So, just wanted to drop a quick note about life around here the last few days. The first exciting thing that’s happened for us is the arrival of our freezer beef! This fall, we went in with three other families and bought a whole cow from a local ranch. The cow was entirely grass fed and finished, and grew up within 100 miles of our house. The processor is even very local. Yesterday afternoon, Liz brought home #4977, and last night we thanked her for her sacrifice and divided the 300 pounds of beef among the families.

Liz has a lovely blessing and gratitude post up on her blog, along with a few pictures. She echo’s the feeling we all have about receiving the gift of food from this innocent animal. I wish I could be so eloquent.

(This is obvious stealing of one of Doug and Liz’s pictures, because I didn’t bring my camera last night)

Also, a few weeks ago, my short story was chosen as a semi-finalist in the Timex Return to the Outdoors contest. While I didn’t win an exciting vacation to anywhere, I did win a Timex Expedition watch, and it came in the mail yesterday. I think this is a darn cool award. The watch is huge, way too big for my little wrists, but I intend to wear it around happily on our next adventures. It has the usual date and time functions, with some obscenely huge number of lap splits and several congruent countdown timers. It also has a BAROMETER AND A THERMOMETER. Which is just freakin’ sweet.

So, this is an image of upper level stratus over the desert in Southern California from last November (2007). While the large scale flow could be approximated as two dimensional, the mountains and conflicting air masses in the region add in three dimensional turbulence. In class today, we had a lovely derivation of energy cascades in three-dimensional turbulent flows, and I was reminded of a poem we learned in my first year of grad school.

Big whirls have little whirls
that feed on their velocity,
and little whirls have lesser whirls,
and so on, to viscosity!

– L. F. Richardson (1922)

So my goal in the next week or so is to make a photo of three dimensional turbulence and energy cascades. It might take a while. The forecast is for generally laminar flow the next few days.

I know, I know. I’m a huge nerd.

The weather is changing. The nights are cooling off. The patterns are shifting. Our weekdays are sunny, warm and beautiful. Our weekends have been rainy and gross. So, Mark and I decided to take a short break from climbing and search out some of the best fall colors in Colorado. We ended up on the West White Pine Mountain trail, early on a Saturday morning.

There’s about a ba-jillion amazing photos from the day in the gallery!

I know, I know, Dylan’s awesome GeoMashups plugin will make the same cool google maps of my gps data as the one I just stuck in here. But I’ve been to lazy to upgrade, I’m sorry. It’s on the list for this upcoming rainy weekend, I promise!

So, for our hike, we headed about an hour west of town, up and down some winding remote canyons, and eventually found our way to this trailhead. We have hiked this trail (to the summit) before, and I knew the aspens would be fantastic. In fact, they were totally amazing.

It’s October in Colorado, and hunting season is in full swing. I knew this trail was remote and had easy access by 4wd vehicles, so we brought bright colored clothing for the whole family to make sure we were visible to any hunters in the area. Liv had to deal with wearing one of Mark’s red shirts for the day. It made her look completely goofy, and she got comments all day long. But she didn’t get shot at! On our way home, we stopped at Jax and bought her a hunter’s orange vest.

We hiked up to the pass, meandering through aspen groves, pine forests, and open prairies along the way. Our GPS track looks a bit like confused moose wandering up the side of the mountain. On this trip, we didn’t hike to the summit of either peak, though. The aspens were our goal, and they petered out just below the saddle.

When we got home, I had almost 400 shots of yellow aspens on my camera! So, it’s going to take a while for me to get all of my favorites up on the site. But, I think there’s enough here now to show it was a fantastic day, and a really amazingly beautiful hike.

Dance Edition!!

