Rich and Miranda's Life

No Baby :(

2010-08-30T09:15:00.000-07:00

No baby yet. My due date was August 26th. Looks like I'll be induced .

I'm trying to keep busy. Mom is here. We're both a little stir crazy. She thought I'd be more helpless and there'd be more for her to do. So, she's keeping busy by attacking some of our neglected perennial beds. We've gone for short hikes and even canoeing.

Can you see where he's poking his foot out?

Summer 2010

2010-08-01T15:06:00.000-07:00

This summer hasn't been as full of adventures as usual do to my pregnancy. I'm due in less than a month. I've haven't climbed, biked, camped or really even hiked for at least 3 months. Those things are rather hard when bending, twisting and sometimes even breathing is a chore. We went to Squamish, British Columbia for a week in July. We went with our friends Mara, Adam, Chris, Kathy and Parker. They had a lot of fun climbing and biking. I did a lot of relaxing. I was surprised by how quickly time passes when you don't do much. We didn't camp this year since that didn't sound like much fun to me. We rented a yurt- which wasn't too rustic, it had electricity, kitchen, bathroom, etc. Here are some pictures from the Squamish trip.

We went to Whistler one day. Mara and I rode the peak to peak gondola. While relaxing at the top a bear wandered nearby. Don't worry, we were sitting on the deck of a lodge and there were lots of people around.

Here are the boys post bike riding. Adam, Rich and Chris.

Here are some climbing photos. This is Chris.

Rich and Chris about 8 pitches up.

Alice lake.

We've been enjoying home. Summer evenings usually finds us out on the deck, grilling dinner or in the garden. Most of the these shots below are curtesy of Parker. Our garden provided us with tons of greens, broccoli and peas this spring. We're now starting to get tomatoes, basil and zucchini. Green beans should be ready next week. As usual, our beets are struggling. We never have luck with them, but we always try since Rich loves beets. We've been gorging on the in-season fruit; cherries, peaches and nectarines. I made raspberry jam from Mara's bumper crop of raspberries and will be canning peaches and nectarines in the coming weeks. We'll also dry a bunch of fruit.

A recent sunset as seen from Omak Lake. For the first time ever, I'm feeling warm enough to actually get in some of the local lakes and enjoy it.

Rich cooling off in Bank's Lake.

I'm due the 26th. It'd be nice if I have the baby 1-2 weeks early, but we're not counting on it. We haven't decided on a name yet. We just hope the delivery is uncomplicated and he's healthy. I'm hoping for a red head. The nursery is coming along and we've got most of the essential baby things.

Spring Time, and the Livin' Is Easy

2010-05-18T08:41:00.000-07:00

We haven't posted in a while. This spring has been filled mostly with small outings around Okanogan County. The weather's been so nice, and everything is still green and no mosquitos yet, so we try to take advantage of this time of year before the heat chases us to the mountains.

Bouldering at McGlaughlin Canyon with Kathy and Parker. The snakes weren't out yet, but now we can't go back until fall do to the high rattler population.

River walk.

Conoeing.

Last spring we started canoeing one evening a week. We go to a different lake each week. We usually go with Kathy and Parker, but sometimes other friends join us to. We're not too serious about the paddling part of the evening, it's more about watching birds, socializing and eating a picnic dinner. I don't usually bring a camera because I'm too worried Maggie is going to capsize our canoe, but last night I brought our old point-and-shoot. We saw tons of yellow headed black birds in the reeds, and countless other birdies.

Zion.

Rich went to Zion, UT with Chris Bowman and climbed some crazy, dirty, 18 pitch off width. But I don't yet have any pictures to prove it. Here's all I got.

I think they climbed the line behind Rich.

Growth.

Everything grows in the spring, apparently my belly and baby as well.

6 weeks, January.

8 weeks.

11 weeks, February.

19 week US, early April.

20 weeks.

22 weeks, Early May.- Check out our garden, too.

24 weeks, mid May.

I'm due late August, and I'm gonna be huge! And yes, there's only one, and it's a boy. We don't have a name picked out yet. I've always thought boys names would be harder, and Beukema isn't the easiest name to pair wth a first name. We're open to suggestions, but want it to be something fairly normal. My third trimester starts in a couple weeks. I feel fine, just looking forward to the hot, summer weather. And then we'll be swimming in lakes, not staying dry in a canoe.

Spring Climbing near home

2010-04-16T23:09:00.000-07:00

Thanks to Parker and Kathy, this epic pitch was climbed. Just to make sure I had a reason to come back, I made sure to fall after the last bolt (13th).

Miranda and Becca go to Cabo, Mexico

2010-03-30T22:22:00.000-07:00

My sister, Becca, and I decided last year that we wanted to take a warm, winter vacation this winter. We talked about various places, such as Belize and Costa Rica, but ultimately settle on Cabo, Mexico when a dear friend offered her time share for a ridiculously low price. For those of you who don't know, Cabo is at the very southern tip of the Baja Peninsula. It is a huge vacation destination because of it's near perfect weather and location on the Pacific Ocean. For sport fisherpeople, it's the ultimate destination.

Becca on a panga taxi, heading out to parasail.

Doesn't she look like she's on the end of a fragile string, that could break and she'd float away?

View from the hotel roof-top bar near sunset.

Our time there consisted mostly of relaxing on the beach and poolside. There are lots of great restaurants, and we enjoyed sampling a few. Becca was able to enjoy a few cocktails, but I had to be satisfied with non-alcoholic beverages. Turns out I really like limonadas, and had several each day.

We rented a kayak one day and paddled over to a more remote beach, where Becca snorkeled. The water was too cold for me, about 68 degrees.

Becca heading off to snorkel.

Sassy snorkeler!

She dove off this rock a few times.

I had lathered up with sunblock that morning of kayaking, but turns out I either missed my feet or it got washed off. I got the worst sunburn of my life (and I've had quite a few). My feet actually swelled up, and were purple in color. They hurt and walking barefoot was difficult, much less with shoes. This put a cramp in my week, but I just had more time to read. I finished The Complete Works of Sherlock Holmes, Volume I, which is 900 pages (anyone have volume II?), and another book. This picture here of my feet is actually 2 days after they were burned and they looked better at this point.

There were some rocky cliffs called Lands End, with a famous arch. We took a sunset dinner cruise one evening past it and I got some great pictures in the soft light. We also happened to see a whale shortly afterwards which was so exciting!

We rented a car one day and drove about an hour up the coast to a little town, Todos Santos. It's a town where a lot of artists have settled and so we had fun browsing galleries and shopping.

Chic woman.

