We had a good week of travel through the midwest for our Christmas celebrations this year. It was an interesting holiday, full of bad weather, surprises, happy families, and some difficult times.

We spent the first part of the week with Mark’s family in Fort Wayne, Indiana. On our trip out to Indiana, we hit bitterly cold temps in Iowa. The next morning, the check engine light came on in the yellow truck, and the engine started noticeably miss-firing. We thought we had gotten bad gas, and after looking for an open mechanic shop in eastern Des Moines for about an hour, we just put in some fuel cleaner and drove off. We found out the next day that our ignition coil had shorted, and we got to drop a chunk of change on car repairs in Fort Wayne.

The day before we arrived, northern Indiana had a horrible ice storm, that knocked out power to over 400,000 people in the region. Mark’s parents were lucky, and when we got there, the power was still on. The only pictures I took during the whole trip were of the ice in Mark’s parents’ backyard the day after we arrived. The ice was beautiful, and there’s a small set of pictures in the gallery.

The day before Christmas Eve, though, high winds blew through town and a branch dropped on the neighborhood power lines, leaving us in the dark and cold. We lit candles and read or napped for the as snow fell gently outside. My parents were stuck in an ice storm on I-70 in middle Indiana at this point. They spent 5 hours sitting on the interstate that evening.

On Christmas Eve the power was still out, and Mark, Liv and I all headed to Akron Ohio to see my family. We had a fantastic visit with my grandparents, uncles and aunts, and cousins in the area. Mark’s family continued in the dark and cold for another two days, and their power didn’t come on until about 10pm on the day after Christmas.

We started trekking back west on Friday. Mark’s brother was scheduled to fly out of Fort Wayne early on Saturday morning, but his flight was canceled at the last minute. The family had to drive him two hours south to the Indianapolis airport, where he stayed in a hotel Saturday night and got on a flight Sunday morning. It’s been a year of bad surprises, and it seemed like Christmas was no exception. But the family was together, and celebrating, and we all had a pretty good time regardless.

Every year in December, the American Geophysical Union hosts a meeting in San Francisco. This year, my abstract was accepted, and I presented my work as a poster at the meeting.

The meeting is open to all members of AGU, their families and guests, and several vendors and research institutes. It has become more popular in recent years, and this year there were over 16,000 attendees! I’ve never been to a conference so large, and it was a bit overwhelming.

Outside of the conference, I got to spend a little time in San Francisco. I did some shopping in the crowded mall area between the Moscone Center and my hotel. I had one fantastic dinner at a seafood restaurant called Farallon, which was incredible.

The place was decorated with tiles and low-hanging lamps that made me feel like I was in Atlantis. I had a Turbot fillet covered in butter and caviar, and it was gooood. If you are ever in the area, I highly recommend it!

My poster session was over on Friday afternoon, and then I flew home, arriving on time, but late at night. On Saturday morning, we hopped in the car and started our trip to the midwest for Christmas!

It’s about time! As much as I like the yellow aspens, I’m getting tired of looking at them. The other not-so-secret purpose for the trip up to Loch Vale was to make a slightly more seasonal desktop background. I had a bunch of great photos (Check out the gallery!), but I liked this one the best. As usual, I’ve saved the image as a few different sizes for the most common screen resolutions. Feel free to down load the one that works for you by clicking on the link to the correct size below the image! Enjoy, and Happy Imminent Boreal Winter Solstice!

1024 x 768, 1440 x 900, 1600 x 1200, 1680 x 1050, 2560 x 1600

On Saturday, Katy and I went up into Rocky Mountain National Park and did some snowshoeing up to Loch Vale. It was … delightful. I hiked the whole thing in two layers of t-shirt, while carrying many pounds of arctic-worthy gear in my pack (that I used a little at the Loch)

On Sunday the air temps plummeted and inhaling (air) deeply made me cough.

This morning, Mon, my morning dog walk was at -15 degrees F. Thanks Canada for the gift of showing me how much of a wuss I am. Even my dog can’t seem to do more than short walks without picking up her feet and looking at me with a very accusing look as if I forced her to walk. She has never found a set of dog booties that she couldn’t kick off in under 5 minutes. There is exciting news on that front, a coworker has a “bootie retrieval system” composed of an X of elastic cord which is tied to each booty and the X lays (stretches) across the dog’s back. Liv took it for a test drive and it worked. You can expect some hilarious video once I get a similar system rigged.

It’s been a horribly busy fall for both Mark and I. I’ve been focusing on school, Mark’s been working hard at the office, and we’ve been spending our weekends catching up or doing more work. Pretty sad, really. So, we decided to make a conscious effort to get some good, quality, mountain time in last weekend.

