Congolmeration Post Oct 3 – Nov 7

I’ve been recalcitrant in updating the blog lately and this is my attempt to get things squared away.

Oct 3: After Fletcher Mountain Jamie and I got out and hiked the Hell’s Hole trail by Mt. Evans. We were looking for a nice easy day and this trail delivered. It was 8mi and ~2000+ ft of elevation but it all on really nice trails and it wasn’t difficult at all. We took a few pictures but none really worth posting

Oct 9-11: My parents were in town for Canadian Thanksgiving and it was wonderful to see them again. We’ve done a pretty good job I think of getting together and staying connected but nonetheless it was wonderful to have them here. Unfortunately for the 2nd year in a row the weather was nasty and the views weren’t great so Denver didn’t really do her part. We mostly just had fun and spent time together getting caught up; the highlight was definitely Thanksgiving dinner up in Estes Park. While surrounded by the mountains, spending time with family, and being content with a full belly of turkey it’s pretty hard to worry about things (c:

Oct 14: was a good night, it was the Board of Directors meeting at Alpine Rescue where we finally got voted on the team! This marked the transition for us from “Prospective Members” to “official members” and while there was never any doubt in my mind it is definitely nice to be finished with the probation period. Alpine continues to be an amazing force in my life and it’s something I enjoy at every turn!

Oct 17: Jamie and I met up with a few of the other Alpiners and went down to The Buckhorn Exchange near downtown. Two other long-time Alpine members sing in the lounge on the weekend and it’s a great excuse to go and have some beer with friends. It’s an even better excuse to have their amazing apple pie with ice cream and caramel sauce!

Oct 25: Jamie and I braved the wintry weather to go and climb a peak and get a little exercise up at altitude. We had a good day on Lenawee Mountain with some nice views and some gnarly weather. At one point I think we even had neoprene facemasks on! (Contrast this with today’s weather, 20C and sunny!)

Oct 27-29: HUGE snowstorm hits Denver we get over 20 inches of snow in the city and outlying areas get even more.

Oct 29-Nov1: We took flight and landed in Memphis, home of BB King, Elvis and more importantly the entire Nellis Clan. We found some really cheap tickets out of the Colorado Springs airport which was great, and would have been even better if there hadn’t been a monstrous blizzard in the days before! Getting the airport was a challenge but we made it on time only to find out that there were tornadoes in Dallas and we’re delayed for 2hrs! Fortuantely when we landed there was piping hot bar-b-q waiting for us at Jamie’s brother’s place and the visit was underway. It was really good trip, and my first time to Memphis, it was wonderful to meet all of her family and we even braved an afternoon at the zoo with her 1yr old and 3yr old nephews. They were really very cute though so it was hard to say no. I got to meet her two best friends from back home and we had a good night, even crashed a Halloween party if I recall… In the end it was a wonderful visit, Jamie got to see most of her family again and I got to meet them for the first time and I’d say we even got along 😉 Oh! We also popped in to Graceland… what a place. Hallways of gold records, sequined suits in glass cases, airplanes with 24k gold sinks, and even a grave or two.

Nov 3: The Trans-Siberian Orchestra was in town and we had our faces rocked off in the 14th row! I’ve been listening to their stuff for a while now but have never been able to actually catch them in concert. Holy f-ing- hell do those guys put on a show! They played for 3hrs+ that night and it was completely over the top. For those that don’t know they tend to do more story oriented performances with a clear bias towards Christmas stories.Their current tour (at least, the one we saw) was Christmas Eve and Other Stories which tells the tale of a homeless man, a drunk, an angel, and a lost child. Effortlessly narrated by a man with a booming voice and backed up with a string orchestra, guitars, piano, and some huge choral numbers it was an amazing experience! I was exhausted at the end, I can’t imagine how they felt.

Nov 07: Today was the Field Training with Alpine Rescue (there’s that darn Alpine thing again!) and part 3 of 3 for our Avalanche training sessions. There isn’t a whole lot of snow right now, that 20+ inches just melted away, but there was enough to get the hang of doing beacon searches, probe lines, and more beacon searches. It was a glorious day, bright blue skies and excellent weather and spending the morning on a mountain pass is pretty hard to argue with.

Tomorrow we’re going to go out and climb Pettingell Peak, hopefully the weather is as nice tomorrow as it was today!

3 Comments

  1. SF
    November 9, 2009

    About time for an update! I was wondering if my RSS feed was broken.
    Looking through the pictures though I thought for a moment you had gone all special-needs on us. In the “Memories” photo at Graceland it looked like you had your cell phone hanging around your neck. Easy access and more secure than on a belt-loop I suppose, to hell with fashion and what everyone else does. I convinced myself it was for an audio-tour but I do have to wonder….
    Looks like your snow levels are similar to ours right now. I got out to go up Mt. Lipsett (a completely unremarkable mountain only really noted because it is near Mist Mtn which was more than we wanted to tackle on a lazy day) a week or two ago. Anywhere from windswept bare to 2 or 3 feet where it had drifted. Mostly about ankle depth though. If it would have been more supportive it would have made for an awesome ski though.

  2. JN
    November 9, 2009

    Yeah, it’s good to be back (c:

    Gotta love Graceland, it’s like a conveyor-belt amusement park. They hand out the Audio tours at the start (no charge, except the egregious $28 ea to get in!)and then you take a bus across the street and walk right through the front door.

    Mt Lipsett is pretty unremarkable with the possible exception of fresh summer strawberries, otherwise it’s a good trip up an old logging road. Personally I can’t wait for the snow to fly and to get some turns in… it’s a toss up between destroying my bases and getting the skiing season started!

  3. Tress Nellis
    November 11, 2009

    Jon,
    I enjoyed the pictures and narrative. Again, we so enjoyed your visit to Memphis and look forward to many more. I know you and Jamie will have fun this weekend in Winnepeg. Happy Birthday to your grandfather.
    Tress

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