Rocky Mountain National Park: The North Inlet-Tonahutu Creek loop
aka-Continental Divide Loop Trail
8/21/11 to 8/28/11
The North Inlet-Tonahutu Creek loop is a 26-mile (42-kilometer) trail that gives you spectacular alpine scenery. You'll travel through 5,000+ feet of elevation gain and a number of different ecosystems, including subalpine forest and alpine tundra, drinking spring water along the way and seeing the occasional bull elk staring you in the face while he grazes. Definitely a classic hike. Click here for more trip details...
Sailing ASA 101 Course
6/18/11 & 6/19/11
Took my first sailing course. It was a great introduction to sailing and I learned a great deal. Hopefully I can get some sailing in all summer and early fall.
1st Post Minesectomy Hike : 10k at South Mountain Reservation
5.7.11
Did my first hike since my menisectomy. It felt great. No pain. No swelling. And I felt in relatively good shape, considering. In addition, I pulled out my new toy, the NIKE+ with GPS sports watch. Oh, how I love this thing. Tracks distance, elevation, and puts it all in a nice little package on website so you can track your progress over time.
Why do you take an avalanche course?
This is why. Who knows when you are going to get caught in one of these. But if you are, you want to be with teammates who know what to do if and when it happens.
NOLS Wilderness First Aid Course, Bloomsburg PA
April 2011
The WMI of NOLS WFA/WFR Recertification course is an introductory level course designed to provide outdoor leaders, guides and rangers an introduction to First Aid and patient care in remote settings. Special topics include, but are not limited to: wound management and infection, realigning fractures and dislocations, improvised splinting techniques, patient monitoring and long-term management problems, plus up-to-date information on environmental emergencies. Emphasis is placed on principles of treatment and decision making, not the memorization of lists.
Upon successful completion of the course a two year WMI of NOLS Wilderness First Aid certification will be issued. All levels of training and experience are welcome. This course does not include CPR.
2011 Expedition March Madness
Whenever I meet someone for the first time, we inevitably get to talking about my website. I don’t think it is because I look to bring it up. At least I hope it’s not because I do, because I would hate to be that person who constantly steers every conversation to their comfort zone. No, most often we start talking about traveling and since I’ve done some interesting trips, they usually ask me about it and either want to see pictures or want to find out more information about how they can do it. This is the reason I started the site in the first place – to make it easier to answer those inevitable questions.
This year, while out in Vermont alternating between breaking my physical therapists advice not to snowboard one day, and lying around the cabin wishing I was the next, I found myself square in the middle of two simultaneous conversations. Interestingly enough, the question of “who’s going to final four?” was asked of me within seconds of the question “what’s the best trip you’ve ever done?”
I answered the same way I always do, since it’s hard to say unequivocally which expedition is ‘the best.’ I have 2 or 3 that certainly stand out, but usually my favorite depends on what you mean by best. Most memorable, most exciting, most challenging.
It was at that point I realized that expeditions are like teams during March Madness. The answer to the question of which is the best expedition really depends on the seeding. Any expedition can knock of the favorite depending on which criteria you consider the most important on that particular day. So since I had nothing to do but sit around and think about silly things like this anyway, I decided to go ahead and put together my own bracket and see which shakes out as the champ.
Round 1 - The Sweet 16
Mount Snow, Vermont
3/11/11 - 3/13/11
Avalanche Course Pinkham Notch, NH
February 2011
A 3 day introductory course providing a basic understanding of avalanches...
Mount Washington Climb
January 2011
Annual MLK Day climb of the peak with the worst weather in the world...
Acadia National Park: Trekking in Main
October 2010
Acadia is the first national park east of the Mississippi river. We took the 10 hour drive up to Maine to check out the trails and waves in the park. I'm not sure my photos do the place justice, but it really was a cool place to check out. You certainly don't need a great deal of gear since all of the trails are basically day hikes (they don't allow camping in the park).
The Gauley: White Water Rafting Class IV rapids
October 2010
Rafting the Gauley. If you can't tell by Tabitha's face, we weren't supposed to be hitting that rock! Jeremey's masterful steering job aside, we provided a good deal of enjoyment to the bystanders lining the river banks waiting to see carnage.
South Cascades: Mt St Helens, South Sister, Crater Lake
June 2010
I don't think there is any site I like better than standing above the clouds.
El Potrero Chico: Rock Climbing in Mexico
March 2010
Spring break in mexico climbing rocks and drinking margaritas.
Mount Marcy: Winter Ascent
Feb 2010
My first winter camping experience. This was a seriously windy summit. This was alos a seriously cold camp (-13 degrees).
Mt Washington - Year 3:
Jan 17, 2010
This was my third straight MLK day climbing this peak. The weather was unreal. It was the first time in 3 years that I actually saw the mountain. Typically it's just about a 50 foot visibility given the weather.
Mexico Mountaineering Jan 2010:
La Melinche, Iztaccihuatl & Pico de Orizaba
Mt Saint Helens, Mt Adams & Mt Rainier:
May 31st, 2009
My first time on a glacier.
Hike the Grand Canyon:
May 12th, 2009
After Joe was unable to go last year, and the trip itinerary did not get us the full way down to the Colorado, we felt like we had unfinished business at the GC. So this year, we decided to swith it up, take a different route, and try to squeeze the juice out of the Canyon.
As usual with this trip, we had an early casualty as JP got called back to service minutes before descending into the canyon. However, the trip was a good one. Check it out on the 2009 Grand Canyon Hike page.
Brett Simpson took some really good pictures, one of which is the one below, with a really wide angle lense that put out some really interesting looks. Check out some of his other stuff at brettsimpsonphotography.com.
5 Boro Bike Tour
May 4, 2009
I do the tour every other year. This year, a bunch of people stayed at the house and did the tour like every year, however, it rained much more than most years. It was WET and COLD. The hot shower afterwards felt quite nice.
Skydiving Jump School
April 12, 2009
Took my Comprehensive Jump Course. The next stop. . . Jumping SOLO.
Skydiving
March 28, 2009
I am addicted to the adrenaline rush of jumping out of a plane. Steps 2 and 3 are now down. 22 to go until I'm officially certified.
