CT Day 6: First Resupply at Kenosha Pass

Having caught up on our scheduled mileage, we only had to make 10 miles or so today to reach Kenosha Pass on US Highway 285. My parents had loose plans to meet us at the spot, but we had stashed a box in the nearby town of Jefferson in case unforseen circumstances prevented them from making it.

So we woke up early and headed out, stopping only for a long, late morning break at a creek to wash up and get water. While there, we ran into Lint, who we learned through small talk was a seasoned thru-hiker and triple-crowner. Triple Crowners are those hardy folks who have hiked the three main long distance National Scenic Trails in the United States: The Appalacchian Trail, the Pacific Crest Trail, and the Continental Divide Trail. He had done over ten National Scenic Trails and had tattoos of trail logos and trail maps all over himself. He carried a big bamboo walking stick and an ultralight backpack and was doing about 20 miles a day. We would see his name in Trailhead registers for weeks to come, and were amazed at his time.

The rest of the hike was fairly easy and mundane. We made pretty good time and enjoyed the great views of the open valley.

Dave, Paul and I selected a campground near Kenosha Pass and reluctantly paid the requisite fee for the area. My parents showed up with big hamburgers, beer, elk sausage later that evening. We had a great time relaying our stories and encounters with the parental units. We were also super eager to drop about 5 pounds of useless stuff each of us had brought along. I got rid of 2 extra layers, some socks that were too warm, some cooking implements, and some other odds and ends that were simply weighing us down. Paul and Dave did the same. Paul even dropped his hand cranked radio that he had been carrying.

We also went through our food resupply and dropped TONS of food that we simply weren't and hadn't eaten during the previous week. We simply had purchased too much of the wrong kinds of food.

Despite the rain, my parents enjoyed camping with us as well. Although this picture was taken the following morning, when everything was sunny and warm. You can read my Dad's account here.

CT Day 7: Kenosha Pass to Jefferson Creek

Only 408 Miles to Go in Andy's Fragments

The Colorado Trail Story

CT Day 5: Through Lost Creek

We hiked uphill almost all day long. After ascending an abandoned logging road we finally reached our first view of Lost Creek itself. This was the Lost Creek Wilderness I recall from my memories. A lazy little stream meandering through a pristine forest of giant, stately Douglas Firs, Lodgepole Pines and Blue Spruce.

With the steep logging road behind us, the gentle grade of following Lost Creek to its source proved no challenge at all, and we made excellent time. I caught up with Paul and Dave about our lives since we parted in college.

In the late afternoon we reached a point where the creek disappeared, surrounded on three sides by mountains. Paul spotted a rocky outcropping above the trees and suggested we climb it. Dave and I were eager to get a few more miles in, but indulged him, and we're eternally glad we did. We got magnificent views of the entire valley West, where Jefferson lied. We could see the tiny town and the highway that was nearly a mile outside Denver. We also spied Pikes Peak (far to the South near Colorado Springs) and Mt. Guyot.

CT Day 6: First Resupply At Kenosha Pass

The Colorado Trail Story

CT Day 4: Return to Lost Creek

Today saw two firsts for our trip. Our first afternoon shower and our first National Wilderness Area, Lost Creek Wilderness. The Colorado Trail runs through the northern boundaries of Lost Creek and we were excited to reach it today, mostly due to the milestone showing we were making progress by reaching a landmark I knew. Dave poses as he fills out the required permit.

We started off somewhat disparaged and low on morale, despite making mileage the previous two days. A lot of this was frustration with the food and meals I had packed and planned. The meals tasted good, and proved to be easy enough to prepare, but there were two critical problems:
1. By and large the foods proved too heavy and its calorie to weight ratio was relatively low, forcing us to carry too much food.
2. We were carrying far too much food, and eating only slightly more than half our daily ration. We had enough food for 10 days, not 6!

The solution, of course, was a massive dumping of leftovers. And while we feel just as guilty as we should about our high impact camping techniques, dumping over 5 pounds of trail mix and 10 pounds of other food and fuel proved to be the only way to keep our sanity. We rationalized it by saying food was biodegradable. Either way, there's a happy little squirrel somewhere who found enough trail mix to last him and his tribe for the next 5 winters. We moved on after this.

I recall going through Lost Creek several times in my youth, mostly with my father and our old dog Pepper. As a teenager, I entered a program through Eagle Lake Camp called the "Rocky Mountain Challenge," which was basically a Christian wilderness program modeled after Outward Bound. In fact, I vaguely recall hiking through a few of these sections when I was 16 or 17 years old.

The area has changed very little since then. The area remains much as it has, a fantastically remote preserve of virgin forest a surprisingly short distance from Denver. We spent 20 minutes perched on this rock, rejoicing that we weren't miserably hot for the first time in four days.

CT Day 5: Through Lost Creek

The Colorado Trail Story

CT Day 3: Rapidly Diminishing Toilet Paper Supply

We finished trudging through the burn area near Buffalo Creek, and we were ready for some tree cover and some rain! We were on schedule for most of the morning, until Paul came down with a bad case of diarrhea that afternoon. Oh no! Now we have to stop every hour for twenty minutes so Paul can dig a hole and fill it up!

Now if David and I were disappointed about this new development, I can only imagine how Paul felt about things. He certainly looks pretty cheerful for someone being cleaned out by an intestinal bug!

It wouldn't have been a huge deal (we still made our mileage for the day), except that our roll of toilet paper was looking a lot less thick and fluffy. In fact there was far too little paper on it for comfort, considering more wouldn't be available for another 45 miles. We might have to start rationing the stuff!
On the brighter side, we could indulge our dirty minds in jokes about having the trots. Paul had Dave and I in stitches about, "the flies attacking my Hershey drops..!" We also climbed these two big boulders while waiting for Paul.

CT Day 4: Return to Lost Creek

The Colorado Trail Story

CT Day 2: A Game Plan for the Heat

The three of us figured our first mistake was not starting early enough. So we vowed to get up really early to beat the heat. We were at mile eight on the Colorado Trail and we wouldn't see water until mile 16-17 at the South Platte River. We also had a big hill to climb. We also realized this wasn't going to be a simple Walk in the Woods, no matter how much Bill Bryson makes light of the thru-hiking sport. If we were going to finish this we needed a big strategy and we needed to put a lot of thought into this, at least until we were in better physical condition.

