5/13/2008 - Indian Creek - Day 3

We got up the next morning to find it was still really cold and windy. Our plans to possibly do more in Castle Valley were not to happen. Instead, we packed up and headed to Indian Creek which is about an hour south of Moab, Utah. Before going to Indian Creek, we hung out in Moab and did some laundry (so much of what we had was drenched), dried our packs, gear and shoes, and did some grocery shopping.

Then off to Indian Creek we went. We saw three cars in the entire place as we entered. It was almost devoid of other humans. A cool spot just inside of Indian Creek is Newspaper Rock. Here is a place where Indian inscribed petroglyph into the wall. Very cool.





After this brief stop, we set up camp, prepared dinner, and sat out to watch the cat play in a nearby tree and roll in the dirt. Pente enjoyed some of her first tree climbing at this location.



We found a wonderful campsite - total seclusion, silence and great views. We relaxed the rest of the day. The moon was nearing fullness so the moon rising was beautiful each night.



I can see why so many people really love Indian Creek. It is enormous (it looks like it goes on and on and on) and it is beautiful.

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5/12/2008 - Fisher Towers & Castleton - Day 2

We got up to a bit cooler and windier than expected weather. We had a nice breakfast and took the cat out for a bit of a roll in the dirt. Pente *loves* to roll in the dirt at any opportunity.



Though goofing off with the cat is fun, we had work to do, a summit to conquer. On the list for the day was the mighty Lizard Rock. Lizard Rock is a short tower, but fun nonetheless. And it was close to the car and the wind couldn't cause stuck ropes on the rappel since it is only one pitch.



Dave cruised up it. I did too. Only later did I look at the back side of this formation and wonder how the hell it was still standing!














We packed up camp and headed to Castle Valley. Our destination was Castleton - a beautiful desert tower. The weather was looking a bit iffy, but it was steadily improving. We finally made the decision to go for it. From the looks of Castleton, I believe the crux is the approach - 1400 to 1500' vertical gain. It felt that way too. In the photo, Castleton is to the right. The tower itself is about 400' high.



We did the North Chimney climb. It was quite physical - and the sandstone was SOFT! As we progressed, the wind got worse, and the temperature really dropped. And then it started raining. Then hailing. Then later snowing. We were really cold and wet by the time we got to the top and needed to hurry down. More than one person has gotten struck by lightning here.



I signed the summit register and we started rapping. I believe it was a series of four raps, and some "fun" wet sandstone down-climbing and we could begin the hike back to the camper. It was nice getting in the Great White (the camper) having some hot tea and warming up.

We were surprised to see all the fresh snow on the surrounding mountains. It's May for goodness sakes!

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5/11/2008 -The Desert Tower Trip - Fisher Towers - Day One

I'd been in Boulder all of nine days so it was clearly time to hit the road. I'd long heard that Dave loves to climb desert towers - many photos in the house are illustrative of this. I'd not done this sort of climbing, so off we went. We left Boulder on May 11th and headed west on I-70. Our first stop was the Fisher Towers. This was my introduction to the so-called "soft" sandstone of the west.

It is soft. Really soft.

We set up camp and hiked right over to do Ancient Art. This classic climb is four pitches and rises about 400'. The crux pitch is about 10+ or 11a. What is most odd about this tower though is it's shape. It's like a shaky-handed giant was playing with silly sand.

I'm pointing to the screwy summit of Ancient Art in that photo. Off we went to climb it.



The crux is a pebble pulling section. It was balancy and fun. I was certain I'd rip a pebble out and smack myself in the face. All around the pebbles still in the sandstone were holes where pebbles once resided.



The nature of the rock and the climb prompted helmet wearing. I know I should wear one all the time, but admit to rarely doing so. This may be the second trip in 11 years I've done so. I was loving that helmet.