It probably isn’t a secrete to anybody that Mark and I have started taking, yes, this is true, Ballroom Dance Classes. We’ve had four classes so far, and have learned timeless steps like triple jive and “modern rock.” We’ve also learned some basics of the European style like quarter turns and pivot turns. Andre, our soviet-era Russian professional ballroom dance instructor, is very keen on making everything look good and flow, and we’ve been working hard to keep him happy. The most fun we’ve had, though, is with the Merengue. You should see us rock out to this one. We totally look like these people.

And, while we’re dancing ourselves silly, here’s a video my little brother made to blow off steam during finals last week. Yeah, he’s awesome. Here’s a link to the original groovy dancing girl if you’re curious.

We don’t post political stuff here, and I’m going to do my best to keep it that way. Please follow the links to let your congressional representative know how you feel about their recent vote on the financial bailout package. In Stephen Colbert’s words, the brink of financial meltdown is getting “brinkier”.

Visit this page at Colorado.gov to contact your rep (or see a map of the districts and find how who represents you).

I heard on the radio that some reps are getting 100 to 1 feedback against the plan and as of Fri-Sat, the Zogby polling numbers show 46% to 46% at the National level. Those numbers don’t jive.

So, I’m a bit behind in blogging this, but there are some nice photos from our second day in Colorado Springs up in the Gallery.

On Sunday morning, Mark and I woke up late, packed up, checked out, and hit the road. We were due to meet my bro Kev in Denver at around 2pm, so we didn’t really have time to climb. The hotel, and many billboards in the region, extolled the amazing, unforgettable, unimaginable, fantasmagoric beauty of the Seven Falls area. We thought that sounded like a fun way to spend a Sunday morning, so we headed up to check out the Falls after breakfast.

That’s not a picture of Seven Falls. Nor is it a photo of two of seven falls. No, when we got to the canyon where the waterfalls were, signs lined the road declaring that we were about to drive down the “Most beautiful mile of road IN THE WORLD!” This sounded pretty good.

We rounded the bend and the toll booth appeared in front of us. Ah. Such is the way of tourist traps in the mountains. They wanted us to pay $18 ($9 each) to drive down a mile of road and see the waterfalls. We didn’t think it was worth it.

It reminded me of the classic Grandfather Mountain U-Turn of 2003 (We wouldn’t pay $24 dollars to drive up the side of the mountain), or the legendary Royal Gorge reversal of 2005 (definitely never going to pay $40 to walk across a bridge).

So, following years of precedent and tradition, Mark swung the Prius around and we drove off in search of free waterfalls. We headed up the next canyon to the north, which was free and very beautiful. At the top, we checked out Helen Hunt Falls (very pretty, and a pioneer woman). There was a short trail, and we hiked up to Silver Cascade falls and enjoyed the view of the canyon and the long, lovely water fountain that slithers from the top of the rocks.

After the waterfalls, we headed down the Goldmine Road – a narrow two-way traffic dirt road that winds down the rim of the canyon and back to the Springs. It was a warm, sunny afternoon, and the trip home was too quick.

Following our anniversary tradition, Mark and I headed out of town for the weekend and spent a few nights at a nice resort along with a weekend of climbing and hiking. In past years, we’ve gone to Steamboat Springs and Estes Park. This year, we decided to head down to Colorado Springs.

It seems we may have been a little early for fall color viewing, but we did get a chance to sample some lovely sport climbing at the Red Rocks Canyon Open Space, just west of town.

This area is unique for the thought put into planning routes and working out access issues with the city. The rock is smooth, eroded sandstone, similar to the well-known fins of Garden of the Gods. Except in this area, there are many fewer cracks and almost no options for traditional gear. Climbers in the region worked out a plan with the city, which allowed a handful of very experienced and talented climbers to come in and bolt more than 90 routes. After they were finished cleaning and setting the routes, the park opened to climbing in 2004.

