November's Captain Log

It was a busy month:

Me, Jenny, Claire, Gene and Darly

November 7-9th, Moab, UT: I love it when life works out, when the pieces come together, when you don't worry and let life fall into place. My ride to Moab worked out in exactly that fashion as I tagged along with John, Hannah and Hillary to the land of red rocks on mid-day Friday where I met up with Jenny, Gene and Darly (the Teton Valley contingency +2), Claire, Pat and Emily (Denver Run House crew), and Seth (making sure non-runners and Flagstaff, AZ had a good showing).

The DRH Crew : Players Gonna Play

It was super fun to run the Moab Trail Marathon for a second year in a row and get a "visual" representation of what a year of consistent running will do. As this year's running of the race doubled as the USA National Trail Marathon Championships I was very pleased to run the course almost 20min faster than I did last year and score 6th place finish! Even better than the finish was the fact that I was able to look up a bit more this year than last, nearly coming to a complete halt as I took in the fantastic views of the LaSalles framed by slick rocks on the Amasa Back trail. Stunning. Got to get up in those mountains one of these days...

At the finish line Seth was managing the beer cooler with Gene, Pat and Emily who had all finished the Moab Trail 1/2 Marathon in spectacular fashion. I'm pretty sure Gene is already signed up for next year's full marathon... Claire and Jenny (finishing her first trail marathon ever!) came in shortly after and with beers in hand we head back to the house for Dyer special Eggplant Parmesan and then more beers at the Moab Brewery. Super duper day at an event that I'd love to keep as an annual end-of-season tradition - especially in the company of great friends!

Castleton Tower

Moab didn't disappoint on Sunday either as Seth and I head to Castle Valley to climb one of the "Fifty Classic Climbs in North America" - the Kor-Ingalls Route up Castleton Tower. An alpine start was need to beat the crowds with me dragging my feet up the steep approch to the start of the climb. We squeezed our way up chimneys, cursed the calcite and generally clawed our way up 4 pitches to the summit. It was bucking beautiful up there and well worth the struggle!

If climbing Castleton Tower wasn't good enough for a Sunday adventure, throw in a road trip with Pat, Claire and T-Swift (SHAKE IT OFF) and you have yourself one hell of a day.

Nov 10-20th, Fort Collins, CO: After Moab and a solid last few months of adventuring it was time to take a breather from activity and focus on other things, namely reading for pleasure (All the Pretty Horses), sleeping and busting out a serious volume of school work. The school work on tap had been sitting on the back burner for quite sometime though it has been constantly on my mind for sometime now. I really enjoyed spending long hours working on two big projects that proved to be far more enjoyable and interesting than I had worked them up to be in my head.

I first worked to complete a plant collection of flora I collected in Larimer County. It was fascinating and challenging all at once to identify the plants I had found and assemble them in a proper collection fashion but I was quite pleased with the final product. After the plant collection was completed I got to work on writing a first draft of a research project I took on under a professor here at CSU, Dr. Kevin Crooks, that I really respect. I've never written a proper research paper before and the notion was admittedly very daunting. My friend Kate gave me some great advice that got me going however - "just start writing." Ahhhhh.... and it really was that simple. Who knows, I might have to rewrite the whole thing but it felt so good to dig into papers, start developing some ideas and just get something on paper. This is certainly going to be a work in progress for quite sometime but felt great getting the ball rolling!

Photo by Mark - YEAAAAHHHHH! Ski season is here.

Despite my focus on school during this time I did still manage to sneak out to earn my first turns of the season at Cameron Pass with Brad and Mark. Great to do some beacon practice and make sure we start the ski season safe.

Nov 21-30th, Flagstaff, AZ and more: THANKSGIVING BREAK! I booked it out of Fort Collins early Friday morning and off to Flagstaff I went. Started the trip out with a bang on Saturday morning heading to climb Queen Victoria in Sedona, AZ with Seth. We took the adventurous approach to the base of the climb where we surprisingly met several other parties. It was an enjoyable climb that once again provided A+ views AND we even got to watch a man that could have been mistaken for Jackie Chan in action, rappelling kung-fu style off the summit. Classic.

A hike out to Red Mountain the next day to was highlighted by 5 month old Shuggie (a PKC black collie) matching Josey stride for stride up a rung ladder and steep mars-like rocks. Even though Shuggie isn't my dog I couldn't help but admire her spirit - great things to come from the Shuggie monster.