Yummy, iced coffee refreshment.

Hmmmm, which tequila to buy?

Towards the end of our week, we took a little tour on a partially submersible submarine. We saw a few fish, but honestly not as many as we'd hoped. Our consolation was seeing a colony of sea lions.

One of two pictures in which I appear from my camera (Becca send me yours soon, please!)

A last few parting shots of Mexico...

Baby update:

For those of you who haven't seen me in the last few weeks... I now look very much pregnant. When Becca sends me some photos (with prominent belly) I'll post those. I can't believe how big I already am at only 18 weeks! Rich is predicting an 11 pound baby. I've been feeling baby move for about 2 weeks, which is fun. Other than my belly, which is starting to get in the way, I'm feeling pretty good. Now if I could just find some cute, petite maternity pants!

N. Cascades Winter

2010-02-21T17:22:00.000-08:00

Stable snow and good weather have made for a great winter so far.

The big kids from the West side came and we skied this line.

It was steep.

Blue Bird day with Chris, Josh and Dani

Shadows

The bottom of our run

Next is a beautiful day in Silver Star basin, starting at 11:15 am with a mad dash to catch up with Wyatt and his friend from Oregon.

They must be close, right?

Time to break trail

and boot pack

Burgundy Spire Col

Heaven, and just enough light to ski down.

Trip to Salt Lake in January

2010-02-21T17:18:00.000-08:00

We went to SLC for a week in January. We stayed with Rob and Rina, both at their place in SLC and their new, snazzy condo in Park City. We skiied the Canyons, Alta, Snow Basin and Park City. We got some nice powder at the Canyons early in the week, then it was mostly groomers and cut up back country touring from the resorts. Avalanche danger was very high, so no back country touring for Rich:(

Park City.

Skiing down to Rob and Rina's condo, the one straight ahead.

Decadent deserts.

All the stars were out at the Sundance Film Festival...
We saw about 8 movies, sometimes 2 in one day. We had so much fun combining skiing and the film festival, that we're thinking of making at an annual tradition.

Annual Sherman Pass Cabin Trip

2010-01-19T19:26:00.000-08:00

We are making it an annual tradition to go to a ski access only cabin for a weekend every winter. The cabin is near Sherman Pass, a 5,500 ft road pass. It's about a 3 hour skin in to get to the cabin. There's skiing along the way and all around the cabin. Mara and Adam joined us for the second year in a row and Kathy and Parker were newbies this year. Of course, Maggie came along too, though we didn't actually take her downhill skiing with us, her arthritis can't handle it.

Last year we had terrible snow, it was like skiing on stiff styrofoam. This year, we got lucky, it snowed the week before and while we were there too, making for great turns. Of coarse, there was lot's of relaxing in the cabin during the evenings. We may have to carry everything in on our backs, but that doesn't stop us eating gourmet. Made from scratch pea soup with wraps one night, and vegetarian curry the next.

This video is fun, but I made it so of course I think so. It's a little long, 6 minutes. Make sure you have audio to really enjoy it.
Sherman Pass Video

Here are some pictures to enjoy.

The cabin (this is actually at the end of the trip, but I wanted you to see what the cabin looked like)

Kathy, on the skin in.

Mara.

Sunrise after the snowstorm.

Mara, Adam, Rich.

Rich.

Mara, tearing it up!

See the cabin below?

Look how much it snowed!

X-Country Ski

2009-12-15T09:36:00.000-08:00

We went cross country skiing with Mara last sunday. The snow wasn't good enough for back country touring but the trails are in fine shape for the less adventurous. It was cold, about 10 degrees is my guess and we had a nice time. It snowed last night, so Mara and Rich headed out to get some powder turns today.

Kettle Valley in Fall

2009-11-03T21:37:00.000-08:00

Click the read more button!!!

Weekend at Home

2009-11-01T21:51:00.000-08:00

We had a fun filled weekend at home. It's late fall which means Halloween, short cool days, start of daylight savings and good climbing.

The weekend started with a birthday party at our house for our good friend, Kathy. Parker did all the planning and we just provided the house- from now on we want every party at our house planned by someone else.

Rich dressed as the lead singer for Living Color from one of their videos (can't remember which) and I was a cabaret dancer.

Mara the Viking, Genevieve a Bavarian Maid, Parker the Preacher

The birthday girl, Kathy, another very cute Bavarian maid.

Maggie was a witch.

The next day Rich and I did some climbing at our local crag, unoriginally named Omak Rock. Rich has had a date with a particular climb, Omak Crack 5.11+, for some time. He'd been on it before, but never did it completely clean. Yesterday was his day and Omak Crack was easily scaled by Rich without hardly a pause.

One satisfied guy.

After a fun day we headed out. The late afternoon sun was gorgeous, the air was clear and the clouds were poetic, making for great picture taking conditions.

By the time we made it to the car the sun was going down and the moon was coming up.

That night we had 200 trick or treaters from 6-7:15. We ran out of candy. If we'd gotten home earlier and had more candy we probably would have had 300+.

Miranda's Birthday!!!

2009-10-26T19:05:00.000-07:00

We had a little birthday party with a few close friends. I wish all you other friends and family were there! We all cooked a 5 course indian meal from a Moosewood cookbook and Kathy made an amazing coconut cake with lemon curd. Here are a few pics of the celebration.

Kathy, Parker, Paul and me just sitting down to our Indian feast- we started off with butternut/sweet potato/apple curry soup with garlic spinach on top.

Beautiful Kathy and her beautiful cake- I almost didn't want to share.

I'm now so old they can't find enough candles to put on my cake- or maybe I'm really only 7!

I only get to use this flute rarely, this night we had sparkling pinot noir- I have to admit I really prefer sparkling red wine to champagne.

Lucy says 'Happy Halloween!'

Yosemite

2009-10-01T21:07:00.000-07:00

We just got back from a great week in Yosemite, CA. Yosemite is world famous for its rock climbing and gorgeous scenery. Most climbers find themselves there at some point, so it's surprising that neither of us had been there before.

We flew into Sacramento and spent a few nights with Jason, Diane and their new baby, Alex. They live in Yuba City, about 30 minutes north of the airport and about 4 hours northwest of Yosemite. Miranda saw Diane in June but Rich hadn't seen them for ages and we loved catching up with them and meeting little Alex, now 2 months old.

As it happens, Amy, Marc and Roman live only an hour away and came for the evening. We hadn't seen them forever either, maybe 2 years and it was super fun.

After we'd been there a couple days and aclimitized to oh, about sea level, it was time to pack up and head to Yosemite for some climbing in the mountains.

