Eric's Pursuits

First snow of the year

2010-11-07T17:09:00.000-08:00

We got a real nice taste of winter today at Dolly Sods Wilderness. I had checked the forecast days before and knew we had to get up there for an appetizer. Ashley and I had a swell time taking in the crisp air and sugar coated landscape, as you can see below, all the best stuff happens at altitude:

We hiked for about 3 hours, doing a loop that took us alongside the red creek and many nice red spruce groves. The ecosystem recovery at Dolly Sods is still in full swing, meadows are slowly returning to forest and most of the trees are young. It sure is a tough area for tree regeneration, the seedlings are competing with a dense layer of sphagnum moss and vaccinium, plus the environmental constraints of a mountain top plateau. You can see the flagging that occurs on the top of the red spruces in the pano photo from the constant wind and frozen precipitation.

Snow makes any scene that much better, particularly at waters edge.

It clung to every tree limb and leaf, setting the tone for a nice time (:

Sweden

2010-09-07T05:45:00.000-07:00

Most people know it as the land of meatballs, Abba and Volvos. I am here to tell you it is sooo much more than that! What started as a joke at a dinner party last March turned into the Scandinavian trip of a lifetime. Ashley was my lovely partner for the journey and we managed to fit 3 countries, 3 capital cities and tons of action into 12 days. This blog specializing in Sweden is the first of subsequent blogs detailing the trip. I hope you enjoy a few words about our Scandinavian adventure!

We arrived in Stockholm exactly 12 days ago, having a vague impression of Sweden and only knowing a few key phrases of the language. It was an overnight flight from Washington Dulles on Lufthansa- which was perhaps the easiest flights either of us had the pleasure of enjoying. I mean, on-demand TV, beer and wine with great German cooking, what else do you need for a trans-Atlantic flight! We had our first taste of public transport getting to our hotel in Sollentuna, Ashley was stoked about that and having packed so light, good job!

We arrived at our hotel, which was a Scandic (highly recommend them!) It was in a suburb of Stockholm and directly next to a shopping mall. First impressions of Sollentuna were exactly what we expected; very modern, clean and accessible. Our hotel:

The next morning we awoke to Ashley’s birthday and a magnificent breakfast buffet, one which would really set the tone for the rest of the trip. Continental Europe breakfasts are really the best! This one had an armada of different breads, sliced meats and cheeses, sliced cucumber and tomato, 6 kinds of marmalade, all sorts of yoghurt to dump over muesli and hot items like eggs and little sausages. It was a feast for more than just the tummy! After over-eating at the buffet (we learned quick how to eat conservatively!), we had to make way to downtown Stockholm- because that’s where our ferry boat would depart for Finland in the evening. Stockholm really is a beautiful city:

We caught a quick (but expensive) taxi to nearby Gamla Stan, which is the oldest part of Stockholm and where the city was founded. Carl Larsson was born there, but more on him later.

We had sweets and coffees at a nice little shop that was owned and run by a charitable organization. The photo below shows the side entrance to the old royal palace, where we happened to see the “changing of the guard”.

There are many bridges linking Gamla Stan to the modern city. I guess it needs to be mentioned that Stockholm is actually an archipelago and much of the city is surrounded by water. New architecture meets modern Swedish design here:

We got a really great view of it from our cruise and entering into the Baltic sea. Ashley and I:

The view from the top deck on the cruise ship was spectacular. Later, we had the seafood buffet for dinner andI think Ashley enjoyed it very much (it being her 25^th birthday). The sunset came quickly and the local folks were trying to get back there homes via ferry:

That night we slept kinda rough, I have never been on a cruise ship (and probably won’t go back). We were anxious to get off and walk around Helsinki. It worked out perfect our next Scandic hotel was right next to the ferry terminal and within walking distance of the downtown area. Helsinki is mentioned in further detail in another blog.

I would like to continue with Sweden because after visiting Finland and then Denmark we arrived once again. We picked up the rental car and the next day paid a very important visit to a Swedish icon- Volvo! Ashley and I both drive Volvos, so it only seemed right to visit the factory. Let me just mentioned that in Sweden there are Volvos everywhere, even pimp-daddy Volvo S60 limos:

The parking lot was full of Volvos, and Ashley was pretty stoked!

I enrolled us in the Blue Train factory tour , which was more than an hour and was just what it sounds like; a small train that wound through the actual Volvo assembly plant. Volvo owns other assembly plants around the world, but this one in Torslanda is the origin for much of the vehicle models, including S60s (Ashley!) and S70 (me!). It was a shame we couldn’t take photos inside the plant (to protect trade secrets), because there were some really cool parts like the “Marriage Point” where the chassis is mated to the car body. This assembly plant was a mechanical engineers dream; mechanized processes were everywhere- including robots doing welding, raising/lowering work surfaces and patented features to make assembly like workers jobs a little easier. Ashley just getting on the Blue Train:

After the tour ended, and we exhausted from our search for sweet Volvo streetwear (we never did find cool Volvo t-shirts, like the one that says “Everything is better with a Volvo”), we headed north along the Bohuslän Coast. Our next destination was Stromstad, a beautiful little town on Sweden’s northwest coast and just south of the Norwegian border. We booked a neat little hotel called Hotell Krabben, which had nautical themes and was run by a nice family.

Stromstad was so quaint, we ate dinner right by the water at a Thai restaurant:

The harbour seen from a rocky perch above town:

The sun set nicely as a few last sailboats trickled into the harbour:

The next day, after yet another scrumptious Swedish style breakfast, we headed further north. Our destination was Lake Siljan, a favorite vacation spot for Swedes and some cool attractions. The drive up was super scenic:

Lake Siljan, seen from the shores of Mora:

The north part of Lake SIljan:

Sweden is unbelievably forested, everywhere there are spruce, pine, paper birch and the occasional larch. It was especially neat to see how much active forestry is going there too. Just from the highway I could spot different silvicultural treatments, clearcuts, tree planting and tons of natural regeneration. The landscape could be compared to northern New England or the Pacific northwest, with well-worn mountains interspaced with lakes and rivers.

We took an excursion about a hundred kilometers north to Sweden’s smallest national park. It is called Hamra and contains a thousand hectares of forest that date to the 17^th century! It was a mix of low-lying sites and clearings, containing all kinds of organic matter, the club mosses were particularly colorful:

A 450 year old forest is quite a diverse one if you look closely. There are living things everywhere, filling it in every nook, every cranny and every niche. It is amazing to see how well intended nature is. The vegetation here was characteristic of many of the high mountainscapes I’ve visited, this is likely due to the northerly latitude, very cool!

This shot came out so well it is now the background for my computer:

We returned south to stay at our favorite B&B of the trip, the Langshyttans Brukshotell. The host couple of the place were so lovely and accommodating, I wish we had gotten a photo with them. They had a restaurant formerly in the Stockholm harbor on a boat, but the boat sank and the insurance company told them they had no water damage. So they took the opportunity to move out to the country and start a very cool, small B&B. The husband is the chef and he prepared a quick salmon plate for each of us that was splendid. I think Ashley and I were REALLY spoilt by all the salmon the entire trip!

The lovely little inn:

It was sad to leave our new friends at the Brukshotell, but we had more of Sweden to see! Our next stop was the Carl Larsson (pronounced Carlarsson) residence. For those who don’t know him, he was a very influential Swedish artist. During his time in the late 19^th and early 20^th century he pioneered new ways of family life and believed in people living productive/fulfilling lives.

We got a tour of his house, the interior design was quite far ahead of its time! Carl put personal touches on everything and we were able to see his wife’s wonderful tapestries she made, his handwriting on things and even his reading room full of books from the period. Sorry no pictures from the inside of the house, but outside was just as nice:

After getting our fix at Carl Larssons, we drifted south to Stockholm. Everyone knows of Ikea, but who has been to one in Ikeas country of origin? The third Ikea to open is south of Stockholm, and also happens to be the biggest one in the world, opened in the 1960s. We didn't buy anything home furnishings because it was all the same as at home! We did however eat at the restaurant, cheap and delicious Swedish cuisine. On the way north to our hotel, we made a quick pit-stop in downtown Stockholm, just in time to see a romantic sunset set over the old city. Look for those photos and more (I don't have them at this moment) in an update to this blog shortly. I also have a few concluding words about the wonderful Scandinavian country that is Sweden.

Lake Tahoe, Durden style

2010-07-09T20:26:00.000-07:00

Just when the temperatures in the East were on the rise, I jetted off to the cool and dry West for a week long Durden family vacation at beautiful Lake Tahoe, CA. Everyone had such a fantastic time, we did a ton of fun activities (the logistics were smoother for some more than others) and I felt thoroughly pampered. The trip began on July 3rd, with a quick visit with my good friends Leslie and Chef Dan. I rendezvoused with Leslie in the late morning for a quick bite of dim sum and finance talk. We discussed index funds and the proper way to set aside moneys for retirement.

Tasty Chinese food gave way to distinguishable discussions of climbing anchors. However, before we delved into the mechanics of climbing fall-forces, I had to interrupt the moment for a quick forage to the local Goodwill store. For me, a staple of coming to SF is shopping at the thrift stores, the selection of top-quality, name brand clothes is second to none in this city saturated in culture. I came away with a high performance t-shirt, that might retail for 35 bucks, but I snagged for $1.99!

Shortly thereafter, our good friend Chef Dan made an impressionable appearance and took us to a local spot to practice setting climbing anchors. Meantime, Ashley was securing a new flight to the Bay Area because her former one was delayed by some hours. Plans changed quickly and she arrived later that night in Oakland, but not before I had a memorable dinner of homemade Moroccan chicken with figs served by Leslie at her place.

Soon Ashley's mom swooped by Leslie's place in her Volvo sport-utility to pick me up, we headed to Oakland airport right away. Ashley emerged tired with a carry-on. We made quick time from Oakland to Santa Rosa to sleep for a night in order to be ready for Lake Tahoe in the morning! The drive went by quick, with a stop at In-N-Out Burger, a CA classic. Of course the weather at Tahoe was perfect, CA sunshine and a temperature moderated by the altitude. Later in the evening we viewed fireworks near Tahoe City:

I'm not going to lie, it took me a little while to get used to the all Kodak-moment-making in the Durden family. I really like it now, and find myself always fine-tuning to get the best look for each shot. They required to take my specs off to pose for a photo (flash glare)!

That night everyone slept like royalty, with king beds all around at our super plush Hyatt resort. I don't have a great photo of the actual hotel building, but the architecture is remarkably similar to the rest of the Northstar village:

This photo was taken on the only day it rained, this thunderstorm came through and soaked the area nicely, I never would have expected humidity to feel so good (: Its funny when you live in a humid environment you loath it and look forward to a dry wind, but in a dry environment the opposite is true.

We all awoke leisurely to breakfast and then to rent bikes for the afternoon. Check Ashley on the cruiser!

We rode all the way out to Squaw Valley before turning around to go back. The bike path was real mellow, it followed the Truckee River as it flowed northwest, tubers and rafters floated along it too, albeit alot slower than us. The water is quite clear, as it originates from Lake Tahoe, we stopped for some Kodaks and to admire the beauty:

Everyone grouped for a photo during our break in the shade:

That evening we washed up and cruised back to the Tahoe City area for a very delicious dinner at a fine restaurant. I don't recall the name of it, but we didn't have a reservation and so Mrs. Durden suavely put in for a table for all of us. I ordered a filet, and it was cooked to perfection, little did I know, this was to be the beginning of a fine-dining culinary trend that carried through the week. Thanks to the Durden's for dinner that night. Some nice photos were taken after dinner out on the dock too:

The next day we all woke up and Ashley's parents, Ashley and I all embarked on a hiking excursion. This was my blunder for the trip; we couldn't get to the proper trailhead and finally did some off-roading in order to get in. Looking back on it, I really wish I had brought the family to Mt. Rose, which offered better opportunities for waterfall viewing, panoramas and alpine meadows gleaming with wildflowers. Nonetheless, we all had a great time, we hiked towards Freel Peak and came around the corner to this:

Not a moment to miss for the Durden family:

And great tasting snow melt water:

Alpine scenery, water you can drink out of the creek, I was stoked!

The next day was a sort of do whatever you want day, so while the others frolicked down by the lake and the beach, I investigated Mt. Rose. Mt. Rose is the third highest peak in the Lake Tahoe Basin and sits nicely in the northeast end of the region. I think it was one of the faster peaks I've ever climbed, I started in the early afternoon and was down and back to the Hyatt for dinner. It was a standard walk up, nothing technical at all. I really had a craving for some snow in July and that was soon satisfied:

In fact, the trail crossed over snow numerous times, in some places it was steep too, allowing for some slides. The trip was about 10 miles roundtrip, it started fairly flat, traversed past a very nice waterfall and then continued up nearly unabated to the summit. The vegetation changes to the summit came quickly, and treeline was only a few hundred feet below it. Here is a struggling whitebark pine next to the trail, the dense krummholz of more pines are clearly visible in the background. The environmental conditions are unsuitable for trees to grow higher.

However, if one turns around to view the trail they came up, the scene is different with contiguous trees, but if you look close they are in little islands:

Interesting strategies trees use to colonize higher elevations, with many factors working against them. The view from the top was pretty spectacular looking east into the Reno area:

But to the south, the view was equally rewarding:

No alpine summit is right without alpenblumen!

Those who saw this video from the summit thought it was pretty comical, so I decided to throw it on here.

The next day the Durden's treated everyone to boating, it was probably the highlight to the trip for most of us. A 19 foot motor boat was rented and we cruised pretty much the length of Lake Tahoe. Our destination was Emerald Bay, site of the only island in the entire lake. See if you can guess who the skipper was:

As we were finishing lunch, clouds moved in and made the way back quite choppy. Requiring some more careful maneuvering towards shore, which was ok because then we could get a closer look at some of the more opulent lake houses. After dropping off the motor boat, we made quick time back to the hotel to get washed up and return to a restaurant near the shoreline.

Dinner was absolutely delicious as usual, I don't recall what I ordered, but I remember everyone being very generous with sharing. After dinner, we had the wait staff bring out the cake that was bought earlier at a specialty bakery. Thanks to Ashley for planning out a great carrot cake for the 3 folks with August birthdays!

The sun was setting after dinner, giving everything a splendid tone and bathing the sky in a deep glow.
Not a moment to be missed for another couple Kodak moment!

What a stunning, awe-inspiring trip! A gigantic thank you to the Durden family for allowing me to spend 6 wonderful days vacationing with them. You all really know how to do it in style and are excellent at keeping everybody super stoked!

Journey of the Cloud Riders

2010-03-04T17:30:00.000-08:00

What a banner year it has been in the Mid-Atlantic! Records have been set, deep snow found its way all over my face, and I might even make the bold claim that we have more (and better) snow than the wild west! That been said, it was absolutely my pleasure to travel to WV's finest backcountry skiing at Whitegrass for an epic powder day.

The journey of the cloud riders began at quite an early hour that day. As people were returning from the bar or going to bed, my boy Brian and I were waking up and hittin' the highway. I had returned from New England just hours earlier by plane, so getting out of a warm bed was tough, but the thought of 3 feet (!) of fresh pow made it easy as voting for education bond referendums on the local ballot.

I rendezvoused with Brian on the way to Canaan Valley, we jammed hard and snow surfed in the Volvo:

The video doesn't show it, but there was a solid rooster tail of snow billowing off the roof of the car when I steered into the plowed, fluffy drift briefly. The residual on the hood made it hard to see! We stopped for a moment to gaze at this awe-inspiring drift, we estimated 20+ feet tall!

The drive itself was almost as awesome as the skiing, the MD highway department was using some big dawg machinery, that thing cuts a swath 6 feet by 9 feet!

On the way into Whitegrass we got our car stuck in a drift- even with chains on! During the process we met some cool folks , one fella named Christian from the Air Force joined us for the day. Its so neat when people band together in a crisis. He was a real dude who had just spent a bunch of time in Alaska, of course skiing on the teles up there. Despite his first time to Whitegrass, he was just as stoked as us to be in WV and he did a superb job helping us break trail. You can't tell from the photo, but at one point his upper chest plowed through pow- and he is 6.5 feet tall!

