Caught in the Moment

In my exuberance of being on my (any) bike again (it's been 1 month since "the endo"), I did something I have never done before...it's a windless night and except for the slight pain in my wrist that indicates to me that I probably did break something in it, I am flying on my road bike. I'm coming off the "city creek road" and turning onto the old highway, by the Jehovah's Witnesses Center. Ah...no traffic, I don't have to slow...Yippee...big wide sweeping turn and I'm cranking...18, 19, 21, 23, 26 mph and then the red car passes me on the RIGHT. I look down to my left and there it is...the solid YELLOW line. Gads...I am hugging the center lane...quick shoulder glance, hard drift right and I am on my way again, safely, solid WHITE line under my tires. Whew.

In the exuberance of being on my bike again.


Serengeti Flats descent, long before it was called Serengeti Flats.

Table Mountain - Party of Three

I am way behind on trip reports again. The planning-outings-for-friends experience has gone quite well this year. I've put together 7 trips for a total of 10 peaks so far. I have been getting anywhere from 3 to to 7 attendees, but sometimes you have to count the canines. Table Mountain is peak number 10 and probably the area's most classic, epic climb that is achievable with little to no mountaineering experience. Dan Kotansky, Dave Pacioretty and I enjoyed a glorious day for this outing. We started out under some questionable overcast skies that we figured might lead to donning rain coats, but after a few sprinkles we were kept under comfortable climbing conditions on the steep west face.I slept all of 2 hours the night before, so when i wasn't trying to keep up i was wondering if I'd be able to hang all the way or have to bail at the upper ridge. As we got into the mellower upper ridge meadows my faith came back and after a snack break, our final approach to the table summit went down. We completed the ascent in 3 hours.
Dan has never done it that fast (he usually takes the other route) and it's been many years since I have done it that fast. It was cool enough for long sleeves and a rather busy day on the summit block as there were probably 50+ folks that had the same idea in mind for the day. The clouds burned off, so under sunshine we headed off for the canyon descent and saw great waterfalls, wildflowers and lots of greenery. Lower in the canyon we had to cross the stream a few times. I have seen the water higher, but not faster. The guys were great at helping their cat team member get across.

I have posted the full complement of Dave and my photos on my Picasa site. Dan uses an instamatic (how funny...blogger doesn't have this word in its spelling dictionary) camera, so when he gets his film developed (oh i can't stop laughing), i was saying...when he gets his film developed, I will add his photos to the page. Here is a short summit video.



Ahhh...finally a peak over 11K this year...i feel renewed.

Trip Time: 3 hours to summit. 7hr 56 min full trip plus breaks
Elevation gain: 4009 ft.
Total Trip Distance: 10.2 miles

Number 70 - Little Sister, Idaho Summits 2010 Spring Outing.

I have a hard time getting my mind around that fact that I have made another landmark...I've summitted 70 discrete peaks; with, at last count, another 15 repeats of a number of them. Wow, that's 85 peaks...and that is what I remembered to write down. Pretty amazing for someone who had hoped to just do one sometime during her lifetime. Maybe it is time I admit I have a climbing problem.

Little Sister was the chosen adventure for the Idaho Summits 2010 Spring Outing. Matthew Durrant and I coauthored the write ups of Little Sister and its West Ridge route on SummitPost.Org. So, I'll let you check those out there. (By the way, if you were on the team, please sign the Climber's Log)

Our group of 14 was the largest outing the Idaho Summits group has had. Little Sister's Class 2 approach, even with snow, encouraged and motivated me to recruit others, so Margie, Dave (coworker) and his son, Alex, joined me. We had a great time, became even better friends, and I got to meet even more Idaho Summits members. A great group with a common love of the mountains. Just so cool.

Since I knew I could count on at least 2-3 other online trip reports, I decided to do something different (in addition to the SummitPost articles), so I took a stab at making a photo trip report. So now I've made my first YouTube post.

And just think...there used to be a time when all you did was climb a mountain and tell a few friends about it, and there was no such thing as a camera to prove it. Amazing.

