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

Heaven sent, hell bent, over the mountains we go

Hey there,

What's up? What's good? What's new? What's going on? How ya been? How ya doin? Hanging in there? Staying outta trouble? Whatcha been up to? Where you been hiding? Which way ya going? You come here often? Have we meet before? Hows life?

Life is going pretty well here. Its' been interesting, as usual. So here we go... After the last one of these I returned to Milwaukee for a few days of work and then pretty much headed right to Fort Stockton, TX. I spent a work weeking out there replacing ladder sections inside of the turbines. This is the view when you pop your head out of the top.

Once I finished in TX I returned to CO and was lucky enough to find a great place to live in Boulder. I have two roommates in this house (we all went climbing today). If you know how many mountains are a stones throw away from Boulder, you could imagine I'm as snug as a bug in a rug.

I was intending to go back to MN for a few weeks over x=mas but an opportunity came into my life that I couldn't pass up. I spent my x=mas in Mexico with people I met over the internet (it's not as bad as it sounds... though I still dont know why I woke up in a seedy motel room in a tub full of ice). *This first black and white is a photo of an old church in the middle of the desert.

We left Colorado one night (we drove to Mexico) and ended up heading straight into one of the worst blizzards that I have ever seen. All the major highways heading to TX were closed. We ended up getting a hotel room and trying again in the morning. After many other mishaps and pure luck we got to where we were going... El Potrero Chico. It is this awesome national park that boasts some of the tallest bolted climbing routes in the world.



There are a number of camps right at the entrance of the park that really cater to the climbers that go there. The campgrounds have a big community kitchen, showers, and a nice restaurant. Here is a pic of the mountains scraping the sky behind the kitchen. Some of the taller cliffs in the park were over 2000'.

We ended up staying there for about 10 days in total. The weather was actually pretty cold but it warmed up to the 80s the last few days we were there. I got to climb some really cool routes. It is nice to climb a big route and not worry about all the gear. I also got to meet some great people and climb with new found friends.


On our 20 hour push to get back to CO, we awoke to this on the last morning of driving, well hopefully not the driver. It seemed a great conclusion to our trip and a good omen of things to come.

So if you read my last blog you might wonder if I am writing this in Florida right now. The answer is no. Some b.s. got kicked around and we ended up getting ousted from the job last minute. But not to worry. I have been pretty much just been relaxing and enjoying the cool new place I live.



Here is a pic of the Flatirons. These are a great place to hike and also to climb, though I have yet to climb there. I will be heading back to TX for some more turbine work. Soon after that I will be attending my level 3 certification course for rope access. I am very excited about that, so keep your fingers crossed for me. Anyways, I suppose that should about catch you up for now. Hope you all are doing well. Have fun!

Dan

Wild times

Greetings earthlings!

Hope life is faring as well for you as it is for me. Lots to tell and little time to do it in. So I guess I will start where it always seems to start... the beginning. Shortly after my last blog was written and posted I hit the road. Packed up all my worldly possessions and headed to Zion. Hard to beat a good road trip when adventure's in the sights. I got myself one of them iphone contraptions, so my pictures might be of higher quality than those of the past.

This black and white here is just a photo of some rocks I thought were cool around lake Powell. Never been there before and when I saw a sign for it I couldn't pass up a chance to do a bit o' skinny dippin'.

The drive to Zion took a bit longer than I had expected, so I rolled in after it was already pitch black (probably for the best for other drivers considering how easily distracted I can be driving through a place like Zion).

For those of you not familiar with Zion, there is a pretty famous slot-canyon hike called The Narrows. It is 16 miles from start to finish, but you can also hike up from the bottom and just turn around wherever. The hike is in and out of the Virgin River the entire way. The water is freezing, and the first pool you encounter at the bottom is also the deepest, bringing the water to about stomach level.