View Larger Map

I know many people who would frown or scorn a “pre-planned” climbing area, or throw it in the same pile as the “outdoor gyms” at North Table Mountain or Cactus Cliffs. And they might be right to do so. Having a climbing area that was not grown organically, but designed and built from the ground up, gives it a bit of the fake-ish feeling of planned suburban communities or Disney-World wildlife parks. But it also gives almost 100 interesting, well thought out, appropriately protected (not too many bolts, not too few), appropriately spaced, well cleaned, safe, and very fun rock climbing routes.

It’s really hard to complain about a climbing area where several greats of the Colorado climbing community have worked together to produce a fantastic sport climbing spot. The end result, though it might seem contrived, is a beautiful climbing area, in town, with awesome routes of nearly every grade.

On Saturday, Mark and I had a big breakfast at the resort, and then mosey’d over to the Garden of the Gods to register to climb and buy the guidebook. The gentleman at the counter made no attempt to cover up the fact that he thought we, as rockclimbers, were completely insane. Especially when we bought a “guidebook” that was no more than about 20 photocopied and stapled pages for $12.95.

We found ourselves in the parking area at around 10:30a, and set out for the day’s climbs. There was almost nobody else climbing at that hour of the morning, and the park was being generally used by joggers and people walking dogs. We started with the three routes on the Whale’s Tail.

I won’t get into the nitty gritty of each climb, suffice to say I was proud of my lead of the 5.7 slab (The Rose). The rock is classic red sandstone, which does not lend itself to any sort of foot or hand holds. And as you smear up the steep face, sand forms between your shoes and the rock, reducing your friction. The first route felt creepy. But we both lead it, and got our slab feet under us. Our next routes (Pockets a’ Plenty (5.9) and Jason’s Argonaut (5.10a)) didn’t seem so hard. The rock and the slab felt so foreign, but became more comfortable quickly.

We then wandered south along the Whale, and climbed Blow Tube Envy (5.7) and Mister MIA (5.9+).

Oh, did I mention many of these climbs were LONG? Pockets ‘a Plenty (which really only had like 4 pockets on it), Blow Tube Envy and Mister MIA were all almost exactly 100ft long. For each one, we were tying knots in the back end of the rope, and tying in on tip-toe to make our 60m rope stretch. So the routes were slabby, lacking holds, a little sandy, and very, very long. With an range of 5 to 8 bolts in those 100ft, they were very interesting, and a little spicy.

At around 2p, the rest of the Colorado Springs climbing community showed up. Mark and I started to get annoyed with the big group of guys barking at each other to our left, so we wandered across the canyon to Ripple Wall. Here we finished off our day (basically) by climbing Wake to Wake (5.10a) and Current Event (5.10b). The first route was super fun, and seemed easy for the grade. The second route was HARD. It started with a sloper and slab-o-licous traverse with protection sparse enough to make us both nervous, but close enough to keep us working the route. Mark, of course, got the red point, and I took a number of falls before I was able to commit to the delicate end of the traverse.

As I cleaned the last climb, dark clouds were filling the sky to our north. I could see lightening striking the ground a few miles away from us. Of course, as we hiked out of the canyon, we passed a group of college-aged kids (two cute girls and a guy) that had just pulled their rope all the way up to the anchors with the knot left in it. Mark, being the secret super hero that he is, couldn’t help himself. He threw on his harness, pulled out our rope, and ran up Pikes Peak (5.7) (5 perfectly placed bolts in about 90 ft of climbing), untied their knot, and rapped down while cleaning. The whole thing took less than about 15 minutes, and we made it back to the car before the storm hit.

It was a great day for both of us, with committing and fun leads, new and exotic-feeling rock, and well protected sunny slabs. My toes, arches, ankles and calves ached for days, but it was totally worth it!

Tomorrow is our 5th wedding anniversary, and it feels like a bit of a milestone. This morning, the blog of Niffgurd got “tagged” and his recounting of past events inspired me. Here’s what’s happened to me so far.