Grand Canyon

Monday Josey and I ran from Locket Meadow up the Inner Basin Trail to the summit of Humphrey's Peak, the tallest point in Arizona overlooking Flagstaff. It was windy and gave that little bit of alpine adventure I was hankering for. Tuesday I headed to the South Rim of the Grand Canyon and ran the South Kaibab Trail down to the Colorado River and back. The last time I was at the Grand Canyon I was ~12 years old and just remember the whole thing looking like a painting - fake. Running it it definitely set the canyon to life though the shock of high volumes of other people on the trail made me realize how spoiled I am to normally have nature to myself. The fun in Flagstaff continued that night with the most delicious dinner cooked by Olivia and plans of hunting next fall... Wednesday I headed down to Sedona with Ryan and met up with Simon, Carrie and Joel for my first taste of real, hard crack climbing at the Waterfalls. Man was it hard and man was it fun.

I opted to head home from there to make it to Whitney's parent's house for Thanksgiving on Thursday. Joes and I stopped in Frisco along the way at the Meadow Creek trailhead and ski-toured up aways filling me with the mountain winter stoke I was needing. There is nothing in the world more fun than chasing Josey down a snowy trail on skis - she has the most manically happy look on her face the entire time! Once I improve my skiing skills I'll take a video... Thanksgiving with Whit and the crew was just what I needed - delicious food, great friends and a tour of the new Peritus Coffee Roasters facility. I'm not a coffee snob by any means but I know when I'm drinking something extra good and their coffee is GOOD.

RIP Bessie - with Katie at top of Bear Peak, 2011

Rounded out the week with Friday up at Cameron Pass with Brad, James and Layla, a great trail run with Claire and Mowgs and a ski tour with K. Nitka at Butler Glutch. Sunday's ski tour was dedicated to Bessie the Brown Dog who left the world too soon. Last time Katie and I toured up Butler Gultch Josey had her friend Bessie in tow. We missed her but know she's probably off digging holes somewhere in doggy heaven right now...

OK: I think that's all for now. Happy adventuring in the mean time!

Salinger got me started on this one...

I just finished a J.D. Salinger book, Raise High the Roof Beam Carpenters and Seymore An Introduction. It was great in a mad sort of way. The kind of book you read and then decide that perhaps your life calling sits in a bottle of whiskey, a poorly lit room and a typewriter. I appreciate the urgency, the chaos, the unfiltered exploratory nature of his writing - and most importantly I imagine little more than wild eyes as I read his words.

Wanting to see Salinger's wild eyes makes me realize I've been missing this same untamed passion in my current place in time...so...as always, let me rewind so I may go forward:

This summer I dreamed bigger than ever and paid the price for it - the price being the most comforting contentment I've ever experienced in my life. I started to believe in myself for the first time in ages. I believed in possibilities, abilities, and fronting little more than the basic facts of life... I accepted my place as a human (and animal) in the world. I felt direction and purpose. 

6 weeks ago I flew to Seattle and ran the Wonderland Trail around Mt Rainer. Claire, Joe and I set out with Keith, Simon and Nick to run 93 miles in 3 days. I'm selling the experience sort by summarizing it but maybe the fact is that life's great moments can't be tainted by words - the days on that trail were perfect.

After getting 4hrs of sleep the night before we started - eating a breakfast of nothing more than poptarts - and the proceeded to get rained on for 10hrs straight the first day. The rain and low light under the shelter of old growth redwood forests set the contrast of a million hues of green on fire. Add a sleepy fog and mild exhaustion to the mind bending colors and I guarantee you would have been running along wondering if it was all a dream as well.

Claire and I on one of many bridges.

The second day we saw our first glimpse of the mountain with meadows that were equally, if not more so, impressive. As the John Muir quote blazoned into the steps of Rainer's Paridise Visitor Center read: "...the most luxuriant and the most extravagantly beautiful of all the alpine gardens I even beheld in all my mountain-top wanderings." As Claire and I sat at the top of the pass on our final big climb of the day we spotted a far away meadow that quite frankly the most perfect meadow I've ever laid eyes on. We agreed not to take a picture of it for obvious reasons and next discovered a heard of mountain goats cresting a nearby ridge. I'll remember that panorama for quite sometime.

Joe riding imaginary horse down the trial.

The third day led to some of the most spectacular scenery of all as we climbed up to Summerland and  Pan Handle Gap. We took a group shot up there and all began the most delightful descent down, down, down to Box Canyon - Joe alternating between grape-vining down the trail and riding an imaginary horse. Just past Box Canyon with about 13miles to go we came across a mama black bear and her cubs, who had unbeknownst to us been sticking their dirty little paws in the honey pot. The bees were pissed and they promptly took it out on us - leaving everyone but Joe with stings that sent Claire and I literally sprinting down the remainder of the trail.

