Catching Up

Back in CB to close out the season. The last day has been pretty cool. Lots of costumes from the played out/obvious to the absurd. Some guys were shooting fireworks from the Paradise Hut deck. It was the perfect day to cruise around (while mindfully dodging the drunks), say hi to people, and enjoy the mellowness and sincerity that oozes out of this town.

I got chastised for not blogging so keep reading on below for a summary of the past 8 weeks. I still can't believe this life that I lead. I look back at pics of friends, milestones, red rock, blue skies, and new lives.

What happens from here? Still not sure. Work appears eminent. I had a solid interview with one company and another interview coming up. The thought of work actually excites me (and tires me). There's so much up in the air. For now I'm content and relaxed. I'll keep you updated.

Moab

The Front Range got slammed with a foot +/- of snow. Kate and I thought we were avoiding the nastier side of winter by escaping to the desert. We arrived in Moab and were greeted by howling winds and a bit of snow. Spent some cold nights in the tent and colder mornings struggling with the elements and a supposedly "four season" Jet Boil fuel mixture. I fought a cold as hard as I could and finally succumbed to congestion and hacking fits. Not really fun in a tent. To cap it all off the 5 gallon water jug had a bad valve that leaked out onto our sleeping bags and pads and we spent most of a night drying the bags over a fire; it's tough to find that perfect distance from the fire that will dry the bag without melting it. We still managed to get in some great hiking and sight-seeing before I spent a day sleeping at the hostel (more of a flop-house than a hostel really, but at least it was out of the wind). The hike to Delicate Arch in Arches National Park is phenomenal. I scoffed at the sign that suggested planning 4 hours to do a three mile hike but I think it took about 5. So much to look at from an old sod roof cabin to petroglyphs, canyons, the arch, and general desert-ness. When I was a kid I had a teacher say that the way to remember the difference in spelling between desert and dessert is that dessert has two 's's, like how you would want two desserts...but I think I'd rather have two deserts.

Hut Trip!

Got to go on the annual hut trip with friends new and old. We had a good crew but sorely missed the Rices (both sides of the family) and Tim. Skinned into Sangree Froelicher Hut. It's "only" 3 miles so we loaded ourselves down quite heavily and I certainly suffered for it. Sangree was a staff sergeant in WWII; he led his battalion even though he was wounded and bleeding. He managed to secure a victory, take prisoners, and knock out an artillery station all on his own before receiving a fatal gunshot. His family and the 10th Mountain Division built a hut to honor him. What a way to be remembered, at the foot of Buckeye Peak, surrounded by quiet wildness. We did our best to do him right.

Back in Boulder.




Got the privilege of welcoming Nora into the world. Amazing to hold a 12 hour old baby. All are healthy and big sister and Bob The Dog are adjusting nicely.



Hung out with some of Kate's students, working the snack bar at a wrestling tournament. We raised money for the 7th grade field trip to UNC. Felt good on a lot of levels, especially funding the introduction of students to my school. It was fun to meet the kids after I'd been grading their papers. They do a lot better in person than on paper! Seriously cool kids that have charm to spare.



Andy's mostly surprise party. Rebecca had him going until he saw his brother Daniel racing down an alley to try to escape detection. Happy Birthday man.

CB

Winter continues as I bounce between Boulder and Crested Butte.



Jake and I volunteered for the Prater Cup, a Junior Olympic qualifier. I mostly numbered and watched gates for faults. I never thought that 11 year old kids could go that fast. It was a great cause (free lift tickets for me, oh wait, the kids)


Eat Here!


Fix the heel, fix the problem. I've been complaining about sore knees. This is usually in combination with leaning on my poles, weezing after a run of coming up out of dozens of tele turns. I used to look at AT skiing as unclean, a bastardization of skiing (randonee: French for "can't tele"). Lately I've been seeing the wisdom in practicing a form of skiing that doesn't leave you exhausted, exposed to non-releasable binding related injuries, and fighting like heck to keep up with your buddies. So I headed on down to the Alpineer to take a trip to the dark side. AT skis are actually pretty cool. There are several problems though: they're expensive, I suck at Alpine skiing, and it's not very stylish. Still, it's a viable option.



It was pissing down wet snow that was borderline rain. Not a great day to be on the mountain and the Nordic tracks were in nasty shape. I decided to head out for a mellow skin up to get some excercise...no avy terrain and a decent amount of skier traffic, left a note with my where-abouts. I got directions to Snodgrass road. I started out and about halfway in realized I was on Gothic road. Big, big lesson in how easy it is to get turned around out there.



Got in a day on the hill before heading back to Boulder. 12 inches of mashed potatoes. It was too warm to squeeze powder out of the clouds. Ironically I commented the night before about the danger of knee injuries while skiing heavy snow...and Courntney strained her ACL the next morning. She's fine and back on skis.