One of Kate’s mailing lists at school informed us of the following…
“Just as before, the Space Shuttle has un-docked from the International Space Station and the two of them are flying in formation about 200 miles above the Earth. They are traveling around 17,000(ish) MPH and can be seen in the night sky at …”

We saw it plain as day.
There was a bright spot chased by another less bright spot which shows on the long exposure as streaks. I told Kate “If you use your imagination, it really is a space station getting chased by a space shuttle” to which she replied, “But it really is!”. Sure, but I still contend you have to use your imagination. When I look up into the sky, I am never imagine that there are people in those white dots… That’s just crazy!

And did I mention the mosquitos? If you go outside for only 10 minutes after dark, it is still worthwhile to put on a t-shirt. I’m thinking this could be my year for West Nile virus. I’m hoping for the “feel tired for a couple days” type of West Nile . Not the “brain swells and then you die” kind. It’s still quite rare… the CDC has Colorado up to 72 cases , only bested by California (more detail here ).

Another stinkin’ hot weekend on the Front Range. We had a great Friday night and Saturday hanging around the Fort and being a bit lazy. The plan was to head up to Greyrock mountain on Sunday and climb a new route on the Northwest face of the mountain. We thought the peak might be high enough in altitude to be a little cooler, and that we might get some shade on the north face. We thought wrong.

Photos from the day are up in the new gallery!

The day was oppressively hot and more humid than I’ve experienced in a long time. The heat just sapped the energy out of us, and the long walk up to the mountain (2.2 miles) felt like an eternity of slogging. We weren’t on the trail long before conversational topics like “Well, we don’t have to climb anything to get a good work out today” and “You know, if we were at home we’d be doing such-and-such better things” started to pop up. You know you’re in trouble when these thoughts start to wind their way around your brain.

After almost 2 hours, we popped out below the mountain, and immediately took off through the trees and brush to try to scramble up to the back side of the mountain. We got a bit lost a few times, but eventually found ourselves staring up at a gulley below the northwest slabs. Right at that moment, the first dark cloud of the day drifted into view. The scramble was a bit committing, and I found myself sitting, looking up at three or four pitches of climbing and really feeling I didn’t have the energy, even after all the work to get there.

Mark didn’t need too much argument. We scrambled back down into the trees and took a break for some lunch and to pull hundreds of little grass burrs out of our socks and shoes. Eventually, we made it up to the southwest slabs and I started racking up to lead Fun Flake (5.6). It wasn’t long after I left the ground before the thunder started to roll through the dark, thick clouds above us.

I actually felt pretty good on lead that day. I wasn’t in that cloud of irrational fear, my feet felt stable and strong, the moves felt easy and fun. But four pieces and 20ft up, I knew I wasn’t going to be anywhere near finishing before the rain set on us. The thunder was getting louder, and the prudent thing to do seemed to be to lower off and let Mark run up the climb so we could finish and get off the rock before lightening found us.

So Mark finished the lead quickly, and I climbed and cleaned it. We grabbed our stuff as the first bolt of lightening hit a hill to our west, and booked down to the trees below us.

On our way out, I almost stepped on a large flock of Ptarmigan right below the slabs of the mountain. Mark and I were both pretty surprised, as we had never seen these birds below 10,000ft. Further down the trail, we stumbled on another flock, and had fun taking pictures of them, and listening to their quiet, haunting calls.

As usual, the hike out took much less time than the hike in. We walked out in occasional rain squalls that felt good after the heat of the morning.

Its a long story, but this weekend I got started on some site updates that I’ve been wanting to play around with for a long time, and I may have gotten a tad carried away. There’s still lots to be finished up, so don’t sweat it if things move around a bit in the next few weeks.

I’m really curious what people think of the new photo gallery. I think the Zen Photo code base is a nice bit of software, and the lightbox effects are just friggen cool! But, if it doesn’t work on your computer for whatever reason, please leave a comment here and let me know! Thanks!

The evenings are warm, the gardens are full and the grills are smoking. We had a really nice picnic last night with all the girls (and Mark and sons and daughters) in the four townhouses in our building. It was an evening full of beer, tasty ka-bobs and brownie balls! I took some nice shots of Jennifer and Barbara playing with the biggest hula-hoop I’ve ever seen! Check them out in the gallery. Yep, it’s been a great summer!

Even though I’m supposed to be doing the cooking, Mark has been happy to bake a bit in the evenings. I suppose it’s like how he’s supposed to be paying the bills, but I keep checking the investments. It’s hard to stay away from activities you enjoy.

Last night, Mark made another batch of Jam Thumbprints. These are some of our favorite cookies, and they always seem to turn out perfectly.

I love “food photography.” For some reason, cookbooks feel that if most of the food is out of focus, it looks tastier. I tried to replicate that here. I also used a bounce-flash off the ceiling for the soft lighting.