Pan Handle Gap: Me, Claire, Joe, Nick. Awesome.

Wonderland was indeed wonderful. The conversation was great and the support was incredible thanks to Joe and Nick's families - they made the experience outstanding in every way possible and with out their smiling faces and delicious food awaiting us each day, its likely Claire and I might have gnawed an arm off at some point. In short: the days were full and filling. I felt confident. I felt at ease. I felt IT. 

I went to Flagstaff a couple weeks later only to feel the inkling of a cold coming on as I drove to the airport. I fought it with everything I had and toed the line on Saturday for the Flagstaff Sky Race. I felt crappy from the gun but I stayed mentally strong. I pushed through the fatigue and congestion. I gave it my all until my body simply said stop. After a nap in an aspen grove I limped to the most convenient place to pull out. Greeted by the exceptionally friendly faces of people I had met only 48 and 24 hours before, I was happy to stop - Its not everyday you randomly meet wonderful people. 

Since Flagstaff I've been limping however; I haven't feel whole. I've been tired and unmotivated. Not unmotivated to be outside doing the things I love, but rather unmotivated to try and find my place in the conventional word.  I know its just the cycle of how life goes. While I'm favorable of the more manically happy stretches of life it is good to remember that sometimes down time, times of less enthusiasm per say, are important to patiently sit through, quietly...with a book...waiting for those wild eyes to return.

And because that seems like an entirely too contrived way to end a blog post I will instead quite with this random factoid of joy: I'm going to Moab on Friday. Running the Moab Trail Marathon and super psyched about it for lots of reasons. Happy. Yay. 

The Rut (plus a bonus track)

I sort of trailed off... the Dolomites had me fully and when I returned to the US, wham bam, "real" life (sort of) hit. Before I backtrack too far however I must acknowledge my present emotions of genuine happiness as I realize possibilities. This brings me to: THE RUT

On Saturday morning I woke up in the parking lot of Big Sky Resort near Bozeman, MT. Josey was confused with our 4:30 alarm but I lay there instantly awake staring at the ceiling of my Subaru. Somehow there is dog hair up there.

After waking up to 20 degree temps and snow the previous morning at rest stop parking lot near Sheridan, WY this morning's crisp 35 seemed balmy. Still, I fully changed into my running clothes within the warm confines of my sleeping bag before exiting. Josey stayed huddled under her blanket for a few moments longer, making sure my rousal wasn't merely a midnight pee break.

Joes ran a couple hot laps of the parking lot to warm up while I got things organized for the days big event - the biggest, most competitive race I'd ever competed in - a 50km running race up, down and around Lone Peak called The Rut.

Coffee, hot water and a heated room to eat in was generously offered to me by people that had been complete strangers just a day prior. So thankful to Rob, Erika, David and Ana for welcoming me into their hotel room to share warmth and pre-race excitement.

Before I know it I was at the start line, off and running. With a 6am start it was pitch dark the first 30-45min so you really had no idea where you were or what was going on. The intial uphill was a bit of a slog attempting to physically wake up but by the time we hit the first descent the sun began to rise and I heard the first hoots and hollers of the day as people began to have fun going down.

Stole this from the @iRunFar Twitter Feed - Lone Peak

Still not knowing a thing about positioning in the race, I was just happy running along. I knew I was fit and ready for the race but with some of the best female ultra runners in the world on the start list I didn't set any expectations for my self; my goal was to enjoy the trip up Headwater Ridge and Lone Peak - scrambling up scree and loose earth on all fours and then bombing the descents like a maniac. So, with these expectations in mind you can imagine my surprise when I realized I was in 4th place after the decent off Headwater Ridge.

I can't really go into the details and blow by blow of the race because the experience was mine and that's about all I can make of it right now. But let me say this: it was awesome. I was so incredibly psyched to be running well and the technical secitions of the course were insanely fun. I realized that I live and breathe mountain running. Its like a drug to me; the kind that sets the world in slow motion and makes you savor every second. I could go up steep slopes with false summits forever and if I could run down scree fields for all time I imagine I'd find heaven at the bottom.

Lone Peak - from The Rut website

My stomach was a bit iffy after the Lone Peak descent and I think I didn't eat enough the final couple hours of the race so as a result I floundered a bit at the end but, meh. I had been swapping out between 4th and 6th postition all day long with two girls named Ellie Greenwood and Hillary Allen and after the last aid station the wheels kind of came off. Another woman, Kristina Pattison passed me at this point as well but whatever, 7th place finish was fine by me especially considering the last time I did a race like this (Standhope 60K in early August - see below) the wheels feel off aproximately 3hrs earlier so I'm pretty darn pleased with the progress. Best of all was Ana was at the finish line with Josey - god do I love that dog.