I scoffed at all the "tourons" with their rented dry suits and rented walking sticks, almost too proud to admit that by an hour in my numb feet whispered sentiments of envy between river crossings. I saw a few other people wearing sandals and shorts and was comforted to know that there were other fools out enjoying the day too. If you look close at this photo you can see someone hiking in the water.

The nature of my stay in Zion was to play all day, find a place to poach some free camping when it was pitch black out, and then wake up to a beautiful surprise. You can see my van is packed pretty full. There was a delicate move you had to make to get into bed at night that might impress a yoga instructor. On this particular day though I decided to go for a mountain bike ride. I got up and made some coffee and blueberry pancakes on the stove and went for a sweet 3 hour ride. Two hours of unsure navigation on an old jeep road led me to a sweet hour long downhill single track ride, right along the sheer cliffs of the Virgin River.

I was lucky enough to get to meet up with my old buddy, Johnny Ray. Perhaps the name sounds familiar from very early posts (I was living in his driveway in Vegas for a while). I got to spend a day eating spoonfuls of sand with J-Ray and his niece on some relatively obscure, and clearly not very well traveled climb in the park called Chimney Sweep (very fitting).

I dont need much of an excuse to spend time in Zion, but the real reason I was there is this awesome rock formation. My buddy Colin, from many adventures in AZ, met me out there and we set out to climb this beast called Moonlight Buttress. In the climbing world, this is probably almost as well known as El Capitan in Yosemite. It is definitely one of my most crowning achievements in climbing.

The route is about 1200' tall but it isn't the height that makes it a big climb, it is the technical aspect. Some people (super humans) can climb the very thin cracks that this climb offers, but for most of us normal humans we have to do something called aid climbing. I wont try and explain aid climbing as it would probably just be confusing, but if you are curious there is plenty of information online about aid climbing.

We climbed the first 300' Sunday afternoon and fixed the lines. We rappelled out on these lines and returned to them at the butt crack of dawn the next morning. This allowed us to climb the ropes and make quick progress so that we were already 300' off the ground after only an hour. We still had a lot of work ahead of us though. To get each of us up the roughly 200' sections it took about 2 hours. Needless to say it was an all day endeavour. We ended up finishing the climb right as it got dark enough for headlamps. This awesome picture here is of Colin starting up some of the last pitches, probably about 1000' off the deck.

It was such an amazing experience and we were lucky enough to have the route entirely to ourselves. People usually line up to do this climb, and on an average day it not uncommon to see three or four groups climbing the route. Bliss. Pure bliss.

After recovering from the climb I said my goodbyes to my friends and headed further east into central Utah. I met up with my aunt Annie Bonami in some middle of nowhere place in Utah. We got to check out some cool national parks and I savored my first shower in a week. I spent the night on a real bed and was on my way again the next morning, Moab bound.

Here is another place I was pleasantly surprised to wake up in one morning. This is near Castle Valley, and the Fisher Towers outside of Moab. That is frost on a fence post with some cool desert cliffs in the background.

I was suppose to be meeting up with Johnny Ray and his niece Athena again but due to some miscommunication I spent most of my time in Moab flying solo. No worries though, I can find a good time on my own. This is my victory smile after solo-aid climbing that tower behind me (dont worry mom, its safe). The tower is not a very popular climb compared to some of the other towers in the area, so I had the whole place to myself. It was great. It was a beautiful day and a very unique climb. All in all it is about 200' tall. The rappel was free hanging the whole way and gave some very cool exposure.

Man... seems like all I do is play. That's not true though. I do work too, but it ends up being more like just getting paid to play.

Lately I have been in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. I have been working with a company painting the Brewers stadium. It has also been an awesome time. More often than not I wonder how I am getting paid to do what I do. Here is a picture of me hanging from my toes, painting the underside of a beam. We actually had a few of the local newspapers come out and cover the story. We made the front page of one of the Milwaukee papers. Here is the link if you wanna check it out http://www.jsonline.com/business/thrillseekers-take-on-miller-park-girder-painting-1s33hhs-134161878.html

Check out the photo gallery to see a few more shots of us working.

