Hello again...it's the long lost blogger who fails to blog. I figure if I do short blog bursts rather than long diatribes, I will blog more.
I'm currently in the New Mexico - the "Land of Enchantment" - teaching a 5-day GIS class to introductory level students. The class goes great with a lot of "ah-hah" moments being witnessed as well as "1000-yard stares" starting to develop after 5 days of GIS lectures/exercises. It's to be expected...
The PLUS side of my business trip is that I've been able to spend a total of 7-days visiting Karen and Ethan. Feels more normal to be around one's companion rather than long distance phone calls several times a week. We've enjoyed our "family" time with Bakugan brawls, Transformer cartoons, marathon Uno games, hikes to Jemez Warm Springs, and pizza! Karen and I have enjoyed some together time as well with our dinner dates while Ethan is with his father.
I leave for Colorocky in about 5 hours - it will be nice to be home too to see Tsali the "wondercat" who's probably abandoned me after being gone for 1 week. Then in a short 14 hours from now, I'm awake, geared up and heading to my "make-up" route finding day for Basic Mountaineering School. Saturday will be a day of hiking, rock climbing and rappeling...more to follow...
Climb On!
Friday, August 28, 2009
Saturday, September 20, 2008
The "United" Empire Strikes Back...
It's Saturday morning and my original 8:55 AM flight from Lansing, MI to Denver, CO is delayed for 3 hours. Something about a cabin pressure issue...
I toured the old "Holiday Inn" homestead, got some dinner at Clara's (an old railroad depot in downtown Lansing) and went to a Blues Fest for about an hour. Headed back to the hotel, packed my suitcase, talked with Karen, and went to bed in preparation to be home in Denver by 11:30 AM MST. That was not to be the case...
I've been in Lansing since Wednesday night to teach an Intro GIS class at MSU. Getting here was an adventure in ineptitude for United Airlines. My outgoing flight was delayed 2.25 hours due another mechanical problem - a gear indicator light. As the annoucement was made for the delay, I sprinted to Customer Service to rebook my flights as I had "already" missed my connecting flight in Chicago to Lansing. I'm glad I ran b/c I was 4th in a line of 75-80 people. If you've ever stood in a Customer Service line you know the lines move glacially...cockroaches move faster...
So I was rebooked on a United flight to Minneapolis and a Northwest flight to Lansing - I seriously doubted my luggage would make it. I was correct. The luggage spent the night in Chicago, I spent the night in Lansing. I spent at least 1 hour in my hotel room with United and Northwest to arrange delivery of my suitcase to my hotel. Neither would accept responsibility b/c I had not filed a claim report in person at the Lansing airport. Here's the rub - there was no one to file a report with! My flight arrived at 11 PM in Lansing and customer service for NW and UAL (in Lansing) hours are 7 AM - 9 PM... AND they said they could not do it over the phone even though they had all the information they needed from the computer systems. I WAS LIVID!
So no thanks to NW or UAL, I had to drive to the Lansing airport after class Thursday in my 2-day worn clothes to pick up my suitcase. I now have clean undies! Class continued Friday and the students were happy with the materials and presentation.
I toured the old "Holiday Inn" homestead, got some dinner at Clara's (an old railroad depot in downtown Lansing) and went to a Blues Fest for about an hour. Headed back to the hotel, packed my suitcase, talked with Karen, and went to bed in preparation to be home in Denver by 11:30 AM MST. That was not to be the case...
So, here I am in the Lansing airport waiting for a delayed flight and hope to be home by 5 PM today...I'll miss a cookout this afternoon...BUT I am hiking Mt. Princeton tomorrow with good friends Pete and Nancy.
In sum, UNITED SUCKS *SS!
Climb On!
Monday, July 14, 2008
A Hard(rock) Weekend...
This past weekend, I had the joy (and pain) of pacing my good friend Scott Olmer at the Hardrock 100 in Ouray/Silverton, Colorado. What is the Hardrock 100 you may ask??? Well, for some reason, some folks think that the marathon distance is not quite enough nor is a 50-mile run. Nooooo, they have to run, walk, trot 100 miles in 48 hours! Honestly, I can't fathom the idea but that's what folks, like Scott, want to do in their spare time. And they enjoy it....