We figured we probably wouldn't make up the mileage we were short yesterday on Day 2, but we figured we MIGHT be able to get our 12 miles in for today, so we wouldn't fall further behind. The plan was simple, but inspired, kind of. We'd get up the hill before the heat. Then it would be 5 or so miles downhill to the Platte River. We'd reach the South Platte sometime in the early afternoon and WAIT till the evening before we hiked again that day. It was just going to be too hot and exausting to do anything in the afternoon. We also had another problem: The next water after the South Platte River was 10 miles away, and 2000 feet higher. So if we hiked that evening, we needed to carry all our water for cooking. Instead, we'd simply cook dinner at the river and then get 3-4 miles done early that evening, leaving us plenty of water to reach the next source.

So we finally reached the South Platte at around 12:30 and went swimming several times. We took naps. Dave went fishing. We didn't leave until 4:30 or 5 that afternoon after we had cooked and loaded up with tons of water.

We also met a REAL thru-hiker, Steve. Steve had 12 days of food, fuel and gear on him. Yet his pack weighed only 26 lbs (11.8 kg)! He looked like he was having a lot more fun than we were. He was moving much faster too. He did 17 miles in the day and a half we did the same, and it was only noon when we met him! We felt good about our big plan when he told us he was going to do exactly the same thing. We're learning at least. In fact, he joined us for the last 3-4 miles and camped with us that night.
Steve turned out to be a wealth of information. He said our biggest problem (which we were already realizing) was food. He said all of his foods come out to 130 calories per ounce, which is A LOT of energy for very little weight. We started looking at the labels on our foods and some of them weren't even half that. Even Clif Bars didn't reach 100 calories per ounce. So if one needs 3500 calories per day, you could carry an extra pound or two per day if you have the wrong foods. Multiply that by 6 days before our next re-supply and the gravity of the situation starts to weigh on your mind (and your back and joints).

So he showed us what HE was eating. He was eating well enough, but carried almost NOTHING. If I do this again, I'm DEFINITELY going to try and do things his way.

Anyways, we hiked up the hill with him that evening, marching up a steep hill into the Buffalo Creek Burn area. A huge forest fire came through here in 1996, so we were dreading the lack of tree cover the next morning.
CT Day 3: Rapidly Diminishing Toilet Paper Supply

The Colorado Trail Story

CT Day 1: Roxborough Park to Mile 8

We woke up early for last minute preparations, email checks, breakfast, and all sorts of other sundry business thru-hikers do before a big hike. The Colorado Trail starts just a short drive from my parent's house. We had debated simply hiking out the front door, but thought why bother. We had also earlier elected to abandon the widely panned opening section, Waterton Canyon. All the thru-hikers dislike it intensely. We decided instead to go South and begin our hike at Roxborough State Park.


So we all piled into my parent's two cars and began the drive. Greeted by deer, sunshine, and brightly lit red rocks at the entrance, the day looked like a fortuitous start to our journey. Only 480 miles to go! We piled out, took the requisite, "this is the start of your big hike" pictures, and then we started up the trail. My parents and Ipping hiked up with us for the first 20 minutes or so. Then we put down our packs and took EVEN MORE group shots! Seriously though, we were all having fun.

The trouble didn't start till much later. The trail from Roxborough State Park to the Colorado Trail was certainly much prettier than Waterton Canyon, but proved to be a poor choice. Instead of climbing one hill for the day, we had to climb two. And the hill at Roxborough put us high up on a ridge right in the path of the Eastern Sun. So we got fried all morning AND all afternoon! We only managed to get 8 miles into the trail before we stopped for the evening. This trail was looking to be A LOT harder than we thought.

We did have some highlights though. The weather was nice enough that we could sleep under the stars. Which was probably a good thing because I don't think any of us had the energy to set it up. Dave also managed to kill a fly with his fart. I didn't believe it either until he showed me the corpse.

You can read my father's account of the day here.

CT DAY 2: A Gameplan for the Heat

Walk 500 Miles From Andy's Fragments

The Colorado Trail Story

Running around with Dave

I picked David Hanson up at the Airport two days before we started our hike, and all our last minute preparations began in earnest. We had about 5-7 days of food resupplies to pack and about 6 days of food to pack for the initial part of the trip. No small bit of work.

We also made trips to the REI here in Littleton, as well as a couple places up in Boulder. We first stop off at Neptune's to trade my tent out for something that can hold three people. The Black Diamond Megamid fits the bill. What do you know? They break their own return policy and let me return a tent without a receipt (which I stupidly lost). I hastily bought a new, smaller VAUDE backpack that was about 3500 cubic inches. I tried it on and bought it for the wonderful hipbelt alone. Unfortunately, I made the mistake of not checking to see if I could fit everything inside it.

So now what to do? I have a larger expedition pack that's WAY too big. And I've got a brand new one that's uber comfortable, but just barely too small to take with us! Now I've got to go BACK to Boulder to return this thing AND get a new one somewhere! REI's got nothing that's very suitable. Everything they carry is too small or too big.

Finally, I find a Millet pack at Neptune's again that's just barely large enough! And it fits like a glove! This could work! I'm determined to make this trip perfect and successful! It better be perfect, because I'm SICK of shopping!

Paul Brodar and his girlfriend Ipping also showed up late that afternoon. I did have to take Paul down to REI again to find a pack cover and a headlamp. But other than that we were DONE. It was simply a matter of going over the final game plan and packing up. Now we could FINALLY all relax with some burgers and Coronas! That is until I realized I couldn't find my battery recharger and had to make a trip down to the drug store for Lithium Ion CR-2's for the inevitable day my two big rechargeable batteries would die. 10 bucks each, and I would need at least 6 of the stupid things. OUCH.

