A Night with Grandma

While Josh was out of town for a week on a mission trip with his youth group, the kids got a very special overnight with Grandma Notary. Caleb was so excited to play that he got up at 4am! Here's a few highlight pictures.

Beat the Heat? Go Camping!

June has been crazy hot here in Denver. Temperatures were soaring into the 100's regularly so we decided to get into the mountains for some camping with Dad and Robin. With a RV trailer in tow and lots of toys (dirt bikes, mountain bikes, etc.), we hit the road for an overnight. Caleb and Haley were ecstatic for the adventure (so much so that Caleb woke up at 4:30 am ready to get the show on the road)! Here's a few pictures from the trip...

Dirt has nothing on Caleb!

Now THIS is camping!

Grillin' Grandpa

Miss Joy loves her cars - just like Big Bro!

Base Camp

Caleb's Bible Lesson

Caleb found a copy of the Bible sitting around (really it was my copy of Chamber's 'My Utmost for His Highest') and decided to share a little story about Jesus for us. It's pretty cute...check it out!

A Walk in the Clouds

James Peak Snow Climb Attempt

Dad and I had been talking for quite some time about getting out for a snow climb. He hadn't donned crampons in quite some time so we looked for an alpine objective relatively close to town. The East Face of James Peak has a couple snow couloirs that looked particularly interesting to us. We aimed for Shooting Star Couloir. I was optimistic at our prospects as Colorado had a very dry winter and the snow was melting fast. We met early and made our way to the St. Mary's Lake Trailhead.

A touch of summer

 A few late spring storms surprised us with 6-10 inches of new snow well above treeline. The mountains were also veiled in wispy, low-lying clouds.

Gorgeous scenery

 As we got higher, it became evident that the combination of fresh snow and warm temperatures were going to be a problem. We watched a point-release wet snow avalanche on a potential slope we were intending to traverse to get to the base of James' East Face. Instead, we were forced to climb much higher (to about 12,800 feet) before we could find a safe descent to the base of our intended route.

Descending into position

East Face of James Peak

 Clouds engulfed the valley below James' East Face. We descended into the unknown void before stopping at a flat area to wait for the mountain to open up. While we waited, we listened to the mountain literally fall apart. Almost continuous rockfall and avalanches echoed around us. After a half hour of waiting, the clouds rolled back and we were greeted by a remarkable vista. It was clear that our snow climb was not in the cards today, but we lingered for awhile longer to enjoy the dramatic scene before us.

 Because of the cloud cover, we had to carefully orienteer our way back to the trailhead. We actually used our compass, GPS and map to get us down the right drainage to St. Marys Lake. All in all, it was an interesting adventure with Dad.

Dad trickin' out the ski jump on St. Marys Glacier

A Weekend Away

 
Andrea and I got a rare weekend away from our little ones. Grandma was glad to take Caleb and Haley while we spent time in Colorado Springs. We started with a long walk through Garden of the Gods. That place is so cool! We watched the sunset there and then went to check in at Cheyenne Mountain Resort.

The next day started off with a leisurely breakfast and plenty of time to read and relax. I had wanted to check out the Manitou Incline in Manitou Springs. This is a very popular hike that climbs 2000 feet up the beams of what used to be an old cog rail. We scurried up this steep climb and then decided to run down the Barr Trail that lies adjacent to the Incline. A great workout!

Finally, we went to Old Colorado City for a relaxing patio lunch on a gorgeous, 70-degree day! Our trip away was short and sweet, but it was great for us to connect and feel like a couple again.

Kids Hangin' Out

One winter day, we found Haley grabbing onto some railing along the stairs and going for a ride. It was hilarious! Here's a little video of Caleb and Haley hanging out.

All Mixed Up - Thatchtop Mountain

Three years ago, Rick Inman and I made an attempt of a classic alpine ice climbing route in Rocky Mountain National Park called All Mixed Up. Fierce winds and a cloud of spindrift spoiled our plans, so we bid adieu and agreed to come back soon for another try.

Glacier Gorge approach

Crossing Mills Lake

Now in December 2011, just two weeks before Rick's wedding, we found ourselves driving in the cold, pre-dawn hours to Glacier Gorge in RMNP. The forecast was favorable on this last day of calendar fall. The shortest day of the year brought winter cold but, thankfully, low snowpack. 

All Mixed Up from the base

After a wrong-turn to start, we made our way to Mills Lake and began the very steep approach to the base of AMU. The route looked to be in great shape with full ice coverage. AMU is about 550 vertical feet graded at WI4 ("Water Ice Four"). Because of our route-finding blunder early on, we found ourselves behind two other parties.

Waiting our turn took another long hour, and it was cold! Rick started up the slabby first pitch. We decided to leave the rock gear in the bags, taking only a set of 9 or 10 screws.

Rick leading the first pitch

Rick reaching the top of Pitch 2

Pitch 2 belay with Mills Lake Below

The second pitch was much steeper overall. I took the sharp end and meandered up a series of vertical ice steps to an airy belay above. We passed one of the other parties on this pitch, as they were taking a variation further left.

Crux 4th Pitch on AMU

Our third pitch was a snow slope that led to the 75-foot crux pillar in a steep gully system. We climbed the final pitch and topped out. The day was getting late so chose to forgo Thatchtop's summit. Rather than rappelling the route, we decided to downclimb a talus slope to the east of the route before cutting back over to our packs at the base of the route.

Topping out All Mixed Up

Longs Peak in the mist

Another party on the 4th Pitch from our descent

The weather deteriorated as the daylight diminished. We returned to our car just before needing to pull out the headlamps. A full-blown snowstorm settled in as we drove home. We got AMU just in time! Thank you Lord!

Glacier Gorge (L-R): Longs Peak, Pagoda Mtn, Spearhead