Mt. Massive

Mt Massive

I summited my 17th 14er yesterday. Mt Massive is the second tallest peak in Colorado at 14,321 feet above sea level. Most of the peaks in Colorado are named to honor someone or something, Lincoln , Elbert, Harvard, etc. Mt. Massive is my favorite name because it is very accurately massive. There are 2 ways up to the top. One is 4 miles to the top and one is 6 miles to the top. No brainer, right? You go with the shorter route. But what you have to realize is that they both have the same elevation gain. So you have to decide…would you rather climb 4500 feet in 4 miles (steep) or 6 miles (less steep)? I chose steep.

Me and Noah and Jonah drove up to the trailhead Saturday night. It was a narrow, bumpy dirt road for 7 miles and a 4-wheel drive only road for the last half a mile. Since every step is precious to me, I forged ahead in the mini van to the very end. We were proudly the only 2wd vehicle at the top. Way to go Odyssey!! I am willing to take a car with 250,000 miles on it to many more places than I am a new car.

We had intended to back pack for a mile or so to get a head start in the morning but when we got there we saw that we were in a wilderness area with no camping allowed. So we set up camp at the trailhead which was just as well since it was getting too dark to hike anyway. We had a nice little camp with a fire, two tents and a hammock.

We woke at 6 and were on the trail by 7. It was straight up. After an hour and a half I had a tough decision to make. Jonah was having no problem and was struggling to slow down, but Noah was struggling to keep up. This surprised me because 2 years ago Noah was a climbing stud. In 2009, we climbed the tallest peak in Colorado and he was unstoppable. He beat me and Jonah to the top by an hour. But today he was struggling. He was sweating and resting too often and was starting to stumble. At the 2 mile mark I told Jonah to go ahead without me and meet me at the top and I would stay with Noah. Ten minutes after Jonah left, I finally had to stop Noah and tell him to go back. Every year a dozen people die on Colorado 14ers. Nine have died so far this year. Lightening, heart attacks and falls are the most common reasons. Noah was sweaty and his legs were shaking. I kept asking him if he wanted to go on and he said yes. Finally when I saw him stumble on a fairly easy climb, I had to make a decision. I told Noah I was sending him back. I was torn about whether or not to go back with him or send him back by himself. I was worried about him finding his way back (he has very poor vision) and I was worried about Jonah being on top and not knowing where we were. I finally gave Noah very specific instructions about finding his way back and what to do if he was lost and I left him. Tough decision because it would be 5 hours before I got back to the trailhead to find out if he'd made it or not. It might not sound like a big deal but we are still missing a hiker in a similar situation on a 14er from last October. The trails aren't always obvious. I chose to go on because Jonah was on the more dangerous part of the mountain. Like I said...tough decision.

It took me two hours to catch Jonah at the top, take a quick picture and head back down. Believe it or not, down is harder than up on a pair of old knees. As soon as we headed down we caught a brief snow flurry, (yes...on August 21st). We got back to the van at 1:30 and was relieved to find Noah was there taking a nice long nap. So alls well that ends well and another peak to add to my list. I'm not sure how many more I'll do. Ten years ago, my goal was to do 5 per year until I'm climbed all 54, but now I'm not so sure. I don't get the joy out of them that I once did. The views are still spectacular and I do appreciate that I can see scenes that most people can't, but seriously...these climbs are hard! It takes me days to recover! I think that main reason I'll keep doing at least one every year is just to see if I still can. It's a test to see if I am still able I suppose. I'll confess that everytime I climb one, I swear it's my last, but today I found myself on the internet exploring which one to do next so we'll see.

Happy climbing!

Make Room!

My camping and backpacking trips have typically been blessed with good fortune. I usually experience pretty decent weather and conditions so I suppose I've been a little spoiled. The odds caught up with me this past weekend on our 2nd Annual Family Backpacking Extravaganza.