In short: I had a ball in Montana and mountain running, sky running - whatever you want to call it - its the shit. Yes, the shit. I can't wait to do more of it. The mountains are calling more than ever and I really must go now with out hesitation.

Damn, you know what? You know why I'm so excited? Its because I love sport. I love challenges. I love mountains, being outside, wild animals and wild things and for the first time since I was 18 I feel like sport - my vehicle for all these wonderful things - is truly on my own terms again. Its a beautiful thing. BEAUTIFUL.

Ok, now for a bit of backtracking. Please rewind to August 6th at this juncture:

I got off a plane from Italy and on to a shuttle bus Fort Collins bound. Upon arriving to the final destination of my car parked in the Greely Walmart lot at 1:20am I proceed to pull out my sleeping bag and immediately fall asleep. Home sweet home.

The next morning I picked Joesy up at Mike and Stacey's where Bagel had kindly tollerated Joesy's precense the past 2 weeks. The pup and I hopped in the car and headed north, then west, and then north again to Idaho for one last trip before some semblance responsibility had to set in. We were off to do a race called Standhope 60K in the Pioneer Mountains near Ketchum, ID. I'd never been to the infamous Sun Valley and I was excited to check the area out. Josey and I took our time getting to ID, sleeping somewhere in UT along the way - its amazing how well I sleep in my car. Without sounding like I'm trying to make something mediocere great because of the novelty, my car is really surprisingly cozy and I feel safe as ever with my guard dog curled up in the passenger seat.

The Mug

I arrived in Ketchum and was immediately welcomed to Sun Valley in the best way possible: Standing in line for a coffee at the Starbucks downtown I was fidgeting looking at the array of coffee mugs offered. I've been on a quest for the perfect coffee mug that would keep beverages scalding hot and never leak in my backpack... and didn't cost an arm and a leg. An older gentelman behind me asked me what I was looking for and I explained my deliemma. He told me about a great mug he had gotten at the kitchen store across the street and I took note, thinking maybe I'd check the store out if I remembered.

Anyway, I sat down with my coffee and immediately forgot about mugs as I'd say this mug shopping had been a hobby of mine for a few months now... sometimes I go on such an arduous quest for the perfect specimen of my desired object that I end up never actually buying the item or buy some poor excuse for the ideal on impulse because I can't stand the search anymore. Despite forgetting, what do I know not 15min later the man appeared by my side and handed me a bag from the kitchen store with an exact replica of his perfect mug. Its does not leak, keeps my beverages hot, and is indeed perfect. In fact, I'm drinking coffee from my mug right now.

People are really amazing sometimes (this reminds me - the aforementioned Ana and David of Bozeman, MT were perhaps the nicest people ever - gave me and Josey their guest bed room after The Rut and fed me a delicious dinner along with the best kind of company). Is it possible to be this lucky all the time?

As for the race: Standhope was fun. I was for sure a bit wiped out from travel but it was so cool to run throught the Pioneers and challenge my self with 11,000+ feet of elevation gain in a day - a first for me. Althoght I was basically incapible of running the last ~13miles due to a simple complete physical inability to do so (regardless of will) I enjoyed the crap out of the day - avoiding thunder and lightening, climbing over passes, and again - bombing the downhills. After the race I again met two awesome individuals, Joe and Dan, of Park City, UT. In exchange for a ride to their car they bought me dinner and beers back in Ketchum where we discussed starting a new ultra running event that includes bow hunting. Ultra Mountain Biathalon - or something like that. Stay tuned.

I headed home through Park City, Utah and got to meet the Hillary Nitka, my friend Katie's mom. I'd been wanting to meet Mrs. Nitka for ages after collaborating with her on the beginnings of a former work project in Park City the previous year. From Park City, I slowly made my way home through Vernal and Steamboat, over Cameron Pass and into Fort Collins where I was able to establish a permanent residence once again with Lee and Marie. Love my new basement room.

School has been off to a hectic start getting the TWS Camera Project going at full tilt with our first school visits at Boltz and black-footed ferret release up at Soapstone. Class are fun and I'm working on a cool new coyote behavior study using some fancy software at the National Wildlife Research Center. Its all the awesome kind of stuff that keeps me psyched about getting through school.

