day after the race, instead of taking a rest day we decided to make an attack on Flagstaff during our weekly lunch ride. For those of you not living in Boulder, Flagstaff Road is one of the steepest roads in town and is noted for being as extremely difficult ride. I believe it is the steepest paved road in Boulder... certain portions of it, at least. Our climb from the office gained nearly 2,000' in 7 miles. I honestly didn't think I would make it, given the shape of my calves and shins after the race, but after the first overlook things get a lot easier and we all did very well. I've ridden to the first overlook before but this was my first time continuing towards the top. Although we didn't go all the way to the top, it was still a great ride, and much more than I thought I was going to be able to do. In my head I moved my hypothetical cycling limit a little further into the distance beyond the previous marker I crossed with that ride.

After Friday morning's 6:15 lifting session it was more or less decided that since I hadn't completely obliterated my legs so far, I should take on another challenge during lunch. NCAR became the objective with Darren riding his single speed. My legs were pretty worn out from the previous two days, but I still put in a decent enough ride and had some left in the tank for a sprint-like finish. [Darren still beat Trey, Denis and I on his damned single speed, which I'm taking as proof he has a 3rd lung or is some kind of outer-space cardio experiment.]

I had to take yesterday off but decided to test my new cycling limit today with Trey. After riding to Jamestown on Memorial Day we thought it was time to give Lefthand Canyon a try... all the way to Ward. Given this is a ride professional triathletes and cycling teams use for training, I honestly did not think I would make it to the top, but wanted to see just where the breaking point was. We knew the 16th mile was going to be brutal, but as we passed mile marker 10, 11, 12, etc. it seemed we would both have enough left to finish. Climbing 3,000' from the mouth of the canyon was definitely tough (especially that half mile beyond Sawmill road!), but as we stood on the shoulder of the Peak to Peak highway above Ward we both could have continued further. I was shocked and proud as hell. For the second time this week I moved my hypothetical cycling limit a little further into the distance. That has become a fun little game :) We discussed heading up to Brainard Lake from there and having the option to ascend 8000' in total, completely self-propelled from our doorsteps, to the summit of a 13er like Mount Audubon. That really got the mental wheels spinning... I think this is just going to have to happen. Considering a huge majority of North America lies below 8000', climbing 8000' in one day from my doorstep would be completely bad ass. Boulder County is truly a special place. I feel like I'm finally getting to the point where I can take advantage of all it has to offer.

I'm not sure what's on the agenda this week, but I hope to continue testing limits and blowing past them. All of this has been recorded on my trailguru page... which I might soon be replacing with a Garmin watch due to consistent inaccuracies... time will tell.

Mt. Massive physical challenge becomes 17th 14er

2010-07-24T18:11:00.004-06:00

Last Friday Tim, Brian, Trey and I headed south from Boulder towards Leadville after work with hopes of hiking Mt. Massive's standard trail, the East Slopes route. Massive is the 3rd highest peak in the lower 48, below only Mt. Whitney in CA and CO's highpoint, Elbert (Massive's neighbor to the south). Given our time constraints, logistics, etc. Massive seemed like a good choice. On the drive down we worked our way backwards from a hard deadline of 4pm return to Boulder after hiking to determine we needed to be back to the trailhead by 1pm at the very latest. With 7 miles of hiking each way to cover, we needed to start as early as possible and run whatever portions of the trail that we could. With that in mind, I left the boots in the car and opted to go as light as possible, with trail running shoes at the ready. Having never run a long distance at 10,000' or 13,000' of elevation, I was curious to see what my legs and lungs were capable of. I have been running/riding/training much more this year than previous summers, so my legs and lungs are probably in the best shape of my life, which gave me a glimmer of hope. I thought it would be possible, but still realized this was not going to be like any other 14er I had attempted before. A new spin on the same old thing, if you will... making class I and class II hiking a bit more interesting... It was going to be a physical challenge and a race against the clock. We found a nice campsight within a mile of the trailhead and set the alarm for 5am.

At 6:05 we set out from the trailhead on the Colorado Trail at approx. 10,100' of elevation. I had to stop almost immediately for my morning ritual... bummer. I guess it's good that I have a body you could just about set your watch to for certain biological actions, but this was a bit annoying to say the least. Once I caught up to the group again, we began trail running. In hindsight, I think the first mile is the steepest of the 7 miles, which is bizarre given the Colorado Trail is usually gentle and flat. This did not bode well for my chances of keeping up with the group. Luckily, however, after the first mile the trail flattens or even descends, so I took advantage of that wherever possible. Despite the downhill/flat, those first 3 miles gain roughly 1,000' of elevation. I was very relieved to come upon creek crossings which ostensibly mark miles 2 and 3, and made it to mile 3 in about 55 minutes, apparently only just a few minutes behind the rest of the group. It generally takes my body much longer to get warmed up than Trey, Tim and Brian, so I was happy to have not slowed them down too much at that point.

We took a quick break for breakfast and then continued another minute or two to the split where we left the Colorado Trail. From there the trail becomes a soft dirt/pine needle mix for a few minutes until you reach treeline and find a soft muddy trail weaving through willows up to Point 12,466' that marks the final shelf, beyond which the Massive trail becomes a fairly steady grade up to the saddle at 14,000'. We took breaks every once in a while to eat and apply sunscreen, but we were all happy to find the trail fairly soft and consistent - i.e. able to be run on the way down. I was also happy to discover what time it was every time we stopped... I kept thinking it would be an hour or more later than what Trey told me, so I was happy to hear we were on pace to make our 1pm cutoff. At roughly 13,500' I began to feel the effects of altitude in the way of slightly sore legs (from the trail running) and typical shortness of breath. The sight of the other 3 guys ahead of me pushed me on, quicker than I would have normally gone without time constraints or faster party members. Altitude didn't slow me down too badly, and I was on the summit at 9:30. That was definitely my earliest 14er summit yet. I was happy to have done the first 7 miles in 3:30 including all breaks, and felt very confident we could make it down in time even if only walking.

I didn't stay on the summit very long despite perfect weather. At 9:45 we turned around towards the saddle, where we hoped to start running from. I don't know exactly what happened, but I stopped to tie my shoe in preparation for running and all of the sudden could not see anybody else in the group. Eager to catch up, I took off, discovering that perhaps trail running 14er descents is the best way to do them... my knees felt great, and it was simply a matter of letting my legs do what they wanted to do without halting momentum. I had only to spot my next foot plant, and the rest was fairly natural. My legs and lungs felt great when I finally caught up to Trey and Tim, who had stopped to wait for me at treeline. We all commented that the trail was really good for running, and noted that although there were some uphill stretches in the trees below us, the soft trail would be very manageable for the last 3 miles. With 11 miles on my legs already, I definitely began to tire, and was forced to walk some sections - even downhill - in the last two miles. I knew Brian was way ahead of me, though, and would be ready to hit the road as soon as possible to prevent arriving at DIA late. I kept this in my mind, and walked as little as possible. There came a point where walking hurt as bad or worse than running, so I just kept running. By that point it was as much of a mental challenge to push on, so I was happy (in a slightly sadistic way) to get to the point where my mind forced my body to go beyond typical limits... good practice for the future, I think.

After being flagged down by a guy who had questions about the trail (hoping to make my same trip on his own tomorrow) just a few hundred yards short of the trailhead, I made it back from the summit in 2 hours flat. All told, I had gone 14 miles in 5 hours and 45 minutes, including bathroom/food/summit/blister maintenance breaks. For comparison, it took me 11 and a half hours to hike the 15 miles that Longs Peak required a few summers ago. Needless to say, I was happy with the performance. We dunked our feet in the river by the trailhead and were on the road before noon, a full hour ahead of schedule. While I still don't consider myself a good runner, I feel like my legs are getting stronger and know for certain that my lungs are continuing to get into better shape. Here's hoping that trend continues in preparation for the next physical challenge...

The few pictures I did get are available at
http://www.flickr.com/photos/brett_burch/sets/72157624417086953. Enjoy.

July 3rd Blanca / Ellingwood attempt

2010-07-05T21:01:00.005-06:00

On Friday myself, Brian and Trey headed south to start the long Independence Day weekend by heading to the Blanca massif to climb two of the Sangre de Cristo range's 14ers; Ellingwood and Blanca. Driving into the town of Blanca (and for miles before/after), the Blanca massif looms enormously and intimidatingly above the dry valley floor. I really can't say enough how different it is to approach a mountain like Blanca or even Princeton (where the entire massif has such great relief) than a mountain like Bierstadt, for example. After some slight confusion around whether we made the turn onto the correct dirt road, and honking to move cows, we started up the infamous "road" with a few hours of sunlight remaining. Ultimately I was not up to the challenge and stopped the Jeep well short of where we probably could have made it before the road would have been too much for El Jefe. Regardless, with only about 90 minutes of light remaining, we hoped we would make it the remaining 3 miles to Lake Como... After locking the Jeep and actually hiking to a campsight for the first time since moving to Colorado, we shouldered our backpacks and made it about half way, stopping at a vacant campground in an aspen grove at the final crest of the road before it becomes more than something a stock 4WD SUV could handle. I was fairly spent. It's amazing what simply adding a tent, sleeping bag, and sleeping pad will feel like on your back.... not as bad as skis, but still heavy. I also hadn't really planned on hiking very far, and hadn't eaten/drank anything in preparation for the hike. [Note to self, don't take approaches for granted.]

After dinner and a fire with clouds rolling in, we went to bed. We got rained on fairly hard in the night and woke up at 5am for a 6:05 departure time. It was almost funny hiking the first mile or so beyond our campsight. If we had known the road was flat or even downhill from where we stayed, we might have continued the night before, but nowhere we passed was as good as where we stayed for two tents, and the light was running out on us, so I think it was best that we stopped where we did. Lake Como road is historically interesting. Along the way you pass sections of road where people have died trying to drive over one rock form or another (including old Jeep parts downhill from said accident site) and old mining homesteads along the creek. We made it to the lake in 80 minutes; I was last to make it after having stopped several times for photos along the road. The setting at Lake Como is really awe-inspiring... Little Bear Peak looms above Lake Como, with trout in it and bear nearby. At some point I wouldn't mind just hanging out by that lake for a whole weekend. It was also the setting for a Jeep commercial; no other vehicles made it to the lake while we were there. You can't just drive up to Lake Como in your 4Runner, take a few photos, and drive on like you can with Mt. Evans. I like the Blanca massif for the same reason I liked hiking Longs Peak; you have to earn it in just about every way.

Beyond the lake, the road dissipates into a trail near a waterfall. By the time you climb above the waterfall, you're surrounded on all sides by ramparts defending nearby peaks and you hike past lakes full of ice... in July. The scenery evoked a sense of seclusion and challenge, and the hike changed to a climb, much like Castle last September. This was more than simply following a trail up a big mound. I really liked it. It was actually somewhat daunting, and the photos do not do justice to what you see there. By that point, I was super excited about the day and being able to prove to myself that I could take on harder and more remote peaks, as well as the possibility of achieving 1/3 completion (this would make 18/54) of Colorado's 14ers... it seemed merely a matter of time before post-climb beers were in order. However, looking above us and down the valley back to the desert, it became obvious that our weather window was rapidly shrinking. At 9am, after stopping and debating several times about course of action, we turned around. We were at 13,000' right below the Crater Lake ledges/waterfall, with several hours before noon... but clouds had built up in the valley and rolled up to right above us. Literally no more than 300' above us another party was surrounded by clouds. I believe if there had not been clouds, we would have made great time and made it to the top of both Blanca and Ellingwood, but it simply wasn't in the cards for us. To be honest, it was very frustrating and difficult to accept turning around. I've had to turn around or not attempt before due to vehicle issues or another person in the party being unable to continue... both those times were easier to accept. It was nothing we did to ourselves; it was beyond our control. We knew there was rain in the forecast, had been rained on the night before, and did not see any possibility of the clouds burning off. By the time we made it back to Lake Como, the peaks were relatively free of clouds, and it seemed like a nice clear day above us. That being said, however, it was a good lesson learned, and I would make the same decision again. When it comes to lightning, I would rather make the wrong safe decision than the wrong dangerous one. But still...

We made our way back down to the previous night's campsight, packed up wet tents and hiked back to the Jeep. It was a much less stressful drive out... something about gravity, I think.

Given the long weekend and the opportunity to reflect on recent events, I've started to wonder and/or realize a few things about myself.

It was good to know that I can make myself turn around due to weather. It was pretty ominous when we made the call, and it cleared up quickly, but it was good to have been able to do it rather than pushed on only to regret it later.
I will (hopefully?) never stop enjoying merely hiking in the mountains, but it seems lately that I am curious to try more difficult routes up 14ers. For example, I want to ascend the Bell Cord when I make it to the Bells. I want to take routes that require more thinking than "follow the obvious foot path..." to the top. Don't get me wrong; even merely hiking a 14er takes a great deal of energy, preparation, mental stamina, etc... but after having done that 15 times, I want to push myself a little bit more. Even if it just means hiking outside of the easier summer months, I think I'm finally ready both physically and mentally. I also think that it has something to do with getting away from crowds. The view from Lake Como and beyond on Saturday was truly incredible, and seems more so because it must be earned.
My greatest physical passion of any that I pursue is skiing. I do several things better than skiing, but nothing gives me greater satisfaction. I could ski every day for more days than I care to consider before it became mundane. A lot of my summer activities (especially running... 99% of the time I really hate running, as in, definitely hate, hate with italics) are solely to improve my potential to ski better. I'm not ready physically yet, but similar to the above point, I'd like to ski some 14ers when I am.
I don't really desire to hike all 54 of Colorado's 14ers just to say that I have hiked them all. I don't really understand that motivation, or at least don't want to associate myself with it. If I am just hiking to be able to add another notch to my brag belt, I'm out there for the wrong reason. I want to climb them in a way that's challenging to me. (Obviously in the first part of the season after having not been at altitude, even the standard routes can be challenging enough, so this does not always exclude standard class 1 or 2 routes.) To that end, I have started to wonder if I shouldn't spend more time in the Indian Peaks nearby, where there are plenty of challenging 12ers or 13er peaks which are more challenging than most 14ers.

Spring 2010 recap

2010-06-20T19:06:00.005-06:00

Spring began with Darren, Brian and I somewhere in central CO heading east on I-70 from Silverton by the skin of my teeth... err, Jeep. Tomorrow is the first day of summer. Let's recap some of the in-between.

In April and May I got a few more ski days in... notably my first day on my tele's at Ski Cooper, went to Winter Park on my tele's for their closing day, and one last in-bounds day on Loveland's closing day, which turned out to be a decent powder day.
In April I put my skins on my new tele setup and got completely worked (we made it to the trailhead.... no further), but regardless, I learned a bit about skinning in my would-be attempt to ski the Angel of Shavano.
In May I spent two Saturdays playing in the Brainard Lakes area; one snowshoeing and one skiing. I have already talked about that here.
On Memorial Day weekend, dad came out from Ohio to see more of Colorado and get some reprieve from work. We had a very nice weekend together with great weather. I took him on a few of Boulder County's finest back roads, and we both enjoyed. It was a pleasant reminder of how much Boulder County has to offer. After dad flew home, Trey and I put in a great ride at a very moderate pace to Jamestown and back. This was my longest outing on my road bike so far, and really has me looking forward to more long hills on the bike.
On the first weekend in June, Ryan, Allison and I made it to the top of our first 14er of the year; Mt. Princeton. We camped just above the radio towers on one of the windiest nights I've ever spent in a tent, but luckily had very mild weather for the hike. There was a little snow to cross, but not enough to travel with winter gear. It was a slightly confusing descent, but overall a very nice day. With my first southern Sawatch peak in the books, I was happy to have the season underway. Photos from the outing are available here. I have to admit that I was a bit under-prepared in terms of clothing... I forgot my gloves, which were sorely missed for several stretches during the hike. It's always good to aim low for the first outing of the year to prevent simple mistakes from creating epics.
Last weekend I flew back to Ohio to see my parents, some friends from high school and college, and to see Phish again at Blossom. I hadn't seen them in 10 years, since before their multi-year hiatus and semi-meltdowns. I had read positive reviews and heard a few of their shows from 2009, and all I can say is WOW. That was my 7th Phish show, and the best one I've seen in person. Show review: http://phishthoughts.com/2010/06/13/blossoming/.
Yesterday Trey, Brian and I hiked Mt. Shavano and Tabeguache Peak. I think this was probably my most efficient 14er hike yet, and was very rewarding. We camped exactly where County Road 254 intersects the Colorado Trail in one of the most ideal campsights I've ever stayed in, at 9,850'. [Note to self: the Colorado Trail in this part seems like a perfect mountain bike path!] We were awake at 6am and on the trail at exactly 7am. The initial hike to treeline felt fairly strenuous, but was not impossible. I believe we hiked at roughly 1200' of elevation gain per hour, passing everyone we saw except the lady and dog that were training for the Pikes Peak marathon. I'll be the first to say that it is NOT a race, but I felt good being able to sustain the pace that we did, considering Trey and Brian are generally in much better cardio shape than I am. I felt really good the whole day and did not struggle with altitude until ~13,500, and even then it was largely due to my needing lunch that I slowed. Only until we had already summited both Shav+Tab already, and were re-summiting Shav did mental fatigue begin to set in for me. The weather was absolutely ideal until a stiff breeze formed clouds above us on our descent back to the Angel col from Shavano's summit. Happy to be off the ridge, it was a knee-killing descent back to the Colorado trail, but a very beautiful one at that. 10 miles and 5500' of elevation gain doesn't go down easy, but my body feels good today, so hopefully that's a sign I am in good enough shape to handle just about any challenge that comes my way this summer. Photos from the day are here.
--
This time I remembered gloves, but I brought two left gloves! [I have two pairs of the same Black Diamond glove, which I currently cannot remember the name of, but they're lightweight and bomber. I use them year-round for ski gloves, even though they're really just a simple Gore-Tex shell with a fleece liner. People always assume my hands are cold, but the gloves are just amazing.] To fix the problem, I pulled out the liner and turned it inside-out for my right hand. Not ideal, but a perfect fit when needed. Hopefully my next outing I'll have my glove situation all worked out.

It has already been a very nice year in the mountains. Who knows what the summer and fall will bring...

on motivation and traits to avoid

2010-06-09T21:30:00.004-06:00

First, a few quotes to get the wheels turning...

Secondly, my motivation for writing this: I did some reading on a blog from a respected outdoor sports Boulderite; initially, his writing about why he skydives, highlines, etc. I was compelled to comment that his justification for doing "crazy" things seemed a bit selfish, especially since his argument was based on eliminating the concept of self. I then came across a startling later post of his where he effectively announced he was stopping outdoor sports because his motivation was all wrong. If you've never read anything like this before, you should read it as a cautionary tale to hopefully avoid pursuing peer recognition or glory over the real reason to pursue the freedom of the hills.

This post honestly scared me, and made my think about the reason I ski, climb, hike, ride my bikes, etc. I thought about the traits which could take root in me and cloud my motivation to the point of ruining a sport for me. I think the four traits below are the most critical to avoid in order to keep motivation pure.

a hearty appetite for peer acceptance, praise and recognition: wanting to hear that what you did was awesome is blatant proof that you're doing something for the wrong reason
complacency: feeling like the level of accomplishment you currently stand at is good enough is a surefire way to guarantee you won't be the best at your folly of choice
apathy: simply not caring or lacking the desire to improve is a definite sign that you have lost the true reason you started to pursue something
apathy towards ignorance: not caring that you don't know either how to improve or that you have all the information to make a good decision is probably the most egregious and concerning trait here, and is probably one of the biggest problems in the United States today.