Several weeks ago, I was approached by Bob Rayburn (one of the regulars at our Thursday night Southern Sun Happy Hours) and he quite simply asked "would you be interested in crewing for Scott at the Hardrock this year?" Crewing a runner means that you are a pacer, a motivator, a drill sergeant, a nutritionist, a stop watch - all for the purpose of motivating the runner to the finish line. Being a runner and an avid mountaineer, I was curious and asked what it entailed. Bob's reply..."well, all you have to do is do 2 legs - one is on Friday night and the other is taking Scott to the finish line..." Sounds like fun - count me in! What did I get myself into....
Friday, July 11th, 2:30 PM - Ouray - the little Switzerland of North America. Ouray is probably one of the prettiest places in Colorado with a small town surrounded by majestic peaks. Google it sometime, you'll see... I call Bob to learn that Scott is progressing nicely from his 6 AM start and should be in Ouray around 8 PM to pick up his first pacer of the race - me. My leg with Scott consists of "Ouray-Engineers Pass-Grouse" - 15.8 miles (5785' gain/2775' loss) in about 6:30 hours in the dark...with headlamps...through Bear Creek Canyon...average trail width 3' ...narrows to 1.5'/2'...with exposure...watch your step...or it's down the canyon with a not so good outcome. Apparently, there has been no injuries - serious or mortal in this section. I'm still a bit leery at this section b/c my new flashlight (in the LED section at Target) is not an LED rather it's the old fashioned yellow bulb (like the ones from childhood) and I've got a serious case of vertigo at the moment. While focusing on this one yellow beam, my equilibrium is not cooperating at the entrance to the canyon. Fortunately, Scott has a great LED light to brighten the path and the vertigo goes away. We proceed over up the mountain to an aid station around 12,000' and continue for the next few hours to the pacer hand-off at Grouse. We reach Grouse - it's 2:30 AM Saturday and Bob continues with Scott for his 32 mile leg that will take him until 4:48 PM Saturday...
Saturday, July 12, 3:30 AM - I'm back in Silverton at the cabins Scott has rented for everyone. I'm tired, my feet are wet from numerous stream crossings, and all I want is sleep. I crash hard for 5.5 hours and awake to the noise of Bob's wife, Jana, stirring in the main room of the cabin. We head over to the Brown Bear Cafe for pancakes/sausage/OJ/lots of coffee. We have the rest of the morning and afternoon to follow Scott's progress at "Hardrock Central" as well as play tourist in Silverton. About 3:30 PM, Jana and I decide we better head to Cunningham Gulch for the "pacer hand off" we believe to be around 5:30-6 PM. Much to our surprise, Scott has made up an hour over the day and arrives in at 4:48 PM. Scott and I leave the aid station at 4:49 PM and were on our last leg to the finish line in Silverton. The leg consists of 2700' gain/3840' loss - better than 14 hours ago. We work our way up the mountain - hiking slowly and gain the summit ridge in 2 hours. From there, the race is on - running down 3840' to Silverton! We run on goat trails (even saw one!), we run on Jeep 4WD trails, we run on single track trails, we run through streams filled with snow melt until we hear noise from the motorcycle rally at the old ski resort in Silverton. We're close! We break through the trees - the last 0.5 miles to the finish line! I slow down to run with Scott rather than ahead of him - no need to pull him through, he knows the finish line is there. We chat about being done, about his accomplishment. He thanks me for crewing him. We near the finish line and I slow down to walk into the crowd - the pacer does not cross the finish line - only the Hardrock finisher. Scott finishes another 100-miler in 38:35 ranked #30 out of 98 finishers - damn good!
Sunday, July 13th, 9 AM - the awards presentation at the Silverton High School Gym. There are hundreds of people here for breakfast and the awards program. Family members, volunteers, pacers, athletes - you name it. The breakfast is great - eggs, sausage, fruit, sweet rolls, OJ, coffee - the awards program entertaining. Bob and Scott ask "sooo, now that you've experienced a 100-miler as a pacer, what about as a runner?" My answer - quite simply - no. I enjoyed the experience as a pacer - would do it again if asked. But running/walking/sleep walking 100 miles - nope...I'm interested in altitude, going higher...
Climb On my friends!