So anywho... that about catches you up for now. I am currently back in MN for a long thanksgiving break. I will be returning to Milwaukee to finish painting. Then I will go back to Denver where I will spend most of December climbing mountains. Sounds like in January I will be going to Florida for a month to paint a light house, so that is pretty exciting. Its a strange life I live, but I'm in love with it. Happy Thanksgiving to all!

Bugs and fishes,

Dan

From the North West to the North East and All Over Again

Greetings earthlings!

It has been an exciting past few months and seems there is more goodness to come. Hate to be cliche, but I guess I will start this story from the beginning. So at the start of Sept I finished my job washing windows out in AZ. My good friend Colin and I had a send off climbing trip. We went to Sedona (for the first time). It was so beautiful out there as you can see from this picture.







We did two climbs, which we have been dreaming about for a long time. One in particular was noteworthy due to the fact that it was first climbed back in 1957. It is a tough route both physically and mentally, and to picture it climbed so long ago without all the climbing gadgets of today, makes you really appreciate the feat.


This was the last climbing I might be getting to do in AZ for a while. After Sedona I blasted off to Bremerton, WA.







The job in WA was pretty interesting. As you can see, there is a cliff right along the side of this very busy highway. We went in and cleared out all of the shrubbery along the cliff top and bottom. The next step was to rappel down the cliff with rock bars and knock down all of the loose and dangerous rocks. This was pretty dicey at times as you might imagine. After the rock face was cleared we had to drill these huge holes (sometimes up to 16 ft deep) on the face and the top. Then we used a crane to place these giant mesh panels which you can see in this photo.



The project was pretty cool and it was fun and unusual to be climbing around on this mesh covered rock face. The weather was pretty good too. We only had one day of real Seattle rain. The big downside of this project was the forest of poison oak we had to deal with. There were literally 15 foot tall trees of it and we had to not only cut it down, but then continue to work in it. Our ropes were in it, our harnesses, clothes, everything. I literally had poison oak rash from ankle to face, and I mean EVERYWHERE in between. Here is a picture of my leg, which endured the worst of it.



The project in WA ended in the beginning of Oct. I was lucky enough to pull some more work with another company. This was the most amazing thing I have gotten to do in rope access yet. I went out to Vermont and got to work on my first wind turbine. It was such a beautiful time of year to be there too. There were so many times where I was rappelling down the side of this turbine with a picturesque view all around and wondered how I was getting paid to do something so cool.

After a few days in Vermont, I was flown out to Sweetwater, TX for some more turbine work. It was very cool because there were thousands of wind turbines around. I worked there for a few days and then went to visit a friend in Austin for a few days.

It was exactly a year ago that I first even heard about rope access. In that time I have done high rise window washing, rock scaling, and wind turbine work. The work has brought me to 4 different states, and I am near getting my level 3 certification. I am very proud of these things. Anywho... that about catches you up to right now, but let me tell you whats to come.

Right now I am finishing a coffee at Colins house in AZ. I am heading up to to Zion National Park for a week of climbing and fun. Wallin' with Colin. Got some big plans and big routes in mind (I'll fill ya in later). After climbing in Zion I am going to be heading to South Eastern Utah to a place called Indian Creek for a week of crack climbing with my old buddy Johnny Ray(perhaps you remember the name from my very early posts when I was living in Vegas). After a week in Indian Creek I am heading further east out to Denver, Colorado. I will get some climbing in but ultimately will be moving there. I am suppose to be working a job in November, painting the Brewers stadium in Milwaukee, WI.

So lots going on, and lots more coming. But I gotta wrap this up... the road is a calling and I've got promises to keep and miles to go before I sleep. Hope the multiverse is smiling upon you all.