To climb the final pitch, one has to walk across a narrow section of rock - a plank of sorts - with about 400' of air beneath them on each side. I confidently approached this section to "walk the plank". And then I stopped. And stared. The wind was howling. "Go!" I urged myself, but somewhere deep inside, I responded "HELL NO!" I stared some more.

It grew darker. And windier.

Finally I sat and scooted my way across the cursed plank. Undignified, but I didn't want to be dignified anymore. Making it across without the plunge, I turned back to look at Dave. My low level of confidence was obvious. Gack.



I could claim that we forgot to take photos of me at the actual summit. But that'd be untrue. Truth is after 10 minutes (or 4 hours it seemed) I just wouldn't/couldn't do it. Tears welled in my eyes as I said "I, sniff, just, snort, don't want, sniff sniff, do it..." So I retreated with my tail between my cowardly (though live) legs.

My first desert tower summit denied.

I could still belay though. And Dave could get to the summit.



Happily, he still wanted to climb with my chicken self. Next time, the summit will be mine! I guarantee I'll scoot across the plank, but I think I'll go further. Maybe...

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The Fun Continues on Bikes...

Dave had a gift waiting for me when I arrived in Boulder. He'd told me one was waiting, we played three guesses, etc., but I had no clue what it was. I was thrilled and totally surprised to see my surprise was a new, beautiful, sparkly white road bike!



Boulder is a major biking city and I am happy to be a part of that. Dave is both a climbing and biking fanatic. My bike would not be lonely in the garage hanging around with his bikes.



The road and mountain bikes are cool, but the coolest may be his Cruiser Bike. Red with flames, a ringer and plastic parrot on the handlebars. There is a cool cruiser ride every Thursday in Boulder - I can't wait to go on my first.



Until the cruiser ride, it is road biking time. The morning after I arrived, we went to U-bikes to get some clothes for riding. I needed something bright so as not to become road kill. We selected some fun stuff and hit the road. For my first ride, we road from the house to some friend's home in Eldorado Springs, then up to Cherryvale and finished the 27 mile trek with the NCAR hill. I looked at this hill and thought "no way." With the carrot dangling of a 20 minute foot rub, I started up this thing. A man, about 85 years old jogged past me while I chugged on up. Humbling. I made it though, without stopping or expiring.

The foot rub was sweet.

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Bye Bye to the Lou and Hello Boulder!

May 1st finally arrived. I had to give an exam to my undergrad victimology class, grade them, calculate class grades, post them, and I was free to go. After that excitement, I met Janet Lauritsen for a last lunch at a nearby restaurant. I'll miss working in the same office as her - hopefully we can work together in spite of the move.

After lunch, I darted home and loaded the car with plants, parrots and plastic bins of stuff. It looked like a rolling terrarium! The birds and I then headed toward Kansas City. The goal was to get to KC (Olathe, Kansas really) and spend the night at the Dogfather's house. He and his wife graciously opened the house to my flock.

As we arrived, the sky was dark, churning and angry. The evening was spent in the basement listening to tornado sirens, hiding from tornadoes and straight-line winds. We didn't get as much sleep as I wished for, but at least everyone and everything was okay. That was not the case for many in the KC region. I won't miss tornadoes and assorted heinous Midwest weather.

We hit the road at about 6 am. An hour into the drive, the wind started - 60 mph+ crosswinds non-stop. I called friends to check the weather to make sure I wasn't driving into some worse weather, and I wasn't. The wind was so bad I had to drive with both hands on the wheel. Still, I swerved around like a drunk on the road. Tumbleweeds flew all around pummeling the car - some of them sticking to the grill. It was madness. Then the ground blizzard started as I was getting ready to exit Kansas. The lasted for hours. I was convinced the only thing that remained for the trip was some swarm attack of locusts. About 30 miles east of Denver the sky cleared and the winds stopped. It was a gorgeous day.





I arrived at the house to find Dave waiting outside for our arrival. He helped me unpack the car and put the birds in their new palaces.







