Winter is coming – but in a good way

We had our first snow at the house on Wednesday after a stunning 70 degree weekend. To max out the beautiful weather, we took our hardest hike yet, 12 miles and over 3000 feet of climbing (yes, it says 13 miles below, but we don’t think that is accurate).

Those of you who know me well won’t be surprised to hear that I complained. A LOT! I’m glad that we did it, even though I was sore for days.

Scenes from the hike

Some of the neighbors! Also note that it’s snowing.

Yesterday’s sunrise

The week before, I was in Seattle and took my mom to visit the Japanese garden.

and the conservatory

After 6 days with no ice cream (probably a record for me), Hugh picked me up at the Montrose airport and we got DQ!

All’s well that ends well … and more fall fun

We learned some important lessons last weekend, including the fact that diesel engine glow plugs don’t appreciate being at 11,000 feet of elevation, especially when it is nearly freezing overnight. We woke up Sunday morning to the unpleasant reality that the van would not start, which was particularly inconvenient because we were 12 miles (1 hour driving) up a dirt road from the highway. Also, our camping site was in the trees, nice and shady, which would have been great if we didn’t need the sun to warm up the engine block. After a couple of unsuccessful attempts to push the van into the sun, Hugh decided to use a long log as a lever, and with each of us using a log lever, we pushed the van ten feet into a sunny spot. Two hours later, the van started. Phew!

We also learned that we need to up our game on camping preparedness! We ran out of propane for our stove, had no lighters or matches to start a fire after the stove died, and had no means of purifying water. If we’d been stuck for a day, we would have been really thirsty and unhappy.

Fortunately, we had Peeps! I sacrificed one to the goddess of glow plugs (this surely helped the van start) and ate one as breakfast dessert. If properly toasted, a Peep caramelizes nicely. Yummy!

Peep awaiting its fate

This was the beginning of the sacrifice. Unfortunately, I can’t upload the video of how it all ended, but since I know you’ve dropped a marshmallow in the fire at least once in your life, you can imagine the outcome.

Rebekah, a Portland friend, visited last week and we hiked every day. We had perfect weather and saw many beautiful sites, including…

the South rim of the Black Canyon

Aspens off of Kebler Pass

Aspens carved by sheepherders in the 1950’s (close to Crawford)

and Grand Mesa- the world’s largest flat-top mountain at more than 500 sq. miles.

Thanks for reading!

How can it be October already?!

Hello friends! A month ago, I had good intentions about getting my blog going. Clearly, that didn’t happen! Partially, I’m just intimidated by writing and also by learning WordPress. But also, life’s been more complicated than I expected. First, I got what was probably altitude sickness that laid me flat for three day, including my birthday. Then I took a six day trip to Seattle to spend time with my mom, which was great in many ways, but I got sick with COVID a couple of days after I returned. Now, I’m back on my feet and starting to feel fully human again… just in time for leaf peeping in the aspen groves!

We took a short hike on Grand Mesa and a longer hike off of Kebler Pass over the weekend. “Unrelentingly beautiful” to quote our friend Peter.

It looked like the tree was decorated with aspen leaves like holiday ornaments!

Be well!