catching up on April and this weekend

It's been a few weeks so I'll write up a bit here to catch you, my faithful readers, up. The past 3 weeks have been like a blast from the past of sorts, and a lot of fun to boot. Here are the details...

The weekend of the 19th-20th Janan visited from Columbus. It had been about 5 years since we had seen each other in college, and she flew out to see Ryan (and I). Friday night we went to a Colorado Mammoth Lacrosse game. Holy cow. It was what I imagine a convention of people with Ritalin prescriptions that haven't taken their meds in weeks would look like. I was a little scared to be perfectly honest. The free beer and hot dog helped though. Anyways, Saturday we went up to our old standby, RMNP, to show off the Front Range to Janan. It was good to see it again and to get out for a hike on the snow. We didn't walk very far but had perfect weather for the outing. We saw several interesting blue birds, elk, bighorn sheep, deer, and of course snowy peaks. See the photos here.

The 23rd I celebrated my 1 year anniversary of Boulder and Colorado residency. It's amazing how much things can change in a year... I could write a whole post just on that but I'll just say, "what a difference a year makes" and leave it at that. (That's not to say my life before here was all bad and everything is perfect now, but you get the idea.)

Last Saturday Ryan, Allison and I considered another attempt at Quandary, but passed after reviewing the weather forecast. Snow and low temps in Breckenridge meant even more snow and lower temps 4000 feet higher, so we decided to get some quality time in with our snowshoes back at RMNP. The snow was great and we got in about 9 miles; from Bear Lake trailhead to Emerald Lake and also from Glacier Gorge trailhead to Mills Lake. After making the 1.5 mile trip to Emerald Lake, we headed down to get out of the wind for a snack and discovered a nice hill to trigger mini avalanches on. The snow was interesting to dissect and the layering begged to be experimented with. We climbed and slid several times and then headed back down towards the car. The area between Dream and Nymph lake offered a sustained butt-slide through the trees that was quite fun. After a refuel at the Glacier Gorge trailhead, we ditched the snowshoes and hiked to Mills Lake. The view was fantastic as usual, with the lake still very solidly (mostly) covered with ice. After the 9 miles we decided it was time for Cilantro Mary's in Lyons. [Finally! After driving past several times, Ryan and I finally took the bait, and it was worth it. The food was a tad pricey, but the atmosphere/building and food was worth it. Recommended!] Check out the day's photos here.

This week, on the 29th, was my 27th birthday. Hello late 20s; be good to me. Coincidentally it was also the week Matt flew up from Ft. Worth to do some work in Denver. We got to catch up Wednesday and Thursday night. It had been over a year since we had seen each other, so it was good to swap stories with another ex-Austinite in Denver for a short time.

Finally, this weekend was a super combo ski-climb double-dip! Friday night I decorated the Jeep with my new Yakima rack so that Saturday Ryan, Tony, Shelly and I could go to Loveland to check out the 17 inches of powder that fell during the week. It was Ryan's first day ever on skis, and he did very well. Except for a short venture (read: coaching mistake) into blue/intermediate territory that affected confidence, I have to give him an A for the day. I returned to the ridge for a go at the run I botched so badly earlier in the year (Wild Child?) and did much better. It was windblown and icy, but still enjoyable. It wasn't perfect, but much better than last time. The pitch didn't scare me at all and I was able to enjoy the ride. I have to admit that I wussed out on the 5 ft cornice/drop in, and came in at an angle, but it was still very nice... a confidence booster despite not being the best skiing of my life. The powder once off the ridge was very nice, even if just for a few hundred feet of vertical. My last run, which is to say my last run of the year, was a bump run coming down skiers left of Chair 1 (Cat's Meow). There were still nice freshies in the short tree section before the bumps, and the bumps were a powder/hardpack mix. The snow was really soft at the bottom, so I covered most of the gamut in one fell swoop. I still have a lot of room for growth on bumps, but it felt really good to work my legs for a few runs... it was just nice to be out for the 15th day on my skis this season. We chose to apres at the Dam Brewery.