They *love* their new cages, especially the play pens on top. I detected not even a moment of stress during the whole trip or the adjustment to their new home. Given that everything was done, we settled down for a happy hour at the house and relaxed. It was great finally being here.

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My stuff finally gets to Boulder, I was just there for the weekend...

Though the house was sold and I was technically homeless, I still had a month to finish in St. Louis as the semester wound to a close. My colleague, TJ, was kind enough to take in me and the five parrots for the month. His dog Russell was a great host paying no attention to the birds. Russell is just a sweet dog in general.

The month went quickly since I spent about a week of it out of town. Some time in New Jersey at the College of New Jersey for some work-related stuff, and then a long weekend in Boulder helping Dave finish the unpacking and organizing the house. The moving truck arrived weeks before I did, and by they time I got here, not much remained to be done. That is so very "Dave" of Dave, and so very appreciated!





With the sale of the house, I was able to buy some new. larger and much needed parrot cages. They arrived in Boulder and Dave put them together. They just awaited their new inhabitants. It was so nice knowing that nothing but arriving remained. I'd be able to drive to Boulder, unpack the birds, have a drink and relax. Everything else was done.

Because everything was ready to go, we were able to go out and play. Here we are on the Yellow Spur in Eldorado Canyon. Great fun!






















Following this fun, I had to return to STL for the last time. We joked that I was just leaving my new Boulder home for a business trip to STL. I needed to retrieve my birds and my car. I'd be in Boulder for good very soon. Yay me!

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Farewell SE Climbing tour, and Farewell St. Louis!

Dave came back to St. Louis for about 2.5 weeks in March. This was a fun, yet busy trip. Though there was much that needed to be done, we first packed up and headed out for a Farewell Southeast Climbing tour. Our hope was to go to Seneca Rocks, the New River Gorge, the Red River Gorge, parts of North Carolina and Tennessee. The weather had a completely different idea regarding our itinerary as it was snowing in many of those locales. So, we pointed the car southeast into Tennessee and hoped for the best.

Our first stop was Foster Falls outside of Chattanooga. Minutes into the trip, Dave wrecked his knee. The trip was then reconceptualized as the Southeast Eating tour. This was posted as a trip report on www.supertopo.com (a climbing website). It's quite a funny trip report so I encourage you to check it out. Go to: http://www.supertopo.com/climbing/thread.html?topic_id=571680&msg=571719#msg571719



When we returned from this trip, we had A LOT to do. The entire house needed to be packed, most of my belongings needed to be sold or given away, and we had only a few days to do it. Luckily, we are both very organized and we got it done. Before all that no-fun stuff, we had a party so some of my STL friends could meet Dave. It was quite a good time!




Most of the attendees were from the office. They partied in the kitchen, they partied on the back porch, and they partied in the dining room. Others came too - some climbing friends - Kelly and Cam showed up for the duration. And my sweet neighbors John and Evie Merrill were there. Of course, they showed up with delicious goodies. They will be one of the most missed parts of St. Louis for sure.




After the fun, we had some serious work to do. Plants, furniture, home goods needed to go, and go fast. Pictures needed to be packed, as well as the items that made the cut to go to Boulder.




Not only did the house need to be dealt with and packed, my office did too. So many books, so much weight. Ack! Much was tossed, much was donated and much was boxed up (13 book boxes) and taken home for the movers. I spent the rest of the semester in an empty, echoing office. It was disturbing.





In the end, the house and the office were packed and cleaned. The movers came, and the house too was an echo chamber. I had grown used to the sounds of an older house, but with the new echos, every noise sounded like a monster emerging from the basement. The evidence was clear, I really was leaving STL and UMSL. Everyone wondered if I was getting scared or anxious. I wasn't. In fact, it was a great relief to be rid of so much stuff, so much responsibility and so much worry. Life really is too short to work all the time.

Bye bye St. Louis house!

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