CT Day 1: Roxborough Park to Mile 8

Once Again to the Summit

Colorado Trail

Logistical Nightmare

The easiest (and most fun) part of preparing for a long hike of this nature is getting cool new gear and stuff to take with you. You can buy the latest, greatest (and lightest) version of everything. Go to stores, get stuff you like, and figure what you'll need.

The hard part comes when you realize that you need 50 days of food. For three people. The food has to be light weight. The food must keep no matter how hot the temperature. The food has to cook in less than 15 minutes (anything more requires one to carry an unacceptable quantity of fuel). The food has to be cheap. About the only food that falls into all of these categories is instant oatmeal, and you get sick of this VERY fast.
Then you realize JUST HOW MUCH food 50 days worth really is. I wonder at this point if we've gone way overboard. I've made sure we have regular meals, but I've got tons of stuff that may or may not be necessary.
And if these things aren't necessary, they are only going to weigh us down. At this point, seeing everything, I'm sure we WON'T go hungry. But we've got tons of stuff like ramen noodles for every day, instant pudding for every day, trail mix for every day, and dried fruit for every day (raisins mostly).

We'll see what happens!

Hanging with Noelle

It was strange spending time with my sister for the first time in 2 1/2 years. I wasn't really sure where to begin. While it was a bit awkward due to the wildly different paths that our lives have taken over the last 4 to 5 years, I really was happy to reconnect with my sister and see where life has taken her.

While I expected that my new nephew would demand a lot of her time and attention, during our time together in Pagosa and Denver Seth Andrew amazed me at how much time and attention that an infant (and most children, I think) demands from a parent. The unending tasks of feeding, changing, and caring for an infant shocked me. My previously academic awareness of a parent's obligations came to mind before meeting my sister, but the daily practicalities and serious lifestyle implications involved with such a commitment never occurred to me. Even the tedious task of feeding an infant turned into a significantly time consuming event. The liberty to take 50 days and hike the Colorado Trail doesn't exist. I certainly couldn't stay out all night at clubs and bars. At times even the simpler luxuries of watching a movie, or going out for coffee are often out of reach.

Yet somehow my sister does all of this with near infinite patience, relentlessly working, sacrificing, and advocating for Seth Andrew's welfare and interests. She even at times enjoys the task, and finds it rewarding. She's probably going to be a great mother.

For the time being though, I think I'd rather be an uncle. While I've only known what being an uncle is like for four days, I'm already convinced that's where its at. So asked the greatest expert I know on how to deal with my new nephew (and the projected niece), my own Aunt Dee. As the best Aunt I know, she suggested, "Just spoil them rotten. Get them whatever they want and let them do whatever they want and they'll love you!"

Sounds like a plan to me! And you know what? Seth Andrew loved the new cell phone I gave him! (And why wouldn't he... Its delicious!)

Reunion with Paul Brodar

I haven't seen Paul Brodar in almost 2 1/2 years. I count him among my closest friends and a kindred spirit in so many ways. I received an email from Paul about a week ago (end of June) saying he would LOVE to join me on the Colorado Trail. I was naturally exited about the prospect of him joining us.

Paul is a free spirit in the truest sense of the word, and I'm super eager to catch up with him during the trip. One thing that struck me right away about Paul, was that he's changed very little since I've seen him last. Most of my family and friends have changed and evolved considerably during my absence, whereas Paul seems to be happy who he is and perfectly content the way he is.

He also has a GPS! And he knows how to use it! He's definitely hiking the Colorado Trail with us!

We met up at the condo in Pagosa Springs and I got to meet his girlfriend Ipping for the first time. We headed out and hunted around for some gear he knows he needed to get. It was too bad we couldn't have hung out more together.

Waterfall in the San Juans

We headed out to this old waterfall for a day. My Dad knew this waterfall way out on Piedra Road from Pagosa Springs. I'd been out this road several times before, but never down this particular branch.

At the end of a 40 minute drive, the road ended at a small hike to a huge raging waterfall fed by the melting snows of the San Juan Mountains. Mist and Spray hit my face and body as I scrambled up boulders in the stream.

I'm excited now, as I'll be spending most every day during July and August enjoying small joys and discoveries of this nature for the following 40-50 days. I grow more excited for my adventure every day.

Unfortunately I forgot my camera and had to steal this one from my Dad's blog again.

Visit to Pagosa Springs

We went up there this weekend to visit my Aunt Dee and the rest of the Family. It was a long drive, and with 5 humans in the car, turned out to be a long drive.

We all had fun watching the Fourth of July Parade, with all the Pagosa locals shamelessly using the parade as an opportunity to campaign for county commissioner.

While we all had a good time, I think I speak for everyone though when I say we were all glad to be headed back home.

Meet the Nephew!

For almost a year now, my sister Noelle has been eager for me to meet my new nephew, Seth Andrew Holler. And my chance finally came later today when my sister arrived carrying her 10 month old Cheerios vacuum cleaner, Seth Andrew Holler.

He's still too young to walk and talk, but he manages to entertain the whole clan by grinning, making weird noises at inopportune times, scooting around on his knees, and trying to taste every random object given to him. He's definitely cute!

Always the doting mother, Noelle seems to be doing a fabulous job raising him (although a bit overprotective IMHO). I gave him a dishdasha just his size that I bought in Kuwait (he wasn't too crazy about it though) and I also gave him a used, obsolete cell phone that I also used in Kuwait. He ABSOLUTELY LOVES playing with the cell phone and finds it much more delicious than the new clothes. It won't be long before he's texting all the girls at the day care center with his slobber covered cell phone!

I was also completely shocked and amazed at how much time and attention infants demand of their parents. I always knew babies were high maintenance in an academic sense, but seeing it firsthand honestly blew me away. But I'm sure Noelle wouldn't have it any other way.

PICTURE NOTE: This photo was shamelessly stolen from my father's blog, Andy's Fragments.

Scott and Keith head off to the Gore Range

We recently got in touch with Scott Walker, longtime friend from Memphis and former owner of the Memphis Branch of Ascent Outdoors. Scott and Keith were headed off to the Gore Range. They were both exited to take the 4rth of July weekend to head up into North Central Colorado and get a Colorado Rocky Mountain High.

