The Next Chapter (For This Blog)

I'm still not sure how much I want to share publicly about my family life.  On the one hand, my child deserves the right to privacy and anonymity until she's old enough to decide what to share for herself.  But it's difficult (impossible?) to talk about life in early motherhood without mentioning your kid.

I wish I knew more mothers who hike, camp, climb, and travel with their babies.  Real-life friends are the best (swap belays between breastfeeding, anyone?), but even stories from the virtual world could be a source of learning, solidarity, and connection.

So I'm going to share just a little.  From my perspective only - not speaking for my daughter.  Using one of her nicknames, "Kick-Kick" or KK, instead of her real name.  Adding a watermark to any photo in which she appears, so the photo can't be re- or misappropriated.

Most importantly, remembering that I am a parent in real-time for my daughter, not for this blog, or for an online photo album, or for social media.

(Though I will always believe you can never have too many baby pictures!)

the climber's DIY baby swing:  rope, trad draw, 2 biners, and a pull-up bar
(bicep pullups, not diaper pullups)
(baby not included)

Before and After Oregon

Quick update on our travels from Yosemite to Mt. Rainier (and beyond!)

---From Yosemite, we stopped by San Francisco to see Dave’s lovely cousin Jess, who had graciously received our passports that we had forgotten at home. The Mission District where Jess lives was TOTAL SENSORY OVERLOAD after a few weeks disconnected from civilization.

---We escaped the city and headed toward the Redwoods on the northern California coast. It’s hard to appreciate redwoods to the same level of awe as sequoia, because redwoods aren’t as large as sequoia at their base, where we walk around. But the forest surrounding the redwoods is amazing… huge ferns, dripping mosses, and quiet.

redwoods

---After camping north of the Redwoods, on to Oregon! We drove by Crater Lake, but there’s not much hiking in the area. I don’t think you’re even allowed to hike into the crater. The lake was SO blue and SO still and SO beautiful. Best picnic ever!

crater lake

---We stopped at Smith Rock for sport climbing. I totally, absolutely loved the rock and the place. Smith Rock gets its own posts.

asterisk pass @ smith rock

---Sadly left Smith and decided to pass on a few other hikes in Oregon. We are already more than 1/3 of the way through the trip and still have Washington, Montana, Idaho, Canada, and more Wyoming on the radar. Plus, the hikes are snowed in at higher elevations, anyway.

mt. hood

---Stopped by Portland for lunch (cities = small doses) and Hipster Watching. We ate at the little waterfront park, which is full of runners and homeless people and very few Hipsters. Went a few blocks toward the city center and found all of the ironic facial hair and ugly eyeglasses we could ever want.

hipster mum on skateboard

---Continued to Washington and the Gifford Pinchot National Forest and Mt. St. Helens National Monument. Got an insane stack of maps and information from the forest service folks (thanks guys!). We did a short little cave walk through a basalt tube. Not very beautiful (it’s basically a pitch black, 100% humidity, 42 degree subway tube). But different.

into the dark...

---Thereafter, Mt. Rainier, which should really be called Mt. Rain-y. Weather was upper 40s and raining. I didn’t actually see the mountain, and the short walk we took through snow the consistency of a slushy was uninspiring and awkward. So, we hung out in their amazingly beautiful visitor’s center and caught up on pictures and journaling and generally sitting still for once.