I really can't put together the words to describe the skiing itself, it was so magical it pretty much changed my life. Now I can see why people drop out of school, live like a dirt bag and relentlessly pursue pow. Brian can speak to this pretty effectively, he got his face pretty darn soiled:

Of course it goes without saying the deeper the snow the bigger the bliss, and there is NO such thing as too much snow in a winter wonderland!

We discovered a true local gem of a powder stash, an entire pipeline of untouched, waist deep pow to plow! It was a sight to see and made the long-ass haul out there worth every breath! I mean whats there to say about wild and wonderful WV that hasn't already been said?

I think the next videos can practically speak for themselves, first Brian:

Then me:

I literally had snow smack me IN THE FACE it was so deep in places, there is no other feeling like it. If skiing deep pow isn't heaven, I don't know what is. That day was a day that will go down in my memory as a turning point in my life, before I was a powder virgin, now I'm a Cloud Rider.

White Fluff at Whitegrass

2010-02-17T08:28:00.000-08:00

Ok, so I've been quite literally chomping at the bit to wet my brow in pow since we started getting pummeled with snow here in the Mid-Atlantic last month. That chance came last weekend in none only than wild and wonderful West Virginia, it was a banner day during a banner winter! A soft, untouched meadow explains it waay better than words:

My powder hound buddy Brian and I skinned all around Whitegrass that day, under blue skies and super duper fluffy powder. It was the kind that you could pick up with your hands and then blow it away like pixy dust, yea baby, real deal West Virginia champagne powder!

Brian was super stoked after skinning up just a few hundred yards!

The higher we went, the deeper it got, particularly in the meadows:

The temperature dropped fast when the snow came and there was an splendid effect on all the trees as the individual snow crystals stuck to them, it does get any more winterlandish than this:

Our first long run down was so magnificent we just had to skin back up for another go, on the way back up, we paused and look around to a clear view across Canaan Valley in all its splendor:

I'm not gonna lie, the number of times the snow was this good in my life I can count on one hand and it was tough to handle it! It was so darn easy to get lost in the bliss and forget what you're doing, wipe out and eat some snow:

Minus the sporadic cloud cover, we had some great views from atop Bald Knob:

The last long tour of the day took us from Bald Knob to Weiss Knob via the pipeline trail. We were the first to traverse the route and enjoy it to the fullness!

We were all smiles all day, I don 't know about Brian, but my teeth ached from too much exposure to the cold.

All in all one could not have asked for better conditions. Atop Weiss Knobb we found a mellow log and took lunch out in the woods; ate sandwiches, had a cold beverage, smoked mini stogies and wallowed in the bliss. I think bringing PBR on extended ski tours is a new tradition for me, and smoking a lil cigar during the breidl jausen just about put me past the tipping point of contentment. We estimated the snow pack up there at 4400 feet to be between 5 and 6 feet, truly remarkable! Now I'm proud to say my powder palette has been sufficiently broadened by a superb secret stash found only in Wild and Wonderful West Virginia.

Snow Storm Stopover

2010-02-14T15:39:00.000-08:00

Sometimes in life things happen in weird and mysterious ways. Our perpetual state of flux carries us along through experiences that shape us as people and it is often a series of conscious decisions that determines the outcome. It was by no mistake that last weekend I got stuck in San Francisco and got to spend time with some great folks.

For work I had to travel to my office in central CA and spend a few days on a project. It was a nice 5 day business trip with Monday and Friday being travel days. I was anticipating either a longer or shorter stay, so I booked a more expensive refundable government airfare with flexibility that would come to be key later. The tone of the trip was set early on at Washington Dulles, I volunteered and got bumped to a slightly later flight and received a free roundtrip voucher to the lower 48, woohoo!

As Thursday came around, the forecast was looking grim for the DC area- they called for 30+ inches of snow! So I called United and asked for the next available flight home, which was Monday the following week, oh man. However, we worked it out so that I would spend the weekend in San Francisco, with friends- perfect! The price of my fare didn't go up either, woohoo! I even saved the government money by staying with friends and not at a hotel! Life is darn good.

In fact, it gets better, my flight into SFO from Fresno coincided with Ashley and her 2 best friends: Megan and Akilah, we all met at the baggage claim. Ashley's mom (Mrs. D) came and picked us up and we headed straight for a late lunch at Starbelly (check it out here: http://ericspursuits.blogspot.com/2010/01/touch-and-go-starbelly.html). Ashley and her friends were in town for the Kaiser Half Marathon race, an interesting coincidence. I really had some fun hanging out with all these women throughout the weekend, we were a bit directionally challenged, but we made it everywhere we wanted to go without too much of a hiccup (and help from Esmay- the navigator). After eating a tasty lunch we all headed to do a bit of window shopping in SF, which was great- because all the while the DC area was getting pummeled with snow! Ashley's best friend Akilah had a flat up on Nob Hill, which had a stunning view of the city, and we caught it just at last light:

The ladies went to their respective places to stay and Ashley's mom was super helpful in dropping me off in the Presidio to meet with Leslie. That night I would spend time with Leslie and Dan at one of the best restaurants I have eaten at in SF, and it was Bhurmese! Nowhere else can you get such a tasty tea-leaf salad!

The next day, I woke up at Leslie's sauna-like flat (shes likes to live warm!) and we had a quick breakfast before heading to the climbing gym. Some great memories came back from climbing with Leslie and Dan last Spring, I was pretty amazed at how strong they both were, as they climbed on lead like crushers. Me, I felt out of place like Sarah Palin in Washington, with quivering and fully extended limbs hauling myself higher without style or due diligence. We had a great time nonetheless and afterwards I accompanied Dan to Berkeley to check out some camping gear and the campus of a world famous school. Dan is going to be cooking for a whole crew of Yosemite volunteers/climbers this summer and needed to be properly outfitted for the task! We finished our East Bay excursion with a light lunch and he dropped me off for an early dinner at Ocean Beach with a great view that happened to have a bunch of beautiful women sitting with me (;

Ashley's 2 best friends, herself, her lovely mother and myself feasted at the Cliff House Bistro. All in attendance thoroughly enjoyed the food, the atmosphere and most importantly, the company. This was to be an early night, because all the girls had to rest up for their respective races in Golden Gate Park the next morning! I made plans to meet with Mrs. D the next morning at her hotel and we would cheer on the runners while we relaxed to coffee and cake at an outdoor cafe (it was a theory at least!).

Leslie was particularly helpful and dropped me off back at Mrs. D's hotel where we embarked on an adventure to find the Kaiser Race. Megan was running the 5k, while Ashley and Akilah were running the 13.1 miles and so our primary mission was to get to the 5k finish to meet Megan. Road closings and crazy SF road layout made the drive from Nob Hill to Golden Gate Park take a bit longer than usual, also there was a stop for several litres of coffee (;

We made it to the race and found everyone. Mrs. D probably thinks I'm crazy because I led her running after Ashley towards the end in our cheering pursuits, we actually ran our own race! Everyone had a great finish and were stoked with their times, so we headed north towards Ashley's parents place in Santa Rosa, stopping along the way for a few Kodak moments:

Dinner that night during the super bowl was a gourmet feast! Mr. D grilled a phenomenal tuna steak and put together a rissoto, Mrs. D prepared a delicious salad. I was thoroughly impressed, and great wine flowed like water! Woohoo for accomplished runners, good food and good company! Before I knew it I was headed back to peace in the east and a cool 2+ feet of snow to greet me, the whole way reflecting on how fantastic a brief trip I had to CA.

I can't take hardly any credit for how this trip came together. I got some great friends who are so accommodating to me- they made it happen. If a blizzard hadn't come, Ashley's flight hadn't arrived on time, my airfares weren't so flexible and any series of unfortunate events happened and the universe was not aligned to make this wonderful weekend happen- it would not have. Sometimes flux can be fine-tuned to our best advantage and thats what makes life so grand.

Monday afternoon at the MoMA

2010-01-27T03:20:00.000-08:00

When travels for work take me through the Big Apple, as they often seem to do these days, I can't help but desire to catch a quick piece of it. As a vacation destination, NYC is hard to beat, few other cities can throw down such an array of sights, sounds, smells and tastes to keep even the most continuosly-attention-obsessive, fast-paced people stimulated. So, when a long layover appeared on my itinerary again I knew I couldn't waste a New York second in seizing it!

My only wish was that I could have spent more time at the Museum of Modern Art, it was a trip marked by brevity. Even so, that didn't hamper my enthusiasm to practice turbo walking on the sidewalks with other New Yorkers, eat some tasty Indian street food after wetting my mind in fine art and taking it all in in true NYC style.

Unfortunately my photos from inside the galleries did not come out very well, crowds and interior lighting variety did not help either. Anyway, art is meant to be enjoyed and interpreted first hand, not through the lens of an amateur photographer. Tim Burton had an awesome exhibit complete with a life-size Edward Scissorhands and all kinds of cool movie props, but wow he is very weird. I spent the most time in the impressionist galleries, it felt like no matter how deep I looked into a piece there was always something new to observe or was previously obscured. Needless to say, time flies at the MoMA, keeping in pace with the rest of NYC.

Until next time!

Somewhere on Ave of the America (6th ave)

Can you spot the Empire State Building?

Touch and Go Starbelly

2010-01-12T07:41:00.000-08:00

Sometimes, a pilot will land a plane and then take off again immediately. This is called a "touch and go" and usually occurs when the pilot aborts the landing and decides instead to just lift off. That is a bit how I felt the other day when I had a long layover in San Francisco, because I touched down, ate a meal with friends and then took off again!

We could not have planned it better, my friend Chef Dan swooped in his coup and scooped me up at the airport and then we headed straight for the Castro district to a place called "Starbelly." Now let me tell you Chef Dan is a foodie, he cooks and is the executive chef at the Concordia Argonaut club in the city. Few people I know can match his enthusiasm for life, he is just so darn happy to be on this planet and the good vibes radiate onto all those around him. We sat down and right away he is making small talk to the wait staff and getting everybody stoked about life, what a guy!

While we waited for Leslie to arrive, Dan ordered the chicken liver pate at the recommendation of our server and I was most pleasantly surprised! It was rich in flavor and texture was so smooth in my mouth, this was my first pate and the bar has been set high! Leslie cruised in with a few climbing mags for me, a real nice gesture and I was darn happy to see her. Despite some setbacks lately for her, she remains strong and keeps a high quality of life seemingly with ease.

The main counter at Starbelly was the wood from an old, refinished bowling alley lane, polished like the real thing too! We all ordered different dishes to try items on the menu (first time to Starbelly for everybody). We split a pork belly sandwich, a burger with fresh bleu cheese and a specialty pizza. There was more than enough food to go around and everything was so rich in flavor. The Chef (of Starbelly) walked by our table and Chef Dan made a point to tell him how good the food was he prepared! I could not agree with him more, fabulous ingredient combinations. We all had a bit of catching up to do it, so the conversation was well lit too. We chatted about climbing a lot, some misc. gossip and family.

It was super nice to catch up with some good friends who have had such a positive impact on my life. I thoroughly enjoy spending time with folks that have a great outlook on life. I love it when a plan comes together, sad that I had to leave, but exciting to look forward to going back to the city of open-mindedness.

A conference in Sequoia sempervirens country

2010-01-11T11:50:00.000-08:00

The titans of the tree world reside in Northern California. Coastal redwoods, or Sequoia sempervirens as they are known scientifically, scrape the sky like the tall buildings of Manhattan. The most magnificent redwoods grow more than 300 feet tall, few other plants on the planet can defy such a feat.

Unfortunately, my trip was not about redwoods, but was a "Data Management Summit" that just happened to be where the worlds tallest trees congregate. Arcata is home to Humboldt State University, part of the CA state university system and sits in an area of quite unique natural beauty. Our work was conducted in the Redwood Sciences Research Laboratory, a pretty neat place which sits on a hill overlooking the Humboldt campus and Arcata.

Getting to Arcata took 3 legs and a long day, but it was well worth the trip. It was tough sitting in the conference room with one entire wall a view into the Arcata Community Forest. So at lunch we all went for walks in the forest behind the lab. In my experience taking photos in the redwood forest is notoriously difficult, the lighting is terrible for point-and-shoot cameras like mine.

In a few areas of the forest, there was only second growth, which means the original forest was cut once for timber and then allowed to grow. In these parts, redwood trees have astonishing growth rates.

Above is my colleague August enjoying our short, lunch jaunt into the redwood wonderland, or as he would say "E-wok forest" of Star Wars. My last night in Arcata, August was even nice enough to take me to the rugged beach so I could touch the Pacific before I went home. The sand was black and very fine and the water was freezing! No surprise there.

Winter Running

2010-01-07T15:21:00.000-08:00

Its been pretty cold lately here in Northern Virginia, almost too cold to jog. I feel like running in the winter months takes a certain kind of person, perhaps not as extreme as those who can jump through a hole cut in an iced over lake like they do in Russia, but it does take a certain amount of gumption. To me though, the crisp air and quiet solitude more than make up for the extra hassles that are involved. Careful layering, gloves and courage are all that is needed. Those who take up New Years resolutions to start running again for personal reasons probably think its crazy to run outside when warm gyms are available!

I have a number of nice circuits in the large park behind my house. Some take me to the creek where there is a nice waterfall, others follow the cross country horse-back riding trails, but all offer a nice variety of terrain. I like to think of the park as my little retreat from the hustle and paved-over metropolis that is Northern Virginia. Even better though, is getting back home after a cold run. A nice, wholesome home-cooked meal with a delicious beverage and then relaxing is about the best thing that a man can ask for!

Snows in the forecast tonight, perhaps there'll be might be enough for a ski tour tomorrow!

Washington's Big Dig

2009-12-23T18:06:00.000-08:00

I took my title from last Sunday's Washington Post front page and truer words could not have described the last days here. The largest amount of snow to fall in a day in 70 years fell on December 19th, 2009 and I relished every moment of it.

It was a hectic time for the family too, my flight back from CO was among the last to arrive at Reagan National, my mom was still stuck in Denver (it took her more than 36 hours to finally get home!) and my sister was stuck in Morgantown, WV. Despite our families' fragmentation we managed to stay in high spirits, particularly through the monumental task of keeping the driveway clear throughout the day. My dad and mine's backs were thoroughly sore that evening from clearing the driveway 3 times.

Even so, shoveling snow is somehow relaxing, kind of like washing glassware in a lab, mowing the lawn or painting a fence. A day of a few monotonous tasks mixed in with the usual thought-provoking ones makes for a nice blend and helps keep a man sane. The amount of snow was astonishing, by the end of the snow Saturday night, I was proud to proclaim we had received 20+ inches of snow! In some areas it drifted as much as 30 inches! A dream come true in my own backyard and one could taste it everywhere. I think I could wake up to a bit of fresh snow every other day during the winter.

Our house was thoroughly immersed in the winter wonderland. I especially love how long it took to get our street plowed and that it kept people home for a little while. People in Northern Virginia drive and work entirely too much (driving is a way of life here- oh wait isn't that all of this country?) Either way, I was genuinely happy to see some activity paralysis in an area where everyone expects things to get done instantly.

Unfortunately for me, my mom had my ski boots with her and I could not make a ski tour. That did not stop me from lacing up my snowshoes though, still fresh from only being used a few times in Lake Tahoe. It was real nice spending that time at home with just me and my dad, we're the ones in the family who enjoy the snow the most, I think he enjoyed digging around the yard for access to stuff.

I am very much looking forward to enjoying the snow for some days (hopefully weeks!) as it melts and is forgotten. Gosh, I feel so spoiled by this snow storm, if only we could have more snow storms like this in the east, snow storms on a Wild West scale.

Monarch ski area, Colorado

2009-12-22T08:25:00.000-08:00

I had just finished a scrumptious dinner at the Himalayan restaurant in Big Bear Lake, CA when I got a lovely call from my mother. We chatted about what was going on lately and then she said she had an ambitious idea for a Christmas present for me, but I would have to wait until I got home to find out. I scarcely got inside the house before she spilled it out; "Would you be interested in skiing in CO for a week while I attend training for work in Lakewood?" No one in their right mind would turn that kind of an offer down!

