Back to work after so much action

My stuff made it, somehow, in a very ghetto Budget moving truck from MI to my new apartment.

Phew.

Then my friend tells me she is renting out her place up here in Estes for the same price, everything included. Timing is impeccable.

Took Dad to the airport today. Tim, a trails guy, helped him and I unpack everything. What a lifesaver! We're going to the rodeo this weekend. Yeah, we're having fun.

BUT, I am tired. Going to grab a brew with Cisco now. Ahhh, relaxation! So much to type later... and to UNPACK... Staying in Estes for now.

By the way, did you know that in Oakland County, MI (where I used to live), the road commission found the bones of a Mastadon?!

How cool is that.

Whirlwind week/weekend!

I'm in MI right now! If you didn't go to 5th Avenue last night, SHAME ON YOU! We had fun without you! It was so great to see those guys that showed up, listen to Killer Flamingos and dance to my Killers song!! Even Linda got footloose, ha ha!

The past week with my parents in town in CO was just busy and I've been sick on and off so it's been nuts... Then our marathon drive back to MI so I can party and pack up everything and drive right back the way I came on Sunday... Stressed! So much to do and so many people to see! Pretty much the only way I will get to see anybody is if A. You help me load my truck or B. You come to Jess' Hawaiian BBQ on Saturday!

Time to get crackin'! No time for this hangover! :) Ha ha yeah it was good times last night!

Photos while I have a chance

Here are the photos from: Finch Lake Trail (not too exciting), Old Fall River Road, and other random stuff. A nice perk to working for the park is that we get to go places that aren't yet open to the public, like Old Fall River Road. They open the road around 4th of July weekend and keep it open until October. It's a beautiful 8 mile one-way drive up a steep winding dirt road, which means once it's open, it's always very busy. Cisco and I had to do our hazard tree survey and we almost had the whole road to ourselves, besides the roads guys that are preparing it for the weekend. I cut down all the immediate hazards and we were supposed to remove the lower priority ones today, but Cisco went home sick and I left early to go to the doctors! Ear infection! No insurance! Expensive!

I've got hot plans tonight so I figured I'd update while I have a chance! Photos of bighorn and baby elk! Everybody loves baby animals!

Adventure! Cross country travel! Family! Hawaiian BBQ! Flyfishing!

So many things are happening in my life right now, I don't even know where to begin!

First, we'll start with my rescue story of the week. Our poor volunteer Sam (23 yrs old) got lost this weekend! And I don't just mean sortof lost - he had to stay overnight without any gear in 30-40 degree weather and had 6 dog teams, a helicopter and a ton of people looking for him. Fortunately, he was not hurt and did the right thing - once he realized he lost his hiking partner (they were tracking bighorn), he stayed in one place. He said the only thing he had was a space blanket (one of those heat-insulating aluminum tarps). Needless to say we are AGAIN changing some backcountry protocols - for example, there will be random checks of backcountry traveling employees' bags, and if they are missing a radio or map, they could be FIRED. They take this very seriously. I don't think he'll be doing any more sheep surveys though!

The weekend was great - we went to the Hi Drive House for Bill's Going Away party... and Bill wasn't there! I guess he had to leave for family stuff?? (Bill, I know you read this - what happened?!) But that's ok, we had a great time in his honor anyway and eventually made it downtown to party some more. I just might have a new motorcycle riding buddy too! We'll see how that turns out.

My family will be here Thursday! I am so excited. I planned an exciting itinerary for us - flyfishing, camping in the best campsite in the entire campground (it pays to know campground rangers, ha ha!), golf for the boys, maybe a surprise for my Mom, downhill bike riding, fireworks, hiking - I am going to keep them busy! It is going to be so good to see them. Then I am riding back to MI with them so I can see everybody! Here's what I want to do: 5th Ave in Novi on Thurs (for Killer Flamingos!) if I am home/awake still, or on Friday night; Friday afternoon I'm hopefully going out with my Novi cityworker friends if they remember (they're getting old! Don't party like they used to! ha ha) and then Saturday Jess is throwing a Hawaiian BBQ!! Whip your grass skirts and coconuts out of the closet, we're roasting us a wild boar! ;)  Maybe not, but I'll make sure there are Mai Tais! At some point between all my social activites, I have to pack... Details, details!

Guess my dad is driving back to CO with me. Should be fun, he's never been out here before! I wonder how many times he will lecture me about hitting an elk or a deer, or getting bitten by snakes? ;)  I can't wait to see his face when we drive up Trail Ridge Road, with cliffs dropping off on both sides! Hee hee.

And somewhere in all this fun and excitement, I will move from Estes Park to my sweet apartment in the foothills and maybe get a dog! So much going on!

On top of all that, I've been daydreaming about what I am going to do this winter. I don't NEED a full time job with benefits - I am happy and live well making as much money as I do now, so hey why not work for a ski resort? Or maybe go on that trip to Hawaii with Doug and Sandy after all? Heck, I could volunteer at Haleakala and get free housing and a small stipend while doing turtle surveys! Mark wants to visit haunted places in Ireland, and Bronson is in Alaska for a little while longer... The possibilities are endless! In any case, I'll at least make it to Flagstaff to visit Maria, Seattle to see Brian and Melissa, and Montana to visit my wildlife refuge family! Plus, my new motorcycle buddy bought property in Wrangell  - St. Elias National Park in Alaska and is in the middle of building his own log cabin in McCarthy. Maybe I'll just have to stop up there and help cut down some trees or something. :)

I'm sure my mom is reading this and just thinking "Medical benefits! You NEED medical benefits!"

