Rifugio Mestdagh

June Climbing Trips - finally!

2009-06-26T06:19:00.004-06:00

After couple of days climbing locally, it seems my tendonitis is holding up. It's been about 19 months since I've climbed consistently. I'm hoping it's not a "false summit" - like 2 other times.

So AWAY we GO on climbing trips! Yeah - easy climbing for me. First trip was to Shelf Road - between Canon City and Cripple Creek. Here's a few pics I shot and this is a fun video I shot of Julia climbing. Turn up the volume and you'll hear the never ending song of birds.

Last weekend's trip was to Vedauwoo. Vedauwoo is a special place between Cheyenne and Laramie. Beautiful granite formations among meadows, Ponderosa, Fir and Aspens. The Coopers family - Tom, Karen & Jessica, joined us. Pics are here . This is a great shot of Jessica climbing.

Memorial Day Utah & Canyoneering Trip - 2009

2009-06-01T21:22:00.005-06:00

Although wet and muddy, this was a great trip! Clare Shemeta & her kids, Mia & Russell joined us for the weekend. A muddy camp in in front of the San Rafael Reef got the trip off to a .. well muddy start.

We did a fun loop hike in Natural Bridges Nat. Park between Sipapu Bridge and Kachina Bridge. The water really added to the beauty.

In spite of the weather, we mnaged to squeeze Fry Canyon in. The kids kept saying "Awesome" as we got underway. When we had to swim the wet sections, the reactions varied between kids. I caught a nice one of Julia here:

More pics HERE!

Bear!

2009-06-01T20:53:00.003-06:00

BEAR! I heard something at the front door. Too late for a human visitor so it must be an animal. Yep. I see it now. Black and about 2 feet high at the shoulder - a yearling.

.. and it was heading for the garage .. which was open .. which had garbage. Dang! By the time I ran to the other end of the house, the bear was dragging the garbage can outside. Mia started banging pots while I stepped into the garage (w/ door in hand) to see who intimidated who more. The bear stood it's ground. I looked around for something to throw but couldn't find anything close. I knew that if the bear got the lid off the can, it would be a problem forever. Finally, it backed off as I yelled from the top of the stairs and Mia dented the pans together. Finally, I rescued the can but the bear was holding it's ground about 15 feet away. I pulled the can inside and shut the garage door as it finally ran off.

I love bears but I think this one is going to be a pest.

Sig Papp - Enjoying new mountain ranges in heaven

2009-05-30T20:14:00.003-06:00

Today was Sig's memorial service. Sig was 67. He was the first to show me there's more than climbing crags and technical routes in the peaks. He died suddenly of a heart attack.

Sig introduced me to 14'eers and the Utah desert. From Castle Peak to the traverse of the Maroon Bells (including a biviouac) to my first trip to Canyonlands National Park. We did the Notch Couloir on Long's Peak and there were the weekly after work climbing days with the Rocky Flats Mountaineering club. We did a an incredible week of backpacking in the Sangre de Cristo Range .. and a winter camp below St. Mary's glacier - Lot of drinking & chess on that trip.

We ski toured well before wide skiis and plastic boots. It might have been a day trip to Indian Peaks, the Commando Run or a few days at the Tagert hut (before the 10th Mountain hut system) above Aspen.

Usually there were no lack of people on these trips .. and no lack of laughter and beer back at camp. Sig was an explorer. He'd always get out and see something he'd never seen before .. shared with good friends.

It was bittersweet to go the the memorial service and reception afterwards. It was good to see his wife, Ellen & his "kids", Mike and Kathy. It was good to see many colleagues and comrades from our prior work - Rocky Flats Nuclear Weapon facility. Many of these people had been on this trips and I haven't seen many of them for at least 14 years. I'm making plans with some of them for a fall trip to Utah. Sig would like that.

Well Sig, bye for now and thanks for the great times ...

Julia's 7th Birthday

2009-05-26T20:17:00.004-06:00

We lost count of the kids Julia invited. Luckily it was outside - and the weather was decent. We had a treasure hunt, a relay race with 2 wooden spoons holding a potato (not as easy as it sounds), a tug of war and the usual whack the piñata for food supplies - I mean candy!!