Some days later and I had contacted my old friends Dan and Tyler who live in the Front Range and we were on! I would fly in on a Monday and leave on Friday, carefully coordinated with my mom's schedule for work so we could carpool. Despite our best planning intentions all kinds of things went wrong. I had my first 1 hour-long formal conference call for work immediately when I arrived (because my plane was 1.5 hours late to arrive) and had to take it in the baggage claim area. Our whole trip was hectic from the get-go. Thrifty rental car was all out of compact cars, so they gave her a black Hummer H3, which coincidentally was the same one my dad rented 2 years ago when he came to Denver for business. Needless to say the H3 was pretty lame; cramped interior, unfunctional small windows, underpowered and it just had an overall cheap feel to it. But, for some reason it is still a head turner, I think it is all hype.

Dan scooped me up in his Tacoma and after stopping at REI for some Telemark knee pads, we headed south to stay in Colorado Springs for the night. I went to bed early with some jet lag while they deliberated about which ski area to go to in the morning. We all decided the big resorts along I-70 were lame; exorbidant high prices, no new snow and of course crowding. Farther south, conditions were much more lucrative at Monarch ski area, which had gotten 30+ inches of fresh in the last 3-4 days. They get some of the most snow in the state, after Wolf Creek and it was clear that was our destination.

Monarch did not dissapoint! Although the runs were a bit tracked out, we seeked out little pow spots, especially ones where I could drop my knee a bit further to push it though!

The scenery was a part of CO I had not witnessed before, the Sawatch Range was pretty new to Dan and Tyler too. We all felt pretty spoiled to be skiing these conditions this early in the season. Our accomodations worked out well too, I was able to use my reward points to get us a free night and the place we stayed had a choice hot tub.

Monarch ski resort sits near Monarch Pass, which is a highpoint on US 50 where it crosses the continental divide and provides a unique vantage point to view the Sawatch range. This range and south to the San Juan range are I think among my favorite ranges in CO, and yet they are the ones I have least explored. I cannot confirm this, but Monarch ski area seemed to follow the Continental Divide, which is probably the reason why they get so much pow. A summit elevation of 11,300 feet (3,448) also helps too, everybody knows the higher you go the better everything is anyway.

Monarch was such a beautiful location, you really cannot deny the allure of the wild west if you're an easterner like me.

The last run of the day I told Tyler I would film him going along, so I did and it started off well, until I paid more attention to the camera. Watch for when I catch an edge and eat shit at the end!

Getting home after a wonderful ski week turned into a yard sale because of the blizzard that engulfed the east coast. My poor mom, all week she worked 11-12 hour days with a colleague to learn this new method in the lab. My 2 planes made it on American, she flew Frontier and hers got canceled. It took her 2 full days to finally get home. Then she had baggage issues because of checking her cooler full of critical samples and it had to be re-routed. Fortunately we all made it home safe, and for the first time ever at my home in Northern Virginia we got more snow than the wild west!

NOVA ski tour

2009-12-05T18:03:00.000-08:00

From recent memory, I can count on my hands the number of times we have had snow in northern Virginia. I can count even less when there was enough to make a ski tour. So, it was quite a pleasant surprise to watch as 3-4 inches of wet, slough snow found its way to the earth to graces us with its presence. I'm a snow fanatic and I love it in all ways, shapes and forms, but this snow was absolutely terrible for skiing. It was so wet it would clump to the bottom of my skis and prevent them gliding.

Snow quality aside, the landscape aura that snow creates is second to none. With my work done for the day, I wasted no time in engaging with the snow, full throttle. For those who have not seen snow yet this year, I pity you, for this is my 3rd time seeing it fall in 3 different states. Snow at home is a special time:

We have a lily pond in our backyard, everyday I scoop some dead leaves out of it for the last week. Still there seems to be an endless amount and I won't stop till I can see the the darn goldfish swimming along the bottom. It is pretty though, especially when our state bird, the cardinal comes along to chat for a while.

The ski tour itself was nothing to write home about. Despite the hugely inflated anticipation, the snow just did not perform. That or my xc skis direly needed the proper wax for the warm temperatures. I had a blast nonetheless and it felt exhilarating to open up my lungs to some cold air and breathe hard.

Part of my tour took me to the farm animals at Frying Pan Park. See if you can spot the goatie in the little hut.

It is super nice to live so close to an open area in a land infested by the needs of the automobile. Too often these days we find ourselves removed from nature, I hope they can inspired to enjoy the tranquility that only nature can provide.

Work in the Wild Californian West

2009-11-14T10:59:00.000-08:00

Please excuse my absence of blogs the past months, other obligations have kept me from composing them as often as I would like.

At the end of October, as the leaves were dropping and the field season was ending in New York I received an awesome offer from TEAMS: Would you like to do what you are doing now (forest stand exams), but in the mountains of Southern California? I did not even hesitate for a New York second to proclaim YES! The next thing I knew I was flying to the west coast, boy was it a shocker to step out of Fresno airport in the middle of the central valley to palm trees and 60 degree temps!

After meeting with some other coworkers, we cruised to the main TEAMS office in Porterville, which they share with Sequoia National Forest. On the walls of the hallways in the office are photos of gargantuan giant sequoia trees, all living happily some 50 miles or so away. I would've loved to go see them and see if they can compare to the mighty redwoods, but our work would take us to a different forest in a much drier area...

Our modest accommodations were in Gorman, along the I-5 in an area that seems to be perpetually windy, interesting there were no wind turbines to be seen. The Econolodge had a tasty mexican restaurant and a nice American style restaurant called the Ranch House attached to it. We wasted no time in trying both, but as anyone who travels will tell you, eating out all the time is expensive and potentially bad for your health. The lodging and restaurant complex:

Coming from the humid east to the dry west was an adjustment, especially for my nose which was almost continuously clogged from the dust that got kicked up so easily everywhere. It took time for us to get our data collection protocol figured out, but eventually we made it out to experience the beauty of the area. The mountain seen straight ahead is Mt Pinos, at 8800 feet the highest peak in Ventura county, the brownness of the landscape shows just how dry it commonly stays.

As one goes higher in elevation though, the precipitation increases and climatic conditions change to support a more substantial forest. Jefferey Pines seen from the road and looking towards Mt. Pinos:
As we left Frazier mountains for work one day, I caught a typical, beautiful California sunset. You can see the fog that shrouded Bakersfield that day rushing up into the highlands.

After just less than 2 weeks of working in the mountains of Los Padres National Forest, a new assignment appeared almost out of nowhere. They were sending us to the San Bernardino National Forest and we were to stay in the resort town of Big Bear Lake!

For those who don't know, Big Bear is the premiere ski destination for the LA area, perhaps because it is the closest. They put us up at the fabulous Northwoods Resort, which had a nice restaurant/bar, in-room fire places, and a outdoor pool with hot tub. I totally felt pampered, but at the end of each day working hard in the woods, I'd say we earned it.

We scouted a bit the first day, soon realizing our plots were very far apart. It was inevitable that our previous production estimates for the week were going to fall short. Our bleak outlook didn't change the fact that we were in a beautiful location:

This part of CA is very prone for fires, so our inventory had that as one objective and consequently many of the plots were laid along roads. As we were doing our work, one could not help but to step back and take notice to the vista that stretched away:

You can't quite tell for them photo, but this country was super steep, and of course super loose. See if you can pick out a 2 lane highway cut into this unstable mountain in the next photo:

I would say the slope directly below me was in excess of 80% or about 45 degrees from vertical. That would be another item that slowed us down, the relentless steep and rugged terrain. I cannot imagine trying to fight a wildfire in these conditions, absolutely miserable. For those who complain of the high costs to fight wildfires in CA, take note to the terrain that firefighters must work in and tell people to STOP building houses in precarious, fire-prone places! Nearly everywhere you go in CA are people, that state is super saturated and super beautiful:

I have such a love, hate relationship with CA. I hate the crowding, traffic and relative expensiveness; but the range of ecosystems and raw, natural beauty that it offers will always amaze me and keep me coming back for more.

Climbing at the Shawangunks

2009-09-20T13:59:00.000-07:00

Ask any climber who lives in the Northeast about the "Gunks" and most will speak fondly of it, they might even "wax poetic" about it. This area, since it's discovery in the 1930s by the German Fritz Wiessner and Austrian Hans Kraus, has thousands of developed routes. One might compare it to Yosemite in California, indeed its cliffs are not near as tall, but the complexity of the rock and exclusive traditional routes make it just as challenging.

Of course all this was on top of my mind when I knew I would be working in the Catskill mountains, immediately northwest of the gunks. I underestimated my commitment to work up here, so an opportunity to climb did not present itself until recently. I enlisted my colleague and friend, Dave, to come with me. He currently lives in Idaho and as I write this he is getting happily married in his home state of Tennessee, congratulations! We spent the labor day holiday at the gunks, with near perfect weather, albeit a bit on the humid side. It was a real bummer to pay to climb though, $15. Most of the climbing areas at the gunks exist on private land, I am of the opinion that one should never have to pay to recreate, I will gladly pay higher taxes if it means that money is allocated properly to conservation and management of public lands.

We did perhaps 4-5 different climbs, and from the first to the last I was impressed by the quality of the rock. Dave climbs at a lower ability than me, but that was ok because we were there for climbs rated 5.fun, not anything else. In a landscape as beautiful as the gunks, it was hard not to smile at the top of the climbs.

It was a real pleasure to climb with someone who was as happy to be there as me. I lead all the pitches and Dave followed, pulling gear and gaining valuable experience for his future climbing career.

Climbing is such a novel experience for beginners, I couldn't wipe the smile off Dave's face even if I tried.

Our nice day off ended with us having to return to the motel, to get ready another week spent in the forest doing stand exams. It was beautiful to be paid for our day climbing at the gunks, another perk of working for the feds!

Catskill Mountain Keeper

2009-09-01T18:03:00.000-07:00

On my daily commute into the New York state Catskill mountains I encounter any number of adopt-a-highway signs. One that sticks out along the cluttered curbside is the Catskill Mountain Keeper. I am always happy to notice a local citizen group that is striving to preserve the beauty of the mountains. Far too often these days land is developed willy-nilly, with little regard for long-term effects on the landscape. Such an alarmingly large amount of America looks very homogenized with shopping strip centers and cookie-cutter communities. We must look longer term and preserve existing natural areas, areas reclaimed by (new) forests after our previous couple of pillages. Anyway, that is neither here nor there, this blog is about the awesomeness of my new job working for the USDA Forest Service.

TEAMS Enterprise Unit, the entity in the FS that employs me, was granted the contract to conduct a forest inventory for the New York City Department of Environmental Protection watershed land holdings. The NYC DEP wants to know the health of their forests, most parcels were purchased very recently. An assessment of the health of the forests is necessary to evaluate the filtering capability of them for the water which wins awards and eventually ends up in Manhattan. After conducting the inventory, the bright folks working for TEAMS in CA will write a management plan to try to best preserve the status of NYC DEP forested lands as excellent natural water filters.

We do our work by watershed, or more specifically, by reservoir. Each reservoir is divided into areas, areas by stand and each stand is then finally subdivided into plots. The GIS techs in CA delineated the stands to identify where to put in the plots in the most statistically un-biased manner. At each plot I am doing an overall vegetation survey; the understory, overstory and plot invasives. To get to my plots, I use a GPS field navigator, but this merely points me in a straight line towards the plot I'm aiming for. What most regular people, and even some nature lovers don't realize, is how unbelievably rugged it is to walk when there are no trails. Sometimes I get lucky and can walk a road, like this one:

Other times, like yesterday, I am walking through a recently felled even-aged stand of oaks:

Honestly though, I really have no reason to complain. What other job do you know pays you to walk around in the woods and observe nature at its best? And yet, the previous day, I am in paradise with my plot "perched on a pedestal" like this one:

Unbeknown to the reader though, this rock perch was more than a half mile of bushwhacking up 600 feet of elevation gain. I think that will safely thwart any unsuspecting people from discovering my hangout spot.

Of course days when it is rainy, cold and miserable, I wish I had an office to escape to. These days I can't really ask for more perfect weather though; blue-bird days and temps of 70-75 and nighttime in the upper 40s, the weatherman on the radio calls it "seasonably mild."

A quick word about the USDA FS TEAMS EU, they are an entity that provides consulting services to other government agencies (the NYC DEP for instance). Since TEAMS is conducting studies all over the USA, the personnel are always on the move to the different job sites. This is unique in how it allows the people who for TEAMS to be exceptionally well-rounded, simply because they have had opportunities to be exposed to forests all over the country.

Book review: Teewinot by Jack Turner

2009-08-14T20:33:00.000-07:00

Few books deserve the credit as having changed my life, in however small way. This book, written by a former professor of philosophy is a chronicled journey of a man who follows the release and then subsequent return of snow in the Teton mountain range of Wyoming. Through his wonderfully crafted narrative, the author makes astute observations of natural processes, provides insight into an exciting climbing environment and reflects on achieving a life bulging with satisfaction bound by connections we create with the cycles and seasons of the land. He speaks deeply of the first snows in Lupine Meadows, which areas melt out first and hence have a head start on the growing season, the wildlife that greet him regularly near his cabin during the short summer season, and a final walk around Jenny Lake to end the season.

The name of the novel comes from the mountain that the author is able to view from his cabin daily. Over 40 years of living and guiding in the Tetons has enabled the author to connect with his surroundings in such an intimate way, he knows his mountains better than anyone. As a naturalist he is keen to recognize the crowding that his work puts on the wilderness, but somehow he is able to justify it by blocking it from his mindset. However, he does a superb job of astutely contemplating the tranquil nature of the mountain landscapes.

For anyone who wishes to boost their foresight of recognizing mother nature's little gifts, this book is for you. One thing that I struggle with, and surely many others do as well, is to find meaning in my life. To observe the raw and rugged landscape of the Tetons or any other alpine arena for a lifetime is priceless. Important lessons were taken from this book. Simple pleasures as well as clarity, in life I believe, is found from developing a strong sense of mountain place and creating meaningful connections to it.

Cirque of the Towers

2009-07-09T14:46:00.000-07:00

In the many places I have lived in over the years I have always hung a spectacular 380 degree panorama poster of the Cirque of the Towers at the Wind River Range of Wyoming. It has been a secret dream of mine to visit this alpine playground and climb my heart out. I was hoping one day to have the chance to go there, and my drive home to VA from CA provided an excellent opportunity, but not without some big hold-ups. I learned few important lessons from this trip though, in a dramatic setting.

I did not realize how important it is in choosing who you go with for extended trips into the backcountry, my usual trips are only a few days long. Your climbing partner and yourself must have a level of understanding that is often beyond friendship, everything needs to jive nicely. Anyway, the Cirque is a spectacular place and having been there now I can relate to the generations of alpine climbers who have a soft spot in their hearts for "The Winds"...

It is an amazing range from the approach standpoint. We drove about 350 miles from Fort Collins, Colorado and the last 50 or so were within view of these tantalizing peaks, they just seem to rise above the plains out of nowhere and it was astonishing:

(photo courtesy of Dan Stone)

It was amazingly dry, warm and windy on the high plains and as we headed higher and into the Winds the landscape changed dramatically. We parked at around 9,000 feet and as soon as we got out of Dan's truck we got attacked by the damn skeets (mosquitos) until we went to sleep that night in the shelter of a tent. I mean those little skeets were dive bombing almost continuously as we hiked in the entire time. Aside from that, the approach to the Cirque went pretty darn smooth. I knew it would be a miserable slog in, and it was, so I packed as light as possible.

We hiked in as far as we could the first night after arriving in the late evening, racing to utilize the sunlight as it faded. We made it to Big Sandy Lake, 6 miles from the trailhead and about a thousand feet higher in elevation. We awoke to a magnificent view:

After getting up a bit later than I'd hoped we hit the trail to go higher. We paused for a moment to filter some water and admire the increasingly alpinscape we were encroaching into:

We rounded a bend and caught our first view of a Cirque peak, Pingora (it is the rounded summit in the distance)

When we got over Jackass Pass and entered into the Cirque it was quite a surreal landscape:

Just endless possibilities to climb, scramble and wander amongst these giant pilars and spires.

