Winter…or Spring?

Hello! It has been just a minute since my last post and I thought I’d give you all a little update on the new digs and the general lack of winter here in the Colorado Rockies.

The first few weeks of January were pretty chilly, so we spent most of our time at home settling in, cutting and hauling wood and building lots of fires to keep warm! We did manage to get out a little bit and play with some toys.. 

AND we finally went to check out the Storm Peak Brewery! It was pretty tasty! I have to say, the recent bloom in micro-brews in our little town is definitely a wonderful thing. See also: Butcher Knife Brewery. :] 

Jon and I are planning to run the Leadville Heavy Half in June (15.5mi at 13,000ft!) and so we started our training. As you can see…the views are pretty horrible. 

One weekend, we performed a little experiment and brought Sadie home for a few days, which turned into the weeks! She fit right in with the dogs and the other cats and its safe to say, she won’t be going anywhere any time soon!

Finally, I wanted to throw in some photos from the American Institute of Avalanche Research and Education (AIARE) Certification I took this past weekend! We spent three days digging in and evaluating snow, hiking, skiing, testing snow pack and avalanche terrain, learning about triggers and avalanche variables and enjoying some sunshine. It was a long, amazing, knowledge filled weekend and I couldn’t be more excited to have taken the course. (Shout out to Jon for signing me up!)

I didn’t take a lot of photos because we were always so busy digging, hiking and skiing, but here are a few from the class! 

In other news, we are hoping for snow (still) and some chillier temps. Its been a nice warm 45 degrees and sunny for the last few weeks with no change in the foreseeable future. Maybe its time to scrap the snow plans and throw on my tanning gear!? Since we seem to be pretty snow-less..I am ready for trail running and river floating!

Hahn’s Peak Livin’ Deep

“I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived. I did not wish to live what was not life, living is so dear; nor did I wish to practise resignation, unless it was quite necessary. I wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life, to live so sturdily and Spartan-like as to put to rout all that was not life, to cut a broad swath and shave close, to drive life into a corner, and reduce it to its lowest terms.” -Thoreau

We’ve moved!

We even managed to move during a record cold snap-it reached -38f! And we even managed to get most of the things organized by New Years, so we could toast to 2015 in North Routt cabin-living style!

A few things about the new digs at the Triple M Ranch. We are 100% off the grid. That means, we have water through gravity and a spring fed well. It means we have a generator (hopefully solar panels soon?) for electricity. It means we get our heat from a woodstove and the sun shining through the windows. It means we have miles and miles of hiking and biking and running and skiing and snowmobiling and sledding in the forest just outside the front door.

We made a New Years pact to not turn on the generator for a week…and so far we haven’t even noticed. It helps that I have a 500 lumin lantern…because who needs lights anyways?

Basically, this place is amazing.

Evin and Jax imediately settled on the sunny beds. And after a night or two on mouse guard, they seem to have cleared the whole place of the little guys. Mango and Nova took over the human bed (see: warmest place in the house) and have pretty much been sleeping (hibernating) since we moved in. We spent a day getting the wood situation in order and Mango quickly discovered his new favorite outside spot: on the big hill.

Life is good, my friends.

I started my new job at Young Tracks Preschool yesterday and so far is it amazing. I will have an update on job-type things and some more on the new place once I get more settled!

For now.

See Ya 2014!

Its been a minute since my last post!

I haven’t really taken time to sit down and collect my thoughts for a post. But I wanted to get in a quick update before 2015 comes around!

In November, I went down to Austin to visit Alden and Scott. We spent the weekend biking all over East Austin for the EAST studio tour. It was amazing. A little wet and chilly, but full of amazing art and wonderful people, yummy food and quite a few beers! 

We got a new little kitty for the gallery, Sadie. She is a pistol. Crazy and full of sleep all at once. She really likes to sit on my keyboard while I type..

And upon my return form Texas to the snowy rockies, things got pretty crazy at the dog kennel and we have been packed ever since! Lots of walking dogs and barking and barking dogs. Mango has been enjoying munching on the icicles and Harold is HUGE. 

Jon’s parents came for Thanksgiving and we managed to convince his dad to join us in the Turkey Trot! A bit of an icy 4.8mi run up in the Strawberry Park area. It was a pretty great day for Thanksgiving. Turkey Trot, some mimosas and lots of yummy food. It helps to be surrounded by good good people. 