It's obvious but worth noting that avoiding these four traits applies to everything you do and not just outdoor sports. I might have to re-read this to myself in the future whenever I feel I'm veering off the correct course.

May brings a corn harvest in the Indian Peaks

2010-05-22T18:19:00.003-06:00

I haven't really written anything new on here in a few months, so I guess it's time. I'm currently taking a break from reading In Search of Captain Zero, which, even though I'm only 60 pages in, is probably one of the top 10 best books I've ever read. Let's hope the next 300 pages keep the momentum. He is an excellent writer, funny, introspective, honest, and able to describe nuances of fact in ways that are obvious once conveyed but for some reason I hadn't seen before. I think reading both of Allan Weisbecker's other books will soon by on my to-do list. I first heard of him while researching destinations for my first trip to Costa Rica. Pavones caught my attention (although I didn't make it down that far that time), and Weisbecker showed up in Google results. For reasons honestly unknown, I stopped into a bookstore after a Spanish tutoring session last week and bought a Weisbecker book.

Why I'm telling you this, my loyal reader, is because I think In Search of Captain Zero has some very interesting insights into Weisbecker that I believe ring true for me as well. He talks about a lifelong and singularly true love affair with a wholly separate She, more alluring than any woman he's ever known. This She is surfing. He writes passionately about how surfing changed his life, his perception and understanding of oceanic processes, and his perspective on basically everything in his life.

I guess what I might be getting at is, somewhere in between when I first moved to Boulder three years ago and right now, I'm fairly certain I too started falling in love with a separate She. A demanding She named snow. (I only hope that I might possibly also be able to eventually find that non-separate and original She... but perhaps only insofar as she doesn't get in the way of the separate She... uggh.) I haven't yet quit my job to spend the rest of my days in her hauntingly dangerous, unforgiving yet perfect and loving arms, but I think the stage has been set, even if only to the smallest degree so far. Something similar to "I would ski every day if I could" escaped my lips today above Brainard lake after skiing a small section of Mount Audubon. There you go.

And now with the backstory told, we can get on to something actually relevant to the title of this post. I've been up to the Brainard Lake area twice in May, and have loved every minute. The Blue Lake trail is seriously one of the most spectacular settings in of the Front Range that I've spent time in. The first outing was a snowshoe to Blue Lake, which turned out to be 10 miles (2 bonus miles each way due to road closure).
Two weeks later (today), we rode those 4 miles on bike instead. After meeting in Boulder at 5am, we headed beyond Ward with 4 pairs of snowshoes, 1 pair of skis+skins, 3 snowboards, and 5 bikes. The two miles of road from winter closure to Mitchell trail parking area were a non-issue on the bikes... highly recommended! The winds were fierce, and in the end the sun proved stronger than predicted, so we had to cut the expedition short due to deteriorating snow conditions. Because of that, we didn't quite get the ski descent vertical I had hoped for, but now I know to get an earlier start and be in better shape next time. There was no let down though... I got my first backcountry turns in on my tele skis (I wouldn't call them tele turns, but it was only my 4th day on teles if memory serves... I need to be patient) after getting skunked on The Angel of Shavano in April. Regardless of how beautiful my turns were, there is just something about skiing that resonates with me and is continually becoming more necessary in my diet. The photos from today are here.

As a very lengthy tangent, if there's one piece of advice I can give would-be Coloradans, it would be to prepare yourself for regularly getting punched in the face by hops if you drink local beer, and - far less facetiously - to prepare yourself for falling in love with a separate She, as so many others here have. One thing you cannot call most people living under the banner of red, white, blue and gold is apathetic or passionless; Weisbecker's words ring true for so many Coloradans. Whatever the folly, it's fascinating and exciting to see so many She's being loved in this state.... whether your name is Tony Krupika, Chris Davenport, or Joe Notfamous. The people of Colorado continue to fascinate me, and likely will for the duration of my stay. Case in point: It was mentioned while having a beer on my 29th birthday to our server at Twisted Pine that I had come down with Peter Pan-itis for want of youth. Her reply was something to the effect of "you and every last bachelor in this town..." She knows exactly (... and apparently all too well) what Allan Weisbecker is talking about in In Search of Captain Zero, and I'm trying to convey here.

Smokies June 2006

2010-04-13T20:21:00.019-06:00

2006-06-11 - 2006-06-15

Summary

This is a 5 day hike through eastern Great Smoky Mountains National Park, primarily on the North Carolina side of the park. The 54 mile loop starts and ends at the Cosby Ranger station. Highlights include 9 miles of Appalachian Trail including some of the highest points in the park, dramatic elevation changes, and some of the most secluded trails in the park. Overall I would rate this as moderate to strenuous with patches of easy. Those with bad knees may want to reconsider, and those wishing to test their uphill endurance should make reservations immediately. So let's dive right in...

I'll remember this little adventure as the one where I checked the topographic lines but didn't really… and made a fool of myself in the process. The graphs will prove I clearly didn't have luck finding a five day version of the classic Smokies "up and back" triangle route (where you drive into the park late Friday night, hike up to the AT Saturday, take in as much of the AT as possible on Sunday, descend Monday morning to the car on a different trail than you took up, and get home Monday night). Despite my mishap, however, this route was a diamond in disguise.

The day charts are not drawn to the same scale. They are the same width but not the same number of data points, thus making days with fewer data points seem more gradual. The final graph is to scale, with each tick on the X-axis representing 1 mile. Follow along at http://home.nps.gov/applications/parks/grsm/ppMaps/GRSM_Trail%20Map%202005.pdf.

Day 1

We camped in the Cosby campground and headed out in the morning, so getting to the trailhead was easy. There were surprisingly few vehicles at the Gabes Mountain Trail trailhead parking for a summer weekend. This was clearly not going to be like a walk through Cades Cove or up to Clingmans Dome. The seclusion, the news that campground #34 was closed due to bear activity, and Albright old growth trail I'd read about had me excited for day 1, not to mention the whole trip. Since I was out of shape and knew it, these 13 miles were the ones I was concerned about. I had correctly detected the 2000 foot elevation gain coming after lunch. The trail started out easy on me, though, and that was welcomed. A Boy Scout group joined us at Hen Wallow falls but didn't follow us any further. I honestly cannot remember much about the morning except that campground #34 looked like a great site. Despite failing to produce a bear for us, it made a good lunch stop. We strolled over 4 easy miles to Maddron Bald Trail and then the fun began. It was early afternoon when we made it to Albright Grove Loop Trail. I had definitely worked up a good sweat already and still had more than half the elevation gain ahead of me. I think I was focused on that too much to appreciate the old growth, but I would still recommend taking the side trail over staying on Maddron Bald Trail. The march to campground #29 (Otter Creek) wore my lazy butt out. #29 is small and not very flat but a good water source. By the time I got there the skies had commenced a sprinkle which became a downpour as soon as we had the tent up. The rain made for a quick dinner and early bedtime.

Day 2

We woke up pleased to be dry and foolishly expecting a shorter, relatively flat day (my fault). Just checking beginning and ending elevation yields a net gain of 500 ft, but a closer look yields another 1700 ft climb before lunch. Lesson learned... somebody needs to steal the map from Brett. [Side note: This actually is the flattest day of the trip if you sum the absolute elevation deltas for each day (see chart below).] The sky was overcast, but right at Maddron Bald the clouds cleared up and I took a minute to enjoy the view. After that, it was a head's down mission to get to the AT - easier said than done for an out-of-shaper like me. When we made it to the AT we celebrated, snacked (but decided to eat lunch somewhere further down the trail), and rediscovered the "smoky" AT. Apparently everyone else got the memo about bad weather, because the AT was surprisingly low in traffic. It's a good thing, though, because I would have looked like a train wreck. The group split up due to non-agreement about whether to take the primitive trail to Mt. Guyot (the 4th highest point in the Southern Appalachians, 2nd highest point in GSMNP, and the highest point on this trip) and agreed to reconvene for lunch at Tricorner Knob. I never saw the primitive trail and was stumbling through the pines beginning to welcome my newfound empty-stomach induced delirium (the temperature is much lower in dense pines without the sun... it's kind of like a nice buzz after a while… learn to enjoy it like Hunter S. Thompson would have... but where the hell is Mt. Guyot... did I just say that out loud?) when I (still believing Tricorner Knob was miles away) eventually broke down and started gorging on lunch (my excuse for stopping was shivering and needing a fleece). Ryan backtracked for a few minutes to find me and bring good news about our progress. Tricorner Knob was close by. I packed up and finished lunch down the hill. The sun broke the clouds up past Mount Sequoyah and revealed great views. The Eagle Rocks area is definitely a site to see. Overall, this is a very pretty stretch of AT, and I was a little bit sad to see it go when we headed down to the Peck's Corner shelter on Hughes Ridge Trail. That night we woke up to strange noises which we eventually concluded were a wild hog. I didn't even know there were wild hogs in the Smokies, but it definitely didn't sound like a bear, so there you have it.

Day 3

Day 3 came easy after finally being forced into shape (or at least enough so) by the trail itself. Or was it that day 3 actually was flat? After all, it's just a 10 mile cruise down to 5040 ft. from 5280. Wrong again... almost all the elevation lost before lunch is quickly made up getting to campground #44 [Somebody needs to club me for lack of topo reading skills. Lesson learned a second time. Oh well…at least we're used to the elevation changes by now]. The first several miles were a very gentle descent of Hughes Ridge. Although not dramatic and exposed like AT ridges, I thought Hughes Ridge was interesting because it was very narrow. Vistas to both right and left are revealed when the leaves aren't too thick. Turning left onto Enloe Creek Trail brings a steeper descent and lesser maintained trail (as in not being able to see your boots when standing in the middle of the trail). Somewhere on this trail before we bottomed out at Enloe Creek campground (#47) we realized we had seen nobody since leaving Peck's Corner. An older couple did join us for lunch at (the now replenished and roaring, due to the past few nights of rain) Enloe Creek – thank God for the foot bridge. Those were the only people we saw on the trail that day. After filling up our water bottles, we ascended Hyatt Ridge to McGee Spring. The final mile follows the edge of the ridge and is a good chance to look out over the valley Jones Creek flows through. Eventually the trail leads to a large, flat opening with soft ground to put a tent on. We arrived fairly early in the afternoon, so there was plenty of time to hang wet clothes, build a fire, get water and take in the quiet. The solitude and silence at camp that night was almost overwhelming. I convinced myself this must be one of the least used campgrounds in the park (although apparently horse traffic is high in the summer). Although there is a gravel road a few miles away, it's a long hike from a ranger station or paved parking. If I'm back in this part of the country on a new moon again, I now know where to head to catch the stars.

Day 4

After a relaxing night's rest, I was curious to know if we'd see anybody on day 4. I checked the map and discovered that I had yet again underestimated the afternoon's climb. By this point the running joke was old and I decided to let the mountains do their worst on this shortest day of the hike. I don't remember much about hiking Beech Gap Trail except that the Round Bottom bridge construction (look – people!) forced us to wade through Straight Fork at the bottom. We filled water bottles and prepared for the steepest (consecutive gain) two miles of the trip. Balsam Mountain Trail was a mixture of vegetation with several good vantage points. Before arriving at Laurel Gap shelter we came through a seemingly out of place stretch of spruce-fir (ahh yes, back to this elevation again...), and then arrived well ahead of anticipated schedule even with the “1700 ft drop followed by a 2400 ft gain over 8 miles” elevation ride. All told I don't think we saw more than a half dozen people on day 4, including 3 guys that stayed in the shelter with us. Day 3 and 4 combined were much less physically demanding than the first two days for me, and I felt like I was finally catching my stride only to realize tomorrow would be the last day of the trip. I'm tempted to suggest that more avid groups could combine day 3 and 4 together (from Pecks Corner to Laurel Gap in one day), but that would be a fairly challenging 17 mile day with much elevation gain and loss for most folks. The time saved from going shelter to shelter (i.e. no tent teardown or setup) and carrying one less day's worth of food would help make that possible.

Day 5

Day 5 was actually just a half-day even though we packed in 11 miles before lunch. The rationale for that was to get to Carver's Applehouse Restaurant in Cosby. In my opinion, it was well worth it. In order to do this, I highly advise filling up water bottles to the brim and having a solid breakfast before leaving Laurel Gap (use the time you would have spent taking down your tent). All told that morning, we lost 2400 ft, gained 1100 back, and then lost the final 1800 ft over the course of 11 miles. [Side note: I'm thankful this was not day 1 for me. If we had decided to do our trip in reverse I probably wouldn't have made it to Low Gap without my ceremonial overexertion vomit... yes, I'm an idiot. Apparently this reverse direction is rated moderate, but it seemed fairly steep hiking down it.] From Laurel Gap, it's basically a steady drop all the way down to 3000 feet. The Gunter Fork cascade is a nice landmark to stop and rest your knees. We were delayed a bit by having to wade across the creek near campground #36. The water was very high due to several days of rain so we could not find a good dry crossing. I imagine this is frequently the case, so bring sandals and be prepared to wade here. At #37, we had a quick snack before the final push to get us up and over the AT. I have to say that I didn't take the time to stop and appreciate the Low Gap trail, but it was very pretty. It's quiet, heavily wooded and well maintained. It also provided the two steepest miles (1100 gain, 1100 loss) of the trip, so I was more focused on lunch than the trail's aesthetics. It was a short hike down to the car once we made it back to the AT. We drove to the laundromat / shower (they probably would not have fed us at Carver's without the shower) and had a fantastic lunch in a beautiful setting. Out of the Smokies and on to Bonnaroo. What a great week!

Total trip data

Topographic data are rough estimates from Trails Illustrated / National Geographic Great Smoky Mountains National Park Map and
latitude / longitude data comes from Google Earth.

day	mile	elevation	elevation delta	latitude, longitude	point of interest
1	0	2400		lat=35.7494659424, lon=-83.204208374	Cosby Ranger Station
	1	2650	250
	2	2800	150		Hen Wallow Falls
	3	3250	450
	4	3240	-10	lat=35.7485733032, lon=-83.2490234375	Sugar Cove #34
	5	3100	-140
	6	2750	-350
	7	2500	-250		Maddron Bald Trail
	8	2750	250
	9	3100	350		Albright Grove Loop Trail
	10	3500	400
	11	4000	500
	12	4500	500
	13	4562	62	lat=35.732131958, lon=-83.2557373047	Otter Creek #29
2	14	4800	238		Maddron Bald
	15	5100	300
	16	5800	700		Appalachain Trail
	17	6200	400
	18	6250	50		Mt Guyot
	19	5920	-330	lat=35.6940422058, lon=-83.2563781738	Tricorner Knob
	20	6100	180		Mount Seqouyah
	21	5900	-200
	22	5600	-300
	23	5400	-200
	24	5280	-120	lat=35.6508712769, lon=-83.3084030151	Pecks Corner
3	25	5200	-80
	26	5300	100
	27	4850	-450		Hughes Ridge Trail
	28	5000	150
	29	4800	-200
	30	4800	0
	31	4000	-800
	32	3620	-380	lat=35.6111373901, lon=-83.2546463013	Enloe Creek #47
	33	4500	880
	34	4900	400
	35	5040	140	lat=35.6397361755, lon=-83.2401046753	McGee Spring #44
4	36	4900	-140
	37	4250	-650
	38	3400	-850
	39	3200	-200		Round Bottom
	40	4250	1050
	41	5070	820		Balsam Mtn Trail
	42	5500	430
	43	5600	100	lat=35.6654701233, lon=-83.1875610352	Laurel Gap
5	44	5400	-200
	45	4750	-650		Gunter Fork Trail
	46	4000	-750		Gunter Fork Falls
	47	3500	-500
	48	3100	-400
	49	3000	-100	lat=35.7180099487, lon=-83.1658630371	Lower Walnut Bottom #37
	50	3100	100
	51	4200	1100		Low Gap (AT)
	52	3200	-1000
	53	2600	-600
	54	2400	-200	lat=35.7494659424, lon=-83.204208374	Cosby Ranger Station

ski season update

2010-03-31T23:35:00.000-06:00

This year has actually been a great year for powder for me, despite a really slow snowfall pattern. Here are a few stories from the year...

Brian, Ryan, Allison and I went to Winter Park in what turned out to be Mary Jane's opening day. I've heard it is basically a great powder day when that happens, so we were really stoked at the opportunity. Overall, things were open far before they should have been, with stumps and branches knocking people over left and right. With caution, there was great powder to be had though. A great start to the season! I returned on Christmas Eve for more terrific snow. That was the first day I can recall being able to chain tight tree turns in at least boot-deep fresh... I was exhausted afterwards. I also went back a week later and had a nice day on better-but-still-thin snowpack... the moguls were coming in nicely, and the season was off to a great start.

I made it to Copper a couple times this year as well. I never had a bad day at Copper when I had the same season pass 2 year ago, and this year continued that trend. I've only been up there twice, but it's been nice both days.

In January I demo'd a tele setup and had my very first tele lesson at Loveland. I'm hooked, and will be focusing on tele next year, for backcountry purposes if nothing else. I also had a great powder day at Loveland in February. The Ridge was closed due to wind, but the snow in the trees was terrific. With Silverton in my sights, I felt like my powder skiing was developing well. A few weeks later, I returned with my Silverton partners for some practice on the Ridge. We found mixed conditions, but had a great day nonetheless. I felt ready to test myself at Silverton.

I took part in a long weekend trip to Breckenridge with a group of friends from college. It was a terrific reunion that also provided 2 days of great snow. We drove up Thursday night, and it snowed steadily until we left Sunday morning. Note to self: stay at the Gondola House again!

Ryan and I made our way to Wolf Creek in the last week of January for a truly epic day. The 3 day total for the mountain was somewhere in the neighborhood of 65" so it was nothing short of amazing. I had never skied anything like that before, or been skiing in the San Juans, so this trip was monumental. I got my first powder face shots, and will be returning next year if another monster storm heads that direction. (Who am I kidding, that happens every year down there... I'll see you next winter, Wolfie!)

Last weekend I was fully pushed to my limits and tested by the weird vibes of Silverton. Let me be the first to tell you that everything people say about that place is true. There is no reason to ski Alaska with Silverton within a day's drive. You can't compare it to any other resort in Colorado. I was honestly really nervous about whether I was worthy of Silverton. It gave me all I wanted and more. Let's just say that I had an issue with a creek crossing and was done skiing on day one after my first run... my boot liners are still wet. Oh, and my Jeep broke down on the way out of town, and my camera died in the creek. That mountain shows no mercy. But......... it snowed 20" Friday night, so we skied amazing powder on Saturday. Those 5 runs will live on in infamy for me, and I wish badly that I could be there again next Saturday.

Overall, my steeps and moguls still have a long way to go, but I've definitely improved as a skier this season. I have 12.1 days in so far, which is probably double last year's total. I really don't think I improved last season, so I'm happy with that change. Even people I skied with in December claim to have seen an improvement in my skiing, and I attribute that at least in part to my tele lesson. I plan on skiing Monarch on Saturday, and get a few more Front Range days in before the backcountry season starts.

