Wet And Wild

Steve and I couldn't figure out where to spend our three day Memorial Day weekend. Not on the Front Range, not too far from Colorado... We had debated the Picketwire Canyonlands, in the vicinity of the Comanche National Grasslands. That area has some of the oldest dinosaur fossils in the world and would be fun to hike and camp. We decided, though, to head to Crested Butte with two other couples to hike, mountain bike and watch our friend Kris race in the Gunnisson Growler.

The weather forecast was rain, rain, rain. That's ok! Adventure! I love road trips because you don't have to worry about filling those ridiculously small travel containers of shampoo, pulling a deltoid because you refuse to check your luggage and haul it all through security, or cram your purse and laptop under the seat in front of you. Not to mention the planning part. On a road trip, there's minimal planning involved. You can shove your stuff in the back of the Jeep and take off. I'm especially lucky because I don't have to drive. Anyway, Steve, Schivonne, Kris and I shoved in our four mountain bikes, two tents, four mats, four sleeping bags, four backpacks, one cooler, numerous 6-packs of beer, four camping chairs, blankets, pillows, fly rods, and other camping necessities. Emphasis on shove!
So on the road, eating pasta salad and cookies, we sang songs and shared dark secrets. You can't do that on a plane - someone will inevitably hear you. It rained our entire trip down to CB, and was still raining when we arrived at our camp spot, at 10:00 p.m. We rolled up to our secret camping spot on National Forest land, right outside of Crested Butte. We were still excited about camping, completely dry, and didn't mind setting up camp and bearing with the weather. (Kind of like how you can always tell that a waitress is new - she's still smiling, eager to help, and happy to be there.) So we slid in the mud, slipped on corn lilies, and set up camp. It was still raining.

Corn lily.
Evening adventure. View from our camp spot. You can see the red dust that blew over the Rockies in early April.
Road up to our camp.
Saturday morning, oh my God, it wasn't raining. This turned out to be an anomaly, but it just makes everything seem so much brighter when it's not raining. We hiked the in the Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park that day. It rained off an on, but not enough to dampen our spirits. We were just happy to be outside. Steve and I had hiked the down the canyon over Memorial Day 2007, and camped at the bottom. That year, we started from the North Rim, which was easily accessible from the direction in which we arrived, around Paonia. This year we accessed the Park from the South Rim, the more traveled side. To hike down to the Gunnison River - usually a mile or two of actually hiking over at least 1,700 feet - you need a permit, a lecture on the dangers of hiking, a warning that you need to know how to self rescue, clear instructions to not poop in the woods, a thorough review what poison ivy is, and how you could and probably will die down in the canyon. We happily obliged - it's a filter process that keeps the other hoohas out of dangerous situations that would otherwise eliminate those opportunities for adventurers like us. We received our permit, spoke with the nice lady, and hiked down. It's not an easy hike, but it's amazing to be down in that canyon, on a River that was completely undiscovered until about 100 years ago. It's a very special place. Unlike two years ago, the poison ivy was mild and Steve didn't make me wash my face the second he saw me brush up against poison ivy.

Canyon view from the top.
River at the bottom, with the canyon walls


Poison ivy - beware!
Our two hour ride back to the camp site was peppered with casual comments along the lines of, well, what should we do if it's raining tonight? How are we going to cook our food? Will our tents be wet? Are there hostels in the area? All comments were non-committal, as if the person mentioning them didn't want to be the one who made the group go to a hotel, or didn't want to bail, but didn't want to be blamed for making the group sleep indoors and quit our adventure. We stopped at WallyWorld, bought some fire wood, a tarp, and hoped for the best, despite the fact that the rain was unrelenting. I know that people say that it's just water, it will dry, but whatever, when it's just water that's keeping you wet for a steady 48 hours, you start to evaluate your options, and wonder what the meaning of vacation is.

In any event, we pull up to our camp to my new best friend, rain/mud, and look at each other. What are our options? I'm not sure at what point we decide to stay, perhaps it was a gradual decision fueled by both ingenuity and beer, but we did. Steve and I replaced the large tarp that was under our tent with the new WallyWorld tarp (this turned out to be a bad decision, and was the impetus for our hostel stay the next night), and Steve put those dendrites to work! He created a shelter for us by stringing a tarp through a few trees, some stakes and the Jeep. It was a wonderful little dry spot for us. We were able to build a fire under the tarp, make dinner, set up our camp chairs and relax under the pitter patter of the rain on our tent. It was a wonderful adventure.

Steve, Schivonne and Cory under our temporary housing unit.
On Sunday, we woke early to drive down to Gunnison with Kris for his mountain bike race. It was a chilly, wet morning, but he was off, and the five of us sat in a coffee shop for two hours and read magazines. It was one of my most relaxing memories in recent months. I love the feeling of being away from home, with no obligations, just the freedom to hang out and not worry about the time. After a while, we drove to a spot where we thought we could both run (Steve and I needed to get in a 8-mile run for our marathon training) and see Kris race.

