What's this mountain vixen been up to lately?? Well, where to begin...
After I wrote that last journal, on Memorial Day Tim and I decided to try a really long motorcycle ride. Bundled up and ready for everything from heat and sun to cold and snow, we rode into the Park, west up and over Trail Ridge Road. It was sunny and warm in Estes, but the weather changes quickly with elevation, and soon it got much colder. As we approached Rock cut, we could see snow falling in Forest Canyon and the Never Summer Range, which we were heading directly into. A little bit of rain turned into a little bit of snow, turned into a lot bit of snow, which coated my windshield and some was actually sticking on the tundra. It was definitely a first for me - riding my motorcycle in a snow storm! We reached the Alpine Visitor Center and had to decide if we wanted to take our chances and keep going, or turn around. Hell, why not keep going? It was now or never, so we started our decent from the top of the road. By the time we reached the Continental Divide at Milner pass on the west side, the sky was blue and the weather much warmer, as the storm just sat up in the high elevations. We stopped and snapped photos of moose like silly tourists and ate lunch in Grand Lake. From here, we had to decide if we wanted to go north to Walden or south to I-70 tocomplete our loop; we could see clouds in the distance and knew we were likely to get wet again. Since I had never gone north, we went from Grand Lake to whatever that highway that goes west to Hot Sulphur Springs, and made the turn north towards Walden. Straightaways, warm sunny weather and thunderheads in the mountains to our East, we let loose and went faster than my mommy would probably approve of, and it was a great mellow ride with hardly any traffic. From Walden, we turned east on CO-14 or whatever it is, over Cameron Pass along to Poudre River, skirting the north of Rocky Mt National Park. The road was so much fun, with lots of curves and turns alongside the river and the mountains. This goes all the way to Masonville, where you can continue east to Fort Collins, or go south to Loveland and hit 34 and head west back up to Estes Park, which was the loop we completed. In Loveland, I needed to fuel up desperately - I figured I had about 150 miles to my tank, and I was at 156 or so. Tim suggested we get ice cream first, so we passed the gas station and went just down the road to the ice cream shop. We leave that place and head back to the gas station, when my motorcycle starts... running.... out....... of.......... gas. I KNEW we should have stopped there first! 158 miles. Cute, very cute. Fortunately, the gas station was 1/4 mile away on a relatively flat road, so I pushed my 550 lbs of dead bike in the 75 degree heat, wearing my leather and all that crap, sweat dripping off my face... It was tough, let me tell you! Tim offered to push but I'm stubborn. :) Finally fueled up and went up the canyon home. Total distance: probably 270 miles or so, overall a 6-7 hour trip. Needless to say, the vibration took its toll on me and I had some weird stuff going on that night - fingers tingling, seeing fuzzy... Yeah, probably should take more rest stops next time. It was a freaking BLAST!!
We actually got a blast of insane weather two Wednesdays ago, with 90 mph winds, 20 degrees at night, and it was pretty miserable. Just before that, we had some snow one evening, which continued on through the night... to wake up with snow sticking on the ground! It's freaking JUNE! Even though I know that this is what it's like in the mountains, it still amazes me.
Work has been all sorts of stuff, safety meetings and trainings and jumping around in projects... One day I helped stain wood, the next day I played with cement for some manholes and made our "technicolor dream-mud" with some liquid dye to match the latest craze to have more "earthy colored" concrete. Fun fun! We got a good laugh out of it.The Park Service is putting into effect a rule that anybody that wants to run a chainsaw for ANY reason - even cutting logs for tent pads - needs to have a chainsaw class. Which is funny because I used a saw every day last year and didn't need one at all. So a friend on trails held this class and I unofficially got to help instruct people on bucking. Our trip to the west side to fall a few trees and get our B-Faller certification fell through when the road was closed, so I'm trying to get that going so we can get it done and harvest a bunch of big logs for the trusses on our next comfort station we will build in the campground.
