07_26_09 A new mountain bike!

Last weekend, Dave and I went mountain biking.

It didn't go so well. I rode one of his bikes and it was far too big. I believe being run over by a truck would have been less abusive than riding an over-sized hard tail on these rocky Colorado trails!

After the headache subsided, and I got feeling back in my wrists, I started thinking I would give mountain biking another try.

Under one condition - a new bike for me. :) So, our fleet has expanded with a beautiful mango-mountain bike! I think the color works well with all the others. Ha!

For its maiden voyage, we drove to Nederland to meet Roy and Lisa for some riding. We cruised around, then celebrated (we'll celebrate anything) at their home with a delicious dinner and just the right wine.
What a great time! Mountain biking has been redeemed in my eyes. :)

Of course, it has been cold and raining since before this ride so the poor bike has been anxiously awaiting its next outing. Hopefully that will be soon...

First, we gotta hit the Sierras...

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07_25_09 Dave and Mark & Death and Transfiguration

Dave has been getting out a fair amount doing some tough-guy climbing with some friends. On Sunday, he and Mark Cartwright did the big hike to Death and Transfiguration. I'm not sure which is more difficult - the hike or the climb!

Truth is, I REALLY don't know which is harder since I've not done the hike or the climb! :)

This single pitch climb starts high above the 3rd flatiron giving a neat view of it. Mark hadn't done the climb before (Dave has multiple times) so it was Mark's day.

He onsighted the climb! And just in time to avoid some gnarly weather that was coming in.

On the drive home, they both got quite a show of lightning, rain and those funky clouds. The crazy weather in Boulder continues.

After the wacky weather, we were all rewarded with a beautiful double rainbow! Since this day, it hasn't been warmer than 60 degrees here. Maybe winter has already arrived. I hope not!

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07_20_09 - Happiness at the pit of a Cherry and other fun Things!

So many pretty things around. We've managed to grab some fun snapshots I thought I'd share. For example, a week before the wedding, we took a picnic to the wedding site to enjoy the view. The flowers were beautiful, but not as pretty as the day of the wedding.

This summer we've seen many cute bunnies, lots of flowers, beautiful birds at the feeders - and in the house, some very happy parrots enjoying a real treat - cherries. The excitement in their eyes the first time they realized there were pits in the cherries was priceless!


Anyway, here's to a beautiful time of year in a beautiful place!

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07_19_09 - Lumpy Ridge with Dave, Mark and Michelle

Dave, Mark, Michelle and I headed to Lumpy Ridge in Estes Park to climb for the day and hopefully escape some heat. We met early and drove up. The weather was perfect and hike was pleasant as always.

When we arrived at the base of the Book, we found people. Lots of people. At the base of the climbs we had hoped to do. Many of these people were learning how to tape their hands and 'what to do with the crack.'

Time for Option B. Mark and Michelle opted to climb J-Crack and we headed over to Femp. We merged several pitches up, we all did Cheap Date.

While I didn't particularly care for Femp (5.9), I thought that Cheap Date (10b) was one of the best climbs we've done in a long time. I wish they were all like that!

We hiked down the gully, had some lunch and started to get lazy. Before we totally gave up for the day, we decided to climb Pear Buttress (5.9) (Dave hadn't done it in nearly 20 years) and Mark and Michelle did Loose Ends. At the top, we all did some 10.b variation just to the right of the top of Loose Ends. It was thin and hard.


By then, it was getting late so we headed out. After a stop at the Smoothie store in town, we headed back to Mark's home and had a delicious meal of salmon and vegetables.


It was a great day!

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07_12_2009 - Dave hikes South Arapahoe Peak

The weather has finally stabilized a bit which means we can get outside and play without being hailed and rained on! This past weekend while I spent the day with Carol Kotchek, Dave hiked South Arapahoe Peak.

The Arapahoe Peaks (there is a North and a South Peak) are in the Indian Peak Wilderness area. South Arapahoe is 13,400' in elevation. North and South Arapaho Peak is home to the Arapaho Glacier which is the largest glacier in the Front Range. The water from this glacier is the main water source for the Boulder.

Dave hadn't hiked the peak for about ten years and found it really beautiful. No doubt all the rain this year led to the beautiful flowers he saw there. Enjoy the photos!

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07-11-2009 - Needles of South Dakota and a Mini-Moon

Though I'm posting this today (finally), the actual mini-moon occurred June 25 to 29. Our original plan was to do a very cool four-day bike tour through Colorado. This would have include Independence Pass, McClure Pass, etc. (five passes total) and 320 miles. But, the weather here continued being terrible (aka winter like) so we postponed the bike tour until August.

BTW, we spoke later with some friends who were in the area of our planned bike tour and they confirmed that the weather was hideous.

Good call on our part!

Instead we drove to South Dakota to the Needles to climb. Ironically, this place usually has rain everyday and yet the forecast was great - 10% chance of rain and warm.

The weather was terrific, and the climb was fun. We managed to climb things that Dave had never climbed before. Some were fun, there were a few not-so-fun things, and in usual Needles style, we both got scared here and there!


Anyhoo, it was a nice trip. Nice to get away from lots of planning and working and being over-scheduled. Enjoy the photos!

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