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September and October 2005

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Happy Halloween

Just got back from Vegoose 2005. Probably one of the best weekend's of my life. I'm going to begin work on an extensive page of Vegoose-related material with movie clips from some performances. For now, I provide you with these two pictures.

The Vegoose placard

George McConnell of Widespread Panic and Trey Anastasio jam during Panic's set

October 31, 2005

Happy Halloween
Just got back from Vegoose 2005. Probably one of the best weekend's of my life. I'm going to begin work on an extensive page of Vegoose-related material with movie clips from some performances. For now, I provide you with these two pictures.

Vegoose

Vegoose: that's all there is to say.
October 27, 2005

Vegoose
Vegoose: that's all there is to say.
October 27, 2005

Independence Pass and Aspen, Colorado

Currently, my mom is making her annual visit to Denver. As I had nothing planned and no obvious plans were coming to mind, I was fortunate enough to be asked to go to Aspen, Colorado, one of the most famous cities in the country. Aspen is known for its fame and fortune amongst it's high-profile residents including the King of Saudi Arabia. I only had about a half hours worth of work to do, so it was a worth while trip to take her. We left Denver around 830 on Saturday morning and were at our first photo stop by 1030:

Mom and I with an unnamed peak in the background and La Plata Peak on the left.

After stopping at this location for a while and soaking in the scenery before we began the car climb of Independence Pass, one of the most scenic passes in Colorado. Independence Pass is located in the Sawatch Range, a huge mountain range containing fifteen 14ers!

A panoramic view from the summit of Independence Pass, elevation 12,095 feet

After coming down the backside of Independence Pass, we were in Aspen by noon. We spent about three hours there consisting of eating lunch and walking the outside mall. On the way out of town, we decided to make a trip to the Maroon Bells, the most photographed mountains in Colorado, as possibly the country. I had been wanting to go there since I first moved here, but had never really gotten the chance.

North Maroon Peak (left) and Maroon Peak (right)

We hung at the Bells for a while and then began making our way back to Denver. Arrived home around 7. I was dead. That amount of driving in that short amount of time wore me out. I was asleep by 10 last night.
To see the rest of the pictures from this trip, click here.
October 23, 2005

Independence Pass and Aspen, Colorado
Currently, my mom is making her annual visit to Denver. As I had nothing planned and no obvious plans were coming to mind, I was fortunate enough to be asked to go to Aspen, Colorado, one of the most famous cities in the country. Aspen is known for its fame and fortune amongst it's high-profile residents including the King of Saudi Arabia. I only had about a half hours worth of work to do, so it was a worth while trip to take her. We left Denver around 830 on Saturday morning and were at our first photo stop by 1030:

We Officially Suck at Kickball

Game Hits At Bats Average RBI Result

1 0 0 0.000 0 W, 9 - 8

2 0 0 0.000 0 W, Forfeit

3 1 2 0.500 2 W, 10 - 4

4 1 3 0.333 1 L, 4 - 6

5 0 2 0.000 0 L, 0 - 8

6 0 2 0.000 0 L, 1 - 5

2005 Totals 2 9 0.222 3 3 - 3

We once again got beaten. Our fundamentals are less than stellar. The only good thing to happen was that we won the weekly contest worth $50 in free drinks at a local tavern. We, being the experienced drinkers that we are, spent every cent we won after the game to drown our sorrows. Actually, we don't have sorrows because we really don't care if we win or lose. It's all about the beer.

October 19, 2005

New Possessions

After our first big snow storm the other day, I started getting more and more pumped for the impending ski season. I've decided to learn the art of telemark skiing this year. If you don't know what telemarking (more commonly called tele-ing) is, it is skiing where your heel is free of the ski, not rigidly attached as in alpine skiing. My new tele boots arrived today and I bought new tele skis a few weeks ago. Here they are:

The boots are Scarpa T2's, 2004 model. The skis are K2 Piste Off, 2002 model. I bought the skis used, but the boots new. I've learned, through a lighter wallet, that telemark skiing is not the cheapest of all the snow sports. Ski season is getting so close that Loveland Ski Area opened for skiers and riders today, making it the winner of the annual "first-to-open" contest.