Anyway that's all for now, obviously lots going on and I'm super happy and excited for the next couple weeks!  I'm so excited, I even managed to force myself to go on a trail run... and eat a slice of cheesecake when I finished. ;)

Hope to see everybody at the Hawaiian BBQ or 5th Ave or something! If you don't know what/when it is, just drop me an email!

These photos are from last week - the clouds settled in the valleys and we drove through and then ABOVE them. I wish I had my good camera, because they would have made for amazing pictures!

Friendship ala Vixens

Jess sent me this this email and it's just too funny and a little bit too honest. ;)

"True Friendship - None of that Sissy Crap!

Are you tired of those sissy "friendship" poems that always sound good, but never actually come close to reality? Well, here is a series of promises that actually speak of true friendship. You will see no cutesy little smiley faces on this card - just the stone cold truth of our great friendship.


1. When you are sad -- I will help you get drunk and plot revenge against the sorry bastard who made you sad.


2. When you are blue -- I will try to dislodge whatever is choking you.


3. When you smile -- I will know you finally got laid.


4. When you are scared -- I will rag on you about it every chance I get.


5. When you are worried -- I will tell you horrible stories about how much worse it could be until you quit whining.


6. When you are confused -- I will use little words.


7. When you are sick -- Stay the hell away from me until you are well again. I don't want whatever you have.


8. When you fall -- I will point and laugh at your clumsy ass.


9. This is my oath..... I pledge it to the end. "Why?" you may ask; "Because you are my friend".

Friendship is like peeing your pants, everyone can see it, but only you can feel the true warmth.
And always remember....when life hands you Lemons, ask for tequila and salt and call me over !!!!!"

What a friend! ;)

It's my Friday!

I am exhausted, sore, and hungry... It was a good day. :)

This morning, I went and took that pack test for firefighting. Cisco and Scott couldn't take it, but fortunately a girl I used to work with, Wendy, was there with her iPod - she sang while the two of us shook our thangs while walking those 12 laps around the track. It was the most fun I've ever had doing something so tedious and boring! My hip flexors and shins are already getting sore, but I felt pretty darned good. Hope to get on a fire or two this year!

We had a big dead hazard tree to remove, as well as lots of other random tasks that needed to get done before the weekend. It was also Bill's Going Away Party - he got himself a permanent position in California with the Forest Service! It's great seeing everybody I worked with in 2003 moving up and progressing with their careers. Hopefully it will be my turn soon. :) Needless to say, we had more to do than we had time, so we worked an hour over... and this is my Friday! I'm rewarding myself with a mocha and a brownie.

The official party is on Saturday night, so Cisco and I delivered fire wood all over the place today. Tonite I am supposed to meet some trails guys up at the Rock Inn, but who knows if I'll make it there. Between going to Boulder for dinner one night, then to the Rock Inn with everybody last nite... And all the boring "everyday stuff" I have to do... Methinks it would be a nice idea to stay in and relax one of these nights.

Doubt it will happen. :)

That's all for now. Not too exciting but I know everybody keeps calling and I can't call back because my phone is still on life-support. See you MI folks soon!

It's alive, it's ALIVE!

My mom asked me an excellent question yesterday evening. "Why did your phone go in the water??"

I was too tired to write down my longwinded story yesterday, but fortunately for ya'll (sarcasm), I'm feeling pretty darned good today... so here it goes:

Trail Log (You know I just had to): Finch Lake, from the Allenspark Trailhead, 8 miles round trip. That link sends you to somebody else's Trail Log, since there really isn't much on the internet about that specific route (you can also get there from the Finch Lake TH or the Wild Basin TH... those ways are longer but more traveled). This is how I spent my day on Sunday. I was so sick of the swarms of people, I wanted to hike a trail that I hoped would be relatively quiet - and I was right! The trailhead itself is a little tougher to find because it's not labeled on the road and is a 20 minute (? don't even know for sure) drive south of Estes Park, and there are only a small number of parking sites once you get there.

The trail was pretty rocky and was moderately uphill for most of the way, until you get close to the lake - then it's blissful downhill trot... until you remember that you will have to go UP on your way back! Mostly forested, with a section that goes through the site of the 1978 Allenspark fire. The pine, aspen, golden banner and indian paintbrush have all grown back pretty vigorously, and it's a neat contrast to see 4-8 ft. pines next to towering charred remains. It's not animals or cliffs or any other thing that worries me on hikes - it's dead snags creaking and swaying in the wind! Since I do the whole hazard tree thing, I'm always painfully aware of the fact that a dead tree could just decide to fall on me. Sound stupid? I've been told that's the #1 killer of wildland firefighters on the fire line. I'm going to keep looking up, even if I'm paranoid. :)

The lake itself was... well, a little lake, surrounded by pine and rock. I would have continued the other 2 miles to Pear Lake if I had brought lunch, but I was hungry and honestly, Finch Lake was pretty unremarkable so I didn't feel like taking a gamble that Pear Lake would be any better. Hey, I'm just being honest! I won't take anybody on that hike. It was a great work-out and as quiet as I could probably find on a summer Sunday in Rocky Mt., but it was a pretty boring lake. I forgot my camera but I will post the couple pictures I actually did take eventually.

