Merry Christmas from the Lowes

http://elfyourself.jibjab.com/view/eVijfyFpUKvtXsEc7TTX

. . . A Lot Like Christmas

We've received nearly 2 feet of snow thus far this weekend. This morning I skied for 4 hours in knee-deep powder at Highlands (opening day, mind you, so no tracks had been laid until today).  Now I can't feel my legs.  It shows that sitting in an office all day is great for physical conditioning.

And the tree is up and ready to go. I am just waiting for Sam to pull too hard on an ornament and have the tree topple on top of him. (We also took Sam to see Santa this evening, and you would have thought he had been shot when we put him on Santa's lap).

The Ski Season has Begun

Sam helped me get the skis in order last weekend . . . and then up to the slopes.

And this was me that afternoon (but that's not really me)

Happy Thanksgiving

To get into the Thanksgiving Spirit, Sam did his "Pajama Indian War Cry" . . .

. . . and then he scalped Elmo.

GO UTES

It's Tough To Get Over Halloween

We are well into November by now, but some of us are still stuck on October 31.

A dude with his hands in his pants

A sight we see all too often around here.

Battle of the Beavers

We kept waking up to find all kinds of trees around the house missing . . .

Sam was furious . . .
So we called in a beaver expert, who set this trap in the river, and the next morning, look at what we caught . . .
Now this beaver exists merely as a Davey Crockett hat on some rich NY person's gelled hair while he is in Aspen on vacation.

A Chicken and a Pumpkin

Sam couldn't decide which to be for Halloween, so he decided to be both . . .

. . . until he decided to have the most severe emotional meltdown to date which landed him in bed at 6:20 PM on Halloween night.

A Chronological Progression of the Big Pumpkin

We got the biggest pumpkin available . . .

. . . and then Sam guarded it so that no idiot kids would steal it . . .

. . . then we wrestled it . . .
. . . and finally carved it in our pajamas . . .

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Furniture Fight

. . . and it looks like the furniture won.

NBA Ready

With the NBA pre-season underway, we are gearing up for what is bound to be a glorious season for the Utah Jazz. Sam has already mastered the "triple threat," as evidenced above.

High Altitude Autumn Free Fall Training

Snowmass Hot Air Balloon Festival

Sam enjoyed the hot air balloons so much that he excitedly yelled "POP" the whole time . . . so we had to have a talk about not sending "bad vibes" or "negative energy" to others.

Vasque Golden Leaf Half Marathon

Becky and I, together with my sister Megan from Salt Lake City, ran the beautiful Golden Leaf Half Marathon yesterday. The course is a trail that runs through the mountains from Snowmass to Aspen. The trail was rough, but the leaves were AMAZING. Unfortunately though, I did NOT win.

So failure . . . I guess.

Autumn

The time to hang from trees in the woods

College Football Saturday

. . . much to Becky's chagrin.

gloves, headlamp, and a bear bell

Now that the cold autumn mornings have arrived, it is dark as night at 5:30 AM when we go out to train for the Vasque Golden Leaf Half Marathon. It's an interesting feeling; knowing there are bears lurking in the trees as you run. And then the sun comes up and along the trail you see fresh bear "shat" (rhymes with scat, and means the same thing). But with gloves, a headlamp, and a bear bell, all is well.

UPDATE: This morning (Friday 9/12/2008), I returned from a beautifully rainy early morning run, and at the bottom of the driveway was a bear with her cub. I clapped to shooo them away. The cub ran away, but the mother just stared at me. So I backed up while clapping at her. She just stared. Nothing like a "stare-down" from a black bear to wake you up in the morning.

Summer Slipping By

In the last few weeks, summer has been a whirlwind of travel. We skipped over to Salt Lake City for Labor Day, where we had so much fun that we only took this one photo of Sam enjoying the yogurt. Before that, Sam and Becky spent a few days in Chicago with Little Lou. Now, the mornings are colder, and summer is slipping away. Autumn is on its way.

Another Kitchen Window Brown Trout

I caught this nice 15 inch brown trout outside the kitchen window on a beat-up size 10 royal wulff . . . thus the name "Kitchen Window Brown Trout." Now, so as not to turn this into a fly-fishing blog, I promise that I won't post any more photos of Colorado's trout for the rest of the summer (unless I catch a real monster).

The hike from Aspen to Crested Butte

Becky and I began our "Credit-Card Fast Packing" trip Saturday morning, with the plan of hiking from Aspen, through the mountains, to Crested Butte. The drive alone takes 4 - 5 hours, but as the crow flies, Crested Butte is only 20(ish) miles from Aspen. It was dark and cold and rainy and ominous when we started. When we arrived at Crater Lake (below), the lightning and thunder was soooo bad that we decided to throw in the towel and head home.

We took cover in the pines as the hail pelted us (the lone figure is Matt) . . .

Notice the hail on the trail . . . but Becky is still smiling, although cold

The storm grew worse as we headed back down to Aspen. But it was all very "Alaska-like."

Finally the storm broke, and after losing several hours sitting under pines and hiking back to Aspen, we decided to carry on. Becky bravely made the first cold river crossing in 30 degree weather . . .

A few hours later, we were nearly to the top of West Maroon Pass. We were still freezing cold and soaked to the bone . . . (notice the trail cutting up to the ridge)




And finally on top of the pass . . . 12,500 feet . . . the view back toward Aspen.

The view over the pass toward the Crested Butte side . . .

And then the treacherous descent down the pass on slick rocks (that little speck on the trail is Becky) . . .

Down the mountain we went . . . past summertime glaciers . . .

And finally we descended into the high hills and alpine wild flowers at about 11,000 feet . . .

Close up of the wildflowers . . .

And then hours later we finally made into Crested Butte. We dried out, thawed out, and spent the evening on the town . . .

This has to be the greatest siding to a home that I have ever seen . . .

And then the next morning we were on the trail again back to Aspen, but this time under sunnier skies . . .

Becky preparing to go over the pass again . . . 12,500 feet . . .

And then, on top of the pass, the weather started rolling in again . . .

Becky heading back down the pass to the Aspen side . . .

The very cold wade through a glacier fed stream . . .

One last stop at Crater Lake high above Aspen, and one final "cleaning out of the shoes"

And look how thick the aspen forests are . . .

And two days later, we finally threw the bags back in the car and headed home . . . Aspen to Crested Butte, and then Crested Butte to Aspen!

We encourage all who can to someday do this hike, it was truly UNREAL!