When they mentioned where they were going I recalled my own trip to the area in the Gore Range, including Upper and Lower Cataract Lake and the Eagle's Nest Wilderness Area. I started the trip with my father for a couple days, hiking in from a 4WD road and making the trek to Lower Cataract Lake. We then made a longer trek and met up with Leon Henklemen at Surprise Lake, who was (surprise!) leading a group of Jr. High kids from Bear Valley Church. I knew a couple of them and got to know a couple more.

Being in the 2nd or 3rd grade at the time, I don't remember a whole lot. Only a thunderstorm, a few fleeting images of the group and locations, and some rude comments that some long forgotten Jr. Highers made to me. But I do have a lot of positive feelings about the place, as I'm sure Scott and Keith will.

From Laurel and Hardy to the Three Stooges

This afternoon, as I was going through an old email account I rarely use due to its saturation with SPAM, I discovered 2 emails from longtime friend and former roommate Paul Brodar! He's evidently decided to put off preparations for his 2012 presidential bid a little longer so that he can focus on more important things: joining David Hanson and I for our Colorado Trail Through Hike!

Paul and I met in the Summer of 2001 during my stint at Friendly Pines Camp, and after hiking, climbing, and hanging out with each other up at Northern Arizona University for quite some time, became very good friends.

After University, we parted ways, and haven't seen each other for 2 1/2 years. He moved up to Durango, CO, while I went to Japan and Kuwait. He brings our team to three people now. Paul has a wealth of experience in the backcountry and the wilderness, having worked on year-round staff at Friendly Pines and having his intimate knowledge of the San Juan Mountains in Southern Colorado. He also has a GPS, solving many of our navigation problems during the trip.

I'm planning on meeting him in Pagosa Springs this weekend where we can work out details about the trip and I can show him our game plan. Here's to Paul Brodar! Our Duet is now a Trio! No longer are we Laurel and Hardy, we are now the Three Stooges! Although I'm not sure the latter is the most promising analogy.

Prep for the HIKE

From Kuwait, the only real planning for the Colorado Trail I could do was to read about the trail and surf the pages of REI.com for cool new gear to buy. I bookmarked a hundred pages of new gear, reviewing everything from steripens, to tens, silnylon tarp shelters, rain gear, backpacks, stoves, socks, boots and everything else I needed to blow a huge wad of cash on.

I also finally got my hands on the official guide book for planning the trail from the Colorado Trail Foundation. So I'm going through it and calculating how long it will take to get from point A to point B, and then calculating how much food we need for that part of the journey. While it isn't terribly difficult, there are tons of judgment calls and decisions that need to be made. Should we get our first resupply in Bailey or Jefferson? When we get to Leadville, should we hitch in from Tennessee Pass or push on as far as Twin Lakes? Should we have 8 resupply points or try and make do with 5? Tons of decisions! Will I make the right calls and march triumphantly into Durango ahead of schedule and under budget? Or will a flawed plan doom the whole expedition to ignominious failure and defeat?

In the end, I settled on a more conservative and traditional resupply schedule of 7 re-supplies. The vast majority of Colorado Trail thru-hikers have a similar plan and I don't feel I have the experience to know if I should modify things and develop a radical "outside the box" type of game-plan. So, the resupply schedule is going to be roughly as follows:
STOP 1. Jefferson at 60-70 miles. STOP 2. Breckenridge at 100 miles. STOP 3. Leadville at 130-150 miles. STOP 4. Buena Vista. STOP 5. Salida or Poncha Springs at nearly 300 miles. STOP 6. Creede. STOP 7. Silverton.

Now that I'm in the midst of all this planning and getting down to the "meat and potatoes" of things, I'm a lot more overwhelmed. Besides composing the critical game-plan, the other main item on the agenda included purchasing massive quantities of trail food.

Several trips to Costco, Super Target, King Supers, REI, and Wal-Mart are all yeilding tons of conflicting ideas, tough decisions, and all sorts of products that are filling up my parent's basement. I could go through this now and evaluate everything I've purchased, but I think I should wait until the hike is finished before I begin evaluating how things went.

SO... We'll see what happens!

The People's Republic of Boulder

After having a good day with Alison up on Mount Evans, I decided to show Alison around one of Colorado's greatest cities: Boulder. Complete disclosure demands I admit I needed an excuse to run by Neptune Mountaineering for Colorado Trail supplies, and it turned out perfectly.

Boulder lies just North of Denver, below the beautiful Flatiron slabs of rock. The University of Colorado is located there and the town is known as a haven for liberal politics, great rock climbing, fabulous microbrews, and Colorado's intelligentsia.

For those of you who don't know, Neptune Mountaineering is widely regarded as the world's greatest mountaineering and outdoors retail establishment. Only the flagship stores of LL Bean and REI could even approach Neptune for supremacy. While not the largest or the flashiest, Neptune's fanatical devotion to serving serious hardcore rock climbers, ice climbers, mountaineers and backcountry skiers (as opposed to WASPY suburbanites) makes it the best. Despite their size, they ALWAYS have exactly what you need, and can always be counted on when your local REI lets you down. Also, unlike REI, the don't carry worthless crap that makes you cringe. Everything they sell has been tested and proven and is generally regarded as good stuff. And while they carry the latest and best, they're also great for carrying all sorts of great, hard to find old school gear (got my Black Diamond Megamid tent there).

Alison loved Boulder (not surprising considering how great it is), I got what I needed, and everyone was happy. She commented that Boulder was "just like Berkely, only prettier and cleaner!" I couldn't have put it better myself.

NOTE: This picture is not actually in Boulder, Alison is on the steps of Colorado's capital Building, as we forgot to take any pictures in Boulder.

Refreshments Anyone?

After our long and grueling drive up Mount Evans, Alison and I returned to Idaho Springs, where we ate the best pizza in Colorado, Beaujeaus Pizza! For those of you who aren't familiar with Colorado Style Pizza, it works like this, you have two types: Mountain pies with their enormous moutainous crusts and Prairie pies which are much flatter (And NO, these ARE NOT the prairie pies all my readers from Texas and Oklahoma are all thinking of!) We shared a moutain pie with all sorts of toppings. I thought it was delicious!

