Migrating / Saving this our blog

Google is shutting down inactive blogs - so adding a post to give us time to figure out what to do. I have saved the blog posts to pdf so not all is lost if we can't find a good home for Rifugio Mestdagh. One idea is to migrate this blog to wordpress and add the facebook posts to the wordpress blog for now. We'll see

Climbing in Fremont Canyon, WY

Fremont Canyon is a special place. It's a narrow granite gorge channeling the North Platte River. The North Platte (wikipedia) is one heck of an interesting river. It takes a long time and 3 states, Colorado, Wyoming and Nebraska, before if finally marries the South Platte to form the Platte.

Mia & I haven't climbed there for at least 15 years. Besides a new picnic shelter and crapper, it hasn't changed much. The river was big this year. Imagine getting lowered to a spot 100' above the river and hoping you can climb back out!


The climbing is definitely scenic, as well as the camping. You can't see the gorge behind our camp but it's there and 250' deep at that!



A few more pics are here! There's even a decent climbing pic that Julia captured - to prove we are still at it. Oh yeah, definitely look at these guys and how they bring their dogs on their ATVs. I couldn't stop laughing!

Julia starts 3rd Grade!

Julia is getting big! She is SO excited to start 3rd grade. Here she is at the bus stop. Don't laugh at those legs. They are made of steel and can out hike most of you! haha

Family Canyon Trip - Snow, Fun & a Pileup!

The canyon we did was great - Angel Cove Canyon!



Gettting there and getting back was heck though. Vail Pass was closed driving out, so we had to take the South detour over Fremont Pass to Leadville, then Tennesse Pass to Minturn where we connected back to I-70. Luckily the passes weren't bad.

I mention only one canyon because it rained early Sunday morning. Bob, Leila & Garrett left, then it started snowing. As we were 10 miles from blacktop, we got decided to get out while we could.




Except for the driving, everyone had fun. The kids really enjoyed the slides in the canyon and playing in a big sand dune afterwards. Leila had some fun of her own!

We salvaged Sunday w/ a hike at Fisher Towers. The towers are amazing! We saw a climber summit the thin corkscrew tower. This tower is called Ancient Art. Click on the picture for a larger view. You'll see the sheen off the climber's helmet.


We were lucky driving home. Between Copper Mountain & Frisco, it was a blizzard of horizontal snow and a whiteout in places. A westbound driver waved us to slow down. I couldn't see anything ahead but I started carefully pumping the breaks. Then we saw the problem. A semi had jack knifed across I-70. Cars were piling into each other, right & left of us, along the sides of the road to avoid hitting the truck. Of course, this left me to drive the ever narrowing funnel - which ended at the semi. Nowhere to go but forward - unless I wanted to pile into the cars along the side of the road. I thought I should have stopped 1/4 mile earlier so I must have been sliding quite a bit. I was focused on stopping and that I did - 15 feet in front of the truck. I yelled for Mia & Julia to get their coats and shoes on because we were bailing out of the truck before someone crashed into us - from behind. Luckily Mia saw a pickup threading it's way around the semi and through the ditch to the safe side of the semi. We followed and parked - breathing a sigh of relief. Then we got out to help others. I've never felt so helpless. Parents and kids in shock - walking around barefoot. A woman dropped a cell phone in my hands. She could no longer hold the phone. 911 was on the other end. I tried to describe the 40 car or so pileup and it's location, when the adrenaline started to subside and I started shaking. We helped the family back into the car as the EMTs arrived. Other people brought blankets for the family. We could have done that but were too shaken up. The EMTs had worked their way here from the uphill side. No fatalities at least. They said everyone was being cared for so we drove off - leaving dozens of wrecks in our wake. We offered rides to many but people needed to stay with their vehicles. We were the only East bound car on the road as we passed another small pileup Westbound. None of this even made the news. Too many accidents to cover on a nice spring day in May - May 2nd.

Much thanks to Dave Pimental for his writeup of this and other canyons here.

All pics are here, with a fun slideshow (only 19 pics) here!

Spring BoyZ Canyoneering Trip

Here's a fun slideshow of our canyoneering trip to Utah. Bob Wood, Chris Haaland, Roger Schimmel w/ the new canyoneer Chris Kulish participating. Your favorite subject, Steve Mestdagh was along too. We did the 2nd fork of D Canyon the first day and Boss Hog the 2nd day. I had forgotten how fun Boss Hog was!

Julia's 8th Birthday & Slumber Party

We didn't really know what we were getting into. Really we didn't. Nine girls overnight couldn't be that bad. First there was playing on the tree fort. The pic below shows Haley climbing up, Kyle sliding down.



