Archive for June, 2011

Day Hike – Bison Peak, Lost Creek Wilderness

Sunday, June 19th, 2011


In the slideshow above, I tried to capture the essence of our day hike up Bison Peak, in the Lost Creek Wilderness. It was an amazing hike and included wild rock formations and gorgeous views. Our CMC group spanned many decades, with the youngest member being a teen and the oldest member in their 60s!
View on Way Back from Bison Peak
Surprisingly, we had many common interests. By the end of the day, I had compiled a booklist of good reads based upon our conversations. I know I am forgetting some of the suggestions, but here is a sample:

Snow Lion
Royal Road to Romance ? (Halliburton)
Rescues in the Rockies (same author as the Colorado 14’er disasters)
East of Eden
Lady Tasting Tea (This was my suggestion)
The Man Who Loved China (Also my suggestion)

Bison Peak TOPO

Bison Peak Elevation Profile

Rock Climbing – Cadillac Crag, Eldorado Canyon, CO

Sunday, June 12th, 2011

Fin 3 Summit at Cadillac Crag

Brenda Stemming V3
Brenda and I climbed at Cadillac Crag in Eldorado Canyon. We climbed V3 (5.8) and Ghetto Cruiser (5.7). She was the ropegun and I was fine with it. I was still pretty exhausted from running the marathon the prior weekend. In fact, the hike up to the crag just about did me in! I was happy the routes were available and it wasn’t too hot. (more…)

CMC Volunteer – Assistant Instructor for Rock Leader School

Saturday, June 11th, 2011

Packs & Racks
In the month of June, I donated 3 Saturdays to the Boulder section of the CMC (Colorado Mountain Club). I volunteered as an assistant instructor for their summer Rock Leader School. There were two classroom sessions and three field trips.
Cary Places Hexes Eric Placing Protection & David Judging
There was a leader (Chris-not pictured), myself, and 4 students (Cary, David, Eric, and Ilene). These are pictures from our first field day, where students learned about rock climbing protection. Passive vs. Active, judging the strength of the protection placement, when to place, spacing of the placing, and anchor systems.

Chris is a very good instructor. The students were definitely in good hands! (more…)

Running – Deadwood Mickelson Trail Marathon, South Dakota

Sunday, June 5th, 2011


After training for 6 months, I ran my first Marathon. The Deadwood Mickelson Trail Marathon in Deadwood, South Dakota. It was a proud day for me. What made it the best was Dennis. My loving hubby was at every possible aid station cheering me on, and it was really awesome. At times, I was really feeling the race and having mental problems, but knowing he was there really kept my spirits up.

Deadwood, South Dakota is a wonderful little town nestled among the mountains. It has a lot of grit and is an old miner town. The marathon event was planned to a tee and the community really makes racers feel welcome! There were aid stations every few miles with bananas, apples, m&ms, pretzels, and bagels pieces. There was also goo, electrolyte drink, and lots of cool water.

For a carb load up, the night before, I would recommend eating at Roma’s Ristorante. It’s about 20 minutes drive from Deadwood, but it’s worth the drive!

The biggest challenge with this marathon was at mile 9, I had an encounter with a very mean woman from Texas. She accused me of drafting off of her. We were running uphill with very little/no wind at probably a 9.5 min/mile pace. In other words we were both going…slow! How assinine!

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