Yosemite

We've all seen pictures of Yosemite in iconic Ansel Adams photos, but it's still something to behold with one's own eyes. The scenery is grand, everything is big and bold. There are shear granite walls everywhere with stately evergreen trees and picturesque rivers and lakes dotting their bases. Because it was fall, there were no flowers and some waterfalls had dried up, but it didn't diminish the grandeur in the least. We 'd also love to go back in a different season (but fall really is best for climbing).

We didn't see much wildlife , though there were bear warning signs everywhere and no food could be left anywhere but in bear proof food storage boxes. We couldn't leave food in the car or in our packs at the base of climbs. We saw a big bear near our packs when we were 200 feet up at one point, but because there was no food scent on our bags (and Rich yelled at him and I threw rocks) he left our bags alone. We saw a sleek and agile ringtail while camping at the base of Half Dome. He was around camp for hours looking for food. Other than that we just saw tons of very fat and sneaky squirrels. One squirrel took the top piece of bread off a sandwich I was eating and had set down for a second right next to me!

This is a picture of Half Dome. Our original plan was to climb it, about 2500 feet, 27 pitches. We were going to bivy (uncomfortable cramped sleeping) on a ledge 17 pitches up. This pic is from the approach we did in the evening. The approach itself was straight up about 3000', I'm not kidding. When we got to the base of the climb there were already several other parties there.

Half Dome

Here's us bivying at the base of the climb- we had one bivy (a mini tent for 1) and on sleeping bag. We figured we're small people and could save weight, but it was still a little tight.

We woke up before dawn. There were 9 people ahead of us who'd gotten their place in line the night before. We started climbing at 7 am. After 6 pitches we felt we were going too slow, mostly because I just couldn't climb well with a 20lb pack. Also, weighing on our minds was that the bivy ledge would be very crowded.

We rapped off after 6 pitches, which by the way were great. So we hiked to the top of Half Dome. The hike is up cables. You can see the vertical line on Half Dome in this picture, which is the cable with people pulling themselves up. It was steep and crowded and there were lots of people that had no business being on something like that- if you slipped it would be an awful fall.

Seriously, it was some of the scariest climbing we've ever done! None of the climbing we do with ropes has such consequences if a fall were to happen.

Me at the top of Half Dome- on top of the world. While we were up there two of the guys who had started climbing ahead of us that morning topped out. We were impressed, it only took them 8 hours. Rich wants to try Half Dome again, probably in one day so heavy packs wouldn't be needed. I don't know if I have it in me.

After hiking Half Dome we collected our stuff and hiked out and spent another night as a couple in a one man bivy. We made it to the car at 8 am and drove to Tuolumne Meadows. We met our friend Matt who is a ranger there. Rich had fun bouldering and climbing. I had a lot of fun with my new camera and went on a hike at Tioga Pass. Here are some pics from that day.

We then drove back to Yosemite proper late that night to tackle some classic Yosemite routes. We got to bed at 1am that night and Rich woke us up at 5am to climb. It's competative getting on the most popular routes. If you get up late you can end up behind a slow party, or get fried by the sun. It was an unseasonally hot week- mid 90's all week.

Rich was still a little sleepy when we started climbing, but he quickly woke up with all the great pitches of Sons of Yesterday and Serenity Crack- about 8 pitches of 5.10 crack (you climbers know why this is popular).

Rapping off the top- sun's up and we were happy to be heading down. There were two parties coming up after us, and they looked super hot as we rappelled past them. We headed back to camp for a restful afternoon.

The next two days were more of the same, but we didn't get up quite as early. We climbed two days on Middle Cathedral, which sits directly across the valley from El Capitan- not a bad backdrop for pictures and boring belays. Our tentsite was on the river, here's a picture from the tent...not bad.

The last day in Yosemite was a big one. Rich again got us up at 5am to climb on El Capitan. The plan was to just do a few pitches at the bottom, but when we got to the base of a famous climb, Freeblast, no one was there! We couldn't resist taking the plunge on this 10 pitch classic. Nevermind that the forecast was for another 95 degree day and El Cap faces south/southwest and we didn't bring the camelback or enough water and heavy snacks that can't be left at the base due to bears... So up we headed. The first few pitches were awesome.

Now it started getting HOT! We ran out of water half way- we've never been so dehydrated in our lives. Unfortunately, after pitch 5 there aren't rappel stations, so you can't bail early, you have to finish all 10 pitches. So, we pushed on (I probably wouldn't have been able to convince Rich to bail anyway, he was too excited for this climb and dehydrated to the point of being unreasonable). I'm glad we did this climb, but I'd really like to do it again someday, when it's about 70 degrees.

Good-bye Yosemite!

We'll be back soon.

Okanogan Late Summer Harvest

2009-09-17T19:53:00.000-07:00

Late summer is when everything comes too ripe, too fast and fruit flies rule our roost. Here's a sampling from Okanogan County produce and spiders (I like photographing them, they're beautiful up really close in a picture).

Peppers; hot, very hot, and crazy hot.

Okanogan Orb Weaver spider. I found her just outside our backdoor, hanging upside down. She was there a couple days and then disappeared. Enlarge the picture and check out her hair, it's crazy! Yes, she's officially called an Okanogan Orb Weaver. I hope we don't have baby Orb Weavers all over next year, one's OK, a family by our door might be another thing.

Drying nectarines.

Mara's latest crop of strawberries.

Garden spider in the strawberry patch.

Mara's raspberries, still producing since June! After Mara and her sister, April, picked berries they made calzones from scratch and I made maragaritas!

Recent hike with Mara.

Rob & Rina Come For A Visit

2009-09-10T17:06:00.000-07:00

We've been excited to see Rob and Rina for about six months since we somehow convinced them to drive 14 hours to our place and then hike the rest of the Pacific Crest Trail with our friend, Mara. Mara has been hiking the trail all summer, she started at the California/Oregon border. The last four days we planned to do with her, which would end on the other side of the border in Canada. These days would be hard, 15-20 miles each day with lots of ascents and descents. Of course the plan was to have the two dogs, Maggie and Lucy, do all this with us. We then would be picked up by Mara's sister in CA and drive 7 hours home (likely arriving at 2 am) and then go to work the next day and Rob and Rina would drive home. Follow all that? Basically, lots of long, hard days of hiking without any time for recovery.

It isn't surprising then that when the weather forecast turned ugly, really ugly, that we bailed on the above plans. The forecast was rain and snow for at least 3 days, possible thunder and lightening (did I mention that most of the hiking would be on ridges?) and the high one day was predicted at 42 F. We shamelessly tucked our tails and let Mara finish the hike with only her boyfriend, Adam. They survived, but reported 2 days of hiking in snow, cold temperatures and lots of wetness.