Great Pizza! The only problem was, Beaujeaus had taken down all the napkins on the walls I remember as a child. When I was a kid and walked in, the entire walls were covered with napkins people had written and drawn on! I even wrote a few myself and planned on finding them! One of the best things about Beaujeaus was reading all the different napkins that people wrote. Now they're all gone! (Health or Fire regulations if I had to guess).

After that, we went down to Golden Colorado, seeking the much colder (and much more famous) refreshments that Golden Colorado has become famous for! What's even better, they give it away for free! I envy all the students at the Colorado School of Mines, who get this every day for free!

We went to downtown later that night for more of the same.

Alison Comes to Denver

I've known Alison Yeardley since the Summer of 2002, when we both spent the summer as counselors at YMCA Camp Marston. We've always kept in touch since then and since the time she came to visit me at the Grand Canyon.

Well, I was quite excited to host her at my parents house in Denver. So what did we do? Well, we started by driving up to the top of Mount Evans, the highest paved road in the world, and the highest in North America.

I did the drive years ago with my friend Paul Brodar, and it is still an impressive drive. The drive starts in the tiny town of Idaho Springs at 8700 feet of elevation and rises to 14,240 feet(4340 meters) near the top. There is a short scramble from there to the actual summit of the mountain.

Narrow, well placed ribbons of asphalt cling tenuously to cliffs and ridges as it charts a circuitous route up the peak. HUNDREDS of cyclists were out in force, evidently training for a race to the top of Mount Evans on July 19th.

Alison, meanwhile, snapped pictures and struggled to contain her excitement and exuberance at being on a topography orders of magnitude more interesting than her current place of residence, Houston, Texas. This is one of those times that the pictures speak for themselves!

Exciting Day in Low Density Residential

It's raining! It's Pouring!
The suburbs are boring!
Cut the grass,
With the middle class!
See the smog pollution warning!

Seriously, the burbs aren't that bad, I'm just poking fun at my parent's residence of choice in an attempt to annoy my Dad.

Youtube Videos

It probably would've been for the best had I not learned to embed youtube videos.

Two Links, a Gary Fisher, and a Didgeridoo

The start of my break has begun in earnest with my first truly slow day, as I took things easy and relaxed quite a bit. Tried to wake up late. Figured I'd make it a productive day, but still take it easy. The events for the day went as follows:

1. Both my parents left for work, leaving me stuck in the "burbs." Then I had about 6 hours to see what an exciting, dynamic and interesting neighborhood where my parents live in the South-Westernmost corner of Denver.

2. Futzed around the house digging up my old clothes, boxes, pictures and things I'd left behind for the past four years. Man I've got a whole lotta crap sitting around! And this doesn't even include the stuff my folks put in storage! My Black Belt Certificate from Cordova Martial Arts. Staff picture from Camp AZDA (forgot the name of that cute nurse I liked). My Japanese cell phone. T-shirts I've had since High School. A framed shot of me hanging off Devil's Tower. My Yukata. The laundry hamper I used in the NAU dorms. My High School Yearbook. A framed poster signed by the late Alex Lowe. And of course all the junk I brought back from Kuwait.

3. After reveling in the fantastic excitement that is my parent's home and neighborhood, I just couldn't take any more of the stimulation around the house, lest sensory overload give me a nervous breakdown, and force my parents to put me in a straight-jacket in a rubber room somewhere near Ohio. So what did I do? Write in my blog and go for a run outside. The run was esp. pleasant, and considering the altitude and how little I've exercised for the past 3 months, I'm pleased with my stamina.

4. Inventoried food in the basement for the Colorado Trail. I had to escape the excitement and mental stimulation somehow.

5. My dad was concerned about me being overstimulated and winding up in the rubber room, or whatever, so he took pity on me and drove me down to the Littleton Family YMCA. I joined the gym and flexed my atrophied muscles for an hour or so. And they have indeed been lying dormant for TOO long.

6. Looked at the old Gary Fisher mountain bike I left in the garage 4 years ago. The tires limped flat and the chain was covered in rust. The rest of the bike was caked in mud. Definitely replacing the chain. But the components all seem to be in good shape, so after I add some semi-slicks and a pile of grease, I should have a pretty good commuter setup.

I'm also just within range of Littleton Station on the light rail, so quite a bit of metro Denver is open to me. And a trail network should connect me to the Littleton Family YMCA. HA! I won't have to buy a car after all!

7. Pestered my Dad about the UPS box that arrived. He wouldn't tell me. Finally found out he's got a new didgeridoo! OF ALL THINGS! He's never been Down Under, nor shown any particular interest in aboriginal Australian culture or Australia. Nor has he to my knowledge ever shown interest in musical instruments as long as I've known him (awhile I suppose).

But judging fom the quality and price of the didgeridoo he bought, and the instructional DVDs, he's dead serious about learning it. Further pestering on my part revealed that the throat muscles people utilize for didgeridoos can cure my father's snoring problems, an ailment that has plagued my mother for at least 3 decades now. I figure I can make fun of him playing it for a few more days without any serious consequenses!
Also, here's a couple links for people interested in the Colorado Trail (CT).

PMAGS: Paul Magnanti's Outdoor Ramblings, Journeys, & Photos
Paul Magnanti's site contains a journal and a very rough guide for the CT. This guy is a "Triple Crowner," someone who's done the Appalachian Trail (AT), the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT), and the Continental Divide Trail (CDT), the three epic long distance hiking trails that traverse the contiguous United States.
Check out his

Chomp's Ongoing Adventures
This guy has a great album covering most of the Colorado Trail. Lots of great shots to get me inspired. I'm also shamelessly stealing one of these shots for this post!

Indiana Jones with Uncle David

I also managed to stop by my Uncle David's house in Tempe, Arizona. We kept things pretty low key and laid back though. Summer temperatures in Tempe and Phoenix were near record highs for the week, 8 straight days at 114 degrees Fahrenheit. This comes to about 46 degrees Celsius. Not much to do but hang out indoors to beat the heat! So, to entertain ourselves, Uncle David took me to the YMCA for a bit of treadmill action and then we went to see a movie.

