deluuuuuuuuge lake

Yay for random cabins next to the Gores!

Food... lots of food. Oh, and not walking 'up' anything. That's really all I wanted when I got back to the car after this hike. Wait, that was a lie: I also really wanted a shower. I looked at the topo map before we headed out; seeing a ton of lines super close together and our trail splicing right through them got me pumped. This trail starts in East Vail and takes you right up into the Gore Range. The Gores are pretty rugged and after seeing them almost every day for the past year from 'down' here I was extra stoked to have the chance to get up close and personal with them.

Vince and Pope are hiking machines... MACHINES. They summit 14ers like they're walking on the beach and, yes, they were the ones I went with. I probably shaved 2 hours off my time going with them and trying to keep up, which of course made it even better. The first mile we switched back through Aspen groves, most were naked but a few were still trying to hold on to early Fall. The trail was narrow and snaked across a steep face that would've chutes-and-ladders-ed you back to the start if you slipped. The next mile, even steeper, was forested and near the top we reached a few patches of snow. The remaining 2 miles to the lake was a nice steady incline that almost seemed downhill compared to the brutality of the first few miles. The forest opened up into a big golden basin of tall grass surrounded by the jagged Gore peaks topped with a dusting of snow. (of course I then started thinking about how cool it'd be to trek up there in the winter with our skis and do some backcountry laps)

The lake was small, more of a pond, and a bright green/teal color: the way you'd hope your water looked at the source. After spending 2 seconds looking at it we checked out the small cabin next to the lake and ate (I wasn't hungry before we left so I did the no-no of not eating breakfast... I was starving!)... and played with the sledge hammer and pick axe :) Why the sledge hammer and pick axe? I dunno, why the cabin?

Definitely a hike I'll do again (hopefully in better shape next time). I'd love to see it in summer with the wildflowers, early fall with fully clothed Aspens and winter.

Distance: 8 miles round trip

Elevation Gain: 3,085 feet

Highest Point: 11,765 feet

Soreness Factor: guessing an 8 (to be confirmed tomorrow :) )

# of other hikers we saw: only 4

Click here for more pictures

2,300 feet of elevation gain in the first 2 miles!

my gear wish list (santa, please take note)

Thanks to the ice axe not only do these gentlemen

look happier but also WAY more awesome. Just

imagine how they'd look with a snowmobile!

+ Snowmobile: Not only can I just ride around for the heck of it but my homies and I can use it to access sweet backcountry skiing before, during and after the lifts are open.

+ Beacon, probe and shovel: I will most likely be getting myself this backcountry skiing essential gear by 2011. It tends to be expensive but I'd like to think my life is worth the ~$300 price tag.

+ Kayak: Do I know how to whitewater kayak? Nope! But what better way to learn than to get a kayak :) Plus, you get to look bad-ass driving around with it on your roof- BONUS!

+ Road Bike: Biking for hours along the seemingly endless paved trails and climbing the multitude of mountain passes around here seems to be pretty popular (stinky! Lucy just farted and ran off! That ruined my train of thought... where was I?) So it'd be fun to get to experience all of that and go on long rides with friends.

+ Bright pink long-johns: Waaaaaait.... I already have some!

+ Ice Axe: It's an ice axe, even if you never use it the awesome factor is high just for owning one! But I'd actually use it to do some winter hiking of 14ers.

+ Crampons: I'd prefer not to slip off a mountain when I'm hiking up it in the winter. AND they also double as a meat tenderizer!

+ A -15 degree sleeping bag: I really want to start doing some winter hiking and you definitely need a warm bag for that.

+ AT bindings and skins: I'll likely get these before the new year as well. It'd be fun to get in some moonlit skiing and do some hut trekking.

+ Technical Hardshell Jacket: These tend to be spendy (+$350) but uber-durable and weatherproof. I have my eye on a few and as soon as I can snag one on sale I'll be all over it. Right now I'm rocking a bulkyish snowboard jacket (works great but I've had it for 5 years now and ready for something lighter) and/or a softshell (LOVE my softshell but need something more burly for the middle of winter)

+ Flannel Underwear: Just kidding :) Do they even make those for women?!

