Jack Lucas Linder
29 April 2006
27 April 2006
New Nephew!
Jack Lucas Linder was born at 1:00am this morning. 7 pounds, 15 ounces. He's my first nephew. I'll post some pictures when I get some.
23 April 2006
Dorinna's Love of Heights
Today's silly post...
Here's Dorinna, crossing a cable bridge in 1999:
Here's Dorinna, replacing house screens in 2006:
Here's Dorinna, crossing a cable bridge in 1999:
Here's Dorinna, replacing house screens in 2006:
Spring Skiing at Loveland
Two weeks ago Dorinna and I had some fun spring skiing at Loveland. The mountains had a major storm a few days earlier, so early in the morning we found a few turns worth of knee-deep powder:
Later in the day the snow softened up a bit, but the top is over 13,000', and even the base is at a pretty high 10,600'.
Sunshine, no lift lines, cheap tickets, you just can't go wrong spring skiing in Colorado...
View from the top of Lift 1
Later in the day the snow softened up a bit, but the top is over 13,000', and even the base is at a pretty high 10,600'.
Sunshine, no lift lines, cheap tickets, you just can't go wrong spring skiing in Colorado...
View from the top of Lift 1
Greyrock Mountain Adventure (Post 2 of 2)
Here is a map that shows our route from the previous post. Our path is marked with a red line, with the dashed lines indicating sections that didn't have a reliable trail. You can click on the picture to get a bigger view.
Greyrock Mountain Adventure (Post 1 of 2)
I almost forgot to blog about the most adventurous trip of the year (so far). Back on April 3rd, I took a vacation day to do another trip with my visiting friend Bruce. He had skiied 2 days in a row, so we decided to take a hike. I decided on Greyrock- but with a twist. Greyrock mountain is a local's favorite, with a well-marked trail leaving from a busy trailhead in Poudre Canyon. But like I said- this hike had a twist. Old USGS topo maps show a second trail climbing up Greyrock, starting from what is now Gateway Mountain Park. Recent maps do not show this trail, but I suspected that there might be some traces of it remaining. Bruce is kind of a "off-the-beaten-track" kind of guy to begin with, so it seemed like a great plan.
The first few miles were easy. We started with a short walk down a dirt road which led to Seaman reservoir. We were pleasantly surprised to find a well-defined path around the west side of the reservoir, and even a bridge over the North Fork of the Poudre River. At just about the right place, another well-defined, albeit not officially marked, trail climbed up a ridge in the direction that we wanted to go. At the two mile mark, we arrived at an excellent viewpoint looking down at the North Fork. "This is much easier than I expected", I announced.
The trail ended 50 feet later.
Open meadows interspersed with gullies and ridges made up the next portion of the walk. There was essentially no trail at this point, and we were navigating off the map and the terrain. At one point we found a sign, and from there started finding promising scraps of a trail. We would follow something that might have been a trail, or might have been a game path, or might have been our imagination, for a few hundred yards. Then it would disappear and we'd simply travel cross-country. Here is a photo of what we came to call a "well-marked" section of trail.
The trail is on the right-hand side of the picture. It's marked by a cairn, or maybe it's just two rocks piled on top of one another. We often wondered...
A section of fenceline made one part easy to navigate, and then a steep climb up to a ridge was marked by sporadic, widely-spaced cairns. At the top of the ridge, the terrain changed again. Although the trail still tended to disappear without warning, we were hiking through open forests on a pretty well-defined ridge, so navigation was easier.
In the picture below, we reached the green ridge in the background (not the brown ridge further in the background) at the right-hand knob. We followed the ridge left, then diagonally (left to right) in the foreground:
The final section of ridge was difficult again. The brush got thicker, the ridge became less distinct, and the trail disappeared for longer periods of time. We also hit occasional patches of snow. I intentionally walked through them, leaving tracks to help us navigate on the return trip.
