6/08/2008, A Heat Wave? 55 Degrees! Day 4

We got another alpine start (haha! NOT) because it was still cold and windy outside the tent. We told ourselves it was getting better and that *tomorrow* it would finally be the normal 80 degrees. Ah, hope!

We decided to drive down to Building Blocks, an east/west facing wall because it appeared to be the warmest place in the city. We walked to the east face and were happy and surprised to see we had it all to ourselves. It might be because the easiest climbs there were .11a climbs. How hard could they be though? Greg Lowe first climbed some of these routes in the 1960s. We should be able to warm up on these - no problem.

Gack.

These two elevens turned out to be the hardest 11s I've ever seen or touched! The first, Latter Day Saints, had an intestine-exploding bottom crux section followed by some most excellent face climbing. It was a really fun climb, though it is hard to believe it was really an eleven.



As we were finishing this climb, people from the west side of the wall started coming around. Dave did the next 11a, a climb called Rain Gutter. This climb was so hard, I was exhausted just from watching him climb it! Another Greg Lowe 1960s FA. Greg Lowe is obviously a climbing beast! Dave got to the top of this "warm up" working harder than I've ever had to see him work before. I couldn't even leave the ground! No joke. I felt a little more positive about my climbing ability after seeing better climbers than me unable to leave the ground as well. This thing was HARD.

We walked around to the west face and did a fun 10a called Lego. Then we did a climb called Scraps (11a). It had a difficult and awkward bottom section followed by a fun bunch of climbing.

By the time we finished this route, everyone else had vacated the wall. It was so quiet and peacful! We finished up on a fun sport climb called Acid Rain (10a) before heading back to our arctic camp site.

This day ended up being one of seeing friends. First we ran into Eric Zcishie (spell?) in town. Dave hadn't seen him in years. They caught up. Back at the campsite, we learned our new neighbors were friends from Boulder. From them, we learned a large contingent of Boulderites were up the hill. Some came down to visit and we later walked up the hill to see the rest. Great times!



The night ended again with us diving into our tent and cratering fully dressed. I wonder how many days before our clothes would start growing into our skin. Ew!

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6/7/2008 - City of Rocks, aka City of Ice Blocks, Day 3

It was still freezing and blasting wind when we got up. We huddled around the stove in a pathetic attempt to warm up. We were making hot tea. After we drank the tea, we stooped to warming up water just to drink hot water! It was during this time that the light
snow started falling. Snow in June. Crazy.





We sat around hoping it would stop. But it didn't. We finally gave up and walked into the city to see if we could find a wind-free 'warm' wall to climb on. We did end up getting several pitches in (I Can't Believe it, Deez Guys, Lady J and Tommy Knocker). It wasn't tropical heat or anything, but it was far better than the campsite!





After these pitches we hiked way out to climb Lost Arrow. This cool pinnacle is one Dave hadn't climbed on before. The further we walked, the colder it got, but we decided to go for it anyway. The climb we were doing (name has escaped me) is supposedly a two-pitch mixed route. We did it in one pitch though. It was great fun (except for the frozen, numb hands part). It really was so cold that I had on a shirt, a fleece top AND my down jacket. This on top of my fleece lined pants over another pair of pants. And the obligatory beanie hat. It was still cold! It will be nice to get back to this climb when it is warmer so we can enjoy the climbing and the summit more.



We darted back to camp, made dinner and quickly dove in the tent to get warm and get some sleep.

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6/5 & 6/6 2008, Off we go to the City of Rocks - Day 1 & 2

We were anxious to take off for our warm-weather summer climbing trip. Our destination was the City of Rocks, located near the town of Almo, Idaho. Dave has been here climbing many times before. He's traveled this very week numerous times knowing the weather would likely be nice and warm. We'd be seeking shade, climbing in the shade, taking sun showers, etc.