Snowmass Lake/Mtn along the 4 Pass Trail.
I didn't take this picture.
You can buy it here:
http://www.mountainphotography.com/photo/snowmass-lake/

Don't worry thought - the chaos of school didn't slow Claire and I down over Labor day as we headed to Aspen to run the Maroon Bells 4 Pass Loop (I set the Fastest Known Time on the loop! whooop!) with our friend Daryl and then meet up with Katie and Erick to do some siiiccckkkkk (whaaaat?!?!) car camping in Buena Vista and hikes/runs up to Cathedral Lakes and Mt Princeton (got one 14er this year... check). Claire was a trooper battleing the flu of sorts - still doing the whole 4 Pass Loop and then making a solid comeback after looking deathly ill for 24hrs or so. Damn.

Ok, thats enough for now. What next you ask? Wednesday night fly to Seattle. Meet up with Claire and some people I don't yet know. Drive to Mt Rainer Thursday morning.

RUN THE WONDERLAND TRAIL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Life sucks.

P.S. I lost my camera. Sorry for the lack of pictures/stolen pictures. I'm working on a solution before Wonderland.

Summer Love

I'm lying under one of those comforters you only find on Germanic beds - fluffed and generally found neatly folded lengthwise so as to expose a perfect boarder of white sheet. The bed places me in the South Tyrol region of Italy and the heart of Dolomite mountains. I'm here on what one might call a proper vacation, visiting my father and step family at their beautiful mountain valley hotel. Hotel Perwanger. There are flowers sprouting from the balconies and I when I look out the front window I'm greeted by the often misty spires of The Schlern. I've been looking at this mountain for years now and have always pondered reaching its top from the door of the hotel. With the mountain rising more than 5700 feet in front of me it's always been a dream  until now.

I woke to a light rain this morning and began to get excited for my planned adventure up and around The Schlern tomorrow. In the wake of this excitement I was overcome with a sense of gratitude not only for this adventure to come but namely for the ability to peruse such dreams, those who share similar motivations, and best of all the most fantastic last month of adventuring in the books. Before diving deeper into my Dolomite frolics it seems only appropriate to take a moment to recall memory of July:

I kicked the month off by returning to running after two month hiatus due to injury. I ran the Northfork 50K in Pine, CO and had a ball. I had a smile my face the whole time and managed to win which was icing on the already delicious cake. It's simply so good to be back running full power at such a wonderful and well organized race. Best of all however, was knowing I was 100% healthy for summer!

First stop of summer adventures was the Tetons with my friend a Claire and our pups. The Tetons are extra special to me as the site of first ever backpacking trip and a wooden framed poster of the Grand and a moose hang above my bed as a constant reminder of their awesomeness. We set up camp in Victor, ID at the home of two amazing people - Jenny and Gene. To give you idea of how awesome these two are, I hope to be like them when I grow up! Their wonderful company (along with that of Steph, Rob, Kim and Steve) and delicious food every night made the best trip ever just that extra bit better. As a horse back trail guide I crossed paths with last week told me: "If life were any better I couldn't stand it!"

Between runs with Jenny and Steph, and mountain bike rides with Gene and Rob, the best two days of Claire's and I's trip came back to back, starting with a bike ride over Jackson Pass and along the park's main road. The ride was quite simply the most beautiful road ride I've ever been on - Jackson Pass was a great climb; the dirt, twists and turns on Wilson-Moose road top any roller coaster I've ever been on; the views of the Grand were stunning; if only the ride towards Signal mountain could have never come to an end... All the while during the ride I couldn't take my eyes off our next day's plan: summiting the Middle Teton! We picked up some rental ice axes and crampons on our way home from the ride and excitedly spent the evening watching Scottish you tube videos on basic self arrest while meticulously packing bags (complete with CO Skratch Labs patch) and laying out our sweet new Denver Run House Trail Team shirts.

The trip up the Middle was incredible. So good that I don't really have words. While awe, stoke and a general feelings of bliss was freely flowing through my veins, my proudest feeling associated with our summit comes from the fact that we made it up the slightly more technical summit (due to lots of snow and melt-age) as a solo team of girls. Not only did we navigate challenges well as a team but we totally annihilated the summit as well, moving quickly and efficiently up the mountain. Not to beat our own drums too hard but we were psyched to make it up and down the mountain (with plenty of time for photos, snack breaks and views) in the estimated amount of time it should take just to reach the summit. It was one of the best days of my life.

As if a trip to the Tetons couldn't get any better, we nailed the grand finale by stopping through the northern unit of the Wind River Range on the way how for a pleasant 3 days backpacking. We hiked in a short ways from the Green Lakes Trailhead and set up camp in a private meadow where the dogs could go wild. From camp the next day we took the most pleasant, mellow run down the Highline Trail, following the Green River (it's really quite green!) to the base of Square Top Mnt. Beautiful once again. And on our way out we saw a badger!