Run in, Kris done, we then stood around wondering what to do now. Our tents were getting wet (especially ours, due to the tarp switch out that allowed water to seep in), we were not warming /drying up, and we had heard about a nice little warm and cozy hostel up in CB. I called, bargained with the dude, and got us a 6-person, private room for $15/person. Not too shabby! We packed up our camping gear, shoved it all back into the car. At this point, we still hadn't used our mountain bikes. We lugged them all the way across Colorado, but it was too muddy to ride. We didn't want to ruin the trails.

The rest of our trip was warm. We drove up to CB, walked around, I bought a Hershey's Kiss halloween costume for $2.50 (here's a preview: http://tinyurl.com/l578md), ate delicious pizza, and conked out. We had been on an adventure all day! We still had to polish off some of the beer we lugged around, so we did that, watched Tommy Boy, and fell asleep in our warm hostel beds. If ever you're in CB and need an affordable, convenient, clean and accommodating place to stay, I would highly recommend the Crested Butte International Lodge and Hostel. It was cheap for us because of the off-season, but the prices are reasonable year round, you can cook in the kitchen, and it's just a fun way to travel. And, they have Tommy Boy on DVD. Here's the movie in a nutshell:

I got a D+! I'm gonna graduate!
You're right! You're not your dad! He could sell a ketchup Popsicle to a woman in white gloves!
It's called reading! Top to bottom, left to right... a group of words together is called a sentence. Take Tylenol for any headaches... Midol for any cramps.
Shut up, Richard.

Oh gosh, such a good movie.

Anyway, still too rainy to ride on Monday, so we decided to go home. Not before eating the fluffiest pancakes in the world! Go to the Paradise Cafe on Elk Ave for a delicious breakfast next time you're in Crested Butte. Just delightful! The last highlight of the weekend (aside from a drive through Tiny Town on the way home, which doesn't deserve more than these sparse words), we visited Peanut Lake, about one mile NW of Crested Butte. I saw Peanut Lake on a map, and since that's the cutest name for a Lake in the entire universe (try me), we had to visit. I would still call it Peanut Lake, but with an asterisk and an indication that it's somewhat anticlimactic, given the grandeur of a name such as Peanut Lake, and the small little lake that it was. It was very pretty, though.

I think that despite the rain, the lugging around of stuff and the fact that Peanut Lake could have been shaped into a more defined peanut, this was an excellent weekend. I was happy to be with friends, eat fluffy pancakes, enjoy Crested Butte and Gunnison again, drink good beer, find my next Halloween costume, and more importantly, not sit at a desk.

Steve at Peanut Lake.
A beautiful house in Crested Butte.

Intense Resistance

There are things I need to do sometimes that I really do not want to do. And they're usually the simplest things. Like an hour of research, calling my insurance agent, or doing dishes. I can't get myself to do it, but I usually have no choice. So by the time I actually get it done, the appropriate late window has elapsed, and I just look like a dumb ass for being so late or for putting it off for so long. I know all this, but I don't do a single thing to change it, aside from procrastinate a bit more.

I've gotten away with it so far, so unless there's a serious incentive - or threat - to do otherwise, I guess it's not so bad.

Brain Teaser, Courtesy of a Dying Genre

Here's a brain teaser for you, found by Steve, my always-informed and well-read friend:

"A pickup truck struck the semi a short time later and was hit by a third vehicle. Authorities say a fourth vehicle was hit by a fifth before another semi-truck struck the first, and a seventh vehicle hit the second truck."

Denver Post: Delta man cited after 7-vehicle crash in canyon

The Trout Whisperer

Schivonne, Kris, Steve and I spent the weekend in Carbondale, to ski, hang out with my parents and get out of dodge. Steve and I skied Snowmass Saturday. The snow was iffy, but it was around 25 degrees all day, enough to compensate for the the lack of fresh snow, and we were still able to ski our favorite Snowmass spots - Campground, Long Shot, Cirque Headwall, Hanging Valley Wall. I had my K2 Burnin' Luvs and Steve his Volkls AC40s. It wasn't the best day for our powder skis, and it was awesome to have an excuse to take those other skis out and go fast.

Anyway, the four of us had dinner at Ella on Saturday night, where Schivonne and Kris got married in September and right next to my parent's store on Main Street in Carbondale. I think The Kitchen in Boulder and Ella are my two favorite restaurants in Colorado - simple, creative, delicious and local food with reasonably priced wines and approachable, down to earth staff. Three of us had the mixed grill special - elk sausage, rack of lamb, salsify puree, mushrooms, and huckleberry sauce - and Kris stuck with his favorite, fancy mac&cheese with truffles. I'd love to make my own sausage. All I need is a sausage maker attachment for the KitchenAid. That's going to have to wait though. I need to appreciate my Christmas kitchen gadgets before I spend more money.