We ended up snowshoeing up to Loch Vale in the Glacier Gorge area of Rocky Mountain National Park. We actually hiked this trail twice last summer, and Mark mentioned later that he wasn’t particularly happy with the choice in the morning. But the National Park in the snow is like a whole different world.

About 10 minutes into our hike, we saw a beaten path in the snow head off the side of the trail. Last summer, when we were hiking the approach to the Petite Grepon, we saw climbers head off into the woods in this direction. Mark suggested we try this trail out, and determine if it was actually a short cut, or a trail to a different destination all together. Always up for an adventure, I agreed. And we set off into the woods, off trail, with the promise of a gathering winter storm in the evening, in Rocky Mountain National Park.

Despite our joking about how we were destined to end up on “Storm Stories” next year for this decision, the trail was very easy to follow in the deep snow. It headed straight up the hill, and half an hour later we popped out on the marked trail, just below the split to Loch Vale. Success! I haven’t downloaded our GPS data yet, but I think we cut off about a half of a mile from this section of trail, which means we’ll be using this path for future hikes to climbs in the area.

As we started up the switchbacks below the Loch, we began hearing voices in the woods across the valley. We came upon the tracks of several people leaving the trail, and followed them up the far side of the valley to where a big group of people were ice climbing. Mark and I talked to them for a bit, careful to stay out of the fall zone for the sharp ice that was raining down, or pointy axes or crampons that might be flung about.

The group had top ropes set on various parts of the flow, and, when asked, declared that the route we were looking at was called “Mo’ Flo’ than Go” and was rated, according to the climbers, “um, 3?” “3+, I think” “5!” “1” “20!” “100!”, or something in that range. Mountain project says WI 3-. It looked like a fun, if short, route, and Mark and I watched for a while before heading back to the trail and finally up to the Loch.

Last summer, I declared Loch Vale to be the prettiest spot in the park, even when it was crawling with people. It was even prettier when we showed up there at 5:30am a few weeks later, and the place was dead quiet except for the bugs and fish jumping. On Saturday, it was even prettier. The lake was frozen over, the wind tossed snow about in sweeps and gyres. There was nobody else, and no other living creatures, around at all. The whole scene was full of roaring wind one minute, and then desperately silent the next. It felt like the mountains and lake had been encased in crystal, and would remain like this forever.

After a lot of pictures, and some time spent soaking it all in, we put the snowshoes back on and headed down the hill. We cruised back to the car in less than an hour, practically jogging down some sections in our lightweight snowshoes. Then it was back to our house for hot coffee and even hotter showers, as the promised winter storm blew in.

I actually started my yoga practice at about the same time as I started rock climbing. It was fall 2001, I couldn’t run outside as much as I wanted to, and I was looking for some fun activities that I could do indoors. I found out that there was a rock gym a few miles from my office and I convinced a few of my friends to go out with me. I also found a fantastic yoga studio near my office and started going to classes about once a week.

Yoga and rock climbing have always been linked in my mind. I can’t imagine doing one without the other. Mark also practices yoga with me on a fairly regular basis. Many climbing pros (Chris Sharma, Lynn Hill, Dean Potter and Steph Davis) have mentioned yoga is part of their fitness and training regimens.

Recently, several of my friends have started to complain about typical over-use injuries (I suppose we’re all getting a little older). There seems to be a large number of elbow, knee, back and shoulder problems floating around. So I thought I would write a quick post answering some of the FAQs I hear about yoga, and encourage everybody, to get out and try something new this winter. You might be surprised how enjoyable it is, and how much it helps your other favorite sports.

What is yoga?
Yoga, in the US, is mainly an exercise regime that simply consists of a series of postures, or poses, and breathing exercises that go along with them. There are litterally thousands of poses and variations on those poses under the general heading of “yoga.” Most involve stretching, balancing, or strength, though some are as simple as sitting or standing with good posture. Which poses are done, how many of them are done, what environment you practice in, and how the poses are connected from one to the other are all details that are varied between different styles of yoga.

Why is yoga good for climbers?
I’m sure you’ve heard this before, but most styles of yoga in the US practice poses which increase flexibility, strength and mental discipline. I’ve often thought of climbing as a very interesting sport. It involves maintaining a contorted position on the rock for several seconds at a time, while you feel around with one hand for the next hold or plug in gear or clip a rope.

Yoga can be exactly the same. You move through several postures, and then settle down and hold one for several breaths, and then begin to move through another series. The great thing about yoga, though, is that it is inverted to rock climbing. In climbing, our base of support is in front or above us, and we spend most of our time pulling up. In yoga, our base is directly below us, and we spend most of our time pushing down.