And what else did we see? Harrison Ford in his signature role as Indiana Jones again. Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull takes the spectacle, stunts, and campiness of the first three films to a whole new level with blue screens and computer animation. At times, I thought the film's plot was so contrived and over the top I couldn't help but laugh. As my Aunt Nancy astutely observed, the film "felt like a ride at Disneyland." I couldn't agree more.

Uncle Dave is also exited about his new Dodge Ram truck. A full size Ram 1500 4X4 with a 5.7 liter Hemi, it will no doubt serve him well on the numerous boy scout camping trips he leads with his Tempe area scout troop.

"I could cram 5 scouts in the cab if we need to!" Uncle Dave exclaimed as he excitedly expounded on its towing capacity, off road capability, and general suitability for hauling boy scouts and camping gear into the Superstition Mountains and up to the Mogollon Rim.

May Uncle Dave have many good times with scouts and his new truck.

A Visit With the Cousin

Not having a brother, I've always been pretty chummy with my cousin Jonathan, longtime son of my Uncle David. I always have a good time hanging out with my cousin.

Jonathan gave me the unfortunate news though, that he and his wife Jessica will be splitting up soon, and are simply waiting to time the paperwork with the sale of their home.

I remember meeting Jessica my first year of college. Then his girlfriend, the three of us often hung out together on my trips down to Phoenix.

Despite this recent turn of events, my cousin seems to be doing pretty well. But then he's always had a pretty even keel and takes most everything in stride. I'm confident he'll recover soon enough.

Tech Support & Editorial Consultant for Grandad

While in Arizona, I also had the chance to visit my Grandad's home in Prescott, Arizona. For an old guy approaching his mid nineties, he's doing pretty well. He still teaches his Sunday school class sometimes and still gets consulting calls on different beetles and insects that only he knows about. Evorine, my grandmother, is also doing well, and recently finished a week teaching all the little ankle biters at their Baptist church.

A retired entomologist, Richard Beal's been busy writing short stories and trying to promote his recently published, The Grand Canyon, Evolution, and Intelligent Design. He seemed especially excited about a recent endorsement. Awhile ago, he started up his own blog to promote his book, but was having some trouble figuring out how to publish certain things on it. I was happy to help him out.

He's also been writing some Christian themed short stories in his spare time and was eager for my input on one of his stories, The Blowfly Man. When the old entomologist presented me with a story of this title, I must admit I had a few misgivings, as 90 percent of his published work consists of dry academic descriptions of blowflies, dermestid beetles, and stored products insects. The story however, proved itself surprisingly entertaining, despite its amusing self indulgence in topics that my grandfather finds interesting: bugs and insects, evolution, theology, and Arizona history.

Knowing my grandfather well, I certainly found myself chuckling at all the lengthy descriptions of beetles he had. In the end of the story, an entomologist winds up solving a murder mystery using his knowledge of insects and larvae on decaying corpses long before the days of forensic science. A promising story and certainly one that my Grandad's family and friends would like, knowing the author as well as we do. If he wants a real evaluation though, he should take it to someone without any knowledge of the author or his prepossessions. An audience unfamiliar with his proclivities might prove less understanding and less amused by his diversions into the wonderful world of creepy crawlies. To his credit though, the story caught my attention and kept me entertained on the shuttle bus down to Phoenix.

Hiking the Peaks Again

After hanging out in Phoenix with the Hansons for a bit, I drove up to join Eric Hanson at his new place in Flagstaff and help Jenny get moved into her apartment. But I didn't do any of this before driving up the Snowbowl and trying to climb Mount Humphreys. But alas, it wasn't meant to be. Poor planning and a late start prevented me from reaching the top. I didn't even reach the base until 3:30 in the afternoon and ran out of water before reaching the saddle between Humphreys and Agassiz. Hungry, thirsty, my head throbbing from thin air, and quickly running out of daylight just above timberline, I turned back to make sure I wouldn't be stumbling around in a hazy stupor in the dark.

While I'm terribly ashamed at my recent sissyness, in my defense I should mention that I was making pretty good time. I reached the saddle in about 1 hour and 15 minutes. I probably could have reached the top in another 30. Still, this was disappointing, as I could reach the summit in that amount of time during my prime years when well prepared. I've definitely slowed down and need to focus on my fitness more than I have been lately. But I'm confident I'll be in top shape again after the Colorado Trail and a few weeks at the YMCA where I'll join in Denver.

The next day turned out better, however, as I climbed Mount Elden and got these great shots. Aahhh... Summer in Flagstaff just can't be beat! From the pictures you can clearly see the fire lookout (alas, now closed) and the beautiful Ponderosa pines that DIDN'T get burned in some long ago fire my dad and Grandad keep telling me about.

Had a good time with Eric, Jenny, and Eric's roomate Rich McPhearson. Saw the funny, but forgettable Alvin and the Chipmunks movie. Yes folks, I definitely need to spend more time in Flagstaff.

Ixnay On The Kathmandu Curry in Colorado

Like I did last year, I took my grandfather's truck from Prescott down to Scottsdale and the Phoenix area to visit family and longtime friends the Hansons.  So I've spent the last day or two catching up with Cathy, Craig, Eric and Dave.

  

The huge Colorado Trail through hike Dave and I are planning on doing mid July however, is dominating our time and energy here. Needless to say, planning a 50 day hike is quickly exploding into a logistical nightmare.  Previous backpacking excursions were easier to plan.  Fewer days and no resupplies forced us to adhere to a close ended schedule.  If we didn't have the time, we simply didn't take more food. 

 

Now however, we find ourselves planning for 45 to 50 days of open ended hiking.  Between the two of us, we could probably carry food unsupported for 6-8 days without much trouble.   The trouble however, lies in the fact that we don't know exactly WHEN we will arrive at certain points.  Will it take us 3 days or 5 days to march from Denver to Jefferson?  Will we want to spend an extra day in the Holy Cross Wilderness Area?  Will bad weather make that decision for us?