...But my phone seemed to really like the lake! To answer my mom's question, I had taken the phone out to check the time and I set it down next to me, on a rock next to the lake. I gathered my stuff to leave and noticed my shirt was falling out of the bungees on my pack... then had this thought that I don't remember putting my phone back... Started looking around, I mean I hadn't gone 5 feet but WHERE WAS THE PHONE?! I didn't go very far so I was at a loss. I glanced into Finch Lake with a sinking feeling, didn't see it... did a double take...!#$%^&*%!#, my phone!!!! I'm not sure if my Camelback pack hit it, or if it just rolled, or if some evil chipmunk pushed it... I didn't even hear it go in.

BUT there is a good ending to this tragic story of cell phone near-death! Later I plugged in just the phone part to my car adapter, and it LIVED! I think the battery is toast and am hoping that a new one will work in the phone. So, in the meantime my cell is on life-support and only works while plugged in. :)

Here's my plan for coming home: I am driving with my parents back from visiting me on the 6th and we're gonna drive straight thru. Pack up my stuff the 7th?? See some people and have a good time that night, then if I'm super ambitious head back to CO on the 8th. If anybody does come out with me, I will obviously drive you to the airport, and you are free to stay as long as you want! I do have to work but we'll work something out. Perhaps the lucky volunteer can come and be my slave at Rocky for the day and help drag slash or something. J'k, we'd go easy on you.

I'm in a fantastic mood today, I went to the west side and got to goof off with my friends over there a little bit. Ron is in the military and has to go back to his base in August, and he has a 3 year old yellow lab thathe needs to find a home for. I wasn't planning on getting a lab, yet alone one that old... but I'm gonna meet his pup and see how compatible we are. He said he's well trained and a great hiker, so maybe Tara's puppy will have an uncle! ;)  Ron also said he would ride me back to MI on his touring motorcycle so I could pick mine up, and we'd cruise the backroads back to CO... to which I said, I've only been riding for about a year, I haven't ridden since last fall, AND the longest trip I've driven myself was 3 hours! On an old '87 Honda I bought off eBay! So don't worry Mom, I'm not going to do it!

Speaking of which, she heard about some Michigan lady that fell off a cliff in Yellowstone, and some Chicago girl that went missing on a hike at Mt. Rainier and yelled at me over email for hiking alone. Hey guess what! I don't think "It can't happen to me" - It CAN happen to me, but I just have to trust in what I've learned over the years and hope that my training, experience, stubborn will to live and a little bit of good luck will help me through it all. I mean, it's a bigger risk to drive a car than for me to go hiking! Living a full exciting life is worth the risk and I'd rather die hiking than in a car or on the couch or something boring!

On top of that, one thing my sister Linda and I have learned, for better or worse, is to be self sufficient and never have to rely on anybody else. I'm not going to stop hiking just because I am alone. It might be even better that way - I'm not being pushed to do something harder than my ability, or being aggrivated by having to go too slow or stop! I pay very careful attention to everything around me BECAUSE I am alone. You can't get careless or lazy when you go it alone! My mom raised independent confident women, and look what she got - stress and worry! Let that be a lesson to the rest of you, ha ha!

Anyway I'm obviously doing much better today, things are just too good for me out here to linger on the bad stuff! It helped seeing Travis, Ron and Doug today, and getting emails from Maria and Jon... oh and getting my tree climbing gear!

So... what should I write my novel about? I'd already be done if all these entries were worth publishing! ;)  All I can say is I'm glad so many of you are bored at work, otherwise I don't think anybody would read all this!

Coming back, and dead phone

Ok so two important quick things:

My phone went swimming in Finch Lake today... but seeing as it doesn't know how to swim, it's DEAD. I'm not sure if it will come back alive when it dries out, but in the meantime, I have no phone. Which is especially sucky because I was supposed to call Mom when I got done with my long hike today. Woops. Hope she doesn't call SAR on me!

Second thing: I might be coming back to get all of my stuff on July 7th! Which means I have about 3-4 days to pack everything in the moving truck, see everybody I want to see, and drive all the way back out to CO and unpack. Anybody want to come with me?? You'd just have to fly home. In any case, I'd love to see ya'll that weekend, even if it's not for long!

I'm exhausted from the hike I went on today so that's all for now. It was 8+ miles and I am JUST eating lunch! Once I found out phone drowned, I went from Allenspark to Boulder to ask the Verizon people to recessitate it... But alas, all I can do is wait at this point. Ugh!

Besides that... still not doing so well from that "other stuff" going on. Just this big empty space in my heart...

Cowgirl

I bought some notecards with cowgirl designs on them today, and this is what it said inside the box:

"Cowgirl: She loving, generous to a fault and almost always kind. She is known for her ability to laugh at herself and loves laughing with others... She has a deviant streak and is a believer that in the end, everything will turn out alright. Her family is her pride and joy, but not her life, and her goal is to be a loving, genergous, independent and confident woman. She surrounds herself with people who are seeking, living, and fulfilling their life's dreams. She refuses to live the settle-for lifestyle, and wants only the company of those passionate about life... She loves to flirt, and tease; however, she is a one man woman... She won't brag about what she cannot do or what she doesn't know. She loves stimulating and intelligent company. She is a mother, daughter, sister, aunt, lover, friend."

Sounds like the Colorado equivelant to a Michigan Vixen! ;)

Nothing like finding inspiration and wisdom in unexpected places. Here's to being a cowgirl (or a vixen)!

