staying human

As winter wraps up here in Vail, CO, our lives are moving ahead. The snow lies only on the highest mountains or in shadows unkissed by the sun. Our final days at the Winterhawk kennel will be busy as we move the dogs to their summer, and hopefully permanent, kennel. It's location is where we ran tours for the last month, on the way to Leadville in an area called Camp Hale. It was a high altitude and winter training site for the 10th Mountain Division duing WWII. Lots of history and a beautiful place to run dogs. Friends, both new and old, are embarking on new stages of life and I wish the best of luck to everyone. A special thanks goes out Betsy, without whom this road in life may never have been explored. Before things get too deep and philisophocial, I'll pass on a quick update:

Toren has a summer job! She'll be the crew leader for a pika study in the Wind River Range of Wyoming. Life is hard when you're getting paid to backpack 4 days per week. The job doesn't start till mid-June, so we'll have some time to explore Colorado, drop through Montana, and then head out to Seattle for all the Johnson birthdays. My summer plans include some overseas exploring. A couple dozen job applications yielded nothing except a job offer in Sweden. I'll be heading over there for two months to see if I want to accept a long term position. Work time will be spent restoring an old farm to serve as a base for a racing kennel of 30 dogs. Play time will be spent sailing to islands in Norway to access climbing, sea kayaking the fjords, and backpacking under the midnight sun in Lappland. If all goes well, hopefully Toren and Denali with join me overthere!

I'll keep you all posted as this spring/summer progresses.

let it snow

On the first day of work, the ground around us was devoid of snow. It was also the first day we had to start canceling tours. After getting water from a nearby creek for the dogs, we scooped up about 50 pounds of poop, wondering if this was really what we wanted to be doing. Our time on the farm had hardened our nostrils and as we began to learn how to harness the dogs, we grew excited once more. That day, we took out two teams of 12 dogs for training runs, a 2 mile long run pulling an ATV at 7 to 10 miles per hour. The dogs are so excited that you have to hold on for dear life with one hand as you try to put the harness on with the other hand. Our first day of work started out with a bang as I got pissed on while harnessing a dog and Toren got knocked over into the mud and shit. The weather pulled through on our second day, dumping 4 inches of fresh snow. And that's how it's been for the last 3 days, dumping snow. Shoveling snow off the decks today, our knees kept scraping across the 2 feet of powder now covering everything. Yesterday was our first dog sled ride as "guinea pig clients." Without much of a snow base, it was a bumpy ride, complete with the lack of any real brakes on the sled. Coming around an S-curve, we narrowly avoided an angry herd of Texas Longhorns, only to hit a log, flip the sled, and spill all of us onto the ground. Chasing down the dog team, now without anyone to guide the sled, I had a smile on my face and knew this was going to be a great winter.

out of the frying pan, into the fire

Well, Thanksgiving was fun filled and a whirlwind of activity. Once again, I received requests to start this up again since we don't see many of you Washington folks much. So here we go, round two of the blogging world. Where are we? Right now: Edwards, CO, about 15 minutes west of Vail. What are we doing here? Right now: desperately looking for housing, hopefully starting work tomorrow. Our jobs will be helping take care of a kennel of 120 Alaskan Huskies and assisting with dog sled tours around Vail. Check out www.winterhawkdogsledadv.com for more info and to see pictures, movies, FAQ, etc. I'll put up some photos of my own as I get the chance. It snowed a couple inches last night, was still a blizzard this morning, and turned into a beautiful, sunny day this afternoon. I think we made a couple dozen phone calls today, looked at 6 or so houses, and are hopeful about our housing options. Um, what else? We're chillin' in a coffeshop/bookstore right now, waiting for some peope to call back, so take care and I'll try to be a little more on top of this thing...