Next year's wish list:

Follow the snow like this year... Silverton and Wolf Creek are musts!
I've never skied anywhere in Aspen, so I'd like to get in a weekend at Snowmass, Highlands, or anywhere that will have me.
Crested Butte is a stretch goal, but would be great to add to the list. Same goes for Telluride.
dramatic tele improvement

I think it's fair to say that skiing is my favorite activity... is it snowing yet?

welcome 2010

2010-01-10T20:47:00.003-07:00

Was 1990 really 20 years ago? I actually remember 1990. Eeek.

This is a continuation, 1 year later, from http://rockymountainbrett.blogspot.com/2009/01/wrapping-up-last-year-kicking-off-2009.html. My bottom 5 goals are still very relevant, and at this point I would like to add a few more.

Conversational fluency in Spanish. I have a tutor for this and so far I'm headed in the right direction.
Working fewer nights and weekends. This must happen.

TDD thoughts / notes after reading Kent Beck's TDD By Example

2009-12-28T13:46:00.004-07:00

I've read James Newkirk's (the original developer of NUnit) book on TDD, been to TDD workshops (including one with James Newkirk), and consider myself to know a fair amount about TDD. I drank the kool-aid several years ago and have been trying to preach the good news ever since. I hadn't, however, read Kent Beck's Test-Driven Development By Example until today. I would honestly say that this is the best software book I've ever read, and it only took me a few hours to get through. It is simple and easy to understand, even when covering fairly complicated material. Bravo. The notes that follow are based on the book. They are not a book report, but a reminder for me and others to follow when trying to fully grok TDD.
--------
What is our programming / development style? In other words, how do we typically implement and verify business (i.e. non-UI) rules? 5 options I’ve seen / done:

Modify existing function or add a new one then open a web browser, click a button, then verify on the web page
Modify existing function or add a new one then open a web browser, click a button, then verify in the database (similar to using SQL Profiler)
Add Response.Write, STOP, etc. statements in code, or add CSS around an element to call attention to it and go from there
Write a bunch of new classes / methods / etc. in an effort to finish a task before a deadline, then come back to them weeks later and write some xUnit tests to boost code coverage from zero to x…. only to find out when writing your tests that your design / architecture is far from ideal. aka TLIE (Test Last, If Ever)
Open xUnit, create an automated test, make it pass, and then change the necessary code base, cry tears of joy… aka TDD

Which of those (and others you can think of)…

is repeatable?
leaves a signpost for future developers, documenting that a certain feature exists?
provides an example API usage for future developers (including myself in that audience)?
is fast? (and therefore gives you the ability to try several implementations when you have a few options in mind and aren’t sure which not only works but is best)
is isolated (can happen even if everything else is broken)?
does not require (much, if any) human work?
gives us confidence when making any change, no matter the size?

Testing changes is not the same as having tests.

Why is writing the automated test important at all?

Automated tests help us verify that we definitely know what we think we know. Adding more helps convert “what we don’t know” to “what we know” …. err, something like that.
Tests provide living and up-to-date documentation in source control.
Especially in our code base, changing almost anything is stressful. Automated tests are stress management tools. Passing automated tests eliminate the stress of “what we don’t know” and gives us the courage to focus on our real passion, which is adding more value to our customers. [If you feel no stress at all when debating changing code in your current production codebase, please leave the room after reading the following out loud: I, _________, apologize to the entire company for the future hotfixes I am about to create a need for. I apologize to our production release team, to support, my fellow developers, and to our customers. I have stocked the kitchen with Red Bull, Tylenol, and Prozac. I will begin working on handwritten letters of apology immediately.]
“In TDD, the tests are a means to an end – the end being code in which we have great confidence.”
You tell me

2 simple tenants of TDD:

Write new code only if an automated test has failed
Eliminate duplication

So how do we do that?

Write the test first to tell the story of what we wish to implement,
how we wish our API to look (Beck calls this “the perfect interface for our operation” and tells us to “Invent the interface you wish you had.”),
what will cause the test to pass (assertions),

Write the assert statements first so you know when you are done.

help define clearly what is in scope and what is not.
This gives us a concrete measure of failure!

Green

Fix the failing test to pass to know with certainty the given story has been completed
Even if it’s ugly, just focus on turning the red bar to green fast
This gives us a concrete measure of success!

Refactor

Keep a tidy house and make sure the green bar still exists afterward
If you used constants to get a single test to pass in step 2, add another assertion and generalize the code to work for all scenarios (triangulation).
Change the code but not the outcome or business rules. This is a stressful and time-consuming exercise unless you have tests as a safety net to guarantee even massive code changes don’t cause a change the in code’s behavior as the end user sees it.

What other subtle thing does this mean we’re always doing?

Design. TDD is continual design. Design is fluid and never finished. Features (and scope) are complete when all tests pass, but design goes on like the Energizer Bunny. Do not be surprised to see your design veer wa(aaaaaa)y off course from what you originally thought you should originally end up with.

Why is writing the test first important?

Design is mandatory instead of an afterthought
You start with the world’s greatest API for the given problem and only back down from that when necessary
Tests are a way to identify scope boundaries and help us stay within them while we develop. We isolate a tiny low-stress situation, and only move outside of that scope when we are ready to write a new test. When we have a failing test that we need to make a passing test, we cannot ourselves to get sidetracked by, “oh yeah, I also need to implement this for this project…” and then we’re 30 minutes later before we remember what we were working on. In this way, writing tests first eliminates waste. (!!!!!)

The pattern for writing new tests

Arrange – create some objects (setup your condition)
Act – stimulate them (force the situation under test to execute)
Assert – check the results

I have seen this called AAA Syntax. (See Rhino Mocks)

Before beginning any task, write a list of all the tests you know you will have to write. After you have Red>Green>Refactored a story off of your to-do list, select the next item from the list based on:

level of confidence (am I certain I can make this work?)
will this teach me something?

If you discover a potential problem, do not be afraid to simply add it to the to-do list instead of interrupting the current Red>Green>Refactor session.

Some things you might already know but need to reconsider:

Make sure your tests are isolated. One failing test should not cause 3 others to fail. The order in which the tests run should also not matter.
Change the voice inside your head from “how do I implement feature X” to “how do I test my implementation of feature X” any time you open the IDE and consider typing.
You decide your velocity with TDD. If you find yourself getting annoyed at running tests after changing every single line of code that you know will not break a test (such as changing a variable name inside a 4 line c# method) then allow yourself to make bigger incremental changes before re-running tests. If you find yourself stressing over whether all your tests will pass or not, slow down. Redline the Bronco like OJ on a clear sunny day and slow down when the road gets icy.
Every time you have a test fail unexpectedly, write a new test to document what was just discovered. It may mean you just found a bug.

Along the same lines, take the time to discover why something works when you think it shouldn’t.
Along the same lines, if you find a refactoring which your current tests do not demand, write another test.

Your test code may actually be as many lines as the code you are adding. This is not a bad thing.

Doesn’t this mean my output is going down? When answering that question, be sure to take debugging time, integration, and code explanation / learning into consideration. (Just because something makes sense to you doesn’t mean it will be easy for someone else to learn… or even for you to recall in the future when adding feature Y to the codebase built for feature X. Your tests at least document your obvious-now-but-likely-to-become-confusing-later solution.)

Do not be afraid to delete assertions, tests, or methods as part of refactoring; however, be confident that a test is obsolete before deleting. If the test does not give you any more confidence by existing, and it doesn’t communicate anything new to the reader of the test that they can’t learn in another test, it can be deleted.
TDD does not in any way replace or eliminate a need for performance / stress / usability testing.
100% test coverage does not mean 0 bugs.
Can we change the meaning of 1 line of code and then have a broken build? If not, we need another test. In other words, if we change line 873 (umm, first of all, we should never have a line 873, but that's a different discussion...) of ____.cs to say x = true instead of x = false, we should have a failing test.

Lastly, do not forget that changing code without a failing test is a violation of tenant #1 (Write new code only if an automated test has failed).

I think one of the most potentially difficult things about TDD is to let yourself solve the problem simply and then make it as pretty as you want to. When you solve it simply with passing tests, you can then change the solution to be reusable, decked out with patterns, etc. and be confident that the more complicated solution still solves the problem. In other words, don’t worry about it being pretty right out of the gate. Worry about solving the problem by making the test pass, and then let the patterns or perfection reveal itself through design changes, aka refactoring. Beck says this specifically in reference to the Template Method pattern, “Template methods are best found through experience instead of designed that way from the beginning.” but I think it applies to all (err, most?) patterns. He later states that extracting too many methods can lead to the reverse (inlining methods) when you think start off with a Template Method instead of following the above advice… so save yourself the time and let the patterns reveal themselves instead of creating patterns for the sake of patterns.

Costa Rica bonus entry, day 9

2009-11-08T00:58:00.005-07:00

11/1/2009 Sunday

This morning Catherine and I walked town a bit and killed more time before our taxi took us to the airport. Molly left a few hours before us. We found a little bakery to get apple pastries and cafe con leche to wake us up. A pretty nice morning.

---

The sun is presently sinking into the Gulf of Mexico. It's really pretty... warm and inviting in Miami 30,000' below.
A plane just eclipsed the sun. I'm glad I opened the window to see it because that must be rare. Sun dogs can be seen on whispy clouds to my left. I really enjoy window seats; sunsets even moreso. Tranquility. I'm back over U.S. soil now and have very mixed emotions about that. The in-flight movie was 500 days of Summer. I had mixed emotions about that too. I'm glad it had a happy ending because the rest of it was really painful to watch. I can't say that I have a ton of experience in that regard, but it resonated strongly with me. That feeling really sucks. Really. Miserable. The sunset just peaked. Brilliant. Really inspiring actually. The clouds below are putting on the display now.

Another thing I don't have mixed emotions about is the book I finished before the movie started; Compañero about Che Guevara. I didn't really know enough about him other than watching Motorcycle Diaries and Che (the ones with Benicio Del Toro) before the book. What a tremendous read. Che is a polarizing icon, so I wanted a fairly neutral and unbiased account. Compañero served well. It pointed out faults and mistakes as well as celebrating successes. (Florida is getting wider now. Chau Gulf, hello confederacy.) I find I relate to Che strongly in many aspects and very little in others. I feel bad for him that he kinda got sucked into several things in Cuba that prevented him from truly pursuing his aspirations as he may have otherwise preferred. Regardless of your opinion, this book is a good read. I think a vast majority of people with an opinion of him are mis/under-informed. Did he carry out executions? Yes, but no more than the U.S. ever has in a day. Did he do a lot of good? Yes, but perhaps not exactly as his fans would think. I really believe those who are "pro-Che" fail to recognize his faults, and those who are against him fail to recognize his achievements. Like John Kennedy, John Lennon, MLK, etc., it would have been interesting if he were still alive. If nothing else, I can better understand his point of view now.

Pasajes de Costa Rica, viaje 1, día 8

2009-11-08T00:02:00.004-07:00

10/31/2009 Saturday

Last day of vacation. Boo. Major bummer. Need to catch up on yesterday first... Before my surf lesson at 4:00 I took my rented board and got the hang of messing around in the whitewater. Rode a few waves on my knees. Russell gave me a different board for the lesson; not made of foam, better. We spent about 15 minutes on the beach and then took to the water. The very first wave he told me to try I stood right up and rode to shore. He seemed surprised. "Most people don't do that." I was really stoked. I only rode / stood up on a couple more, but it was a ton of fun. I can easily see how people get addicted and chase waves for years. What a great sensation. (What a beautiful buzz...) It started raining really hard and got dark fast. When we had walked back to Caza Zen, the Black & White party picked up. I only had one clean black or white shirt... a long sleeve. Oh well. 4 beers and dinner were about $9. I talked to a lot of interesting people. (Earlier in the day before my lesson I talked to a couple from Columbus. We talked about the black hole that is Ohio State Buckeye football and why nobody seems to do anything but drink at social functions in Ohio.) The party went fairly late... maybe 1am. I got excited when 2 Swedish guys invited a lot of people to their room for some "Swedish water." I thought it would be a new discovery, like the aguardiente incident in Seattle. No such luck; vodka. I hate vodka.

Also, before I forget about Friday, I kept thinking English speakers I talked to were Aussies. A girl from Minnesota selling jewelry at the party sounded like that, but said it was just because she had rarely used English in the past 6 yrs. "I just decided I didn't want to live in the States anymore." Russell, my surf instructor, was from England and could pass for an Aussie too. His girlfriend definitely sounded British though. I talked to a Kiwi and recognized right away he was from New Zealand, so no error there. He re-taught me the term "seppo" for "Americans" - I had heard the term but not the origin (Yankee shortened to Yank rhymes with septic tank, shortened to seppo). He seemed surprised when I told him that if he used phrases like, "Good on you!" people from the States wouldn't understand, or that if he referred to our measurement system as the Imperial system "Americans" wouldn't know he meant weight in lbs, distance in ft/in. I honestly think most people wouldn't though. Sidenote: I find myself not liking to use the term "Americans" for people from the States, myself included. It seems wrong; arrogant. This is America too. I am not in the central USA but I am in Central America right now.

I woke up, caught the bus, the ferry, then another bus and was in Alajuela to wait to catch a taxi to the airport. Molly, Catherine and I split a room to save money and shopped a bit. I bought a hammock! Lunch at my last soda for this trip.... so filling, only 1 meal needed today, roughly translated to about $4. As the sun set we walked west to a cemetery (seemed fitting for Halloween and a nearly full moon) in town then walked back towards our hotel. It seemed like a waiting game, just killing time before we had to leave. The trip was over. We walked past the main cathedral in town... that's a nice area. After dark Molly and I walked down to Pops to get some ice cream then watched surf porn on youtube [segments of Endless Summer... I still need to rent it] on the free internet connection at the hotel. There is a very obvious police presence in Alajuela, and I did not feel in danger walking after dark.

I'm excited for the snow at home but already missing this country. I can't say for sure (obviously) yet, but I feel like this trip has yielded one of the most important weeks of my life so far. Definitely significant. Costa Rica truly is a rich country, and it gave me a lot.

Pasajes de Costa Rica, viaje 1, día 7

2009-11-07T23:52:00.003-07:00

10/30/2009 Friday
It's another overcast day on the Pacific. Fairly choppy water. The howler monkeys woke me up and it's been fairly low key since then. I walked to the bank to get dollars for my surfing lesson. I really want to buy a hammock but don't really have room for one in my equipaje. Next time I may bring an empty duffel bag or something like that, and take a shuttle if I fill it, although I find myself preferring the public transport. On my way back to the hotel I got a ride from a guy that works at Casa Zen. I asked him what he thought of all the construction. He spoke fairly fast, so I didn't understand all of his Spanish, but essentially he said it was terrible. A very lamentable situation. He said there are no rules, no permits, no concerns for the roads, schools, locals... the dollar prevails. It's unfortunate and I hope it changes.

Pasajes de Costa Rica, viaje 1, día 6

2009-11-07T18:55:00.004-07:00

10/29/2009 Thursday

It's a cloudy, misty day on the Pacific. Starting to sprinkle. Rain clouds overhead. It was quite a day getting here. I was awake, but not up at 7:05 when a knock at the door forced me out of bed.

I was told the night before to be ready at the door at 7:30. I went to the bathroom, threw on clothes, and checked out in record time. I had to break a Jaguar to leave a tip... only 1 more left. We picked up 2 more people before leaving the city; a Canadian girl, Lauren, that graduated a few months ago and has been traveling solo for a month, and a lady from California that retired down here 5 years ago. I chatted with Lauren a bit. It sounds like she has had quite a trip, starting in the Caribbean, into Panama, the Pacific coast, Monteverde, and eventually north to Belize in December. It seemed a long time for a B.C. girl (living in Calgary... lots of Calgary people down here) that didn't speak Spanish to be on her own. She was headed to Montezuma. Based on what she told me I need to see it. Another interesting USA/Canada discovery: she had never heard of the Grateful Dead or Phish. I was stunned. I translated for the group. Before we got to Puntarenas our driver complimented my Spanish, so apparently the words I do know sound correct. I was also taken for a Spaniard by an Austrian once I got to Casa Zen. She was surprised I spoke Spanish with her since I was from the States. Maybe my beard is hiding me well now.

The ferry from Puntarenas to Paquera was pretty. The islands and sea are tranquil. The road to Cobano is fairly straightforward but once you pass the turn to Montezuma, the pavement becomes dirt and the going is slow. I thought it was great. The distance between Mal País, Santa Teresa, et al surprised me... looks closer on the map. Casa Zen is a relaxing stop in my travels already. Very laid back. The kitchen is really good, the vibe is mellow. i.e. good food, company, waves. The beach here is both bigger and wetter than the Caribbean, with green cliffs off in the distance.

I have run out of superlatives for this country.

Once again I was speechless walking the beach. It is completely undisturbed. It's not for me to say what Costa Rica does with its land but I really hope they don't pave that road and make it easier to get here. There should not be hotels here. This is not a place for lawn chairs full of gringos working on their tans. This view belongs to those who respect it and earn it; Ticos, and to a lesser extent, surfers and vegabonds. (Right now this seems to be a secret place only surfers and Lonely Planet readers know about.) Waiting for the backhoe to make way for my mícrobus was half the fun of getting here. I walked the beach until I found the break all the surfers preferred... 3-5 ft waves. Surfing is an art form. Very pure, graceful, challenging. It's impossible to be stressed sitting in front of the ocean. I became Peter Gibbons. Strike that, I became The Lorax for this beach. I picked up trash on my way back to my room as it started to rain. Looking south, rain clouds drifted north. I got soaked, and it was really refreshing. Apparently it has rained here 8 days in a row, but is starting to dry out. I can't tell. Everything is saturated. [I just discovered Molly and Catherine from the airport on day 1 are staying here. Small world.] It seems even after just a few hours that this is the coast Jack Johnson personifies, with Bob Marley on the other coast. (I have only listened to reggae since I got to Costa Rica.... nothing else feels appropriate. Maybe Jack Johnson tonight.)

There is much more to see, but I really want to start a business down here... somewhere anyone with the smallest interest in jungle, ocean, rainforest wildlife, and/or Latin America need not look elsewhere. It seems the same for Peru, Mexico, etc. too though.

10:30pm... raining quite hard again. It doesn't seem like it below the trees at ground level, but it's chaos on the roof. I watched the Thursday night movie and ate here tonight. I haven't had too many vegetarian days this month, so at least I got another one in today. After the movie I talked to two Austrian girls, siblings, one from earlier today. The younger one said goodnight, shook my hand and kissed me on the cheek as is customary for her. I did so in response but was fairly taken off guard. Interesting mix of cultural norms on this planet. It's lights out early tonight for early morning surfing sessions. I think I'll rent a board and try it out. Last random thought: High stress and blood pressure patients should forgo treatment and spend their money wisely by spending an hour in a hammock listening to the rain here.

