October 2007 Archives
Wow, I have been especially lax about updating my blog lately, which is really too bad because I have all sorts of updates to give!
He's a total doll!
I have been managing to stay crazy busy, despite my current lack of employment. The job search is practically a full time job of its own. I just got a great contact for a job that I am really excited about. There's also several pending applications that I am waiting to hear back on. Since I only missed passing the bar by one measly point I am appealing my bar results. The good people at barbri say there's about a 50/50 chance that it might actually be succesful, so its definitely worth the try.
Since I have no real commitments at the moment I decided to help out my friend Lisa who runs Las Vegas Lab Rescue by fostering one of their dogs. He is an absolutely adorable little black lab/pointer mix. He got here last weekend and the first day was a breeze. Things have gone downhill from there. Its not that he's bad, not at all. He is a GREAT little guy and if we were in the position to adopt another dog, I think we would maybe be keeping him. The problem is that he is still very much a puppy and has a lot of puppy energy. My apartment has suddenly started to feel very small and cramped! He needs some space to run and play. We've fallen pretty hard for him tho ... how could we not?
I'd love to be able to find him a home locally so that we could continue to see him. I can't wait to see how he blossoms once he gets to stay in one place for a while!
Let's see ... what else? Yesterday I tried my hand (more like, my forearms) at rock climbing. I LOVED it and actually did better than I thought I would do. I have a bit of a fear of heights and my first trip up the wall left me a little shaky, but once I got used to it I was very comfortable up there. Unfortunately my way-under-utilized-this-summer arms tired out pretty quickly, but I will definitely be goign back. And I can't wait to try my hand at real live rock!
Anyway, my still sore forearms are starting to hate this typing thing, so I'm gonna end this post. More updates soon. I promise.
Note: This is a trip report from 9/30/2007 - just getting it up.
Amy and Christian picked us up early (well, technically they picked us up LATE ;)) the Sunday morning and we headed for the mountains. I was so excited that I hardly noticed just how nasty the roads were. I-70 and Fremont Pass were snowy and icy and we saw several accidents en route to Leadville. I don't think any of us thought we would actually make it up the 4wd road to the TH. But with HolySchist's expert off-road driving (and my ability to resist the urge to puke from motion sickness ;)) we easily made it to the TH.
The dogs ready to go.
We finally hit the trail around 9.
Despite the reports of the nasty weather from the previous day we had GORGEOUS weather! The combination of the mountains with the bright blue sky and snow set the stage for the day perfectly.
We were a little ways down the trail past Clohesy Lake when we realized we missed our turn. We backtracked a bit until we found the correct trail. The detour (and the standing around talking about which way we were supposed to go ... and waiting while Christian ran back to the car to grab the forgotten route description) cost us some time, but it also gave us a chance to get some great pictures!
josh in front of mt. huron
The trail we were supposed to take cuts up to the left from Clohesy Lake and then turns right toward the gully and climbs up above treeline. This part was fun and easy (at least going up).
The group on the trail.
Eventually we emerged from the trees and followed the trail up to the base of what we not so lovingly referred to as the "Grassy Knoll of Death" (GKoD). I read in one report that the GKoD rises 1,500 feet in about ¾ of a mile. I'm not sure if that's right or not, all I know is that this sucker was steep and not especially fun. There was no trail going up the slope - you just had to pick your way up. It felt like it took forever!
Christian and Walter on the GKoD
the group on the GKoD
me on the GKoD
When we were almost to the top of the slope we stopped for lunch. We couldn't believe how beautiful the day was! Still not a cloud in the sky.
Mountain Maddie hanging out at our lunch spot
We were finally nearing the end of the GKoD and beginning of the fun part!
josh with Missouri's west ridge in background
The scramble up to the ridge was really fun. This was only the second time (first was on Yale) that I've really gotten to do any scrambling, and I loved it! We finally made it up onto the ridge. Here is jasper9890 checking things out ...
The ridge, for the most part, was pretty easy. There was one part that was a little tricky (14ergirl said it was a class2+/3 move) but we made it down that pretty easily. There were a few places where the trail sort of sloped down and there was some loose dirt. I am certainly not the most sure footed person in the world, and these parts made me a little nervous, but nothing too bad.
After what seemed like FOREVER we finally made the summit. Altho it was windy the weather was still absolutely BEAUTIFUL. Not a single cloud in the sky!
A bunch of summit shots ...
josh and Mountain Maddie ... their 4th 14er summit together
josh and I
Amy and I at the summit
After enjoying the view for another 30 minutes or so we finally started to head down. The trip back down was slow and uneventful. I am still ridiculously slow going downhill and the rest of the group was VERY patient with me, which I am very grateful for (thanks guys!)! The problem was compounded by the fact that I was re-breaking in some boots that I hadn't worn in a while and my toes were killing me with every step down!