It was a riot! That's Julia in front during the tug of war. Guess who is on the other end? Me! I was slowly losing. Then Mia joined in on the girls side and they dragged me through the dirt. Dang. I thought age and technique ruled over youth & power ..

More pics are here.

Julia wants pierced ears

2009-04-09T16:48:00.002-06:00

6 YO Daughter: Mama, can I have my ears pierced?
Mama: It's ok w/ me but talk to your papa.
6 YO Daughter: Papa, can I have my ears pierced?
Me: Sure, no problem
6 YO Daughter: Thanks Papa. You're a good papa.
... she skips away
... she skips back
6 YO Daughter: Can we go now?
Me: Now? I was thinking when you're 12 years old
6 YO Daughter: Papa! We need to talk! I want them pierced for my 7th birthday.
Me: Oh, that's different. What about 11 years old?
6 YO Daughter: Everyone in my class has pierced ears.
Me: You don't want to be the same as everyone else do you?
6 YO Daughter: Papa!
Me: What about 10 years old?
6 YO Daughter: Papaaaa !!!

It's looking bleak for me with the 2 gals against me. I'm saving my best line for last though: "I own your ears until you are 12" ;-)

Cooking & Music without Mama

2009-02-24T21:53:00.003-07:00

As we drove home after Julia's climbing practice, we talked about dinner. It became very apparent that Julia believes she is much better cook than I. Now that wouldn't take much but I certainly can cook better than a 6 year old. I couldn't shake her belief though. She told me about when she showed me how to separate an egg (true but ..) etc.

Not wanting to discourage her, I moved the subject to music. We drove home, into the foothills, accompanied by Grateful Dead. I like the Dead much more now than when I was younger. Julia confirmed that appreciation of the Dead is indeed age dependent. She gave it a thumbs down.

Going home to bury Peter

2009-02-23T06:38:00.002-07:00

This morning, Mia is flying home to Schönau am Königsee to bury her brother, Peter. She called her Dad this morning. He said it'll be his greatest joy to see her. I hope she can find some joy within this time of sorrow.

I'll be home working and taking care of Julia, by myself, for the week. This will not be a walk in the park but we will have fun too.

Peter Stocker - ripped out of the middle of his life

2009-02-20T16:39:00.005-07:00

Today is a very sad day in our lives. We received news that my brother, Peter, died unexpectedly last night. A autopsy will be done on Monday. He most likely died from a heart attack. He was in top shape and only 42 years old. Nobody would have expected him to have a heart attack. Even doctors did not diagnose it in time.

We will all miss him dearly. It will be especially hard for his girl friend of 25 years, Moni, and his 5-year old daughter Anna.

Peter, keep an eye out on for your little girl wherever you are.

More pictures of Peter and family are here.

Ford vehicles & Starr's Clothing

2009-02-09T21:19:00.003-07:00

Our 2001 Ford Focus blew a radiator hose. Of course, this didn't happen nearby or during business hours. I drove the truck down to Broomfield and we nursed the Focus back to Boulder with help of a 5 gallon water jug and duct tape. While this wasn't that expensive, it was catastrophic. Lucky that we weren't driving in a remote area.

This is the 3rd time, we've had a problem with the Focus. The first was front suspension - expensive. The 2nd was a blown thermostat gasket which resulted in catastrophic radiator fluid loss - also expensive. Both turn out to be common Focus problems. This car has only has 70k miles! Our last Ford, a 1994 Escort had 140K miles before we sold it. Not one major problem with the Escort. Seems like Ford is on a downhill slide. Ford (fix or repair daily) will have to come up with something I really want before I buy another vehicle from them. Ford, are you listening?

On a positive note, I stopped by Starr's Clothing on Pearl Street today. Starr's is a local & independent Boulder clothing company. I ALWAYS walk out with more clothing than I intended buying - and I HATE shopping. Starr's has a great selection with great service! Support them!

A Nice Day to Drop Off the Mail

2009-01-27T20:28:00.007-07:00

Bluebird Skies and 5°F - a nice day to walk the mail to the mailbox. A fire cranking in the wood stove .. this is why we live where we live.