Dan's Idaho Summits Trip Report

Splattski's Trip Report

My FaceBook Status 4-1-2010

I returned from Hawaii on Tuesday and I've been too tired to post my facebook status...so here it is, on my blog cuz i've well exceeded the FB character limit.
Sooooooooooooooo.....11 days; 6 flights; 2 islands; 1 wedding, 1 new daughter-n-law, 4 more new family members; (1) 4,576-vert hiked summit of the tallest mountain in the world if you count the below sea level height, 1 drive-up summit, 1 road to Hana and a hillbilly detour, 1 Volcanoes National Park with no lava flowing and no Plan B for no lava flowing, 1 sea arch with huge waves crashing, 1 southernmost point of the U.S. where a professional photographer was kind enough to take our photo (always, always ask the folks with fancy cameras to please take your photo), 5 excellent body board rides, 1 I-Sure-Didn't-See-That-Wave-Coming experience, 2 scuff-ups from body board surfing against rocks, 1 aquarium, 8 zip lines/3 awesome zip line guides, 15 total hiked miles;
AND...7 beaches/1 black sand, 1 huge bamboo forest, 6 waterfalls; 1 full moon bow, 3 rainbows,1 full sunrise/sunset, 1 huge rainstorm; 13 new Hawaiian words, all public appropriate; 7 humpbacks, 1 gorgeous whale song, 3 geckos; uncountable birds, trees, flowers, 1 "home" tree (think Avatar), 1 banyan tree (different than the home tree), 1 ocean wave-swamped chihuahua still holding on to its fetch-stick;
AND...1 shopping district, 3 shopping markets, 2 supermarkets; 2 leis, 4 necklaces, 1 pair earrings, 2 Hawaiian shirts, 1 sarong, 1 shorts, 2 baseball hats, misc knick-knacks, and 1 stupid expensive sucker purchase, BUT a little less stupid expensive because...I also have 1 never-worn, outrageously-priced, ticket-still-on, one-piece swimsuit I can return to Macy's because my bikini still rocks (yes...surprised me too)
AND FINALLY...4 bars, too many Mai Tais, sake, 8 bottles of wine (1 local winery); 2 salsa dances with a tolerant and talented partner, 4 restaurants w/1 on the water, 2 condos, 1 hotel room, 1 mistaken car entry with shocked passenger sitting in the back seat; 43 videos, 372 photos; 3 new FB friends; several hilarious stories, many more memories; lots of sashimi, too many dark chocolate-covered macadamia nuts, 1 invention idea; and 1 BFF that was there every step. Whew!

So, basically, I would say my status is EXCELLENT! Mahalo.

Ski Day Team Builder

I work with pretty awesome people so a team builder isn't really a necessity, but a nicety. I talked a group of alpiners from the Idaho Falls and the Pocatello BLM offices into taking a day off of work and shredding some snow on a two-fer-one day at Grand Targhee Resort. I had 12 participants to start, but they whittled to 6, with the Pocatello office rather under-represented (numberwise, not skillwise, Pacioretty represented). Regardless, it turned out to be an awesome day, though not bluebird, with 5-8 in. new fluffy snow over hardpack...fun conditions...warm temperatures, no wind, no crowds, and oh yea...half price. I was lax on the movie taking...contacts precluded my ability to see the Sapphire controls (a problem I am remedying today)...and frankly, stopping just wasn't something I wanted to do much more than necessary.

Deena working down Chief Joseph Bowl



Break at the Lodge



What I learned about my coworkers...Patch is much better on the hill than behind a semi; Teel is tough as nails; Hill x 2 were all over it; Hill, R.D., just keeps going and going; and Kotansky is magnitudes better than his boots suggest!

This was a great beta-test for another team builder, hopefully this year.
Lessons Learned:
Radios with a group on a big mountain are a must,
Other mountains might accommodate a broader range of abilities,
Get the word out earlier.

Ski On!

Yet ANOTHER Blue Bird Day Valentine's Day 2010

Valentine's Day 2010...with the ones I love, rippin' it up on the slopes. My best friend, Margie; my son, Jeremy; and my soon to be daughter-in-law, Joni, hooked up at Beaver Mountain for a blue bird day of skiing on groomers and powder.

The Big Kahuna Snowman in the Canyon...by the way, this is 10 feet tall, just so you know.


On the Lift
All videos by Sapphire

Playing in Powder, something I've not done enough of


Break at the Lodge


Videos by Sapphire

Skiing with the Fam

YET ANOTHER spring ski day. TOO early in the season for that kind-o-stuff. All I have today is a couple videos from the day; mostly for the fam. Sapphire is pretty amazing. The sound pick up and play back is astounding, but when you think about it, that probably should be a given. However, the next generation definitely needs improvements in the video department. Let's start with better lens placement, zoom capability, and a still photo option. A little place to hook a baby leash would be great too. I would use Sapphire more if I weren't in constant fear of watching her careen down a slope, disappear into the snow and/or drop through the deck. Today I figured out in the editing software how to rotate the movie if Sapphire forgets to self-rotate, which she occasionally does. Something else to fix for Gen 6.

Chair Ride


J&J Run


The Deck, Beer, Sun, Snow...Mountain life...gotta love it!


The Mom-in-Law...I prefer MIL, (notice: there is no F in that) ;-)


Videos by Sapphire