Sitting Here in Limbo

First off, it’s been ages since I wrote a blog post. Many things are so chaotic personally and professionally, as we watch the entire world whiplash from EOs, then those EOs rescinded, process not being followed. But reflecting on my last hike, where I bailed on the summit of Noonmark due to not ‘feeling it “going up the steep side with trail breaking duties. It was a magnificent day of views, although I later found out another group broke trail on the other side of the loop, so if I had only known. What a great surprise for the groups that were initially behind me and decided to push ahead. Its always a beautiful hike going up Noonmark.

The two weekends that followed I was fighting a cold, and then we were off to Chris’s cousin’s destination wedding in the Dominican Republic. It was a beautiful location, and you could see the love. All the best to them as they start their lives together.

They also offered massage services at the villa. My massage was amazing, and I definitely needed some additional stretching and manipulation. I heard and felt a loud “POP” and internally questioning and assessing. Was that a good pop or a really bad one? I danced at the wedding, but by the next day, things were starting to escalate, and I was limping through the airports on the way home. US Healthcare system continues to be a challenge! I contacted my first surgeon who performed the ACL/MCL/mensicus repair. He was so kind and responded right away, although he was traveling abroad. Hopefully, in the next weeks, there will be clarity on the path forward.

Diverging diagnosis and path forward… so in limbo.

I’ll see how next week goes traveling to speak at a professional conference in Baltimore.

Until there are definitive answers with data and trust, one day at a time.

My Best of 2024- Photography and Hiking Jul-Dec

The method to my madness. First look at Strava, then photos, include or not. We were training for CO, the heat and humidity were on! September will be long, because… goals

Jul 2024: Indian Head and Rainbow Falls Loop AMR, Adirondacks. This was our 4th of July hike, pretty sweet as always. July included multiple other peaks for training but sticking to just this Indian Head Highlight

Aug 2024: Training included many peaks as we were prepping. I loved taking CK through Avalanche Pass. We went up ADK High Peak, Colden.

Sept 2024- I won’t repeat everything from the dedicated blog posts for these epic hikes. However, all the Lake City 14ers deserve a shining spotlight. I would reclimb all of these.

Redcloud and Sunshine:

Wetterhorn: Phenomenal hike, maybe my favorite class 3 in CO thus far.

Uncompahgre: What an amazing hike, looking forward to repeating as I was quite ill until the summit. Absolutely glorious!

Handies– The next time I visit the American Basin and climb Handies it will be during wildflower season. It was still dreamy, and we saved the easiest for last.

The timing and weather conditions were certainly in my favor as we returned home. The leaves were just beginning their evolution. My favorite hiking season, fall, included hitting up Rocky Peak Ridge via New Russia. Then, of course, there was the beautiful Indian Head.

Oct 2024

Sunrise Mt Jo: I had never climbed Mt. Jo, so I took a touristy day and walked around Heart Lake. It was easygoing but absolutely worth every moment,and the colors were popping! This was such a glorious trip.

Roostercomb/Snow:

So much beauty in this loop. Love it, definitely on a repeat list.

Bald Peak- For the first time, I was able to show Becky the beauty of this peak. On our first attempt together, we were weathered out of views. We went a bit beyond Bald, but not all the way to RPR. Love this trail!

Sleeping Beauty, Southern Adirondacks: The colors on this bluebird day hike may have been my favorite this fall. Even if the pictures don’t do it justice. Simply brilliant.

Nov 2024-Southern Tongue Range for Becky’s 12ster. Wow, the tornado damage was surreal. Amazing work by trail 46ers, but this area will need time and additional effort. A true obstacle hiking course.

Dec 2024

Hurricane Sunrise– I saw the weather forecast and trail conditions. I had the luxury of a 1/2 day on Friday. This enabled an early bedtime. I got up super early to catch this phenomenal winter sunrise delight. One of my favorite hikes of the year. The full moon lit my way as an additional guiding light in the darkness.