Jam Thumbprints

2/3 cup butter
1/2 cup sugar
2 egg yolks
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 cups AP flour
2 slightly beaten egg whites
1/3 to 1/2 cups of jam (we used blackberry)

1. Grease a cookie sheet; set aside. In a large mixing bowl beat butter or margarine with an electric mixer on medium to high speed for 30 seconds. Add the sugar and beat till combined, scraping sides of bowl occasionally. Beat in egg yolks and vanilla till combined. Beat in as much of the flour as you can with the mixer. Stir in remaining flour. Cover; chill dough about 1 hour or till easy to handle.

2. Shape dugh into 1-in balls. Roll balls in egg whites. Place 1 inch apart on the prepared cookie sheet. Press our thumb into the center of each ball. Fill with jam! Bake in a 375° oven for 10-12 minutes or till edges are lightly browned. NOTE: The jam will be as hot as LAVA when it gets out of the oven. Be very careful handling the cookies.

Last weekend, the high temperatures in Fort Collins were heading quickly towards the triple digits, so we decided to take refuge on some shady north-facing climbs in Vedauwoo.

Photos from the weekend are up in the gallery.

After some (not so) intense discussion, we decided it was time to go explore the Blair Woods area in Vedauwoo. These formations sit north and west of general Vedauwoo area, and we actually had to drive out of the ‘park’ and back in on a different road to access them. Exploring a new rock in Vedauwoo is usually an adventure, but driving to a whole different part of the range makes the place feel really exciting and remote.

The trails were indistinct, and we hiked quite a bit off trail. Eventually, we stumbled on the northwest face of Blair 3, and everybody was in awe. The spot was quiet (we were the only ones there) and shady and cool. The clean graceful lines of the rock towered over us, promising a day of spectacular climbing.

Mark and I continued down the game trail to the “Notch” area on this formation, and I racked up and led my first multi-pitch trad climb! This was actually the first climb that I’ve ever led all of the pitches on, and it was a really good one. It was a combination of two moderates, and as I don’t have the book here, I can’t tell you what the first pitch was, but the second was the top (and most interesting) half of Outer Notch (5.6).

I still feel very proud of this climb. It was definitely not as super-easy and incredibly-obvious as my usual leads. I actually spaced the protection out quite a bit in some places (and scrunched it together in others). But it was a really fun climb, and a great way to spend the morning.

After we rappelled off, we found the group working a couple of fun climbs further down the face. Again, I can’t give names right now as I don’t have the book, but there was a fun 5.7, a strenuous 5.9, and a 5.8 that gained two degrees of difficulty after Sean pulled a key hold off and threw it at Ann. By the time I got to that 5.8, I was so exhausted my arms just wouldn’t bend.

After a nap and some scrambling around the formation, Mark and I set up a yoga shoot on top of the shoulder of the formation. Some of the photos turned out really nice.

At the end of the day, several people worked a loooong (110ft) hard 5.9, and then we packed up and hiked out. Camping that evening was nice and not too chilly. Mark dug holes under the right-side tires of Dylan and Ann’s truck to help level the camper, and then spent the rest of the evening playing with fire.

On Sunday we headed back to the area, and this time explored the shady side of Blair 1. While the rest of the group enjoyed another long fun 5.7-, Mark and I attacked the first pitch of Le Petite Arbre (5.6). This 50ft crack was awesome. It was solid, perfect hand and fist jams the whole way up. We ran laps on this one, with Mark speed climbing it on top-rope, and me practicing placing gear hanging from hand-jams and not over-camming it. Even the rest of the gang seemed to enjoy it, especially Ann’s new shoes! Around lunch time we all started heading home in pairs. Mark and Liv and I stuck around the longest, playing on the crack and relaxing in the shade. Then it was time to head back to the Fort, which felt like a baking furnace after such a nice, cool weekend on the rocks.

I feel like the summer is getting late, but I don’t know where the season went. I’m counting down the last few weekends of August and realizing that we won’t be climbing Long’s this year either. I don’t think we’re going to climb in Black Canyon either, which was my goal for this year. Classes are going to be starting soon, and I haven’t bagged a single 14er! I haven’t been mountain biking once! It’s already too late to rent the duckies and float the Poudre as we had been hoping.

I guess this year the priorities just got shifted. I do feel that I’ve made some very important progress in my most recently chosen career. I’m much nearer to finishing my masters thanks to all of the hard work I put in this summer. And for fun stuff, well, my crack climbing is better now than it was last summer, that’s for sure. I’ve explored places in ‘Voo that I’ve been wanting to check out for years now. And of course, the traveling this year has been fantastic.

I may not have been able to check off all of my goals for this summer, but I do feel stronger, somehow. Both mentally and physically. I feel more confidant in my place in Colorado, and more sure of the things and people I love. I suppose all I could ask for is to learn and grow a bit each season, and I think I’m doing great there.

Here’s a shot from one of my dog walks this week. Looks like we’re getting closer to sunrise-shooting-season.

I do love my job. Sometimes it’s stressful. Sometimes I get tired and freak out. But last night, I got to leave the poster session just a little early to “Measure the diffusive and reflected longer wavelengths of radiation.” In other words, “to take pictures of the pretty sunset.” Scientifically, of course.