October 14, 2005

New Possessions
After our first big snow storm the other day, I started getting more and more pumped for the impending ski season. I've decided to learn the art of telemark skiing this year. If you don't know what telemarking (more commonly called tele-ing) is, it is skiing where your heel is free of the ski, not rigidly attached as in alpine skiing. My new tele boots arrived today and I bought new tele skis a few weeks ago. Here they are:

The boots are Scarpa T2's, 2004 model. The skis are K2 Piste Off, 2002 model. I bought the skis used, but the boots new. I've learned, through a lighter wallet, that telemark skiing is not the cheapest of all the snow sports. Ski season is getting so close that Loveland Ski Area opened for skiers and riders today, making it the winner of the annual "first-to-open" contest.
October 14, 2005

First Snow Storm

Our first major snowstorm of the season is finally winding down. Some places around the Front Range have received over 12" of snow, as evidenced by these pictures:

Fortunately, neither of these pictures were taken near my house. Usually my house gets much more snow than the rest of the city due to my proximity to the foothills. This storm was a little different, dumping most of its energy on the east side. Of course, after getting only a few miles into the mountains, there is up to three feet of fresh powder. This snow is getting me pumped for the impending ski season. I'm currently out looking for a new pair of boots to go with my new telemark skis. They are probably going to set me back $500. Ouch. Oh well, you only live once.
Needless to say, this snow has delayed our kickball game for the evening. Of course, in true schizophrenic Denver weather style, it's supposed to by 75 by Friday.

October 10, 2005

First Snow Storm
Our first major snowstorm of the season is finally winding down. Some places around the Front Range have received over 12" of snow, as evidenced by these pictures:

Fortunately, neither of these pictures were taken near my house. Usually my house gets much more snow than the rest of the city due to my proximity to the foothills. This storm was a little different, dumping most of its energy on the east side. Of course, after getting only a few miles into the mountains, there is up to three feet of fresh powder. This snow is getting me pumped for the impending ski season. I'm currently out looking for a new pair of boots to go with my new telemark skis. They are probably going to set me back $500. Ouch. Oh well, you only live once. Needless to say, this snow has delayed our kickball game for the evening. Of course, in true schizophrenic Denver weather style, it's supposed to by 75 by Friday.
October 10, 2005

Back in the Swing of Things

After completing the first portion of the Professional Geologists licensure exam yesterday, I can finally take a breath and relax for a few. Of course, the second half comes up in March, so I better get studying for that soon. I think the test went well. I find out the results in December.
Got the stepsister in town right now so I'm going to take her out tonight and show her a good time. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to really see her with my recent schedule.
If you want to read some somewhat creepy stuff, check this site out. This is an ongoing art project where people send in there homemade postcards with a secret on them. The guy who runs the site posts new cards each week. I heard about his guy on NPR. Now that I've gotten into it, I look forward to checking the new cards each Sunday night.

October 8, 2005

Back in the Swing of Things
After completing the first portion of the Professional Geologists licensure exam yesterday, I can finally take a breath and relax for a few. Of course, the second half comes up in March, so I better get studying for that soon. I think the test went well. I find out the results in December. Got the stepsister in town right now so I'm going to take her out tonight and show her a good time. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to really see her with my recent schedule. If you want to read some somewhat creepy stuff, check this site out. This is an ongoing art project where people send in there homemade postcards with a secret on them. The guy who runs the site posts new cards each week. I heard about his guy on NPR. Now that I've gotten into it, I look forward to checking the new cards each Sunday night.
October 8, 2005

Kickball (weekly update)

Game Hits At Bats Average RBI Result

1 0 0 0.000 0 W, 9 - 8

2 0 0 0.000 0 W, Forfeit

3 1 2 0.500 2 W, 10 - 4

4 1 3 0.333 1 L, 4 - 6

5 0 2 0.000 0 L, 0 - 8

2005 Totals 2 7 0.286 3 3 - 2

We got our asses handed to us last night. We all played like crap.
Sorry, not too many updates right now on any level. I've got the first portion of the Professional Geologists licensure exam this coming Friday. My days are spent working and studying. More later. One good thing to report is plans are finalizing for Halloween in Vegas for Vegoose.