*********************************

I was in a grumpy mood when I woke up and went into Estes - gotta love the tourists for appreciating our natural treasures, but I despise trying to LIVE there while they're stopping in the middle of the road, backing up unexpectedly, driving all over the road, and just plainly ignoring all driving laws. Estes Park = no rules?? It has to be the elevation or SOMETHING, because collectively, these people are just dangerous and not thinking! It annoyed me to the point that I just decided to keep driving... and wound up back in Boulder. :) I do have lots of errands to run down here, so I'm still a little grumpy but the notecards cheered me up a bit.

My weekend? This is my ambitous list:

Wash Truck
Clean out Focus so I can sell it
Open bank Account (I tried to do this but the bank was closed by the time I got there!)
Visit the dogs at the Humane Society
Go to Best Buy for printer ink cartridges and see how much new speakers for Truck would cost
Either lift weights or go for an intense trail run
Do a hard, long hike tomorrow just to prove that I still can
Call lots of people, even though I don't like talking on the phone
Maybe go to the Wool Festival in Estes?
Go over to Grand Lake and hang out with the Maintenance and Trails Guys
Make a chiropractor appointment!
Do laundry

What will I really get done? Go to Best Buy, get some exercise, forget to do laundry until I'm in bed on Sunday night, and maybe start cleaning out Focus. It's just so tiring having to drive 40+ minutes from Estes to Boulder to get anything done, then dealing with the traffic and trying to find everything... I hate shopping and errands!

At least I waste a lot of time on here playing with my photos, writing emails and chatting with friends! ;)

No longer lost! Found a home!

To my complete and total shock - I found a place to live! And it's not only affordable, all utilities and INTERNET (woo hoo!) included, in a great location between Boulder and Estes Park, and in a sweet location - I can also get a pupper!!

I just called this one ad that was in the paper, expecting it to be either really small, or some catch to it. When he told me where it was located, I got mildly optimistic... It's outside of the town of Lyons, off Apple Valley Road - which is a lush area along the St. Vrain River, full of trees, and surrounded by the foothills. The apartment is actually the walk-out basement of a large house build on the side of a hill: the 56 yr old owner lives on the main floor (he is also building a studio for his art company), and a 36 year old guy that works nights and flyfishes by day lives upstairs. The house is on 6 acres that is directly behind Hall Ranch, a Boulder Open Space Park, and has a fenced area outside my door for the dog. He also has a dog, a Golden Retriever/Black Lab mix - she looks just like a black version of the regular Golden, and she's so sweet!

Because of the river, the Valley is warmer in the winter and cooler in the summer. The apartment itself is a bit of an efficiency, with one good sized bedroom and another room for living/dining, with one wall lined with the kitchen - oven, fridge, even dishwasher! I'm spoiled! No more dish-pan hands, ha ha!

Lyons itself is a mixed small community, a tiny down town with a brewery I really like, Oscar Blues, and is also home to the RockyGrass Bluegrass Festival. There aren't really any big grocery stores or any chain stores here, but I'm only a short drive outside of the busy sprawling consumer area in Boulder. I have acres and acres of hiking and biking trails literally right behind me, and to both sides of me. 6 month lease, then goes month to month - which is great because who knows where I might be working come this fall/winter! Hopefully in Boulder as a Ranger but hey we'll see what I stumble upon!

Which means that I will be able to have people stay with me when you visit, because I have a sleeper sofa! And acres and acres to pitch a tent on! Oh, did I mention I have a garage to store my motorcycle?! (To which my mom replied, "I wish you would just sell that thing and use the money for something else! I don't wanna have to fly out to Colorado just because you hurt yourself on that thing!" Thanks mom! Ha ha!)

Well after being in Boulder all day and then coming to the coffee shop here in Estes to update AGAIN, I think I'm going to head home and watch Bonnie and Clyde and figure out when I'm going to come back to Michigan to get the rest of my stuff. Soon! So hey, anybody wanna take a road trip with me and a Penske truck full of my stuff and help me move?? Anybody?? I'll buy you beer at Oscar Blues! ;)

Here's some photos of my place, and photos of Lucy and Wilson playing! I'm still sad, but I am resilient and feel much better knowing I have somewhere to live... and if it sucks for some crazy reason, I only have to stay for 6 months!

Ha ha, almost forgot to mention that while I'm sitting in this coffee shop, there is a mama elk that hid her baby close by... and whenever people get to close to her, the elk charges them. It's amusing, but boy people can be stupid sometimes!

This is the home I am moving into in July. My place is in the walk-out basement.

This is the view out my window!

 

Tara's new puppy, Lucy!

Lucy and Wilson!

Am I sad, or am I mad?

Ok, I wrote this big venting journal earlier but I've calmed down now so I cut it down a bit. :)

******************

Yeah, I'm not doing so well today. Not only has somebody very close and dear emotionally hurt me, but I had written an introspective entry that just got deleted when I tried to save it. Not doing well at all.

I can't seem to decide if I am depressed, fuming angry, numb, or just plain washed my hands of this whole situation. Rather than lie around in bed on this rainy day, alternating between crying, cussing, and sleeping, I thought it would do me better to sit in this lively coffee shop in Boulder, hoping that the social atmosphere would raise my mood a little bit. Instead, I'm even more aggrivated because the internet connection crashed and I lost my journal entry. Grrrrr. Plus, I am sad because I don't have anybody out here to talk to and comfort me, so I'm missing my friends and family even more.

I am fed up with dishonesty. And I don't just mean plain-out lies - I mean half truths that don't tell the whole story. I think those are the most dangerous - they're so hard to identify because nothing false is being said, but the story it tells can be so different from reality. It's not even just myself that has suffered because of these incomplete truths; I'm just fortunate enough to now know I was being mislead. Why can't he just tell the truth?! How can somebody mislead those that love them, when in the end it will only cause pain??