Then face painting. Amanda was the expert face painter. She did Julia and a bunch of the girls. I should have taken a picture of the result of Amanda's face after Mia botched it. Luckily Amanda did not hesitate to wash it off immediately. Pictured below is Amanda, Calley and Julia.



Musical chairs followed. This turned very competitive but ended short of blood staining our asphalt. Following is a video of the training session. I decided to delete the competitive video (ahem .. some may call it evidence) of charming 7-8 year old girls head butting each other and chairs flying against the house. This behavior might have been induced by blasting Linkin Park's New Divide.

Then there was the whacking of the piñata shown here by Jamie. Note the whacking stick is only a blur.



Then make your own grilled pizza, present exchange, roasted marshmellows, searching for tooth brushes, brushing teeth, searching for animals the kids couldn't sleep without, then sleep .. or NOT as the case would be when you have wall to wall mattresses and futons.



Then there was the episode of the horned monster which floated in the air followed by one call home by a crying child. We were worried that if one left, they would all leave. After that was the 10:30pm snack. They they escorted each other to the bathroom until 1 am in the morning. (See mention of monster above.)

Then it was quiet until 4 am. I woke at 4 and wondered what happened? Did they die of Carbon Monoxide poisoning? I could see the national headlines .. then I fell back to sleep exhausted.

Luckily, they were not so active the next morning.



Although later some caught a 2nd wind.



The full set of pics are here!

Spring Break in Arizona

1. The start of our Arizona spring break trip before it really started snowing, 2. Steve & Jula having breakfast, 3. Steve climbing at the West side of Cochise Stronghold, 4. Mia & Julia @ Saguara NP East, 5. Julia leading a 5.7, 6. Montezuma's Castle

What a week! A big snow snow storm hit Thursday night and continued all day on Friday. We picked up Julia from school and headed South on Friday afternoon. Of course, Raton Pass on the Colorado/ New Mexico border was closed. We bought some toys for Julia and a Rain-X wiper at the Walmart, in Trinidad, while we waited. Don't bother w/ Rain-X wipers. They're good only for throwing up in the air and shooting w/ a shotgun. I'm glad I only bought one. After a few hours, the pass briefly opened so we could sneak through. We stopped at Motel 6 in Raton exhausted from the stressful driving. At least I was exhausted. Then Julia got sick - and not just a little. It was good we were not camping out. I'd be the one outside with her when she was doing her duty from both ends in 15 deg weather and howling winds. Lucky we were, alright.

The drive South thru New Mexico was incredibly beautiful with all the snow in the junipers and pines. I've never seen so much snow at low elevations. I'm sure the cars decorating the roadside landscape didn't think it was pretty though. One accident closed down I-25 just North of Sante Fe. A half hour wait and we again pointed the juggernaut South toward nice weather and dry roads - which occurred at Albuquerque.

We arrived at Cochise Stronghold, in the Dragoon Mountains of Arizona, that evening. Yes, this was the hideout & eventual burial ground of Chief Cochise of the Chiricahua Apache. (Interesting history of Cochise here.) The location of his grave is a secret. The ones that buried him took this secret to their graves.

During our stay, Mia picked up Julia's sickness. The whole east side campsite, heard all about it. The next day was my turn.

Between climbing at the east and west sides of Cochise Stronghold, we camped deep in the Chihuahuan desert. Ten miles from Mexico and nothing around but Creosote bushes and Ocotillo. The sunset, stars and sunrise were spectacular. We hit Bisbee and Tombstone during this diversion also. The Queen Copper Mine Tour at Bisbee was worthwhile but the mining museum was even better. Driving North to the West side of the Stronghold, there was a town called Tombstone. Tombstone labels itself as "the town too tough to die" and is where Wyatt Earp, Doc Holliday,Virgil and Morgan Earp fought the Clantons and McLaurys on October 26, 1881. Indeed, gunshots echo throughout the town as you, and modern day gunslingers, walk the boardwalk. Re-enactments of this famous gunfight happen daily. Step right up!

The west side of the Stronghold was very remote. We saw few people and no climbers. The climbing at the Stronghold was good but we only grazed the flanks of this convoluted range. On this trip we only did sport routes but we'll be back for longer routes when Julia is older.

A couple days near Tucson finally gave us the warm weather we were hoping for. Tucson has great climbing & hiking. We did a bit of each. Driving back home we stopped at Montezuma's Castle. This was a neat place. Julia received a junior ranger badge from the ranger Mary White, who showed her how to make a God's Eye - like the Indian children of the past.

The full set of trip pictures are here!