We both started the day working. It seemed a little hectic when we finally got out of Boulder hours after we'd anticipated doing so. We drove north through Longmont and Fort Collins, then angled up to catch I-80 in the Laramie, WY area. From here, we drove west until we were tired. Being helpful, I fell asleep in the car while Dave set up the road-side bivy on a dirt road near the border of Utah. I crawled out of the car onto our comfortable bed and fell into a coma-like sleep right away. Though he had a driving-buzz, he soon started dozing off.

We were both rudely awakened by the loudest of sounds! I thought I'd fallen asleep while driving and pulled into the path of an oncoming train! It sounded like we were mere feet from this train that was going to crunch us. I bolted awake, heart pounding! Happily, I hadn't been driving. I was correct about the train though. In the darkness, we couldn't see that our roadside bivy was about 30 feet from a train track! The train was LOUD. We giggled and went back to sleep. How many trains could come by during a night anyway? The answer is - quite a few. We giggled all night long as each one startled us awake. In the morning, we woke up with a cow staring at us in a beautiful field. All in all, it was just funny.



We tore down our bed, loaded the car and headed out for the rest of the drive. The weather was really deteriorating around us. Lots of wind, rain and hail. It became more clear as we drove that the City of Rocks wasn't going to be shrouded in hot, sunny weather. Instead, it was hidden from view in dark raining (snowing?) clouds.







When we arrived at our campsite, it wasn't actively raining so we set up camp. It was windy, and quite cool though.

We hung around camp being surprised at the snow on the near by mountains/hills. Dave had never seen so much snow this time of year. After a while, we hiked into the 'city'. It turned out to be a bit warmer and less windy in the city, so we turned around and went for our climbing gear. We managed to get in three pitches before it was too late (Tribal Boundaries, Flight of the Bumblie and Bumblie takes a Tumblie). They were are really fun pitches with Bumblie takes a Tumblie being my favorite. Happy positive edges all over the place!



When we returned to the campsite, it was FREEZING and the wind was blasting. We looked at our stove through the blowing debris, looked at each other, then hopped in the car and went to Almo to find some food. The thought of cooking, eating and cleaning outside was highly undesirable. We got a nice pizza and some beer at Rock City in town. It was warm, the people were friendly and there was no wind!



We headed back to the campsite, bolted into the tent where we slept in more clothes than I've ever had on my body! We hoped the weather would be far better then next day.

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Taking care of business before the next road adventure...

This has been a week of work and fun. We've been on our bikes and hit Boulder Canyon for some fun sport climbing. Dave has been busy working with both companies for which he is consulting. On top of that, we're getting ready for our next adventure - the City of Rocks in Idaho. We'll be there for some time. Like our Southeastern climbing trip, we were hoping to bask in the warmth of the sun. And like our Southeastern climbing trip, it looks like we'll be denied. The highs are forecast to barely make the 60s! Still, it'll be a blast.

Right now, Dave is down in the office working with his faithful assistant Pente watching from her modem perch. The cat loves the modem.

Here is a photo of her on it that I just took. She rolls on it, she yawns on it, she protests (as do cats) on it. On occasion, she even disconnects it causing us both to spend some time figuring out what is wrong with our computers. Eventually we figure out that our computers are perfectly okay. Veeeeery helpful Pente!



Pente doesn't know it yet, but tonight she heads to Camp Ahlers where she'll stay while we are out of town. She seems to have a great time when she is there, and from what I hear, they love having her. Seems she has five humans there to play with and torment. I think they are looking forward to her arrival.

When we return from the trip, we have some perch building to attend to. We need to make some for the shower. In St. Louis, the shower stall was ideal for the birds. As long as they were placed in the correct order (i.e., Never Clover next to Gabbie, never Grace next to Clover, Ferne must be by Grace, etc.) things went well and no toes were lost.



