Climb the Pfeifferhorn

On Thursday I climbed the Pfierfferhorn, an 11237 foot peak in the central Wasatch mountains.  After getting a typical non-Alpine start at 10 o'clock I started up the trail towards Red Alpine Lake about five miles away.  Two hours later I arrived at this beautiful little lake set in a small glacial valley.  Filling up with water I began the slog up to the ridge line that would connect me with the final climb to the summit.  Once I got to the final little bit of ridge before the summit I got a little freaked out because the scrambling that layed before me looked quite exposed and too be honest scared me a little bit; especially because I was all alone.  So I sat down on a rock and took in the view while I thought about what I was going to do.  Shortly a group of Canadian tourists came along and I hooked up with them and we all scrambled through the large boulders on the ridge and up the steep slope to the summit, where we all took in some magnificent views.  I was pretty happy that Andrew, Sara, and Cameron from Toronto showed up because I might have chickened out otherwise.  Later we scrambled down the hill and about an hour and a half later arrived back at the trail head.  It was truely a great day in the mountains, the craziest thing was that this guy Cameron did the entire thing in flip flops!

 

 

*Note I didn't take the pictures, they are from SummitPost.com*

 

Red Alpine Lake looking towards Little Cottonwood Canyon

A look at the summit from the east

West Face, looks kinda like the Matterhorn huh?

Jagged ridge on the way to the summit.

A look at Lone Peak from the summit of Pfierfferhorn

Route up to the summit, notice the nasty boulders on the ridge.

WorldFire Map

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/05/060524093839.htm.  This is a composite satellite image of all the fires or major hotspots that have occurred in the last couple years.

 

Nebo Mountain Hike

So this post is a little time delayed but, I've just now finally gotten around to posting it.

 

    On the 4th I went and hiked Mount Nebo, a 11,928 mountain which is the 21st most prominent summit in the lower 48 states.  It was a really fun 10 mile hike, it was also one of the hardest hikes I have done yet as there was about 3,000 feet of elevation gain every 5 miles, the terrain was also quite challenging as it was Class Three on the Yosemite Decimal System near the top.  That was the most challenging summit I have done to date, but look forward to doing more, though with other more experienced climbers than myself.

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Ultra-Light Drinking

So the problem with bringing booze with you when backpacking is the weight, a gallon of adult liquids weighs roughly 8 pounds; a major limitation if you want to have a light pack weight and still stumble through the camp fire. Luckily a group of Dutch students have come the rescue with powdered alcohol, yes a powdered alcohol called Booze2go. Just pour a packet of Booze2go into your Nalgene, add water and BAM you've got 12 year old scotch; well actually it is some fizzy, lime colored, tasting drink with about 3% alcohol. This is probably the best thing to happen to backpacking and mountaineering since sil-nylon.

Skillern HotSprings

As Memorial Day weekend is only hours away, I thought I should send some of the great pictures we took LAST weekend before it was too late. We camped at Big Smoky creek like we did last year and did our annual hike up the river to Skillern Hot Springs. We had a GREAT time and this year Skillern has been fixed up very nice. Complete with a drain pipe and plug to fill the pool up much higher than has been possible in the past. I've included some pictures for your viewing pleasure. Click here for a map from Fairfield to the Big Smoky Camp ground.

When a corporation has a monopoly on your LIFE!

The war on vitamins is about to start. Just wait. This is the beginning: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070516/ap_on_he_me/vitamins_prostate

Now that the FDA has the power to “regulate” vitamins, expect to see a lot more press about how Vitamins are bad and Pharmaceuticals are good. Vitamins are bad because they are made by god and perfected by nature in every way. Pharmaceuticals are good because scientists make them and they are good for our “economy”. They also help finance lobbying organizations that make it possible for 1% of our population to get rich beyond belief. Woohooo!!! FDA good! Nature bad! Oh, and the bonus is that it is ILLEGAL for our government to negotiate with Drug companies on prices. Therefore these for profit, public companies are left with the responsibility of giving us a fair price, which currently is over a 3,000% mark up! Oh, and some might say, “oh well, if the prices are too high here, I’ll just buy them from Canada”. WRONG. It is also illegal to purchase drugs from any other country except the USA. So much for freedom eh?! Talk about a monopoly on your LIFE!