All last weekend was the Sustainable Trails and Design workshop through Colorado Outdoor Training Initiative (COTI) that was held here at the Park; I was signed up as a volunteer so I can have more background for being a design assistant for CFI this summer. Ends up Tim and the other trail dogs here at the park could also attend and get paid overtime for it. Darn! Oh well, I really enjoyed it and learned a lot, while being able to spend all weekend outside with people my own age (my workgroup with special projects is mostly old dudes haha) and a lot of good ideas thrown around. Hugh, the main leader, wrote this great little Trail Design Sketchbook, and his own enthusiasm, passion and knowledge rubbed off on everybody in the class. Danny, the trails supervisor here, also helped teach. There were about 24 people total, including volunteers from other organizations, Rocky trail dogs, and landscape architects. We went out to Lily Lake, where we learned some principles and then applied them to a real project the park is considering - creating a sustainable access trail to the "Jurassic Park" climbing area on Lily Mountain, and restoring the eroded social trail that currently exists. We had 3 teams, with different trail grade objectives - 0-10% grade (which is pretty impossible), 10-15%, and 15-no limit %. I was in the middle group, coincidentally with Tim, which I enjoyed because he's really good at trails. Myself and my friend Dave with the Nature Association had the least experience, while our leader, Greg, was actually the guy in charge of CFI's design program and I will be doing trail work with him next weekend on Gray's and Torrey's peaks. The existing route is very steep and hazardous, with a lot of sediment eroding into Lily Lake. We scouted out the area and proceeded to plan our trail, planting our little orange flags, examining the site conditions and sustainablility criteria, measuring the grade of the cross slope and the trail profile, and just had a really dynamic team with lots of ideas. We ended up with a design with 2 switchbacks, some rock steps and 1-tier rock walls, and an overall grade of 22% (close enough!). All 3 teams presented, and I think ours was the best, of course. ;) We tried to keep in mind that this is a really low priority/low funded projects, with probably volunteers to complete in 1 day. It would be nice to see one of our ideas get utlilized, but doubt it. They'll probably just end up doind some minor work on the existing old trail. Oh well! I can think of worse things than hiking up and down Lily mountain in gorgeous weather for 8 1/2 hrs each day with my friends!
This past week was a few days of Search and Rescue (SAR) training, which I am glad I was finally able to attend. The first day was just basic procedures and stuff like that, with some field time checking out the litters and the ropes and rigging systems used to anchor, raise and lower a litter. The second day was the fun one; a lot of my friends also participated, so we all got to strap on harnesses and helment and rappell of a little cliff in Wild Basin. Learned our knots and how to set up anchors, how to belay and rappell, and then finally... over theedge with ya! Even though I've climbed trees, and climbed on ropes indoors, nothing is like walking out to a blind rock edge and just trusting your harness and rope and leaning back, keeping your balance... until you can finally see what's over that ledge and down to the ground below! My friend Dave was in the advanced group and they practiced more rigging with a litter and stuff; the third day, which I did not attend (I messed my achilles up running last week, and it's been pretty bad... which is not cool, because I was supposed to take my fire pack test on Wednesday and couldn't... hopefully can do it on Monday!), they went to some steep snow field and practiced snow and avalanche safety, and actually set up some "high angle" rescue situations with anchors and a litter. It was pretty appropriate that the first day of our training was interrupted by a search and rescue. Anyway, not that I want bad fortune upon anybody, but I am glad I can now get more involved and be better prepared than that one on Long's Peak last year!
