Mountains, mountains, everywhere

Howdy all,

Work has been at quite a minimum lately and leisure time has been quite high. Thankfully in a place like Boulder it is easy to fill the days. So let us begin...

These first two pictures are from a snowshoeing trip with my buddy Clay. This is an area only about 45 minutes away from my place in Boulder.


We were hiking in to a lake called Sky Pond. It is an amazing alpine lake at the foot of some pretty sheer cliffs, and a number of "must-do" climbing routes. This first picture here is towards the start of the hike. oOo... ominous.



The hike started off on some pretty well packed snow, but before too long we had to bust out the snowshoes. Here is Clay taking a moment to enjoy the view.


Snowshoeing is an activity that your humble narrator has has little exposure to. Aside from Ms. Ewens gym class back in ol' Diamond Path elementary, the only other time I have gone was around Lake Tahoe. We forgot to bring a bottle o' two buck chuck this time, but somehow we still managed to have a little fun... somehow.

So far Boulder has been an awful kind place to reside. Not only is there just so many things to do and explore, but the bipolar weather here allows for a huge variety of activities and adventure.




This picture is from mountain biking around South Boulder. This was literally the day after snowshoeing (amazing contrast, aye?). It was probably about 50 degrees and pretty sunny. This was a fine place to enjoy an avocado and canned tuna, though just about anywhere would be a good place to enjoy that snack.





With so much life to be had, why wait around for it to come to you?

This is where life took me the next day. This is another place in the Rockies. The big clean face you see is called "The Diamond". It is one of the best alpine rock faces to be climbed in Colorado.

I only hiked to the lake at the base, called "Chasm Lake". But looking up at this impressive rock, I couldn't help but to drool. The summit is at 14,000 ft, and what I hope will be my first fourteener, as they say.




Then one Sunday morning after waking way too early and realizing there was nothing going on all week, I checked the weather... snow, snow, cold, snow, ice... damn, my arch enemy was in town. How had he found me??? The average man might be content to hide from sick old man winter but not me. How dare he try and keep me from my cathedrals and sanctuaries! No one tells me what to do! But... what to do?

Go somewhere else.

So I saddled up the horse and rode north to a land I once knew well... the Black Hills. There I met up with my longtime friend, Lindsey.



We went to Custer (note the unusual rock "face" pictured here), a hockey game, and to the old college stomping grounds in Spearfish. It was a great way to spend a week. It is always so interesting to visit a place that was once called home and take a stroll down memory lane.





Sick of mountains yet? Didn't think so... how could ya be? But the story takes a plot turn, so fear not. If you had seen the last one of these I threw up, you may recall that I was soon to attend my S.P.R.A.T. Level 3 course...


Well that time has come and gone now and I am happy to tell you that I am now a rope access "Supervisor". This is a picture of Tough Terry being rescued in one of the skills required to pass. This is called a high-line rescue.


Just a short while after the course, my evaluator invited me on an annual ice climbing trip. I have never gotten to ice climb before and I couldn't pass it up.

It was a large group that showed up; perhaps around 50. Many knew each other from either rope access or alpine rescue teams, or from ice climbing trips gone by.

This picture are the mountains that surround the ice park. This is Ouray, CO. What makes this place especially unique is that they form the ice. There is a pipeline that runs on top the canyon and at night they have "ice sculptors" turn on sprinkler systems and shape the ice. There are hundreds of ice climbs, which is not something you will find anywhere else in the U.S.

Here you can see the result of every ones efforts. So the days were spent ice climbing all day, drinking all night, and topping it off with the hot springs. These hot springs have natural occurring lithium which apparently is what is given to people with depression. When one emerged from these hot springs, steaming in the cold starry night... life seemed pretty good.

So there ya have it folks. That is what I have been up to in a nutshell. I am heading to Alabama for a few weeks of work coming up soon. Winter is starting to loosen its grip and us sun worshipers are ready. Hope all is well for everyone!

Bugs and fishes,

Dan