Pasajes de Costa Rica, viaje 1, día 5

2009-11-04T22:30:00.003-07:00

10/28/2009 Wednesday

6pm... not quite a mid-day update but still earlier than other days. I'm sitting in my room at Hotel Rosa del Paseo on the west side of San Jose. It's a very nice hotel with a courtyard, tranquility, safety (you must be let in or out by the attendant), and quiet. The quiet is nice because San Jose, in my brief experience, feels loud and congested. No more than any other international city though. I had a fairly slow morning after being woken up at 5am by Cahuita's local howler monkeys. They sound like ghosts. I went back to sleep only to be woken a few hours later by torrential downpour. It seemed a good day for travel. When I got up and headed back to Cahuita NP the sun was out. I took my camera, intent on getting capuchin monkeys on film since I didn't have my camera yesterday. I saw a few, plus a sloth, but none close enough to photo well, like yesterday. It seems I'll just have to return in order to get better photos.

I made my way to the bus station at 11 to catch the 11:30 to San Jose. I found myself recalling my first minutes at the same place yesterday... a woman with a European accent (speaking English, pretty sure it was German or Austrian) had pissed me off. I heard her speaking English so I asked her which direction the beach was. She rolled her eyes and pointed. Her body language made it seem like I had just wasted hours of her life and she wanted a refund for the huge inconvenience. As I walked out she said, "This is a business, not a tourist center." in exasperation. As if I couldn't tell by the cheap Santa Claus and ornament display you were setting up when I walked by... clearly you're trying to pawn this crap to tourists and locals... in the tropics... in October. She was in my shoes once too... in Cahuita for the first time. I've met many welcoming and nice Europeans, but the general sentiment towards Americans from Europeans is totally unwarranted. I'd like to think an American in Tokyo would have treated her better. Thankfully my mind was distracted after those few minutes by a girl that sat next to me waiting for her bus. She was Latin, with wavy locks flowing from a yellow bandanna. I didn't want to be rude, but her eyes were astonishing. She kind of reminded me of the award winning National Geographic photo of the girl from Afghanistan. I formed the sentence in Spanish in my mind, "I don't want to be rude, but I feel compelled to tell you that your eyes are the most beautiful I've ever seen," but worried I had the wrong word for "rude" and said nothing. (Clearly my girltardedness extends far beyond gringas.) There is absolutely no shortage of beautiful girls (from here or anywhere else on the planet) in this country. On the bus to San Jose it rained again. Approaching San Jose from Puerto Limon the rainforest is beautiful. Everything is lush, clouds hang in the valleys, etc. A 25 year old nurse from Calgary sat next to me and we chatted for most of the ride. She was part Czech and told me Prague was nice. I've heard as much and would like to see it one day.

11pm... Yep, today was very different than yesterday, as expected, except another great dinner. I walked 4 blocks to the highly recommended Machu Picchu. I was a bit skeptical with the erotic toy shop across the street, but don't let that dissuade you. I ordered the famed pisco sour to discover the Peruvian's secret. Holy smokes, I'm glad I got the small one. Halfway through I had a solid buzz going... maybe 3 oz. I asked my waiter to choose a dish for me between a few options and he picked ARROZ CON POLLO A LA PERUANA, which as you would expect, was baked chicken served on rice in a green sauce, with peas and sliced peppers added. The sauce was very good. He also brought out a small saucer of salsa. "Cuidate, muy muy picante." Ok, noted. I found out it was habaneros.... very good but very hot. The rice was very short grained, almost round. After that I had a cafe con leche. My first Costa Rican coffee... smooth, creamy, delicious. Before leaving I told my waiter, "With certainty, this is one of the best drinks and food (I don't know the word for meal) of my life." He was grateful. I really have been eating like royalty the last several days... the heat and humidity stifles my appetite to one meal a day. I don't think I'm losing weight though. It was obvious in the restaurant I am in a wealthy part of town. The other patrons had on nice clothes, jewelry, make-up, etc. It feels OK for me to be here since I was a bit concerned about safety in the city. My hotel room is really really nice... my first hot water shower in 6 or 7 days. My clothes are drier but still smell like Central American buses (i.e. slight mildew, a lot of sweat). My t-shirts stink. Surprisingly less English spoken here than on the coast. It was kind of nice chatting for a few hours with my Canadian bus neighbor about the differences between our countries, but I also have enjoyed being forced to use Spanish. [Note to self, Albertans have good party themes. Ex: Tight & Bright (think neon spandex), Anything But Clothes (cardboard, foil, stuffed animals sewn together, etc), etc.] My Spanish listening skills are improving. I need to expand my vocabulary, and just need to be diligent about that when I get home.

Pasajes de Costa Rica, viaje 1, día 4

2009-11-03T23:54:00.002-07:00

10/27/2009 Tuesday

Today was my earliest morning yet, but there were no problems. I got up in time to shower and get packed for a hike with Santiago. We left town promptly at 8:00. It was a completely different experience than yesterday's hike. Instead of hiking down the beach, we went into the jungle just past the Dolphin House. Santiago told me about his life, his bamboo fall/accident which gave him his limp, the history of Manzanillo, the struggle with the government and the current status of the national park/wildlife refuge, etc. In addition to all that, we saw howler monkeys, poison arrow frogs, millipedes, 2 toed sloth, tons of birds, ants, wild cacao, toucans, and scores of plans. I learned which plants he used to help his hip, which were poisonous, which you could boil to make tea and feel better, etc. Clearly Santiago's "Tylenol" came from his hometown and not a white plastic bottle. We mainly spoke English, which was fine for me. I learned which trees were too tough / hard to use for building homes (i.e. Almond) and which monkeys liked to spend the day in (i.e. Balsa), etc. We walked along private property (marked off by a vine which grows in a straight line) and I found myself hoping the people that owned it could keep it but still call it a national park... maybe a working NP of some kind. It's a tough sociological situation. Either way, it's a beautiful area so I hope it gets some kind of elevated and permanent protected status. That place has quite a story for a town that has only had electricity for 20 years. Seriously, they used candles for lights after dark, had no fans, TVs, no fridges, etc until I was in 2nd grade. Insane. A beautiful place. After the tour I checked out of Maxi's and caught the 12:45 bus after a bit of shopping.

Cahuita is not for everyone. You can get large quantities of several drugs here without really searching. Regardless of whether you like the town, you will love the national park on the edge of town. (Actually, the town used to be in the NP at Punta Cahuita, but the government pushed the town north, away from the wildlife. The houses are still there, but full of snakes instead of people now.) I checked into Cabinas Atlantic Surf and immediately my pulse slowed. Even more so than Puerto Viejo and Manzanillo, this town makes it impossible to worry or hurry. I made my way to the ATM and then the N.P. 500m from the park entrance along the beach I saw 8 White-headed Capuchin monkeys at once. They were mad at the dogs below them; breaking off branches and throwing them down with strong force. One of them hurled a huge branch, maybe 20 lbs... surprising for a small monkey weighing less. A park ranger ran to the rescue and used the same branch to chase away the dogs. I swam in the turbulent ocean after watching the monkeys a while. These waters were tough! Waves came in pairs, except when they synched up and made one big wave. I could let a big wave carry me all the way to shore. At the same time, the currents of that wave swept me out after it broke. My first real experience with riptides. I was never really worried, but definitely aware of my distance from shore. The waves were so big I could not jump and keep my head above them.... they would whitecap and break further out and be tall/strong when they reached me. A lot of fun. After swimming, they monkeys seemed calm without dogs below them. They were literally on the beach... if they fell at high tide they would get wet. Obviously a narrow stretch of sand. They were very picturesque. Quite a day for wildlife!

After drying off I had dinner with Brian, a fellow Cabinas Atlantic Surfer from Seattle. I had a pineapple smoothie drink with dinner; marlin, rice and beans, crispy plantains and salad. The marlin came in a Caribbean curry. Brilliant! I've eaten a lot of good food in my life, and this was near the top of the list. Caribbean cooking is part of the draw of this coast. Afterwards I drank and talked U.S. politics with Wyoming, Brian and Graven (a Cahuita native). I wish I had a few more days to see Cahuita NP, surf Playa Negra, etc. but the Pacific and San Jose calls me. Tomorrow will be very different than the past several days.

Pasajes de Costa Rica, viaje 1, día 3

2009-11-03T21:51:00.004-07:00

10/26/2009 Monday

I didn't realize it was Monday until I checked my phone to get the date for today's ramblings. I believe that means I'm getting the hang of the pura vida. Monday is very significant in my home life... here not so much. Aside from the bus schedule and a few restaurants, nobody seems to care what day it is. Every day is a good one. And I agree. This is off topic, but I'm starting to think of the Spanish translation for these sentences as I write. Maybe it's a game or mental test, but I think it helps me know where the gaps in my Spanish are.

This morning I woke up and took my time packing my things. I walked into town to change $30 into ~15,000 colones and stood in line at the bank for a long time, only to have their computer system shut down when I was next. After several minutes we all gave up hope. I walked to the currency exchange company and was charged a slightly higher rate (as I was told would happen) but at least had my 15k colones. I stopped by the bus station to get my ticket for the 11:45 to Manzanillo but was told I couldn't buy one until 11:30. Instead I did some window shopping. Before buying anything I stopped in the post office to see if I could mail to the US from there. The girl working spoke no English and asked me a question I didn't understand, so I gave up. I felt defeated and decided to just check out and eat my brunch (the remainder of a beef empanada from the bus station... perhaps questionable by this point, but still looking OK after 2 days in the fridge...) on the beach.

The bus ride to Manzanillo was quite an adventure... the old bus couldn't help but hit a lot of the potholes on the road. The most worrisome part, however, was crossing bridges. There are several bridges between Puerto Viejo and Manzanillo, all of which are exactly the width of said rickety bus. We slowly crossed each one, but took the last one at a slight angle. The bang/crunch we made sounded like significant damage to both the old bridge and the old fender or wheelwell on the old bus. Oh well, we crossed. I was a tad concerned we would end up in the river below us and recalled a story Whitney told me yesterday where a bus drove off a bridge near Quepos this week and a few of the folks that survived the fall still died by way of hungry Caiman. I'm happy to report there were no such deaths today, but the bus and bridge struggle seems to be ubiquitous.

Anyways, I sat next to a very nice Guatemalan girl on the bus. She had been to Asheville, NC and the Smokies and hoped to see Colorado one day even though it snowed there. She spoke good English so we had a nice conversation. Ironically I found her easier to understand than most of the Jamaican English speakers I've talked to in Manzanillo today. Despite the Rasta influence in Puerto Viejo, I didn't find it a problem until today. Manzanillo is essentially the end of the road on the Caribbean coast of Costa Rica, just a few miles from Panama. It feels like just a few miles from Kingston. The bus stopped in front of Maxi's cabinas & restaurant so I walked all of 10 meters to book my night's lodging... I splurged on a room w/ A/C.

After checking in I took my backpack and headed to the guide house for the wildlife refuge. Nobody was there, but there was a sign on the door with names and phone numbers of guides.
I headed down the coast intent on finding scores of howler monkeys on my own. While I didn't quite make it to Punta Mona, I did still have the hike of a lifetime. The beaches here are incredible, as is the jungle. I walked along the water to a point where a trail meandered into the jungle / refuge. After passing the Dolphin Lodge, civilization of any kind fades away. Humanity too, for that matter. I found myself on a damp mud trail with jaw-dropping coves to my left, rainforest on my right, and a canopy above me. No need for sunglasses on the trail. I was completely alone for literally a few hours. At times I expected a jaguar to jump out and end me... I recorded the sound of the jungle on my phone. I was Robinson Crusoe. Once again, how in the world did the Spaniards leave here after landing? I'm glad they did. I half expected to be shot by poisonous frog darts and cannibalized by an indigenous tribe (they're nearby). This was the most wild, natural, untrammeled place I've ever seen. At times I caught myself audibly uttering "un. be. lievable." to nobody. Several times actually. Thousands of ants used the trail I hiked. They formed a long line and slowly carried leaves and flowers home. I made sure not to bother them fearing they might collectively turn on me. I then realized I was in sandals with no bug spray... unprepared. N0-see-ums ate my legs. Better than a snake or a spider (I saw both). I thought if something did happen to me, nobody would find me until at least tomorrow. It was starting to get dim in the forest anyways, so I headed back. I don't want to over-emphasize the fear though. The overwhelming feeling was simple disbelief at the beauty. Some of the trees where as big as the Spruce of Olympic NP... maybe saplings when Columbus landed. I truly was stunned to silence by the experience. This is the prettiest ocean setting I've ever seen... and almost nobody else is here.

After spending some time on the beach and swimming until the sun set I ate 300kg of today's lobster catch and asked Dennis (a Canadian logger ex-pat from B.C.) how many people lived here. In a mixed Canadian/Rasta accent he replied, "Oh, I don't know. Maybe 150." There can't be more than 25 tourists here. To say you can't exactly buy tourist trinkets such as a shot glass or post card in this town is an understatement. Right now I might be as off the beaten path as possible. While the kids in town started the nightly soccer game I scored a guide for tomorrow morning. I recalled seeing Santiago's name on the guide house door sign, so when he introduced himself to me, barefoot and drinking at the bar, I asked if he was the guide. Yep. "Cool, I want to go see monkeys in the morning." The price of a 4 hour guided trek went from $100 to $35 when his boss entered the picture. I don't understand his Spanish very well but will study tonight and hope it goes OK. I think he recognizes I am not just a dumb Yankee after telling him $100 was too much, and he seemed happy to help me, so I'm excited. The lobster was probably the best I'll ever have. It came with fried plantains and Caribbean spicy rice and beans. Delicious. That plate and 1 beer ran $22, so it was pricy even by U.S. standards, but those were two fresh lobster tails I'll remember, and I agree with the guidebook that Maxi's kitchen boasts some of the best cooking in the area. I also chatted with an American girl who is from D.C. but went to U. Dayton. Small world. She had long dreads and works on a sustainable farm in the woods. I think day 3 has exceeded days 1 and 2. Based on the Salsa and Cumbia coming from next door, today is far from over. What a wonderful place this southern Costa Rica Caribbean coast is.

Pasajes de Costa Rica, viaje 1, día 2

2009-11-02T23:10:00.002-07:00

10/25/2009 Sunday

In many respects this was a Sunday unlike any other in my life. I woke up well rested but extremely parched around 9am. It took me a while to mobilize, but I was eager to familiarize myself with my new surroundings. I walked into town and had to laugh. I expected to see something along the lines of at least Playa del Carmen south of Cancun after all I had read. Indeed, most of the business in town is built around tourism, but unless there are major changes (hopefully not) this area won't be a new Mayan Riviera for at least 75 years. I would guess this is what corners of Florida looked like around 1900 - minus the cars, scooters, electricity... very few businesses were open. I bought a 600ml water bottle from a stand at Playa Negra for 500 colones. After walking Playa Negra and being somewhat disappointed in the scenery (aside from the intrigue of sand that resembled crushed coal) I decided to walk to Salsa Brava and watch some surfers. No surfers. It dawned on me that most of the town was probably just going to bed, based on the scene at 9pm last night. Oh well, at least I had my bearings. I had planned on being out most of the day but instead was back to the hotel within an hour. A little confused about the lack of picturesque beaches, I re-read my guide books and finally read that the real gems of the coast were a few km south of town and got more interesting as you approach Panama. I headed back to town and rented a bike with the goal of scouting the beaches and ultimately riding home for dinner. Bikes are the standard means of transport in this town. My specific bike today was probably made before I was born... a green fixie (pedal backwards = brakes though) with mushy tires. $5 for the day. Content with looking slightly less a tourist, I road the "paved" road towards Manzanillo. Beyond the fringe of Puerto Viejo, the jungle is impressive and the Cabinas become more impressive. It seems the wealthy ex-pats live this way... I pass a sign selling 49 acres of land including beach for $150k and have to stop myself from immediately turning on my phone. After about 10 minutes I pass a wooden sign with "Cocles" carved in it. The road veered towards the beach and revealed paradise. Clean sand (there was trash on the beaches in PV, although all the recycle / trash stations with encouraging signs that clean beaches are better seemed to indicate progress on that front), waves big enough to possibly surf, clear water, tall palms for shade. This was what I had seen from the plane yesterday and longed for. I locked my bike to a tree and walked toward the water. I dropped my backpack and tested it out... the water was colder than Tulum, Mx but still quite warm. I walked back to my towel, applied excessive sunscreen and lad down to just listen to the lapping of the waves for a while. After 30 minutes I was roasting and decided it was safe to leave my things and enjoy Caribbean swimming. I took my rightful spot directly in front of my towel and began bobbing in the break. I noticed the two girls within earshot of me had American accents and spoke English. I asked if they had been to Manzanillo, hoping to find out if the beaches were in fact more impressive further south. Although they hadn't, we did end up chatting for a while. They had just moved from Jacksonville, FL after graduating from UT Knoxville, to Manuel Antonio on the Pacific coast. Very nice, welcoming, well traveled girls. At 1:30 they asked if I knew what time it was. I opened my zippered pocket to grab my watch right as a wave hit me. I immediately remembered my bike lock keys had been in that pocket, and of course no longer were. A few minutes of searching produced no results. Whitney and Rachel felt bad, so I borrowed a bike while they shared their second. I felt bad but the rental guy said it was no problem, and a few minutes later I jumped on the back of a scooter with a guy owning chain cutters.

[Sidenote: explaining "lifeguard" to a man that doesn't speak English is tough. Ex:

]

Potholes require good ab strength and balance while riding a Vespa on a gravel road. Minutes later I was back at the bike shop. $4 for a new lock. Pura vida. The girls had showered and got their bags to catch the 4pm bus to San Jose, then Manuel Antonio. We ate lunch at my first soda. An enormous amount of rice and beans topped with ~10 oz. of fried chicken. Clearly lunch is the biggest meal of the day. Food for a whole day plus juice and tip for $7. Not bad. After lunch we rode to my room so they could change out of wet clothes, borrow some Aloe Vera (we all got burned), exchange emails, and invite me to Quepos for a surfing contest on Halloween. I've already paid for my hotel in Santa Teresa then but may take them up on it. I'm not sure if I could get to SJO on time for my flight, so it's not likely, but a good option anyways. I wish I were less worried about making plans in advance. I read a lot about Manuel Antonio and it sounds fun. Either way, they caught the bus and I headed south again. I rode as far as I could before needing to turn around to return my bike. I stopped at the beach near Punta Uva. There was 1 other person swimming about 1/4 mile from me, but otherwise not a soul. I have no idea how/why Christopher Columbus kept going after he landed there, but I believe it looks about the same now as it did then. Incredible. I saw my first wild monkey there too. (I have heard several howler monkeys but not seen one.) By the time I had my camera out he was two trees away. A really awesome experience. So much character/personality in his face. A that point I decided to change plans and spend tomorrow night in Manzanillo with the monkeys, sloths and macaws.

After returning the bike, I decided to have a beer and dessert (still mostly full from lunch). Rest. de Paso, right across the street from my place and on the path to the beach, was a good choice. The dulce de leche crepe was a huge success. Reggae bumping from the speakers... a good end to my day. They sold bulk mate but don't serve it. Bummer since I didn't bring any. The Che poster at the bar made me want some. I settled for reading Compañero on my hammock instead. I met my Colombian neighbor then. She has a good story; in the fair trade coffee business, travels a lot... going to Seattle in February to work and learn English, then off to England to sell fair trade coffee there too. Very cool. Based on my encounter with her and her friends, I believe Colombian women could take over the planet if they organized and chose to do so... they would be supermodels in the States. I am meeting many diverse and wonderful people so far. Feliz noches.

