New Mexico Spring Break Trip

Hey Everyone! I am now enjoying a relaxing evening at home with beautiful miss Jennifer and the animals. Since I obviously didn't have my computer while exploring NM I wrote things down on the back of a form the technically I should have kept clean in case we (the OPC) needed it, but who am I kidding it's not like I am employee of the year. Anyway here is what I wrote.

Hello All!

I am sitting in a tent in southern NM right now

getting ready for bed. This is the 1st blank paper I've had available, obviously I will later transfer it to the computer machine. I'll catch you all up.

The 1st day of driving (March 6) landed us in Oklahoma City. The drive went fast and all was well. The group was uncharacteristically quiet and hard to read. The next day we finished the drive with a stop in Roswell...which sounded cool but sucked. I was very excited but it turned out to be very boring and kinda trashy. After our 30 minute (also 30 minutes too long) stop we continued on and got Brantley Lake State Pa

rk right at sunset. It was beautiful and I was able to fire off a few pictures before setting up camp. See Below.

Afterward we got word that a serious weather advisory was coming for us; 50mph wind and golf sized hale. We then tore down tents and took refuge in the van or under the picnic shelter (Drew and I wanted to watch the lightening.) Winds were strong and a bit of rain came but the storm missed us to the South. That night was loud (The wind did blow 30-40mph) and I had my tent to myself. I slept ok but not as well as I would have liked.

The next day we got up and drove to the Carlsbad Caverns. They are amazing and too big to describe. They are located in the Guadaloupe Mountains. We did a guided cave tour (lit by only candle lanterns) as well as explored by ourselves. It was a cool tour but our guide was annoying and in less than good condition. She described a dangerous part of the cave that had been coined "the death hill" that had me very interested. When we approached the death hill i immediately realized that me stepping up into my car is as physically demanding and dangerous as "the death hill" Needless to say the tour wasn't strenuous although the caves were awesome. We did do a "total blackout," which means since there is no natural light in the caves, when our candles were blown out we were in a literal blackout. They described it as seeing the cave in it's natural state, which I thought was really cool. I was holding my hand directly in front of my face and could not see it at all. It was really creepy and awesome! Your mind really plays tricks on you when you are in total darkness. That night we got word of a worse wind storm and made the last minute decision to stay in a little cabin near our campsite to stay out of the weather. They were small but nice and had a hottub...sold. Nothing like roughing it in a warm cabin with a hottub outside. I showered quickly after the Hottub and dried off with paper towels from the bathroom (no towel) then went to bed.

The next day we drove to White Sands National Monument...about 3 hrs away. We drove through some mountains on the way which I naturally thought were breathtaking. Sierra Blanco was on our right and was just demanding my attention. When we got to White Sands we were all amazed. Itw as way cooler than we could have imagined. It really is just flawless white sand dunes in the middle of the NM desert, surrounded by mountains. We were able to sled down the dunes, which got boring fast so we invented our own game. We would just jump off the side of the sand dunes. Yep it is just as it sounds. See pictures...

Sierra Blanco

When we grew weary of beating our bodies mercilessly we headed to the City of Rocks. I instantly fell in love with it. Just endless possibilities for lines harder and bigger than the one you just tried and fell in love with. Well as we arrived, yep, you guessed it. Weather advisory. Wind. The 1st hour was spent chasing tents and trying to stake them down with giants rocks (still unsuccessful at times). The rain started soon there after. We hurried through dinner (cold and wet...See Picture) and retired to our tents...8pm. Oh also got a good sunset pic.

8:02, realized that my ipod was in the van...F. Nice night filled with howling winds unable to be drowned out with Pearl Jam. Terrible night of sleep. 6am, wake up to watch sunrise Beautiful but frigid with more wind...0 degrees with wind chill? Here's the sunrise

We gave bouldering a go, unsuccessfully. Too cold and ripped the tow on a warm up climb...not pleased. After breakfast god felt bad for us and let us have some sun. The bouldering was amazing once the weather started cooperating. Pockety face climbs with cool huecos, and tons of it. Playland? Yes. We found a huge beautiful boulder in a field by itself in front of Cook's Peak : ) and it had my attention. With little intention of really climbing it I started up a perceived route. Before I knew it I was trying to solve the crux sequence (also happened to be the last few moves). The climb felt great and with the resumed 1st ascent I named it Megatron Falls.25-30ft V3. When my heart slowed back down to a human rate I was in the middle of lunch...approximately 24 minutes later. After dinner I looked at the stars and now here I am. More to come. Jenny, Sharma and Boss, I miss you guys. Love you so much and wish you were in my tent with me...well in theory...it would be a tight squeeze and with the animals fighting I feel we would get very little sleep. Goodnight.