If you cause somebody pain, be responsible and deal with the consequences of your actions! Deal with it, tell the truth, and right your wrongs! People who love you deserve to know what's REALLY going on so that they can make an INFORMED decision whether to forgive you for treating them poorly, or tell you to go to hell. Don't the people who love you and who you love at least deserve that?? It's not fair to play with people's emotions when they love you. It's just not right.

Mad, sad... Sunday was fantastic, full of fun and romance. Monday, everything changed. The pace of change is just nauseating and I still don't have my bearings on how Ireally feel. I guess that makes me lost...

**************************

But, life goes on. I woke up early (couldn't sleep, go figure) and finally got mylicense. I'm officially a Colorado resident! I was very excited, but I'm so sad and depressed right now, I'm just plain homesick. I miss my family and friends, I miss the three terror dogs at my mom's house and I'm bummed I can't watch Tara's puppy and Wilson frolick in the garden hose. I feel so alone and rejected right now, I trusted him completely. How can you trust anybody, when the one that loves you does that??

I am listening to the Killers and it is making me feel a little better. It reminds me of Michigan - dancing at 5th Avenue with Jess, and of Linda helping me move that last chaotic week in Royal Oak. Plus, it's her CD so I should probably mail that to her soon. :) It just makes me feel a little bit warm and happy. And now I am chatting with Jeff online! Good to talk to him!

I feel better now, and I just might have a place to live in Lyons! Woo hoo! Gotta go check it out now!

Thanks guys for cheering me up!!

The Flying of the Beetles

My drink of the moment in this coffee shop is an iced vanilla chai - and boy, let me tell you it feels good to be out of the dreadful heat. Down in Denver they were supposed to have record temps in the 100s - not quite that hot up here in the mountains, but it was still pretty rotten. Plus, a few of us had to head down to Loveland, where it is much hotter... in a truck without AC. :)

I officially got the Grade A Stamp of Approval on my physical for wildland firefighting.  This gives me the ok to now take the "Pack Test" - 3 miles in 45 minutes (I think it's 46 something at this elevation) with 45 pounds on your back. It might not sound that bad, but it's not easy and usually a couple people die each year of a heart attack while taking it. Once I pass that on the 22nd, I will have a current Red Card (wildland firefighting certificate) and be able to help with prescribed burns and wildfires. Looks like I will have plenty of chances, too - this summer is proving to be very hot, very dry, and with all the pine beetle kill, it's just a matter of "when", not "if", we get a big one. In fact, almost every time we get a lightening storm, we get some sort of small wildfire. That might seem weird to you folks in SE Michigan, but it's just a part of life out here.

Work for me has changed from Mountain Pine Beetle mode to Hazard Tree mode. We had a few residual beetle trees left in a campground that we were supposed to drop this week, but by the time we got to them - bye bye beetles! We were just a little too late, and the beetles have left the trees and flown to their next target. Oh well. It's not a huge deal, since it is a natural part of the cycle... but then again, who wants to stay in a campground without trees? We'll see what happens next season.

Hazard tree means walking every public front-country area and assessing ALL trees that have potential hazards. Needless to say, I spend most of my day hugging trees (to get the diameter), walking, and doing paperwork. Yes, we have to document all these trees, rank them for priority, and decide what to do about them. Unfortunately, there are a lot to remove because of their high potential to fail and, say, land on a sleeping camper in his tent or something. Not so good. I officially took down the first hazard tree of theseason, a windblown lodgepole that was stuck in another tree, right over a trailhead. Not the most technical or exciting removal, but tomorrow morning I have 3 trees to fell - two Engleman spruce and one lodgepole. Cisco won't be in so it's all me, baby!

My endeavor to get my Colorado license last week was futile and aggrivating. Joe and I went to the license place and the guy was a condensending arsch to me, saying I needed my medical card for my CDL. Somebody else told me I didn't. So I waited the 3 hours (had to wait anyway, I was Joe's ride!) and went up there and thought I was going to get my license when the woman says, "Oh wait! I almost forgot! Do you have your DOT card?" DOH! I am going to try again at a smaller office in Hot Sulfer Springs on Friday. Grrrrr....

And how is my hunt for housing going? Well as of yesterday I thought I had some good prospects lined up in either Boulder or Nederland but apparently that's changed and I'm not happy about it. Totally back to square one. I'm in a pretty nasty mood about it right now, so don't ask. I am pretty sick of hearing my neighbor's television at 10 pm though so I'm just gonna keep on keepin' on until I find a place.

This past weekend, Joe and I went to that Tree Climbing Competition in Fort Collins and I got to meet a bunch of his coworkers. Great bunch of people and three chihuahuas to play with! We layed around in the grass and watched the climbers swing around, doing various tasks - aerial rescue, where they have to retrieve a dummy out of a tree; work climb, where they have different points in a tree they need to get to and ring a bell; and throw line competition, where they have to throw their throw line into different crotches of the tree. There were only two women there competing; one was one of Joe's coworkers (she didn't finish in time) and one was a smokejumper. I've never watched women climb so it was neat to watch. Can't wait to get my gear so I can work on becoming as fluid and confident in a tree as they were!

We also went for a hike on another horribly hot day at Roxborough State Park, south west of Denver. Oh wait, Trail Log Time!