So...what'd we do since now we had 4 full days with Rob and Rina and no plans, yet rainy weather at our place too. Went on day hikes of course. Click the 'read more' to see the pics!

Saturday- Rich and I climbed a bit at McGlaughlin Canyon with Kathy and Parker. R&R hung out for a while and then we went for a hike- in the rain of course.

Rob, Marissa, Kathy, Rina, Lucy

Rich belaying.

Miranda

We then went for a lovely, but short hike in a burned forest which can be starkly beautiful.

After the rain it was time for Tavie Tavern in the one horse town of Tonasket. This is Rina, Rich and Rob heading across the street.

Sunday- Rob's Birthday. It was also Lucy's birthday, she turned 3 or 4. Both of them wanted a hike and a scramble in the rain so we obliged.

There was a hint of sunshine at the trail head to Tiffany Lake.

Rich has love enough for two doggies.

Weather was rolling in, but we were having fun so we kept going.

That's snow on Maggie.

So we started thinking the ridgeline maybe wasn't the best place to be...

Here we are contemplating dropping down the other side of the ridge to get to a low trail, but we had to bushwack 400 vertical feet down the mountain-which we did.

At the end of the hike, probably about 8 miles, we found raspberries and the weather cleared up.

That evening we had a feast followed by 'cake' for both Rob and Lucy. (notice Lucy's sandwich)

Cheers!! It'd come up a few weeks before that I didn't know what Mickey's Malt Liquor was, so Marissa and Parker kindly introduced us.

Monday- Libby Lake Hike.
The next day we went for another day hike. This was a 5.5 mile hike up to an isolated lake in the mountains. It started out blustery and threatening, but it never really rained. The lake was pretty, but cold wind drove us back down fairly quickly.

Abandoned cabin 1/2 mile below lake. There were 20 year old trees growing out of the sod roof!

Libby Lake.

Tuesday- Our last day with Rob and Rina before they headed home to Salt Lake City. We decided to do part of the original hike now that the weather was clear. This was an 11 mile, fairly mellow hike compared to Libby Lake. It was nice too because it was point to point. Rich shuttled the car by hitch hiking (and running) a few miles.

The first few miles of the hike were surprisingly lush and green. We thought we'd accidentally crossed over the the western side of the state for a bit.

We ate the last of Rob's birthday cake at the ridge halfway into our hike, before dropping over the other side.

Not so green and lush up here- I guess we're still in the eastern part of the state.

Then, a UFO came along and hovered over us and tried to suck us up into it's belly. Beam us up, Scottie!

Good thing we'd eaten all that cake, the tractor beam couldn't pick us fatties up!

Afterwards, we ate some yummy mexican food and R&R headed out at 8pm in an effort to get a few hours under their belt that night.

We'll miss you Rob and Rina!!! For all you SLC folks, we'll be there the weekend before Thanksgiving and want to see all of you.

Burge Mtn and Gate Creek, WA

2009-08-31T09:15:00.000-07:00

We had a fun climbing weekend locally. We climbed Saturday at Burge Mtn with Phil, Parker. Marissa and John. Climbing at Burge has been developed mostly in the last 2 years. The rock quality is only OK, and the climbs are covered in lichen and need a serious scrubbing, but for only 45 minutes away it can't be beat.
Click 'read more' to see the pictures!

Maggie's all ready to climb!

Phil leading.Isn't this a cute belayer?!

Rich and Phil on Bonsai, fun multipitch. 10 points to whoever spots them both first.On a ledge halfway up.

Rich leading a super dirty but fun 5.11 (maybe 5.12 for the lichen factor).

Possibly the worst belay spot ever, these bushes we covered in thorns.
Oooooo- a charred log, I think I'll use it as a comfy pillow for my siesta...
End of the day watching Rich lead a fun 5.10d.
Next day, Sunday. Rich, Phil and I went to Gate Creek, near Mazama in the Methow Valley. The approach was straight up a scree slope but the climbing wall was shady until 2pm and there was this gorgeous waterfall.

Time to take have a picnic and rinse off.
Here's a fun video, but it's a little long.
Packing up to go.

After descending we swam in the Methow River, where we'd parked. We had this lovely little swimming hole/log jam all to ourselves.

Back flip by Rich.
The sunset view from our cabin in Twisp where we spent Sunday night relaxing. Needless to say all the work we thought we were going to do on the cabin never happened...another weekend.

Banff

2009-08-27T06:35:00.000-07:00

After several days and nights up in Lake Louise we packed up camp and headed to Banff and quaint (but touristy) mountain town. The scenery of the Canadian Rockies is stunning! Everywhere you look are high, rocky mountain peaks that arise suddenly from the valley floors, sprinkled throughout are clear blue lakes and rushing mountain streams. This is animal country for sure (black and grizzly bears, cougars, mountain sheep, mountain goats, and rodents) but we didn't see much except lots of fat rodents.

This is our campsite in Banff. Every morning Mara did yoga, often turning herself into a pretzel well before I could think about touching my toes. Adam usually would do a bit of yoga too, but never for very long before the temptation of coffee overcame him.
This is Hou Ling Peak. Rich and Chris climbed a 21 multipitch sport climb up this one day. They linked pitches so did it in about 10. At least half the climbing was sustained at 5.10 and they somehow made it back by late afternoon...did they really climb that day?
We hiked up Johnston Canyon on a 'rest' day from climbing. This is a narrow canyon with a rushing stream and multiple waterfalls. They have put in quite a railing system to allow visitors the experience without causing damage.
Above Johnston Canyon were Inkpots- clear blue/green ponds who's aquamarine colors were amazing to behold, but difficult for me to capture (I'm waiting for Chris's pictures).

Cougar Canyon- another climbing day. To access the climbing one needs to hike up the canyon stream, and then there is climbing along the cliffs directly next to the stream. The climbing was only OK due to poor quality rock, but the setting was idyllic.

Chris working out a problem in Cougar Canyon.

Relaxing after a day of climbing. I'm not seeing much motivation in this crew...

Hiking back down Cougar Canyon.
On the way down we found berries that somehow the bears had not yet found. Notice Rich picking and saving, and Chris eating...
We made berry pancakes the next morning.Another climbing spot: Grassi Lakes. The clear aquamarine water was gorgeous and the climbing super fun on pocketed limestone. Here's Adam as we come upon our first lake where we started climbing.