Seventeen of us (Stouts, Barneys and Crockers) went to the Grand Mesa area in western Colorado. We ranged in age from 7 to 49 so we tried to pick a hike that accommodated all. We ended up at Bull Reservoir. The map showed it was just 2 relatively flat miles from the trail head but it didn't show that there was 100 yards of ankle deep swamp we had to hike through. That was the first hardship and we had to deal with damp shoes and socks for the rest of the weekend. The kids insisted on cooking their shoes around the fire but I just let mine dry out on my feet.

The 2nd hardship was a biblical plague of mosquitoes. I may be getting forgetful but I don't recall ever being in that kind of swarm before. As soon as we got to camp we built 2 very smokey fires which helped a little bit. We intentionally put green wood on the fire to keep the smoke up. Mosquitoes tend not to like my blood so I suffered less than most. I counted 3 bites when I got home and I saw one pair of legs that had to have 50 bites per leg. One participant who shall remain nameless counted 7 bites on her rump from just one squat in the bushes. (camping is one of the times I'm most grateful to be a guy!)

Finally there was the rain. We were luck to only get a few quick showers during the day but a monsoon visited us on Saturday night. Fifteen of us had the proper equipment and stayed warm and dry but because of my previous good luck with the weather I under prepared. I was in a cheap Walmart one man tent and Jonah was on a hammock with a plastic sheet over him. At 1am, the winds were so strong that Jonah fell out of his hammock. At 1:50 the rain started coming down hard. At 1:55, the hammock had turned into a bathtub and I heard Jonah shouting "MAKE ROOOOM!" just before he came barrelling into my one man tent. I made room but we were both against the tent walls and couldn't straighten our legs. At 2:15, my cheap tent became so saturated that it started raining on the inside. By then I was checking the time every 10 minutes and thinking "12 more hours and I'll be home", "11 hours and 45 minutes and I'll be taking a hot shower", etc.

So those were the bad things. The fun memories include lots of laughing, a badminton tournament (congratulations Jen and Sam), BEAUTIFUL scenery, bacon on a stick, campfire games, knot lessons, an appreciation for warm beds and indoor plumbing, and just being with old friends and telling old stories again. The good far out weighed the bad. Next year will find us in Escalante, Utah. Let me know if you'd like to come!

Paint Job

Samantha is home for the summer! I'm completely enjoying her company and she makes a mean sandwich. However, the original plan was for her to live rent free while she worked and saved some money. Unfortunately, her promised job fell through so she's only accomplishing the rent free part of the plan.

The long Keystone winters have taken a toll on the exterior of my house and the paint is peeling in several areas. This is not a good look when your home is on the market. (Five bedrooms of mountain paradise if you are interested!)

Obviously, these two problems needed to be introduced. Unemployed daughter meet unpainted house. It's a big job. The walls need to be powerwashed. The peeling areas need to be sanded. Colors need to be chosen. Primer needs to be applied. Ladders need to be climbed and brushes need to be washed. She does a little a day and she's doing a good job. I'm doing the really high spots for her because if a broken neck is part of this project, I'd rather it be on me instead of her.

It feels like I'm living in a new house and she has new skills for her resume'. It's called a "win/win".

First Aid Lesson

I finally got to get out on my bike yesterday for the first time since October. Blue skies and temps in the 60's made for perfect biking weather. Well, actually any day that isn't snowing lately is good enough biking weather. My friend and I were 17 miles into a 20 mile loop when I nearly ran over a bike...and a teenage boy...and a lot of blood.

The kid had crashed less than a minute before I arrived and was just starting to raise his head from the puddle of blood on the asphalt and before I could ask if he was alright, he said, "I lost my tooth." I looked where his face had been laying on the asphalt and there was a perfectly intact tooth, roots and all.

Some basic first aid was clearly required, but what? Take a minute and think about it. What steps were necessary in this situation?

The first step should have happened before I got on the bike. I should have had a basic first aid kit. I had a tool kit for bike repairs but I had nothing for people repairs. Wrong decision. I'm going to remedy that today.