This is the final, and possibly most important, benefit of yoga. It helps prevent injuries by increasing your range of motion, stretching muscles and connective tissue that tighten with time, and strengthening muscles that counter-balance your over-used climbing muscles.

How do I find a good place to practice?
Yoga has become so popular in the US that most fitness, and even some rock gyms, offer classes. Often, however, those classes can be repetitive or dull, and sometimes the teachers are not as well trained, which can result in yoga-related injuries. A good yoga studio will usually have a wide variety of different class types and different teachers, all of whom should be certified yoga teachers. To locate a studio near you, Yoga Journal has a great directory.

The studios talk about different types of yoga. Which one do I want?
There are lots and lots of different styles of yoga. Most studios offer a free class or week when you first come in, so you can try it out and see if their style matches what you are looking for. Most rock climbers, or outdoor enthusiasts, are people who love movement, so more flowing styles fit their goals. These include styles like Flow yoga, Vinyassa or Ashtanga. If you are looking to build serious strength, styles like Bikram and Iyengar can fit the bill. Bikram, in particular, is seriously intense. It is practiced in a room heated to about 110ºF, for an hour and half, and involves very strength-building postures. If you are looking for something less intense, try finding classes described as Restorative yoga, Hatha, Kripalu or Yin Yoga.

I live in Colorado too! Where do you practice?
I actually have fallen in love with a chain of yoga studios called CorePower Yoga. The studios employ well-trained, excited, enthusiastic teachers, and have locations all over Colorado, California, Minnesota, Chicago and Portland. The classes follow a classic Vinyassa flow style, and, at least here in the Fort, can be very spiritual and physical at the same time. A lot like rock climbing.

My favorite part, though, is that the studio is heated to around 100ºF, which is manageable, and allows my muscles to lengthen and stretch without getting pulled or sore the next day. I don’t think I will ever go back to practicing in a non-heated studio. Plus, they usually stop at some point during class, change the music from flowing chants to rockin’ Madonna, and do 5 minutes of an intense ab workout. I think this has made some of the biggest impacts on my rock climbing so far. I had no idea how much a stronger abdominal region would help make all forms of climbing easier.

So, if you’re feeling less than excited about spending the winter in a rock gym, or if your elbows have been killing you, or if you just want to experience the perfect companion practice to your rock climbing, look up a studio near you! Feel free to ask any more questions you might have in the comments below!

I have an odd relationship with literature. When I was little, with my dad in gradschool trying to raise two little kids, we didn’t have a lot. I know kids are big on asking for everything under the sun, and in our family, the rule was basically “no” unless it was a book. My parents ALWAYS said yes to books. Even if it meant tuna-noodle-bake for dinner again.

As I grew up, I loved going through my Dad’s old books. My mom set up bookshelves in the basement for all of his old stuff, and I would go downstairs to read his highschool textbooks on “New Math” and “Economics for the Second Half of the 20th Century.” My dad never threw away or got rid of his books.

Which is all a long way of saying that I don’t either. I hoard books. I buy them all of the time. I never give them up. I saw Mark throwing out old paperbacks once in our first year of marriage and freaked out. I’m pretty sure it was one of those “Oh my God, I’ve married a crazy woman!” moments for Mark.

So, when Matt tagged me with this cute little question, I realized it was actually going to be a bit hard to answer.

Go to your nearest bookshelf. On the top shelf (or highest shelf with books) what book is fifth from the right and why did you love it? Now go to the bottom shelf (or lowest shelf with books). Tell us about the fifth book from the left. Then tag five of your blog buddies – link please! – to do the same. Be sure to link to the person who tagged you too.

So, if I were going to go to the nearest book-holding-place, it might be the pile next to the couch, or on the stairs. The nearest bookshelves comprise my little “library” up in the loft. Here are my problems. Does bottom shelf mean of all three bookcases? Do I pick the nearest case to the stairs? How do you count from left or right if the books are stacked bottom to top? Or packed in double deep?

Other gems you will find on my bookshelves (see if you can find them in the picture) a cribbage board made out of an antler, my rock collection (I call them geologic samples), pressed flowers from our wedding, an old wireless weather station, DVD backups of my photos, and a map of Mt Everest.

So to answer the question: Fifth from the right on the top shelf (I’m going with right-most case and counting bottom to top) is I’m Just Here For MORE FOOD by Alton Brown. Why do I love this book? Because Alton Brown is both Mark’s and my food hero. His scientific breakdown of cooking processes have lead to many good eats. This book is actually Mark’s. I believe he got it for Christmas a few years back.