Now for the best part!!! On Sunday, we went for a walk along the Roaring Fork River. The RFR is a direct tributary to the Colorado River, and the spot where we walked had a bunch of diversions, adjoining streams, riparian vegetation and wildlife. Steve had an adventure bee in his bonnet, and set off on all sorts of crazy adventures, including trout whispering (the Cesar Milan of trout - ask him about the time he caught a live trout with his hands) and crawling through tunnels. It was all hilarious. The two videos below are of Steve both whispering to trout (in addition to the picture at right), and crawling through a random tunnel in search for the lost ark (hang in there with the tunnel video - it's funny).

Travels

Last year, Steve and I took many vacations. I loved them all. We went to Crested Butte, Steamboat Springs, Colorado State Forest State Park, Betty Bear Hut outside of Basalt, San Francisco, Washington D.C., Portland, Atlanta, Kauai, Sweden, Durango, West Hartford, South Dakota, Taos, Illinois, Yosemite, and other wonderful places within Colorado.

We climbed three 14'ers: Mt. Elbert (14,505 ft), Mt. Huron (14,003), and Mt. of the Holy Cross (14,005). I've also climbed Mt. Columbia (14,077). Steve has climbed many others.
Our goal is to climb all 54 14'ers, of course. If we do 3 a year for the next 15-18 years, we should be good!

We have high hopes for this year. We have a trip to Alta planned, and a tentative trip to Belgium. We'd also like to hike more 14'ers, go to new places in Colorado, explore some forested areas in New Mexico or Western Texas, and others. We have great travel ideas, most of which we're fortunate enough to be able to live out!

Here are some pictures from our travels:

Yosemite, Sweden, Taos, Kauai - Guess!

Chinchillas

Chinchillas a very funny and adventurous animals.
My favorite character trait of the chinchilla is that they like to burrow. This is great for me. I also like to burrow. They are also very cute. Very very cute and soft, and especially prone to needing love. I like to give love.

Chinchillas are native to the Andes, named after the Chincha people of the Andes. Chinchillas have an interesting history. Look them up and learn a little. However, I'm most interested in what it means to me. It's very hard to breed chinchillas in captivity. They like to do their own thing, on their own time. I'm sure they probably can't even get out of their own way. Hmm. They're also elusive. Despite those two things, they have become household pets, although they still live in the wild. I'm not interested in glorifying the chinchilla, nor romanticizing on its virtues.

I'm endeared to them, probably because the remind me of things I like to think about, and that make me laugh:

- In their native habitat, chinchillas live in burrows or crevices in rocks. They are agile jumpers and can jump very high, up to 5 ft (1.5 m). Chinchillas have a variety of defence tactics including spraying urine and releasing fur if bitten. In the wild, chinchillas have been observed eating plants, fruits, seeds, and small insects, though this diet could irritate the digestive system of a domestic chinchilla whose diet should be primarily hay-based.

- In nature, chinchillas live in social groups that resemble colonies but are properly called herds. Chinchilla females are significantly bigger than males. Chinchillas can breed any time of the year.

- Chinchillas are naturally very skittish creatures and generally do not like to be held, although they can become very attached to their owners.

- Chinchillas make a variety of vocalizations, including chirps, squeaks, and barks. They use these sounds to locate each other and express themselves, from a calm, loving chirp given to a potential mate to a loud, aggressive bark when threatened. Chinchilla kits often greet their parents with a very high pitched chirp, usually to indicate that they are hungry.

- Since they are active at night, it is not uncommon for them to vocalize in the early hours of the morning. If irritated or frightened, the female chinchillas may cluck loudly and spray urine at the offender.

- Chinchillas require extensive exercise.

- Active and inquisitive by nature, chinchillas need to spend some time outside of the cage to exercise and to satisfy their curiosity.

- A wet chinchilla must be dried immediately with towels and a no-heat hair dryer. The fur is so thick that it resists parasites such as fleas.

- Chinchillas eat and digest desert grasses and cannot efficiently process fatty foods, high protein foods, or too many green plants.

- Sweets and dried fruit treats, such as raisins should be limited to two or three per week. Chinchillas also eat and drink in very small amounts, therefore, overfeeding is easy.

I love my chinchilla.

Motivation

It's difficult to stay motivated. It helps when there is an exciting event, occasion, trip, work project or new adventure that can keep me motivated to get through whatever I have to get through now, because I know there's something else out there that will make it all worthwhile in the end. Staying positive is key. However, it's just hard to remind myself that getting through what I am trying to get through now won't hurt me when I actually get to that exciting part. Will it dampen my spirit? Crush my positivity? Make me a stronger person? I'm not sure. Everything's a trade off, I just want to make sure what I'm trading is actually worth it. I don't like sitting at this desk and wishing I was running through ponderosa pines with my lungs pounding. At this desk, my lungs are pissed off. I have a nice view though.

In any event, I fall asleep next to an angel every night, who needs me more than I need myself. I can put up with all this.