Wind, Bobcat & Fire - An Interesting Day

2009-01-09T16:09:00.003-07:00

Wind and more wind, day after day .. then it got bad. A nice Spruce was uprooted. Shingles are everywhere. Then the snow machine blew over .. twice. Mr Bobcat showed up outside my window in the morning also. It was watching me before I looked over my laptop out the window. Few people get to see one so close. It was about 8 feet away. I called Mia over to share the view. Pics of all below.

In the afternoon, the wind blew down a power line which started a fire. 11,000 + homes were evacauated. We were to the South but we kept a close eye on it. It came within about 1-1/2 miles of us. Wild day!

The Night of the Mountain Lions

2008-12-02T17:48:00.009-07:00

Bill & I were coming home after a Utah canyoneering trip. I was driving Bill's Forerunner when this lion jumped in front of me. I didn't even have a chance to brake. After a lot of noises and bouncing lion, I could finally stop. We ran back up I-70 to check on the lion and pull if off the road if it was dead. Bill waved the flashlight to ward off traffic when I realized I didn't have the time to test the deadness factor. The traffic was scary close and scary fast. I grabbed the hind legs and pulled the sucker off the road. Luckily it didn't even raise it's head. What a beautiful animal! And oh my, the paws were huge.

Unfortunately this beautiful animal was going to cause us a lot of pain. This incident occurred on I-70 between Georgetown and the Eisenhower tunnel. We got back to the car and checked out the front end. Antifreeze was draining down the road. Much of the bumper and steel supporting structure was gone. The steering components and skid plate were also busted up. Of course I don't have a cell phone and Bill's ran out of juice as we were deciding who to call.

After 1/2 hour, a couple of state troopers pulled up, looked over the cat and took our story down. They also called a tow shop in Idaho Springs. The rest of the story involves the mysterious lost car key, the story of Idaho Springs resident, Scott Lancaster, who was killed by a lion back in 1991 and how the $5500 car damages will be paid for. I finally got home at 1:30am instead of 9:30pm.

Oh .. and to top it off ... on the way back to Boulder, I saw 2 more lions crossing the road North of the aggregate plant on Rt 93. In the last 9 years, I've seen 2 lions. Now in one night, I see 3 more lions. It was surely the NIGHT OF THE MOUNTAIN LIONS ...

Boating the Colorado - West of Loma

2008-10-02T20:22:00.003-06:00

This was a great trip between Loma, CO (map) and Westwater, UT (map). We had a two nights on the river. The kids had a riot in camp and in the boats and sometimes just swimming. The picture to the left captures Julia and Garett paddling. Suprisingly they even look sychronized.

Thanks to Chris & Bob for the boats and to Chris for setting things up and organizing the equipment.

Slideshow is here! Pics are here!

Crestone Music Festival

2008-09-30T18:39:00.001-06:00

Crestone is a pretty special place for music. The music could suck, which it didn't, and it would still be great! We were there for day 2 of 3 and saw Eileen Ivers and others.

Mia was just getting over her plantar fasciitis and blew her foot out on the first dance. Imagine the disabled (me) helping a cripple to the health center .. Mia wouldn't let me toss her over me shoulder. She had to hop! It was like a 3 legged race at a county fair.

More pics here!

Julia's First Day of 1st Grade

2008-08-28T17:31:00.001-06:00

A few more pictures of Julia's first day are here!

Chalk Creek Pass and a Marmot

2008-07-24T20:26:00.003-06:00

After climbing at Monitor Rock and a stop at Princeton Resort Hot Springs we looked for a camp up Chalk Creek. All four National Forest camps had signs out - Campground Full. Luckily we don't need any smoky official campground to stay in. We headed higher and passed St. Elmo, an old mining town. We took the junction toward Hancock Lake. After many bumps, we started to find sites but they were taken. I was the master camp finder and not worried but it was getting late! I found a side road and put the truck into 4x4 for a bumpy but worthwhile cruise to one of the best campsites of recent memory. Certainly the best of this year. The picture shows us at timberline, about 11,500 ft. with a little receding sunlight. It doesn't get much better.

The next day we hiked up Chalk Creek Pass. A visitor suprised us at lunch. It hesitantly approached as Julia shot pictures. She captured the marmot pretty well, I'd say.

One more amazing thing we saw is a collapsing mining structure. This thing was just about to fall on the road! See this and other pics here!