In light of this, we've decided to plan the trip cautiously and conservatively, planning on averaging 12 miles a day between resupplies.  I genuinely think both Dave and I can exceed that estimate most days, but with blisters, thunderstorms, peaks to climb, and beautiful areas to goof off in, that number could quickly go out the window.  The only alternative is OVER planning the trip, but Dave and I are both adamantly opposed to an anal schedule that restricts any spontaneous fun.  

So, we're planning resupplies that assume we will move 12 miles a day.  We've agreed that if we can beat that, the extra time it generates will allow us flexibility and time to do other things (bag peaks primarily).  We're giving ourselves 5 days for unexpected contingencies and 5 days exclusively for climbing.  Four days averaging 15 miles a day (Something we both think is possible), instead of the 12 will give us a bonus day for either rest, climbing, swimming, or some other activity.  

We've also spent the last couple of days going over details about our diet and gear we need to take along.  We bought about 10 different energy bars and spent some time sampling them (I seemed to be more enthusiastic about this than Dave).  We found some good options.  Kathy Hanson also seems eager to contribute to our cause by making the Hanson's famous jerky recipe.  She'll be sending mail drops full of fresh homemade jerky to the same locations I'll be sending them.  Dave seems to be relatively happy with the meal plans I'm coming up with, so everything seems to be on track for a departure in mid-July.

Other than that, I finally got to meet Jenny Dawson, longtime girlfriend of Eric Hanson whom I'd known previously only through my Facebook news-ticker.  I'm also heading up to Flagstaff next, where I hope to climb Mount Humphreys again, or at least the Mount Elden lookout.  Wishing I'd brought my climbing gear so I could hang out with Eric at Paradise Forks or something.  Oh well.

Daily Belly Button Lint in Colorado

After a long and difficult year I'm back in the United States. As many of you know already, I won't be returning to Kuwait anytime soon for a number of reasons. I'm still processing the whole episode in my mind and I'm not quite sure what to make of it all. Kuwait has been a very interesting place, and I'm going to miss many good friends I've made there. I've learned volumes about a place and a culture that is very often misunderstood and misrepresented, and as time goes on I'll be reflecting on these things. After spending some time outside Kuwait, I should soon have the energy, perspective, and the license to reflect on everything I've seen and observed.

But for the moment, I'm busy, preoccupied, and very excited with my next big endeavor: thru-hiking the length of the 470 mile Colorado Trail. Close friend and all around cool Dude David Hanson and I will be setting off from Roxborough State Park sometime in mid-July. The trail begins in Waterton Canyon or Roxborough State park in Southwest Denver. The trail crosses the Contintental Divide four times , Lost Creek Wilderness, the Collegiate Peaks, the San Juans, and the Grenadiers. It finishes just outside Durango, Colorado, in the Southwest corner of the state and a world away from where we started. Hiking the entire length should take in the vicinity of 40-50 days if we include all the 14,000 foot mountains Dave and I would like to climb. Needless to say, planning is turning out to be significantly more daunting than I initially imagined.

At the present time, I'm in Phoenix crunching numbers and going over details with David about the hike. While we're not going quite as light and fast as I'd like, I genuinely think we're putting together a VERY good plan that should make for a VERY enjoyable hike. I'm personally quite thrilled. While I did quite a bit of enjoyable hiking, skiing and camping in Japan, I always missed the intense encounters with the natural world that I experienced regularly during my time in college. This absence of wilderness and nature was only exacerbated in the intense urban landscape of Kuwait. A long commune with God's creation in my life is long overdue and I'm excited beyond belief to be able to do this with a close friend.

Counting the Hours

Today is the very last day of School here in Kuwait. All the other teachers have left and I'm waiting for one last parent to come in. He wishes to "discuss" a test grade his child receieved weeks ago.

I wait around my classroom for the last day. The desks are all stacked in one corner, and the books are all put away in plastic to keep dust off them in the summer. I'm not looking forward to this meeting, knowing that this once friendly parent who couldn't stop praising my work (when I gave his child A's) will get in my face, start yelling, and generally make life unpleasant for me until he gets what he wants.

My principal is waiting in his office as well, knowing that I'm not going to simply give his child a better grade because a parent isn't happy with the grade his child earned. Once this meeting is over, we can both go home.

The parent comes in and starts yelling and demanding answers to questions about some test his kid took a couple of months ago that I hardly remember now. When not interrupted with more yelling, I smile, tell him my side of the case, and why I can't simply change the grade because he doesn't like it. When he's yelling, I sit back and think of something more pleasant until the noise stops.

Finally he demands to see the principal. The entire conversation above repeats itself, this time with the principal present. After realizing he won't get anywhere with either of us, he vows to take the matter up with the school's owner. Finally the two of us can go home.

I'm relieved, because now I can finally say goodbyes to all my friends and get ready for my flight later that evening.

I have an enjoyable and delicious dinner with my friends Sarah and Ramona. Despite the great Lebanese food, the event proves somewhat melancholy, as I'm departing forever.

I'm going to miss Ramona and Sarah. Sarah particularly is someone who really knows something about friendship that I hope to learn. She's several orders of magnitude cooler than I am, yet she accepts people for who they are, tolerates and deals perfectly with their quirks and idiosyncrasies, and handles it all with more class and sophistication than just about anyone I've met.

I was going bananas trying to get everything ready to leave. My maid, Pushpa, was busy cleaning my room before I left, and I was all ready and packed to go to the airport for a flight later that evening. She calmed me down, made me relax, and it wasn't until much later that I realized how bananas I'd really gone and how difficult I must've been to deal with. Here's to a cool person. Cheers, Sarah!

Counting Days

Just a few more days of school left. Its almost surreal how things are almost over. It won't be too much longer and I can leave Kuwait.

I'm home, sick in bed right now, sometimes well enough to blog, sometimes not. Hopefully I'll get over this soon. Won't be long before I leave Kuwait forever.

I'd better remember to get to the Kuwait towers before I go.

Korean Food

I haven't had Korean food in a long time, probably not since I was either in Korea, or before I left Japan. Nevertheless, there appear to be a number of Korean construction contractors here in Kuwait, and therefore a small Korean community just large enough to support a couple of restaurants.