I could hardly contain my excitement to be there!

Not only was the rock of world class quality, but the snow was excellent, we even saw some cool effects as it recedes into the lakes and streams that foster life in a typically barren wasteland.

It really was like a dream come true...

The subtle rugged, beauty of the landscape quickly made me forget many insignificant things, like how heavy my pack was, money, material goods, drama with people and other silly mindsets that waay too often clutter our thoughts. It was so darn refreshing to have my mind corrected by such simple splendor.

Dan and I were both pretty knackered by the time we found our campsite. It was quick work to make a delicious pasta dinner and take in our new surroundings.

That night we were treated to a superb moon rising. I love how nearly everything about mother nature seems to be amplified in alpine arenas.

So I laid our attack plan to climb Pingora Peak the next day as an introduction for Dan to alpine climbing. We awoke mostly refreshed and I rushed Dan to get ready so we could be on and off the mountain quickly, Pingora from our campsite looked so darn sexy in the morning sun:

When we awoke it was quite cold, but after hiking for awhile the sun got quite hot and we paused to take off layers.

It did not take long to eye-ball our route up, but I made sure we didn't start before I got some alpine swagger.

At one point I had such a stunning little belay station, certainly reminded me of climbing in the Austrian Alps with a little alpine garden beside me.

The view from the top was spectacular, I took a quick video to get it all in, don't mind my silly commentary.

Even the view down towards Lonesome Lake was amazing, I felt like I could watch everything thaw out and a proper spring begin!

It wasn't long before we had to come down, even so I just could not wipe the smile from my face!

As I waited for Dan on one rappel, I could not resist a self-portrait with such a backdrop!

The descent provided an excellent view of Wolfs Head and many of its routes. This peak was next on my list to do in the Cirque, unfortunately Dan wasn't up for it, or climbing anything else for that matter. The proposed route was to follow the awesome knife edge ridge line that doiminates the right side of the photo below. Still, a man can dream, I am sincerely glad these mountains aren't going anywhere either because I will be back for Wolfs Head- fo realzies!

That night was a real bummer of a night. Dan said he would not climb anymore, he was simply not prepared. I was pretty bummed about it.

Anyway, aside from that, I could not think of a better place I'd rather have been (even if Dan differed). The morning before we left I hauled ass up a snow slope to the beginning of a couloir, mainly because I wanted to get out of the bright sun and into the shade. Yet another sweet view from high up.

I had some fun front-pointing in my crampons up a small rocky outcropping to relax for a minute.

I glissaded a long way down from there, it took about 15 minutes of nearly non-stop sliding!

It made really sad to leave the Cirque, I took one last look to try and save it all between my ears.

The next photos were all taken on the hike out, while Dan was being miserable with his heavy pack, I took the time to try and capture as much of the landscape as possible with Kodak moments (-:

I will always remember the "Winds", maybe one day I can live nearby or become a backcountry ranger there- one can only hope...

Matterhorn Peak

2009-07-08T22:34:00.000-07:00

For those who know "The Dharma Bums" by John Kerouac (an all-American classic) then you might recognize Matterhorn Peak from the book. A good friend in Vienna, Austria gave me that book and I thought it to be an excellent read. Since I was leaving California, I knew my last chance to climb Matterhorn would need to be soon. So as my last hoorah in the state I climbed it! Below is my first view of it amongst other splendid peaks of the eastern Sierra:

This climb entaled an elevation gain of over 5,000 feet, so I developed a plan to conquer it. I decided to start the climb in the evening and go as high as possible and then make camp. Doing just that I hoped to increase my chances of success. My first view of the peak by itself came in the late evening as I rushed to gain altitude and make the next day easy:

It was such an awesome approach to the mountain, I had a lovely snow-melt saturated stream to listen to and accompany me nearly the entire time. It was even cooler to hike to the snowy source, and then above it!

Looking back down the valley:

A quick pano shot as I climbed upwards:

It was spectacular to start my climb in a dry forest, move up through different ecosystems and into a sub-alpine arena just budding into a new spring. I climbed an amazing couloir, but before that some nice, average snow travel:

The adjacent peak, Whorl, was also on my to do list as well, but at the time I did not think that I would have enough time to climb it too. Besides the ascent looked quite technical and I had neither a belay partner nor proper gear.

In the book "Dharma Bums" those dudes climb (or attempt) Matterhorn Peak and they describe this small alpine lake and super loose rock. The loose rock was actually covered in snow and climbing it turned out to be a ton of fun with crampons and an ice axe.

So after leaving my high camp near the stream around 6am I summitted at around 10:30am and was greeted with perfect weather the entire way. I was certainly glad that I climbed as high as I did the night before to make summit day easier. This peak was certainly no easy task, it involved serious elevation gain in a short distance- only 4-5 miles, thats over 1,000 feet per mile.

A stunning view from the summit of Matterhorn Peak looking south into Yosemite National Park and the magnificent eastern Sierras.

After spending some half hour or so on the summit admiring the views, I made quick time going back down. I accidentally went down the wrong gully and ended up on the wrong side of a ridge. So a bit of time and effort was wasted in gaining this extra ridge, but I was quickly rewarded... For on the other side of the ridge was the beginning of an awesome long snowslope, not too steep, and I was able to glissade for several hundred feet on the snow. This saved a ton of time and effort, but made my butt go numb from the cold snow!

I caught one last view of Matterhorn on my way out, such a majestic peak it was, I would recommend it to anyone keen on climbing a mountain that provides the complete package of cascading waterfalls, astonishing changes in ecoregions and an authentic alpine experience like no other.

Go Big or Bail- Yosemite: WV style

2009-06-16T19:49:00.000-07:00

The theme of an excursion with a group of friends never reveals itself at first. It is something that becomes apparent with time. Two fine gentleman from West Virginia flew into SFO on June 6th and I greeted them at the terminal to begin the most epic climbing adventure I have ever embarked on. David and Ryan both have extensive climbing experience and I would be the driver as well as tag along for their projects.

I took them to the city first, to check out REI and stop by my climbing gym. I think they were a bit overwhelmed by my gym, perhaps because it is one of the best gyms in the nation! The bouldering area is absolutely top notch:

The view from upstairs out into the San Francisco Bay, Golden Gate Bridge and Alcatraz is way nice too:

Next we headed back towards my old place in El Granada of Half Moon Bay. I was super spoiled living so close to the ocean with spectacular sunsets, we went out to Pilar Point Harbor, watched the sunset there across the jetty and looking south.

After a good nights rest on the California coast, we made quick time to Yosemite that morning (after getting the gear and food sorted out!):

in order to try and climb Fairview Dome in the Tuolumne part of the park. It certainly did not take long for me to fall in love with this part of the park, it was remarkably alpine-like and high in elevation. I always love climbing at altitude, the aura of the clean air and rapidly changing weather, raw landscape and wilderness will always have a place in my heart.

Anyway, most mountaineers if asked would wax poetic about mountainscapes, so I won't dive into it. The photo above shows Half Dome from the north and an awesome view of the intimidating northwest face. We arrived at Fairview in the early afternoon and were astonished to find snow at the base! David appears to be enjoying it though.

As is the case with climbing most domes, the first pitch is the toughest and then they gradually get easier. I think the first pitch went at 5.9 and David did a stellar job leading it despite the relative wetness of many cracks!

I reckon we had climbed 3 or 4 pitches before David started to feel lousy. It was starting to get dark so we need had to rappel off and that turned out to be a mini epic. We rapped off some slings first and then a super shady set of bolts that moved and spinned in every which way, check them out:

Needless to say, we didn't conquer Fairview Dome that day, but at a later date... That night we planned on sleeping outsidfe up in Tuolumne, but were rained out once in the middle of the night, forcing us to drive down towards Yosemite Valley where it wasn't sprinkling. The next days in the Valley turned out to be a spectacular one as we were climbing both Serenity Crack and Royal Arches (got rained off of Serenity Crack, take note- bail number 2!). At the first belay stance, is David.

The next photos are assorted throughout the day we climbed Royal Arches.

The last photo above is looking back at Royal Arches from Curry Village with the Washington Column to the right and North Dome above it. We tried to climb the Washington Column and sleep at the dinner ledge, but got turned around due to weather, it was pretty lame. Either way on the way down Ryan and David had a good view of the enticing Northwest face of Half Dome.

We relaxed in the Valley for a brief time and then met up with a good friend from WV, Stephen who came out with us to climb Fairview Dome fo realzies this time. A classic pose of David in belay stance with tantalizing Tuolumne in the background.

After some 6-8 pitches and going slightly off route we made it to the top and the rest of the photos are pretty silly, but the 360 panorama views were spectacular.

I took a quick video at the top, listen for bacon cheeseburger...

Next we decided to climb Cathedral Peak, an easy, classic climb far away from the road and often never seen by any tourists. Along the way we saw the Matthis Crest, which looked like an awesome alpine traverse, with a fair amount of snow travel involved!

The approach to Cathedral was a bit longer than we expected, but before long we caught view of the Cathedral! David was thinking about coming with us, but instead decided to take a hike, all the way to Yosemite Valley- some 24 miles away! RESPECT to him for that effort, including some hairy routefinding along the John Muir Trail and less than ideal conditions.

It was an awesome climb with classic liebacks, jams and a lot of slab climbing. Here we are the beginning of the first pitch, the weather was looking pretty good at this point.

Ryan and Stephen both did the climb in street shoes and I tried to do it in my alpine boots. Big mistake that was, I could only edge and not smear on the rock- which is crucial!

Despite the relative good weather in the photo above with Ryan, it did not last long! Soon we were climbing with snow falling, it was an amazing alpine experience!

Coming back down from the summit was a little bit of a yard sale. The conditions were slick and we came down a less than typical way, but of course this coincided with the general theme at Yosemite. Ryan and Stephen chillin out on the way down the slabs:

After Cathedral Peak we all cruised back to the Valley to sunshine and warmer temperatures. This was where an ambitious plan was developed for Ryan and David to attempt the Northwest face of Half Dome. I decided I would try to help them by hauling some gear to the base, to see to it that they have the best chances of success. Let me set up the scenario for the photo below. We tried to get to Half Dome by taking the slabs below the base and got shut down because we couldn't find the route!

So we retreated back to the Valley and ate waay too much pizza. There were 4 of us and so we ordered 3 pizzas, pretty reasonable right? They messed up on one pizza so we got 1 for free- that makes 4 large pizzas for 4 dudes, we literally filled up a table with our pizzas! It seemed like every person that walked by inquired about them! Keep in mind that a typical tourist will pay about $20 a pizza for what we were eating and we got all 4 for about 30 bucks (due to discounts)! So anyway, we re-calibrated our plan to climb Half Dome, to include bringing 2 extra pizzas for the hike in!

The approach hike did not go as smooth as planned. We stuck to our original plan of me acting as Sherpa to ferry gear to the base for Ryan and David to climb. First, David got separated from us by accident because of a mis-understanding. His knee was bothering him from his epic, marathon hike from Tuolumne and due to the pain, could not continue. So, Ryan and I decided that perhaps it was possible for him to lead all the pitches and me to jug up as second. I ran from way up the trail to Half Dome down to David to get his gear we would need for the hike. After turbo hiking back up to Ryan we slogged all the way to the base of the Northwest face of Half Dome. I don't think I mentioned that we took the typical tourist route- 7 or 8 miles and all of it miserable. By the time we got there I was exhausted, having carried both ropes and the rack- like 80lbs!

We also made the mistake of not bringing pads to sleep on, which made for a terrible nights sleep. The skeets were dive bombing us all night too, needless to say we woke up without the energy we needed to crush 24 pitches of tough climbing! The night we arrived I had to learn how to jug up the rope too, which was both tough and embaressing. So, with all the factors working against us, we had no choice but to bail. It made me sad to do so, but we were not in shape to do the climb. I absolutely hate turning around when it is because of my abilities, but just the other day the opposite situation happened while climbing in Wyoming. What goes around comes around I suppose.

Since we couldn't do the route we wanted, Ryan and I decided to just climb Half Dome via the regular route since neither of us had been up it yet. The views from the top were nice and we even posed for some silly shots, don't do this at home kids!

Looking down into Yosemite Valley was super cool too.

During lunch we got paid a visit by a curious marmot, keen on having some of our pasta primavera...

The cables going up and down were actually steeper than I thought they'd be. The week before someone slipped off and acutally died, very sad.

Getting off the mountain we took the slab route since we couldn't find it before and I looked back to see the massive face, the route starts off towards the left and traverses to where you see a piece of the mountain sticking out at the top. In fact, we awoke in the morning of our attempted climb to 3 base jumpers who leaper off the top of the mountain and glidded into the valley. They flew quite literally right over us in squirrel suits, it was absolutely spectacular, they sounded like jet planes!

After a day or so of rest, Ryan and David decided to do a serious climb. Called Separate Reailty, it is rated at 5.12a and is an overhanging roof crack. The climb was located near Inspiration point on the way into Yosemite Valley and the view was absolutely spectacular:

Ryan and David worked it in a sort of sequence, so I tried to lay out the photos as they solved the problem. The photos were taken by Mr. Cunningham (the dude in the badass hat) who hung from our fixed line. The only way into Separate Reality was to rappel straight in, a real cool way to approach a climb! The next photos follow the progress of the climb as David and Ryan worked it:

Check that big smile on David's face!

It was sad to end our climbing excursion in Yosemite. In such a short time I learned more about climbing than I have in my whole climbing career and I hope I get the extraordinary opportunity to climb with crushers such as Stephen, Ryan and David again one day!

An Epic Adventure

2009-06-02T21:44:00.000-07:00

The American West is a vast and wild place, covering an amazing array of different landscapes. Yosemite National Park truly embodies that essence of wilderness. Few other places are as recognizable and typify the ruggedness of the American west. I do wonder why I had waited so long to see the place where the gods of granite roam free...

Last weekend when I was driving to Shasta up north I got a phone call in the car. It was my friend Leslie and she said a campsite was available at Yosemite and inquired if I wanted to go. Well, it took less than a New York second to say yes! Bing, a nice young gal from Planet Granite had secured a campsite for an anchoring course she was to take with another fella, Michael. Immediately we began to plan the trip out.

We left downtown San Francisco around 1pm on Friday, arriving in the park some hours later. The immenseness of the granite walls was so abrupt when we ran into El Capitan without choice but to stop and take some photos, here is Leslie and Chef Dan:

My friend Chef Dan had a vision of climbing Snake Dike, the most least technical route up Half Dome on the southwest face. This would be a special trip for Dan, for this was his first time climbing outdoors and it would be at Yosemite! For those who don't know it, Half Dome is one of the most photographed features in the park, as well as the most popular! We were determined to climb it and set about preparing. We all gathered the gear we would need for the climb and Dan set about planning an immaculately delicious menu for the duration of the trip. Our first meal on Friday night set the culinary tone for the rest of the weekend! Here is the man himself hard at work doing what he does best- keeping people happy:

He plated asparagus, prawns, lobster tail, fresh avocado and tomato as well as a mixed green salad with a vinaigrette! I don't care who ya are, THAT is how to eat in the woods!

From experience I knew we had to make an early start for our summit attempt of Half Dome. I elected for all of us to leave around 3am to push for an early afternoon top out. Getting to the trail from out campsite was easy, pretty soon we were hiking along the mist trail, those that have done it know why it is named that!

Leslie received rather precise directions from a friend at Planet Granite about a shortcut to the base of Snake Dike. So, following her direction we emerged into a sort of canyon, complete with snow and a babbling brook, Dan below:

We scrambled through super dense manzanita bushes, up and then across massive slabs to reach the base of the climb, which was no small task in itself. I'd even make a bold claim to say that the approach was tougher than the climb itself (at least the first pitch).

Everyone was having an awesome time though, in an absolutely rugged location.

Even Leslie couldn't contain her smile. I was joking with them about when I have magnificent ski days my teeth go numb from smiling too much, had the temperatures been colder the same would've happened to all of us!

