Luisa, our friend from Vancouver CA, is in town for a conference that starts after the weekend. She's hanging here at the house to enjoy some of the fun Boulder has to offer. First up: Eldorado Canyon.
I dropped Dave off at the bus stop this morning for Peru, then Luisa and I headed in for some climbing. We hiked up to the Rincon Wall for some fun. First climb was Emerald City. This, for some reason, is the only climb I got photos of her on. Bummer.
From the top of this, we did the second pitch of Over the Hill. I don't think I've been on that pitch before - great fun! One move of WTF?? and then good fun face climbing. After hiking down, she did the first pitch of Over the Hill. I watched having done it before and knowing it is a foot killer. I may have new feet, but I don't want to wreck them in record time. :)
We hiked back down along the base and hopped on the .9 - I think it's called Rincon. Fun. Especially exciting was the long, virtually unprotected traverse (there isn't any gear!) to get to the belay station. Once slip there would NOT be forgotten. The scars would last a long time too! :)
After cleaning this, she hopped onto the .10b climb called "Five ten crack". Good times!
Though it threatened to rain all day, and it was consistently cold, we managed to get a full day in. It was great fun!
After climbing, we went straight to Sherpas Restaurant for some delicious Tibetan food. Mmmmm. Excellent day. Tomorrow we may go mountain bike riding, or climbing...we'll see what the weather has in store for us.
After months of planning, training, plotting, and dreaming, Dave left this morning on the bus to the airport. Destination: Peru. He and some buddies are there for almost three weeks to summits some high peaks.
It'll be quieter, messier and there will be far fewer food choices here at the house without him around.
Given where they are going, I won't have much if any communication with him while he's there.
Dave and Quinn, along with Alex and Andy, are preparing for a big trip to Peru. There they will get some big peaks (22k-ish) over a period of 2.5-3 weeks. In an effort to get some altitude body training, Dave and Quinn headed up to Eldora to sleep and slog around in the snow.
Obviously they also used this time to be silly. Good times. Since I wasn't there, I can't add too much other than I think the photos speak for themselves. Tomorrow they head to Loveland Pass for more training, then Saturday they are off. Look for some cool Peru photos in the future...
A real treat in the house is to steam some edamame and let the parrots party. It is great entertainment as they pretty much eat their weight in edamame. I totally understand why they like it. The first photo is on the old guy, Henri (32 yo) enjoying the good stuff.
Next up is Ferne and Clover. Not only do they very adroitly remove the beans from the shells, they then, using their very cool tongues, peel each bean. The bean skins then make an impressive "food beard" which ultimately ends up on the wall. :)
Mmmmm says Ferne - Edamameeeee!
Gabbie loves them too. As fast as we hand them out, they shell, peel and ingest the beans.
Grace hangs onto her yummy seed pod. Gotta be vigilant - once Gabbie eats his, he'll go for hers and she knows it.
Dave and I have found some time to head out to the South Mesa Trail - our favorite near-the-house birding area. We were not disappointed!
Before even getting out of the car, we saw this gorgeous White-Crowned Sparrow. Not only is he a spectacular little guy, but he was entertaining working over the dandelion blooms.
Another great birding area is our backyard. This year, we've been happy to be visited by our first Black-Headed Grosbeaks! They've been less scarce lately - we hope they make our yard a permanent part of their daily routine.
The South Mesa Trail is loaded with Yellow-Breasted Chats. They are tricky to photography, yet Dave has been really fortunate to get many great shots.
The Bullock's Orioles have made their first seasonal appearance. Lots of fussing in the the trees and brush with their presence.
In one tree with a lot of fussing, we found Orioles fussing about a Western Tanager. Turned out it was a young male. Beautiful little guy with his Orange head just barely coming in.
Another cool textured photo of The Bullock's in his favorite tree.
Another difficult bird to get a photo of is the Gray Catbird. Lots of meowing and growling in the brush paid off when one finally hopped into the open!
And who can resist a nice portrait of the Spotted Towhee?
Dave has been busy for a year to get a nice photo of the Lazuli Bunting. FINALLY he did it! They are very skiddish.
Yet these Lazuli's were more cooperative. What a treat to see them up close and personal...
Including a tongue!
A nice shot of a pretty little Black-Chinned Hummingbird. An amazing shot of a tiny little bird!
FFinally, a photo I took...and one that is in focus! This pretty little girl was bathing and I caught a nice photo. Though plain compared to many other birds, I still think she is beautiful.
Luisa, our friend from Vancouver CA, is in town for a conference that starts after the weekend. She's hanging here at the house to enjoy some of the fun Boulder has to offer. First up: Eldorado Canyon.
I dropped Dave off at the bus stop this morning for Peru, then Luisa and I headed in for some climbing. We hiked up to the Rincon Wall for some fun. First climb was Emerald City. This, for some reason, is the only climb I got photos of her on. Bummer.
From the top of this, we did the second pitch of Over the Hill. I don't think I've been on that pitch before - great fun! One move of WTF?? and then good fun face climbing. After hiking down, she did the first pitch of Over the Hill. I watched having done it before and knowing it is a foot killer. I may have new feet, but I don't want to wreck them in record time. :)
We hiked back down along the base and hopped on the .9 - I think it's called Rincon. Fun. Especially exciting was the long, virtually unprotected traverse (there isn't any gear!) to get to the belay station. Once slip there would NOT be forgotten. The scars would last a long time too! :)
After cleaning this, she hopped onto the .10b climb called "Five ten crack". Good times! 
Though it threatened to rain all day, and it was consistently cold, we managed to get a full day in. It was great fun!
After climbing, we went straight to Sherpas Restaurant for some delicious Tibetan food. Mmmmm. Excellent day. Tomorrow we may go mountain bike riding, or climbing...we'll see what the weather has in store for us.