Much love,

The Danimal

Alright, I realize that I put one of these things up not all too long ago, but there is much to tell. So bear with me. Looking back on some older posts I realized I had mentioned that I would put a picture of my van. Seeing as I don't have a lot of other photos for this blog, thought I might share this (and please, feel free to laugh). I am not sure if you can read any of them, but needless to say I get quite a diverse amount of reactions. Does having long hair, a stickered out van (which I sometimes live in), and an open mind make me a hippy? I don't think so, but most people do.

I have been spending most of my days washing windows at this "government insurance agency". This is the cover they keep, but the multitude of armed guards, layers of security clearance needed to access the site and such all lead me to evaluate the situation a little deeper... I am pretty convinced they are experimenting on aliens in a bunker located 200 ft below the surface (I cant say too much... I think they are watching me). Anywho, this property has a fair amount of "wild" land surrounding it. There is lots of wildlife and such; gophers, snakes, rabbits, roadrunners, owls, etc. The other day we found two little dog legs up on the roof... I believe that this was the culprit. There is a gang of about 4 or 5 owls that hang around and they have it made there. Anyways this has brought me to the conclusion that if an owl can swoop down and scarf your dog for a midnight snack, it wasn't much of a dog and you should probably just stick to house cats.

Climbing has been at a minimal lately due to the relentless heat. This has made life here very hard for me. I thought cold winters were bad, but at least you can take certain measures and still enjoy being outside. In this kind of heat there is nothing you can do to escape it besides stay inside. This is a picture of me out on a day climbing a place called the Prescott Dells (it is pronounced press kit, not press cot, as many will be quick to correct you on).




If you were paying any attention to my last blog you might remember me talking about going to a music festival in San Fransisco. This is not a picture that I took, but you can see where I was. It was an amazing time. Good friends, good music, good food, and good beer. I don't know how I got so lucky to live the life I do. Some of the bands I saw were Phish, The Shins, Deadmou5, John Fogerty, Beirut, GirlTalk, the Roots, and so many more that I can hardly remember. It was three days long which is quite an endeavor. After having such a great time it was hard to come back to an empty apartment and triple digit heat.

Which brings me to my biggest news to share...



So my days in Phoenix are dwindling. On Labor day I will be making a move to this place... Bremerton, WA. That's right, time for a new chapter in the ol' book. I am heading up there to do some work. The work is rope access rock scaling. If you have ever seen chain link fence on steep rock faces right over a highway, this is what I will be doing. The project is only suppose to last until mid-October but that is just fine with me. I will be getting a substantial pay raise with this company and with a little padding in the pocket and the great unknown waiting beyond the project, how could I resist?

So that is what is on the docket for me these days. Trying to thin out my belongings so they will all fit in my van again (it is amazing how much unnecessary junk people acquire) and selling lots of it on Craigslist. Anyone need 3 pairs of used socks, a half eaten hot pocket, and what appears to be... a.... um... well I'm not sure what that is, but I will cut ya a real good deal. I will have to leave my van in Phoenix in the meantime, so it is inevitable that I will return. I don't have anything against AZ, but Phoenix, and Scottsdale in particular were just not places where I belong. But ya know, there is just too much fun to be had for me to belong anywhere right now anyways. This was how I started my workday today. I will say one thing about AZ... it is the land of beautiful sunsets and sunrises. No where else have I been that harbors so many a picturesque dawn/dusk.

So that ought to about do it for now. It is hard to say when I will be able to get another one of these up. I wont have a computer in Bremerton, but rest assured, I will have my camera. So until the stars align... don't do anything I wouldn't do.