Wrapping it up after a great week of vacation. We can't wait to travel with our friends again. All of us are going to Thailand in February, we will then part. Rich and myself with Adam and Mara will head to Vietnam and then Rich and I will head off to Hong Kong to visit family. We'll be gone 2 weeks total- can't wait!

One last parting shot of Grassi Lakes and fireweed.
On the drive home we stopped at a lovely hot springs above Revelstoke (where our car still is. The VW's transmission went out on the drive to Banff, and we still don't have it).
Of course we had to squeeze a little more climbing in on the way home and stopped at the Kettle River area, only 1.5 hours from our house.Cooling off in the Kettle. I was hesitant to post this pics, I obviously ate too much the last week, but it was the only good pic of us in the Kettle.

Lake Louise and Banff, Alberta, Canada #1

2009-08-26T06:37:00.000-07:00

Rich, Miranda, Adam, Mara, Holly and Chris came together from their respective corners of the states for a week of climbing, camping, hiking, laughing, eating and exploring in the gorgeous Canadian Rockies for one week. You all know where Rich and I came from. Adam lives in Seattle, Mara lives close to us but is hiking the Pacific Crest Trail this summer and took a week off. Holly and Chris live in York, Pa, and are friends of ours from medical school days.

Our week began in Lake Louise Nat'l Park. This is a gorgeous mountain lake surrounded by high peaks, glaciers and of course some good rocks for climbing. Each morning we'd hike along a mellow trail to get to the climbing.

Here's us on our first day.
I think this is Rich and me on the second day. We couldn't resist taking pics everyday when we had this view, who could?
The view from the cliffs we were climbing. That's the mountain chateau at Lake Louise, which is a large hotel for those who don't want the camping experience.
We saw this grizzly on the first day of climbing, he started out near to us, but by the time I could get my camera out, turned on a focused he was running (really fast!) away from us. We weren't in any danger, the hiking trail right near us was busy with hikers, so don't worry we weren't all alone in bear country (moms and dads).
So we didn't just climb- we ate a lot, too. Here's Mara putting the finishing touches on the dutch oven enchiladas. Below, happy Mara and Adam with enchiladas in their bellies (and maybe a little on their mouths).
Another day of gorgeous weather and beautiful views. On this day we decided to hike past the climbing and up the the Valley of the Six Glaciers. This hike is not too long, maybe 5 miles, but gives amazing alpine views and we could see those glaciers in the background up close. Along the way Mara ran into her best friend's dad, Jim, from childhood, vacationing all the way from Texas. It really is a small world. He hiked and had tea with us, then him and his wife, Ginny, visited at our camp that night. It really is a small world after all.
At the end of the trail taking in the views.
An Inukshuk. These are found frequently throughout the NW and were used by natives to indicate something- don't remember what.
Mountain Tea House in the Valley of 6 Glaciers. This was a welcome rest stop before our hike back down the trail.

A beer at the end of one of the climbing days on the deck of the chateau.

I couldn't help leaving you with one last shot of Lake Louise.
And this is Morraine Lake, about 15 kilometers away.

South Early Winter Spire, near Washington Pass

2009-07-22T21:35:00.001-07:00

We had a day of climbing and ski hunting yesterday. We found Rich's ski From December and the 2nd missing pole. If you don't know how he lost his ski and poles, don't ask, you'll worry. We meant to get on a 5.11 climb, but ended up on a 5.12 by accident, which Rich lead and did great on. How come we never end up on easier climbs when we're lost? The scenery was gorgeous and fun was had by the whole family, Maggie included. The goat was close, but Maggie chased him off before I could snap a good picture, and he ran way up on top of a peak. The flowers, especially the mountain heather, was blooming up high and the mosquitoes, too.

Squamish Climbing

2009-07-14T08:57:00.000-07:00

Rich and I went to Squamish, BC for a week, our annual trip to one of our favorite climbing destinations in the world (convenient that it's only a 7 hour drive). For those of you who've been to Vancouver or Whistler, it's right between the two on Howe Sound.

Our first couple days were packed. We did the Grand Wall to Roman Chimneys- 12 pitches of 10+ climbing in 10 hours. This was a long, strenuous day with Rich leading everything and me pulling on bolts, gear and stepping on bolts all over the place! Not my proudest climb, but I did it and didn't slow us down. Rich did an awesome job leading and didn't even seem all that tired at the end, but I was out of commission for the next day.

We then had two days of rain:( We tried to make the best of it- Rich biked in the rain, we went to a yoga class, went to Whistler, saw movies and did a lot of sleeping and reading. I'm not quite sure how mountain biking counts as a rainy day activity for Rich...definitely not for me. The sun finally came out and we did a very wet multipitch 5.9. Scary when wet, but we were just happy to be back on the rock.

We didn't take a whole lot of pictures on this trip, these are the best.

Looking over Howe Sound from the Squaw wall. This was a great 5.10d multipitch.

Slabmaster Miranda- ha ha. We actually did 7 pitch climb of all slab- 10.c. We even had fun!

Rainy day hike to some waterfall on the way to Whistler.

Our new friends Beth and Kristen. We met them the first night and had a great time hanging out with them in the evenings and doing a little climbing together. Beth lives in the mid west and Kristen lives in San Fran. We hope to climb with them in the future.

There were a couple slacklines set up in camp, and Rich could not resist them. We had a lot of fun watching him.

This was a super hard and runout 5.11 slab at Shannon Falls (Local Boys Done Good)- 58 meters long. I fell multiple times trying to follow Rich to the first bolt, which was about 35 feet up- I don't know how he kept it together. He did this clean- a tick for any slabmaster.

Exploring Okanogan County

2009-06-04T21:58:00.001-07:00

Omak Crack!

Omak lake after work- picnic dinner. This is Kathy, who kindly wore a matching shirt to my nailpolish.

Parker and Kathy coming on shore.

Just a quick paddle across the lake. We definitely spent more time eating and relaxing than paddling.

Kathy- love the hat!

Devil's Tower with Chris in May

2009-06-04T21:57:00.000-07:00

Smith Rock/Bend, Oregon with Adam and Mara. May 9-12

2009-05-25T08:47:00.001-07:00

Long pitch (2 rappels)

= Bored Belayer

Struggling with gear

Action ready Adam

Travelling in Adam's VW van.

Pancakes with whipped cream, peanut butter, mango, syrup and watermelon.

Adam's friend Cam kindly let us stay at his place even though he wasn't there.

Camping at Smith with awesome views.

A 'warm-up' 5.11+

Check out the Monkey Face tower.