Bruce, a forest biologist by training, pointed out mistletoe growing on trees. I had never seen it before, so I thought it was really cool.
We finally emerged at the regular hiking trail, right at the base of the main peak. We climbed the trail up to the top, to get some great views.
Bruce on the summit
Ladybugs clustered on the summit
The way down was a little easier. We needed a compass to find the correct place to leave our open ridge, and we again lost the trail in the open meadows at the bottom, but by-and-large we knew where we were going.
The hike was almost 13 miles total, but the difficult navigation made it a very rewarding adventure!
The first few miles were easy. We started with a short walk down a dirt road which led to Seaman reservoir. We were pleasantly surprised to find a well-defined path around the west side of the reservoir, and even a bridge over the North Fork of the Poudre River. At just about the right place, another well-defined, albeit not officially marked, trail climbed up a ridge in the direction that we wanted to go. At the two mile mark, we arrived at an excellent viewpoint looking down at the North Fork. "This is much easier than I expected", I announced.
The trail ended 50 feet later.
Open meadows interspersed with gullies and ridges made up the next portion of the walk. There was essentially no trail at this point, and we were navigating off the map and the terrain. At one point we found a sign, and from there started finding promising scraps of a trail. We would follow something that might have been a trail, or might have been a game path, or might have been our imagination, for a few hundred yards. Then it would disappear and we'd simply travel cross-country. Here is a photo of what we came to call a "well-marked" section of trail.
The trail is on the right-hand side of the picture. It's marked by a cairn, or maybe it's just two rocks piled on top of one another. We often wondered...
A section of fenceline made one part easy to navigate, and then a steep climb up to a ridge was marked by sporadic, widely-spaced cairns. At the top of the ridge, the terrain changed again. Although the trail still tended to disappear without warning, we were hiking through open forests on a pretty well-defined ridge, so navigation was easier.
In the picture below, we reached the green ridge in the background (not the brown ridge further in the background) at the right-hand knob. We followed the ridge left, then diagonally (left to right) in the foreground:
The final section of ridge was difficult again. The brush got thicker, the ridge became less distinct, and the trail disappeared for longer periods of time. We also hit occasional patches of snow. I intentionally walked through them, leaving tracks to help us navigate on the return trip.
Bruce, a forest biologist by training, pointed out mistletoe growing on trees. I had never seen it before, so I thought it was really cool.
We finally emerged at the regular hiking trail, right at the base of the main peak. We climbed the trail up to the top, to get some great views.
Bruce on the summit
Ladybugs clustered on the summit
The way down was a little easier. We needed a compass to find the correct place to leave our open ridge, and we again lost the trail in the open meadows at the bottom, but by-and-large we knew where we were going.
The hike was almost 13 miles total, but the difficult navigation made it a very rewarding adventure!
16 April 2006
15 April 2006
New Slide Scanner
We recently purchased a new HP printer to go with Dorinna's new laptop. Of course, as soon as the saleswoman said "this one can also scan slides" I was sold. It's not the highest res scanner in the world, and I won't be making any 8 x 12 enlargements, but it works quite nicely for Das Haus von Ruh.
Here a few pictures from the first few days of our Austrian trip. I'll start working my pictures into the narratives eventually (yes, I'm behind on my slide sorting...)
This sign in the Munich Hauptbahnhof will always symbolize Germany for me. On my first trip to Munich, I went up the escalator from the U-bahn, fuzzed with the almost complete lack of sleep from a transatlantic flight, I looked up and saw this sign. We're not in America anymore, Toto, but America is certainly here. The similarities between "Trink" and "Drink" started my fascination with the German language that continues to this day.
This is an interior shot of a hall in the Alte Pinakothek museum in Munich. I liked the geometries of the windows and the shadows.
Here a few pictures from the first few days of our Austrian trip. I'll start working my pictures into the narratives eventually (yes, I'm behind on my slide sorting...)