Big News!

Reporting from the top of a beautiful Idaho mountain, Bryan and Amie are getting hitched! That's right ya'll, she said yes!

Daylight exacerbates Global Warning?

I'm not sure if there is any one who reads this blog who thinks that this whole global warming this is just a bunch of baloney, but if there is and you are reading this; this is for you.

Dry Creek Marathon

So in case everyone does not already know I am running the Dry Creek Half-Marathon on the 28th of April. I would love it if people came down and cheered me on during the race, I could really use the support. No worries if you can't make it, but it would be great to have a cheering section. Any way if your interested check out http://www.cityoftreesmarathon.com/dry_creek_half_marathon.htm for more info.
the course map can be found at http://www.usatf.org/routes/view.asp?rID=121025. I'm betting on a roughly two hour race time, a bit slower than my past races, but this is supposed to be a pretty challenging course; I'll find out tomarrow since I'm going to go give it a test run. Any way I hope to see lots of people there!

Honda Ski Tour - Sun Valley Idaho

For those of you that weren't able to check out the Honda Ski Tour in Sun Valley this year, it is definitely worth watching this video to see what it was all about. Great Skiing, Great music and great fun. Something Sun Valley has long been overdue for! Mark your calendars for next year!

Ode to a running shoe

Oh running shoes you have hurt me, hurt me deep, deep in my feet specifically. I'm afraid this last episode is the straw that broke the camels back. You got me to the top of the mountain fine, but on the way down you where a great disappointment; you know what I'm talking about, don't deny it. The big blister on the big piggy that went to market, the one on my heel (I thought it was a rock in my shoe at first!) and the other little ones around the ball of each foot; yes you did that. Yes it could be my running style-not as smooth as it could be- or I might not be the best shape for such a long run, but I still think it is you running shoe, not me. You are the reason why this running relationship isn't working out. Sure its bad now, but it would just get worse if we stayed together; its blisters today, tomorrow its blood blisters. But think of all the good times we had! Remember running the 8th St. loop? Getting stalked by a mountain lion? Hahahha that was a good time wasn't it. Hiking in Moab? Yeah that was great, but it was then that I knew our time was coming to an end, yes you started to hurt me then, and you can't blame that on me, that is for damn sure. You've had a good life though running shoe, I mean your almost a year old and that is a long time to be with the same shoe. You can look at me all mournfully with my Wright Socks (synthetics only, cotton kills!) stuffed inside you, but that won't change my mind, we are through. So tom arrow you go to GoodWill and I go to the running store to find a newer hotter model that will treat my feet right. Those new Salomon XAs or the Inov8 Roclites look really hot, maybe I'll give them a spin. I'll miss you running shoe, good bye.

A desert adventure

I went on a backpacking trip down in Moab Utah over the weekend with uncle Mike; we did a two night trip up and around Mill Creek and Rill Creek right out side of Moab. It was a awesome trip as you can see in the photos, definately a repeat. I stopped at Goblin Valley State Park in the San Rafeal Swell on the way back to Idaho and checked out that geological marvel; it is amazing just what nature can produce. The Colorado Plateau definately has some of the most diverse geology in the world. Check out my web album for more pics.



An idealic waterfall in Rill Canyon, most of the hiking was like this; very sweet!












Mike chimneying up a rock in Mill Creek
Me on the first day. We started out in torrential down pour! Rain of biblical proportions!

Canyoneering, Wild Cat Canyon

This weekend Jennifer, Bryan, Amie and myself tried out a new sport that has taken hold mostly in southern Utah and is growing steadily through out the northwest; canyoneering. For those of you who do not know what canyoneering is here is the blurb from the wikipedia
"Although hiking down a canyon that is non-technical (canyon hiking) is often referred to as canyoneering, the terms canyoning and canyoneering are more often associated with technical descents — those that require rappels (abseils) and ropework, technical climbing or down-climbing, technical jumps, and/or technical swims.
Canyoning is frequently done in remote and rugged settings and often requires navigational, route-finding and other skills and preparation needed for wilderness travel.
Canyons that are ideal for canyoning are often cut into the bedrock stone, forming narrow gorges with numerous drops, beautifully sculpted walls, and sometimes spectacular waterfalls. Most canyons are cut into limestone, granite or sandstone, though other rock types are found. Canyons can be very easy or extremely difficult, though emphasis in the sport is usually on aesthetics and fun rather than pure difficulty. A wide variety of canyoning routes are found throughout the world, and canyoning is enjoyed by people of all ages and skill levels."