October 4, 2005

Kickball (weekly update)

Game Hits At Bats Average RBI Result

1 0 0 0.000 0 W, 9 - 8

2 0 0 0.000 0 W, Forfeit

3 1 2 0.500 2 W, 10 - 4

4 1 3 0.333 1 L, 4 - 6

2005 Totals 2 5 0.400 3 3 - 1

We got screwed out of one inning by some dumbass umpire who couldn't keep track. It might have made a difference.

September 29, 2005

Gilpin County Highpoint - James Peak

After a three week climbing/hiking hiatus, I got back into the County Highpoints realm with the Gilpin County highpoint, James Peak, elevation 13,294. Now that Greg and Kim are back in town, I decided to recruit them to go. They invited a couple of their friends. This was going to be Greg and Kim's highest peak. James Peak is an easy walk-up climb with 3,300 feet of vertical. However, this being your first one can really kick your ass. Here's our first view of the peak ahead:

I met the four of them at the Park N Ride along I-70 at 7 AM for our half-hour drive. We were on the trail by 8. The first mile of the hike is actually probably the steepest. At mile 0.75, you reach St. Mary's Lake. At this time of the day, the water was like a sheet of glass, as evidenced by this picture. There wasn't even a hint of wind. After the lake, you start ascending St. Mary's Glacier, a year-round snowfield. We saw people near the top of the glacier preparing some rails and tables for snowboarding. It's an interesting site to see people boarding and skiing in September.
We summitted at 1050 with a great view of the Front Range. From this vantage point, you could see Pettingell Peak, Grays Peak, Torreys Peak, Mt. Bierstadt, and Mt. Evans, all mountains I summitted earlier this year. Here's what a few of those mountains looked like from our vantage point:

We ate a little lunch, then began the descent back down the slope. At one point, we accidentally got off of our original path and had to do a little searching. After a one-mile detour, we were back on track and arrived back at the car around 2. Not a bad day and some people that had never done anything like that accomplished a pretty tough task. Good times for all. Went back through Idaho Springs for a little Beau Jo's Mountain-Style Pizza and was back at home for a nap by 4.
To see the rest of the pictures from this climb, click here.

September 24, 2005

Gilpin County Highpoint - James Peak
After a three week climbing/hiking hiatus, I got back into the County Highpoints realm with the Gilpin County highpoint, James Peak, elevation 13,294. Now that Greg and Kim are back in town, I decided to recruit them to go. They invited a couple of their friends. This was going to be Greg and Kim's highest peak. James Peak is an easy walk-up climb with 3,300 feet of vertical. However, this being your first one can really kick your ass. Here's our first view of the peak ahead:

I met the four of them at the Park N Ride along I-70 at 7 AM for our half-hour drive. We were on the trail by 8. The first mile of the hike is actually probably the steepest. At mile 0.75, you reach St. Mary's Lake. At this time of the day, the water was like a sheet of glass, as evidenced by this picture. There wasn't even a hint of wind. After the lake, you start ascending St. Mary's Glacier, a year-round snowfield. We saw people near the top of the glacier preparing some rails and tables for snowboarding. It's an interesting site to see people boarding and skiing in September. We summitted at 1050 with a great view of the Front Range. From this vantage point, you could see Pettingell Peak, Grays Peak, Torreys Peak, Mt. Bierstadt, and Mt. Evans, all mountains I summitted earlier this year. Here's what a few of those mountains looked like from our vantage point:

We ate a little lunch, then began the descent back down the slope. At one point, we accidentally got off of our original path and had to do a little searching. After a one-mile detour, we were back on track and arrived back at the car around 2. Not a bad day and some people that had never done anything like that accomplished a pretty tough task. Good times for all. Went back through Idaho Springs for a little Beau Jo's Mountain-Style Pizza and was back at home for a nap by 4. To see the rest of the pictures from this climb, click here.
September 24, 2005

DMB

Got the rest of the Dave Matthews Band pictures from Carrie. Click here to check them out.