not my favorite hike, let's say

And that’s where I’m writing this journal entry. Who knows when and where I’ll get to post it…

~~~~~~~~~~

Amazingly, I'm posting this the day after writing it.  At 3-something hours, this is the longest I've been on the computer since leaving Ithaca.  I have a headache and a stomache and want to go outside.

We're currently in the little town of Forks on the Olympic Peninsula of Washington, in a lovely quiet public library.  Waiting out the rain (all of our gear is SOAKED).  Doing some trip planning (i.e. trying to find hikes that are not under 2-10 feet of snow).

And from here, every step brings us back east...  and back home!

On the Road Again: Northwest Road Trip 2014

We're on the road again! Picking up where we left off on the Southwest road trip in 2011, we are spending June and July in the California Sierra, the Cascades of Washington, and the Northern Rockies of Montana and Wyoming. Doing the usual – living in The Matrix (a.k.a. our car), backpacking and climbing and hiking.

We had about 6 months of time to prep, compared to 3ish days last time. I'm not sure we really did that much more prep work, though! Last few days before leaving were pretty stressful. Our “to do” list before leaving:

1. Dehydrate a ton of food for backpacking.
2. Find a house-sitter.
3. Make a general map of ideas.

(Anyone else ***really*** dislike the new Google Maps?)

4. Acquire Lyme Disease.

poor dave :-(

5. Chop off hair.

obligatory crappy cell phone self photograph in the bathroom mirror

6. Pack up The Matrix. (Living out of a car deserves its own post – our micro-home is 40 square feet and gets 35 mpg.)

7. Say goodbye to friends.
8. Feel sad about leaving our home, our community, and our town at the most beautiful time of year.
9. Get in the car anyway, and head west!

We left on Sunday, 6/1/2014, and I'm finally posting this on Monday, 6/9/2014. Cell phone service has been spotty, and computer internet time...  well, I'm in a Quiznos in Merced, California, and the last time I was on the computer was at a McDonald's somewhere in Amishland, Indiana.  As much as I would love to post photos and blogs during this trip, I don't want to spend any time in fast food restaurants.  So, no news = good news, because it means we're in the mountains!

[Sidebar: I know what you're wondering: no, we did not quit our jobs this time.

9 Degrees Farenheit

This morning, it was 9 degrees Farenheit.  Almost 13 below Celsius.

On December 25, I'd wear long johns and two sweaters under my down jacket when the temps hit single digits.  

On March 25?  I am a honey badger who waits for the bus wearing dress slacks and a single jacket.  Our home temperature has been set at 60 degrees for months.  My body seriously overheats when the temps go above 70 (as in, sweating in a tank top).

Winter, I have conquered you.  Now, can you leave?  Please?

Unlike the ridiculously lame winter of 2011-2012, this winter was REAL (cold).  Plenty of snow, plenty of sub-zero temperatures.

It was cold enough that our pond froze solid, at least 6 inches thick in some places!

skating on our pond

While we were stuck inside, Dave and I nailed (heh) our first big DIY project.  In retrospect, home improvement projects should happen only in the seasons that permit use of a circular saw outdoors.  Besides the insane amount of sawdust that ended up everywhere, I'm super pleased with the results and how well we worked together.  In fact, we made only 1 extra trip to the hardware store, only because we purchased the wrong sized jigsaw blades.

before:  broken, disintegrating, mouldy tile counter tops + no dishwasher

after:  basic laminate counters + dishwasher.  i don't know why the cabinets are different colors.

Once we had a dishwasher to wash huge stacks of plates, it was party time: the Third Annual Not New Year's Bash, celebrated in style, with Dave swinging around a few gentlemen monkey bars.

In between the cold and the cold, we dog-sat for a retired sled dog on his way to his retirement home in Virginia.  Not so retired that he couldn't pull my lazy butt down the South Hill Rec Way a few times!

go skijor!

This winter was my first trip to Salmon River Falls.  Conditions were excellent that day, so even though I was tired, I hopped on the amazing line "Mate, Spawn, & Die" - and climbed it cleanly, surprising myself.

that's actually dave climbing, but i did that, too.  amazing climb.

Our one trip up to the Adirondacks this winter was a bit of a bummer.  My work life has been stressful, leaving little mental energy for butt-whupping in the backcountry.

this looks how my brain feels