After NINE HOURS on the trail (including a few wrong turns, a nice long lunch break, and 30 minutes at the summit) we finally arrived back at the car and cracked open a few beers to celebrate a day well spent! We got off the 4wd road just before dark, stopped in Leadville for pizza (High Mountain Pies in Leadville has the BEST pizza!!!) and made the long drive home.
All in all, this was a great trip. This was only my 5th 14er (4 of which have been done in the last month - have I mentioned that I'm addicted?) and its definitely the one that has stretched me the farthest. I have a bit of a fear of heights and tend to panic when I get sketched out. There was a little while right before the summit that I found myself starting to get nervous and I was able to control that feeling and not let it overtake me and I am very proud of that. I'm used to pushing myself physically - I love how climbing 14ers makes me push myself mentally. I realize that in the grand scheme of things Missouri is NOT a tough mountain ... but it was the toughest I have faced so far.
As a general side note, the route description for this route says it is 5.5 miles. By the end of the day the gps read 8 miles - some of that was our numerous wrong turns - but I do think this route has to be more than 5.5 miles! Regardless, do not be fooled by the relatively short distance - this mountain was tough.
Also, this was our dog's 4th 14er and she did AMAZING. As I posted in the forum, we are still trying to figure out how to best keep her comfortable on the mountain. This time she went without a pack or booties and was still running circles around us at the end. She had no problems with her paws whatsoever. We made sure to give her more water and food on the trail this time, which may have played a role. She must have climbed that mountain three times over ... and still had energy to spare!
We had a GREAT time with our evil twins Amy and Christian (and of course the WalterDog)! Thanks so much guys for a WONDERFUL day!
Bar review course: $2,200
Price to take exam: $700
Extra fee for computer use on exam: $100
Cost of pencils, erasers, and earplugs: $10
Finding out you failed the bar by one point: PRICELESS
276 was the score I needed to pass ye olde Colorado Bar Exam.
275 was the score I got.
The crazy thing is that I'm just not that upset about it. Don't get me wrong, there were tears shed when I saw the pass list and realized my name wasn't on it. Failing anything pretty much sucks, especially for overachiever types such as myself. Oh yeah, I was upset .... but the strange thing is ... once I got over the shock there was a big part of me that felt relieved. It seemed like a strange reaction but when I called Josh to tell him I failed what he said seemed to express what I think a very big part of me was feeling ... "Great, now you don't have to be a lawyer!".
So now I'm not sure what I'm going to do. I'm sure I can pass the damn thing the second time around ... especially since I missed it by such a ridiculously narrow margin. But I need to figure out if that is what I want to do. The magnitude of the feeling of relief was a little bit alarming. I had managed to push my doubts about my chosen line of work out of my mind for quite a while ... and all those doubts suddenly came rushing back when I suddenly realized I had options. Yes, I feel like failing the bar somehow gave me more options.
So now I'm in limbo. I've got to figure out where this relief and these doubts are coming from and I need to figure out whether I want to shift gears or take the test again. Fortunately I have a while to get all of this straight in my head before I need to make any decisions.
Some dog lovin' friends of mine where in town last weekend. We took a trip up to Breck and stayed at a friend's cabin. There were seven of us total and everyone except me was a convert to the RAW doggie diet. Meg had her dogs with her and when dinner time came they asked if Maddie could have a turkey neck. I figured it couldn't hurt and it would give me a chance to see if I could watch her eat without losing my dinner.
It took Maddie about half an hour to get through that first turkey neck. At first she wasn't sure about it and didn't get that she really had to put some power into it to chew that thing into bite size pieces. It was dark out and we were feeding them outside, so I couldn't actually SEE what she was eating. Which was a good thing for me.
The next evening she got turkey neck #2 ... and I got to watch her eat it in broad daylight ...
Thus began our journey into the world of RAW. For the last week and a half Maddie has been on a half kibble/half RAW diet. She gets her super premium organic kibble in the morning and then a hunk of dead animal at night. So far its mostly been various chicken parts - backs, leg quarters, hearts, and gizzards.
And I have become a meat shopping maniac. For someone who went five years without having a bite of meat herself, my freezer is now full of the stuff. Now that I spend a lot more time perusing the meat section of the grocery store I am SHOCKED at what people actually eat. Yuck.
So far, so good. The only real change thus far has been the consistency of her poop, which went from mushy stinky mounds to nice round pellets that hardly stink at all. That's pretty cool.