Maggie like Smith too. This is before her summer haircut, check out Miranda's facebook for a post haircut pic.

Adam and Mara.

Frenchman's Coulee, WA

2009-05-05T22:00:00.000-07:00

Miranda went climbing with new friends Kathy, Parker and Marissa last Saturday. We had an awesome time. Parker has a fancy camera, and more importantly, knows how to use it. Frenchman's Coulee is in the middle of WA, about 3 hours away. It actually rained lightly on us for about an hour, but you can't tell in the pics. Thankfully, the wall stayed dry.

I was so intent on the climb that I never noticed the skull grafiti until I saw the pictures.

5.8 warm-up

Marissa leading in a tight spot.

Fun 5.10B

Kathy and Marissa.

This climb was a little reachy and delicate- I'm pretty proud of this lead.

The sun finally came out at the end of the day!

Trip to Mt. Carlyle Lodge, BC

2009-04-29T06:53:00.001-07:00

Late Winter Tours- Ali Baba Area

2009-03-24T09:19:00.000-07:00

It was super hot skinning up- we all would've been more comfy in our skivvies!
After 2 hours of skinning, we reach the top of Ali Baba and can drop onto some north facing powder.

Rich boarding- this chute was steeper than it appears in the video.

Miranda

Snowy March Skiing and Signs of Spring

2009-03-17T09:05:00.000-07:00

There are some signs of spring around Okanogan. Here are a few crocuses in the neighborhood, though ours have yet to appear. All the snow is melted down here in the valley and it's hitting 40 during the day, which is a breath of warm air. I'm so excited for spring, warm weather, lounging on our deck and planting the garden.

Snow bells at our place- always the first thing to pop up.

Look close- These are garlic shoots in our garlic patch. I planted a whole bunch last spring and several different kinds, though I don't remember what. It turns out garlic is easy to grow and very rewarding. You just push the cloves under the soil in the fall, mulch well, water in the spring and you're eating garlic tops by June and harvesting by July.

Up in the mountains spring has not arrived. We went skiing with Maggie for the first time this year on Sunday. We haven't brought her out yet this year because she is slowing down. Last year, she'd always be stiff and sore for a couple days after and outing. We hadn't planned on bringing her Sunday, but she jumped in the back of the car with all the gear and gave a look like "all I want to do is play with you and love you, why won't you let me?". We're suckers and couldn't bear to shoo her out of the car. Besides, we'd had a big, epic day on Saturday and weren't planning the same.

It snowed on us all day- take a look at our white dog. She kept up pretty well, a little slow on the last descent. We gave her an aspirin afterwords, and she never seemed stiff!

This is how the three of us get up in the mountains. Maggie is wedged between us, and I hold on for dear life to Rich. My arms were super sore the following day, because everything is pushing me backwards and my biceps do all the work to keep me and Maggie from tumbling off the back. Maggie didn't struggle too much and we made it the 3 or 4 miles up the trail without having to stop once.

Mara and Miranda, on the way home. Liberty Bell spires in the background.

Anyone out there?

2009-02-28T09:29:00.000-08:00

Does anybody look at this anymore? I need to know if I'm posting for anybody, or just myself. Leave a message if you look at our blog, please and thanks.

2009-02-26T15:31:00.000-08:00

FEB 26TH:
I went for a walk with Maggie today, down near the river. We saw a bunch of bald eagles, which winter here. The picture below has 4 eagles in it, the flew off shortly, spooked by Maggie. I don't think Maggie even noticed them, she was too happy chewing on a stick.

Our minihouse is coming along. We installed the kitchen cabinets this past weekend. All we have left is countertop, trim and windowsills. It is so cozy, we love spending nights there.

We installed, stained and finished the ceiling a while ago, and we think the fan'll be nice in the summer. I couldn't resist this sign- it says it all!

Gotcha Bowl in the clouds

2009-02-25T17:59:00.001-08:00

Fressh Snow up at Washington Pass

2009-02-24T22:07:00.000-08:00

Possibly Unskied Line

2009-02-24T22:04:00.000-08:00

2009-01-29T15:32:00.000-08:00

Sherman Pass Cabin Trip

Sherman Pass refers to a highway pass at around 5000 ft in eastern WA, near nothing. It's the highest all season road pass in the state. On NFS land is a cabin about 4 miles from the pass which can be reserved year round. Rich has been there the last two winters, but it was Miranda, Mara and Adam's first time. The cabin can only be reached by skinning, snowmobiles can't get there. Lot's of hikers and horse people use it in the summer.

Loading up at the trailhead. It was cold- like zero degrees cold. We all thought we'd get frostbite before even getting our skis on.

Miranda first getting to the cabin. We were all pretty cold by the time we got there, but the sun was shining and the cabin was cozy so we didn't care too much. We've had a yucky inversion for the last few weeks, so seeing the sun was a treat.

Rich packed in a box of wine equal to 4 bottles- it was heavy but very much appreciated, as evidenced by Adam below. After a yummy dinner of Thai red curry we played a cutthroat game of Phase 10. Rich won't let us forget that he won.

The following day we toured from the cabin. It was also chilly, but the sun was blazing. The views were incredible. Can't say much for the snow. Maggie liked the snow, since she was able to stay on top of the crust.

This is Mara, she's making it look like easy skiing, a testament to the fact that she's been on skis since she was 3.

We stayed another night and skinned out on Tuesday morning. The clouds had rolled back in and we were so thankful for the sun we'd seen.

2008-11-24T11:26:00.000-08:00

7 Random Things...from Miranda

I was 'tagged' by Jodi to list 7 random things about myself. Here goes:

1. We back country skiied for the first time this year, yesterday.
2. I love a good glass of Merlot.
3. I started playing the piano again, and even had it tuned.
4. I usually wear long johns under my work clothes.
5. Sitting in the middle of the vegetable garden with a kitty in my lap is the best after a day of work.
6. I love winter squash- could eat it everyday of the year.
7. I didn't wear my hiking boots once this last season:(

So now I'm supposed to tag 7 others...
Holly, Mara, Adam, Jen Chodams, Tawnya, Rina (again), and my Rich; you're up!

Greece- Athens

2008-11-06T04:46:00.000-08:00

More pics added Sunday the 9th.

We went to Greece with our friends; 3 couples, a sister, and a baby. Chris and Holly are old friends from med school times, and Chris's sister, Brie, came too. Adam and Mara are friends from WA. And Jenny and Hoss and baby Kyler are friends through Chris and Holly. The main point of the trip was rock climbing (you didn't really think we'd just be regular tourists seeing the sights, did you?). We did spend a few rest days touring around on scooters, and a couple days in Athens, too.