Megatron Falls

March 11

I am back in my tent getting ready to hopefully get some good sleep because last night didn't cut it, again. It dropped to about 20 last night before warming up to be a beautiful morning this morning. After breakfast we bid farewell to the City of Rocks. Our drive to Gila National Forest was short but the final 20 miles were beautiful. Winding roads through the mountains really do it for me...until we found our campsite and it looked like we walked onto the set of the new Texas Chainsaw Massacre film. It was this creepy little farm that's welcome sign looked like it was made by the Cady brothers, aka bad, terrible, whatever descriptive words you want to use. We finally found the site and Hot Springs area and they were surrounded by these weird bone like things hanging and other creepy and strange decorations. Once settled in it didn't seem as creepy anymore, which was nice. I actually ended up really liking it. After we had lunch we split up into a hot springs group and a hiking group. Maxam and myself took the group out for a quick 5 mile out and back. Beautiful weather, I hiked in Chacos. The mountains here are beautiful. When we got back we made Guadaloupe Chili Pie. OH MY We always make it on these trips and this is why. First is a layer of tortillas, then a layer of beef, then a layer of homini, then a layer of green peppers, then a layer of onion, then a layer of beef, then a layer of cheese, then more cheese, then a layer of cornbread. Then it is cooked in a dutch oven (Cast iron pot that you put charcoal on the top and bottom of to cook all the way through.) So good. Afterward I got into the hot springs which were amazing. Really hot and right next to the river. Afterward we hung out by the fire, swapped stories and gawked at the stars. Now here I am. I set up m tent on the sand 5ft from the river. It isn't a bad place to say goodnight. Love you all at home.

The final day was spent relaxing in the hot springs as well as hiking to see the native american's cliffside dwellings. Very cool. We woke up bright and early the next day to drive back home. 32hr drive. Long but worth it. Here are some more random pictures!

Carlsbad Caverns

Megatron Falls...again

Cliffside Dwellings

Gila National Forest

Drew, Maxam, Vossler and I in the Hot Springs

Campsite in Gila

City Of Rocks (Megatron Falls in the background)

Drew looking like he should be in a Black Diamond ad

Sand Couch

Drew and I in front of Sierra Blanco

Sand Couch

Hiking in Gila

Drew and I at City of Rocks after a great climbing day

Ohio and Beyond

Good morning everyone!

I am sitting in my chair having coffee and watching climbing since I have the day off. It's been a while so I figured I would update everyone on current happenings and future happenings. This past week I took a group of fraternity pledges down to the red river gorge for a search and rescue trip. My job was to hike one of their actives out into the gorge and hide him. We hiked out at about 4pm into the balmy wilderness (27 degrees). I got him out there in a timely fashion and started hiking back out of the gorge to "run into" the group searching for him. At this point I had hiked 3.5 or 4 miles. I ran into the group with no problems and told them I had not heard anyone was missing and followed them to the PLS (point last seen). They found him with minimal issues and started building their gurney to carry him out. The biggest problem is the treacherous hike out of the gorge. The first 1/2 mile is steep hiking with fairly steep cliff lines lining the trail. This would not be that big of a deal if there wasn't snow and ice everywhere. Being the medically trained person out with the group it was my job to make sure people were safe and treat people if something were to happen so this ascent was a mentally draining thing for me. It was getting colder and starting to drizzle which was less that exciting for me and I'm sure the rest of the group. I look at my clock, 9pm. Good god. We aren't even out of the gorge portion of the hike yet (the first 1/2 mile). They still have another 1 1/2 once out of the gorge. Their gurney breaks probably 5 times and they finally just carry the "patient" in a tarp. Not exactly by the book but for the circumstances it was fine. We got back to camp at 10:30 and then had dinner and debriefed their experience with them.

This week I am busy trying to finish up things for our spring break trip. We have planned an awesome Moab UT trip. Unfortunately Moab is under a foot of snow and temps are mid 30 and maybe 40s...during the day. This will not bode well for our participants so now were are stuck planning a new trip in a matter of 3 or 4 days. What we have come up with is this...

Sunday...arriving in Carslbad New Mexico

Monday...Going caving in the Carlsbad Caverns

Tuesday...Drive to White Sands National Monument and camp outside Las Cruces

Wednesday...Boulder at the City of Rocks and camp

Thursday...Camp in the Gila National Forest near the Gila Hot Springs

Friday...Hiking and Hot Springsing and checking out Native American Cliffside dwellings

We think it's ok for last minute plans.

When I get home my next trip is to Joshua Tree and Bishop California in April. The 9th through the 15th. Both Jtree and Bishop are world class bouldering areas and should be amazing. Bishop is known for high ball bouldering surrounded by the snow capped Sierra Range. Jtree is desert landscape with some small peaks and tons of boulders and nasty trad lines. Hopefully some hiking in jtree to summit Monument Mountain or Ryan Mountain.