20 Years Ago:
1. I was in the 5th grade at Tilman Elementary School in Kirkwood, MO. I had already been to four different elementary schools and lived in 6 different towns.
2. My two best friends at the time, Katie Unland and Beth Brown, have both since passed away.
3. I danced ballet, tap and jazz three times a week, and I knew I was going to grow up to be a famous ballerina in New York.
4. I’m pretty sure it was almost exactly 20 years ago this week that my Mom came into my bedroom one night before bed and told me I was likely to have another little brother next summer. My first thought at the time was “Oh my God! My parents had sex!”

10 Years Ago:
1. I was starting my sophomore year at Rose-Hulman Inst. of Tech. in Terre Haute, Indiana.
2. I was learning to program in Java and C++.
3. I knew I was going to grow up to be a famous dot-com entrepreneur and CEO.
4. I went rockclimbing for the first time ever as part of a Pike rush event at a gym in Indianapolis that fall.

5 Years Ago:
1. I was on the Outer Banks with my closest friends and family as I prepared to marry Mark Calder.
2. A week before the wedding, our beach had been hit by Hurricane Isabel.
3. On the morning of our wedding we went boogie boarding in 6 foot waves, and I got a little beaten up.
4. It started raining about an hour before the ceremony, but we had it outside anyway. Everybody had umbrellas except Mark and I, who stood out in the rain and pledged to spend the rest of our lives together. As soon as the Rev. said “I now pronounce you Man and Wife,” it stopped raining.

There’s quite a few fun pictures of our two-week long wedding odyssey on my old Pbase site.

3 Years Ago:
1. Mark and I were living in Fort Collins, Colorado, as I started my second year of grad school.
2. Mark’s contracting job with our old company in Indianapolis was drying up and he was beginning life among the unemployed.
3. I knew I was going to grow up to be a famous climatologist and save the planet. I was hoping to have a weather phenomenon named after me.
4. After three solid years of rockclimbing, I was starting to have anxiety issues and was not climbing as much. Mark and Tom were climbing together constantly, and it was about this time of year, three years ago, that Mark and Tom climbed the 5.10 variation of Yellow Spur, with Mark leading the technical cruxes.

1 Year Ago:
1. I had recently started on medication for my anxiety, and was sleeping through the night for the first time in 9 months.
2. I was working hard on my Master’s Thesis.
3. Liv was in a cast after slicing clean through two tendons on her back left leg.
4. We had just spent a great day climbing Baobob Tree in Vedauwoo with Dylan, Ann, Sean, Doug and Liz.

So Far This Year:
1. I’ve received a Master’s Degree in Atmospheric Science and I’ve been accepted into the Phd program at CSU.
2. I taught a college-level class on Global Climate Change at Colorado College.
3. I managed to keep a consistent yoga practice throughout the year.
4. Mark and I took our trad climbing to new heights by pulling off clean ascents of 5.9 crack climbs at Lumpy Ridge and Vedauwoo.

Yesterday:
1. I finished my half of a presentation of my work for several famous climate and atmospheric scientists (to be presented on Monday).
2. I received notice that I am accepted into the Workshop on Reducing the Uncertainty in the Prediction of Global Warming in Jerusalem next January!
3. I scheduled an interview for a part time job doing photography for a local rafting company.
4. Mark and I made a tasty pasta sauce from the tomatoes that are just ripening in our garden.

Today:
1. I put a whole bunch of cool songs on the green iPod Shuffle that Mark got for me as an anniversary gift.
2. Jim sent me his half of the presentation and I’ve put them together and delivered them to the meeting organizer.
3. I went to my interview and told them I couldn’t work for them until next March. They kicked me out and said “Then contact us next March!”
4. I went through all of the old photos of our wedding for this post.

In the next year …
1. I’ll submit my first paper to a scientific journal.
2. I’ll have presentations and conferences in San Francisco, New York, and Jerusalem all before the end of January.
3. I’ll take the prelims – a whole week of rigorous testing – and be started on my Phd work officially.
4. Mark and I will start trying to make a baby.