This first set of pics is from Athens. The Acropolis was amazing! Athens was a full blown city by today's standards 2500 years ago. It's sort of crazy, in old Athens there seem to be ruins on every block; a fallen column here, a foundation there, an aqueduct over there...

Adam, Miranda and Mara.

Acropolis at sunset.

We could see the Acropolis from our hotel balcony where we breakfasted.

Greece- Touring the Islands

2008-11-05T05:38:00.000-08:00

Our main destination was Kalymnos, an island near Turkey, in the Dodecanese group of Greek islands. Traditionally, this island isn't one of the main tourist attracting islands. It's main industry used to be the sponge diving. Apparently, after Chirnobl (sp?) the sponges all died, and the industry for this little island with it. They are trying to reinvent themselves as a tourist destination. The island only has a handful of little towns, and one major town, Pothia.

This is an old monastery, on the top a big hill, with an amazing view. It was spectacular to tour it.

View of Pothia from the monastery.

Hiking to Chora Castle (in background).

Castle of St John, parts are still maintained.

We traveled to a neighboring island, Kos, on a rest day. We took are scooters with us. We could see Turkey, just 5 km away. Rich kept gobbling all day. Kos is larger than Kalymnos, and it was Hippocrates home.

Brie, Rich, Chris, Adam and Mara in Kos Town.

Inside a large castle complex from about 5-700 years ago.

Asklepieion: temple to the god Asklepius and Apollo: this was a large temple complex that was also a medical school and hospital. It was a therapeutic center that attracted patients and pilgrims from far and wide. Hippocratic medicine was practiced here; therapy was applied in a scientific fashion for the first time.

Columns from the Temple of Apollo, part of the Asklepieion.

Photos from the ferry ride to and from Kos. Our 'rest' day started at 6am.

We're all looking a little tired. It's only nescafe in those cups, but it was good enough.

Hopping on our scooters after the ferry.

This is a fun video to watch, listen for Rich's "gobble".

Greece- Relaxing in Kalymnos

2008-11-04T11:58:00.000-08:00

Here are some fun pics of our time on Kalymnos, where we spent the vast majority of our trip. One day of hard climbing was followed by some drinking and very competitive connect 4 games.

Hoss and Chris with a fruity drink.

Sunset on Telendos. This was a tiny island with a bitty town. The boat ride was a few euros, and only 10 minutes. We went for the sunset and dinner one night.

Sunset from our villa, Fatolitis.

Scootin' around Kalymnos. There are goats everywhere one this island, all different sizes and colors, and they mostly seem free range.

Greece- Climbing

2008-11-04T10:50:00.000-08:00

Here are just a few of the many climbing pics we have.

The rock is all limestone, which can vary from vertical, with very sharp edges to overhanging with large formations, called tufas.

Chris came up with the idea to do a climbing contest. Points were earned with each climb, more points for harder climbs and leads. The stage (daily) winner had to wear the yellow 'Leader' shirt the following day. Rich and Chris were the only two that ever earned the shirt.

This was a big leading trip for Miranda. She lead many 6b's (about 5.10c) and two 6c's (but had to rest on these). 6c is about 5.11

Brie and Rich.

Holly enjoying a warm, sunny day.

We had a couple cold, windy days; Miranda's leading in her ski touring jacket here.

Rich taking a well earned rest on a tufa.

Rich ready to lead!

Hoss working hard.

Jenny.

Chris taking a rest.

Chris- Leader!

Miranda.

Rich- Leader!

The gang having a great time.

Reaching for a partly pulled rope. Adam's got one strong back.

Hoss lowering off.

At the end of a very full day. Island Telendos in background, where we went by boat one night (see above).

Mara leading.

And Kyler. Who says you can't climb with a baby?

2008-08-30T18:06:00.000-07:00

Maggie's Ancestry.

Rich had a birthday this month. I surprised him with a genetic test I had done on Maggie to find out what breeds she is. We always supposed some type of shepherd mix, but we were both way off. Turns out she's mostly Yorkshire terrier, with traces of Rhodesian Ridgeback and lab retriever. So, Yorkie's are small yappy dogs! Not Maggie at all, though the coloring is right. Maggie's body type seems Ridgeback, and her personality does too. Do a google search for some pics of those breeds, it's really interesting.

Twin Lakes Hike

2008-08-30T17:57:00.000-07:00

July: Hike to Twin Lakes with Mara and Maggie

In late July Miranda, Mara, Maggie and Mara's friend Ivanna did a hike to alpine lakes. This is in a wilderness area near Snoqualmie Pass. Round trip was about 10 miles. Usually that's nothing for Maggie, but she started seriously limping at about mile 6, so we carried here off and on back to the car. The scenery was gorgeous, and it was still cold.

August: Squamish, BC

2008-08-30T17:01:00.000-07:00

With our friends Mara and Adam, we headed to Squamish for a week of climbing on world class granite, and biking on the Sunshine Coast of BC. Squamish is an hour north of Vancouver, right on the water. You can see it in the background of some of the pics. The biking was a little crazy at times. Up in BC, they like to build up trails and do lots of tricks with their bikes. Rich and Adam braved some of the obstacles, but Mara and I were too smart.

It was really hot the week we were there, so usually we started climbing early and hid in the shade. Most of the rock there is west facing, so it was hard to find much to climb in the afternoons. Some days we climbed in the morning and evenings, and napped during the afternoon.

Biking around Squamish was very fun. We've climbed here for several years, but never brought our bikes. It turns out the biking is fantastic, and there is an incredibly extensive trail system. Mara had only been on a mountain bike a few times, and she was a trooper, since we inadvertently ended up on some super technical and steep trail each time we went out. Thimble berries were in season, they grow wild all through the woods there. We stuffed ourselves while riding, and saw some giant bear berry poops. We also biked on the Sunshine Coast, which is a ferry's trip away. Who's pretty bike is this?!

Just an example of some of the jumps we saw. There were teeter totters, jumps, balance beams and obstacles. Rich had a blast playing on them.

Riding on elevated boards made me a little nervous. Yes, the trail went through the tree stump.

July: Miranda's Mom

2008-08-30T11:20:00.000-07:00

Miranda's mom visited for a week. We went to wine country in the Okanogan Valley of Canada, a few hours north of us.

Then I showed her the mountains around where we live.