He obviously had a head injury, so I did know that I should be concerned about a concussion. By this time he was sitting up and talking and coherent so I didn't put him through any drills about what day of the week it was, etc. I asked if he'd lost consciousness and he didn't think so. Other bikers arrived and now there were four of us wondering what to do. For some reason I decided it was important to keep the tooth moist and clean so I took some gauze from someone who did have a first aid kit and we poured water on the tooth and wrapped it up. Wrong decision. Believe it or not the next person to come upon was...an oral surgeon. I'm serious! We are on a Summit County bike path on a Sunday afternoon with a tooth emergency and up rides an oral surgeon. He corrected my tooth decision and said the tooth needed to be reinserted back into the mouth as soon as possible. If the tooth is out of the mouth for more than an hour then it probably can't be saved. So we unwrapped the tooth and the kid (Ben) slid it right back in.

Ben had called his mother who was on her way, so we did not call 911. Wrong decision. Ben was a minor and none of us were sure about what to do. If the surgeon hadn't come by with his expert advice, then there probably would have been no chance to save the tooth. A paramedic or even a cop would have known what to do. Ben's mother was 20 minutes away so we walked him about 50 yards to the road to wait for her. While we were waiting, a cop saw us and pulled over. She saw that it was a head injury with a lot of blood and she immediately called for a paramedic. Ben started to protest that his mom couldn't afford an ambulance but the police officer assured him that there would be no charge.

Hopefully Ben saved his tooth and had no concussion. No harm was done by my not being prepared because a first aid kit, an oral surgeon, and a cop all appeared when they were needed, but I'm kicking myself anyway because I like to be prepared for these things.

Here are the lessons I learned.
1. Pack a small first aid kit.
2. Know basic first aid.
3. THE TOOTH GOES BACK IN THE MOUTH!
4. When in doubt, call 911.

The last point I'll make is about helmets. Ben wasn't wearing one. This could have turned out much worse. I even think a helmet could have protected his teeth because it extends beyond the forehead and might have hit the pavement before his mouth did.

5. WEAR YOUR HELMET!

No End in Sight

Last year before I even knew that May 21st was the end of the world, I blogged about doomsdayers and their irrefutable evidence. (reposted below) I don't know why this topic interests me but I've always been fascinated by stories throughout history of people who have sold all possessions to wait for their ticket to heaven that they didn't have to die for. That kind of faith, however misguided it might be, is almost noble and inspiring. But one common thread in the stories always bothered me. It was the JOY they all felt about the extinction of humanity.

This latest group is disappointed that 200 million true believers weren't lifted up to heaven on Saturday while everyone else suffered and eventually died as a series of earthquakes and famine destroyed the Earth. "You can imagine we're pretty disappointed, but the word of God is still true" says one believer. Another man, his voice quavering, said he was still holding out hope that they were one day off. Another said exactly what all others have said the day after they didn't get raptured. She asserted that their prayers worked: God delayed judgment so that more people could be saved, but the end is still 'imminent'.

One television preacher from the midwest sounded perfectly reasonable as he pointed out the errors and delusions of these latest doomsdayers, but then seemed to join them when he said, "We have no doubt that the end is near and we continue to pray that it comes quickly."

Why are these people soooo eager for the end??? I think I got a clue this morning when I read this quote from one of Harold Campings tearful followers. "With maxed-out credit cards and a growing mountain of bills, he said, the rapture would have been a relief," Ahhhhh....Ok. That explains a lot. I think I get it now!


Here's what I wrote last year.

THE END IS NEAR

Doomsdayers have shouted this prediction for thousands of years and the only end has been their own. The recent "irrefutable evidence" has come from this years series of earthquakes. I've always assumed that the mountains and canyons and volcanos and sink holes and tsunamis and hurricanes that are all over the globe were evidence that we live on an evolving, living planet. Not so! I just read an article about the latest quake in Turkey but that's not where the real information was. The good stuff was below the article in the comments section. That is the best part of getting your news online. You get to see read people's opinions of the news. And since all comments are anonymous you get see the crazy stuff that these people really think about.