A day hike to 12,316

2008-07-22T18:59:00.004-06:00

Julia wanted a story. So I told a story about Rebecca, the miner's daughter, all the way to the summit. The story revolved around an old miner and a harmonica. Of course, the miner taught her how to play it. We took a wrong turn so we didn't see Rebecca's cabin, though. I've seen it in the past on ski tours. We'll have to do another hike to find it or maybe a ski tour when Julia gets older, as it's a tough descent.

The summit, 12,316, is in the background of the picture here. Beautiful day. Lot's of green but not like the green we experienced on our recent trip to Bavaria. It felt great to get high again. Colorado mountains are good too! Peak 12,316 is just south of Vasquez Peak between Berthoud Pass and Jones Pass.

More pics here!

Cuenca and the exit from Spain.

2008-06-21T20:50:00.003-06:00

Cuenca's old center bristles with medieval buildings perched above the deep gorges surrounding the town. The hanging houses, casas colgadas, are architecturally unique. They date from the 16th century and hang out high above the river below.

Cuenca (map) was a fun town to stroll around. Lot's of old buildings and even gargoyles to look at. I wish I had this door at home. More Cuenca pics here!

Later, on the outskirts of Madrid, we found a hotel near the airport. Hotels near airposts are expensive but we found one that was reasonable. It was the fanciest hotel we've stayed at - and the toilet had 2 buttons. One for a big flush (left button). One for a small flush (right button). Not the first time I've seen this in Europe but the first time I thought - Why can't we do this in the Western US (where water is precious?)

Madrid's Barajas airport's rental car return was a nightmare. We missed what turned out to be the only road to return the rental car. We spent spent the next hour trying to find our way back. There was only one road and you had to hit the master combination! The trick - Stay right and don't commit to a right turn until you see the small orange sign.

Spain was fun and such a huge, beautiful country .. we'll be back.

Montanejos & beyond

2008-06-21T18:36:00.000-06:00

1. Julia climbing at Montanejos, 2. Cliffs above the gorge, 3. Yikes, I think there's a reason for the NO TRESPASSING sign. Let's get out of here!, 4. Puebla de Arenosa above Montanejos, 5. Double aqueducts in an amazing location, 6. An aqueduct that was

Montanejos is a cool little town perched on the side of a hill. There's paved paths all over town. They are well used - especially to get to the warm springs. We stayed at the Rifugio at the base of a canyon. Climbs were just a short walk from here.

West of town is an amazing water project (#3 above). I haven't seen anything like this. Here's another pic which has a link to the corresponding satellite view.

Leaving Montanejos, we traveled the small and windy road towards Cuenco (the next post). Incredible scenery on the way - note the 2 lower pics above.

More Montanejos pictures here!

The Mystery of Peniscola's Castle

2008-06-18T20:24:00.004-06:00

We could have spent the trip climbing and exploring inland above Tarragona but we needed to see more of Spain. We drove South along the coast. The destination was Peñiscola which had a castle from the 14th century jutting above the old town.

First a little swimming was in order. We had learned that the spanish beaches are crazy busy with no parking so we scanned the map for road near the coast without a beach. We found a little cove where the waves wouldn't pulverize us against the rocks. Note the old town of Peñiscola in the background with the castle above it. Here's a close up satellite view of the castle. The castle was/is very defensible from the Mediterranean side as well as from land.

After swimming we found our way through the old town to the castle. It was a maze. It seemed like they wanted to keep people away from the castle. Even Papa Luna (Pope Benedict) seemed to be waving us away. As we entered the castle I wondered if an airborne virus had wiped out all the tourists. The place was eerily empty. There was no one but us. It was great but a little suspicious. We entered room after room and finally found the dungeons. Still no people but we found a human skeleton in an iron cage .. then we saw a knight templar (picture / wikipedia) hiding in the shadows. Did we walk thru a time warp? Yikes!

Once our eyes adjusted, we realized we were in a ... museum. And yes, the curator was at a desk in the next room and very much alive. Mystery solved. No airborne virus, no wayback machine to the 14th century. No need for me to break out my superhero costume ..

More Peñiscola shots here!

La Mussara - the wind, the history, the climbing

2008-06-17T20:26:00.001-06:00

We arrived at La Mussara in the clouds. We drove past the refugio to the ruins and had to backtrack. The ruins were cloaked in clouds. If we weren't tired and worried about a place to stay, we would have taken some pictures of the clouds swirling around the turret and broken stone walls.

