Archive for January, 2008

My good friend Dougie B gave me a call while I was sniffling on the couch this afternoon and told me to run my sick butt outside into the cold and check out the cool clouds in the southwestern sky.

This was something I’ve never seen – wave clouds breaking in a clear blue sky. Usually there must be a whole lot of moisture around for something like this cloud to appear. There was some discussion as to whether these were originally triggered by a jet contrail or naturally occurring due to a layer of moisture in the air. Here is the sounding info from Denver this morning:

As you can see, there was a strong inversion over Denver this morning, way up at 400mb and some strong directional wind sheer associated with it, but that doesn’t make wave clouds break. What makes these clouds is the more subtle change lower down. Right around 600mb, there is an increase in relative humidity and a decrease in windspeed, but no change in wind direction. This little change can produce thin clouds. They break because the lower layer is moving slower than the upper layer, just like waves break on a beach as the lowest part of the water moves slower than the tops of the wave.

Ok, so this is a commercial, but it’s so funny I got smoothy up my nose this morning. I think I need Lance Armstrong running behind me all of the time, I’d do so much more cool stuff!

“Pain is temporary, and quitting lasts forever!”

Mark and I finished our short work week excited about getting out into the mountains for a day. When we read reports of a wolf sighting in the Rocky Mountain National Park, we knew where we had to go. Dylan also excitedly joined our hunt. The photos from the day are up in the gallery!

We didn’t know exactly where the wolf had been seen, but in order to maximize our chances, we decided to hike in the less popular northern part of the park. Due to the snow from the most recent storm, avalanche hazards were pretty high, so we opted to hike Fall River Road, which stays below treeline and away from avalanche prone areas. There is a map and elevation profile on Dylan’s blog post.

The lower third of our hike was well protected, and even though the snow was coming down heavily, we didn’t feel much wind until about 45 minutes into the walk. We rounded a corner and just got hit with a blast of wind and spindrift. Temperatures hovered just under 30F, so the hike was actually relatively warm compared to many that we’ve done. We walked through the whirling wind and snow, enjoying the quiet afternoon and listening intently for wolf-like noises.

We even had the trail mostly to ourselves. On our way up, we saw only one other group of hikers. We decided to turn around at the 3.5 mile mark, which gave Mark and I a good indication of the distance we’ll have to cover to climb Mt. Audobon or Quandry Peak this spring. On the way down, we were treated to several interesting sights. At one point, the wind had blown all of the snow off the road, leaving only our footprints of packed snow sticking up off the frozen gravel. We also passed a huge group of highschool or college aged kids just starting out as we were nearly finished. They all looked extremely cold in their hooded sweatshirts and tennis shoes.

But, in the end, we did not see any wolves, hear any wolf noises or see any paw prints in the snow. But we’ve got lots of time to keep looking!

We’re looking at a snowy weekend coming up, and Mark and I are excited about digging out the winter gear again! Here’s a shot from Christmas of my mother’s nice warm kitchen and fettuccine drying on the rack in the afternoon.

It’s been one of those great kinds of days. Those days when you remember how exciting and scary and new everything was once upon a time. When you remember that you had so many exciting possibilities once, and you still do now.

Happy 2008 everybody!

Today my Mom and I helped my youngest brother move into his first dorm at a college far away from home. It was so much fun! Helping him find the place and being there when he met all of his RA’s. Going out and getting everything that he will need to live a life all on his own for the first time ever. Talking about how excited he was to be embarking on a whole new journey in a world so different from the one in which he had been living.

I am so happy and excited for him! But it made me realize, also, how good it feels to be finishing up my own stuff. The thesis is out for review. The defense date will be coming up shortly. Technically, I’ll be “graduating” in the next month or so. And it is easy to be wistful for the days when everything was new and exciting. But being around Kevin today reminded me that those days never really leave you. Even as I’m wrapping up one huge project, I’ve got four others lined up at work, and I’m excited about all of them! It’s a brand new year, a new season for climbing, a new winter for skiing, and there are as many new adventures waiting as I’m willing to take!

If life is really about the journey, it can be easy to get bogged down in one spot. Instead of enjoying the trip, I start to just want to get things over with. I start asking “Are we there yet?” It’s also easy to get caught up in the check lists. “I’ve been here, and here, and here and here!” without really feeling excited about any of the “here”s.

So, for my New Year’s resolution this year, I want to be more excited and more aware of my new beginnings. I want to start even the smallest of my new projects and adventures with the same wide-eyed joy and anticipation that I did for the “big steps” in life. I will strive for care in the process and quality in life.