Anyway, by the time everyone gets to the base of the climb to begin it is already after 11am and I had a strong suspicion we would be too late. I went up anyway and as soon as I was 50 feet up I seemingly ran out of holds, that and a glance to my left revealed fast approaching thunder clouds. At this point I knew our attempt was sacked and we had to get off the mountain.

What was so cool about Yosemite is the hugeness of everything, I mean from the time we saw the thunder clouds and the time it rained was perhaps 3-4 hours, the air is so clear you can see practically forever. Soon after I got off Snake Dike, I made a really critical mistake, I suggested we take another short cut. From the map I could tell we were only a mile from our campsite by the crows flight, so I decided we just take the path less traveled and bushwhack back to camp.

After getting off the ridge from Half Dome, I lead us around, through old forest fire debris from 1998 and down through thick brush. At this point, we knew getting down was going to present some difficulties, but all parties present figured this was a better option than backtracking. Well hindsight is always 20-20, so I should prepared for a possible retreat before we even got to the route. Looking back I wish we had gone around the other side of Half Dome, where the typical tourist trail runs back to the mist trail.

Already committed to descending the way we were, it started getting steeper and steeper. On our first rappel, the thunderstorm hit; dumping hail, lots of rain and very cold temperatures. Dan and Leslie had never rappelled before and so I improvised a system to lower them down the steep pitches. We rappelled probably 7-8 pitches, I'd estimate we descended several thousand feet. In areas where we could scramble, we did just that of course.

I tied a couple overhand knots into one end of the rope and they both clipped into these with their locking carabiners. Then I would run the rope around a tree and to myself. As I rappelled they used their body weight to hold me up and when I got to the bottom I would lower them down using my gri-gri. After a couple of these we got the system down, but not before dark came when we had to make our last rappel.

The last couple rappels were the most miserable of all, right down super-slick, less-than-vertical waterfalls. The thunderstorm made them run pretty good and we had to rappel right down through them. I remember distinctly throwing my rope off to begin rappelling and hearing it splash into a pool of water- great! Since I was lowering Dan and Leslie down inch by inch, they were at the mercy of the rope and I feel very bad for this. Since they did not have the rope management skills to do it themselves, I tried my hardest to make it a smooth descent, but they slipped and banged their bodies into the rock, resulting in lots of bruises.

Our progress was agonizingly slow, but I was super anal about safety and making sure everyone got down without getting hurt, it was a blessing we all had helmets on for the duration of the descent. When at last we reached an area where we could scramble down through the talus fields I knew we were close. I could actually see campfires through the trees and I knew the road leading to camp was down there. After leaving Snake Dike around noon, we all staggered into camp after 10pm, utterly beat.

I am glad we all made it off the mountain safely. Poor Dan and Leslie, I promise I do not normally do trips like this! As Dan's first time climbing outdoors and mine to Yosemite, we got our butts kicked, but it is always humbling to know how the boss is- mother nature.

The real value from this trip came from the human connections though, everyone was able to maintain their cool in the face of danger and we cheerfully made our way off the mountain, which is the only way to do things outdoors- with a big smile.

Mount Shasta via Casaval Ridge

2009-05-25T12:09:00.000-07:00

Life is absolutely full of opportunities, I truly believe it is important that one seek them out and pursue them fruitfully. A long holiday weekend to me sure seemed like an excellent chance to see and experience something new. So, I took a gamble by driving 300 miles north to climb a mountain I had never seen before (I am a bit ashamed about of that), by a technical route and solo. Perhaps I was getting myself in too deep, but as fortune would have it, I made some great friends who helped me reach my goal.

In order to avoid the inevitable nightmare of traffic leaving the Bay Area on a Friday evening, I chose to depart at 8pm, placing my arrival time at Mt. Shasta at around 1am. The drive went surprisingly smooth and before I knew it I was gaining elevation quickly. It was pretty neat to drive through a forest with all new tree species, mostly pines and firs. I packed my rucksack and was walking towards the trailhead when I met 2 fine gentlemen from the Seattle Area.

Dan and Kyle had driven 8.5 hours to climb Shasta, I admire their devotion! After speaking briefly we went our separate ways, but I ran into them again at the beginning of the route. It was not clear to any of us where the start of the Casaval Ridge was, so we just started following it from the base. At this time it was about 4am and still very dark. An hour or two later we paused for a break to refuel and rehydrate, the sun was rising and created quite a pleasant aura.

As ashamed as I am about having not seen Shasta before climbing it, it was indeed very humbling to be in her shadow.

Our chosen route followed one of Shasta's most prominent ridges, indeed it led skyward for several thousand feet. It was such an aesthetic ridgeline, as Dan would put it later- it really had an alpine feel to it.

For those who don't know it Shasta is a stratavolcano and part of the Cascade Range, not the Sierras. This for me gave it such a magical mystique, it was so exciting not knowing what was around the next corner!

Awesome steep couloirs, jagged rock only held together by the frozen snow and sharp featured volcanic rock describes Shasta's Casaval Ridge. I just could not get over climbing in the snow with crampons and an ice axe when it was clearly summertime below. In fact, when we left in the early afternoon it was in the 80s in the lowlands you see below me! Even so, when that sun is out it reflects off the snow and magnifies it, creating sunburn in the most unusual places, like the inside of your nose and the roof of your mouth!

The original goal as outlined by Dan and Kyle was to bivy around 10,300 feet where they had seen suitable sites. I managed to talk them into a higher bivy, at a bit higher than 11k feet. I argued the extra elevation gain would net us an easier summit day as well as make the panoramic vistas better.

Truth is, I was extraordinarily lucky to have met Kyle and Dan. Both experienced mountaineers, it was a novel experience for me to learn from folks who not only thoroughly enjoy being in the mountains, but can share in immense sums of wisdom. I seriously doubt I would have summitted had it not been for their support.

Anyway, our bivy site was super mellow. Perched right on the ridge and with drops of several hundred feet on either side, it was the best site I have camped out at for a night yet! We even had suitable rocks nearby for windscreens for the stoves as well as to guy out the tents. It was funny how we both parties came out with the same tent, mine is the blue "betamid" and the orange one was Dan's. Perfect tent for the purpose.

Unfortunately, when Kyle arrived at our bivy site he came up with a slight bout of AMS (Acute Mountain Sickness). The poor guy felt real sick and had to forfeit his summit attempt. Honestly, I don't know how many people these days are capable of even getting to 11k feet! I myself woke up after a short nap with a splitting headache and thought my summit was off, about 1000mg of ibuprofen and heaps of water put me back in the game though.

We all went to bed early that night, despite having napped most of the afternoon. Late that evening a thunderstorm swept in and bringing with it this weird snow called "grapple", which is snow pellets the size of peas. Dan and myself woke and departed at 3am after melting snow for water and having breakfast mocha. Dan had a brilliant idea to bring powdered espresso and hot cocoa mix- winning combination for an alpine start! The second sunrise on the mountain brought just as beautiful colors, I certainly believe there is a strong correlation between the colors in the sky and altitude.

While Dan had to pause to take care of business, I took a quick self portrait at an area called the "red banks". To my right you can see how red they were!

Not long after pausing at the red banks, we passed through the "cat walk". This was a dramatically exposed section where one slip up could lead to certain death or dismemberment. Even so, not even that could dampen my summit fever as I queued behind some slow pokes on the final snow slope!

I reckon we summited around 730, having climbed about 3000 feet in about 4.5 hours, not bad considering the altitude and my relative inexperience in climbing 14ers. The top of Shasta had a slightly different feel than my last and first 14er, Mount Elbert in Colorado. I don't know how to describe it, but probably has to do with latitude and proximity to the Pacific Ocean.

Our summit stay was fairly brief, just long enough to sign the log book and chat with some other summiters. Just below the summit came the acrid smell of sulphur from these vents, it is always nice to be reminded you are climbing on a volcano!

It was pretty cool to see all the snow surrounding the vents melted away. On the way down we passed Shastina, Mount Shasta's "submountain", which looks like it'd be epic for ski touring.

Shasta was an extraordinary mountain and one which has been branded into my mind, it certainly satisfied my cravings for the time being. She sure is magnificent in her own right.

Unfortunately, an unforeseen event occured very recently and may well have ruined any other future mountain plans in California. However, it was liberating and now I can spend time at Yosemite and all the other national parks I have been wanting to see out here in the wild west.

Bouldering in the middle of suburbia

2009-05-10T21:17:00.000-07:00

Who would have thought one might find semi-suitable climbing in an abandoned pasture, surrounded by a checkerboard of housing developments? Well, it never would have went this way had the original plan gone through. I met with Stephen, who through Facebook we managed to finally get a day when we could both climb. Stephen just graduated last summer with his master from WVU, where I had met him, he's a strong climber and a real dude. In fact, he even coined the term "beer flash", which is when someone drinks some beer, then uses that beer propulsion to climb a bouldering problem, it is sure to frequent the pages of the next climbing mag.

Anyway, the original plan was to go to a climbing paradise near Lake Tahoe and play around placing gear on some trad routes. Stephen overbooked himself and needed to be back home in the early evening, so we reasoned to climb in Vacaville, 78 miles from my place in Half Moon Bay and a bit closer for Stephen coming from Sacramento. For those who don't know it, Vacaville is in the heat-blasted central valley, east of San Francisco and I am pretty sure it means "place of cows" in Spanish. It was a strange park, atop a knoll, overlooking seemingly endless cookie-cutter houses that sparkled from their backyard swimming pools.

The climbing was decent, a half-dozen boulders strewn about. I don't have any photos of us climbing, but I do of the arete of the rock we played around with and the eery view of suburbia in the backyard. No place to go without an automobile here!

Unfortunately I picked up some damn poison oak while I was there, made worse by a light sunburn and sweat. I don't know that I will return to the Vacaville boulders, the commute back to the coast was so miserable, I80 near Berkeley and trying to cross the Bay Bridge is ALWAYS a damn yardsale. However, it was nice to see some familiarity from West Virginia, I hope to climb mountains with Stephen this summer.

Crack climbing 101

2009-05-07T20:05:00.000-07:00

They say crack climbing is the essence of climbing. Without hesitation, I say thats bologna, but those tough folks climbing cracks certainly commands respect! Watch anyone who is a good crack climber, it seems so easy and effortless for them to flow up seemingly insurmountable walls. Watch a beginner crack climber, like myself, and witness the flailing, shaky instability! It is not easy to shove any part of your body into a crack and force it to expand to hold you in place. I have been putting off learning how to jam for some time, but moving to CA I cannot avoid it any longer. The fact of the matter is, almost no matter where you are climbing, there are going to be features that resemble cracks. It is simply a natural part of the weathering and erosion that is occurring on everything on this planet.

So, to remedy my fear and general avoidance of cracks, I enrolled in a crack climbing course at the local indoor climbing gym with several climbing colleagues. We formed a real formidable team, headed by Leslie, a long time local gym climber who has a real knack for making friends with anyone cool. Chef Dan and then myself completed our small group. Dan is the Executive Chef for the Concordia Argonaut Club in San Francisco, he's a real dude who has been climbing for only a short time and I must say progressing rather quickly.

We heard about the course by another climber at the gym who had taken it. She had nothing but great things to say about it. We met Lucho, our young instructor last Tuesday, Cinco de Mayo. Without any delay from the days Corona and lime infested festivities (just kidding, but Dan brought Coronas for after the class, super cool and much appreciated!) we spent 30 minutes learning how to tape up our hands. The indoor gym surface has perhaps 5 grit sandpaper for walls and is super abrasive on skin, making athletic taping of the hands absolutely necessary. My hands still bled by the end anyway, but it is not a good climbing day unless blood is bled by someone right?

The basic idea is to shove your hand in the crack, being careful not to rough it up too much, and then flex your thumb to make your hand bigger. This is the basic concept of the hand jam, as demonstrated by myself above. Another technique Lucho taught us was the finger lock, this is when the fingers are inserted as far as possible into the crack, thereby "locking" them in place. When this method works, you are literally hanging by your bones, and it is never without some pain! Leslie shows the finger lock eloquently below:

Constantly flex your thumb, intuitively trying to make your hand bigger to hold in a crack, and then allowing it to go limp to pull it out is super tough. Chef Dan was climbing a great crack with great style, as I tried to tell everyone that night, it is all about looking good, even if you're getting worked, like we all did!

Just to give you an idea of the abuse your hands take, Dan took a photo of his own hands after our training session:

Thanks to Dan by the way for taking many of the great pictures of that evening.

All in all it was a great, highly informative session. Ultimately, crack climbing is one of those obscure activities that can only be perfected with heaps of practice, at the dispense of your hands. I'm glad I had some cool cats to hang with while learning all about cracks, I look forward to polishing my skills at any one of CA's splendid climbing destinations!

Bye!

Bradley Hut ski tour

2009-04-13T16:38:00.000-07:00

Always looking for an excuse to spend time in the mountains, I jumped at the chance to join a friend's trip to the Bradley Hut at Upper Pole Creek near Lake Tahoe. I met Chaincy during my last excursion to Round Top Peak with the Sierra Club Peak Climbing Section. She single-handedly organized the whole trip, and might I add, did a splendid job, myself and the others had an awesome time. On my way to Tahoe from the Bay Area I picked up Jennifer B. in Nevada City, she just moved to the area like me and was pretty keen on skiing the backcountry, she even did it with a set of racing slick XC skis! Respect.

To save time and get a good rest, Jennifer graciously allowed me to stay at her place in Nevada City. She was a great host and I do look forward to returning to that quaint little town.

To get the Bradly Hut, the approach requires just less than 5 miles of trail with roughly 1200 feet of elevation gain. We took our time and enjoyed the fresh Sierra air, the ample snow pack and mellow incline. We stopped for lunch and I set the camera on a timer and tried to take off my hat, but wasn't quick enough.

It didn't take us too much longer to get to the hut and we arrived to meet a cool European couple, Paola and Torsten. I talked them into putting down their books from reading in the sun and following the trail of the others who were out on a ski tour to the ridge above the hut. It was certainly all smiles from everbody on the way up!

The gipfel (summit) is near!

At the top of this ridge we all posed for the usual summit pose, aided by the timer.

And of course I posed for a cheesy mountaineer pose, made famous from my trip to Austria.

The panorama of Lake Tahoe was spectacular, I don't think even a 180 degree shot can contain it all.

I always love playing around in the snow and examining the trees, this time was no different. Yu, a friend of Chaincys' helped me dig a deep hole next to this cluster in a desperate attempt to find regeneration of young trees on the leeward side of this cluster afforestation. We dug perhaps 8 feet down to find no trees- it was pretty much bottomless!

Since I putzed so long up on the ridge, clouds came and froze the wonderful corn snow we had anticipated on cruising down. As a result, the ski back down to the hut turned into "survival skiing" (as observed by Yu). It was so nice to get back into the Bradley Hut which was stocked with so many comforts, including a stew that was marinating for most of the day. I brought some weissbeirs (hefeweizen wheat beer) which brought much applause and were crushed real quick. If there was anything I would change about our weekend tour it would be to bring twice as much beer or wine! I reckon the others would agree with me too. There certainly was no shortage of good food this trip, myself and everyone else certainly know how to eat when in the mountains!

After sleeping in on Easter Sunday a bit, I awoke extremely refreshed and rested, albeit a bit sore. Chaincy cooked some delicious quesadillas, which we all enjoyed. Then, Yu, Victor and myself embarked to climb to a different ridge than the day before. Victor is colleague of Chaincy, a real dude that seemed to believe I'd eat anything given to me and climb while carrying him on my back. He was of course European, and a capable skier, when going downhill that is (-;

On the way up I wanted to take a good photo of this huge cornice, but went too high for a good perspective. You can't quite tell, but that cornice is 50 feet or more deep, deep enough to build a snow palace!

I continued upwards by following the backside of this knob. A bit of scrambling and some exposure (there was a 150 foot sheer face to one side!) got me to the top.

The saddle next to the knob to my right is where we skinned up to next. From my high vantage point I could yell down to Victor, see if you can find him:

Victor certainly found the best snowfield to ski down. It was candy-coated in a sugar frosting that left me with aching teeth from smiling too much into the wind. I love it when linking tele-turns makes my teeth ache like good mint chocolate chip ice cream (-:

Up on the ridge was full of apple-eaters!