Trail Log: Fountain Valley Loop, 2.2 miles (yeah, pretty weak huh). It was an easy hike through rattlesnake country (I'm sure my Dad is happy to hear that... "Look out for snakes!" he used to tell me every time he talked to me), very interesting rock formations... surrounded by subdivisions. Weird. It was a neat place to visit though, despite the houses in the background. Never did see or hear a snake, though we wanted to!

Well gotta wrap this up for now, I have the rest of Harry Potter III to watch and/or maybe go out with the coworkers for a brew. And, back to home hunting. Miss you guys!

 

Roxborough State Park, taken with my camera phone!

Where to live, where to live?!

Ok it's getting to be crunch time with home hunting! But I'm feeling optimistic. Lately things have been going very well and hopefully I'm on a roll!

Busy weekend too. Tree climbing competition was fun! Did some hiking south of Denver also. Gotta run off and look at some places to live though, so I'll update better soon!

Oh, and getting my tree climbing gear soon! Woo hoo! A huge thank you to the person who made it possible!

Lost and Found

JABENA! Thanks for leaving a comment! I am so very sorry I haven't talked to you since I left. That Scott guy... I've heard his name but I'm not really sure why. He might be a celebrity, but I'm really not in the loop with most celebrities anyway so I would have no idea! :)

With that important, overdue comment out of the way (Miss you Jabena, Tara and Mom!), on to the latest and greatest in Mountain-Woman Lisa's life.

No, no luck with housing. I'm considering sharing a house now; much more affordable, and will let me have a pupper. I really REALLY don't want to share, but I'm not home much anyway and there are some unique living opportunities out here - lots of huge mountain homes that people can't afford without a housemate, often with private bed, bath, and sometimes living space - but we'll see. I am in the process of applying for a Ranger/Naturalist job with the City of Boulder. The pay would be fantastic, and somehow along the meandering, random career path I've stumbled along, I've aquired many of the qualifications that they want. I always knew there was some logic behind my ADHD ways! ;)

As Jabena had said, they did in fact find that guy that was lost last week. Around noon a helicopter saw him but couldn't land, so they dropped a radio and supplies down to him until ground support could reach him. It's great being able to listen to the radio between the rangers and dispatch; some interesting, funny, or scary things happen every day. Today, there was a Jeep - no, somebody heard it was a van - carrying some guy that needed an ambulance - no, somebody heard they didn't want assistance - because a guy was hurt... somebody asked if they needed help and they said "WE GOTTA GO!" Was his leg broken? Or was this somebody else? You'll get visitors telling volunteers second hand information, who pass it on to ROMO (dispatch); in turn, ROMO tells the rangers, then the rangers have to try and relay back to the reporting party...

Another transmission I overheard were some people were "lost" on Flattop Mountain but used their cell phone to call the Park and try to get directions down. They called back after getting directions and said they couldn't go "up OR down". Huh. They got up there some how, right??

In other words, the radio can be very busy sometimes.

I was excited to see a report of a wolf sighting in the park. Chances are, it is only a very large coyote... they are huge out here, and most people just see WOLF. BUT... between you and I, a little reliable bird told me she saw three, and she used to live in Alaska. Methinks the wolves have come home...

No new hikes to add to my trail log; instead, I took Joe on his first driving tour west of Evergreen. I showed him Vail and how touristy and pretentious and obnoxious it is, then went down to Frisco where it was a little quieter. It was a nice way to escape the horrible heat down in Denver, and I am sooo glad I live up in the mountains! The weather is more unpredictable and it is colder, but it's worth it. My little Toyota is considently getting 22-23 mpg, and I'm happy with that. Still have to sell the Focus though!

I also got a chance to climb my first tree since... well, it's been a while. Joe let me borrow some of his gear and we went out to the hills near Evergreen and found a nice tall Ponderosa Pine on top of a little mountain to climb. We didn't go very high up, but we didn't need to since we were above everything anyway. It felt good to get up there again! Hopefully I will have some climbing gear on the way soon. I think him and I are going to Fort Collins this weekend for the ISA Tree Climbing Competition. That will be me some day! Yeah, right!!

My family is coming out to visit in just a few weeks! Yikes, I have to get their itinerary together! Flyfishing, camping, golf and whatever I can find for my Mom to do - poor thing pulled her calf and can't walk! Mom, you be careful! You can rent these little scooters and drive around town! Yeah, I know she's probably not digging that idea too much either, ha ha!

The elk have finally gone from looking starved, ragged, and pathetic to sleek and lean, like a horse. Some of the bulls have already developed impressive racks, and the muley deer are a little behind the elk in growing out their racks. Must be summer!

That's all for now. The photos this week are from the hike to Emerald Lake with Joe a couple weekends ago. Miss ya'll!

SAR

SAR stands for "Search and Rescue", which is sadly a very real event that I mostly likely will participate in during my career with the Park. Unfortunately, I was too busy at work this week and missed the formal training; I would really like to have attended so I would be more effective and knowledgeable of SAR procedures, come time for me to find somebody - it could be a matter of life or death, and I want to know what I'm doing! As touristy as the Park can get, it's easy to forget sometimes that this truly is a rugged, unforgiving and sometimes dangerous place - and people to do get lost, hurt, or worse.