Back in CO it was a quick 3 day turn around that included a trip up Mt Audubon (the mountain my grandparents honeymooned beneath!), watching Germany win the Wold Cup with the perfect goal, a PHENOMENAL Avett Brothers show at Red Rocks that's somehow landed us with VIP seats, a trip to Soapstone Natural Area to lay ground work for a camera project tracking black-footed ferret and bison reintroduction, and completion of the double Shadow Mountain loop with Katie in preparation for her Leadville 100 debut. This was my biggest day EVER on a bike - kind of funny given my history - and damn was it fun!

Next up my BFF Ari rolled into town with good old Homer dog and Mara joined us fresh in from 10 hard days racing in Italia. We packed in the parking lot of REI Denver and hit the road for Durango to commence a 6 day backpacking trip in the Weimenuche Wilderness the following day. The trip was amazing once again. While Mara made the wise choice to turn early and rest her tired body for bike races yet to come, Ari and I ventured forth to complete the most challenging of all our backpacking trips to date. The Weimenuche was stunning. Again - few words can describe an experience like the total stillness and contentment that come along with a life contained in a backpack. Joesy ran the hardest I've ever seen her run and experienced the pains associated with trying to attack a porcupine while Homer showed massive gains in strength from his first trip to the Cloudpeak Wilderness last year; meanwhile,  Ari and I shared laughs and the kind of good times only friends with long histories can.

All this eventually lands me here, under this comforter, giddy as I think of the next two months (and quite honestly a life time) of continued adventures...

Luck

A great man named Randy Warren once told me that luck is simply when preparation meets opportunity.

If you think about luck this way then it is little more than a game of odds; a mathematical probability that if you keep preparing you will meet opportunity at some point. While at times I do feel relatively prepared, I must admit the quality of opportunities that present themselves to me make me feel that I am not just playing a game of odds, rather, the odds are in my favor as I've gotten lucky time and time again.

Exactly one week ago I seem to have struck yet another chord of good luck. 

I transfered into the Department of Fish, Wildlife and Conservation Biology at CSU less than a year ago. I entered CSU as a Zoology major and to be completely honest I didn't know getting a degree in Wildlife Biology was even a thing. After taking a look at the curriculum - one that includes courses in mammalogy, ornithology, botany, GIS mapping, project design, management and human dimensions - I knew in my bones that this was it. My calling. 

While perhaps luck doesn't factor into discovering this program, it does factor in that I decided to attended CSU without knowing that the university houses one of the best programs in Wildlife Biology and employes a faculty of researchers making ground breaking discoveries in the field. And lucky for me, many of these researchers are at my disposal as professors and advisors. Furthermore, they are all inspiring, encouraging and enjoy providing their students with opportunities.

Microchip found in scat. RIP River the cat.

Anyhow, fast forward through a pretty motivating last couple semesters of school and I've found myself working as a Wildlife Technician for a research biologist named Stewart Breck. Stewart is a carnivore ecologist at the National Wildlife Research Center hired on to specialize in non-lethal resolutions to human-wildlife conflicts. To put it simply, he's pretty freaking rad.

I've been working on an urban coyote conflict study he is running in Denver the last 6 weeks, mainly sorting through remote camera trap photos and coyote scat, but also spending a bit of time in the field helping with scat collections and utilizing telemetry to find radio collars. If you asked me last week how I was liking my job I would have told you it was awesome - better than anything I could have hoped for - a great learning experience and very interesting. For example, a couple weeks ago, while sorting through coyote poop we found a pet microchip! We were able to track down info from the microchip and confirm with the owner of a cat named River that it had indeed been eaten by coyotes. 

So it couldn't get better, right? Well last Thursday it did. Stewart got a call that a researcher he was working with on a black bear study in Durango needed an extra hand starting Monday to set up hair snares (basically squares of strategically placed barbed wire with bait in the middle - used to estimate the population of black bears in the area via hair samples - the techy term is non-invasive mark and recapture) in a remote wilderness area near Pagosa Springs. He didn't have to ask me twice if I wanted to go so Sunday I was off to set up camp on the banks of the Piedra River. I'm going to try not to gush too much by simply providing the cold hard facts:

Monday: drove an ATV for the first time. All research a side, ATVs are insanely fun I discovered. Ripped around trails with a kid named Colin who is a really good tracker. We saw lots of bear and coyote tracks including those of a sow (female bear) and cub(s). Sat around the camp fire by night and learned...

Mountain Lion. Not my photo. But I saw one!