Christmas was equally as excellent! I worked in the morning, but we spent the afternoon skiing and then met friends for birthday drinks at the TBar before heading home and cooking up an amazing turkey pot pie. New Christmas tradition? I think so!

AND I got a new job! Starting in January, I will be a preschool teacher! Its going to be amazing. I will be working with ages 3-5 Mon-Fri and I will still be working with the Winter Sports Club to teach skiing to ages 4-6 on Saturdays! Plus, we are moving a bit north. It is going to be an amazing amazing adventure. More details on that to come!

Last but not least, Jon got me tickets to a pretty amazing band for xmas! Paper Bird (one of my faves). We are going tonight and I couldn’t be more excited! Check out one of their greats here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U8CH9yDsqdA

North Park Cabin Camping

On Saturday, we got together with a bunch of Steamboat friends to celebrate Laraine’s birthday up in North Park at the State Forest State Park cabins! It was a blast. Lots of fun times, a few beverages, chili and cornbread, tasty birthday cake and soooo many dogs. AND the weather was gorgeous. It was a much needed break from the crazy busy fall we have been having.

Now, we are ready for snow and winter time (we think!) and I am heading to Austin tomorrow to visit Alden and Scott! So despite the blizzard we are currently smack in the middle of, I get one more taste of nice and warm(ish) weather, plus, some much needed ATX adventures!!

There was also quite a bit of dancing….

Devil’s Causeway!

A few weeks ago, Meg and I took the dogs on what was supposed to be a quick 5 mile out and back hike up to the Devil’s Causeway in the Flat Tops Wilderness! The Causeway is a pretty cool Colorado destination hike that culminates in a treacherous causeway crossing that is about 25yds long, 3-4 feet wide at places and a few hundred feet tall! We definitely didn’t want to be falling off of that thing!

Instead of the quick out and back, we took a slightly wrong turn and ended up on the 11 mile loop…our morning hike quickly turned into a full day hike with us and the dogs wandering across the flat tops in sometimes knee deep snow. But we got to see some pretty cool things including the China Wall and some big moose tracks! Crossing the Devil’s Causeway was pretty terrifying, and Mango and I definitely shared a simultaneous anxiety attack about half way across. But we made it!

Needless to say, both humans and dogs returned back to the cars exhausted and happy!
Check out some photos below! The views were pretty incredible.

Hahn’s Peak Summit!

On Wednesday, we woke up to four inches of snow on the ground in Hahn’s Peak Village. Winter wasn’t in the original plans for hiking up to the top of Hahn’s Peak, but summiting this peak has been on my Colorado bucket list for a while now, and there are some things that just must be done. Bundling up, we set off in the chill of the early morning dark for the trailhead. When we arrived, the sun was coming up and despite the cold, it was pleasantly quiet and fun to watch the dogs going crazy in the snow. 

Since the mountains were hidden in the clouds for the first few days of October, it was no surprise that three quarters of the hike up to the summit of Hahn’s Peak was shrouded in these same clouds. Despite that, the hike itself was amazing. Not very long, but a nice taste of winter to get us in gear for the upcoming season. 10,839ft up at the summit, the wind was relentless, so we didn’t stay for long, but we did get in a small exploration of the old ranger station that still sits at the top before we headed back down.

Back at the base, happy, a little more wet and cold than we began, the dogs curled up on the back seat, we headed down to the Roadhouse for some much needed coffee and a big, hot lunch.

Zirkel Circle Backpacking!

In a last ditch effort to enjoy the fall before it snows (except that it already has, so who are we kidding?) Meg and I decided to set off on a Zirkel Circle backpack voyage!

It was just an overnight, but it was a much needed trip. One full of beautiful views, just enough miles of hiking and the funny stories that can only happen when you’re with one of your best friends in the middle of the wilderness and the sun is going down quick and you can’t start a fire because you already can’t feel your fingers and you’ve broken four matches and can’t get the flint on either of your three lighters to catch. It was that kind of adventure.

We started Friday afternoon via the Gold Creek Lake Trail, a nice six mile trail that slopes gently up until you reach, you guessed it, Gold Creek Lake! A small little lake tucked in between some towering rock peaks. Pretty Beautiful.