While our trip was not very technical, it still involved a lot of scrambling and some low class bouldering. The canyon that we checked out was WildCat Canyon in southern Idaho around the town of Marsing. It took a couple hours and was well worth it, definately a repeat trip. There are a bunch of canyons around that area that I would like to explore and I hope to find a bunch more around Idaho. For more info on Idaho canyoneering check out northwest canyoneering. If any one has any beta on some canyons or would like to go check some out let me know and I will be very happy to oblige; as I'm pretty excited about checking out some more stuff. Check out mine and Bryans webalbums for some pics of our hike.

Idaho Pioneering a New Extreme Sport

If you are anything like me, you might have tried something in the past called "Riverboarding". Riverboarding traditionally consists of three main elements. A board, a rope, and of course a river. We used to go to a bridge in Hailey and tie up an old rope, then extend that rope to either an old wake board or just a piece of ply wood. We would then try to surf on it for hours. If you could stay up for more than a minute you were doing pretty good. Well, all that is about to change. A new company based in Idaho promises to change the face of Riverboarding forever. Their name is Banshee Riverboards, and they have set up a sweet system for surfing the rivers. The best thing about it is it doesn't require gas or a boat to work! The system is a board attached to a high quality bungee. Check out their site for more information and check out this great video to see the product in action. I'll see you on the rivers this summer!!

Company Site: http://www.bansheeriverboards.com/
Video Link: http://youtube.com/watch?v=8R0MW-qoTEc

Snowkite Soldier

Most of you know that I'm interesting in Power Kiting, but for the most part I'm all talk and no walk. Despite being really interested in it, and owning a few kites myself, I rarely ever get time to actually do it. Well, that may or may not change, but I did just learn of a local company that is trying to make the sport more of an every day thing here in Fairfield and the Camas County. Snowkite Soldier offers a few different types of lessons and packages for people either beginning in the sport, or for people already familiar with it. Their site also offers some great maps of the area and the best places to go Kiting. Check them out, and go get a lesson if you've been thinking about trying the sport!

Here is the link to the site: http://www.snowkitesoldier.com/index.htm

Dreaming of Snow

Well, it has really been trying to snow lately, but the problem is that it has been way to warm and the snow eventually turns to rain. I was getting a little anxious for some real powder, so I created "Idaho Rocks Best Winter Pics of 2005/2006" for our viewing pleasure. Hopefully after viewing the album, our collective thoughts can bring some of the white stuff our way.

Unexpected Surprise

Our pipes were frozen under our kitchen sink, so we opened up the faucet with the hopes of warming it up and breaking the ice loose. Well, when we left for work the next day we forgot to actually close the faucets. The Good news is that the pipes are no longer frozen. The bad news is that we had a very unexpected surprise when we came home from work! All I can say is thank God for Shop Vac's!

Snowshoeing in Idaho City

Jennifer and I went snowshoeing around Idaho City today; it was pretty sweet. There wasn't a whole lot of snow, but it was still pretty nice. I know that I am doing a little snow dance every night in hopes of hitting up some freshy soon. Here are some picture from the trip


 

So much fun on Willow Ave

Well, we have been quite busy the past few weeks. After having our extremely nasty toilet break down on us for the last time, we finally decided to buck up and get the bathroom remodeled. It is has been a challenging process for sure, with many unexpected scenarios. All in all, it has been a good learning experience so far. The project has also expanded a little beyond just the bathroom. Despite some peoples opinions, we decided to take down the barn wood in the lower level. We found some interesting things behind the wall as you can see here. Take a look at a some of the pictures if you dare. We'll send some more pictures as the project progresses. Those who know this house, please send me an email and let me know your thoughts on the "surprise door" on the North Facing wall. Should we open it up??

Click Here to see the pictures

ID Rocks November Person of the Month

Ben set up a few new web albums to share with the family, and one of the pictures of good old Uncle Mike is up there. This is such a classic picture, I thought we should share it with the rest of you. Most all of you will appreciate it. Click here for more pics by The Law.