Today produced a lovely day of rock climbing in Boulder Canyon. M'Linda, another '03 Redhawk, and her boyfriend, Jon, came up from Telluride to help yesterdays crew discover outdoor climbing in Colorado. It had been 5 years almost to the day since I had seen M'Lin (I blame the Peace Corps), so it was great to catch up and see her again. We went to Happy Hour Crag for some 5.6 - 5.8 climbing. We made our way left to right on "I, Robot" followed by "Are We Not Men?" then "Twofers" and "Twofers Gully". I think Twofers was the most challenging and rewarding, with the roof in the middle of the route about 30 feet off the ground. The view from the top was quite nice too. I still have a bit of a "heights thing" but did better today thwarting that than in previous outings. The photos from the day can be seen here.

school spirit

Miami among top public universities: U.S. News & World Report.

Miami University is ranked 27th among the top public universities in the nation, according to the just-released U.S. News & World Report college rankings. In addition, Miami placed 67th in the overall (public and private) national rankings.

I'm happy to hear my tuition was not.... all for not. In all seriousness, I'm glad to see the ol' alma mater still doing well. Soon enough I'll get back to MU, and maybe even find myself enrolled in a Big 12 university here in Boulder just as soon.

ps it's great to have fall again. Austin had a quasi-fall that started around Thanksgiving, but this is the real thing again, and it's been nice to have a few crisp morning to ride into work on. I know I could be cursing the snow in April (overnight lows are already mid-30s in Summit county!), but I have officially re-remembered that Fall is my favorite season...

Two 14ers, ski resorts, and Miami alum

On August 4th, Ryan and I left his apartment at 6:15 to pick up Joe (one of Ryan's co-workers) and head to 14,267' ft Torrey's Peak. Torrey's was our 5th 14er of the summer, and is just a half mile north of Grays Peak, which we were already familiar with. We started from the same trailhead we used for Grays Peak, so there were no surprises except the weather. I decided to wear shorts this time since I figured it was August and late enough in the year to at least be 60 degrees on the summit. I was wrong. This was probably the worst weather we have hiked a 14er in so far, which I believe helped keep the crowd to 'tolerable', but I knew I was going to pay for deciding on shorts.

The hike past the Grays/Torreys saddle is probably the steepest finish we've done so far, and the actual summit is extremely small (like Huron was) with some significant exposure not far from it. Despite the constant shivering while we sat and admired the view, it was one of the more rewarding for me. Here is Joe, Ryan and I (right to left) on Torrey's Peak.

Notice the clouds in the background. When this picture was taken it was probably 40 degrees and windy with low visibility. Here are some other examples of looking across or down on the cloud cover:

(Looking towards Grays)
When we got back down to the saddle between Grays and Torreys we decided to go ahead to Grays since it would only add about 30 minutes to our adventure. Ryan and I had already hiked Grays earlier this summer, but it was fun to do both in one day! We didn't even take a picture on Grays since we were still fogged in... but it was at least 10 degrees warmer on Grays with the wind slowing down.

All in all, I started out somewhat poorly, but kept pace with Ryan (he hikes at 11000 ft faster than I walk normally at 6000 ft) about as well as can be expected and feel that I put forth a pretty solid effort. My lungs and heart certainly appreciated the workout.

After we made it down to the Jeep we took Loveland Pass past A-Basin to Keystone for the Bluegrass and Beer festival. I had never been over Loveland Pass or seen either A-Basin or Keystone, so the ride there was fun enough for me. The festival was also really fun (and easily 40 degrees warmer than the summit of Torreys). I think next year we'll try to get a campsight and make a 2 day effort out of the festival! We ate dinner in the Salt Creek restaurant in Breckenridge. Note to ex-Texans: this is without a doubt the closest to Central Texas BBQ you'll get without being within Austin city limits. I will be going back after a long day of skiing! Salt Creek also has a huge wine selection, so it's a perfect date dinner location (assuming you have a significant other... I suppose I need to work on that one).

The next afternoon Ryan and I joined the Colorado chapter of the Miami Alumni Association for lunch to send off Denver area freshman to Oxford, Ohio for the fall. I have to say this made me quite sentimental. I have great memories from Miami and definitely want to get back to see the ol' Alma Mater soon. It was nice to swap stories with others who, even if the experience was quite different, at least recognized the draw of Miami, could talk about locations and had a solid context around Miami conversations. I'm looking forward to the CU vs Miami football game in a few weeks! [I can't believe college football is just around the corner, and I'm drooling right now just thinking about it. I'll have a new Ohio State watching bar to attend, and have season tickets to the CU Buffaloes home games, so this should be an interesting year. I sure don't want to wish away the rest of the summer, but LETS GO BUCKS!!!]