Here in Boulder, the shower set-up is a bit different and the birds aren't as psyched on it. True we can get them in the proper order, but, they find the rod slippery and can't figure out whether to face into the shower (window there) which leaves their back vulnerable to raptors (they are hard-wired and can't help it), or face away from the shower which puts us and the window to their back which is disconcerting. Dave is going to build some perches that will put them into the shower stall which will make them all happier.



Grace and Dave still have a 'thing' going on. Same is true for Dave and Henri. Dave has nicknamed Gabbie "Crabbie Gabbie" (he's a momma's bird, what can I say?). While Ferne and Clover still just want to hang in their cage. Dave says they are as exciting as goldfish!



In other not-so- exciting news, I did not get my new windshield today. Mine was wrecked by the usual truck+rock+highway routine. At first I thought it was just a loud hit...and then the crack starting moving. It now looks like an upside-down letter T. The company showed up with the wrong windshield this morning, so this will have to wait until we return as well.

Tonight we will finish packing, go for a hike, drop off Pente, and possibly watch The Simpsons Movie. Should be fun!

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Pente, the Sparrow, and Ike...

Dave has been in Vancouver, Canada for the last couple of days doing some work. Since he's been gone, it's been quite quiet in the house. Well, except for Pente who has been meowing loudly in protest. During the day she is practicing endless ridiculous poses in her cat bed. She is merely charging up for the night-time assault. Without Dave, she has turned into a night-time-velcro kitty. She has become a pouncing, meowing, head-butting, hand-butting, ear-sniffing, body-licking, breast-kneading terrorist! It's absolutely hilarious - for the first several minutes. I can't be angry with her, she's just needy and she misses her Papa a LOT! She'll be happy when Dave returns this evening. She's resting up for him as I type this. He's no idea what he has in store for him this evening!



I called Greenwood today to check on our little sparrow. Sadly I learned he died two days after I took him there. There must have been something wrong with the little guy. It's so sad! So many baby birds perish every year. I hate that. However, I remind myself of something I read years ago...If every baby bird survived, the earth would be miles deep in birds. Still, it's difficult to see.



Before leaving St. Louis, one of my parrots Ike was adopted out to a nice family living in St. Charles. His mom, Chris, came recommended from Dr. Kersting's, the vet's office. Ike moved to Chrissy's house and really blossomed! He had been dominated seriously by Henri and Henri's jealously. He's stopped talking and I couldn't get near him without Henri going nuts. At Chris' house, Ike has started talking and become very dominant. In fact, his dominance required some attendance at a Parrot Behavior Modification class.



I write this since I got an update about Ike last night. He's doing well. He's still rather angry at the wing/nail/beak trims (he has a slight scissor beak). And he's talking more. Plus, sounds like he is being exposed to more types of food there. At my house, it was all Harrison's Pellets. Hopefully he's still on that wonderful food too. Chris promised to send some updated photos soon. I'll post them when they arrive. For now, here is a nice one of Ike from my photo archives. We all miss him a bunch but know he's in a good place!

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Another normal day in Boulder

Since returning, we've continued staying busy with household chores and improvements and getting outside and assorted other things. A few days ago, I thought I'd drive over to where my colleague Finn Esbensen used to live. The mapquest map made it look easy. It couldn't take more than 20 minutes round-trip I thought. So off I went. The weather was awful! Foggy, misty, blecky. This photo was taken on Lee Hill Road immediately after turning off of 36. There are mountains behind that fog!



But I continued. Even after I got lost up there, I kept going. I finally got to his old street, Brook Circle, but the numbering of the houses were crazy! They were not in any order. I may have seen his house, but I'm not sure. I'll try yet again to go and grab some photos when the weather is nicer.

Yesterday we rode our bikes to Jamestown. The entire ride involved about 1700' to 1800' vertical gain and a 40 mile round trip. It was my biggest vertical day yet. The ride was sort of funny because just the day before I'd been lost on many of the same roads looking for Finn's house. When we got to Jamestown, we grabbed some tea at the local store and watched town-life. It was quite fun. Then we returned up one last hill and road home somehow missing all the rain. I slept like a comatose person last night after it. It might also have had something to do with the violent wipe-out I had in the driveway before we left. I have some spectacular bruising on my hip (again). Gack.