September 21, 2005

DMB
Got the rest of the Dave Matthews Band pictures from Carrie. Click here to check them out.
September 21, 2005

Kickball

The older I get, the more I want to be a kid (with drinking priveleges). Thus, I've joined a kickball league through WASA, the acronym for Western Alternative Sports Association. I'm playing with Adam, Allison, and some of her social worker friends. Tonight was my first game (they played last week when I was in Casper). From here on out, you'll be informed of my weekly statistics. Since my dream of becoming a professional baseball player didn't really work out, this'll have to do. My team, the Ballbashers, is currently 3 - 0. Click here to see the current standings.

Game Hits At Bats Average RBI Result

1 0 0 0.000 0 W, 9 - 8

2 0 0 0.000 0 W, Forfeit

3 1 2 0.500 2 W, 10 - 4

2005 Totals 1 2 0.500 2 3 - 0

Not a bad night tonight. That damn ball is kinda hard to really get a hold of. Our team appears to be just out to have a good time. One of the other teams that was there tonight (which we play next week) was wearing cleats and has their own cheer. I like my team more. Any team with a cheer will suffer the wrath of me silently making fun of them.

September 19, 2005

Pearl Street All-Stars

Last night, I went to a concert at the Boulder Theater featuring the Pearl Street All-Stars, a band comprised of artists from other famous bands. Playing bass is George Porter, Jr. of the Funky Meters, Kyle Hollinsworth on keys from String Cheese Incident, Jeff Coffin on the sax from Bela Fleck and the Flecktones, and Stanton Moore on drums from Galactic. Anders Osborne, an independent musician not currently affiliated with any one band, played guitar. I had a great time. This bad can really jam it out and it's cool to see a band in such a small setting.
The concert was a benefit for a local independent radio station. However, with the events of Katrina, they decided to take 50% of the proceeds to donate to the Red Cross. Since my cousin lost her home in New Orleans, I'm attempting to support the rebuilding effort in any way that I can. The show was sponsored by a local microbrewery. Microbrew hangovers are the worst.

September 18, 2005

Pearl Street All-Stars

Last night, I went to a concert at the Boulder Theater featuring the Pearl Street All-Stars, a band comprised of artists from other famous bands. Playing bass is George Porter, Jr. of the Funky Meters, Kyle Hollinsworth on keys from String Cheese Incident, Jeff Coffin on the sax from Bela Fleck and the Flecktones, and Stanton Moore on drums from Galactic. Anders Osborne, an independent musician not currently affiliated with any one band, played guitar. I had a great time. This bad can really jam it out and it's cool to see a band in such a small setting. The concert was a benefit for a local independent radio station. However, with the events of Katrina, they decided to take 50% of the proceeds to donate to the Red Cross. Since my cousin lost her home in New Orleans, I'm attempting to support the rebuilding effort in any way that I can. The show was sponsored by a local microbrewery. Microbrew hangovers are the worst.
September 18, 2005

Lifegem

Recently lost a loved one or loved pet? Here you go, make them jewelry with a Lifegem. Nothing better than wearing dead Fido on your ears. As I think of this concept, I'm reminded of Superman, in one of the movies, taking a chunk of coal, squeezing it for his love, Lois, into a diamond. Maybe that's where Lifegem's founder decided that he wanted to get into the cremation and 'resurrection' business. Some of the testimonials are hilarious, while also a little disturbing. My favorite part of the whole page is the underlined portion seen here. I hope no one has actually done that.