Pasajes de Costa Rica, viaje 1, día 1

2009-11-02T21:11:00.006-07:00

10/24/2009 Saturday

My upcoming night's sleep feels like one of the hardest earned in my life. Here's to sleeping like a baby! I write this from a situation my dad would find a personal hell. Tonight stands alone as the most humid in my life, and the fan isn't quite keeping up to say the least. I am in room #3 at the Exotica Lodge in Puerto Viejo de Talamanca approx. 100m from the Atlantic Ocean in southern Costa Rica. I was too tired to care upon arrival, but in the morning will try to do the American thing and buy myself into a more comfortable situation. The fridge and the fan work, and the cold water is nice, so it could be far worse... camping in Moab in August, for example... Anyways, this story really begins yesterday around lunch time. I was trail running on a stunning fall day in Boulder at the base of the Flatirons. No surprise I didn't keep up with coworkers Darren and Tim, but it was really the perfect use of a lunch hour given the weather, setting, etc. I really love the fall. After trail running I finished the work day and headed to happy hour to celebrate several coworkers birthdays. A few hours later I made my way to DIA for the 1am flight to ATL. (By the way, I found it especially tough to leave Tacoma this time. I know he's fine but I feel kinda bad leaving my little buddy for so long. He's a good kid...) I didn't really sleep on the flight, and didn't really sleep on my 4 hr layover in ATL, so I was ready for sleep when I got on the plane to San Jose. That didn't really happen either. (I met a girl from Jersey who lives in Aspen that slept soundly though. I told her I was jealous when she woke up and we talked for a while. Molly... she was definitely a Molly based on previous experience... reminded me a lot of Kendra too. Sidenote: all of the girls I've ever met living in Aspen have proven especially intriguing. Rad chicas. I might have to move there.) Sleep was in short supply then too. I was excited to see the Atlantic. Flying over Florida, however, was shameful. There is no more green, no more swamp... only roads and vacation homes. It was depressing. 3 minutes after Florida disappeared, Cuba came into view. Unspoiled white sand beaches... much better! Our pilot seemed to agree. After Cuba came the dark blue ocean. So dark, it seemed fake, like a bluebird day on the slopes in April where I would almost swear the sky has switched to purple, but I digress...

I really believe it was love at first sight for Costa Rica and I. I had a window seat and finally saw land again. Unspoiled jungle led right up to the coast where white wave breaks met white sand. A muddy brown river flowed slowly into the Atlantic... maybe the Parismina. The Canal del Tortuguero was also in plain sight, but otherwise nothing but rainforest jungle blanketing gentle mountain slopes. As we neared SJO you could see crops, but it was much more pure than Florida a few hours prior.

SJO took me by surprise, as did the humidity. The airport was so small, much smaller than Cancun, for example, which supports a smaller town. I changed into a t-shirt while waiting for the checked baggage to start and regretted not also carrying on shorts. I forgot that 70*F in Boulder feels nothing like 70*F in the topics. Oh well. I took a taxi to the Caribeño bus station... the driver spoke almost no English. It was put up or shut up time for my Spanish lessons. When he dropped me off, he complimented my Spanish, so I guess I did OK. He asked me where I was going, for how long, whether I'd been to CR before... simple stuff. When we got to the bus station I thought it was a joke. No tourism here... la gente in the true colors. Complete culture shock. I questioned this whole trip; I was scared and alone. No English. Period. 4200 colones (~$8) bought me a seat for 4 hours on a bus with no AC and no bathroom. Again, still exhausted, I wanted to sleep but couldn't. As we descended from San Jose to the Atlantic I was in awe at how beautiful the country is. My eyes were huge for the first half hour. The jungle is in command, and only a tiny strip of pavement slices through it. Viva la selva. Waterfalls, mudslides, clouds like Gorillas in the Mist... very captivating. The my neighbor with the window seat woke up. This was a true answered prayer. For 3.5 hours we talked in mostly Spanish... again, almost no English. We talked about interests, music, movies, jazz, the towns we drove through... He was 23, from Nicaragua, 1/4 Italian, had an ex-girlfriend in Spain whose dad was African and mom Swiss. Trying to explain bluegrass proved unsuccessful aside from explaining the state my brother lives in has grass called bluegrass. We talked about being single, my plans in CR, religion. He is Presbyterian and in seminary helping a remote village on the Panama border. We talked about missionaries, favorite foods, etc. I was in disbelief that I could understand him and vise versa. My brain hurt but spirits very high as the sun set. Too tired to walk or think, I took a cab to my hotel. 45 seconds later I was here... unpacked a bit and then sat down on the bed. The linens are clean. I'm not sure what the pillow is made of. It will do. A spider and centipede crawl across the floor. Thinking I should put up my mosquito net, I eat an apple and fall asleep. I woke up 2 hrs later. I need more rest. It's 11:30pm. Almost 2 days with little more than a nap. Tomorrow will be low stress! Until then, insects, birds (and the occasional monkey) sing me to sleep. Pura vida.

making the most of the summer

2009-10-09T23:30:00.001-06:00

Alright, now that it's mid-October I can write about mid-July here...

Me voy a Tejas (Wedding #2)

The weekend after Ryan and I got rained out as described in the previous post, I flew to Austin to be in my second wedding of the summer. It was great to be back in Austin, and believe it or not the 104 degree heat didn't get to me that much. In a break from the wedding festivities, I got to see a few friends from a previous job and have wonderful Tex-Mex... not to mention beer with lime in it that wasn't Corona. What a fabulous idea that is.

But back to the wedding... I got to see my sister and new brother-in-law's home during a post-rehearsal open house. It was great seeing family and meeting new faces on the other side of the wedding. For some reason it felt like I hadn't spent that much time with the fam in this kind of setting in a long time, even though a lot of us had spent Christmas together and we had a wedding the previous May. Ahh well... it was good. Real good. We had the rehearsal dinner at Texas Land & Cattle, of course. It was a traditional Cowboy/Western wear themed party, but I showed up in a guayabera shirt, more of a gaucho than a cowboy. (I had tried to pick up some chaps on craigslist but nothing really fell into place.)

I called out a few relatives that I heard had spent a meal at Quizno's or Subway or something unallowable like that. My sister (the bride) thought I was wasted, but my announcement to the whole party to consult me for culinary advice was sincere and sober. Let thee be warned; the food in Austin is way too damned good to bore your taste buds! Don't give in to the national chain!

Wedding day was very hot - 104 - and the wedding was outside in the afternoon. The stage:

I would have preferred it were October, but there was a nice Central Texas breeze blowing in from the Longhorn ranch on the other side of the fence cooling us off. It was what it was, and we had fun. Amazingly enough, despite me being the only remaining single sibling, there was no onslaught of "so when are you getting married?" jeers. Gracias.

It all went way too fast, and I found myself needing to spend the next few weekends doing little of note.

On the Sharp End in Boulder Canyon

On a Sunday afternoon in mid-August Brian and I went up to Boulder Falls to climb Buried Alive, a 3 pitch sport climb on Tonnere Tower. I decided to put up or shut up, and had a fine learning experience in the process. This was only my second lead, and the first multi-pitch lead attempt. I felt confident in putting my skills to the test, and was psyched to have a partner to follow me up. There was a couple starting our intended climb just as we got there, so we decided to start on something else to warm up with. (Feel free to grin and laugh now if you know where this is going.) We chose the route that looked pretty straightforward about 20 feet to the right of the main event. Once I was 30 feet up I realized that the next 30 feet were beyond 5.9, and had a date with an "almost epic..." After backing off the crux of a 5.11 pitch that I couldn't finish (not to mention lead), making use of a nearby tree, downclimbing to try the 10a next door, not realizing I left a draw in the 3rd-to-last bolt on the 11 (that bolt is 2nd from top here, with my tree in the background), and generally doing my best to ignore the sensation of the shriveling of my testicles, I found myself standing on a ledge to anchor in to the top of the 11 but with too much friction in the system to actually pull the rope into the anchors. Brian had loads of slack in the line, but I literally was pulling with all my strength and no budging. The rope is fine and wasn't stuck on anything but it was not happy being clipped into 2 routes at the same time. Too much friction. Lesson learned. I was glad nobody else was watching, or at least I couldn't hear them laughing from the parking lot. Anyways, then Brian gave it a shot and did very well up to the point that he had decided was far enough. Afterward we hit up the main event since our neighbors were coming down p1 of Buried Treasure. I then discovered the enormous and wonderfully pleasant difference between 5.9ish and 5.11ish. I got to the top of p1 and Brian cleaned up after me. We then realized our brains and arms were jello so it was time to rap 95' back to safety.

I would really like to try to finish Buried Treasure, and would also like to try The Twilight Kid again but only as long as somebody can lead it or toprope it for me... ahh well. All in all I was thrilled to have the knowledge and ability to get myself out of a bad situation, then lead at least one pitch, belay my 2nd-er and get us back to the deck via rapping safely. My new rope and draws did their job, so I was happy. At least now I know for sure where my limits lie and can work within them and hope to push beyond them safely in the future.

Muzzurrah Hilltoppin' in the Sawatch

A few weekends later Phish rode into town and tore Red Rocks to pieces, but I didn't have tickets for any of the 4 nights. The best alternative was to get the heck outta dodge and pretend I wasn't missing one of the best weekends they ever put on and hike a 14er. [Seriously, if you haven't heard these shows, get them! In hindsight, I should have ponied up $250 to a scalper to see 7/30. It is a terrific show, a fun cerebral listen, and gives hope that Phish is back to a far superior era than some of the more recent ones. It probably sounds dumb, but it was sooo uplifting to hear them reaching their full potential again. Welcome back boys, I'll see you soon!]

On the last day of July Ryan, Allison, Trey and I headed up Missouri Gulch towards our old friend Winfield and camped on a cold night. On August 1st we summitted Missouri Mountain. I was worried about trip reports mentioning the climb from the trailhead to treeline being a memorable nightmare of switchbacks. To my surprise and satisfaction (and definitely due to the fact that I had begun running/training for an upcoming 10k) I had little problem with this section. I actually could not believe how well I did; the difference was more than enough for my hiking partners to notice. I am usually terrible at ascending steep hills, but was very comfortable all the way up. Once at treeline we noticed there was fresh snow on Belford, a neighboring 14er. [Snow in July! This has been quite a cool and wet summer, to say the least.]

Once in the basin above treeline, the valley opens up and the hike is trivial until you reach the beginning of Missouri proper. Beyond that, there is a fairly serious incline gaining the final ridge, but once you're on the ridge you're home free. The weather was perfect for us, and we probably could have stayed on top for hours if we cared to. I was overwhelmingly satisfied that my lungs were getting in shape, and to see Huron, the first 14er I summited two years prior, from another angle. The central Sawatch aren't the most challenging mountains in the state, but they offer great views and a great excuse to get outside! Here is the obligatory evidence:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/brett_burch/sets/72157621918368062/

Wedding #3

The next weekend I borrowed a coworker's condo in Frisco and found myself back in the mountains. This was the third wedding of the summer for me, Tony and Shelly's, atop Keystone. This was yet another wonderful weekend in the hills, spent relaxing and enjoying the company of college friends. Before the wedding Ryan and I took his kayaks out on Dillon and had a nice time on the water. After that it was off to Keystone to ride the gondola to 11,000', sunglasses mandatory, with Quandary as the backdrop to the bride and groom's big day.

This comment is in no way an attempt to take away from any of the other weddings I have attended, but seeing Tony and Shelly together was very moving. They truly were the most excited couple I had ever seen walk down the aisle. Tony cried and Shelly glowed... that was pretty much the only way I could describe it. Maybe I shouldn't say any more. It was just really moving. I hope one day to have that same experience.

You gotta run like an Antelope, outta control!

I spent the better part of August and September gradually increasing my running distance to over 6 miles at a 10 minute mile pace to run a 10k section of the Boulder Marathon. Again, historically my cardio has been terrible, so agreeing to run a leg of a marathon was not something I necessarily jumped at when the opportunity presented itself. I did look at it as a way to improve my health (mental and physical) and to prove to myself that I actually could run that distance, regardless of the pace. Averaging a 10-minute mile is hardly worth getting CNN on speaker phone for, but it was what my body would consent to, so I was happy to take what it would give. I finished my 6 miles in about an hour, as expected, and wasn't too sore afterwards, so I can't really complain, but to be perfectly honest I was disappointed with my time. I had trained at a faster pace and hoped for the race to be my best pace yet. This was likely due to the fact that I started running unprepared and with a full bladder, forcing me to stop to use a porta-pot before starting my 5th mile. That was a mistake, to say the least. I guess I'll have to run the Bolder Boulder next Memorial Day and improve :) All in all, it was a goal accomplished and a pat on the back for my lungs to have allowed me to run at all, so I was thankful for the opportunity and look forward to the next one. Handing off the ankle RFID to my teammate to finish the race I thought back to when I first moved to Boulder and how I probably couldn't have run 2 miles without being completely winded. I suppose it's true that sometimes you need to look behind you to see where you've been and appreciate how far you've come...

Now that the race is over, I'll probably try to improve my time over shorter distances (maybe starting with 3 miles, for example), but either way I've been keeping up the running. It's funny what wanting to be in good shape for ski season will make you do... and speaking of, it's currently snowing right now, so ski season isn't too far away! Snow, baby, snow. I am seriously driven to not let my lungs keep me from ascending a 14er couloir and skiing down it, so hopefully I'll continue to improve until I really need it in the spring.

making the most of the rainy season, part III

2009-09-22T14:01:00.001-06:00

Wow, it has been a long time since I have updated here... If I remember correctly, there is still much to tell about the rainy season, so here goes.

In late May I took an Intermediate Snow course through CMC Boulder, which was a continuation of last year's Beginner Snow course. In Intermediate we learned how to use snow pro, roped travel, setup anchors, and self arrest with crampons. It built on Basic Snow and the Basic Rock School from earlier in the spring, and was a nice culmination to likely end my classes for a while. I now feel well equipped to safely travel up couloirs (for ski descents, of course). I really like the idea of snow travel as a means of ascent (avoiding the crowds and extending the climbing season), especially when combined with a ski descent (hence the Avy 1 class also). The next class I take will probably be Avy 2 and then eventually leading trad rock. After that, I think I am schooled out.

In early June I bouldered a bit on Mt. Sanitas right outside of Boulder. It was the first time I had really spent much time on Sanitas, and I have to say it surprised me. Maybe I wasn't in the beginner area, but I definitely thought the climbing would be easier. I've heard about tons of V0/V1 problems but didn't find too many when I was there. It was really busy but the rock was much kinder on my hands than Flagstaff is though, so it's a nice little outing in its own right.

A few weeks after Sanitas, I took a spur of the moment long weekend to the Telluride Bluegrass Festival. I went with the same friend I took up to Sanitas. We left Boulder on Wednesday after work and had what basically equates to 5 days of ridiculous debauchery in one of the most incredible settings on the planet. Let's just say that if there ever was a weekend where I put on a good Hunter S. Thompson impersonation, this, dear friends, was one of a select few, hence the leaving out of several details here. Before leaving Boulder we stopped at Liquor Mart for provisions, leaving town with a handful of bottles of beer, a 1.75L bottle of wine, a bottle of vodka, and two 12 packs of canned beer. Wednesday night we drove as far as we could before I started to get spooked of driving with all the deer on the side of the road. We got to Monarch Pass, where it was still very cold and snow was in our campsight. (Nothing like a little alcohol to take the chill out of the air...) We took our time getting going and got into Telluride around noon on Thursday. I hadn't been back to Telluride since I was a boy (middle school?) so this was a very nice reunion. The San Juans were simply stunning, with tons (tons!) of snow still on them. Most of the first day was spent drinking and unloading the Jeep while we set up our camp, finally seeing a few shows, and then head back to camp only to fall asleep and ultimately miss David Byrne's headline of the night. We made friends anyways, and ultimately did not go back to bed until the sun was coming up over the mountains. We slept under the dawn/stars and woke up to begin drinking again. We had a few beers for breakfast (which became the norm of the weekend) before we headed into town for the shows. We danced all day and I got a pretty good sunburn on my feet. That night Béla Fleck & Toumani Diabaté were definitely the highlight show of the weekend for me.

Every act we saw was fantastic though... it got to the point where I would stop checking the schedule, because it simply did not matter who was playing. Every band I knew put on a great show, and every band I didn't know encouraged me to check them out when I got home.

Saturday we woke to a completely different cold and rainy setting, so we headed into town for shelter... not to mention we had run out of beer. We reloaded at a nearby gas station and then headed to the bars. Most of the bars in town were packed, but we managed to find a corner where we watched an incredible dance-off by two of the drunkest people I've seen in recent memory. Ex:

We made our way back to the stage for Yonder Mountain, who were terrific as always, and during which I ran into another Boulderite... small world. The rest of the lineup that night was incredible, with Gaelic Storm capping roughly 10 hours of dancing. My legs were tired, and I was bummed going to bed because Sunday meant a long drive home back to responsibility. The 3am quesadillas helped ease the pain though :) Sunday we caught the first two shows, packed up our tent and headed back to Boulder. I was bummed we had to leave before Emmylou Harris played, but I knew we had to. We went home via I-70 instead of 285, and that made a truly wonderful Tour de Colorado. Photos of the weekend can be found at http://www.flickr.com/photos/brett_burch/sets/72157620431813195.

The weekend after Telluride Ryan, Allison, Brian and I hiked up La Plata via the Southwest Ridge. Ryan and I got our revenge after last year's Jeep-sinking 4th of July incident. It was our first new 14er of the year, and a lot of fun, although (this is the rainy season, after all) we did get rained on and had some nearby lightning. We actually ended up removing our packs to run quickly to the summit and claim our prize before a quick descent. I was happy to have made it down fairly dry, but will try to not cut it so close with the weather in the future. Photos of the outing are at http://www.flickr.com/photos/brett_burch/sets/72157620702598064/.

Lastly, Ryan and I tried to climb on 4th of July weekend in Boulder Canyon and got rained out. As soon as we reached the crag after some trailhead-finding troubles the clouds let rip with rain and lightning nearby. It looked something like:

I was happy just to head into town for some time at The Spot. The 4th of July truly seems cursed for us.

Thus concludes the rainy season. Bring on the snow season!!

making the most of the rainy season, part II: Tuning Fork couloir

2009-07-03T12:07:00.010-06:00

After my hiatus mentioned at the end of the previous post, on May 30th I decided to employ my ice axe, crampons, and Avy 1 class lessons in an attempt of my first day of backcountry skiing (aside from the field trip in the avy class). I joined a coworker on his annual outing up to Torrey's Peak, a Front Range 14er which I've summited in the summer. Instead of the route from Steven's Gulch, we headed up Grizzly Gulch to Tuning Fork couloir with the objective of skiing the same route ascended. I felt safe knowing that both guys I was going with had done the exact route previously, that the season was getting late enough to have a nicely consolidated snowpack, and that we had an easy emergency bailout possible by simply clicking in and pointing downhill.

We all had beacon / shovel / probes just in case, but to be honest, my bigger concern was whether my cardio would allow me to keep up with guys in much better shape than I. My disadvantage was exaggerated by not having an AT or tele setup, so I climbed in mountaineering boots with both my alpine skis and alpine boots on my back instead of just wearing my ski boots for the climb (... let's just say that I am now acutely aware that my alpine boots weigh 10 lbs). I was extremely excited but in all honesty, because of this, I had really low expectations of actually making it to the top and was resolved to be content with however the day turned out.