When we returned from our ride, on the front porch was one of the baby House Sparrows that had fledged that morning. The nest is on the front porch and it's been a treat watching the parents feed the young. This poor little guy didn't look good. He was weak, eyes closed, and cold.





Dave warmed the little guy in his hands and a heating pad. Then we were able to get him to drink a little warm water and swallow a tiny bit of food. His swallowing reflex wasn't working at all. Maybe that is why the parents weren't dealing with him. We made him comfortable in a warm box and decided to take him to Greenwood Animal Rehabilitation in the morning. They'd have the necessary tools to get the little bird to eat and eventually release him to the wild.

Once the baby bird was settled in, we continued with some chores. Dave needed several things hemmed, and some other repairs to clothing. I worked on these with my "helpful" assistant Pente. It was hardest trying to iron. Everytime I'd put the garment down to iron, she'd immediately roll on it. Veeeeerrrrryyyyy helpful Pente!



We were happy this morning to find the baby bird much stronger and alert. I drove him to Greenwood first thing where I know he's getting the attention he needs. Hopefully he will make it. I'll call in a day or two to check on him.



Now that the bird is in good hands, Dave is in the camper cleaning it and prepping for out next trip. I'm in the house cleaning (and blogging). We'll leave shortly to go and climb in Eldorado Canyon. It's a gorgeous day and should be lots of fun.

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Life in Boulder

Since returning, we've kept active (with a couple of rest/work days). First, we've spent a good amount of time with the birds. Dave has done a lot of things to enhance their room. Ferne and Clover love their new cage so much, we can hardly get them to come out. No joke. Here is a rare photo of Clover outside of her cage. You can still see the remnants of a bruise on her beak from being frightened by the middle-of-the-night earthquakes in St. Louis.



We've also played with the non stop crazy Pente here at the house. That cat will climb into, under and onto anything. This is her impression of cat sausage. She crawled into the sleeve of Dave's biking jacket. She wiggled in so tightly we had to pull her out. Nutjob.



And we've done a lot of bike riding. The wind has been treacherous a few days making us cut the rides short. I was certain on my last descent of the NCAR hill I'd be blown to my death.

One fun evening, we headed to a newish restaurant near the house: SOBO. It was fantastic. The flavors, service, all was very good.

We've also headed up the First Flatiron twice. This beautiful rock feature is what is in the background of the photo of me posted earlier upon arriving here in Boulder. A large portion of this climb we do without rope or protection. The summit is gorgeous and it's just a lot of fun. The bulk of the photos on this page are from the climbing at the First Flatiron.







I cannot explain adequately my choice in colors for my clothing on that day. Purple and Orange? Even I know better than that. Or obviously I don't.

Other fun stuff includes some home-improvement projects. The biggest was the installation of two kitchen cabinets. The directions say one needs a screwdriver, a level and a measuring tape. And it would take mere moments to install. Ha! Anyone who knows about home-improvement projects knows it required a quarter-ton of tools, 5 hours, and resulted in a wrecked ladder and multiple curse words uttered. In hind-sight it was hilarious and I wish we had photos.

Finally, we headed out to Boulder Canyon yesterday (May 25th) to do some sport climbing. We climbed at Avalon and went until were were exhausted. Our tips were
also killing us by the end of the day. A fun part of the day is the Tyrolean traverse over Boulder Creek to get to and from the wall. Very cool! I'm looking forward to getting out there more to get my tips hardened and my full level strength back.

Today I am finally getting caught up on the blog. It's raining outside so we've been forced to stay in and get stuff done. Now, I just need to get my work done. We have a busy week ahead of us - we are blasting off to the City of Rocks in Idaho in about two weeks!

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