more 14er action and a break at the OR show

I have now finished the Elk and San Juan 14ers (21 total). Nalumon joined me for the last 4 - as well as support car and hiking companion for a number of the other peaks.

Then I went down to the hot lowlands to the Outdoor Retailer show which was a bit of a break in some ways, but grueling in others. I did get a new pair of lightweight Leki poles and a few other things for the rest of the 14ers and there are some potentials in the works which will be pretty exciting if they pan out.

I started a trip report page for the 14ers which is just a skeleton right now but I hope to complete all the links some day. This isn't going to happen while I am out climbing peaks.

http://www.electricant.net/grundyman/co14ers.html

Sam waits for a mtn goat to yield North Maroon to him

Meanwhile I have been busy plotting out the next section. My tentative schedule is below (subject to change based on all sorts of factors). If you want to join in for one or more of these adventures get in touch - I am on T-Mobile so my connectivity is pretty poor, but hopefully I can get messages. Contacting Nalumon or Sam and Raquel might be more successful at least some of the time. Generally I try to get an early start (6 am is often the goal although sometimes it ends up being more like 7 or 7:30) to avoid the afternoon storms.

Aug 9 Mt Holy Cross

sometime between the 9th and the 16th, probably trying to avoid the weekend and taking the 15th off unless that seems like a good idea.

Gray and Torreys
Evans and Bierstadt
Quandary Pk

Aug 16th Sherman
Aug 17 Lincoln, Bross, Democrat, etc
Aug 18 Elbert
Aug 19 Massive
Aug 20 Missouri, Oxford, Belford
Aug 21 La Plata
Aug 22 Huron
Aug 23 Harvard and Columbia
Aug 24 Shavano and Tabeguache

Then on to Fort Collins for the Wanderlust 108 on the 27th.

After that I plan on finishing any peaks in the area before heading down to the Sangre de Cristo range.

Sam and Raquel finish the catwalk to Eolus

a welcome sunrise high on the buttress to El Diente

A long drive and the Winter OR show

I recently had the opportunity to drive across half the country and attend the Winter OR show (OR = Outdoor Retailer). The drive started later than I wanted because I am a slow packer and I couldn't find the pin to hold my bike rack up so I improvised with a tent stake. I had one really long day and a few other long days driving from Boston to Salt Lake City. It was especially interesting in western Nebraska with some snow squalls and then in Wyoming with some fierce winds and a little blowing snow. It was also pretty cold. I don't usually get ice build up on the wood paneling in the back of my truck.

making the jump to lightspeed in western Nebraska

Blowing snow obscures the road in Wyoming

Jason and Chelsey warm up for an acro yoga performance

After I got to SLC I had some not so fun truck issues - I later realized it was in the battery connection, but at the time I had some grueling uphill pushing and attempts to push start. At least that did get me out of the sloped and short term pay parking area so I could go to sleep and deal with it the next afternoon.

The OR show had a bit of work (helping set up and take down the Prana booth and rejuvenation room), some boring times, some interesting things to see at the show, seeing and sometimes catching up with friends, making some connections, etc. etc. As usual there was some interesting schwag and good deals to be had. As usual hanging with the Yogaslackers is rarely dull for long, although they were mostly gearing up to head to Patagonia for an adventure race. I was hoping to get to go along to film, but that fell through.

Paul lays down some 2 gun mojo - nerf style...

...but it didn't take long to devolve

It also appears that winter has finally come to Utah.

short update from Wanderlust and the OR show

Once again life has been hectic, which is nice, but hectic.

Sam walks a water line at Lake Tahoe

Wanderlust was fun, as you might expect. How can you go wrong with a yoga - music festival with a heap of Yogaslackers? Among other things we did a human anchored line over the high camp pool. Here is a link to a pic someone else took of it.

http://unofficialnetworks.com/line-week-day-pool-34423/

After Wanderlust it was off to SLC for the Outdoor Retailer show where I helped set up the Prana booth and the Rejuvenation room, wandered the exhibit halls looking at all the shiny new things, hung out with fellow Yogaslackers, and didn't get a lot of sleep.

These pictures of Sam, Paul, and Jason were all over the show

Sam and Dan do some acro on the 5th floor roof of the SLC library

We escaped a well behaved zombie apocalypse in a large SUV

then went on to pioneer the sport of acro yoga pool - here Sam breaks from bird

Next I plan on heading back to the Sierra with a stop in Great Basin Natl. Park to head up Wheeler Peak, and then try my hand (and more importantly feet and legs) at the Sierra Challenge. My prediction - Pain.