Dave, Chris, Nick, and I hiked Algonquin in horrible conditions; the 50 mph sustained winds were yanking me off my feet, and I wanted to be anywhere but on that mountain.

Dave, Nick, and I tried to climb Cascade Pass, but we didn't have the right equipment or beta and bailed after two short distance, long time, very cold pitches.  Nasty weather and uncertainty are fun when you have the mental stamina to deal with them.  I didn't.

views of the great range from the top of algonquin.
not pictured: insane wind speeds

The best part of the weekend was partaking of traditions with friends.

every. frickin. time.

So, now we're staring down spring.  COME ON, SPRING!!

disgustingly grossly cute

More adventures on the way.  :o)

Goodbye, 2013

How did 2014 sneak up on me?  

It's been three years since we returned from that one big adventure?  

Coming up on two years since that other adventure?  

And over six months since the start of the latest one?  

Crazy.

Highlights from the second half of 2013...

There were a few more fun evenings in Stewart Park.

One more trip to the Gunks,

and one more trip to Rumney!

There was an unfortunate incident of keys locked in a car...  while it was running...

...and an unfortunate incident of a wasp sting on a hand (on Millennium Falcon, which is a sucky climb, by the way). 

Two trips to the Adirondacks to finish the Dix Range and to attempt Dial/ Nippletop: 

Macomb Mtn

Grace Peak (East Dix)

Carson Peak (South Dix)

Hough Peak

Dial Mtn

There were a few surprises,

and a few things that had been in the works for a while.

home

Here's to 2014.  :o)

Married on Marcy

On Saturday, June 15th, I married my most favorite person on the planet (that would be Davo!) in one of our most favorite places on the planet (that would be the summit of Mt. Marcy in Adirondacks!).

It was epic.

awww heck yeah!

And since it was fairly dang epic, I figure it deserves a little trip report.



Day 1 (in blue), Friday June 14th:  Loj to Marcy Dam, Avalanche Pass, Avalanche Lake & the Hitch-up Matildas, Lake Colden, and up the Opalescent River to a tent site near Feldspar Lean-To.

Highlights:
**a sandwich with about 3/4'' of meat and cheese at Avalanche Pass;
**cussing my head off trying to navigate around Avalanche Lake with a pack loaded with champagne and a wedding dress;
**the lovely hike up the Opalescent River, very pretty.

Conditions were pretty good along these sections of trail; everything was about as muddy as I expected (and not nearly as bad as later in the trip).  A thunderstorm rolled through in the early evening, but otherwise the weather was decent.  Didn't experience too many blackflies, either.  The hiking was more tiring than I was expecting; not only were we carrying four days worth of food, we were carrying nicer (i.e. heavier) food, plus some champagne, plus all of our wedding clothes and stuffs, etc.

looking back at Avalanche Lake

Day 2 (in purple):  Marcy, Skylight, and Grey

Highlights:
**Holy guacamole, we got married!!

The quick story...  we had been watching the weather obsessively since late May, and it looked like 6/15 would be clear and cold.  That'll do!

We got up early and left camp by 7:00.  I did my hair at Lake Tear of the Clouds, source of the Hudson River.  This is about the point that the butterflies started in my stomach.
The hike from Feldspar Leanto to Marcy is straight forward.  I half regret not trying for the summit at dawn, but then again, I like sleeping and wanted to be mentally sound for such an important day.  I washed my boots at the timberline so they wouldn't wipe mud all over my dress, and then we finished the hike to the summit.  Putting on makeup 10 miles from the nearest road is a surreal experience.

And then it was time to get married.

So how did this all work?  We were legally married in the State of New York in early May, so we did not need an officiant for our ceremony.  In our experience, involving God or the government in a promise between two human beings does not seem to improve the odds of success.  Instead, we had a self-uniting ceremony (legal in Colorado and Pennsylvania!), reading our vows to each other and exchanging rings.

It was one of the most important, emotionally charged, memorable, and special memories of my life.  :-)

The weather at the summit was great - clear, cold, and windy, but not so bad that I couldn't take off my coat for a few photos!  We stayed on the summit, just enjoying the views and relaxing, for about two hours.  We both ended up with sunburn on our noses.

Finally, it was time to drag ourselves away from the summit.  We put on our awesome "Just Married!" shirts and hiked back down to Four Corners.