After that (May 8th through 15th) I will be in Vail with family and Jenny and Jaime. This should be an awesome and relaxing trip. Hopefully with some summits and possibly some sport climbing. Can't wait. Going to be an exciting few months. Hope to hear from colleges soon.

PS can't wait to move to CO with Jenny. So excited. We are officially on the waiting list for our apartment. Fingers crossed everyone!

Check out some pics...

Bishop Bouldering

White Sands National Monument

City Of Rocks NM

Joshua Tree CA

Carlsbad Caverns NM

Disclaimer: These are not my pictures (I don't want to be sued)

Winter's Beauty

So I am sitting at home drinking coffee, listening to music, and reading Transworld snowboarding and Rock and Ice, because my original plans (to substitute teach) were foiled by the beautiful snow we are being graced with. We now probably have 12 or so inches and I am loving it, aside from the fact that is is hindering my ability to pay rent. Since I got home from CO I have been trying to get some things figured out for the move including where we are going to be living, which I think we have figured out, finishing the grad school applications and just trying to stay afloat financially. Does anyone know how much I could get for a kidney? Or my liver? I actually don't think anyone would want my liver but its worth a shot.

Sharma is loving the snow. He will go diving into it nose first, come up with a very confused look on his face, then go bounding through it again. Jenny thinks he needs to live in Alaska, although I don't think she would enjoy that. Until next time, Cheers and happy snow fun to all.

Here are some photos of the apartments I think we are going to be living in!

The outside of the building

Bathroom

We will have a rooftop hottub with a view of Denver, Coors field and the Mountains

Coors field from the rooftop terrace

Living Area, Notice opera doors that open to outside!

Kitchen

Bedroom Nook

More Living Area

CO Pics

Red Rocks in the background

Denver from the top of Morrison North

Red Rocks Amphitheater

At the top of Morrison North

Bye For Now

Well this is my last morning is Colorado. I am now sitting at a place called Baker's Way. I just got done with breakfast at a place called Benedict's which was really good. Yesterday was another good day albeit long. I started by eating at another coffee place called Mile High Coffee and got myself ready for my meeting with DU.

It was a long morning. First I could not find the building that housed the Morgridge College of Education. Then I couldn't find a place to park because they have NO visitor spots. Let me repeat, NO visitor spots. Next I found that the admissions dept of the college of education is NOT is the same building as everyone else that works in the dept. So now I have parked illegally and trekked all over the damn campus to find my meeting place. Finally making it, on time I might add, the meeting went well. I got a lot of information that I did not have before so that is a positive thing.

Next I went to visit a property management place called Classic Properties. The woman working in the office was really nice and also happened to be one of the owners. She sent me to one of her properties where a guy named CJ was waiting for me. He showed me 1 apartment that was fine, but nothing to write home about. Now a little bit of info on Classic Properties. They own all historic buildings in Capitol Hill and the City Park neighborhood. CJ was as nice as Lisa in the office. It turns out he played football and Central Michigan and moved out here to get his MA at DU. He offered to drive me around to show me the other properties although the insides I couldn't see because they were all filled and I just dropped by with no meeting. They were all impressive but 1 in perticular stood out to me. It was right across from city park and had a "mansion" style feel. It also had a large balcony which had nothing to do with my liking it. Once done I saw two more properties both were pretty nice and I felt like we would be happy with either. I finished and went to a place called the tilted kilt for lunch and a Guinness. Afterward, with nothing to do I went back to REI to play for a little while. When done, still with nothing to do I went to the Denver Bouldering Club to climb. It was a really cool place that you weren't allowed to go to unless you are a member, or are brought by a member. Luckily I had emailed the owner a few days earlier and he gave me the "go ahead." It was a great place that was very exclusive. Each member has their own code to get into the building. After a while I retired back home to learn how to play the harmonica, (I bought a really cheap "how to" book at REI with Jenny's mom's giftcard).

Now I'm going to pull a Tarantino on you and go back to Monday. After my breakfast at Pikes Perk I went to meet Joe Bonnett. He was incredibly helpful and a fun guy to tour around with. It turns out that when he lived in Oxford he and his girlfriend (now wife) lived in 13 Applewood. Sound familiar to anyone? So we toured around the campus for a while and saw just about all of it seeing as though it's pretty small, only about 1900 students. We had lunch at a local place called Paninos which specialized in making...yep you guessed it, Paninos. A Panino apparently is a bunch of ingredients wrapped in a thin flaky crust, which was quite tasty; I had a philly. Afterward he and I went back to his office and I got the rest of my stuff together for the interview. It seemed to go well but I feel like interviews are like tests, where you can never be sure how you did. I then went to the Gwozdecky's house for dinner, which was a lot of fun. We sat and had dinner and wine and talked for a long time about everything from movies to his daughter crashing a rival high school's homecoming. At 10 or so I made it back home for an early bedtime.