We left Darren's house in Golden around 5:15am and headed towards the Bakerville exit. Rob's Land Rover made quick work of the 4WD road, and we hit the trail with clear skies. After a little bit of routefinding, stream crossing, and postholing, we made it to the steeper section where you gain the bench that is effectively the apron of the couloir. Apparently I hadn't eaten enough for breakfast, because in between the time that we put on our crampons and reaching the top of the bench (just a few minutes) at ~11,400' my stomach dropped and I was completely out of steam. I started in on my lunch before starting the couloir (and the climb in earnest). After a few minutes' delay, I was off, trailing behind Darren and Rob but making progress.

I got into a decent rhythm of "plant ice axe, step, step, repeat" and slowly formed the opinion that this was the true way to fully experience a mountain.

After a while clouds started to roll in, and it seemed like making it to the top would not be possible. We pressed on knowing that a quick getaway was easy, but apparently only averaging about 500' elevation gain / hour. In the end this proved too slow, and we were turned around somewhere around 12,600' having climbing only about halfway up the couloir. As the graupel began to fall, we moved skis from packs to feet and headed down. I hadn't realized how exhausted I was until I tried to make a few turns. My legs were absolute mush. (Note to self: leave enough gas in the tank to be able to let 'er rip next time.) I made it down OK, but wasn't able to fully enjoy the descent because of the condition of my legs. Darren's video of me tells the tale... embarrassing. If I had been fresher, those may have been my funnest tracks yet... they were easily my hardest earned ones. I will definitely be returning to complete the journey in seasons to come.

Hopefully without putting too much emphasis on these points, I'd like to also point out that I personally consider this a foray into more legitimate mountaineering (I don't really count the glissade of Cristo couloir), as well as a deviation from previous 14er outings where the main objective was the summit. I was climbing on this occasion not primarily to make it to the top, but to reap the rewards of the climb on the descent. I wasn't hiking to the top to check a mountain off of a to-do list. (I had already been to the top of Torrey's, after all. I've talked to this before, so I won't dwell...) I'm not about to suggest that all my previous 14er outings have been boring aside from the summit photo (completely the opposite), but still, this day seemed like a progression in my mountain experience, or whatever you want to call it, and it felt very good. The climb was extremely interesting in its own right, and wasn't just a means to an end. I was thrilled to be using my axe and crampons instead of following a train of backpacks up a relatively straightforward trail. What little couloir kool-aid the day provided was more than enough to plant the seed for an addiction to climbing couloirs and skiing them... or getting off-piste turns at the very least.

This was one of the most rewarding days on a 14er I've had, despite not summiting. I re-learned that eating, timing of nutrition, and mental clarity are hugely important in these kind of outings. I have also officially decided to do something about my crappy lungs. I'm not going to allow myself to just be the slow one in the group anymore. If I am serious about intense exertion at high altitute, I need to get my lungs in better shape, and so I will. My photos of the outing are at http://www.flickr.com/photos/brett_burch/sets/72157618945111321.

making the most of the rainy season

2009-07-03T10:11:00.008-06:00

I've been slacking on keeping you, the loyal reader, up to date here. Sooooooooooo here goes. From mid-April through May:

After April powder I moved on to April rain at lower elevation. I took the Basic Rock class through the Boulder CMC. We had 2 night classes during the week and then 3 consecutive Saturday field trips. It turns out that all 3 of our Saturdays were either rainy or snowy, so we didn't actually get much climbing in, but I still learned a decent amount. I still can't lead and don't have much knowledge about building anchors, but at least now I can second multipitch, prussik up something I can't climb, rappel around a knot, tie you off if you break your leg as my leader, and get myself out of a system to go get help.

The following Saturday actually wasn't too rainy, so I went climbing with Ryan, Tony, and Joe as part of Ryan's bachelor party/day. We went up to Mt. Boner in the Ironclads area for some top-roping. I led my first sport route, a 5.6,

and for some reason got spooked when it was time to come down. A bit embarrassing. I recovered by climbing a 5.10b. Considering I hadn't (and still haven't) climbed 5.9 outside before, I was a bit surprised to have made it to the top. It was a short route, and I might not have done it exactly right, but either way, it was a fun climb. Apparently my sessions at The Spot have been paying off. A few guys from work and I were recently wondering how hard we could climb outside, so I guess we'll have to see if I can actually climb 5.10 again soon. The rest of the photos from the Ironclads outing are available at http://www.flickr.com/photos/brett_burch/sets/72157617844291613.

The weekend after climbing outside was Ryan's and Allison's wedding, so I hosted 3 friends from college in my 1 bedroom castle in Boulder. It was the first time Ryan, me, and those 3 had been together since graduating from Miami, so that was fun. I have no idea who out of the 5 of us is going to get married next, but hopefully it won't be another 6 years before we find ourselves at the same place/time again. The weather for the wedding was very pleasant, the setting was perfect, and overall the day went great. I gave my second Best Man speech (which went well) and had a really good time catching up with everybody. I'm sure Ryan will have more photos and details on his blog soon, so I'll let him tell the whole story there...

The next weekend I decided that after spending the last 6 weekends out of Boulder, I would stay in town. I did nothing (well, caught up a lot of stuff around the house...), and it too was wonderful. Sometimes you just gotta rest.

sense of place and the affects on the individual

2009-05-24T13:01:00.001-06:00

At Miami my Thematic Sequence was about conservation. In the last class our final project was to write a paper or create a project about Sense of Place. I really didn't understand the goal of the project until I was almost finished with mine, and could do a far better job now... 6 years later. (Have I really been out of school for 6 years? Yikes.) As I drove home from Denver a few nights ago I was struck with a bizarre yet interesting (to me, at least) realization that a lot of music (American or otherwise) reveals with amazing accuracy a person's sense of place. Hopefully this doesn't sound arrogant, but I really feel like I could describe a songwriter's relationship with their local geography, even if I'd never heard the song, with pretty good accuracy. It is actually a common theme that an artist conveys their surroundings more than they might realize? Or is it intentional? Maybe it's a reflection that as a musician you express what you know/see/feel best. I guess that makes sense; unless you were hoping to make a very specific statement that was the opposite of what you were surrounded by, that's exactly what you would do. A few examples are probably needed here.

Listen to any (ANY) Lynyrd Skynyrd song. You can practically smell the bayou, the whiskey and crawfish,
It is impossible to separate the Red Hot Chili Peppers from California. I can almost feel the Pacific and the southern California sun beating down on my face.
Grab your nearest Andean pan flute album and tell me you can't feel the damp clouds rolling in over the lush mountain valleys. (Liar!)
What does the Jamaican state of mind sound like? Queue up the Bob Marley album of choice.

This made me think about what else reflects that we, to a certain degree, are a product of our surroundings. Vocabulary and hobbies are a few examples. I wonder what interests would occupy my free time if I didn't live in Boulder or hadn't been exposed to the Rockies at an early enough age to pine for their bounty. If I grew up on the Pacific coast, for example, would I have an interest in sea kayaking but care less about skiing? If I grew up in Australia would I have a passion for scuba and detest winter?

late season resort powder!!!

2009-04-12T00:06:00.005-06:00

A few weeks ago Colorado had a really nice system come through that dropped good late season snow across the whole state. Since I felt like I hadn't had a really sick powder day this season, I watched the forecast and kept an eye on the storm until I decided Thursday was the day to head up to the hills. I called off work and went to Breck for what was largely considered to be the best day of the season there. It was one of those days where the lightly falling snow muffled every sound except the euphoric involuntary screaming of [Wahoo! / Yeeeahhh! / Sick!], heard in the distance ...which you found yourself repeating after you got off the T-Bar and dropping in to discover it was so deep you couldn't see your skis, boots, or even knees at times (... followed up with Matthew McConaughey's high pitched stoned giggle a la Dazed And Confused...). Spring skiing felt really good. Here's a little story / lesson learned though:

Before one of my laps on Boundary Chutes (untracked trees, steep but so deep you hardly need to turn to maintain safe speed) I'm on the cat track and this guy comes down from George's Thumb bowl talking about how he might have been dreaming, but could swear it was up to his waist at one point. His wife confirms. I think to myself, (a) that's ridiculous, they have to be messing with me, or (b) waist deep would be the most erotic snow experience of my life, so what if they're telling the truth? I decide to call an audible and check it out. When I get back to the top of the T-Bar, I cut over and take the Imperial lift to the top. It wasn't too windy, but blowing over the ridge into George's Thumb bowl. I start to believe the wind could actually make waist deep a reality. When I got to the other side of the ridge, the wind changed directions. I was overtaken by what I believe was the hardest gust of wind I've ever experienced. I stopped when the next pole marking my cat track disappeared into the whiteout, probably only 20 feet away. After about 30 seconds, which felt like an eternity, even with wearing a neck/nose gaitor, the windward side of my face was completely numb. I buried my face in my armpit - only to expose an unzipped pocket that I later discovered was unzipped and had a baseball sized ball of snow in it from this 30 seconds... I had a mini-panic attack thinking that the wind was not going to stop so I had to get back to the trees but I couldn't see to get down safely. I literally could not see past my skis in the whiteout but I decided to just go for it and drop in where I was.. and nearly took a fall into a 10 ft natural quarter pipe (the wind eventually let up). Once I did get my bearings I made it down just fine, discovering that it indeed was deeper, but not quite waist deep. That's just silly (although I did share the T-Bar with a girl who told me her little sister was over her belly button in Blue Sky the day before, and she seemed to be telling the truth). Lesson learned: the grass is not always greener. After that I had windburn so bad that the right side of my face actually peeled like a sunburn. Crazy.

I couldn't get up to the mountains in the weekend after Thursday, but was able to head up the following weekend. On the 4th Ryan and I headed to Salida on Friday night to use our free day at Monarch (thanks Gems card!). It had been snowing by the foot in the Sawatch range all week, and I had heard good things about Monarch, so I was very excited. Monarch did NOT disappoint. When we woke up on Saturday they were reporting 6" of fresh overnight, so we hurried up to get as many fresh tracks as possible. Holy cow. Even the main runs were fairly untracked. After several laps with Ryan, I headed off to the hike-to terrain to see what kind of trouble I could get into. After about 10 minutes of hiking I was simply too excited and just dropped into what I could see hadn't really been touched. It was like sand dune fresh powder up to the knees. I was beside myself! I had to stop to take some pictures to remember it. Ex:

After my first lap through this goodness I skied back over to Ryan to give him a chance to enjoy the powder. The long story short there is that one day in the future he will look back on the experience with excitement... but that might be a while. I think next time when it's that deep he'll bring his skies instead of snowboard. Ahh well. The whole Monarch set can be found at http://www.flickr.com/photos/brett_burch/sets/72157616676291062.

The next day I went up to Eldora after hearing how good the snow was up there in the glades. I skied with a friend from my Avy 1 class, and was not disappointed yet again. I had heard about how terribly icy the skiing at Eldora usually is, but that was definitely not a problem after a foot of fresh snow. We were able to find some decent stashes in the glades even a few days after the storm. Note to self: check out Bryan Gully at the bottom of Bryan Glades again... that was the first time this season I had skied two days in a row, so I was tired on Monday, but it was really worth it.

This season is finishing on a really good note. I'm going to be climbing the next 3 Saturdays, but if I can myself out for some more skiing in May or June, I'll be really happy with how this season finished.

several crazy weeks

2009-03-23T21:27:00.003-06:00

I haven't posted anything on here in a month... Since the previous post / rant I have moved into my first condo... and am therefore a new home owner. I'll keep the long story short and just say that I didn't close on the day that I wanted to, but still was able to move in and wound up finding a new lender to close with 3 days later. All is coming together well at the new place... even Tacoma has adjusted and enjoys the new terrain to explore. Friday I had my housewarming party, and hope it will be the first of many. Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves. We kept it small enough to be cozy, but maybe next time I'll crank it up a notch and test the capacity of the place.

Aside from the move, I also am newly AIARE Level 1 certified. I took the class up Boulder Canyon at Eldora Ski Resort.

I learned a lot, and we had decent snow for digging and skiing despite the incredibly dry winter in the Front Range.

The class was 2 nights of lecture followed by 2 days in the field. Our first day in the field was primarily spent on beacon practice, and timing teams digging up dummy avalanche victims. It was pretty tough, and made me think twice about the severity of being stuck in a slide. I really hope I never have to dig a buddy up, knowing they'll be purple if I find them at all. The second field day we dug a snow pit and did more layer analysis. The snow science was really interesting to me, and I think I'll wind up getting my level 2 next year. The payoff at the end of the second day was the backcountry skiing. Since conditions were not very favorable, we weren't able to ski anything very steep, but I got my first out of bounds turns in nonetheless, and enjoyed it. I have to say, though, 2 days on alpine trekkers have reinforced the need to either switch to tele skiing or get an AT setup before I start seriously considering big tours. This, plus my signing up for some rock climbing and snow climbing classes definitely are a step towards checking off more of my 2009 goals, mentioned in a January post.

Snow is in the forecast for the mountains, but it's been 70+ degrees in Boulder for a while, so it's doubtful much will stick in town even if snow falls. With the nice weather, last week I took my first hike up to Mt. Sanitas right outside of Boulder. It's about 3 miles round trip, and the views are well worth the work to get to the top. You can see quite a ways to both east and west, with great views of the Indian Peaks to the west. There seemed to be decent bouldering along the ridge, so I'll definitely be doing some climbing up there this summer. It's tough to talk about summer already, but it seems inevitable. I'm disappointed in this ski season, but imagine few future seasons will compare to my first real one last year. I hope to get some more days in this year, and the storm coming in this week should help, but only time will tell... fingers crossed!

on listening and interference

2009-02-21T21:24:00.009-07:00

Recently I feel like there has been a lot of interference in my life, preventing me from clearly hearing. Some of it is necessary, and some not. I'm within days of closing on my first home (condo) purchase, so phone calls and emails with financial lenders, HOA managers, my Realtor, etc are inevitable, as are trips to buy boxes and packing tape, reserving a moving truck, replacing my renters insurance with homeowners insurance, etc. Other distractions, mainly regarding my as of yet unfulfilled search for my future wife, seem extremely unnecessary and are clouding my decision making, head, and frankly irritating me to no end.* It has started to affect my sleep (I am NOT a morning person, but haven't slept all the way til my alarm sounds for quite some time), and more importantly, my prayer life. I'm currently reading a book now called Practical Prayer, which has reiterated to me the importance of simply listening in silence during prayer. This has honestly been difficult... to listen to God, if that makes sense. I don't mean actually waiting to hear a voice, but hopefully you understand that. I suppose this happens to all Christians from time to time, but recently more than ever I feel like I have been unable to interpret God's intentions, pleadings, and guidance in my life.

This morning the noise was tangible, with a ringing in my ears that would not subside. In an attempt to rid myself of this weight, I headed up to Sugarloaf Mountain, a familiar face with a vantage point that could just about cure disease. I drove up in silence, parked the Jeep, and headed up the trail to a clearing where several of the Indian Peaks (Sugarloaf is the bald hill under #22 in this picture) and Longs Peak - all of which are within Boulder County - were in plain sight. There were a few folks at the trailhead, but after a few minutes they headed off in another direction, and I was left alone. Every now and then a plane would fly overhead and make a bit of distant noise, but for the most part it was silent except for birds or the wind through the pines. After a while the ringing in my ears faded, and I felt like I could accurately hear again. I sat in silence for quite some time. I prayed. I took in the scenery. I simply listened. I became acutely aware of the smell of the pine and dirt around me, and the cloudless sky. I memorized the panorama to the west. I don't know how long this went on for, but after a while the time didn't matter. If I had to guess I'd say I sat in the same spot for at least 45 minutes. It might not sounds like it, but that's a lot of silence. And it was terrific. After the sun moved behind a tree and I got cold I decided to head to Nederland for some hot chai. When I stood up, I felt almost as refreshed as Peter Gibbons after hypnosis. I drove to Nederland in silence again (no radio stations come in up there anyways) and drove home a different way, down Boulder Canyon... in silence. [I know I've written this before, but I am continually made aware of how special Boulder - and all of Boulder County - is. Unless I move out of the Front Range, I have no desire to leave this county. It's amazing the bounty that can be found right out my front door.]

On my way home I stopped at Home Depot for a wardrobe box. Immediately upon walking through the front door I was acutely aware that I was being bombarded with noise once again. It made me think about whether everyone else could hear it or if they had actually let themselves become accustomed to it. The apathy displayed by voluntary subjection to such poison was horrifying. My point is this; when looking around, just people watching even for a minute, it seems so many lives are full of frivolity and superfluity. Noise. Interference. It boggles the mind to think of what we could collectively accomplish if we didn't waste time worrying about these things. I suppose what is frivolous to one may be imperative to another, but still, I think we could largely agree on a vast majority of what goes on in this world and devote time to more important matters. Who among us, after all, can add another hour to our lives by worrying? I can dream, I guess.

----

*[This alone could be the subject of an entire post on this blog. It's like I have a sign on my forehead that says, "help me find a wife" or something. I honestly never knew I even had a suggestion box for this topic, but the damn thing is now completely full and then some, so I'd like the incoming flow to stop. I honestly don't remember the last complete day where a family member, friend, or co-worker has NOT made a comment or suggestion about how I should go about finding a girlfriend / that I really should get myself one. I never knew my non-existant love life was so interesting. While I appreciate the encouragement and intent, enough is enough. I'm trying to be a good sport about this, but soon I'm going to have to put a different sign on my forehead... something like, "I apologize for what you're reading, but if what you're about to say has anything to do with the opposite sex then I'm going to drive one or both of us off the nearest cliff." So for those of you who are making these suggestions or puzzled over my current situation, and you're actually reading this, here you go...

I don't care that I'm single enough to let it occupy all my spare time, energy, and brain cells. It does weigh heavily on my mind, but apparently not to the extent that it does on yours. (Neil Young: "...doesn't mean that much to me, to mean that much to you...") Believe me, most days I would gladly cut my salary in half in exchange for somebody to share it with, but I have confidence that this whole situation will work itself out soon enough. Until then, I'm being patient. At the risk of sounding egomaniacal, I haven't yet found somebody that knocks me off my proverbial feet. (I'm not talking about just physical appearance here.) Once I do, rest assured that I'll give her the moon and stars and expect her to do the same for me, but until then, please be patient. That's probably about all I should say on this subject. Thanks for the sentiment, but I would recommend devoting fewer synapses to this endeavor. You'll only end up with ringing ears. If you can't infer that from my facial expression when you talk to me about this stuff, perhaps you need to spend some time up on Sugarloaf and get the interference out.]

good day at A-Basin

2009-02-09T22:21:00.006-07:00

Yesterday I ventured out for a solo day at A-Basin. It was the first time I've driven up on a Sunday instead of a Saturday... traffic was completely different, among other things. But the more exciting topic was the skiing, so let's get to that. First off, as a precursor, I hadn't been out in about 3 weeks, so I wasn't sure how well I would ski. There also hadn't been any new snow for at least a week, so I wasn't sure how good the snow would be. It was a crap shoot, and the gamble paid off.

