Friday, June 27, 2008

I didn't climb a damn thing today.

Thursday, June 26, 2008

Some thought on Glissading

A glissade has to be the best way to go down a mountain. You sit on snow, and slide. No stupid walking. No breathing hard. No looking for a trail. It's like being a kid and going on the really big slide at the playground. A glissade (anagram: ass glide) is a beautiful thing.

2 more down!

Summit shot on Mt. Sherman: (Warning: Rated PG-13)


Small children, avert your eyes.




This is how I took the summit shot when I found myself alone on a summit.




 











My climbing partner on Mt. Massive
 













Marmots don't take very good photos.
 
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Sunday, June 22, 2008

One more down

Today I climbed Mt. Elbert, the highest point in the Rocky Mountains. This one was excruciating. It entailed 4400 ft of elevation gain, followed of course by 4400 ft of downhill. The view from the top was fantastic though. I could see a 360 degree panorama around the Rockies...not that I bothered to photograph this panorama. (D'oh!)Anyway, here's the requisite summit photo:



On the trail I met a New Mexico Tech alum! (I spotted him by his Socorro Springs hat) Class of '95 and nephew of the late Dr. David Norman. He also had a hot engineer wife. (Not a techie though)

If you want to keep track, here are some statistics on my trip so far:

Peaks reached: 4
Feet climbed: 10,770
Miles Walked: 24
Miles Driven: 830
Days without showering:
Current: 0
Record : 6

Saturday, June 21, 2008

3 down!

I've now climbed 3 of the 14ers. Here's a photo from my first summit:


On my first day of climbing, I summitted Gray's peak and Torrey's Peak. This was the most physically challenging thing I have ever done. Once I got down, all I could do was pass out. I hardly had the energy to make dinner later. (I did, however, have energy to check out the old mine by the trailhead. It was mostly dismantled and there wasn't much to see. The portal was snowed in.)

Next I climbed Mt. Bierstadt. It was a little easier because I was more acclimated.

But before I climbed, I stopped in Vail one evening to see the Reverend Horton Heat!
(You uncultured swine out there will know them from Guitar Hero's Psychobilly Freakout. I want to make it perfectly clear that I liked them before they were cool.)



Fun fact: I haven't showered in 5 days!

Monday, June 16, 2008

In Socorro

I'm back in Socorro now. I'm going to leave this afternoon and try to spend the night somewhere on the North side of the CO/NM border.

I tested out my truck camper setup last night. It worked smashingly. For those of you who haven't seen it:



So I sleep on top and store gear underneath. This eliminates the hassle of a tent. The platform is designed using 5 2x4's crossing the width of the truck and resting on the bedrails. They are spaced at no more than 20" centers. Then, assuming an evenly distributed load on the plywood, and treating the plywood as a simple beam, and making a general assumption about the strength of plywood (thank you, mechanics of materials textbook) the platform should be able to withstand 1200 lbs of down force. That means it'll sleep 2 200 lb adults with a safety factor of three.

The platform is made of 4 rectangular panels. The two in the front are smaller, allowing access to the gear there which would otherwise be hard to reach.

Sunday, June 8, 2008

First Post

I've made this blog so that all may share in my exploits this summer. In short, my plan is to climb all of the peaks in Colorado which are more than 14,000 ft above mean sea level. I plan to start around the 18th of June, and take about 2 months out of my life to complete all of the climbs.

More news to follow. Right now I'm visiting my parents and trying to work out as much as I can to get ready.