+ Pocket-sized camera: Right now I 'only' have a digital SLR. It takes sweet pictures but I can't really take it skiing or running because it's bulky and I'd hate to fall on it or whack it into a tree and be out mucho money.

fall: we welcome you!

lucy loves horse-play!

After an awesome summer (I think I can count the number of clouds I saw in August and September on my hands), Fall has finally decided to grace us with it's presents. Yes, presents- the gift of snow! A few days ago we got our first snowfall (it didn't stick) and the weather has finally come down from the 70s to about the low 50s/high 40s. About half of the Aspens have lost their leaves while the other half look like they'll lose theirs the next time a bird farts (I love that expression- thanks Mom!). Everyone has skiing on their mind while hiking and running in the crisp Fall weather is making the wait for winter a bit more bearable.

Lucy just got her lady-parts removed on Friday and has already shattered all the the rules of recovery (No jumping, climbing stairs or horse-play). Horse-play is a daily part of her routine and she is none too happy about giving that up. Horse-play. (Yup- extremely amused by the use of a word normally only seen in swimming pool rules :) )

new skis!!!

After MUCH deliberation I finally decided on the Volkl Kiku 162s (137/106/122).

If you care why I chose them, please read below. If not, just look at the picture and know I'm going to be having a ridiculously awesome time with them.

So my current everyday ski (pretty much everyone who lives in the mountains has multiple pairs of skis depending on what type of skiing you're planning on doing and/or what the conditions on the mountain are) is a pair of Salomon Pocket Rocket 165s I bought for $100 because it was a good ski to get started on (as you may recall up until last season I was purely a snowboarder). Having moved up the curve with the help of friends who are awesome skiers I decided I needed* to get another pair of skis that allow for better shredding of the gnar.

The Kikus are a fat, rockered ski that adds a bit more stiffness (trait of Volkls in general) than the K2 Gotbacks and Line Pandoras I was looking at. I have the 'unfortunate' issue of being in between ski sizes so the next tough decision was what length to get. My choices were either 162 or 170-172. Since my height is 162 (all these #s are in cm) and I've dropped some weight since moving out here (I'm going to chalk that up to not sitting at a desk all day rather than the beer and burger diet) I decided to go a tad shorter and know that it just means I'll be more agile in the trees and on the bumps. This length is probably more appropriate for my size anyway as I took the usual path of learning something new (make it as challenging as possible and then everything else is cake) so I'm pumped to get out on these bad boys.

As far as bindings go I'm not 1000% committed yet but I'm pretty sure I'm going to get a pair of Marker Barons. Then I can skin up to better pow and for early morning fresh/exercise (yes, I enjoy walking up the mountain too).

Anywayyyyyy... it might be 75 degrees and sunny but I'm stoked for the season and to see how much better I can get on skis. The goal is to be able to charge through trees pretty quickly and ski moguls while looking like I've been skiing my whole life. Oh yeah, and NOT get injured... that'd be nice.

* the same way chicks in NYC and London 'need' another multi-thousand dollar handbag

soooo it's been a while...

Tons and tons of fun has been had this past month. The only reason I didn't share it is that I didn't have my camera cord to download picts (and all posts are much better with picts!).

The short version: tons of hikes, leaves are changing (and crazy yellow!), it's starting to get a bit cooler (temp-wise, though of course awesomeness is always increasing as well), oktoberfest fun, lots and lots of fun with Lucy (click here for a bunch of picts!) and friends!

Every once in a while I like to think about where I was or what I was doing a year ago, two years ago, and so on. Today I realized it has been a LONG freaking time since I was at home on this day... 2009: Indonesia (watching my first water buffalo sacrifice!), 2008: Tokyo (working crazy intense 18+hr days after Lehman filed for bankruptcy), 2007: Paris (I ran my now infamous 20-mile training run through the Bois de Boulogne which resulted in ITB injury and muscle imbalances I'm still fighting to neutralize), 2006: New York City (I got my UK Visa and was getting ready to move to London), 2005: Munich (Oktoberfest!). 2010: Vail (home, playing with Lucy)