September 17, 2005

Lifegem
Recently lost a loved one or loved pet? Here you go, make them jewelry with a Lifegem. Nothing better than wearing dead Fido on your ears. As I think of this concept, I'm reminded of Superman, in one of the movies, taking a chunk of coal, squeezing it for his love, Lois, into a diamond. Maybe that's where Lifegem's founder decided that he wanted to get into the cremation and 'resurrection' business. Some of the testimonials are hilarious, while also a little disturbing. My favorite part of the whole page is the underlined portion seen here. I hope no one has actually done that.
September 17, 2005

Another New "Family" Member

After I returned from my five day business trip, I received an email that I was anticipating indicating that two of my best friends, Angela and Ryan, had given birth to their first child, Henry. Angela, Ryan, and I have been friends since high school and college days and I'm beside myself with excitement for them. Here's the young guy. I look forward to getting to Indiana to meet him in December. After he's three years old, bring him out here and we'll get him on some skis.

September 15, 2005

Another New "Family" Member
After I returned from my five day business trip, I received an email that I was anticipating indicating that two of my best friends, Angela and Ryan, had given birth to their first child, Henry. Angela, Ryan, and I have been friends since high school and college days and I'm beside myself with excitement for them. Here's the young guy. I look forward to getting to Indiana to meet him in December. After he's three years old, bring him out here and we'll get him on some skis.

September 15, 2005

John Butler Trio and the Dave Matthews Band

A few weeks ago, I learned about a special in-store performance of the John Butler Trio at Twist and Shout Records in Denver. Not knowing anything about this band but having heard good things, I decided to check them out. I recruited Joe and Alissa to go. I knew that Tim was already planning on going so we decided to all meet there. In a collision of two separate worlds, Greg Harris, my good friend and former Clayton employee, showed up. He was with his wife Kim and their visiting friends from the East Coast, Carrie, Shannon, and Robyn, three women that I had met at the Long Island wedding last May. As previously planned, this group was who I was going to the Dave Matthews Band show with that evening. This meeting just made it much easier to coordinate our Red Rocks traverse.
The John Butler Trio in-store performance started at one and lasted about an hour. I was impressed with this band. John Butler plays acoustic guitar, mandolin, and steel guitar (very Ben Harper-esque). The other two gentlemen in the band play drums and stand up bass. The stand up bass player was really good, IMHO. After the show, I took Joe and Alissa back to their house and met up with Greg's crew for our travels to Red Rocks.
We got to the parking lot at 330 to begin relaxing and beer drinking. This was my first Dave show since 2000 at Deer Creek in Noblesville, Indiana. One thing I remember from that previous show is going with my girlfriend Stacey and our friends Tracy and Eric. Our friend Tony had just died the week before and his favorite band was DMB. A combination of death stress and one too many beers for the girls took their tole. When Dave played Crash Into Me, both girls balled. I, unfortunately, was sick as hell from a viral infection and just wanted to throw up. I didn't win any 'you're a good consoler' points with them that night. Back to last night's show. John Butler Trio opened up with basically the same setlist from Twist and Shout earlier in the day. At this point, we were sitting in the 2nd row. Unfortunately, as the crowd grew, our seats shrunk. We were finally forced to move about 10 minutes before Dave came on. We ended up sitting on one of the planters along the side of the seating section at Red Rocks. Good seats, plus I don't have any need to actually see Dave Matthews Band from close up. I thought Dave played a good show, but I imagine that most of his shows are somewhat standard. The one thing that I did notice was that he takes at least 45 seconds (sometimes up to 90 seconds) between songs. It kills the flow. There was never a moment when one song transitioned into another one. Hopefully, I'll get copies of some of the pictures from the show that Carrie took for posting here on the site. (Author's Note: I received the following pictures from Carrie on September 15).