Truly, madly, deeply,

Danjerous

We're all here, cause we're not all there

Gather 'round folks, it is time again for the tales of a madman on the loose. It hasn't been so long since my last post, but so much has gone on. Where to start, oh where to start...
This here (for those who haven't seen it yet) is a picture of me working on the Hyatt Hotel in downtown Phoenix. By far the coolest project I have been on at work. If the picture doesn't illustrate it well enough there is about 300 feet of open air beneath me. There is a rotating restaurant at the top of this building and it got hit bad by the big sandstorm you may or may not have heard about. Anywho, it was All-Star Weekend so they needed the job done quick. Luckily we got the bid. After each window drop I took it upon myself to drop beneath the restaurant and hang upside down with nothing but air beneath me. Ya cant help but feel alive when staring down at your own mortality.
I am also proud to say that I am now a SPRAT certified level II technician. I got the opportunity to go to Denver for another course on rope access. I passed with flying colors and went from a "rope worker" to a "lead rope access technician". So that is pretty neat. This picture is of a rope rescue. I am the one being rescued here but you can see that it is somewhat complicated.
Anyone one who knows anything about me ought to know that I can usually find some fun, even in work. While in Denver I got to stay with my sister at her new place and they were more than kind in showing me around. This is from "The Garden of the Gods". It is a very neat city park with lots of climbing to be had, though I got to do none. A storm rolled in so it gave some great colors.
While in Denver I also got to tour the New Belgium brewery, the O'dell brewery, and the Fort Collins brewery (and when I say tour the brewery, I mean, the tasting room). I also got to do some whitewater rafting and even some climbing in the Rockies. This picture here is from the hike in to our climb in Estes Park. It was a beautiful day and everything went perfect.
Here is me at the top of our climb called Georges Tree. It was one of the toughest climbs of its grade that I have ever done (as I was warned). In the background is Longs Peak. There is a big wall up there called the Diamond and yes, as I am sure you imagined, another place I intend on climbing.
Here is one more picture I got from a solo trip up the Four Peaks Wilderness outside of Phoenix. I went to do the ridge traverse but only got on half of it. The views were worth the efforts anyways. So I think that should about do it for this one. Life remains exciting and impossible to predict. In a few weeks I am heading to San Fransisco for a three day music festival with some good friends. I'm doing my best to not lose my marbles in this awful summer heat but ya cant lose what ya never had, right?

Much love,
Dan

Going mad in the summer heat

Hey guys, here we are again. Life has been interesting to say the least lately. The daily highs are usually 115, give or take 5. But it is a dry heat, so it isnt quite as bad as it seems... or so they say. This first picture was from a real treat at work. That is a big glass sculpture hanging on the wall. It needed to be dusted and I was lucky enough to be the one to get to do it.
Most of June has little precipitation and thus, not much for sunrise or sunset views. However, it is now July and (believe it or not) monsoon season. This was how I got to start one of my work days. Seems like it is usually pretty hard to have a bad day when you begin like this. Work as been fairly uneventful lately but I am looking forward to a break from work and the heat at the end of July. I will be heading to Denver to visit my sister and go back to school to get my next level of certification for rope access. So that should be a grand ol' time.
Since it is just too damn hot to be climbing around Phoenix these days, my weekends have been spent up in Flagstaff. It is one of the coolest places I have been. It is a really neat town and there is endless camping, climbing, outdoor fun all a stones throw away. This picture above is from my 4th of July. Pleasant as the day may appear, it was a monsoon, and there was plenty of thunder, lightning, and rain to top it all off. And by the way... if you have never experienced a monsoon in the high desert... you are missing out.
One night when it was raining and we couldnt climb we decided to go to the Grand Canyon. It was my first time there and it was so beautiful. We didnt really get to explore the area that much but I have a feeling I will be back there for such things at a later time.
This is a place called Oak Creek. This is on the road that passes through Sedona to Flagstaff. It is a basalt cliff with tons and tons of crack climbing... my favorite. Escaping from the triple digits in Phoenix and hiding in the ponderosa forests of Flagstaff is my only link to sanity these days (more like a climber's trail than a road, haha).
So that will about do it for now... seems like I always have more to say until I try and write one of these blogs. I figure the next time I get around to doing one of these will be in August, when the heat will be cranked on full blast. So stay tuned to see how fried my brains get down here in the lonely southwest desert.

With much love,
Dan