Tuesday: probably my most adventurous day in the woods ever. Went out on a loooonnngggg hiking route loaded with supplies (barbed wire strapped to back and bottles full of fermented fish and bacon and berry baits). I was partnered with a kid named Skylar who was simply awesome - so much positive energy with a phenomenal brain. The hike into the sites on trails was hard enough with lots of elevation gain but then the adventuresome part came when we would bushwhack and scramble up sttteeeeeeeeeepppppp slopes following game trails when we could to set the plots. We found some great bear habitat plots and as I hammered staples into trees in the middle of the woods I just smiled. It was a hard, perfect day. To make it even more perfect as we were driving down the dirt road back to camp we came around a switchback and there was a MOUNTAIN LION. It was beautiful. I only saw it for a few seconds as it froze, looked at the car and then bolted but the picture is seared into my memory.

Wednesday: another long hike through a stunning box canyon along the Piedra river. It was a hot day and I was pretty smoked from the previous day but soaking in the river, having a flushed turkey fly straight over my head, and a silly chipmunk run right through my feet made it heaven. I was hiking with Stewart and we got stopped on the trail by some guys who declared to Stewart "You guys have the best job ever." I quoted the guys after they left and all Stewart could reply is "Yeah, we really do have the best job." The night end with more great conversation. Physics, dark matter, and a sticking point that I really ought to embrace math. But when I think of preparation and opportunity as a probability of luck maybe I can let it in a bit more...

Thursday: A short day highlighted by a horny toad (they shoot blood out of their eyes as a defense mechanism!) and a beautiful drive home through the beautiful state that I am oh so lucky to call home. 

I feel so lucky to have been granted the opportunity to be a part of the last several says of work. I feel lucky to suddenly KNOW I have found my calling. Knowing things like this lets me know a lot of other things as well; things I know I love, things I know I need, things I know make me happy and content. It makes me know that with a little bit of luck, everything I want in life can be mine. 

Party Tricks and the road to Happiness

Kate and I are practicing our party tricks. And by party tricks I mean we want to be able to do 10 pull ups. I've never been able to do ten pull ups in my life and the challenge is suddenly the single most exciting endeavor in my life. I only get to practice the secret training regimen twice a week and the premise of how it works is crazy, hardly doing any pull ups at all. Training day 1 was Tuesday and tomorrow is training day 2. There are 16 training days total. I'm so excited I can't go to sleep at the moment. Its ridiculous but my life has new meaning... at least for the next 8 weeks.

This brings me to the classic tale of life being about the journey, not the destination. I am mildly terrified not knowing what my destination is (although finding wildlife biology has eased these fears substantially) but I'm getting more relaxed and the enjoying the journey despite this terror. In fact, I'm starting to love the journey so much that I truly think I've reached a point where I could live life as a perpetual journey as I grow more comfortable in succeeding and failing, doing things really well and totally screwing up, embracing my awkwardness and alternately being more "on" than ever... I have friends I love, friends that inspire me, friends that will join me in adventure. I feel less bad about taking time for myself and completely shutting down when I need to. 

Nothing is certain and nothing can be planned or predicted. Some punches you are a totally on point and you are rolling along jabbing left right left right left right right right left; some punches you can out maneuver with agility, enjoying the rush of the near miss; some punches you are in the corner with your hands up covering your face and sometimes a punch gets you square in the nose.

Morocco was awesome. Luxury camping. It doesn't get better.

I had my hands up covering my face for most of the month of April. After an amazing trip to Morocco I was beyond excited to get back to CO and do one more month of solid training after a great base of running leading into our hometown race, Quadrock. I knew my body wasn't psyched while running the Salida Marathon right before Morocco, but I thought a couple weeks rest would mend any aliments. I ended up hurting my self quite badly and have been on running probation for a solid month now. Its been a blow that has come close to my nose. I depend on movement and sunshine for happiness. I also got the worst flu I've had in years directly after Morocco which led to a mad scramble to get school back in order. And Calculus is a bitch. 

Regardless, like life, there isn't a moral or a point. The only thing I know is that I'm happy to be slowly doling out punches myself after landing a sweet summer job at National Wildlife Research Center working for a guy I really respect and now I have pull ups and party tricks to keep me happy as I start to dream about what the summer has to offer and work on getting my body back in order to make the most of my summer. I think that's why I'm so excited for pull ups right now. Its a little goal. I can barely touch the idea of doing 10 pull ups at the moment but I know I'm going to be able to do it so it's exciting to travel the road that will lead me to this stupid little prize. Maybe Kate and I will get a free beer out of the endeavor, but more likely reaching the marker will be forgotten. I won't however, forget Kate and I walking around the CSU gym looking sheepish with weight belts in our hands, strapping 10lb plates to our waists... giddy, laughing. So I guess in summation I'll steal a beautiful quote from Summits of My Life ...