So I went out to eat with my friends Angel Gabriel, Alison, Jeff Wallick, and some others.

Once in awhile, you just need some spicy food. Angel, from South Africa didn't care too much for the Korean dishes. "Have you ever heard of chicken?," he kept asking sarcastically. Guess we won't be eating here with Angel again anytime soon!

Back to Work

I'm back to the daily grind here in Hawally. Nothing terribly new or interesting to report. Due to burnout, I haven't had the energy to get much exersize done. I've been trying to get my mind off of events and have been watching a lot of movies lately.

So, with nothing better to do on a Saturday Morning, I'm compiling a list of films that I think are above average and worth Seeing. These movies are in no particular order, but simply stuff that comes to mind.

1. Braveheart. First saw this with a group of friends in high school.
2. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. Loved this movie. First saw it with Josh Johnson at Friendly Pines Camp
3. Legends of the Fall. Great movie of three brothers coming of age in turn of the century Montana.
4. The Eiger Sanction. One of the only good movies I've ever seen about climbing.
5. Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. Loved this movie as a kid. I don't think my mom was thrilled with the scene of the crazy dude ripping a burning heart out of someone's chest.
6. Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring. First in the Trilogy. The only thing I didn't like was that these films have forever influenced my perception of the books. I'll never read the books again without thinking of Ian McKellen as Gandalf.
7. Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers. Some said this was the weakest of the films, but I actually liked it best, even though it was my least favorite of the books.
8. Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. Great, but like the book, the ending was a little too long.
9. Why We Fight. Excellent documentary on the military industrial complex, America's endless wars, and the causes and effects of the American empire both home and abroad.
10. Crash. Provocative film about race and stereotypes and the nature of karma.
11. Fight Club. Don't remember where I first saw this. Either way, excellent. Brad Pitt in this movie now competes with the first Rocky as my motivation to work out.
12. Rocky. Now that I've mentioned it, I have to list it. I always watched this before I started training for my half marathons. Makes you want to go for a run and guzzle a protein shake.
13. Saving Private Ryan. Good film, but way overdone and overbearing. Prepare to be drenched in nostalgia.
14. Memento. Excellent film with innovative narrative that moves backwards. Great for wallowing in postmodern existential angst!
15. Schindler's List. Good, but like a lot of Spielberg, overdone.
16. The Last Samurai. Even liked this one before I went to Japan, grudgingly though.
17. We Were Soldiers. Great story of a war leader who leads his troops to battle and fights for them, and not the evil post-colonial aims of his greedy, over ambitious imperial government. Again, grudgingly liked.
18. Black Hawk Down. Soldiers again, fight for each other, and not so much their governments or policies.
19. Cold Mountain. One of the only love stories to appear on this list. Perhaps I should add more.
20. Letters from Iwo Jima. Excellent story about the soldiers defending Iwo Jima. Much better than its counterpart, Flags of our Fathers. Among Eastwood's best films, this proved a well done film in a Japanese film style about soldiers wrestling with a moral code that demands their sacrifice and their own desires to live. Superb insight into Japanese ethics and moral philosophy.
21. Flags of Our Fathers. While definitely inferior to Letters from Iwo Jima for any number of reasons, I found this to be a fascinating film from a historical perspective about the way our country (or any nation for that matter) has a need for heroes. It speaks to society's need for a triumphant historical narrative and how that need often trumps the need for facts and truth, or in this case, even the needs of the people involved.
22. Apocalypse Now. Great Stuff. Redux doesn't even deserve mention here.
23. Spanglish. While perhaps not his funniest, definitely one of Adam Sandler's best. And Paz Vega is simply gorgeous.
24. Hero. Another stylistic martial arts film. Not as good as Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon though.
25. House of Flying Daggers. Sad film about unrequited love. Beautiful color schemes.
26. The Terminator.
27. Terminator 2: Judgement Day.
23. Gladiator. Another Ridley Scott Masterpiece. Speaking of Ridley Scott...
24 Alien. One of Ridley Scott's earliest good movies. Jaws in Space, only better. And I never liked Jaws anyways.
25. Aliens. Lots of Aliens in this one. Still good.
26. Alien 3. Probably the darkest of the Alien movies. After this things just went downhill.
27. I Am Legend. Love the Post Apocalyptic Movies. Speaking of which....
28. Waterworld. I know, I know. But I liked it. Will have to remove these if I ever run for office! Paul Brodar is probably to blame for this and...
29. The Postman. A little bit better, but it still barely made the cut.
30. The Princess Bride. Must have seen this one 100 times with my sister, and a group of friends I knew in college.
31. Romancing the Stone. I wonder if anybody even remembers this one.
32. The Hunt for Red October. Sean Connery in a submarine.
33. The Abyss. Ed Harris in a submarine.
34. Big. 6th grader turns into Tom Hanks and lives in New York.
35. Dave. Great movie about a guy who looks like the president.
36. Gattaca. Guy lies about who he really is to get a job. Inspiring.
37. Seven Years in Tibet. Good Movie. Even better than the book in some ways.
38. Stargate. Kind of corny, but I always liked this one.
39. The Fly. One of the greatest movies from the 1980's.
40. Unforgiven. Along with Letters from Iwo Jima, this is among Eastwood's best work.
41. Lord of War. International small arms dealer destroys developing countries.
42. Last of the Mohicans. Great Battle Scenes.
43. Dances with Wolves. Kevin Costner again. This is probably the movie that gave him the ego he needed for Waterworld.
44. The 13th Warrior. More good battle scenes.
45. The Saint. Val Kilmer as the Saint. Elizabeth Shue has never looked better either.
46. Desperado. One of the coolest movies out there. Bonus: Salma Hayek is in it.
47. Ronin. Secret operatives get laid off after the cold war ends. Greatest car chase I've ever seen.
48. The Beastmaster. Another one I should erase before my senate campaign.
49. Conan the Barbarian. Arnold at his most muscled. More inspiration to hit the gym.
50. The Mothman Prophesies. I always liked this movie. No apparent reason. Probably the only Richard Gere movie on here.
51. The Silence of the Lambs. Yeah I know, kinda sick, but I liked it anyways.