Julia's 1st ski tour

We have been hesitating to get Julia out ski touring because it means a second set of ski equipment. Kids grow out of equipment every year or 2 so the cost adds up. Anyway, we rented some skinny skis and headed for East Portal - near Rollinsville. As we neared Nederland, it was obvious East Portal would be too windy. We detoured to the town of Eldora and skied West. Julia had fun - especially on the way down. She's used to having her heels fixed to her skis so she fell A LOT! There were more rocks in the snow, in the parking lot, than I remembered. I was going way too fast, hit the embedded rocks and crashed badly. I've been doing that a lot lately - crashing, I mean.

Here's a shot of a bundled Julia.

Christmas 2009

A loving family, a white christmas, a nice tree and good friends. What more can you ask for .. except nearby relatives? Here's a slide show of a dozen pics and a short video of our 32 person sit down dinner. After starting the slideshow, click the symbol in the lower right of the slideshow screen to view full screen.

Deep into Robber's Roost Country

We went deep in Robber's Roost - out to the Orange Cliff / High Spur area. 60 miles off pavement to get in. Chris, Sara & Emma Haaland went with us. Beautiful Utah country.




The girls had to take turns going first. Somehow Emma slipped by Julia. This didn't go over well with Julia. That's what is going on in this photo.

We did most of the E Fork of Big Spring Canyon, along with the W Fork. We climbed out fo the East Fork when we got to a swimmer pothole. It looked like it was getting nasty after that. Nasty meaning wet, narrow and too hard for the kids. NE Spur Fork was a great canyon also w/ some good narrows at the beginning and end.

All the pics here!
Slideshow here.

Thanksgiving 2009!

We had a great time in Illinois this year. Trips to Chicago. Great Greek food. Set Dad & Mom up with a new computer - 23" monitor. Coming up is Dad's 80th birthday. He'll be able to keep up w/ everyone on Facebook. We swung by St. Louis on the way back for an evening and morning. Good to see Janet & the kids and Tom. They're great! We wish we could spend more time with everyone.

Here's some more pics of Thanksgiving day.

Julia's First Lead

Julia led her first climb - Sep 27, 2009! We were not pushing for this. It just happened .. It was bolted of course and the draws were in place as you can see. She top roped it first and I was at the top to provide encouragement and photo documentation.



It was a newly developed 5.6 climb in Boulder Canyon. More pics HERE!

The Tetons

The Tetons are beautiful in any weather which was good because we didn't see them often. Lot's of clouds and rain. As usual, we didn't know when we'd end up in the Tetons so we didn't have camp reservations. We found the perfect camp outside the park along a braided river. Nice view to wake up to!


The highlight of the Tetons was a canoe trip on Jackson Lake. We had planned to do a few pitches on lower Guide's Wall but the weather wasn't stable enough. This was Julia's first time in a canoe. She did well. She paddled for about 1/2 hour with papa helping in the back.



We drove home via the hot springs at Saratoga and the Snowy Range. The Snowy Range drive was new to us and very cool. Alpine out your car door.
More pics here!

Thermopolis to Cody to Gardiner, Montana

After climbing in Tensleep Canyon, we had a nice stop at Thermopolis (map). Thermopolis (thermopolis.com) has a lot of cool things nearby but we were after the hot springs! The State Bath House is free but we went next door for the big slide. Julia has been here before. There's no talking her out of the big slide. The big slide used to be really fast and scary. Too fast in my opinion. They must have reduced the water flow because it was not so bad now - or maybe I'm getting bolder in my old age!



We ended up camping West of Cody at Buffalo Bill State Park. We found a beautiful camp on the lake and Julia could ride her bike around. Cody is a pretty cool tourist town - one of the larger towns in the state at a population about 9300. We climbed for half a day before heading North on one of the most scenic drives I've done in years. The Chief Joseph Scenic Highway links Cody, WY & Cooke City, MT. One of the impressive places we drove is over a bridge spanning the Clark's Fork (of the Yellowstone, of course).


Last time I was in Cooke City was a summer between college years - late '70s. Cooke City is still a small town but bigger than I remember. It is hemmed in by mountains. Sun is scarce. I'm sure the winter population is under a 100. On that trip, it was a jumping point into the Beartooth Mountains - a 10 day mountaineering trip - and what a trip!


We drove throught the Silver Gate (NE gate) into Yellowstone. Fascinating! In the 1st 2 hours we saw a black bear, a bear that was brown that might have been a small grizzly, hundreds of buffalo, a pronghorn antelope and an elk. Yeah, it was evening - the viewing time but still ...


Yellowstone camping was filled so we continued to Gardiner, MT, (map) and looked for a camp site. The official ones were full. So we headed North on logging roads looking for perfect site .. and looking. We didn't find the perfect site but we found a damn good one. With the clouds rolling in and out and the view .. well, make sure you click on the picture below.