Yesterday, I was supposed to meet my friend Mark on the west side for trivia night and to watch Ghost Hunters, but he got called out on a SAR to look for a man who had been missing since Sunday - his van had been parked at the Colorado River Trailhead on the west side for a number of days and he missed his flight home. It doesn't take training for what they need to do right now - hike, hike, and hike until they find this guy. Needless to say, at this point it doesn't look good. They were out until after 9 pm last night, and they headed out again early this morning. As of right now, he hasn't texted to say that they have found him. I guess when the ranger Jeff Christiansen had gone missing, the Park essentially shut down for 2 weeks and every able individual hiked all day, every day, trying to find him. Tragic but very real. A sheep researcher had fallen off a cliff  in 2003 when I worked here before, right after I met him. Good luck to the SAR teams. I might try to get involved with SAR when I am more settled; there are many great organizations around here.

I am going to head down to Fort Collins today and try to get my Colorado license! And by the way, car insurance is less than HALF what I was paying in Michigan! Which is important because as of right now, I am insuring two cars and a motorcycle. :) No luck in finding the right place to live, though. I had stopped to look at a cute little cabin outside of Lyons, and it seemed promising... except it was wayyyyy to close to the other houses around it, all which were owned by the landlord (an old lady) and her adult kids... and she started telling me how much she cries every day since her husband and son recently passed away. Very nice lady, but not quiet private enough. She did say she thought I was the answer to her prayers because she was worried about who to have rent the cabin. Hear that mom, somebody said I was the answer to their prayers! That lady just doesn't know any better. :)

Me overlooking Estes Park with Longs Peak and the Rocky Mountains in the background. (Taken by Joe)

Brrrrr

Happy Memorial Day!

I'm here, alive and well, busy as always. I worked 20+ hrs of overtime in the past two weeks, then had a busy weekend doing fun stuff and enjoying the sunny warm weather... until last night, it got cold, windy, and snowed up top on Trail Ridge Road... Which sucked because I was going to go over to Grand Lake for their little parade, but the road was closed this morning. Oh well. Slept all day and now looking for cabins or whatever to rent. Yawn. Even strong coffee can't seem to get me going today!

Trail Log: hiked to Emerald Lake with Joe yesterday (3.6 miles round trip); one of the very few hikes I haven't done out of the Bear Lake Trailhead. It was short and easy compared to the other hikes we have done so far, but probably the most spectacular in terms of scenery. There were a million people on the trail (forgot about the whole "mass influx of tourists" thing over holiday weekends) but we scrambled up some rocks away from them all. It's always great hiking in the snow wearing shorts. :) My photos aren't on here yet, but I'm going to post a nice one or two that Joe took.

Work should be slowing down; the air curtain burner goes back this week, so tomorrow we are going to the West Side to clean it up. I had to drive the loader up Trail Ridge Road for about 50 minutes going perhaps 10 miles an hour, up all those steep curves... Pretty boring, actually, but hey how many people can say they've done THAT before?? Ok, besides all the roads guys.

I finally got to fell my first trees as hazard tree chainsaw kitten this summer! We had some pretty large, tall (50-70' ft probably) lodgepole that needed to be dropped, skidded out and hauled away; my aim was just a little bit off and my cuts were a little crooked, but not bad for not having done it in months! I admit that I got very VERY sick of driving that freakin' double-clutch POS dump truck back and forth all day, grinding gears (it's not just me, the truck is just fundamentally ridiculous to drive!) and breaking the chains that hold the tailgate on... We had planned 10 hrs or less of work on Friday, but things just went so slowly I ended up not getting home until 8 pm. Yikes. No wonder I'm so tired!

Joe's photo of Hallett Peak and the Dragon's Tail (spire on right)

Go go go, all the time!

Phew! Glad that's over!

I'm mixed right now about being finished with living on the west side of the park in Grand Lake. It's colder, quieter, less people, and NOT where I really pay rent... but I really liked the people, the laid back attitude, and I'm going to miss it. I was getting exhausted and stressed out from having to eat out EVERY night (too much of a hassle to bring all my cooking stuff from my apartment in Estes) and having to share one truck between three people, but now that I'm back in Estes - along with the swarms of vacationers that are going to be saturating town from now until October - I am a little bit sad. I was even getting to know the restaurant and bar owners in Grand Lake, and our trivia team was making progress - still terrible, but improving! I'll have to go over there to say hi every once in a while.

BUT I am finally catching up on sleep, errands, and everything else that I neglected while I was over there! It's taken me all weekend to adjust to NOT being busy - my life has been GO GO GO GO! And suddenly STOP!

I was praised for my hard work over the radio after I ran around with 6 pesticide contractors, covering picnic tables, cars, and RVs with plastic and alerting everybody when we would be spraying around their homes, pets, campgrounds, visitor center... Maybe it doesn't sound that bad, but there was only one me (Cisco had the day off) with two spray rigs and 6 people that weren't always on the same page as me. Plus, I really don't like pesticides... But I busted my butt and got it done. My boss here on the East side also thanked me. It feels good to be appreciated! :)

The roads crews were diligently clearing the road and had it open to administrative travel - employees could go "over the top" on Trail Ridge Road from Grand Lake to Estes, a trip that is just over an hour or so, instead of having to go all the way around 3-4 hrs like I've had to do the past four weeks. On Monday, they led a media crew over the top, which was an absolute circus. A marmot had knawed his way into the middle of the road and kept popping his head out - which led to about 15 photographers, newscasters, and videographers lying on the ground, trying to find the perfect angle, snapping photos of the little guy. In the meantime, we just sat back and laughed at how ridiculous they looked! I took a few photos of how stupid they looked and will post them in the album. Eventually they let us go around... otherwise Idon't think we would have ever made it to Grand Lake!