The crew: Greg, Kim, me, Carrie, Spice, and Robyn

Me and my Dancing Nancy

My judgment basepoint for all shows that I see is Phish. This is not Phish. Don't get me wrong, I had a good time and I thought he put on a good show, but it's a little poppy for my tastes sometimes. The crowd is very diverse: there are the jam-band lovers that are there (my group) and the Abercrombie & Fitch frat-boy crowd just going to get drunk.
Overall, a very good night with some good people. It's really cool to have Greg and Kim back in Colorado after their, 'let's move to Long Island' hiatus. Plus, the visitors from the New England area need to come out here more, maybe as ski instructors. I look forward to conversing with and seeing them again soon.
On a wholly separate note, it's 903 on Sunday morning, less than two hours until football season starts and the road to the Super Bowl for the Colts begins to be paved. The Colts are finally going to expose the Patriots for what they are: overachieving pretty boys (that's for you C.B.). Gotta check my fantasy team to make sure everything's set.

September 11, 2005

John Butler Trio and the Dave Matthews Band
A few weeks ago, I learned about a special in-store performance of the John Butler Trio at Twist and Shout Records in Denver. Not knowing anything about this band but having heard good things, I decided to check them out. I recruited Joe and Alissa to go. I knew that Tim was already planning on going so we decided to all meet there. In a collision of two separate worlds, Greg Harris, my good friend and former Clayton employee, showed up. He was with his wife Kim and their visiting friends from the East Coast, Carrie, Shannon, and Robyn, three women that I had met at the Long Island wedding last May. As previously planned, this group was who I was going to the Dave Matthews Band show with that evening. This meeting just made it much easier to coordinate our Red Rocks traverse. The John Butler Trio in-store performance started at one and lasted about an hour. I was impressed with this band. John Butler plays acoustic guitar, mandolin, and steel guitar (very Ben Harper-esque). The other two gentlemen in the band play drums and stand up bass. The stand up bass player was really good, IMHO. After the show, I took Joe and Alissa back to their house and met up with Greg's crew for our travels to Red Rocks. We got to the parking lot at 330 to begin relaxing and beer drinking. This was my first Dave show since 2000 at Deer Creek in Noblesville, Indiana. One thing I remember from that previous show is going with my girlfriend Stacey and our friends Tracy and Eric. Our friend Tony had just died the week before and his favorite band was DMB. A combination of death stress and one too many beers for the girls took their tole. When Dave played Crash Into Me, both girls balled. I, unfortunately, was sick as hell from a viral infection and just wanted to throw up. I didn't win any 'you're a good consoler' points with them that night. Back to last night's show. John Butler Trio opened up with basically the same setlist from Twist and Shout earlier in the day. At this point, we were sitting in the 2nd row. Unfortunately, as the crowd grew, our seats shrunk. We were finally forced to move about 10 minutes before Dave came on. We ended up sitting on one of the planters along the side of the seating section at Red Rocks. Good seats, plus I don't have any need to actually see Dave Matthews Band from close up. I thought Dave played a good show, but I imagine that most of his shows are somewhat standard. The one thing that I did notice was that he takes at least 45 seconds (sometimes up to 90 seconds) between songs. It kills the flow. There was never a moment when one song transitioned into another one. Hopefully, I'll get copies of some of the pictures from the show that Carrie took for posting here on the site. (Author's Note: I received the following pictures from Carrie on September 15).

New Family Member

On Saturday, I received word that my cousin, Erika, and her husband, Chris, gave birth to their first child, Caroline. Here are a few pictures of the young lady. My mom is holding her in the first picture. The second picture is my grandmother, the new mother, and a very proud grandfather. Congrats to all involved and I can't wait to meet Caroline when I'm home for Christmas.

September 5, 2005

New Family Member
On Saturday, I received word that my cousin, Erika, and her husband, Chris, gave birth to their first child, Caroline. Here are a few pictures of the young lady. My mom is holding her in the first picture. The second picture is my grandmother, the new mother, and a very proud grandfather. Congrats to all involved and I can't wait to meet Caroline when I'm home for Christmas.