That was my first day on the Pallavinci lift area of A-Basin, and I highly recommend it, especially when Zuma is closed. I did laps on Pali Face and surprised myself at how well I skied. That's not the steepest line I've ever skied, but definitely very fun and worth checking out if you haven't before. I was able to sustain chaining turns for as long as I cared to rather than until I started to get out of control, and my mogul lines improved too. It was as if the lightbulb finally went on this season! Those nagging thoughts in the back of my mind about digressing this season were sent packing for some other year, and I was thrilled at the day.

Sunday also gave me the chance to try out my brand spanking new Light Smoke Flash jacket from Patagonia (50% off!) to see if it was warm enough and wind-resistant enough to stand up to truly crappy weather days on the slopes. That puppy passed with flying (...red, actually) colors! It was so windy (50mph gusts) that the Montezuma side was closed most of the day. At the top of the resort wind was bombarding everyone with up-to-penny-diameter ice crystals which stung any unprotected skin. When Zuma did open, I ventured over once and immediately headed back to Pali Face where the snow was much better. It simply wasn't worth waiting behind a ridge like a penguin until the wind stopped so you could slide down a sheet of ice. Along with being a good day to put my new jacket to the test, it was a real lesson in wind deposition; new snow coverage was replinished throughout the day. At one point in particular I had to stop for at least 2 minutes due to whiteout conditions, and when I pulled my hands from my face (being pelted by the newly deposited fluff...) a brand new powder/corn surface was laid out for me to enjoy.

Now that we're approaching mid-February, I'm anticipating some good spring storms to come through and provide some good powder days for me to close out the season with. Time will tell. I'm looking forward to my free day at Monarch in April courtesy my Gems card. To be perfectly honest, I haven't explored all that much new ground this year, and have to admit I haven't found anything that matches the sustained steep lines of Loveland's ridge or Winter Park's Vasquez Ridge... the potential is there but the snow hasn't been. Next year I might just get some Loveland 4-packs and the Intrawest pass again... we'll see. But not so fast, there is plenty of days left in this season, so I'll keep you posted with whatever new territory I discover.

bouldering outside in January

2009-01-31T18:01:00.002-07:00

Even though I've lived in Boulder almost 2 years, I'm still having a hard time understanding how winter works here. Although I had hoped to be skiing this morning, I ended up in town watching Coal Miner's Daughter* while waiting for my new dining table/chairs to be delivered. (This plays into accomplishing "goodbye to hand-me-down furniture" as mentioned in a previous post about goals for the year.) As luck would have it, it was 70 degrees here! With the table assembled and in place by noon, so I had a nice little Saturday freed up. I took the liberty of working on another of my 2009 goals and headed up to Flagstaff for some outdoor bouldering. By the time I got up there, the afternoon clouds had rolled in, so it was a bit chilly, but the climbing was still enjoyable. I headed up towards the Upper Great Ridge, near the First Overhang Ridge, where I spent an afternoon in November. There was still snow on the ground, but the rock felt good in the cold. I walked right up and onsighted Southwest Layback (V1... my first) on King Conquer boulder (#11 in this photo). After messing around a bit more, I walked downhill to the Upper Y wall. I onsighted Y-Right (V0, #14 in this photo). At the very top of Y-Right, I started to get a bit of fear because a guy working on the Y Traverse below me fell, cutting his hand and elbow, causing the ol' blood to get a-flowin'. His friend's scream scared the crap out of me, and from there on I couldn't shake the fear, so I decided to call it a day quickly... maybe the setting sun and wind also played into this. Either way, it was a reminder that climbing outside is not like climbing inside in the least. (The flakes at the top of Y-Right are a little thin, so the stories about flakes breaking off by the folks below me didn't help my cause...) I'm still very much a beginner when it comes to bouldering outside, so we'll see how my improvement goes this year. On a positive note, at least I've already logged a day and we're nowhere near spring!

*I hadn't seen that movie in a long time. Sissy Spacek and Tommy Lee Jones do a wonderful job in it. I haven't lived in Kentucky for about 13 years, but you couldn't mistake the scenery for anywhere else... seealso Elizabethtown. Loretta Lynn's story, in my opinion, is one of the more interesting threads of the Americana web.

Beaver Creek joins list of resorts skied

2009-01-20T21:26:00.005-07:00

On Saturday I skied Beaver Creek with coworker Tim and ex-coworker Ryan. The weather was absolutely perfect and the snow wasn't too far off. It hadn't snowed in over a week, so it was a bit crusty, but nothing like the icy conditions I had at A-Basin New Year's Day. We discovered a lot of new terrain and got really tired in the process. Since Beaver Creek is the furthest resort from home that I have on my season pass, I got up extra early and was pretty tired to begin with. I think it showed... I was fairly disappointed in my skiing, but still had fun anyways. In my opinion, the views from the top of Beaver Creek's lifts are almost unbeatable. As I've said before, I love the Gore Range, which is visible from almost the entire resort, and you can also catch glimpses of Mt. Of the Holy Cross in some areas.

We spent most of our time around the Larkspur Bowl but also checked out the Rose Bowl area and the Grouse Mountain glades. The highlight for me was the Grouse Mountain glades, even though I didn't ski that area well, it will be my first stop when I make it back to Beaver Creek. While we were in there we saw an elk jaw hanging from a tree. It seemed fairly fresh and had either been put in the tree by a bird or mountain lion.

Beaver Creek reminded me a lot of Steamboat in that there is no terrain above treeline and there are lots of aspens compared to most resorts in Colorado. The mountain is also structured similarly in that you can ski down to Beaver Creek Village from almost any lift regardless of how far back you are. The runs are fairly long and steep, which is also a similarity. It seemed like some of the bump runs went on forever, which would be a dream come true in good snow if my legs would just cooperate... Speaking of, I'm starting to get nervous that I've plateaued a bit, so perhaps I need a refresher lesson. I know I haven't really been pushing myself this season. I think it's time to spend less time on the groomers and get re-acquainted with steeper and bumpier terrain... unfortunately, the snowboarders that I ski with will not share this opinion. Ahh well. I need to improve my confidence too; it's still fairly flaky. I fell once in Thresher Glade and was sub-par from there out.

This was my 5th day on skis this year and 20th total in Colorado including last year. Here's hoping I have at least 5 or 10 more this season... It feels like ski season is finally in full swing, so hopefully February and March will bring big storms and powder days, where I can prep my self for a spring backcountry day or two.

wrapping up last year, kicking off 2009

2009-01-12T22:06:00.004-07:00

Well, it's the time of year for reflection, resolutions, goal-setting, and all that stuff. Here's looking back at some of the best of 2008...

In May I was my brother's best man (a first) and welcomed a new member into the family. This was a fantastic occasion and an honor.
A year ago I was (by Colorado standards, at least) a novice skier. Fast forward a year, and Saturday I was standing atop Breckenridge's double black diamond Imperial Bowl ready to get my powder fix at ~13,000 ft. I've come a long ways in a sport that I hope to enjoy for the rest of my life, so that's definitely noteworthy. It will be a long time before I forget those great days at Winter Park, Copper, Loveland and Steamboat...
On a similar note, a year ago I was just getting back into bouldering. Now I feel like I'm probably climbing about as well as I ever have. My right wrist has hindered progress slightly, and a recent busted toe has definitely slowed me down a bit, but excuses aside overall I feel like I've been at a plateau since around Halloween. I hope to break through that barrier soon and get to the point where I'm climbing the best I ever have this year... that especially includes spending more time climbing outside rather than just on plastic in a gym.
Ryan and I made it up 4 more 14ers this year, including some early season ascents in winter-ish conditions. This was good experience and will hopefully lay the foundation for more 14ers this year.
On the opposite end of the geographic spectrum, Mexico. What a trip. My traveling soul has been revived. Seriously, after flying for Thanksgiving, Mexico, and Christmas, DIA felt like home away from home for about 6 weeks. While I don't like the impact flying has on the environment, travel simply does my soul good.

And looking ahead to 2009...

I just signed an offer for a condo, so goodbye to apartment living, hand-me-down furniture, and weirdos living above me that start the washing machine at 11pm every night! This spring I'll be moving into my top-floor bachelor pad and embracing a life of mortgage payments, HOA fees, tax write-offs, and especially one night stands with Ms. Wrong where I wake up wondering who is showering in my bathroom, what her name is, etc... err, I mean..., maybe just the first few. But still, this is big.
I have a brother-in-law queued up in Austin, so it seems like Cupid is done working his magic among my siblings. Perhaps I need to learn to enjoy being the bachelor of the family.
Weddings, weddings, weddings. I am signed up for the best man job once again this May out here in Colorado (the first of my college roomates will be getting hitched) and will be attending at least 1 more wedding here in Colorado, so wedding season will be a lot of fun this year.
More regular reading of the Bible. 2008 definitely saw a dip in my time in the Word and memorization of scriptures. I need to change that trend this year.
In 2007 I made it to Vail for some lift-assisted downhill riding one day. In 2008 I logged zero days. In 2009 I want to increase that number... if I could also get a few days in around Crested Butte that would just be the cat's freaking meow.
Avalanche certification and snow climb classes leading to couloir climbs and backcountry skiing (in the Indian Peaks in particular). No questions or excuses. This must happen. Specific objectives include Skywalker Couloir, Quandary Couloir, Mt. Toll and the Brainard Lakes area. This should plant the seed to set Mt. Rainier as an objective in years to come. [30th birthday? It does me no good to have named my cat after a mountain without having climbed it, right?]
More 14er ascents. We'll inevitably explore new ranges this year, which I'm looking forward to. I'd like to start the season early this year and extend it as late as we did this year. Hopefully without sounding like a snob, I'd like to take the most pleasing (and attainable) line to the top and not just the standard route if the standard route would be considered less interesting. I want each ascent to be as inspiring as Huron was for me, and more about the experience in the mountains than just ticking a peak off a list.
Phish is back on the road. I will attend at least 1 show!

In news unrelated to year ends/beginnings, I've been skiing 4 times this year and am well on my way to making good use of my season pass. I went to Breck in November to kick things off, and was fairly disappointed in the man-made snow. A few weeks later my eyes were opened to Vail and my hope in winter was renewed. New Year's day Ryan and I explored A-Basin for the first time. There is a lot of potential there, but you'll need to wait a bit longer for conditions to become prime. My 4th outing, Breck on Saturday, finally felt like ski season was here and off to a good start. The snow was great, and my impression of Breck improved dramatically. I'll keep you posted on outings to come...

Vacation in the Yucatan

2008-12-16T22:12:00.012-07:00

I just got back from Mexico. In my head I'm still there. Right about....

there. No seriously, I'm about ready to trade some winter coats for a one-way flight to Cancun. Anyone?

Anybody that knows me knows that I can't tell a story without at least one back story, which inevitably leads me down another back story, which... it's pretty bad. Used to be worse. I honestly try to keep it to a minimum, but sometimes context is just necessary, you know? Ok, so the story is that the company I work for gave everyone (+ guest) who had been there at least 1 year a free (yep, free, as in no paying for food, flight, lodging, alcohol, etc) trip to southern Mexico. We thought last year was the last year this trip would be offered, but we got surprised, ergo Thursday morning me, coworkers, and guest Erica (high school friend that visited Colorado earlier this year) leave the ground from DIA and touch down a few hours later in warm, humid Cancun.

The resort we stayed at was about 30 minutes south of Cancun between Puerto Morelos and Playa del Carmen, right on the beach. And speaking of, immediately after checking in, Erica and I headed to the beach to discover water so warm you could just about bathe in it. That would have to wait until tomorrow though. We had some (still free) drinks, ate at the buffet with the entire group, and then made our way to a bizarre Star Wars themed disco for some dancing. After dancing and (apparently one too many) drinks, Erica and I somehow turned a 10 minute walk back to our room into a 30 minute trek... all the resorts looked the same, not to mention we found a wooden horse to climb. Ahh well.

Friday morning we ventured outside the still-in-America resort south to Tulum for some Mayan ruins discovery. [We ventured twice, and in my opinion, these were the hidden gems of the trip.] Darren, Jenny, Chuck, Erica and I decided to take the bus/shuttle instead of a taxi for the added authenticity (and the drastic cost difference), so we found ourselves playing the classic Mexican sport of "run across the highway" which I couldn't stop laughing about. The fact that high-speed car dodging was completely normal for everyone else around us caught me off guard. We paid $2 for the ride to Playa del Carmen and then paid $3 for the ride to Tulum. For those of you not paying attention, only $5 for a 100km shuttle ride is amazing. The Tulum ruins were very interesting, and if I go back I'll get a Mayan guide to give me the full story. We decided instead to take the quick tour and hit the beach. The Tulum beach was fantastic with perfect white sand, coconut trees, turquoise water so clear you could see your feet in 4 feet of water. I had also read that the limestone cliffs offered decent bouldering, so I brought my shoes and enjoyed a little climbing. After we had our fill, we caught the shuttle back north to Playa del Carmen. We walked around in Playa del for a while and found ourselves intentionally avoiding the ultra-touristy tienda-bloated areas, ultimately deciding to eat a late lunch at a restaurant where (I was accused of being Italian for the second time that day, and) the omnipresence of English thinned out. I sat at the head of the table and was more or less the spokesperson for the table, so it was fun to practice my broken Spanish with Mexicans whose English was just as broken. The salsa was spicy, both the people-watching and food were good, and both the immense relaxation and cultural charm of Mexico were unavoidable. Tired from the day's adventure, we made our way back to the resort for dinner (sushi / habachi grill) , drinks, and a bit of dancing. Sleep that night came easy.

Saturday after another buffet breakfast we headed towards the beach where high winds denied us the opportunity to get in some sea kayaking or sailing. We played basketball in the chilly pool instead, then did as close to nothing as was possible until having an early dinner. Skipping the company dinner at 8:30, Darren, Jenny, Erica and I made our way via bus back to Playa del. This time we stayed close to 5th Avenue and did a bit of shopping. Erica seemed to come out best, bargaining her way from $120 to $55 for a handmade depiction of the Piedra del Sol. We sat for a while in front of a coffee shop with drinks watching people pass by. By this point I think I had actually forgotten the definition of "worry." On our way back to the bus, we stopped in an art studio called Sacbe, where we spoke with the gallery's director for about 45 minutes. He couldn't have been nicer, describing some of the artwork, telling of his experiences collecting the art for the gallery, and conveying a great love of his country's culture which I simply couldn't relate to. [Don't get me wrong; I love bluegrass, football, microbrews and the occasional hamburger, but this was different.] He recommended 4 cities near Mexico City to visit which I'll hopefully get to sometime in the future. I was awestruck by the peyote-inspired bead sculptures and yarn paintings of the Huicholes. When we got back on the bus (side story: a guy in line for the bus laughed at us like we were crazy when we our response to his asking why we didn't take a cab was that the bus was more fun), I began to realize that tomorrow I'd be back in Denver with bills to pay and work to do... just as I was starting to get the hang of vacation.

Sunday we woke to our first sunny morning. Given that we had little time left, we ate a quick breakfast and headed to the beach for some body surfing in 3 foot waves. Carmen, our towel distributor, remembered Erica and I from the yesterday and welcomed us for our last day. 2 hours later we had packed up and checked out. Erica and I nearly missed the bus, which I honestly would have preferred, since our plane was delayed anyways. It was sunny and 85*F as we watched Cancun disappear. When we landed in Denver it was -15*F. While that sinks in, I'll just say that a 100 degree change is a very rude awakening, and I hope to God that I never have that happen to me again. As the engine cut out on the Jeep while I brushed the windshield, I found myself very jealous of Carmen. I honestly went through withdrawal and depression on my first day back to work. It was a weird feeling because I'm usually so happy to be back in Colorado, no matter where I'm coming from, but this was tough.

The entire Riviera Maya coastline seems like a place where you could just sort of disappear into and wake up one day realizing it was 3 years later and you'd never left. Maybe I'll do that if I get the cojones to... This trip felt like my first vacation in years, and really was if you think of vacation as more than just taking a couple days off work and staying close to home. I haven't traveled much since I moved to Texas in 2004 except for work or to be home for the holidays, so this trip was short but very sweet. It reminded me how much I love travel. Note to self: update mental bride search criteria to include "love of travel" as a high-priority must-have.

Evidence: http://flickr.com/photos/brett_burch/sets/72157611313529820/

in pursuit of the gifts we might receive

2008-12-02T22:19:00.009-07:00

We've all seen some crazy adrenaline junkie huck off a 70 foot cliff and then later tell the cameraman the line wasn't steep enough, or that the adventures available in the lower 48 no longer satisfy some urge they have. These people sound (and might actually be) insane, but I think I agree to a certain degree with those who are constantly in pursuit of the next biggest challenge... but not exactly in the same way.

I have been thinking recently about what it is that causes me to get immense satisfaction from something that seems painful and/or dangerous. Not only that, but why would I pursue a difficult route to a mountain summit when there is an easier way available to get to the same endpoint? (You may also question the reasoning behind hiking up/underestimating Mt. Evans recently especially after having driven up several times and therefore in theory having nothing new to accomplish.) It seems the reward increases as the pain or danger does, however I don't think that's because I lose my contentment with what has been already achieved, as is often stated by the adrenaline junkie. I think the cause instead is a greater understanding of (and a need for) the bounty. It is as if I am parched for whatever that sensation or emotion is, and the only way to quench the thirst is to go asking for more from whatever sport I am in pursuit of, in hopes of the sport yielding some of its gifts to me. This might sound blasphemous, but it is almost a religious pursuit. The joy is almost the same.

Maybe an example would help. I've been bouldering indoors quite frequently for the last year or so (after having taken many years off) and have been increasingly recognizing said pursuit and its rewards as my climbing progresses. Recently I feel like I've been able to read the routes easier, climb harder and/or longer problems without tiring, suppress the fear of going for a big move high off the floor, and ultimately feel the bliss of finishing a problem I couldn't have finished a while ago. Seeing the light, or hearing the tuning fork more clearly, you know? It seems like I have developed a keener eye for a problem with beautiful movement, which makes me pursue it that much more. It sounds crazy but it feels really good to reach for a tiny crimp or painful sloper and hang there while you move your feet in preparation for the next move, then again, and again, etc. until you get to the top and your arms are completely fried. It's as if the pain/work/burn is in actuality relaxing and comforting. I'm not a good runner, but this might be compared to runner's high. The same could also be said for riding a new mountain bike trail and being able to read the terrain to know when you really need to go all out on a steep section, know which gear to be in at all times, or pick the most appealing line through that gnarly rock garden. Maybe it sounds like a pious recognition of progress made, but it's more than that. I'm just not sure exactly what "it" is but it seems to be an addiction.

In Seven Years In Tibet, Heinrich Harrer (Brad Pitt) explains to the Dalai Lama what he loves about mountaineering:

Maybe "it" in his case is simply, as the book is titled, The Freedom of the Hills.

Whether the sport is skiing, climbing, riding, or anything else, hopefully you find the same thing and passionately pursue the gifts.

skiing and bouldering (both in November)

2008-11-22T17:52:00.010-07:00

It has been a few weeks, so here's some catching up...

Potpourri:

If I had a good enough excuse to wear Patagonia Capilene every day, I would.
This week I had my first physical exam in a decade. I got a Tetanus shot, had blood drawn, and scheduled an appointment with a cardiologist. I've never had a cardio stress test, but I'm kind of excited to see how my heart performs and be able to put together some goals for improving it.
I thought for a very long time that using the word "microclimate" when talking about clothing was bogus, but over the past couple of months I feel like I've been able to dial that in really well and truly recognize and appreciate getting it right. It really does make a big difference.
Welcome to the Big Ten Dick Rod!!! Well done, Tress :)
Austin, ready or not here I come. I expect Rudy's and Chuy's to be fully stocked on all my favorites...