We set up a tent at the refugio and had a great dinner there. Why cook when the food is good and relatively cheap? We climbed at a couple of the La Mussara TV crags. Nice view of the Mediterranean sea from the crags. We climbed there 2 days. It was wild to watch & feel the moisture laden clouds rolling in every afternoon. The temps dropped and it turned cold - even in the hut during dinner.

The ruins were pretty special and trails wound down the mountainside to villages 3000 ft below. The rest of our La Mussara pics are here!

What did I miss? Oh yeah, the endless windy roads getting to La Mussara from Rodellar. As the hours wore on, I pushed the speeds and the shifting on the mountain roads. It was fun until Julia let me know that all was not good. She puked on everything nearby in the backseat. Poor girl. She was a good sport though. We also went to the Med near Tarragona. It was fun swimming where we went but we drove throught the tourist area on the way back. It was uncomfortably crazy full of tourists. Back to the refugio we went.

Rained out in Rodellar

2008-06-14T20:41:00.004-06:00

We arrived in Rodellar, Spain excited but exhausted. Staying awake while driving from the Madrid airport was tough - except for the part where the police pulled me over for an alchohol test. If they would have known, they would not have pulled me over. They gave me a little plastic thing. I looked at him and asked if it was a kazoo. I blew one direction, then flipped it over. No sound in the other direction either. Looking serious now, he shook his head as he struggled to pull something off his belt. Finally he motioned I should put my device in the hole of this instrument he held. The hole was too small. I shrugged. He sighed. He motioned I should flip it over. Then the kazoo fit nicely. Finally, it dawned on the jetlagged driver, me, that this was an breathalyzer test - not a test of geometry. It took a couple of tries before I understood that the policeman was after duration - not pressure. Finally he waved me away with a shake of his head.

We arrived in Rodellar in shaky weather which turned worse. The campground served great food but was suprised we wanted it before 10pm. When we said early was fine, we were still served at 10pm. We found this was normal even if they spoke English - which was rare. It rained that night and the next day. We could have slept well except for the canyoneering groups partying. We finally had a talk with the closest group at 3am. They were still drinking. I was in a fighting mood. Mia was more diplomatic though and told them to go to beddy-bye. It appears that basic canyoneering in Spain is like frisbee in the U.S. - a fun thing to do but little commitment required. Canyon trailheads, which start in town, are well signed with maps, descriptions, equipment lists, rope length and self administered breathalyzer testing equipment etc. This is sort of cool, especially being able to drop into the canyons from a beautiful town. What a place to live!

We took a beautiful hike in the rain the next day. As we headed back out of the canyon at 1pm, we saw the canyoneering groups stumbling in. (They must have skipped the self administered breathalyzer test. hah!) The Pyrenees forecast was bleak and we only had a week in Spain, so we headed toward the coast - toward La Mussara.

More Rodellar pictures here!

Obituary of my Prosthetic Foot

2008-06-10T20:27:00.004-06:00

I was running back to the cave, with headlamps for the kids. I hear the sound of a gunshot coming from the ground. Everyone looked at me as I looked at my foot. I had a strong suspicion that it was not a gunshot but a catastropic failure of my Vari-flex carbon fiber foot. I took a tentative step and confirmed my foot was a goner. It had lived a long life and handled a lot of shit. 8-1/2 years is a pretty good life I'd guess.

Without further ado, here is my maximally delaminated foot. Luckily I had an old backup in the truck.

Spring in Dinosaur National Monument

2008-06-09T16:54:00.012-06:00

We've been to Dinosaur National Monument before but this trip was special. Maybe it was because it had been a long, cold winter and spring had not really taken hold .. The air was crisp. The flowers were abundant and the cloud shadows made for special views. Without a further attempt at inadequate prose, here's the Yampa River in full flood conditions. The Green River is making an entrance from the left. The confluence is near but out of sight.

Most of the following flower pictures were taken on the Sound of Silence trail - a nice 3 mile loop.

It was a great trip with the Coopers. Jessica and Julia have so much fun playing together. I'd really like to spend some time exploring here. So much to check out - especially off the beaten path. The last day my foot broke but that's another post.

The full set of pictures are here!