Some random happenings...

It's been a busy time over here but we've managed to get out a bit. For Thanksgiving, we went to Jes's folks' house out in Glenwood Springs.

Here Connor is patiently waiting for his helping of the Thanksgiving dinner.

I got out to Clear Creek for a spot of climbing. Great weather and friends made for a good day outside. 

Cheers, 

Right side... up

For class last week, we walked around some of the public spaces in Denver. We walked through the performing arts area, Civic Center Park, and then over to the art museum. 

A neat shot that describes how wacky the angles are on the new museum.

Cheers, 

Sand Duning

This past weekend Jes and I traveled way down south to Great Sand Dunes National Park. We have wanted to visit the park for quite some time and finally got around to it. The Park is awesome and there's a fair to middlin' chance that we will return there.

National Park!

We are at that park, proof.

Sangre de Cristo mountains just in the distance.

We hiked up to the second highest dune in the park, walking uphill in sand is not nearly as fun as going down.

It's a very odd landscape, giant sand dunes that abutt high desert scrub and then mountains looking over it all. 

The creases and breaks in the dunes are remarkably similar to the creases and breaks in the Harding Icefield, cool.

As scenery, the dunes did not disappoint.

Nope, not disappointed at all.

And finally, the best part, jumping off the dunes.

Yes!

A great place and a fantastic trip. 

Cheers, 

A little bit of roaming

Yesterday Jes and I both got out and about for a bit although with different folks. I went for a run with Ryan and a couple of his friends while Jes went hiking with Yelena. As is often the case, the weather obliged and good trips were had.

I went for a run at Centennial Cone Park, a newish park up Clear Creek Canyon. Ryan and company are just starting into a great length of running.

There's a bit of fall still hanging on to the trees. 

We turned around at the bridge, a nice spot.

The clouds opened up towards the end of the run and we were treated to some great mountain views.

Jes snapped this picture along the Apex trail, nice day eh? 

Cheers, 

Jack-sitting!

On Saturday, Jes and I drove up to Renia and Aidan's to babysit Jack. We spent the time listening to Jack tell us about his toys, how to play with them, what firefighters do, and how to best take a nap, and the complexities of dominos strategy. It was an enlightening visit to say the least. Towards the end of the morning, we went out to play in the lawn...

Jes and Jack, separately working on how the phone works and how the game is to be played. 

Cheers, 

Labor Day up Poudre Canyon

Last weekend, Jes and I joined a group of friends for a bit of backpacking outside of Ft. Collins. Our friend Ryan found the site and planned out most of the logistics so a big thanks goes out to him. The weather was perfect and the company was sublime.

Ryan, Nemo, and Jes getting ready. 

Jen, Tim, and Haile demonstrating backcountry wayfinding.

Taking a break. 

Flower and fly, well done all.

There were lots of pretty flowers on the hike in, for emphasis I turned off all the other colors. 

Jes and Floyd making the turn towards...

...our campsite. 

Not too shabby. 

Nature obliged us with a nice chilling tub for our drinks. Thank you nature, again. 

After various adventures during the day, mostly lying about in the sun, we built a big fire and stood around it. Fun.

Morning as seen from the tent. 

Morning as seen from the hillside. Again, note nature and how pretty it makes things, well done. 

We camped just below tree line and were welcomed to another day by frost. 

Just really tip-top nature, very well done. 

We took a hike up a pass to a lake. Ryan chose this moment to fly his 'thank you for organizing' kite. Excellent timing. 

Back Row: Keith, Ryan, Warren, and myself. 

Front Row: Floyd and Nemo.

A great trip and wonderful welcome back to Colorado.

Cheers, 

The camera is alive!

Yesterday, Jes went out and got a battery charger for our camera! So now we can get on with the photos both past and future. Here are a couple pictures and stories from our drive down...

One last photo before we leave, our friend Jenna put us up for the night at her mom's place. Over our time in Anchorage, we spent a lot of it over there, good memories. 

Jes and Eric drove together on the early leg from Anchorage to Tok. On the way there Eric just about ran out of gas due to some dodgy decision making. But they made it and the random trophy we had in our car proved useful. 

Old sign just past the border into Canada.

Our car about to do some work. Notice the giant polar bear on the roof of the rest stop. 

Yep, driving.

Great license plates for a great territory. 

Eric found a great campground just outside Whitehorse, we got in to town in time to take a walk about. 

Whitehorse is very close to the headwaters of the Yukon, a big river that goes a long way.

A historic boat that had a large part in developing the area. It was recently restored. 

Awesome painted sign outside of a bar in Whitehorse. 

On our second day we came to the sign post forest, it is quite large.

We made our own addition.

And finally, just before the camera died for a while, we came across a herd of bison, there were lots but here is a picture of just one, eating some grass.

It was a great drive down, cheers.