There were nearly 2000 comments on this article so naturally I didn't read them all, but I did browse a couple hundred and here is a breakdown of earthquake theories.

60% say the reason is biblical. Jesus is returning and the earthquakes are no surprise because it's all predicted in scripture. (Matthew 24:7 and Revelations 16:18-20). Biblical predictions have been around for 2000 years so this is nothing new. I have to be careful here because some of these beliefs are sincere but what stood out and bothered me about these posts was the apparent delight at the prospect of the end of the world. Sinners (humans who don't believe what you believe) were finally going to get what was coming to them. Seriously! These people have the same joyful confidence of the suicide bomber before he squeezes the trigger. Just no doubt in their minds about what comes next and joy in the knowledge that people were going to be hurt.

10% say government conspiracy. Included in this number are the handful who say it's Obama's fault. Apparently the United States has developed an earthquake machine and we are in the process of testing it around poor countries. Other more sensible conspiracy theorists say don't be silly. There is no earthquake machine. The US is conducting undersea nuclear tests. Both sides have lots of compelling evidence which I won't go into here.

10% say it's all about the 2012 Mayan prophecies. For more information...see the movie.

10% have actually made the case that earthquakes are caused by global warming. You see, because both poles are melting, the weight of the earth is getting redistributed and geologic shifts are occurring. The quakes are going to continue until the earth finds balances its new weight. One woman (who had quotes from Fox News) combines this theory with the conspiracy theories and says Al Gore is running the earthquake machine to fool us into believing him so he can take over the world.

5% believe mother earth is a living breathing organism and human kind is a parasite or bacteria on its surface. Because of our bad habits, she is finally taking action to get rid of us.

3% say oil drilling and coal mining are too blame. It's obvious that if you remove the interior of any object then the exterior is going to start collapsing. Also, the oil acts as a natural lubricant on the plates and now its missing so there is more friction that causes earth quakes. Ok, I have to confess that I almost started to believe this one. It made sense to me and the people explaining it were using really big, scientificky words that impressed me.

Only 2% of the people believed that there is nothing new or unusual going on. Here is a quote I lifted that summarizes my own views. "All you fatalists and conspiracy idiots are just that, idiots. Earthquakes have been happening around the world for thousands of years and every time idiots perceive it as a harbinger of Armageddon. Today's day and age with easily accessible information through the internet and growing number of people in areas that are able to report it so quickly, it may seem like there is an unusual amount of catastrophic natural disasters, but the fact is is that you are more readily informed of these events than the past. They've always been occurring, all over the world so get a grip and move on".

At first it frightened me that 98% of the population believe something dark and unusual is going on. But then with relief, I realized that it is just 98% of anonymous public forum commentors dying for attention. Tell me that's right. There aren't really only 2 out of 100 people that think this is all perfectly normal, right? Right?

So I wrote a book...

...actually, WE wrote a book....my brother and I. We spent a few years and several hundred hours writing it. We wrote, we edited, we wrote, we argued, we criticized, we joined writers clubs, we wrote, we researched, we threw things, we quit, we accepted advice, we met with agents and publishers, we won an award, we laughed about lame love scenes, we wrote and we were ulimately rejected for publication.

But NOW! But now anybody can publish anything online. I can upload the phone book to Amazon and slap a $2.99 price tag on it and you can download it to your e-reader. So although we were rejected by publishers across the globe, YOU can can restore my self esteem and talk me down from this bridge by purchasing my book. You can restore your friend's self confidence for only $2.99. This is less than a penny a page for the greatest novel of our generation! Let's see...if I have to give Amazon 30% of the proceeds, that leaves $2.09 for the authors. And I can keep it all for myself if I can keep it from Rick that I've published this thing after we gave up 5 years ago. (shhhhh.....don't tell him) And if I can convince just ten of you to buy it, I can eat breakfast at Village Inn and still be able to leave a generous tip! That means I will have earned about 40 cents a month for the time I spent writng it. Of course, all of these calculations get cut in half if Rick finds out what I'm doing. Shhhhhh.....