At work, I had started learning how to tile walls, then got yanked off that to help out with other crap, then finished our 1-tier rock wall along our handicap accessible trail, started filling in to grade around the building and working on some landscaping/rehab, of course got yanked from that to help with grout on the wall tiles all day yesterday. Between the smell of the epoxy, the vinegar, and a hot day with poor ventilation in that bathroom... It was good stuff to learn and I did enjoy it, and it looks pretty nice with off-white tiles and slate gray grout. Sounds like it might still take another month before we are done with this thing. I do enjoy learning this stuff and doing the actual work, but a few of us have noticed that, as corny as this sounds, there is no synergy or cohesion with our crew, and just constant frustration. Between being yanked from jobs before they are complete, to just basic personality conflicts and very weird quirks, and then just some lazy people that don't know what they are doing or don't want to work... It's not bad, it's just unlike any other crew I've ever been on. I'm hoping the next bathroom we work on goes a lot smoother and reduces the stress level of everybody. Hopefully next week, after finishing the grout, I can help on the stone veneer on the outside of the building. It looks really nice and I'm into things that take a little artistic/creative touch. I wish I had a nice place to do some of these home improvement type things on! Maybe some day, when I build my cabin... ;)
It's nice to finally have a day off to relax and do absolutely nothing, considering I've only had 1 real day off since 2 Mondays ago. The Rock Inn (sorry if I'm repeating myself) saw their vendor had Leopold Brothers liquor and remember me raving about it, so they tried some of their liquor. The gin was gone in 3 days. This time they stocked up, so I helped get rid of it last night. My friend Erich actually moved out to Denver from Ann Arbor to market for them, so it looks like he's doing a great job! There was a good band last night, and tonight my friends are throwing an outdoor "cocktail" party. Which means lots of thrift store goofy outfits, especially since the trails guys will be there! Speaking of which, Tim and a bunch of other parkies from trails and other depts have a softball team, so I am glad I get to be a softball cheering squad again, like I was for my Novi cityworkers team! I've seen them get annhihilated 24-2 and mercied, and last week saw them kill the other team. We probably had at least 10 girls there cheering, between the trails chicks and girlfriends and other parkies. Their outfit, which I'm sure some day they'll get in trouble for, is a park service shirt with the sleeves torn off (can't display the shield outside of work!) and they call themselves the "Cougers". If you have any imagination, you can figure out why rough rugged young men would come up with that. Anyway, we scream and cheer so freaking loud that the girls that were cheering for the opposing team got ticked off and complained. No foul there though, so they have to SUCK IT UP! Some of the guys bought some of those tight tiny little softball shorts and wear knee socks, which is absolutely hilarious. I'll have to bring my camera to the next game on Monday.
Logan is a goofball. I'm sure he gets it from me. Silly little things, like the fact that I yawn pretty loud... and he is SO LOUD when he yawns, especially when he wakes up in the morning, that I would almost be annoyed with it if it wasn't so darned funny! He still limps occassionally, but I'm putting off surgery in hopes the cartilage gets ground down and reabsorbed naturally. He's a good boy except he chews up everything if I leave him out when I am gone, so still gotta crate him during the day. He needs a playmate...!!
Oh and I totally forgot to update about that photo contest. A couple weeks ago, I saw the insert in the paper with the results. So I look at it and see the front, open it up and just browse the 1st-3rd place and honorable mention winners for each category scattered around... turn it over on the back... see some stupid photo of a llama (miscellaneous category, it was pretty stupid)... and then I'm like, wait that photo looks familiar... Oh my gosh!! That's my photo!! Yes, I won honorable mention in the Scenic category! It was the photo of Gem Lake, with the clouds and rocks reflected in that perfectly calm water. I laughed and told everybody it was my "sell out" photo, because I'm sure "everybody and their mom" has a photo like that of Gem Lake. I didn't win any money or anything, but it's on display for the next year. I mailed the paper home to my mom and dad and told them they could put it on their fridges. :) Thanks for your advice and encouragement everybody! Now my friends at the Rock Inn are telling me I should frame and hang some photos in their restaurant and sell them. I'll let you know when that happens!
Tim's been busy and stressed out and working insane hours in preperation for his backcountry project for the next month. He hikes in with his crew and SCA volunteers on Tuesday, and then stays in 8 days, comes out for 6. As of right now, I am supposed to hike up there for the 4th of July and camp out with them. I think we might watch Brother Bear 2 tonight before I go to the cocktail party. Tomorrow, we are cutting a bunch of lodgepole that have beetles in them for Bruce and Kerry. Woo hoo chainsaw kitten gets to play! ;)
Anyway enough blabbering again. Here's a couple photos.
Sunset yesterday night; it's a cell phone photo but it was absolutely GORGEOUS
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| From Photo Contest |
