Yesterday there was a blizzard, today it’s raining. It’s like Cleveland, that. First lesson? A foot of fresh, thickly packed snow makes things really difficult. Hiking, climbing, all of it. Heh, like I needed the extra challenge. *laugh* Today was spent on one of the smaller climbing areas, learning to do everything. Well, not everything, … [Read more…]
Oh yeah, one other thing I forgot to mention before… As I got further and further, the mountains got bigger and bigger. I was looking at some of the particularly large ones, pondering their size. Then I realized, none of these even had peaks above the treeline. So those monsters were smaller than the mountain … [Read more…]
Why do my trips always seem to start so stressfully? I originally planned to leave work by 3:00-3:30 yesterday, so that I'd have time to get home, eat dinner, load up the car, and get on the road by 5:00 at the latest. And be able to do so in a leisurely and relaxed manner. … [Read more…]
The summit conditions on Mt. Washington have improved quite a bit this week, and hopefully it holds until next weekend. Right now is 11°F with 37.1mph winds and a wind chill of -12.8°F, and it’s been right around that all week. Much more my livable than the near-Everest conditions last week! As I am now … [Read more…]
I just checked the current summit conditions on Mount Washington… -18.3°F, 99.9 mph winds, -66.7°F wind chill. Umm… that’s damn near Everest conditions.
I just checked the summit conditions on Mt. Washington right now, this is roughly the same time of day I’ll be reaching the summit in a couple weeks, so it’s probably a good gauge of what I’ve got ahead of me. Currently the temperature is -2.9°F with 65.7mph winds, gusting to 82.9mph. That’s a wind … [Read more…]
I finally got around to uploading some of the photos I took at my weekend retreat to my Flickr account. I've organized them all into one convenient set here: Shambhala Mountain Center There aren't many, as I didn't have much spare time to take any, but these are the best of the ones I did … [Read more…]
After sitting here typing out all those journal entries, I got to thinking a lot more about the weekend. I'm really wishing I would have had a longer retreat, I think a few more days of that would have done me so much more good. It feels too much like I just got ramped up … [Read more…]
6:22AM Yeah, I woke up way too early today. My brain is still on Cleveland time, so it feels much later than it is. I've felt a little of the effects of the higher altitudes as well. Things like being just a little lightheaded sometimes when I stand up too fast, a bit of dehydration, … [Read more…]
6:03AM Okay, sunrise today was pretty awesome too. First time I've really watched a sunrise in as long as I can remember. 7:08AM Yeah, I have a pink toothbrush. Got something to say about it? *laugh* 7:11AM I noticed, when playing a few of the brain-training games on my DS this morning, my scores were … [Read more…]
2:46PM Attempting to decompress from all the day's chaos so far. I laid down on the bed for about an hour, not for a nap, but to just relax and try to calm my mind a bit. Now I'm stretched out on the couch and starting to write in my journal, in an attempt to … [Read more…]
Most of the details from the retreat itself are in my journals I kept while there, so I won't go too much into that and leave it for when I can get them transcribed (soon, hopefully.) The short version is that it was very different than I was expecting, and dug much deeper into my … [Read more…]
Okay, everything should be all set now. Booked on a later (now direct) flight to Denver. Re-scheduled shuttle service from Denver to Fort Collins. Reserved hotel in Fort Collins for tonight. Re-scheduled pick-up from Fort Collins from the center to Saturday morning. Whew. All done. Unfortunately, I'll miss the orientation and facilities tour, and the … [Read more…]
Well… guess who missed his flight… Thanks to an hour plus wait in the security line, I was unable to make my plane. I got to the airport an hour-and-a-half ahead of my departure time, and it was still not enough. And I wasn't alone, it seemed half the people in the line were missing … [Read more…]
This should be my last post until at least next Tuesday, presuming I don't get a bug to post something tomorrow morning before I leave. I'll be traveling all of tomorrow morning, after which I'll be at the retreat center until Sunday afternoon. There are no phones, no computers, no televisions, not even cell phone … [Read more…]