At the Top of the World

I took a drive up Mt Evans to see the fall colors, which promised to be fantastic this weekend. I was not disappointed.

I took I-70 to Idaho Springs, which is the turnoff for the Mt Evans road. Along the way, I saw spectacular changes in the trees as I got higher in elevation. There were many times I wanted to stop along the way to take pictures, but I wanted to get as close to the summit as possible. Mt Evans is part of the National Park system, and is also run in partnership with the city of Denver. The road to the summit was closed, but I got up to Summit Lake Park.



This is overlooking Echo Lake Park, taken from along the road. It is the recreation area right before the ranger station at the Mt Evans road. The Mt Evans road is the highest paved road in North America.



This is a view of the summit from the lake, which was carved out by a glacier a long time ago. You can see that there is already snow! That's probably why the road to the summit was closed.



A short hike away, the glacier's path continues and yields this amazing view. I don't even know how far that is.



Next time I am definitely coming earlier so I can enjoy the lake more. I saw a couple who brought lawn chairs and were just hanging out. As it was, I had to drive back down. I stopped at the Mount Goliath Natural Area, right at the tree line. They even have a restaurant there.



I really enjoyed the aspens next to the evergreens. These were placed on a high rock right next to the road. The afternoon light makes the gold leaves even brighter.



I love living in Colorado.

Closing Weekend, Part 2

Closing day at Copper was a blast. For those who haven't seen a closing day, there are fun costumes, warm weather, music, and good times. The day started at the bed and breakfast in Frisco. This was our second time staying at the B&B, this time we got a patio room. Here we are enjoying the patio in the morning.



The day started off with a trip up American Eagle and then a suprise ride on Excelerator that took us to what is almost the top of the mountain. This picture taken later in the day shows the Ski Patrol Hut at top of the lift.



After a brief warm up run, I was in for my first suprise of the day. Our next destination was up three lifts, the previously mentioned American Eagle, Excelerator, and then a lift neither Meghann nor I had ridden, Storm King. Here is Meghann at the base of the lift and then again getting off.





For those of you who ski, yes that is a Poma Lift, yes it has significant elevation gain (unlike any other Poma I have ridden), and yes it is probably the toughest lift I have ever been on. I don't remember the T-bars and J-bars that well, but this was a challenge. What it meant however was not only would we be skiing a new black, we got a new lift, and still hadn't met Meghann's goal of going on Super Bee.

Here we are at the top of Storm King looking over the bowls. While we didn't ski any of the bowls this year, it is not far off.



The trip down was captured on video so I unfortunately do not have any pictures to show. We skied to the base and took a nice lunch before our ride up Super Bee. Word of advice, closing day is not the best time to go to the resturants, they run low on food at that point. Then again, it felt just like being back at the Taco Bell overseas. To add to that feeling, we had a nice visit from some friends later in the day.





It seems that I just can't get away from them.

Here we are riding up Super Bee, a six person high speed lift. Goal Accomplished!!!



Finally, me having a little bit of last run of the season fun.



(If you think I look scary in the picture, the sight was even worse in person) All in all, it was a wonderful end to a ski season I wasn't sure I would get to enjoy.

Copper Mountain, Closing Weekend

I arrived back in Colorado earlier this week and was excited to be able to make it to closing weekend at Copper Mountain. Meghann took Friday off and we drove up to ski through the last day of the season on Sunday. Friday the sun was out and the snow soft as you can see.



A few of our favorite runs are closed, but it was still a blast to go skiing. I was able to ski one day in early December, but otherwise this weekend will be my season. Next year we plan to get season passes to Copper and Winter Park. Meghann skied some while I was gone, so more photos may be forthcoming.

The soft snow made it harder to ski and took a lot more energy so we were both happy to have a short day. After skiing, we hung out at the base for a bit and enjoyed the sun.



Then it was time to go get food. Since we are staying in Frisco, we decided to check out some of the local resturants. Friday night we ate at a pizza place that was very tasty. In the mood for something different, we got a Mediterranean Shrimp pizza and had to take a picture.



Saturday the weather was not as sunny, but the snow was better because of it. Having warmed up on Friday, we decided to start the day on some more challenging terrain. Throughout the day there were several bands performing near the center village to celebrate the passing of another ski season. While we didn't hang out at the base much, it created a fun atmosphere. Favorite outfits included the people dressed as bananas, a gorilla, and wearing a union suit.

In the afternoon, Meghann rode a lift that she had never ridden before (Excelerator).



Here she is enjoying the sights at the top of the lift.



While we were skiing down, a light snow fall began to fall. The big news however was that Meghann decided to ski her first black run. Here she is in front of the sign.



The snow picked up while we were skiing to a brisk pace but had passed
by the time we reached the base. This picture looks back up the slope we had just skied.



Finally we got to see the East Village, after spending all of our previous time at either Union Creek or the Center Village.



Tomorrow's goal is to ride on Super Bee which is a six person high speed lift and maybe skiing a few more blacks (my goal, Meghann hasn't heard that one yet). We will try out a few new blues so it will be a fun conclusion regardless.

Favorite Shots

Here are a few of my favorite pictures from the past few months.

(Pictures to follow)

Tales of a new CHU

Moving into a brand new, only sat around for two years waiting to be installed, Wet CHU has been an experience. On the plus side, I got more space, a sink, and a toilet/shower that I share with one other person. On the downside, it took a few days to get the internet installed, they had to replace the smoke detectors with models that are hardwired in addition to having a battery backup (I trust the battery much more than I trust the power, so that in and of itself was rather humerous), and had to fix a leaking shower. Why someone once felt the need to drill holes in the shower lip, I will never know. The newest problem however took the cake for being down right funny. Fortunately I have pictures to share this expeperience with everyone else.

First, a close up shot of my new door. It later got the same day sleeper sign added that was on my old door.



Next, a picture of the problem:


And a close up of the after shot of both the door and the handle:





Note that the handle is solid metal as it the part still left in the door. How this snapped I will never know. I came back from work one day and noticed that the handle had an extra space that hadn't been there when I left. Did someone try to break in, probably not.

So I put in a trouble ticket and got this as a replacement.



After getting the new door handle installed, I noticed that my neighbor already has the new door handle. Guess his had already broken.

My New CHU Part 2

After living in my new CHU for a few days, I finally got settled. Here are a couple of photos of what the fully furnished room looks like.

First, the one side, complete with wardrobe:



Next, the other side complete with plastic storage drawers:



Finally, the sink area and a reflection of myself in the mirror:



All in all, it reminds me of living in the dorms in college. The internet seems to be more stable in the new room (knock on wood), but we don't have AFN installed yet. Can't say I mind since I haven't got a TV and am tired of the "commercials" that are all PSAs.

My New CHU

So the past few days have been spent moving from my old "Dry" CHU (i.e. no water connections) to a brand new, only sat around for two years waiting to be installed, "Wet" CHU. The new one has a sink in my room and shares a toilet and shower with one other person. Additionally, the room got bigger in the process.

The downside of course is that we had to build all of our new furniture because it came disassembled. So here are some pictures of the new room, the assembly process, and how it looks now.

First, the empty room:




The bathroom:





An assembled Bed:



And the "instructions":



The completed wardeobe:



I will post pictures of the room with all my stuff once I am settled.