Ok, enough of that. Last Saturday I went skiing for the first time this season with my Colorado Pass. I went to Breckenridge with Ryan, Allison and Andrew. Although the 24-hour report had 4" of new snow, due to the lack of storms in CO thus far, the snow was primarily man-made. Ahh well... it was nice to get out and test out my ski legs again. Overall I feel like it was a decent day, leaving plenty of room for improvement this season. Breck is a large resort with a great view in all directions, and I'm sure the terrain will be enjoyable once opened. Ryan and Allison took lessons all day so that left Andrew and I to explore the 2 open lifts. We enjoyed the snow, but eventually decided the early season snow was not worth the lift lines, so we headed for the lawn chairs and bar. I look forward to many days this season with those 3 companions and whoever else ends up joining me/us.

Quick side story: "you might be skiing in the early season if..." Some poor girl gets dragged up to Breck by her boyfriend and is apprehensive to even put her skis on in the lift line. She makes it off the lift ok, but then points her skis downhill on the beginner slope without thinking about gaining speed. Soon enough, she's going way too fast and headed directly for some guy sitting down. Despite observers yelling "FORE" the inevitable occurs and she plows into the guy's back. I hope both that he has fully recovered and that she doesn't put skis on for a while.

Quick commentary: I don't want to sound like a snob here, but I have to point out an observation of the difference in crowds between Breck with the resorts I went to last year (Steamboat, Winter Park, Copper and Loveland). Hopefully I don't sound like a jerk when I say this, but I prefer the crowds in the latter group because of my desire to take skiing seriously. Maybe it's because I'm not a great skier and not content with my skiing yet, but I feel like I should be focused on how my day is going rather than making fun of the guy who just ate it below me. Granted, I've laughed at or felt bad for people before, but not the entire day. I just enjoy a conversation like the following more than pointing and laughing which seemed to be the main objective of the people around me on the lifts (excluding Andrew):

Hi, how's your doing going?
So far so good. Isn't the snow nice this morning?
Yeah, I was just over at __insert name of nice run here__ and it's just starting to soften up nicely over there.
Cool, I'll check it out. Boy, I hope we get more days like today this season.
No kidding. I was up here last week and it is only getting better.
Yep, I hope my skiing keeps getting better as the snow does.
Definitely. Enjoy the powder.

Maybe it's just because it's too early to take this season seriously yet... I hope my first impression turns out to be wrong. Anyways...

Last weekend I also went Christmas shopping for myself, picking up a skiing daypack, an avy shovel and a bouldering crash pad. (When life hands you 20% off at Neptunes, I suggest making lemonade.) Today was such a beautiful day (where the heck is winter?) I decided I had no choice but to put the new crash pad to good use. I used my (apparently controversial but so far meeting my needs) Bouldering Colorado book to find a good boulder nearby with a relatively safe landing zone and beginner problems. Although I consider myself a fairly competent climber indoors despite plenty of room for improvement, bouldering outside (as was reinforced this summer in a morning on Flagstaff) is very different (primarily twofold; a: you have to leave enough stamina to be able to accurately jump to a crashpad or downclimb anything you go up if you get stuck because there are no padded floors below you i.e. the consequences force you to be more conservative especially when alone, and b: the rock chews up your hands much better), so beginner problems were definitely what I needed. I found a good rock on Flagstaff with a range of problems from V0 - V2 called Tombstone Spire which also had good information on the Flagstaff Mtn bouldering blog. There are several other rocks for the same parking area, all described at the previous link.

I ended up focusing my efforts on the beginner problem called West Side (apparently V0 / VB depending on who you ask) number 22 in the above photo. The first several moves were nice but it then the ground ("call it the deck, brah") gets slightly further away and the problem gets just enough blind and overhung to be interesting. (There is a huge "Thank you Jesus" chip and bucket at the top which you can't see, but keep reaching and you'll find it.) I ended up getting stuck a time or two and having to do some recon work from the top before completing the problem start to finish. It's a somewhat long problem and worked my forearms adequately. It was enough to give me a good workout, but I was able to ascend several times. I wouldn't call it highball by any means, but the tree branches add to the overall aesthetic :) The view from the topout, by the way, is as good as most in the Flatirons area. My photos of Tombstone Spire can be found at http://flickr.com/photos/brett_burch/sets/72157609770257754. I have to say there is something really nice about being on rock instead of plastic and not having colored tape to tell you where to go (even though the white chalk stains give you a pretty good idea). Here's hoping I get more days in when the weather gets warmer (if it ever gets cold enough to stop for the year, that is). Next time I'll go with a spotter (and maybe another crash pad) and test out my endurance on Pinnacle Colada, which looked really good but too high for going alone.

Boulder Adventure Film fest

2008-11-09T22:40:00.002-07:00

Thursday and Saturday I saw several films from the Adventure Film festival. Tickets were $10 each day, and it was money well spent.

Thursday I saw 3 films about climbing; one about Mike Bearzi's last climb called Via Bearzi, one about summitting K7 called Ice, Anarchy, and the Pursuit of Madness and finally a film called Shaking the Bear which was about the first ascent climb (of the same name) in Zion National Park. Bruce Miller (a Boulder resident and Mike Bearzi's climbing partner) spoke after the first film. Chris Alstrin came up from Colorado Springs to comment on his film, the third. The first two made me want to book a flight to Kathmandu ("baby steps, dude, baby steps...") and the third made me re-realize that multi-pitch crack climbers are flat out insane (I would literally be leaving a yellow wet trail all the way up).

Saturday I went to the Patagonia store and saw Weather We Change about climate change and its affect on the winter sports industry. After the film, Alison Gannett (see also her Ambassador profile) presented her slides about how we all can reduce our carbon footprint, and I was convinced that for Christmas this year I'm just going to ask for folks to offset my yearly carbon output.

Seeing these films, if nothing else, gave me a greater appreciation for Boulder. The fact that this and other similar film fests show in few other places except Boulder is a selling point, but more so is that there is something exciting about knowing the dude in front of you at the grocery store who hasn't shaved or showered in 2 weeks may just be recovering from a recent epic climb of a huge peak in the Himalayas. If I continue to live in the Front Range for a while, I don't want to live more than a few miles from Boulder. It's a very unique town in that regard and I'm thankful every day to be here.

Mt. Evans (14er #10, Front Range finisher)

2008-10-19T15:38:00.006-06:00

Yesterday Ryan and I finished our first ascents of the Front Range 14ers by going up Mt. Evans from Guanella Pass. For those not familiar with Colorado, Mt. Evans has a paved road to the top, but with the road closed for the winter we hoped to avoid the zoo scene we found on Pikes last summer. That goal was definitely accomplished (we were the only ones on top once we made it), as was reaching the summit (and more importantly, successfully descending to the Jeep). We also extended our streak of never being denied a summit when attempting just the two of us (doesn't include getting the Jeep stuck for La Plata, where we didn't even set foot on the trail). I wouldn't give us any style points though... due to the willows, a steady diet of ice cream, a steep gully and a fair bit of class 2 scrambling, we barely beat dusk getting back to the Jeep(!).

I had read and heard nightmares of "those awful willows" and thought we would have a solid freeze / snow to our advantage. [Me: "Yay, there will be a well defined trail on snowpack through the willows!" Willows: "Haha, sucka, you still screwed!"] It turned out that although we weren't sinking knee-deep in mud and getting into turf wars with beavers, we did end up doing a fair bit of route discovery and willow-wrestling. It seemed at times we were following tracks of folks who had no better idea of where to go that us, as was probably the case. I am really surprised that there isn't a better marked or official trail through that mess, because it increases the difficulty by an order of magnitude (if such a thing is possible, but I'm pretty sure I just made that up). At any rate, this hike seemed like it had 4 phases (which may fit since it's about 4 miles each way):

the willows
the gully (far easier than it looks)
exiting the gully and bonking before lunch
scrambling about a mile to the summit
enjoy a familiar view (having driven to the top several times)
scrambling back to the gully
running out of water
descending the gully with tired legs
getting horrible cottonmouth (note: eating snow doesn't help much)
trying to keep up with Ryan while we both race the sinking sun

That was more than 4, but you get the idea. I don't want to overdo it here, but this outing makes the Mt. Elbert outing a few months back seem like ginger beer (any Hunter S. Thompson fans out there?). It wouldn't seem as challenging if you could break off a mile or two easily here and there, but you just can't. Once you overcome the willows, you are faced with a gully, then altitude and scrambling. I was disgruntled like a freaking Michigan football fan (couldn't help myself there) after that ridiculosity. I believe we started some time around 10am and didn't get back to the Jeep until almost 7pm. 9 hours for "just" 3100' of elevation gain over 8.5 miles. Wow. Yikes. Dude, that guy who told us we should hurry up was a real jackass considering we beat him back to the parking lot. Damn, that pizza and beer tasted fine. All of the above.

Enough ranting. We did have several high points to speak about on this occasion.

There were far fewer people on the trail than last summer's Bierstadt outing. We kept commenting on how quiet it was, which was nice.
We saw a very beautiful alpenglow sunset on our way back to the Jeep.
We saw more wildlife than we have on previous 14er outings, including 3 Bighorn sheep, 3 mountain goats, and 2 foxes. (I'm pretty sure the 2nd fox, which we saw within eyesight of the Jeep on the return, actually spoke to us and welcomed us back to the trailhead... then again, I could have been hallucinating.)
We also completed our first range on the 14ers to-do list, which was a nice milestone. We have yet to set foot on a San Juan, Elk, or Sangre de Cristo range 14er summit, but hopefully there will be days ahead for that.
We completed our first 14er in the month of October. (October now joins June, July, and August for that distinction.)
Personally, I also put my new mountaineering boots, Scarpa Triolets, through their first day and they passed with flying colors. They kept my feet dry, blister-free, and warm all day long. I'm excited to use them for hopefully many snow hike/climbs in the future.
The views of Bierstadt and the Sawtooth ridge were very nice.
We camped at a great spot Friday night well below treeline on the south side of the pass in Park county.
The weather was ideal.

I would rate this as my 2nd most difficult 14er hike, only exceeded by Longs last summer, and honestly not by much. The huge difference between Longs and this, though, is that I was very satisfied with the accomplishment on Longs. The main thing I was satisfied with here was filling up on pizza and getting back to Boulder for a nice hot bath. (Yeah, that's right... I took a bath. My hot tub was closed.) Neither of us were terribly happy with the day, and honestly questioned why we subjected ourselves to those sort of days. While the obvious answer is Mallory's famous "because it's there" I was void of a good reply at the time. I think I'll just spend the next several months skiing instead :)

Photos: http://flickr.com/photos/brett_burch/sets/72157608181341572/

Am I excited for Microsoft TFS 2008?

2008-10-08T23:30:00.006-06:00

**Warning: this post is work-related and probably going to be boring to most people.**

After loudly complaining about TFS 2005 today (for the n^th time I got an error while checking in new files that ultimately unsafely killed the devenv.exe process, thank you very much), our QA manager asked me if I was excited about our future upgrade to TFS 2008. That's a good question because I know nothing about TFS 2008 and how it's different from TFS 2005. My initial thoughts:

It can't possibly be worse, so bring it on!
I'm excited about the .Net framework 3.5, but that says nothing about TFS.

I took it upon myself to find a better answer to that question, and here's what I found:

I am slightly disappointed in what I learned about TFS 2008 because it seems the main thing they focused on is CI and build automation. At first this sounds like a good thing, and it might be, but honestly it just shows me Microsoft is still the same stubborn behemoth that refuses to recognize the open source community despite the press they'd like you to believe. There are a hundred build automation tools out there that other shops have been using since .Net 1.0 came out in 2002. Why we need another (buggy) one from MS is beyond me, except to satisfy the "it's open source so I can't call support so my manager won't let me use it" crowd. I'm not suggesting that all open source is good and MS / profit hungry corporations are evil, but attempting to compete in a free wheel segment by reinventing said wheel in an inferior manner and adding a price tag on it is insane. If you're going to be a fast follower at least be a good one, ok Zune? I can only hope they fixed the bugs in the current "RC" version.

I just don't believe Microsoft knows anything about agile or CI in particular (would they have released TFS 2005 without it if they did?), and their reputation of not listening to customers has been proven fairly true in my experience, so I frankly don't expect their CI product to actually satisy our CI needs. No CI shop is the same, so we'll need to customize the process. Hopefully that will be less painful than checking in a file in TFS 2005, and won't require a PhD or a 900 page book to do successfully. I personally would like to see us keep the CC.Net implementation we have been working on. CC.Net has been around forever, is free, has good community support and decent documentation, is built by smarty pants nerds who update it regularly, and just works. It's simple. So, for that matter, are NAnt, JIRA (not free), Bugzilla (free but I prefer JIRA), CVS and/or Subversion, and Basecamp from my experience with them. Which leads me to my next point...

I'll stop complaining about MS the company now and shift my attention strictly to the TFS product / concept. Note that this isn't necessarily specific to TFS 2008, but nonetheless is part of my exploration for an answer. Q: What is TFS and why would anyone buy it / what is the competitive advantage? A: TFS exists, in a broad generalization, because Microsoft thought it would be smart to give their customers (software shops with more than 1 developer) the ability to have one mecca uber-place where

their customer support / product teams track bugs and new features,
their developers store code which implements said features and bugs in a team-friendly fashion without leaving their IDE,
their QA teams pass or fail the items created in step a,
their build manager can compile a version of the product containing the new feature or bug fix to be pushed to somewhere, and
to a tiny degree, project managers can oversee this entire process from start to finish.

In short, the entire software development process under one roof. What a huge undertaking. That's all well and good, but means TFS essentially then acts as a bug tracking system, a source control repository, is integrated well with Visual Studio (a huge product in its own right) as a plugin, and acts in a minor way as a project management tool. As far as I'm concerned, TFS 2005 only satisfies 1 and 3 in a halfway decent way, and didn't even attempt 4 (kudos to TFS 2008), which means all Microsoft did was recreate JIRA or Bugzilla. What strikes me as especially bizarre about TFS as a product is that there are already free products out there that satisfy the 4 bullets above and cost nothing. What's the competitive advantage then? Only that it's all in one mecca uber-place. Hmm... I honestly don't mind having more than one application open at one time on my machine, and would happily trade 5 tiny-footprint apps that function well for 1 giant, slow, buggy one. It seems to me TFS is suffering from a severe lack of competitive advantage... certainly not enough to warrant the licences, extra SQL servers, CPU and RAM rape, etc. If they actually do manage to jam the entire software factory under one roof then it'll probably just remind people of how over-complicated their jobs are, but we'll see.

A few other bones to pick as a developer using TFS:

My entire team regularly experiences bugs which crash Visual Studio while checking in code. If they fixed any of those, then YES, I am excited about TFS 2008.
Since TFS already knows which tasks are assigned to me (or anyone else if I happen to be working on a file for my neighbor), why can't I associate files to tasks before I check them in? This would eliminate the need to track that on a spreadsheet or text file (oops! that's another app I have open) until I check in. I would really like to be able to click a "Resolve a Task" button which lets me pick a task and knows which files to check in based on my selection. How about that for competitive advantage? As far as I can find on the web, TFS 2008 does NOT have this feature. Surprise...
The way that TFS 2005 alerts you of file conflicts on check-in sucks. TFS should only fail a check-in if it can't merge and check in at the same time for all files being checked in. I constantly have check-ins fail only to be alerted that TFS can auto-merge all files for me. If you can, then just do it. If they fixed the check-in process, then YES, I am excited about TFS 2008.
The TFS merge tool sucks. Me and most of my teammates have installed other merge tools (free, by the way) to do our merging outside of TFS (oops! that's another app I have open). If they improved the merge tool in TFS 2008, then... I really don't care because it probably still sucks.

I should stop now. Am I excited? Let's just say the jury is still out.

Almont / Crested Butte fishing / fall colors weekend

2008-09-23T23:09:00.002-06:00

This weekend Ryan, Allison and I headed southwest out of the Front Range to Almont via Cottonwood Pass. As soon as we got out of Buena Vista the aspens began putting on a show, fly fishing became easy, and my eyes were opened to Crested Butte. It's almost as if there was a magic line we crossed into the western third of the state that marked the change. Maybe it was just the Gunnison County border... hard to say. Whatever it was, we had a great weekend.

Friday night Ryan and I headed out to fish as soon as we had the Jeep unpacked. Before we even had our waders on we saw a bald eagle. Ryan and I each caught 2 kokanee salmon on the East River north of Almont. I also heard a nearby elk bugle for the first time. We had even better luck on Saturday, and probably caught over 60 salmon combined in 5 hours. It was incredible. Each fish weighed 2-3 pounds and put up a good fight as long as they weren't foul hooked. I had much more success than my trout fishing endeavors of last year, so it seemed a lot more fun. Even if we didn't catch a thing it would have been a lot of fun though. It was a beautiful place with great weather and great company... very peaceful and serene.

After lunch on Saturday we headed to Crested Butte. I had never been to Crested Butte, and was very excited to see a new place that I had heard rave reviews of. I was absolutely blown away by the drive into town... and everything about the place once we got there. 3 days later I'm still wondering how I can rig the lottery to afford playing there the rest of my life.

I don't want to overdo the praise, but I really don't think the scenery, authenticity, sense of remoteness, and culture of Crested Butte is rivaled within Colorado except for maybe Telluride. [I haven't been to Ouray or Silverton, so to be fair those should also be mentioned.] Outside of Colorado you might also add Jackson, WY into the mix, but that's honestly about it. [Again to be fair, I've never been to Alta, UT.] Crested Butte is now without doubt my favorite ski town that I've ever been to. I should probably shut up so all 3 of you reading this don't pack your bags and move there to ruin the place, but for me CB simply puts Vail, Steamboat, and Breckenridge to shame... and I really like those towns. With some of the steepest in-bounds skiing in the state, the Elks (my favorite CO range) out your back door for world class mountaineering, mountain biking, aspen and wildlife viewing, a fertile valley and fishing downstream, etc. the place just can't be beat.

On Sunday morning we headed back into town and I took a self-guided tour while Ryan and Allison were in church. I walked around with my jaw on the ground, jealous and daydreaming about dying penniless yet rich beyond my wildest dreams in terms of powder days and singletrack miles. The town is full of cool homes, neo-hippies (meant non-derogatory), more bikes than cars, prayer flags and wheels placed with pride, fences made out of old skis, front doors that haven't been locked in weeks, and a farmers market to boot. I people-watched in Camp 4 Coffee for a bit and my suspicions were confirmed; this is a true mountain town and not just a town which happens to be set in the mountains. Nearly everyone lives there for riding their bikes in the summer and their skis in the winter. Sign me up. No, seriously... where do I sign? I am praying they have free skiing in the early season again this year so I can see it again soon... not that just wanting to go back isn't a good enough reason.

None of us wanted to get back onto pavement when we crossed the Continental Divide atop Cottonwood Pass going from dirt road to civilization, but it had to be done. I don't like that feeling.

photos: http://flickr.com/photos/brett_burch/sets/72157607420399314/
video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vi_NMzO5T74