Chaincy had a totally sweet sled set-up to drag her gear up, I was a bit envious and had to snap a photo so I can build my own. Sleds can be such efficient mechanisms for carrying gear.

It was quite sad to leave the Bradely Hut behind, we all such a great time. From left to right: Victor, Eric, Torsten, Paola, Chaincy and Yu. Behind the camera was Jennifer B. Check that solar panel on the hütte, sick!

Yet again the mountains out here keep my heart beating ever stronger.

Round Top Peak

2009-04-02T19:16:00.000-07:00

My first chance to hang with the Sierra Club Peak Climbing Section came this past weekend, it was long anticipated! The planned excursion was to day climb Round Top Peak near South Lake Tahoe. Since we were to drive all the way up to Tahoe, it made sense to spend the entire weekend there. I joined Arun, the leader of the group climb up Round Top Peak on Sunday, we also skied at Kirkwood on Saturday. Since Arun is a season pass holder at Kirkwood, he was able to get us special offer tickets for $39 for the day, hot deal! This is half the price of a regular ticket, it is all about the people you know.

Unfortunately I forgot my camera in the car for the day, but the slope conditions were storybook. There was not a cloud in the sky all day, the sun baked the snow into corn and baked me thoroughly too! Despite applying sun protection, it is easy to underestimate the CA sun, it is even brighter shining on snow and at high altitude.

We all stayed in Nevada on the eastern side of Tahoe for pretty cheap at the Sierra Motel. Sunday morning we departed early for Round Top, which is located conveniently near Kirkwood ski resort. With everyone gathered at the trailhead, we were 18 deep! I know Arun felt a bit overwhelmed, but having led this trip for nearly 15 years, he knows the route real well and I knew he’d be up for the challenge.

The trail from the Carson Pass “sno-park” parking area gave way to forest and some careful route finding. It is nice to follow along on a planned trip, because usually the person in front of you knows where they’re going! The forest gave way to rolling hills and our first view of Round Top. The snow conditions were prime in the morning, grippy, semi-frozen crust over loose corn.

In case you are wondering, to ascend snow on skis one must have a mechanism on the bottom of them to prevent you from sliding backwards. Hence we glue "skins" to the bottoms, these are commonly synthetic hair-like fur pads which allow you to slide up, but not in reverse. Getting closer to the mountain, we paused for another moment to get our bearings in this huge basin. I would be curious to see this whole area when it is snowless.

The climb up was pretty straight forward. However, since myself and the leader were on skis, perhaps our route up tended to be steep, on snowshoes it can be difficult to traverse steep slopes. Coming back down, we made sure to take a much more gradual way.

After a while the "shoulder" of Round Top became too steep for skis, so out came the crampons and ice axe! This was really the highlight of my climb, proper steepness! Of course mounting crampons on tele boots is not always the best fit, I managed just fine. It was pretty exciting to swing the ice axe and stomp out your feet in the snow. In the photo below you can see the shoulder where the highest people are.

The absolute hardest part of this tour was the ski descent. The snow was probably the worst quality I have ever skied in my life. There was a solid frozen crust over lighter pow, which made turns near impossible on the tele. Occasionally I get really spanked by conditions, and that day at Round Top Peak was one of them. I won't deny though, that falling on every turn and doing face plants is real humbling, sometimes nature has to reveal who the boss is. Keeps me in check when I start to get too cocky. After awhile you get good at falling and know to just tuck and roll.

We tried to traverse much of the way down, and I surprised some colleagues when I turned around to snap a Kodak. There was some debate on whether to put the skins back on the skis to ascend the few rolling hills back to the sno-park. Since we were waiting for a colleague I decided to do it (but i took them off later), the idea being to make going uphill easier, but downhills were of course slower from the extra drag, others left the skins off.

A final view of Round Top Peak, bye bye for now!

A very special visitor

2009-03-26T17:19:00.000-07:00

Moving out here to California was a big move for me. It is difficult to leave behind all your friends and family, break away from your core-comfort zone, not everyone can do it. However, if you're like me, and the allure of new adventures is strong enough as to overcome all other obstacles, well then home is wherever you make it! I am supremely fortunate to be able to do as much as I do, we live in an era where nearly anything is possible. Without the support of my family, friends and girlfriend, I would be nowhere near where I am today. It really meant a lot to me to see my father, albeit brief. However, another individual who has profoundly humbled me into who I am today paid me a special visit for 10 wonderful days, my girlfriend, Madison.

She arrived the night before my father had to fly back to VA and from the moment she stepped off the plane we had quite a trip planned! I had to work the first couple days of the week, so we dipped out of San Francisco as quick as possible. Madison was downtown spending time with friends and so I swooped in the coup and scooped her up. Leaving the downtown area, I stumbled upon a nice view.

We didn't arrive in Arcata until late that night, it was a many hours drive, but not without sneaking in a quick peep of the redwoods along "Avenue of The Giants". In the morning we met with Madison's potential adviser at Humboldt State University, which is amazingly serene and beautiful. It is an older hippie town with a long history for environmental consciousness, sort of reminded me of Burlington, Vermont. Leaving from Arcata, we traveled further north, into the Redwoods State Parks area to stop at the Ladybird Grove.

A whole family could fit in this redwood! After following the wonderful loop trail dedicated by Ladybird Johnson in the 60's and justly introduced to a world of dinosaur trees we continued a bit further north to Prarie Creek Redwood State Park. This park is home to quite a few of the world's tallest trees and hosts a really unique redwood ecosystem. Along the trail, we paused for a quick self-portrait:

The trail we took left the ranger headquarters and finished at the Pacific ocean, since it was late in the evening and we wanted to see the sunset, we knew we had to hustle! Even so, you cannot rush the subtle magnificence of the forests out here:

We made it in time!

I know I always wax poetic about California sunsets, but anyone who has been here can vouch for me, they're just always beautiful. Just before the above sunset photo was taken, I took this photo below to show both the ruggedness of the land as it meets the ocean as well as the gentle beach that straddles both:

The next morning we slept in nicely and lounged around, I had not camped on the beach in some years, it is easy to forget how cool it is:

Late in the morning we embarked for "Fern Canyon", which is an area famous for its prehistoric collection of ferns. This place must be seen to be believed! I think "Fern Gully" might be a better name though, but thats a movie.

Before that though, this old, giant log near the little ponds served as a great spot for eating/lounging/sleeping, and perch for a little person with a big pack!

Clearly we had come to Prairie Creek at the right time of year, all the trilliums were in bloom! Madison enjoyed them because they are endemic to West Virginia, her home. We joked that they were like little faces with eyes, the eyes of the forest- watching us as we wandered about:

Our second night at Prairie Creek we made camp in the shadow of some real giants. Surrounded by tree-like ferns and the dense under story vegetation, it was absolute bliss:

The tent was set up, the sleeping bags lain out to fluff up, and I caught Madison in her nighties!

We were so reluctant to leave this magical, prehistoric forest, a real place of the "Land Before Time." The last few miles we tried to make last a while, which meant time for a few Kodak moments. The scale of these trees is difficult to imagine without a human comparison, it simply blows my mind how astonishingly well redwoods grow in their native habitat. The trail was always so quaint, just meandering amongst the redwoods, allowing us to greet each giant as they came near.

As sad as it was to leave the redwoods behind, it was of course nice to know they won’t be going anywhere anytime soon. I sure would like my kids to see one of the great natural wonders of the world.

Madison and I stopped on our way into San Francisco at a great vantage point for the Golden Gate Bridge. This panorama shot shows its grandiosity!

Of course our portrait shot was taken too. It was super nice to have my girlfriend around. When everyone is thousands of miles away and then a slice of lovely familiarity comes to see you, it is really touching. I was quite sad to see her go, now I look forward to our next embrace (-: Miss you Muffly!

The man himself

2009-03-24T17:43:00.000-07:00

Many exciting things happened to me the past week or so. It began with a visit from the man himself, my father. He was just north of San Francisco, in Portland, for business and was able to adjust his schedule to visit me and see the city. He arrived on a Friday morning and I met him for lunch near the airport.

Saturday was a very eventful day, embarking from a reasonable and free continental breakfast at his hotel, we journeyed north towards the Golden Gate Bridge. After encountering the usual traffic through the city, quick time was made onto route 1 along the coast. For those who have not done it, this is really a spectacular drive and successfully introduces one to the ruggedness of the northern California coastline. The highway parallels the coast super close, providing breath-taking vistas to any one willing to allow a stop. We did just that and I even paused for a delayed shot of the man himself and I:

We continued on this route past the popular Stinson Beach, then cut inland to follow the course of the San Andreas fault. We stopped at Point Reyes National Seashore, which is a neat park encompassing a vast area from beaches to conifer groves. I am always short on time, so we did the interpretive walk, the same walk I did when our whole family came out to San Francisco 12 years ago! It was neat to see where the San Andreas fault proper was again and the fence that jumped 5 meters! The earthquake of 1906, whose fires destroyed much of San Francisco displaced 250 miles of ground!

Onward and forward we continued north to Petaluma for a stop at a cheesery. I absolutely love cheese so this was an essential pause at the Marin French Cheese store and factory. We had a country style picnic with many kinds of soft French cheeses, baguette, salami and bit of red wine. A tasty jausen-style lunch appropriate for wine and cheese country! I continue to be amazed by what California has to offer and further convinced why it is so desirable to live here.

From the Marin French Cheesery we sped east through Sonoma county and into the Napa Valley. It was much different than I thought it would be, chock-full of wineries and vineyards. We went to Beringer Winery along the main drag and managed to squeeze in a few tastes as well as purchase some cheap bottles from the store. The house that greets you from the main road is quite impressive:

As the hour was getting late, we headed back to San Francisco. We were due to pick up my next special visitor who would spend a maginficent 10 days with me (hers and my trip will be in the next blog). Before the airport though, there was unfinished business at Fishermans Wharf. Since many years my father has raved about Boudin Bread company, makers of the famous sourdough. We grabbed New England Clam Chowder in sourdough bread bowls for the first time together in Fishermans Wharf in 12 years. It was delicious!

Granite Chief Snowshoe Tour

2009-03-11T20:20:00.000-07:00

This tour was my 2nd attempt at Granite Chief, near Squaw Valley at Lake Tahoe. My first try a few weeks ago was thwarted by uber deep and blowing snow, no weather deterrent this time around! Bluebird skies and soft, spring-like temperatures greeted me when I awoke in the car on Saturday morning, a ripe day for a tour!

After borrowing snowshoes for some years, I finally caved in and bought some for myself (wallet was burning a hole in my pocket as well). I went for the most rugged shoes I could find, ones that can handle the absolute toughest terrain. MSR is a US company that has an excellent reputation for quality products, now is a great time to support the homefront economy.

I recently purchased some rechargeable batteries for my camera at the urging of my girlfriend. The camera must not like them because most of the time it tells me the freshly-charged batteries are depleted when they're not. So, as a consequence I was only able to take photos of the first hour of my tour. The ever popular self-portrait:

Break trail was tough, as the sun came out, the fluf surface snow turned into "Sierra cement" and the going was slow, albeit picturesque.

Not to help matters, I took an unbelievably long way to the summit of Granite Chief. I followed directions from the www.summitpost.com website for the summer trail route, this was a big mistake. It took me all day, but eventually I did make it to just below the summit. At the time it seemed reasonable, but i decided to dig a snow cave for the night, just below the peak itself (perhaps 40-50 feet) where the first trees begin in Krummholz formation at the environmentally-induced timberline. I resolved the terrain to be too steep to set up my little tent directly without digging out a platform, I figured it would only be a little more effort just to dig a snowcave, which would be warmer.

I had no problem getting to sleep quickly after dark came. I wish I'd had a functioning camera to take photos of the wonderful alpenglow that spilled everywhere from the sunset. Fortunately for me, I'd brought just enough fuel to melt snow for water and have hot drinks/food. I awoke to a farely fierce wind, blowing and drifting snow. It spooked me for a moment, just long enough to pack my things quickly to head down. Interestingly enough, only a hundred or so feet lower in elevation and the sun was shining- the top of the mountain was immersed in a cloud!

Leaving Granite Chief proper, I followed the Squaw Valley ski area boundary, which was the route I should have taken up. What took an entire day to climb was descended in a mere 2.5 hours, with Breidl Jausens along the way. A quick stop at Panera Bread in Roseville on the way back to Pacifica, I arrived in the late afternoon- to enjoy an extra hour of sunshine and bask in my own self-satisfaction.

In too deep

2009-02-16T18:39:00.000-08:00

This weekend was a real eye opener for me. Coming from the east, it certainly was easy to underestimate the snow of the Sierras. We would get snow in West Virginia, but powder days seldom occur. So when I checked the weather forecast for Lake Tahoe and they were calling for snow, I thought ok, conditions will be prime. The mountains out here are big, don't let them fool you, breaking trail through 3-4 feet of pow is a task.

The plan as it was when I left San Francisco at 5:30am was to park at Squaw Valley resort, then ski just outside the ski area boundary into the Granite Chief Wilderness that is adjacent to it. I got lucky with parking and entered a sort of trail at the far west end of the town. Following a previously broken trail, I forded a creek and found myself a few hundred feet above the town.

The pre-broken snowshoe trail ended nearly as quick as it started and soon I was breaking trail, spirits were high.

I was jammin' to my shuffle, life was good. It is definitely easy to underestimate how much effort it is to break trail, even in about 2 feet of pow. I quickly determined the depth of the pow was too much to warrant a valid attempt on Granite Chief. So I made camp and woke up the next morning to a foot of new snow and the tent walls sagging very low. Here is a photo after I finished clearing it off. It was quite quaint being next to the tree, it was a swell wind break for the stove.

Pretty much the entire day it snowed, sometimes big quarter-sized flakes. Boy did the snow get deep quick! By the time I left, I would wager to say it snowed 2-3 feet. I dug a test hole to the ground in a nearby drift, and started to build a cave, it may not look it, but this hole was 7-8 feet deep!

After resolving that an attempt to go higher would be treacherous, I kept busy clearing off the snow from my shelter and enlarging it from the inside. Then all of a sudden the stove malfunctioned, repeatedly. Even after I had used it with no problems the whole trip. I don't know if it was the altitude (only about 7,000 ft.) or the cold or a broken piece in the pump mechanism itself. I took that sucker completely apart, cleaned it methodically and tried to coax it to life. It just would not maintain a hot flame (stove is a MSR Whisperlite Internationale). Since there was no real feasible way to melt snow for water or boil for tea, it was game over.

I started to leave at about 5:30-6:00. I did not get back to the car until 9:30, it took more than 3 hours to cover about 2 miles and it was a serious task. The combination of fresh, fluffy pow and me with my heavy rucksack on skis did not grant me the proper flotation I needed. Each step brought me forward and down, to practically my thighs and waist. It was an agonizingly slow process, I could only do 10 steps before having to catch my breath. Since the trail I blazed going out was gone, I had to break a new one, through 4+ feet of pow. Breaking trail can be a drag, if someone was there with me it would not have been so bad.

Many lessons were learned this trip. Make sure the stove works properly before leaving home- bring more fuel than you think you'll need, eliminate access weight, i.e. heavy food. If I had a lighter pack (and I thought it was pretty light- sub 30lbs), I think the going would have been much easier. Being solo into the backcountry in winter time is potentially dangerous, I should have stayed a bit closer to the car. Most important lesson: don't underestimate the snow!

However, I did have fun clearing off my car, she is nearly unmistakable. I was secretly hoping the giant block on my roof would last until the Bay Area, but warm central valley rain ruined it (-;

Larger Than Life

2009-02-10T17:41:00.000-08:00

A stroll through a redwood forest is a special experience. They have a particular aura about them that is difficult to pin down with words, they teem with great variety and composition. I believe it is important to write about what makes redwood forests so special. Just to give you an idea, one tree easily dwarfs my rucksack at the base of the tree.

For starters, these forests contain more living biomass than any other ecosystem on earth, 10 times a tropical rainforest! Although a tropical rainforest may triumph the redwoods by their complexity. Redwoods are so immense they alter their surroundings, creating niches for a plethora of other organisms. Such as the banana slug, which is an astonishing 6 inches long!

