You have read about our snowshoeing adventures and those have been awesome times with Matt and Kristina. Being out enjoying this lovely Colorado landscape is a large part of why we came. I have not had the opportunity to use my shoes as much as I had hoped. I have made some early morning trips to the ‘backyard’. Some in the moonlight, which is always beyond stellar for me. Deer are prevalent in the neighborhood this winter and we are often scaring one another as either Abby or I surprise them. Continue reading
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Treasured Friends and Family, it has been a long time since I wrote and Matt has made me sleep in the garage as punishment for neglecting you! Just kidding, of course! The days have gone so fast and life is very different than it was only a month ago so I woke this morning wanting to update you a bit. Matt has given you some fly over events but I need to fill in some blanks. I will attempt to write short articles and keep you up to date more often. I think of many of you and lift you in prayer, trusting that Abba knows what your needs are and that He is faithful to meet and exceed your expectations. He is such a loving Father! Continue reading
Well – yesterday was pretty darn awesome!
I had a midterm exam to deal with on Saturday but Sunday was supposed to be really nice in the weather department and we decided to take our new snowshoes and head for the Continental Divide. Wanted to get an early start but hooey! bad timing on the spring forward thing. Still, we managed to get headed out by 7:30 or so and were eating breakfast in Buena Vista, CO a few hours later.
After a hearty breakfast at the Roosters Crow we headed up towards Cottonwood Pass to find the Denny Creek Trailhead. What we found was around thirty or so trucks with trailers and snowmobiles all over the place. They were having a blast roaring up the road to the pass which is closed for the winter. Nevertheless, we did find a parking space and got our gear on and headed up the trail. The snowmobiles were quickly forgotten as we headed up through the forest, around the bend, and entered the Collegiate Peaks Wilderness.
The trail was nicely snowpacked and we were able to make good time as we worked our way up the valley. When we did venture off trail we found the drifts were quite deep but were able to stay on top of them for the most part. Abby quickly decided the trail was a better choice for her. A little over a mile or so up the trail we found the sign pointing the way to the Mt Yale summit (14,196 ft) but did not think we were in good enough shape to tackle that. We continued up the trail towards Browns Pass taking in the awe-inspiring beauty of the Rocky Mountains in winter. We were surrounded on all sides by the Collegiate Peaks.
The sky was that deep blue color and there was not a cloud to be seen. The temps were climbing along with us and the layers started coming off so we did not overheat. After another mile of trekking we made it up to the junction of Hartenstein Lake trail which is in a large meadow-like area and rested for a while. Our goal was to make it to the top of Browns Pass. So far we had gained about 1,200 ft in elevation and my leg was starting to complain. We decided to push on anyway and see how far we could make it. The trail shortly disappeared and we found ourselves breaking trail as we went. In about a half a mile it became apparent that my leg was not going to make it and we were forced to turn around. We were at 11,250 ft elevation and still had another mile to go topping out at 12,000ft.
The trip back down went quickly and was much easier on my leg. Back in the Jeep and stop at Cottonwood Hot Springs on the way down. Aaahhhhhhhh! Geothermal hot springs. What a way to finish off a wilderness adventure. There are three outdoor pools ranging in temp from Too Hot, Hot, and Warm. We stayed for an hour then drove back into Buena Vista, stopping by Bongo Billy’s coffeehouse for some nourishment and then headed for home.
I’m here to tell you…I slept GOOD last night.
I recently had the opportunity to join National Geographic Traveler photographer Jim Richardson and the magazine’s senior photo editor Dan Westergren for a one-day seminar on how to make successful travel photos. The fundamental idea was to expand your awareness and skills beyond simply producing “pretty pictures,” and discover how to capture the spirit of a place by using a cultural documentary approach to your travel photography.
It was an extraordinary event and I came away from the seminar armed with a greater knowledge of how to engage myself in the photography process and not simply be a participant in a “drive-by shooting.” I gained an greater understanding of how to more effectively utilize the gear I own and identified several “holes” in my inventory. Jim Richardson used a series of photographs to explain the concepts he was presenting. This learning approach was very effective and I gained not only knowledge in the process but was inspired by the photography itself to ‘get out there” and take more pictures than I have in the past.
I can see where I will eventually have to make the plunge to digital but for now I am happy with the gear I have. Well, almost. I learned from the seminar that a wide angle lens can create some very dramatic effects. And since I almost never use my telephoto lens I decided to sell it and get a wide angle lens. I got the lens sold with no trouble at all but the wide angle lens I want is on backorder so am having to wait for it.
Ronda and I made weekend getaway up to Idaho Springs and stayed at a resort that has natural hot springs. On Saturday morning we headed off to give my snowshoes their maiden voyage. The winds had been pretty nasty the previous day and were not much improved in the morning. It took a while to convince myself that I really wanted to do this…but eventually we geared up and headed into the blowing snow. The first half mile or so was pretty miserable but then we got into the forest and it improved considerably. We were not the first ones up the trail so we had a path to follow which helped some. It was really fun stomping over drifts that ranged from two to six foot high.
The trail goes to Chinn’s Lake which is about four miles. At approximately the halfway point it intersects the Continental Divide Trail (CDT) which is where these pictures were taken. We had to turn around there and head back or we would have missed our reservation at the resort for the private geothermal pool. The hot springs made a perfect ending to this little adventure.
Life sure gets full when you take two night classes in addition to a full-time job. One nice side effect of this was my old PC that I use for school couldn’t handle the new Java development environment so I was forced (arm twisted and tied behind my back) to go buy a new one. Dang. What a shame.
It’s truly amazing the computer power you can buy these days for not a whole lot of money. Needless to say I am very pleased with the upgrade. Things that used to give me time to go get a cup of coffee now snap right up on the screen. I also dumped my 19″ CRT in favor of a 19″ LCD display and now I have considerably more deskspace to pile up papers!
I do have one negative thing to report. I bought a textbook last fall in anticipation of the course this spring. I ordered the correct edition but when the book arrived I never really looked at it, just put it on the shelf. Now two weeks into the course I discover that they shipped me the wrong edition. And of course they don’t respond to my emails. GRRRR!.
What is with these textbooks anyway. I can understand why some of my textbooks would be expensive. I am taking graduate courses in a specialized field. But Josh just signed up for a basic Algebra course at the local community college and his text book was $100. For an elementary, fundamentals course? That’s absolutely crazy! What are they thinking?
Winter is definitely getting annoying. Might as well be back in the Midwest the way this winter has been shaping up. Hopefully things will get back to normal pretty soon. I’ve gotten spoiled over the last two years 😉
Three weeks in a row we’ve been hit with a snowstorm. Winter is definitely making it’s presence known this year. I’ve decided to fight back though, I bought myself some snowshoes. Tomorrow Ronda and I will get out and go hiking anyway. I’ll let you know how it goes.
I snapped this shot of the snow blowing off Pikes Peak last Saturday.
Thursday morning we were treated to an awesome light show in the western sky as the remnants of a Russian Soyuz 2-1b rocket re-entered the atmosphere and broke up high above the mountains. It was an amazing sight to see. Likely a once in a lifetime event. There was also a full moon setting and the debris passed just below it.
The rocket, made in Russia, was launched from Kazakhstan on December 27, carrying the European Space Agency’s COROT space observatory into orbit. Flying high above the Earth’s atmosphere, the Convection Rotation and planetary Transits (COROT) satellite will look for smaller, rocky extrasolar planets beyond our solar system.
Watch the cool video of the rocket re-entry here.