the continuation

Apparently some people are still checking this periodically, so I guess I'll continue to update with the pertinent stories of what's happening. The last post occurred three months ago while we were still in South America. Here's a quick recap of what has happened since then: we all returned home safely and enjoyed some well deserved rest with family and friends. Toren and I have been working on my father's farm and dreaming of mountains. We did a lot of pruning in the orchard and found my mom's old tipi, which we have set up and are currently sleeping in it. The garden is almost all planted and we've got baby turkeys and pigs everywhere. On the adventure side of life, we survived Braden's big birthday party over Memorial Day weekend and promptly headed into the North Cascades. We reached the summit of Mt. Shuksan at 5:30 a.m. and made it back to Seattle in time for all-you-can-eat sushi. Rainier was next, but we had some friends coming to round out the team. We rested and did garden work, anxious to be in the mountains again. Ben and Meryl finally made it to Seattle and we piled into the car and drove to Mount Rainier National Park. Meryl had to drop her summit attempt early due to a bout of sickness, but Ben, Toren, and I continued to camp at 8,800 ft. We awoke to a sea of clouds and stars and began our ascent of Mt. Rainier via the Fuhrer Finger. The summit was reached at 2 p.m. and we descend via Disappointment Clever to Ingrahm Flats. We returned to the clouds below the Muir snowfield and found Meryl waiting, happy to see us. A quick stop in Seattle and now we're back in Montana. Posts will occur as the story unfolds. Until then, enjoy the summer weather!

photos

A few more photos have been posted on the aforementioned Flickr site. There appears to be a conflict with Flickr and the internet down here and I can't really tell which photo is which, so descriptions will come as soon as the issue resolves itself...in the mean time, enjoy!

Aconcagua 2009 -- Team Condor

Aconcagua stands at 6962 meters (22,637 feet) above sea level. The highest point outside of the Himalayas and considered the roof of the Americas, it is a challenge to mountaineers around the world. On February 21, 2009, three young American mountaineers entered Aconcagua Provincial Park in the provence of Mendoza, Argentina. As all people with too much time tend to do, they dubed themselves Team Condor, and began the long and difficult journey to touch the sky. The approach to Plaza de Mulas (4270 m) was easy enough, but that was only the beginning. The weather was favorable and the next day was spent doing a portage up to Camp Alaska (5180 m). Clouds moved in and we decended back to Plaza de Mulas with a light snow falling. A higher camp was desired and Nido de Cóndores (5350 m) was the next target. As we pulled into camp, so did a storm. Tents were put up in blowing snow and lightening crashed into the mountains around us. Three afternoons of thunder and lightening at Nido did nothing for our confidence. The winds were getting stronger and the weather forcast looked poor. We stashed some food, packed up in a blizzard, and began the descent through a white-out back to Plaza de Mulas. Wind and snow storms kept us in ours tents for three days at basecamp, until one morning the weather cleared and the mountain opened up before us. Itching for physical activity, we began our return to the camp at Nido. Light winds the next day allowed us to make the move up to Camp Berlin (5780 m), the final high camp. A night without sleep brought us to summit day and we woke up at 3:00 a.m. with knots in our stomachs. A Polish team of 10 people left Berlin with us, but we all quickly became strung out across the route. Team Condor struggled through gale force winds and blowing snow that stung our faces and after almost 12 hours of movement, reached the summit of Aconcagua at 4:15 p.m. on March 6, 2009. We were tired and could feel the altitude, but we all had the biggest smiles of our lives. We stood looking across the Andes, grabing photos to remember our journey, and then began the descent back to Mendoza. Which is where we are now, rested up and ready for our next adventure. Yesterday were wine tours via bicycle, tomorrow is a bus ride to new destinations. We miss you all, but know that you were all in our hearts and thoughts as we touched the roof of the Americas.

low oxygen, high altitude

We are happy to report a new personal height record for the two of us...6000+ meters! At 1:00 in the afternoon on Feburary 17, we summited Cerro Plata in beautiful weather. We could see Aconcagua, Tupungato, and a lot of the Andes as we struggled to breath. It was a short 4 day trip into the Cordon del Plata, but the experience was wonderful. We had guancos laughing at us, red foxes talking around our tents, condors buzzing us as we hiked, and the lights of both Mendoza and the stars twinkling as the sun rose on our summit day. Words are not enough, but for now we are in Mendoza and have met up with Kelten, Toren´s brother and the third member of our Aconcagua team. Today we drop a lot of money on supplies, mules, and permits; tomorrow we head to Puenta del Inca to begin gaining altitude. This will be the last post before we start the climb, so check back again in two or three weeks. We miss all our friends and family and wish the best of luck to all of you at whatever point you are in life. Be well, do good things, and keep in touch.