Another element of wildlife worth mentioning is the presence of northern flying squirrels at the redwood forest. Probably similar to their eastern counterparts in the red spruce forests of high-elevation West Virginia, the northern flying squirrel is a quiet gliding mammal that swoops from branches in old growth.

The wood of redwoods is full of tannin, a toxin that makes it resistant to damage from pathogens, as well as rot. That is why redwood is a splendid timber species, aside from the enormous pores of the heartwood that characterize it. Since redwood are so resistant to rot, downed trees often take centuries to decompose, slowly releasing nutriets for the next generation and acting as "nurse logs" or habitat logs for new trees and plants to grow.

The weather was so beautiful in the evening I decided just to sleep outside. Below is quite a nerdy self-portrait of me and my camp site.

Perhaps you are wondering, what is the secret of the redwoods? How can they grow so BIG? One reason is their well-develped system of water works. Redwoods only grow as far inland as the effect of the ocean, so when the cold and moist ocean air meets the hot valleys of CA's central valleys fog occurs. Drought is common here in the summer time and the fog aides redwoods immensely. In fact studies have shown redwoods may even extract water from the fog using their leaves. An old growth redwood forest even generates its own fog by the individual trees transpiring, this fog acts as a sort of blanket to hold in the heat of the day below, many species depend on this effect. Redwood forests are amazing in their ability to moderate climatic extremes.

The redwoods carefully evolved traits are perfectly suited to its range and it thrives and dominates, allowing it to grow very old, perhaps a few thousand years! I thought the biggest and perhaps oldest tree in the park was this one, I am not sure of it's name, but it was truly colossal!

Nearly 14 feet in diameter! Absolutely a "larger than life" specimen!

I am not an expert on redwoods or trees for that matter, so if you're an expert or know more, please post a comment, I am eager to learn more about this fascinating ecosystem!

Bay Area Weather

2009-02-05T19:03:00.000-08:00

The best way to describe the weather of the greater San Francisco Bay Area is Mediterranean. Since I have arrived, it has not gotten colder than 50 degrees nor warmer than 70 degrees, but that can vary greatly depending on where you are. You see, the combination of a steady maritime influence and such undulating, mountainous topography creates rather bizarre microclimates. Up in Marin County, north of San Francisco downtown proper, you might find cold and wetness. Down here in Pacifica (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pacifica,_California) it will be super windy and dry. Even crossing into a different valley within Pacifica will yield you slightly different conditions, going up in elevation changes everything too!

The cities characteristic fog is the result of cold ocean water trying to mesh with hot Central Valley (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_Valley_(California)) air. It is not unusual for the eastern sheltered parts of the city to recieve more sunshine than other parts such as Sunset district, which tends get fogged out. On the same token, further inland into the San Francisco Bay it can get real hot, but atleast it is a dry heat out here.

The climate of San Francisco makes it extraordinarily well-suited for growing landscape trees (and growing nearly anything really!). No tree guide can help you identify all of the citys trees, native species seem to grow where they can and many others dominate the yards of suburban homes. There are hybrids and imports from Asia, Europe, South America and Australia. Favorable landscape species such as sycamore, ash, elm, oak (including evergreen ones) and maples can be found here too. So, anyone working with the trees has a lot to learn, and let me tell you, tree identification in San Francisco is a real challenge!

As I write this a new front has moved in and ruined a solid 10 days of blue bird days, which was honestly the longest period of sunshine I have experienced in the middle of winter in my life. The front will bring frightfully cold temperatures in the 50s and rain, but they need the later very badly here! Wishful thinking near my place:

San Francisco parking

2009-02-01T18:29:00.000-08:00

This blog serves to help anyone who desires to drive in downtown San Francisco. I had a nice conversation with an individual yesterday who is a high-ranking parking official for downtown. She had some good tips for parking violations.

Watch out for driveways, if ANY part of your car (including bumpers) hangs out into the curved part of a driveway you are liable to be ticketed and towed, but ONLY at the landowners discretion. However, if the inevitable happens and you do see your car being towed you do have one right. If part of your car is still at the curb, then the tow truck driver HAS to put down your car and you just pay the citation (if a ticket has been written or the parking control officer is present), but when they pull away it is at the tow truck driver's discretion whether to give your car back or not.

Watch out for areas that are parking most of the day, but at certain hours are commuter lanes. If you park in this area and say the commuter lanes go from 1500-1700 and you are parked at 1505, you will get cited and towed. In fact, the parking control officers (as they like to be called) ride around with the tow truck drivers and it is not uncommon to be cited and towed in 2-3 minutes flat. That is unbelievably fast and your car is gone )-; only to be retrieved by paying $285 and up! By the way, parking citations went up recently, I was told that most are $85 a pop!

Also, an officer can write you a ticket and not give it to to you or place it on your car. This happens typically when someone is sitting in their car in an expired metered spot. I am told that officers have been assaulted in the past and prefer not to have to place the citation on your car, so it gets mailed to you instead (not sure how this applies to out-of-state residents such as myself). I had good luck sitting in my car in metered spots, but know that it illegal to do so and it is discretionary to the parking control officer to tell you if they are writing you a ticket while you are in it.

One last comment, when you get a ticket from a police officer (not a parking control officer), double check to see that all the information is filled out. If not, that ticket is DEFINITELY protestable. You can usually identify if a police officer has written your ticket by PD... at the top. What is also worth protesting is when on the ticket the location the officer gave is too vague to identify where your vehicle is, for instance "handicap ramp, Chestnut", well there might 4 handicap ramps on Chestnut Street, which one is it?

Keep in mind the colors of curb markings too; yellow is for business, I think red is for emergency vehicles. Also note the color and messages of the meters themselves. ALWAYS make sure to look within 100 feet of where you are parking or 5 spots in front or behind you for a sign. If the sign is beyond that distance, you're usually in the clear.

Good luck playing the parking game, it is a cutthroat one.

Climbing at the beach

2009-02-01T18:07:00.000-08:00

The wonderful thing about a marine climate is its temperance. The ocean is such an effective temperature buffer, moderating the extremes and keeping things pleasant, very suitable for climbing outside, even in January. You have to be careful though, I have found many beaches here in northern California to be short on sand when the tide is in, perhaps that is how most beaches begin before sand is brought in for people to lounge on.

Mickey's Beach is a little known area just south of Stinson Beach in Marin County, just north of San Francisco downtown proper. Famous among the locals as a "nude" beach, it is also known as a climbing/bouldering area to those who use to recreate for that purpose. I arrived in the early afternoon, very bad timing for the tides as they were quite high! Most of the routes have water access only, pretty dissapointing. If you can get over the fact that nude people love to frolick around in this narrow sheltered area, there is good bouldering to be had.

No photos could be taken near the beach area where the climbing is, but here is an overview of the beach (without seeing the actual beach), you can vaguely pick out the popular Stinson Beach just to the north on the other side of the big boulders.

Yet another sunset on the way home:

Bay Area exploration

2009-02-01T16:19:00.000-08:00

The range of activities in the San Francisco area rivals only the range of landscapes. Since arriving in the Bay Area last Monday, I have taken the week to explore as much as possible here in the city. One of the first things anyone should do first is see the Golden Gate Bridge, just as it seems in the photo, it truly is bigger than life (and $6/car to cross it!).

Next, I made my way to Fisherman's Wharf.

Word to the wise; do not take your car to downtown San Francisco, you will pay a dollar for 24 minutes (25 cents for 6 minutes) at the parking meter. I looked for what seemed like forever for Boudin (http://www.boudinbakery.com/), the infamous San Francisco sourdough bread maker, but came up short. Lunch was at hand and I was hungry so I opted for In-N-Out Burger and it was supremely delicious, I mean come on, you gotta enjoy that here- we don't have these in the east!

I kept cruisin' and made it the Santa Cruz mountains that run just south of San Francisco. I followed scenic highway 35 and stopped at a nature preserve for a short hike. Not even a half-mile down the trail I ran into some enormous douglas-fir trees. I could not even see their tops and as you can tell from the photo, their girth dwarfs the walking trail beside them.

This wonderful day of exploration ended with a sunset stop at San Gregorio beach, just south of Half Moon Bay. The coastline of northern California is really rugged.

I live here too...

Cross-country trip: phase 2

2009-01-28T14:55:00.000-08:00

For phase 2 of my journey to California I embarked from the Cameron Pass area of north-central Colorado. Although the beginning of my journey was at night, I got to see quite a lot of majestic mountains in Nevada. Before this trip, I had no idea Nevada had so many peaks!

The drive from the Pudre Canyon in Colorado to Salt Lake City was really a long one, perhaps too large of an undertaking in fact. I first drove north to Laramie, Wyoming to pick up I80. Laramie is the home of Wyoming State University and also is the highest college campus in the continental USA at 7,200 feet, nice and high (-; Coming into Laramie the snow was blowing unbelievably hard and the flakes were as big as cotton balls, making driving slow and tedious.

Nearly the entire way to Salt Lake City on I80 from Laramie was snowy. What should have taken a 7 hour trip, took nearly 9 hours and arrived in Salt Lake at about 3:30am. The next day I slept in and rested at the Marriott Courtyard, a lovely accommodation. I awoke at 5:15am the next morning to 3-4 inches of snow in Salt Lake. Until driving perhaps 1-2 hours outside of Salt Lake the driving was slow and treacherous. I was sharing the road with really only big trucks and to pass them in the snowy/icy left lane was rather unnerving. Once again during my trip, I wish I was wearing a set of good snow tires.

Passing through western Utah was suuper windy, with periods of blowing snow that only allowed sight distance of about 100 feet or less. With the sunrise came a break in the weather and dry, but cold conditions. Crossing into Nevada, I stopped a cool truck stop cafe in Wells for breakfast. The range outside of the truck stop looked like this:

All the slot machines were a surprise at the entrance to the cafe, but the delicious breakfast and wonderful service allowed me to keep moving. As I passed through Nevada, I attempted to take some photos of the countryside as I drove and I think they came out pretty well:

The above photo is entering Nevada (pretty much). It is quite interesting to identify the snow line, below I reckon it is about 6,000 feet.

A cool massif.

Unfortunately as I went through Reno and into California it got really crowded on the highways and so I could not take anymore road shots. Lake Tahoe was beautiful and full of snow, but surprisingly low on elevation. It must be their proximity to the ocean and perhaps lake-effect that gives Tahoe its special snow. Descending into the Bay Area near Sacramento was amazing. The ecosystem changed so rapidly that one moment I am in a coniferous, snowy forest and next I see heaps of palm trees! Only in California...

Cameron Pass ski tour

2009-01-28T13:24:00.001-08:00

A big reason for my stopping in Colorado during my cross country trip to California was to make ski tours. I absolutely love ski touring, the thigh-burning brutal ascent and the harrowing descent, as well as the novel experience of just being high in altitude. During the week, my friend Tyler (whom I was staying with in Fort Collins) had courses to attend. So I decided to head up to Cameron Pass from Fort Collins, a 70 mile or so trip one way and about 1.5 hours. It is amazing the changed landscape that you incur along this trip, from nearly desert to sub-alpine wonderland.

I checked out the 2 trail heads from Cameron Pass and decided to take the Cameron Connection to Montgomery Pass trail. A round-trip of about 8 miles I reckon. The first 2 miles were modest rolling hills, but at 10,000 ft. the going was slow until I acclimated better. Along the Cameron Connection:

A quick test hole revealed the snow pack to be about 3 feet deep, a lot of melting had occurred recently from warm temperatures and it showed. Skinning up from where the Montgomery Pass trail started was hard work. A combination of the altitude, my out-of-shapeness and the inefficiency of my telemark set-up made the going slow and a little painful. After leaving my car 2 hours earlier from Cameron Pass, I arrived at Montgomery Pass to a serious wind storm.

A front was clearly moving in, bringing snow and lots of cold temperatures, woohoo! I quickly changed my cold, damp layers to dry, warm ones. It was amazing because down at Cameron Pass (1,000 feet lower), there was hardly any wind at all. I love how much better things get at altitude (-;

I did not go all the way to the official "Montgomery Pass" due to time and weather concerns. What happened was I looked at the time on my phone, still being in EST, I mistakenly thought it was 16:45 instead of 14:45 and since the weather seemed to be worsening I headed down quickly. I was perhaps a 5 minute stroll from the pass though, nonetheless I am a bit disappointed in myself. I did stop just beyond the pass winds to eat a sandwich and chocolate as well as drink some water. Thats where it hit me how serenly magnificent mountain areas are, an ecosystem that thrives in an environment that is inherently unforgiving.

The ski descent was a little treacherous. The narrow trail leading up required quick and precise tele-turns, they were tough on my tired legs. Looking back I wish I had skied the bowls up there, but by myself, without an avalanche beacon and without current snow pack knowledge it could have been my demise, instead of paperwork that is (-;

San Francisco Autobahns

2009-01-27T19:21:00.000-08:00

It is unbelievable driving around the Bay Area! If you think where you drive is bad, multiply it times 10 and you get this part of California! I grew up in the metro Washington DC area, have driven around other numerous big cities, including New York and nothing prepares you for here. We're talkin extremely short merge lanes from a 20mph curve into a 65mph race track! I mean we got people flooring it in these big trucks/SUVs with disgustingly huge payloads that never get used, little imports zipping around like it is a race, and everyone changing lanes like its cool or something.

Although I must sat, it is nice that there is such a comprehensive freeway (excuse me, I meant to say HIGHWAY as we say in the east) system to get really anywhere relatively quickly. I am just amazed at the amount of infrastructure adjustment for such a road system. I would wager to say 1/4 to 1/3 of the human-used space is devoted to roads around here. That is such an extraordinary amount of space! Imagine if everyone's marriage to their automobile was divorced by public transport, you'd get soo much more usable space! It is interesting to see the layout too, clearly a lot of engineering went into their system. The key to road planning is to keep cars always moving, stop-and-go uses the most fuel and causes more wear and tear.

If you haven't been keeping up in the news lately, President Obama has been talking about California's lead in the environmental movement. One thing CA is proposing is much stricter fuel economy standards for vehicles sold here, about a dozen other states are posed to follow suit if it goes through. The hang-up is the EPA which refuses to allow states to impose their own regulations, which turned down CA's appeal for better standards during Bush's term. President Obama is pressuring the EPA to allow it to happen and the automakers are crying (expensive, we can barely sell cars etc...)- it is time they got their act together and especially when they are using MY money to do it! I like that there is more to look forward to in terms of environmentalism in CA as well.

Now that that is off my back I feel much better now. Is it me, or do Californians just love to drive horizontally?

Snow camping

2009-01-25T17:12:00.000-08:00

For the past few years I've made a conservative effort to come out to Colorado in the winter time to camp out in the snow. There really is nothing else like it, just you and nature in a surreal, quiet dormancy. However, it is worth noting that there is an extraordinary process behind camping in the cold, I think the amount of time preparing for winter camping rivals the time spent out there (-; No matter how hard you try to keep everything dry, wetness from the snow seeps in everywhere. Whoever can invent a way to dry things out while camping in the snow will be a millionare.

This year I helped Tyler work on a more permanent snow cave up near Cameron Pass in the Pudre Canyon on north-central Colorado. He picked a great location, tucked away in an alcove valley between a summer use road and highway 14 (Pudre Canyon Highway). Situated at 9,200 ft. and facing north, the snow pack near the cave is nice and deep, as evidenced by the fire Tyler built:

Shortly after this photo was taken, we cut blocks out of the hard-packed snow and made the entrance much narrower. To make blocks, one must first find suitable snow and cut them out with a small-toothed saw. Snow blocks are brilliant building materials when made properly and essentially are the basis for igloos made by the Eskimo. Often, sutiable snow is difficult to find, so one must pack it down with snow shoes. The best place to look is the leeward side of trees on the edge of a clearing, where the snow has drifted. Game trails are often nearby, good place to set some snares for snowshoe hares.

I am sure you are wondering how gear is brought from the car to the igloo, well with childrens' play sleds! A rope is tied to the sled and to ourselves and the sled is dragged:

Yes, that is a snowboard attached to Tyler's rucksack.