Being on Trail Ridge Road before it is open to the public is surreal. There is less snow this year than in 2003 when I was up there last, but to know that I was the ONLY ONE on the top of that road, 11, 900-something ft. high, surrounded by barren tundra and sometimes wicked looking storm clouds... It was just breathtaking. It also made me a bit of a celebrity. On my way back on Thursday, I made it to the closed gate at Rainbow Curve, hopped out of the truck and unlocked the key. I had tourists taking my photo, in awe that somebody was coming down from that forbidden place above the gate! "Is the road opening? Are you opening it now? When will it be open?" I made a few people happy when I suggested that maybe, JUST MAYBE, the road would open this weekend.

Whadda ya know, the road opened Saturday morning! Joe came up to get the inaugural trip over the top of the Rockies, so once again I went from Estes to Grand Lake. He was happy just to drive my sweet little Toyota! On our way back, right by the continental divide where there was still plenty of snow and ice, we pulled up behind a few stopped cars, puzzled by what exactly we were looking at. Apparently there had just been a mini rock slide/avalanche, with a pile of rocks, a downed log and rushing water obstructing the road! We popped my truck into 4x4 and eased through the mess, but the cars were stuck. I'm not really sure where that water was coming from, it will be interesting to hear from my West side friends what happened. It was like a little river cutting through the snow and ice, straight down the hill and over the road. I did stop and report it so hopefully those people weren't stuck for too long... But it was pretty cool to see!

Trail Log Time: Bridal Veil Falls, 6.4 miles round trip. This was one of the first hikes I ever did in the park, while I was training for plant ID. I figured it would be a good one for Joe and I to do today - we hiked to a lake last time, a waterfall this time, and hope to do a peak next time. The hike itself is pretty but not very spectacular for a while, until you get deeper into the mountains and get into a more forested rocky area. Climb a few rock stairs and you reach the base of the falls, which is beautiful in itself... but I think it's much more rewarding to scramble up the steep slick rock to the top of the falls, where the water washes over the rock in a shallow ribbon - hence the name, "Bridal Veil". From there, we wanted to keep climbing higher so we climbed up to the top of a rock outcropping and realized we hadn't told anybody where we were, or when we left... a big no no! So from now on, I will always let somebody know where we are going. When I go solo, I usually leave either a note in my car or in my apartment saying where I was hiking, and what time I left. If I ever go missing, you'll know where to start looking!! :)

I've got a lot of random photos and some of the falls. Now, it's time for me to look for cabins or apartments that are affordable and MAYBE allow dogs. Yep, I feel ready to get a pupper if I can find the right housing! I am supposed to get a roommate - yes, a ROOM mate in a dinky apartment with twin beds in a small room, YUCK - and I just don't wanna do that anymore!

Enjoy the photos, and I'll try to call everybody back that I've been too busy to talk to!

New Truck!

Phew! Glad this week is over!

Not much time to update right now, but this was the pesticide spraying week at work. This is the first time I've had to relax all week. But...

I bought a truck!

1992 Toyota Pickup Extra cab 4x4 with a topper. High mileage but a great price and it's in GREAT shape!! Now I just have to sell the Focus. Anybody interested? Ha ha!

Next assignment: Find a new place to live. Easier said than done!

Anyway I'm just looking forward to some R & R this weekend. I love the west side... but I'm just soooo freaking tired!

Hiking Photos

These photos are from last weekend when Joe came up. And I thought the hike I picked out was going to be a challenge to him... Yeah right! He whooped me. I'd like to pretend it's because I was carrying the backpack. :)

Trail Log: Gem Lake (click for trail description), 3.6 miles round trip, 910 ft. elevation gain. Short but steep! This is what most of my photos are of in this album. Joe remembered his hiking boots this time and we got a late start on the trail. The weather was fantastic and the storm clouds hovered in the distance but never made it past the continental divide to ruin our hike! We went back to Lumpy Ridge, where we had found that dead elk the previous weekend. It was still there, and Joe took some great (nasty) photos - flies included! We looked like a couple of tourists taking photos of everything, to the point that I didn't know if we'd actually make it to the lake! But we did, just before the sun starting dropping the the weather cooled off.

After our hike, we went to Mary's Lake Lodge for dinner, which has a great reputation but I had never been there. We didn't sit in the really really expensive part, but the Tavern was more up my alley anyway. Fantastic food, live bluegrass music, and great views! Anybody that comes up here has to try it at least once.

Ok that's all for now, I know I haven't updated in forever but I have been working like crazy and still mostly living on the West Side, where I don't get on the computer much. The good news is we finished our slash clean-up at Green Mountain and I flagged those 1,000 trees - including pounding in sign posts - and we can now move on to more exciting things. Next week we supervise the pesticide contractors - not looking forward to it, we have to put plastic over all picnic tables, tent platforms, fire pits, etc - but our trivia team, formerly "The East Siders" now called "Good at Drinking, Bad at Trivia", is expecting a BIG WIN and I'm excited! Just kidding, we suck. :)

I'm still busy trying to find a truck, an apartment, and catching up on all the stuff I neglect while I am away from Estes. I've been on the computer at this coffee shop for breakfast AND lunch and still haven't finished everything I am working on!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LINDA! My sis is 23 today, and I wish I were there to take her out!! Miss you, Winny!

BTW, I am amazed that the radio is playing "Question" by the Old 97's. Suddenly, I like this station a whole lot more!

One more tidbit: One guy that works on the West side is in the Army and has men coming back from out East. He said that if I can get my motorcycle to them in Indiana, they'll ship it out here on their way to El Paso! SWEEEET! Now, if I only had an affordable way to get it to Indiana...!!