Here is the link http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004WKQO0O/ref=cm_cr_thx_view

If you are still unconvinced, please read the testimonials below.

"This is a book" Todd Barney

"Please stop calling me" Steven King

"I have a dream" Martin Luther King

"I'm the more talented brother." Mike Crocker

"I'm callling the police if you don't get off my porch." John Grisham

"I've seen worse." Thomas Monson

"You'll pay me how much to say what?" Samantha Crocker

So there you go...what's stopping you? What's it about? It's a mystery that spans 135 years of a prominant Colorado family. There's war, poverty, love, betrayal, murder and redemption. There are no sex scenes because writing them made us giggle.

THANK-YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT!!!

Memory Keeper

"Do not forget the things your eyes have seen or let them slip from your heart as long as you live. Teach them to your children and your children's children."
Deuteronomy 4:9

In a complex, mobile society like ours, the stories of our lives get overshadowed and replaced by stories from Hollywood and CNN. Our histories are fragile, scattered and replaced. Our need to examine and to share our stories is vital--for our own mental health, for our relationships and our cohesiveness in community, and for the good of a future that can learn from our past. for these reasons every family needs a Memory Keeper.

My mother is our families memory keeper and she turns 80 years old today. Happy Birthday, Mom! She believed at a very young age that everyone has a rich history and a story to tell - a story that should be passed on and her efforts at preserving her families legacy have been priceless.

Mom bought a camera at a young age many of us still enjoy the photos from over 60 years ago. My earliest memories are of getting my picture taken and she carried her camera as we all carry cell phones today. We all learned early that she wasn't going to give up until she got the picture she wanted and we knew that a quick pose and a smile was the quickest way to get her to put the camera down. Her home has an entire wall of shelves filled with photo albums and at a recent family reunion she gave away hundreds of pictures to aunts, uncles, neices, nephews, children and grandchildren. Our lives were very well documented and the memories we all share will remain alive - for generations to come! These are the moments and memories that make us human and that connect us to our heritage.

"We all grow up with the weight of history on us. Our ancestors dwell in the attics of our brains as they do in the spiraling chains of knowledge hidden in every cell of our bodies." ~Shirley Abbott

Mom always appreciated the importance of family and felt the need to preserve her families history. In the mid 1970's, Roots was shown on TV and it created a million new genealogists in America. Mom and I were among them. It was an interest that I could share with my mother even at 15. 35 years later we both still have genealogy charts on our walls and can immediately tell you where Great Great Grandfather was married in 1880 or which village in Sweden our family comes from. Everytime I discover a new ancestor - someone who lived and loved and died and who's DNA flows through my own veins, I imagine that they are grateful to be discovered and remembered. It makes me feel connected to something bigger than myself and I love that I can share this hobby with my mother.

"I promise that if you will keep your journals and records, they will indeed be a source of great inspiration to your families, to your children, your grandchildren, and others, on through the generations. Each of us is important to those who are near and dear to us and as our posterity reads of our life's experiences, they, too, will come to know and love us." Spencer W. Kimball

One of the reasons I keep a blog is because I believe that it is a 21st century version of a journal. Perhaps this is something else I picked up from Mom. The family histories she has written are a treasure to me and I believe they also will be to my great grand children. The records she kept of my childhood allowed me to compare what I weighed at 18 months to what my own children weighed at the same age. Every year she recorded what I wanted to be when I grew up. (mostly Batman or an astronaut) Because of her example I've tried to do the same for my kids and I hope they'll appreciate it as much as I have.

So Mom, for your 80th birthday I want to let you know how much I appreciate the stories you have given me and the memories you have recorded. Your life is a legacy and a gift that only you could have given. Thank-you for sharing it with me. I Love You.