Several weeks ago, I was approached by Bob Rayburn (one of the regulars at our Thursday night Southern Sun Happy Hours) and he quite simply asked "would you be interested in crewing for Scott at the Hardrock this year?" Crewing a runner means that you are a pacer, a motivator, a drill sergeant, a nutritionist, a stop watch - all for the purpose of motivating the runner to the finish line. Being a runner and an avid mountaineer, I was curious and asked what it entailed. Bob's reply..."well, all you have to do is do 2 legs - one is on Friday night and the other is taking Scott to the finish line..." Sounds like fun - count me in! What did I get myself into....
Friday, July 11th, 2:30 PM - Ouray - the little Switzerland of North America. Ouray is probably one of the prettiest places in Colorado with a small town surrounded by majestic peaks. Google it sometime, you'll see... I call Bob to learn that Scott is progressing nicely from his 6 AM start and should be in Ouray around 8 PM to pick up his first pacer of the race - me. My leg with Scott consists of "Ouray-Engineers Pass-Grouse" - 15.8 miles (5785' gain/2775' loss) in about 6:30 hours in the dark...with headlamps...through Bear Creek Canyon...average trail width 3' ...narrows to 1.5'/2'...with exposure...watch your step...or it's down the canyon with a not so good outcome. Apparently, there has been no injuries - serious or mortal in this section. I'm still a bit leery at this section b/c my new flashlight (in the LED section at Target) is not an LED rather it's the old fashioned yellow bulb (like the ones from childhood) and I've got a serious case of vertigo at the moment. While focusing on this one yellow beam, my equilibrium is not cooperating at the entrance to the canyon. Fortunately, Scott has a great LED light to brighten the path and the vertigo goes away. We proceed over up the mountain to an aid station around 12,000' and continue for the next few hours to the pacer hand-off at Grouse. We reach Grouse - it's 2:30 AM Saturday and Bob continues with Scott for his 32 mile leg that will take him until 4:48 PM Saturday...
Saturday, July 12, 3:30 AM - I'm back in Silverton at the cabins Scott has rented for everyone. I'm tired, my feet are wet from numerous stream crossings, and all I want is sleep. I crash hard for 5.5 hours and awake to the noise of Bob's wife, Jana, stirring in the main room of the cabin. We head over to the Brown Bear Cafe for pancakes/sausage/OJ/lots of coffee. We have the rest of the morning and afternoon to follow Scott's progress at "Hardrock Central" as well as play tourist in Silverton. About 3:30 PM, Jana and I decide we better head to Cunningham Gulch for the "pacer hand off" we believe to be around 5:30-6 PM. Much to our surprise, Scott has made up an hour over the day and arrives in at 4:48 PM. Scott and I leave the aid station at 4:49 PM and were on our last leg to the finish line in Silverton. The leg consists of 2700' gain/3840' loss - better than 14 hours ago. We work our way up the mountain - hiking slowly and gain the summit ridge in 2 hours. From there, the race is on - running down 3840' to Silverton! We run on goat trails (even saw one!), we run on Jeep 4WD trails, we run on single track trails, we run through streams filled with snow melt until we hear noise from the motorcycle rally at the old ski resort in Silverton. We're close! We break through the trees - the last 0.5 miles to the finish line! I slow down to run with Scott rather than ahead of him - no need to pull him through, he knows the finish line is there. We chat about being done, about his accomplishment. He thanks me for crewing him. We near the finish line and I slow down to walk into the crowd - the pacer does not cross the finish line - only the Hardrock finisher. Scott finishes another 100-miler in 38:35 ranked #30 out of 98 finishers - damn good!
Sunday, July 13th, 9 AM - the awards presentation at the Silverton High School Gym. There are hundreds of people here for breakfast and the awards program. Family members, volunteers, pacers, athletes - you name it. The breakfast is great - eggs, sausage, fruit, sweet rolls, OJ, coffee - the awards program entertaining. Bob and Scott ask "sooo, now that you've experienced a 100-miler as a pacer, what about as a runner?" My answer - quite simply - no. I enjoyed the experience as a pacer - would do it again if asked. But running/walking/sleep walking 100 miles - nope...I'm interested in altitude, going higher...
Climb On my friends!
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