4th of July in British Columbia

2008-07-10T21:04:00.000-07:00

Liberty Bell's Liberty Crack with Adam

2008-06-29T21:10:00.000-07:00

It was a 100 degree day in the valley below, but we still pushed on starting at 5:30. We were a bit surprised that no other climbers were on this East facing route. Fortunately, only five pitches were in the sun and the climb was spectacular. 1,200 ft, mostly free climbing an incredibly sustained. It was nice to have Adam do the aid sections, especially the Lithuanian Lip.

East Face of Lexington Tower

2008-06-29T20:25:00.000-07:00

Twisp Cabin

2008-06-10T12:29:00.000-07:00

Okanogan Home Projects

2008-06-04T21:45:00.000-07:00

Trip back to Utah

2008-06-01T10:47:00.000-07:00

Stacey and Ryan's wedding was tons of fun. We enjoyed seeing everyone, the great food, gorgeous setting and of course witnessing the joyous event of Stacey and Ryan exchanging vows and becoming Mr and Dr Bank VanVoast.

Here's a pic of a bunch of us from residency days: Mike Adams, Jen Adams, Jason Boynton, Diane Chandler, Ryan Van Voast, Stacey Bank, Rich and me, Kara and Matt Agresta behind us, Nell Hodo, Dina and Pete Deweerd, Rina Hooper and Rob Corson

While in Salt Lake I bought a new duel suspension mountain bike. During the trip Rich and I biked every chance we got. This is near Park City with Amy Tanner, Matt and Kara Agresta and Rob Corson. It was gorgeous riding!

Mid week Rich and I headed to Moab and Indian Creek for some climbing and more biking. Our first objective was to find camping, since we arrived at night. Not a bad view, hugh? That's Castelton in the background.

Next morning we were up super early to get the approach over with before it got too hot. We climbed Fine Jade, and amazing line on the Rectory. In this picture, it is on the rock facing us, almost in the sun. We managed to finish it before the sun hit, which was good, since it was about 100F that day! The hike down was scorching. Maggie was trying to find shade the whole time.

We camped near Slickrock trail that night, with gorgeous views. We were able to watch a storm roll in, all fun and games until the wind hit in the middle of the night. We slept without our tent and the fine sand got in everywhere- even my mouth.

We did actually have a little down time on this trip, as evidenced by this picture.

While in Moab we biked Slickrock trail and Soviergn trail (below). It was amazing, better than we even remembered! Check out my new bike, nice shiny silver, like a lightning bolt.

Indian Creek. We got on some great climbs. Next time you talk to Rich ask him about Jane Fonda's Total Body Workout. Since it was stormy all week, few people were there and we basically had the place to ourselves! That's rare in the Creek.

Camping at the Creek.

Then we headed back to Salt Lake City, for another wedding. Our friends Jeremy and Jodi got married, and their dog Zellie was the ringbearer.

Black Peak Outing

2008-06-01T10:27:00.000-07:00

Silver Star in Spring

2008-04-08T06:21:00.000-07:00

Finally, after the helicopter has gone and the road is partially opened Silver Star can be visited. What a view that day. The snow, admittedly, was wind effected.

2008-03-23T09:20:00.000-07:00

Life Is Good Tour

Easter Weekend

Great skiing continues in the north Cascades. We did an amazing tour yesterday, making a big loop and hitting three different slopes. Though sun has baked much of the snow, up high, esp north facing, there is still lovely powder to be had.

Note the couloir in the distance behind us, called Maple Leaf Couloir, which was the destination for Easter Sunday when a big storm forced to ski a foot of new snow in the trees.

The first run was down a narrow, steep chute. Just getting in was tricky, scooting down a 10 foot drop.

Notice our lineup at the top left, all of us excited to get our turns.

The chute on the left is the one we came down.

We even spotted a wall we'll come back and climb. Apparently, there are three lines up it, one's an 11 that has intrigued Rich.

Another Big Ascent in the Cascades

2008-03-11T14:48:00.000-07:00

This will be added to the list of favorite places. Our name: Peek-a-Bowl. The best part is the minimal amount of snowmobile time.

More Cascades

2008-02-24T19:06:00.000-08:00

Maybe snowmobiles aren't that bad.

Note the faint tracks two pictures up all the way from 'The Slot' to the road.

More Whistler

2008-02-17T15:32:00.000-08:00

Whistler Day 2 Touring-Lift Assisted

2008-02-17T15:12:00.000-08:00

Whistler 2008- Touring Day 1

2008-02-17T14:52:00.000-08:00

More winter Pictures- with Maggie

2008-01-13T20:14:00.000-08:00

January 13th, above Lost River, in this photo it's lost under the clouds in the valley.

Mara enjoying the sun. It was HOT up here, but somehow the snow remained light and powdery.

Winter 07_08 in the North Cascades

2008-01-05T21:56:00.000-08:00

We had an awsome ski day on Cougar Mtn in early January. The windy top of a mtn is the perfect place for pets, right?
This was Mara's first run with new skis, bindings, boots, skins, pack and poles. Looks like it went well. Though, this was before she had the boots heat molded and after this point she was looking for sharp objects to try and saw off her feet.

Christmas Day. After a quick backcountry tour, soaking in the hottub with beer and munchies hit the spot for Rich.
Maggie, loving the snow.
This is how we often get into the mountains up here in the Cascades, since there's not much road access like in the Wasatch (sp?) mtns. Usually we trailer the snowmobiles to the end of the road where it's closed in winter, and the unload the machines and ride or get towed up another 3-8 miles, then skin up. We had a big group this day, Adam (waving) came over from Seattle.
Cheers!

I was actually still skiing here, the snow was just so deep it looks like I'm not skiing. Talk about face shots!

December trip to Oaxaca, Mexico

2008-01-05T21:03:00.000-08:00

Oaxaca was gorgeous with spring weather. We roamed the city of Oaxaca for several days, visited several ruins, shopped til we dropped and sampled mescal and margaritas.
Monte Alban, Mixtec ruins. This was a very large ruins site, yet only 1% has been excavated, which is hard to believe given the size of that 1%.

Mara and Laura.

The Dancer.
Then we headed to La Playa.

More Nooksack Tower Pictures

2007-09-02T13:36:00.000-07:00

Nooksack Tower on Mt. Shuksan

2007-09-02T13:14:00.000-07:00

Banks Lake

2007-08-31T06:19:00.000-07:00

More Cathedral Peak

2007-08-31T05:54:00.000-07:00

Cathedral Peak in the Pasayten Wilderness

2007-08-30T06:32:00.000-07:00

Spring in Washington

2007-06-05T12:08:00.000-07:00

Deep Water Climbing

2007-05-02T06:37:00.000-07:00

Rough times in Thailand

2007-05-02T06:30:00.000-07:00