"We don't know if we'll find it, but we're going in search of happiness."

Its really all we can do.

The Second Amendment

I wrote this essay in response to an application question that asked: What is most important to you in the Constitution of the United States and Why? Never thought I'd pick the Second Amendment...

I must preface this essay with a slight aside: had I been asked this question six months ago, before transferring into the Warner College of Natural Resources and switching my focus from Zoology to Wildlife Biology, this essay would have generated an entirely different response. 

I grew up in downtown Chicago to liberal parents; my only relation to guns came from news headlines about the taxi cab driver found dead at the end of my block, the 15-year-old boy who shot his friend near my high school and the stories of infamous gangsters like Al Capone that shaped my city’s past.  I had the notion that “guns are bad” drilled into my head from a young age with ample backing to prove this point.  Regardless of this fact, when I moved to Colorado six years ago my views on guns slowly began to change. While I still admit to holding primarily liberal values and have never personally held or shot a gun, my eyes opened to the importance and value of guns in hunting. I enjoyed my first venison dinner cooked from the chef’s personal take and began to see hunters in woods more and more frequently, noticing that they were enjoying the solace of the wilderness just as much as I was. Despite this personal acceptance of hunting I still never would have considered writing an essay on why the Second Amendment to the Constitution of the United States is most important to me. Now in my second semester of a degree in Wildlife Biology at Colorado State University my views have changed.

The North American Wildlife Conservation Model (NAWCM) is arguably the most effective and vested wildlife conservation model on this planet. This model was enacted to protect the heavily exploited wildlife of the late 1800s Market Hunting Era, an era that saw the extinction of the Passenger Pigeon and massive reduction of Bison populations due to unmanaged commercial hunting.  Were it not for the strong influence of hunters such as Theodore Roosevelt and recognition of quickly dwindling game populations, many species of wildlife we take for granted here in the United States might not exist today.

The Second Amendment’s “right of the people to keep and bear Arms” has been crucial in the formation of the NAWCM. Without the ability to bear arms, hunters would not have had the same drive or ability to protect wildlife under the safeguard of The NAWCM’s Seven Sisters for Conservation. The basic principles of these Seven Sisters hold wildlife in public trust, prohibit the commerce of dead wildlife, provide structure to enforce laws surrounding wildlife management, secure hunting opportunities for all, restrict frivolous use, manage wildlife as an international resource and place high value on scientific research to guide management. Nearly all funding to support wildlife conservation under these principles comes directly from hunting. The 1937 Pittman-Robertson Federal Aid in Wildlife Restoration Act implemented an 11% excise tax on all firearms and has since provided more than $3.5 billion dollars for wildlife conservation – game and non-game alike. Apart from excise taxes, hunters also contribute greatly to wildlife conservation by way of license fees for game tags and the sale of duck and habitat stamps.

As I pursue a career in Wildlife Biology, I can find no other part of the Constitution that I value more than the Second Amendment. Imagine my surprise. 

Frozen Dead Guy

I intended to write about the Frozen Dead Guy quite sometime ago but the days have melted together into a unsurmisable heap of hours and minutes that make February 1st's adventure from Nederland to Boulder seem like it occurred in some other lifetime - not two weeks ago.

At this juncture only bits and pieces remain but most importantly is the over arching feeling of pure joy upon culmination. The weather played in our favor; I saw the biggest mountain lion tracks I've ever seen stamped fresh in the snow; the trek to the top of Twin Sisters Peak was the highlight of the day - clambering up rocks to reach the summit; my friend Claire saved my ass loaning me $5 for the bus to Nederland and we ate amazing Thai food complete with beers in Denver that night (we're getting psyched for the Grand Canyon in April...); like any good long run, ride, or ski I spent hours chatting with a girl named Britt and now consider her a friend after recounting stories of trials and tribulations that make as all a little crazy and all very human; I ran with the "3 B's" (Britt, Brad, Becca) most of the day and Brad told the cutest story ever about he, his wife and their %98 rule; a man named Nico and his son volunteered to aid the course with hot soup, tea and delicious food; we ripped the last few miles on the Mesa Trial - I got transported back to my days living in Boulder and felt utterly confused anytime we came across a section of trail rerouted by flood; I was happy; the trails were great (particularly the section from Walker Ranch to finish - connecting into Eldorado Canyon and taking my first trip on the Old Mesa Trail; Chautauqua was beautiful as always.

Thanks very much to Sherpa John and the Human Potential Running Series for putting on this amazingly fun run and %100 free event. Already looking forward to the Headless Horsetooth next weekend...

P.S. I stole most the photos in this post from Britt!