September 5, 2005

Grand County Highpoint

This week's adventure got me back into the County highpoint realm with the Grand County highpoint, Pettingell Peak, elevation 13,553 feet. I hadn't done a County highpoint in Colorado since Grays Peak in July. I had been caught up doing either other 14ers that weren't County highpoints or was traveling and unable to hike. This weeks company included Adam and his wife Allison, who was attempting her first mountain of the year. This is a large mountain with extreme vertical that would be tough as your first one of the year. Here's our first view of the peak ahead.

Adam and Allison arrived at my house at 5 AM to begin our one hour drive. The mountain is located directly on the Continental Divide, the line where water flows either to the Gulf of Mexico or the Pacific Ocean. We reached the trailhead by 615 and were off to the peak by 630. We reached Hermans Lake at milepoint 3.5 at around 830. None of us had brought a topo map since we all figured we would know which one of the mountains in front of us was Pettingell Peak. It wasn't so easy. Since we didn't have a map, we accidentally picked the wrong drainage to ascend, thus causing us to slow down due to very loose talus. As Adam put it, we were "taking 3 steps to go 1." Allison made it about 500 feet above the lake and decided that tennis shoes were not the best equipment to have and that she better stop. It was for the best. She did really well, though, since this was her first mountain of the year.
Adam and I summitted around 1000. The clouds were crazy. A huge cloud came right through us at one point while we were at the summit. But for the most part, the clouds were about 100 feet above us. From this vantage point, you could see Grays Peak and Torreys Peak, two 14ers that we summitted in July. You could also see Mt. Bierstadt and the Sawtooth and Mt. Evans, summitted just last Sunday. Here's what those mountains looked like from our vantage point:

We ate a little lunch, then began the descent back down the loose slope. We met Allison back at Hermans Lake and made our way back to the trailhead. We reached the car around noon and were back in Denver by 130. A very good day with another County highpoint bagged. Probably only have two or three more weekends left this season for mountain climbing. The mountains are going to start getting some big snows within the next 3 to 5 weeks and I'll have to break out the snowshoes to complete some highpoints. If, in fact, this is my final county highpoint for 2005, this has been one of the greatest summers I've ever had. Of course, I can't wait for some snow to get back to the mountains on my skis.
To see the rest of the pictures from this climb, click here.

September 5, 2005

Grand County Highpoint
This week's adventure got me back into the County highpoint realm with the Grand County highpoint, Pettingell Peak, elevation 13,553 feet. I hadn't done a County highpoint in Colorado since Grays Peak in July. I had been caught up doing either other 14ers that weren't County highpoints or was traveling and unable to hike. This weeks company included Adam and his wife Allison, who was attempting her first mountain of the year. This is a large mountain with extreme vertical that would be tough as your first one of the year. Here's our first view of the peak ahead.

Adam and Allison arrived at my house at 5 AM to begin our one hour drive. The mountain is located directly on the Continental Divide, the line where water flows either to the Gulf of Mexico or the Pacific Ocean. We reached the trailhead by 615 and were off to the peak by 630. We reached Hermans Lake at milepoint 3.5 at around 830. None of us had brought a topo map since we all figured we would know which one of the mountains in front of us was Pettingell Peak. It wasn't so easy. Since we didn't have a map, we accidentally picked the wrong drainage to ascend, thus causing us to slow down due to very loose talus. As Adam put it, we were "taking 3 steps to go 1." Allison made it about 500 feet above the lake and decided that tennis shoes were not the best equipment to have and that she better stop. It was for the best. She did really well, though, since this was her first mountain of the year. Adam and I summitted around 1000. The clouds were crazy. A huge cloud came right through us at one point while we were at the summit. But for the most part, the clouds were about 100 feet above us. From this vantage point, you could see Grays Peak and Torreys Peak, two 14ers that we summitted in July. You could also see Mt. Bierstadt and the Sawtooth and Mt. Evans, summitted just last Sunday. Here's what those mountains looked like from our vantage point:

We ate a little lunch, then began the descent back down the loose slope. We met Allison back at Hermans Lake and made our way back to the trailhead. We reached the car around noon and were back in Denver by 130. A very good day with another County highpoint bagged. Probably only have two or three more weekends left this season for mountain climbing. The mountains are going to start getting some big snows within the next 3 to 5 weeks and I'll have to break out the snowshoes to complete some highpoints. If, in fact, this is my final county highpoint for 2005, this has been one of the greatest summers I've ever had. Of course, I can't wait for some snow to get back to the mountains on my skis. To see the rest of the pictures from this climb, click here.
September 5, 2005

DUI Checkpoint

Around 7 PM on Saturday night, I begin to see flashing blue and red lights pass by my back door. I investigate further, revealing that my house is being surrounded by at least 30 cop cars and 10 motorcycle cops. I immediately knew that this had to be the makings of a DUI checkpoint. The cops, in there less than infinite wisdom, have decided that 7 o'clock on a Saturday night is going to be a hotbed for DUI activitiy in suburbia Denver, Colorado. At this point, I haven't even gone out for my evening yet, let alone been out long enough to be drunk already. I finish my dinner and walk to where they set up at to watch the process. I watched for about 10 minutes as no one appears to be getting out of hand and drunk. Yeah, no shit, no one is drunk - it's 730! Dumbasses.
I, of course, decided that going through the checkpoint would be a good idea. I mean, why not. It'll give me an opportunity to antogonize these cops over their early arrival. I get in my car and drive around the block and directly into the heart of the checkpoint. As I get closer, I can see a less-than-elegant arrangement of cop cars lining the sides of the road. Do you really find it necessary for each car (>30 of them) to have there flashing lights on? I'm sure it just makes them feel a little bit more powerful.
As I'm rolling into the cone-surrounded lane, I just keep getting waved on past by cop after cop. Apparently, I just didn't look drunk. Ultimately, I rolled through the checkpoint without a word being spoken to me. Apparently, I need to look a little more devious.
I don't condone drinking and driving and if every drunk driver gets caught, that's fine by me, but I don't think the timing of the whole event was appropriate. Ah, my tax dollars at work at 730 on a Saturday.

September 3, 2005

DUI Checkpoint
Around 7 PM on Saturday night, I begin to see flashing blue and red lights pass by my back door. I investigate further, revealing that my house is being surrounded by at least 30 cop cars and 10 motorcycle cops. I immediately knew that this had to be the makings of a DUI checkpoint. The cops, in there less than infinite wisdom, have decided that 7 o'clock on a Saturday night is going to be a hotbed for DUI activitiy in suburbia Denver, Colorado. At this point, I haven't even gone out for my evening yet, let alone been out long enough to be drunk already. I finish my dinner and walk to where they set up at to watch the process. I watched for about 10 minutes as no one appears to be getting out of hand and drunk. Yeah, no shit, no one is drunk - it's 730! Dumbasses. I, of course, decided that going through the checkpoint would be a good idea. I mean, why not. It'll give me an opportunity to antogonize these cops over their early arrival. I get in my car and drive around the block and directly into the heart of the checkpoint. As I get closer, I can see a less-than-elegant arrangement of cop cars lining the sides of the road. Do you really find it necessary for each car (>30 of them) to have there flashing lights on? I'm sure it just makes them feel a little bit more powerful. As I'm rolling into the cone-surrounded lane, I just keep getting waved on past by cop after cop. Apparently, I just didn't look drunk. Ultimately, I rolled through the checkpoint without a word being spoken to me. Apparently, I need to look a little more devious. I don't condone drinking and driving and if every drunk driver gets caught, that's fine by me, but I don't think the timing of the whole event was appropriate. Ah, my tax dollars at work at 730 on a Saturday.

September 3, 2005