I have to say, we were a bit worried about Grizzly. This was Griz country for sure and there was no one around for 10 miles. We cleaned up and packed everything in the truck. As we went to sleep, I heard a long, drawn out sound. Not really a howl but sort of. I know what fox, lions and bears sound like but this was different. I went to sleep dreaming of wolves!


More pics here - includes the rest of Yellowstone we saw (a very small portion).

Big Horn Range, Wyoming - Climbing & Hiking

We were only here for 3 days but I'm excited to go back. We stopped for breakfast in downtown Buffalo. There was a festival that day. We saw the bed races. Imagine a group of adults or kids pushing a bed full speed down a steep street. Amazing no one was hurt.

Buffalo also hosts one of the best all around sports stores I've seen - the Sports Lure. You walk in and see a full display of fishing gear, tied flies, 100s of guns etc. This is what I'd expect to see in a decent Wyoming sport store. (Well, maybe not so many guns but ..) Further back are tents, sleeping bags, outdoor clothes & shoes, maps, hiking & climbing guides, then the team goods for baseball, basketball etc. It was not a big store either. REI watch out!

Mia felt like hiking the first day in the Bighorns so we drove to Circle Park and hiked to a lake well below Bighorn Peak. Looking up, the trained eye picks out numerous alpine lines waiting to be done. I'm sure some of them have been climbed but this area doesn't even have a climbing guide in print. Out of print, yes. We just need more time and someone to watch Julia at the tent.

We climbed in Tensleep Canyon for the next few days. A few climbing pics and more scenery here. Yes, we're working with Julia to take some climbing shots of us. They are getting better.

Climbing & hiking above the Arkansas River valley

We did a couple nice weekend trips in July. (I know it's August but the more fun we have the less time I have for recording it.) We climbed at Monitor Rock for a day and hiked to Independence Lake (West side of Independence Pass) and spent a night and day near Cottonwood Pass. ( Click on the pics for larger views of life! )

The hike to Independence Lake starts w/ a creek cascading down to the road. Can't beat that for a start. Here's shot of Mia & Julia at the lake:


Yes, those blue skies and clouds are what makes Colorado.

Camping doesn't suck too bad either. Here's our camp below Independence Pass:



and our camp below Cottonwood Pass:

More pics here

Climbing in Maple Canyon, Big Cottonwood and a Bat Attack in City of Rocks

Starting w/ a camp east of the San Rafael Swell (map), in Utah, this was a great trip. We climbed a few days at Maple Canyon, just west of Freedom (map). The camping has no views except trees - which makes it marginal (in my opinion) but the climbing makes up for it. Amazingly steep climbing on cobbles. My arms were worthless by the 3rd day.


Next up was Big Cottonwood Canyon near Salt Lake City. This was new terrain for us. A family we met at Maple recommended a 3 pitch 5.6 route on Dead Snag Crag. It was an excellent pick - see first picture. Even better, Julia made a friend at camp. We had a nice camp in the Aspens and the kids ran around with a compass and whistle so they wouldn't get lost. The noisy road thru the canyon was the only detraction. Many people must live near the ski areas above.


We drove over the pass to Park City the next day. Pretty area. Ski areas everywhere! We stocked up at the farmer's market and and checked out the 2002 Olympic ski jumps. The Australian team was training. They practice jumping into an aerated pool. When they came off the big jump, this was pretty exciting. There's a great ski museum too.


Onto City of Rocks National Reserve in Idaho. This is a special place. It's way rural and very beautiful. One very unusual thing happened here - bat attack!


I had climbed up about a 100 ft up to the belay. A bat lands on the rock in front of me, shows it's fangs and starts squeaking at me. It doesn't stop. I start yelling at it. Mia yells up that she's climbing and she doesn't get the appropriate response because I'm busy w/ the bat. (I'm not making this up! ) I look down to make sure she's not climbing and then see that the bat is gone .. but it's not over. The bat had jumped onto my shirt. With one hand, I pull my shirt away from my body. With the other hand I start pummelling it w/ my climbing gear. The bat is still there so I grab it by the tail and toss it. It plummets to the ground without opening it's wings. I figure it's dead. I belay Mia up as weather moves in. We rappel off to avoid the rain and I search for the bat. I find it and it's dead. Mia, and my daughter Julia, wander over and the bat starts moving. That's all the sign we need. We get out of there.


We had a couple of thunderstorms accompanied by series of rainbows. Oh yeah, the climbing was good too. Look at the last picture and you'll see Julia about half way up.

The album of pics is here!

June Climbing Trips - finally!

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

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!

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

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

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

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 years old! ;-)

Cooking & Music without Mama

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Chalk Creek Pass and a Marmot

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

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.

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.