You might be wondering, how do you keep yourself off the snow when you sleep? The key is to put as many layers and air space between you and the cold snow/ground as possible. In our shelter a tarp was put down first to cover the entire floor, then closed-cell foam pads, then (in my case) a Slumberjack self-inflating air mattress, a Z-rest closed-cell foam pad and finally a fleece blanket wrapped around the whole package. As you can tell, that is a lot of layers! A surprisingly large amount of heat is lost through your back while you sleep though.

You also might be wondering, what about keeping warm when not in the sleeping bag? Well, you stay moving around! That is why we dress in layers, allow me to elaborate. The layer closest to your skin is called the base layer, it is typically a high-performance, thing layer that acts to wick away moisture from your body to the next layer. The next layer is also synthetic and serves to keep pulling the moisture to your outer layer, this layer is typically fleece, but wool is also suitable. The last layer is usually the shell, serving to repel moisture, but yet allow some perspiration to get outside (hance Gore-tex). In essence, the key is to always be dry, because; dry = warm! NEVER wear cotton products, they do not keep you warm when you get wet!

A final departing shot of us packing the cars, Tyler back to Fort Collins and me to California (I drove through some nasty snow all the way to Salt Lake City, to arrive at 3:30am!). The plowed snow bank behind the cars is bigger than it looks! It took me an hour to get out of there, Tyler finally had to pull me with my tow strap! The whole time I had snow wires in my trunk, DUH! Oh well, you live and you learn. This blog was no where near a comprehensive winter camping guide, if you do have questions feel free to post a comment.

Cross-country trip: phase 1

2009-01-25T09:42:00.000-08:00

I know there has been an absence of blogs lately, so I will try and remedy that, I’ve just been too stinkin busy having fun in Colorado (-: I arrived a bit less than a week ago in Fort Collins to spend time with my friend Tyler and to help him with his snow igloo. He enjoys snow camping as much as I do and we have been able to get out for 2 excursions so far, but more on that later.

I embarked from West Virginia a week ago where temperatures were unbelievably cold, -5 F! It was so cold on the morning I left, when I opened my trunk of my Volvo, the struts that hold the lid up failed! I was very sad to leave my girlfriend, who has a semester remaining at WVU to finish her program. I had to leave my sister too, saying goodbyes is always difficult. I drove with a furiousness up through PA, and then into northwest Ohio where I encountered lots of lake-effect snow around the Toledo area. A quick application of the brakes, some gas pumping and a re-setting of the GPS navi (her name is Maggie) and I was in Indiana for another tank of gas.

The first days drive was pretty easy until I got on I80 in Iowa, which was an enormous yard sale of hundreds of cars that slipped off the roads and were stuck in snowbanks. The problem wasn’t the snow falling, but the snow that was relentlessly blowing in from the plains/fields and keeping the road slicked up. I took my time and pulled into Des Moines, Iowa around 11pm after leaving Morgantown, WV at 7:30am.

This first days drive I had a mascot, a pretty silly one indeed, but it reminded me of Madison (-;

Not much can be said about the 2^nd days drive through western Iowa and the unbelievably wide state that is Nebraska. It was fun watching the altimeter traveling west because Nebraska is one big hill and by the time I hit the Wyoming border and Cheyenne it was 6,000 ft, pretty damn cool. I do love being at altitude (-:

Beartown and Hills Creek Falls, WV

2009-01-04T14:40:00.000-08:00

This past weekend I had the distinguished opportunity to visit Wild and Wonderful West Virginia. I was there for a relaxing business trip and to stay with Madison's family in lovely Lewisburg. Lewisburg is located in Greenbrier County in the south eastern part of the state and a mere 16 miles to the VA border. The landscape consists of rolling hills, sparse pepople and a quaint historic district.

Yesterday, we drove up into adventurous and remote Pocahontas County, immeadiately to the north of Lewisburg. Driving amongst sweeping hillsides, lonely farmhouses and finally a higher-elevation forest of Mononghalia National Forest. It was especially tantalizing because the snow got deeper the higher we went (-; First stop was Beartown, a unique collection of slowly eroding boulders perched high on plateau. I have been told that the combination of high elevation, lack of direct sunlight and landscape allow snow or ice to occur late into summer!

The boardwalk was not so long, but it wound its way throughout the boulders, providing a slightly different scene around each corner.

After spending an hour walking around the neat boardwalk constructed throughout the state park, we embarked for Hills Creek Falls. We pulled into a seemingly ominous parking lot sugar coated with 1-2 inches of snow. I was expecting to hear the falls immediately, but a short hike revealed the first Upper Falls. The Upper and Middle Falls were not so impressive, but the Lower Falls, at 63 feet were pretty neat!

I have been told that on some years the entire falls are frozen over, I think we came a bit too early in the year (-;

High alpine protection forests

2009-01-02T18:56:00.000-08:00

It is well known high alpine areas are magnificent places to visit, work and even live in. Increased pressure from tourism and general infrastructure infringement place these fragile alpine ecosystems at risk. Mountain valley settlements are at risk of a variety of mountain disasters, including avalanches, torrents, rockfall and other erosion processes. Forests can serve a vital protective function in higher areas previously bare and susceptible to the extremes of the alpine environment.

These "protective forests" are typically managed to provide continuous and passive protection (P. Brang). When natural disturbances occur, the disturbances drastically affect how well a protective forest can function. I suppose it is worth elaborating a bit into the functions a protective forest can have, simply because they are often in place and we take them for granted. Forest soils in rugged mountain areas are often shallow and a forest keeps it in place. Precipitation is taken up and let out slowly, filtering the water for drinking, replenishing the ground water and preventing slope movement from occurring. Many alpine human habitats simply rely heavily on the stabilization characteristics that protective forests provide.

As lovely as protective forests seem, they are a fragile resource. Storms topple trees quickly, allowing a bark beetle outbreak to occur, threatening the surrounding trees and predisposing the area to develop an even larger gap. Avalanches and snow gliding may prevent trees from growing at all or severely crippling them. I will note that the alpine areas are very unforgiving to trees to begin with. A short growing season, cold temperatures and strong winds, and a long residual snow cover that breeds fungal pathogens all work hard against struggling tree seedlings.

We cannot change the climate occurrences, but we can help to maintain existing protective forests, promote new ones and construct measures for short-term hazard mitigation. Silvicultural practices to encourage the growth of seedlings, snow movement prevention and proper planting practices all help immensely. Most important of all, more people need to be educated on the widespread benefits of protective forests, including their risk mitigation abilities. What I would love to see is the designing of forests based on ecosystem function, like a forest designed for water filtration for instance. We could apply that concept to nearly any area...

Seven Springs surprise

2008-12-19T18:37:00.000-08:00

An unfortunate part of moving back home means a lack of skiing areas (actually a rather severe shortage of snow). So a goal of mine and my friend Brians' was to embark on a ski excursion before we left wild and wonderful WV. A close inspection into the forecast yielded expectations for snow first, then sleet and then freezing rain- all in a matter of hours. We knew we had to act fast in order to fully take advantage of the weather. Typically we might consider going south to higher elevation resorts, but this time around we concured the best snow is north, in PA.

What started as flurries when we arrived turned slowly into a full blown winter storm, dumping an astonishing 4 inches of pow in 2-3 hours (wow-wee!). We stepped inside for a relaxing lunch, followed by a french vanilla coffee with Manner wafers to watch the flakes get bigger as they fell outside. Brian and I kind of knew this would happen and absolutely love surprises (albeit expected)- especially powdery ones! We cranked out as many runs as possible on this little mountain only to be halted by sleet for no more than 15 minutes that turned into a freezing rain and ruining the pow beneath our skis as we tele-smacked our way down the mountain. At this point we both agreed it would be wise to stop while we were ahead and make moves for Morgantown.

Upon returning to the car, we were greeted with a nice, thick glaze on everything:

A quick brush-off, a step to the gas-pedal and a couple breaths later we stopped in Uniontown at a bomb-diggity shnittle-bang family Italian restaurant for a Yueng-Ling and cheese covered pasta followed by a rich desert accompanied by a coffee. Some days life can be so good you can taste it in your mouth by the end, staying stoked with good vibes and good company, those are the days full of pleasant surprises.

Ski tour reward

2008-12-12T19:10:00.000-08:00

So the other morning we woke up to quite a lovely surprise, a delicious frosting covering everything outside! As I had finished my finals just the day before, I thought it well suited to enjoy a mellow ski tour up to my favorite local forest, Coopers Rock.

The snow was a soft velvety powder that provided for excellent glide characteristics, I reckoned there was about 4 inches and in the open meadows, drifts up to 6 inches. I was all alone on the trails on this day, just me, the subtle ripple of the wind and nature's sugar. The trail was quite a meandering one, taking me up and down and all around- but maintaining a nice high altitude above 2,000 feet. I hope this will not be my last ski tour in WV for a while!

The tranquility of the landscape took me for a dream!

It was really nice to get out after such a tough week a slave to my course work, there is nothing better to reward oneself than with a laid-back ski tour (-:

P.S. If you are wondering where the pole is for my left hand, it is supporting the camera for this candid shot.

Mountain climbing technique

2008-12-07T16:26:00.000-08:00

Technique is more necessary in mountaineering than most other sports, a small mistake can easily cost you your life. A regular neighborhood game of soccer rarely carries such risks. The climbing itself is not the difficult part, maintaining a sense of clarity in the face of danger is the most daunting task. While climbing requires strength, agility and endurance- these qualities are of no use to an individual who lacks good reasoning skills.

Using your head helps you to develop physical qualities that shine brightly when climbing. Technique offsets danger, keeping climbing as an obscure sport that does not flirt between life and death, but relishes in the connection of you with nature and the elements. Many situations are out of your hands, a rock breaks loose, a storm approaches, these experiences shape one's ability to assess risks. That is what mountain climbing is, a constant and deliberate assessing of risks. By knowing one's own ability or even one's self (among the toughest self-examining traits), one can stay within their limit. For that is the greatest thrill of climbing, the simplicity of; yourself, the rock, and the challenges that lay ahead. The imminent challenges of climbing reflect to life itself, applying technique, taking a risk, and seeing where it takes you.

Leisured climbing in suburbia

2008-12-01T17:25:00.001-08:00

Thanksgiving break for students is traditionally marked by relaxing, sleeping, eating lots of turkey and for some- dreaming about climbing (-; After exercising patience all week, sitting around and eating everything there is to eat, I made some phone calls and made moves for Carter Rocks, Maryland. Carter Rocks sits along the Potomac river just across from Virginia. A mere 60 feet tall at its highest point and perhaps a quarter mile in length, Carter Rocks is nothing to brag about.

My old friend Dan accompanied me and our climbing style for the day was traditional. I led the first route, brushing off the initial joy of anticipation. It was not so difficult, "for good technique combined with fitness is all that is needed to overcome the difficulties" (Gaston Rébuffat). We had only the time for two routes, so after Dan had conquered the climb, we moved on to a simulated multi-pitch route. It was excellent opportunity to practice setting gear, in a safe setting where one is not so tired as to make silly mistakes and time can allow for endless creativity. About 15 feet up, I set up an anchor, I was particularly fond of my nut placements, for the crack was bursting with tapers:

I belayed Dan up to my stance and then he belayed me to the top (another 15 feet). While it was a short route, it high lighted the important procedure to exchanging gear and switching belays quickly.

That is all for now, I am back in West Virginia, hopefully there will be opportunities to place more gear, even with finals looming on the horizon...

Abenteuer in Südwesten Colorado!

2008-11-23T14:12:00.000-08:00

Adventures in Southwest Colorado!

This weekend took me to sunny and beautiful Montrose, Colorado. Situated amongst the San Juan mountain range of southwest Colorado, it is in a perfect location for outdoor activities. An hour or so north of Ouray- the ice climbing mecca of North America, an hour from Telluride- an epic ski destination in itself and completely surrounded by public lands offering more to do than time can allow! Montrose really has a lot going for it, the only item missing is an extensive public transit system so one does not need a car so much! I have been staying with a wonderful couple whom I found on Couchsurfing, if you don’t know what this is check it out here: http://www.couchsurfing.com/

My first day here I had an awesome opportunity to see Grand Mesa National Forest. Located an hour north of Montrose, it is one of the largest flat top mountains in the world at over 50 square miles and at elevations ranging from 10 to 11,000 feet! It hosts quite a unique subalpine ecosystem up there, with spruce and fir trees as well several dozen small lakes. At this time of year it was completely frozen up there and we could walk out onto the lakes easily- albeit carefully (-;

I traveled with a fellow couchsurfer, Amanda Harrow who is touring Colorado and the west after spending some months working in Denver on an election campaign. She was kind enough to drive us up there, which turned out to be much longer than it looked on the map (this happens all the time to me here in Colorado- the distances are deceiving!) She accompanied me on a hike where we could not find the trail, so instead we bushwacked a bit and made our own trail through about 4 inches of snow.

The next day our wonderful hosts took Amanda and myself on an epic adventure that culminated in a nudie soak at Orvis hot springs. We had a late start from Montrose, after corresponding silly delays from all of us. Telluride easily made up for that though! What has to be one of the coolest Colorado resort towns I have seen, Telluride is surrounded on 3 sides by massive imposing mountains.

It is easy to see why Telluride is so famous the world throughout for its pop culture, the main street features great shopping, a free gondola takes you to mountain village (where the ski slopes begin), there are numerous festivals throughout the year and the food was absolutely outstanding (try the fish tacos from the stand- outta this world!). I could talk about how cool Telluride is and how much I want to live there all day, read about it for yourself here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telluride,_Colorado. We paused for a group photo of the couchsurfers, from left to right it is Robyn, Rob, Amanda and myself:

Next we embarked for Ouray, home of the infamous ice climbing festival held every year in January. Passing through town, we simply HAD to pause for a chocolate break. Anyone who has been to Ouray knows about Moose’s chocolate. I devoured chocolate in more forms in such a a short amount of time than I would care to admit (on here atleast (-; ), but fresh chocolate is clearly one of the finer things in life. Moose’s has a variety to suit any taste and I might recommend the scrap cookies- a surprise flavor in every bite! Also, an insider tip- wait for when they pull the cookies out of the mini-oven, ask for a glass of milk, devour slowly and deliberately, then walk on clouds as you exit (-;

Outside Ouray to the south we stopped to see box canyon, where the top ice climbing action is held and where a stretch of perhaps a quarter miles is “farmed”. A pipe runs along the top of the narrow canyon and water is dripped through a series of nozzles that makes for perfect ice conditions- including opportunities for dry-picking (mixed ice climbing on rock with ice tools). Just to stand there and see the world class material simply blew my mind, fully knowing the world’s best climbers would descend on Ouray in a little over a month, it was an inspiring moment. Just recently metal structures were built to better able people to view the climbers- that is me standing on the big one which is probably for the press.

More information can be found here: http://www.ourayicepark.com/ The quality of the ice was a bit disappointing (lack of ice any ice actually), but the weather has not been contingent for snow or ice in this part of Colorado lately, sadly enough )-

Moving on from Ouray we continued south along the “million dollar highway”. At the start of the highway is a cool sign proclaiming:

The 23 mile highway was supposedly called this because it cost that much per mile to build, we worked it out in the car to be $9.47 per square foot. It was really an engineering marvel that I would venture to claim rivals the autbahns of alpine Austria. I wonder how much it cost to build the Großglockner-Hochalpenstraße? It is quite a famous alpine road snaking around the highest mountain of Austria. The photo below is of Bear Creek running under the road and flying off the mountain side- gives you an idea of how big the dropoff is and how difficult it was to build this road!

We drove for a while along the million dollar highway and managed to make it to the flat part, called Ironton, before turning around with nice thoughts of hot springs. At Orvis hot springs I had such a relaxing time, whew! The water felt great, wearing no clothes felt great and having a nice conversation with an older gentleman about the history of mountaineering in Colorado was nice. An hour and a half spent in varying pools of hotness, we had to put our clothes back on, kind of a sad moment after being free for so long. Sorry, no photos from Orvis (-;