This sign in the Munich Hauptbahnhof will always symbolize Germany for me. On my first trip to Munich, I went up the escalator from the U-bahn, fuzzed with the almost complete lack of sleep from a transatlantic flight, I looked up and saw this sign. We're not in America anymore, Toto, but America is certainly here. The similarities between "Trink" and "Drink" started my fascination with the German language that continues to this day.
This is an interior shot of a hall in the Alte Pinakothek museum in Munich. I liked the geometries of the windows and the shadows.
New Family Members
I've been a bit remiss in posting pictures of our new family members on the blog. Jacqueline and Jessica were born on March 13.
Brad with my new nieces
Jacqueline
Jessica
I'm looking forward to meeting them later this year!
Brad with my new nieces
Jacqueline
Jessica
I'm looking forward to meeting them later this year!
03 April 2006
The Diamond
This weekend our friend Bruce from Vermont was here for a visit. I first met Bruce on a trip to Paria canyon back in the mid-nineties. We met him because he's Jon's best friend's ex-roommate's twin brother.
On Saturday, Jon, Bruce and I went telemark skiing on the Diamond Peak in Cameron Pass. Snow conditions varied, but as long as we stayed out of crusty sunny spots, the skiing was quite good. The first run was the longest, as we ascended to the top of the ridge to ski a run Jon calls "The Swale". At the top, we dug a snow pit to check out conditions:
The top layer was fairly cohesive, but it broke into pieces fairly easily, and it was not under alot of pressure. The layers underneath were very solid. We followed standard avy protocols, but it felt very comfortable.
The snow was better down lower, so we stayed down lower for our subsequent 3 runs. As you can see from Bruce's face, the skiing was alot of fun:
I could barely walk afterwards, but it was a great day in the mountains!
On Saturday, Jon, Bruce and I went telemark skiing on the Diamond Peak in Cameron Pass. Snow conditions varied, but as long as we stayed out of crusty sunny spots, the skiing was quite good. The first run was the longest, as we ascended to the top of the ridge to ski a run Jon calls "The Swale". At the top, we dug a snow pit to check out conditions:
The top layer was fairly cohesive, but it broke into pieces fairly easily, and it was not under alot of pressure. The layers underneath were very solid. We followed standard avy protocols, but it felt very comfortable.
The snow was better down lower, so we stayed down lower for our subsequent 3 runs. As you can see from Bruce's face, the skiing was alot of fun:
I could barely walk afterwards, but it was a great day in the mountains!
Winter Park Weekend
A few weeks ago, our friends Jon and Eve (and kids), joined us for a trip to Winter Park. We stayed with our friends Steve and Maureen at their house in Winter Park. Steve was called away on business at the last minute, but their daughter and her family, along with 2 dogs and 2 guinea pigs, kept us company. If 11 people sounds like alot, that's because you haven't seen the house:
Chez Weick was easily big enough for the crowd.
We drove up on Friday night, and skied at Winter Park on Saturday.
Saturday was pizza and a whole lot of wine. On Sunday, we went cross-country skiing at Snow Mountain Ranch, before driving back home.
Chez Weick was easily big enough for the crowd.
We drove up on Friday night, and skied at Winter Park on Saturday.
Saturday was pizza and a whole lot of wine. On Sunday, we went cross-country skiing at Snow Mountain Ranch, before driving back home.
Daring Raid!
I came home a few weeks ago and heard noises in the dining room. When I investigated I found Bunny and Llama up to no good.
They had tied their scarves together into a climbing rope, and then moved a chair and some books to get a higher reach. Where were they climbing?
As you can see from the photo below, they were attempting a daring raid on the liquor cabinet!
Fortunately, Bunny's arms got tired, and I was able to stop them before they drank our stash.
They had tied their scarves together into a climbing rope, and then moved a chair and some books to get a higher reach. Where were they climbing?
As you can see from the photo below, they were attempting a daring raid on the liquor cabinet!
Fortunately, Bunny's arms got tired, and I was able to stop them before they drank our stash.
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