The hike up Skylight was straightforward, and we lingered on the summit, talking to some other hikers.  The hike up Grey was also straightforward, though a bit messier, and with fewer views, so we didn't linger quite as long.  We returned to camp in the late afternoon, having taken something like 9 hours to cover the 6 mile day.

We greeted a DEC ranger, who would be the last person we would see for the next 36 hours.  That was one of my favorite parts of the trip - time totally alone with my new husband, getting used to the feeling of being married.

Good thing we like each other, because our weather window got smashed with a baseball bat on Sunday.

Day 3 (in yellow):  Redfield and Cliff Mountains

Highlights:
**We didn't get hypothermia or zapped by lightening.  Count yer blessings.
**The trail on Redfield was more fun and more interesting than I was expecting for a "trailless" peak.
**Laying in the tent with my new husband, playing the letter game to pass the time while it rained.
**Running around, collecting our stuff in the rain, and sprinting to the lean-to to set up a dry camp - hilarious!

Tried to wake up early to beat the afternoon thunderstorms, but man Day Three always kicks my butt.  We got a decently early start, slightly after 7:00 a.m.  The hike up Redfield was straight forward, following a river that turned into a creek that turned into a drainage, the trail joining and splitting from the water.  We didn't stay long at the top, expecting the weather to turn, and by the time we reached the junction for the Cliff Mtn. trail it had started to drizzle.

Conditions on Cliff were pretty bad - extremely muddy.  There were a few times that I was thankful for my climbing skills, as it was more secure to throw in a hand jam than attempting to palm a wet sloper.  We did our best to climb carefully, not to pull on vegetation, not to slip all over the place, in a lame attempt to minimize erosion, but I don't know if there's much that can be done when the trails look like ^that^ (other than come back another day, but I don't know if this mountain is ever not a huge pile of muddy cliffs).

By the time we reached the top, it was raining.  I was not psyched for the descent.

Back at camp, we stripped off our wet clothes and hopped in the tent to dry.  2:00 p.m.  Lots of time until dinner and bedtime.  Good thing we like each other.

As soon as our tent started doing this:

I knew it was time to make a break for it.  We grabbed all of our stuff and moved over to the now vacant Feldspar Lean-To.  Finally, some room to spread out, hang up our soaking wet gear, and cook dinner in a dry space!

Day 4 (in red):  Feldspar Lean To to Lake Arnold, Indian Falls, Tabletop Mountain, Marcy Dam, and the Loj

Highlights:

**Making it across the sketchiest bog crossing I have ever experienced

**Summiting our sixth mountain in four days

**Arriving at a Marcy Dam lean-to just as thunderstorm rolled through

**Having rationed just enough food not to be hungry

Man, it sucks to put on wet boots in the morning.  You know what sucks even more?  This:

That crossing, somewhere between Feldspar Lean To and Lake Arnold, is AWFUL.  Those logs aren't resting on anything - they're floating.  And that log to the left?  It rolls.  I may have had a minor freak out.  Dave had to walk first me, and then my pack, across.  Thanks, honey!  After a night of hiking, this trail on the south/east side of Colden (which is usually wet to begin with) was a total mess.

The rest of the hike wasn't too bad, though my pack was so heavy that I was really struggling.  We stopped at Indian Falls for a very quick photo (hmm, look at those clouds over Algonquin), then quickly ran up Tabletop Mountain.  Dave commented that we made it up there quickly, and I said "Sure we did - I get to eat a Clif Bar at the top!"  Yeah, food was running a bit low at that point.  Made it to Marcy Dam just as the heavens opened and a thunderstorm rolled through.  Luckily for us, it was a convenient lunch stop, so we ate some food and waited out the rain.

The walk from Marcy Dam to the Loj was pretty special.  We entered the woods as individuals and emerged a new little family unit.  With the mud, the rain, the blackflies, and the heavy packs, we had no need to smash a glass in the Jewish tradition at our ceremony - we had already experienced our trials and emerged stronger as a result.

checking out of the trail register...  mr. and mrs.

And that was the trip.  It was everything we had hoped for, and then a little bit more.

May there be many miles of happy trails in our future.  :-)

P.S.  More photos here.

P.P.S.  We made an awesome album using Shutterfly - check it out!

Click here to view larger photo book