From Gold Creek Lake, we followed Gold Creek itself for a bit and then started up a very steep, rather tall ridge until we reached a point just above tree-line and then it leveled out onto a large, sloping saddle, where we got our first view of Gilpin Lake (in the slowly setting sun!)! While I think we may have started a little late in the day, and maybe accidentally chose the longer portion of the hike to start with, it was well worth viewing Gilpin Lake in this perfect kind of late afternoon light.

After an 800 foot descent down the rocky slope (full of chipmunks for the boys to chase), we set up camp off the bank in the flattest area we could find. And it was a good thing too, because the sun slipped past the rocky peaks on the western shore of the lake pretty quick!

We enjoyed the fire and the stars until the moon rose and then we climbed into our sleeping bags, dogs included, to stave off the chill. In the morning, there was frost everywhere, so we hunkered down in the tent with the dogs and awaited the sun’s warmth to arrive! We ate cliff bars and read books and Meg even braved the cold to boil us up some coffee!

When the sun was finally out for the day, I took the boys on a little excursion by the shore of the lake, which it turns out, is a pretty awesome clear blue color. But I suppose, what do you expect of a lake at 10,000 ft?

See the snow!?

When we could finally (mostly) feel our toes again, we packed everything up and hiked the last five miles back down and out of the wilderness via the Gilpin Trail.

A pretty awesome adventure! By the time we got back to the car, Mango (who carried his very own pack!) was exhausted, Bounce was ready to chase some more chipmunks and Meg and I were in the high spirits of two women who just spent twenty-four hours with their dogs, in the woods.

Rabbit Ears!

Mango dog and I finally got around to summiting The Ears! Nothing like a little push from a good friend to get you rolling with your goals! Summer is nearing a close and we couldn’t be more excited to get some fall adventures on. Standby!

        

Summer Horses!

Bobo and Boomer, enjoying the sunset!

Dog Days: Playing and Working, Like We Do!

I had great plans to update you all very frequently this summer, because I frequently did some really cool things! Alas, in between all of the things, there was work.

A little update on work is: I recently got a job directing the Closer to the Sun Gallery of Fine Art in downtown Steamboat, so I have been working on marketing, class planning and general gallery day-to-day things in between all the dog walking at the pet ranch! Its pretty cool.
Check it out at closertothesungallery.com

I am also on a committee of mostly mothers but also young educators who are in the midst of starting a Montessori charter school. The Mountain Montessori Charter to be exact. More info on that can be viewed at: mmcharterschool.com
Its been a crazy few months of getting all of the logos, marketing and advertising going for the charter school as well as researching charter applications. I am also in charge of the website and the blogging on the site (go figure!).

Whew!
All the working aside, here are some of the highlights of the last few months:

In July:
We went up to attend some of our friends’ wedding in Big Sky! We camped in Teton NP on the way there where we encountered a mountain lion and the amazing Jackson Lake/Teton view, plus a little swim in the morning and a small bison jam du trafique!

EDawg visited toward the end of the month and we enjoyed tubing, farm life, some tasty eats and an epic Alpine Slide Race! Note how HUGE Harold is getting! *horns!*

While E was here, I completed my first sprint tri! the Steamboat Lake Sprint! I even got second in my age group!! Bonus: we camped the night before up in Clark.

Edawg and I continued on to Fort Collins, Boulder and Denver for a mini college tour. The result? E still doesn’t know where she wants to go, and I want to go back!

August…so far:
I am the featured artist at the Akinz Boardwear shop in Fort Collins this month! I went up for the August First Friday and we screen printed the shirts I designed, schmoozed about art and generally had an amazing time.

AND Last weekend, I attended the annual Ingram Family OX Roast! Somehow, I missed the last two. But this year, obviously, was better than those. It was a great long weekend of family, drinking, eating and swimming in glorious Lake Erie! Bonus was that my dad came! So the entire Hall family was together for the first time in maybe 3 years? Win.

Tomorrow, I am competing in the Steamboat Triathlon which is an Olympic Triathlon Distance starting at Lake Catamount, twice the distance of the sprint, wah!! It should be amazing. I am excited and nervous all together.

Standby for results!
Cheers!