Snowy– The small goal I’m working on is the ADK 29er challenge. I have done most of the peaks through 46er and 29er challenges, but I have about 10 left. Laura and I had a fun day with the mountain all to ourselves. The butt slides on the very steep last section made me feel like a kid again.

We had a tremendous warm-up and melt of snow after our Snowy hike. I was left wondering what to do on New Year’s Eve. Unfortunately, the weather is way too windy. There’s no New Year’s Day hike today. I settled on one of my favorite little hikes this year,

Hopkins. This was my sixth time hiking this mountain this year. It’s short but has a nice elevation gain, the views are rewarding, and easy access from my house. The conditions were surreal for this time of year. A snowstorm is coming in, so hopefully we will be back to seasonal weather. Happy 2025 all! Hoping your year is healthy and happy- for me that will mean I’m hiking. Cheers!

January to June Adventures: Hiking and Photography Recap

While the weather outside is yucky for hiking, to my disappointment, I figured it’s a good time to blog. The next two posts will feature my favorite photos or moments. Part 1 will cover January to June of 2024. Part 2 will focus on July to December of 2024.

Mountains, the place I feel most at home, merging my favorite things together, hiking and photography. As I reflect on 2024, I feel grateful for my hiking adventures. I was able to take on the challenges before me physically and mentally. In order of month, here were some of my favorite experiences:

January 2024: New Year’s Day- Noonmark, Adirondacks, NY- It is such a great hike. I always get the most unique weather surprises on this peak. The cloud beauty is remarkable.

February: 1) Cascade Mountain, High Peak, Adirondacks, NY– Always a great high peak due to distance and dreamy views

2) Avalanche Lake and Colden Lake, Adirondacks, Lake Placid, NY

What a cool adventure! I’m hoping for the chance to do this again, c’mon back cold!

March 2024: Buck Mountain, Fort Ann, NY Southern Adirondacks- Closest mountain to me, and just beautiful views of Lake George.

April 2024: 1) Birthday Eclipse at Schroon Lake – Although we couldn’t hike on my birthday due to several factors, we had an amazing time without any traffic issues taking in totality at this location. Thanks to Cindy for the insider parking and providing a great home base with her camp.

2)Minnewaska State Park Reserve– First Hike back with Becky 🙂

Becky suffered a tibial plateau fracture just before Christmas 2023 and had been working super hard to recover. She has done phenomenally in her recovery!

There were multiple other hikes during these months, but these were my favorites.

May 2024: 1) Blue Ridge Mountains, NC- Rough Ridge Trail, Boone Fork Trail, Beacon Heights, Linville Gorge – Sunrise shots paint the sky the morning of the Aurora that night!

2) The sunrise hikes in the Blue Ridge reminded me of how much I love and enjoy these. I was blessed with the timing of a clear morning on Cascade, (again!) for an epic sunrise.

3) Bald Peak via New Russia- So much love for this trail- to Bald or RPR or traverse to Giant. Such great views.

4) Giant Mountain, Adriondacks HP, Keene, Valley

Memorable Moments from Our Steamboat Adventure

Life gets in the way, it’s nice to have a moment to complete out the CO trip blog:

We had accomplished our goal. The weather was non-ideal for hiking for the next couple of days. So, we went through Silverthorne and met with the most lovely Erin for lunch. She’s the best. I’m so glad I got to see her again. We were slumming in hiking clothes, while the lovely Erin was draped in cashmere. 🫶

Although the time was short, we made the most of catching up and drove on to Steamboat. We drove down memory lane. Chris and I had driven this stretch of highway countless times when living in the area. We often went back and forth to the front range. We noted small changes, the desire to hike a mountain that may be possible with a rope that we’ve both had our eyes on for many years. Once we got to Rabbit Ears Pass, I felt a little teary-eyed. I thought about my sweet Tela. We enjoyed many snowshoes, mountain biking, and hiking adventures in this beautiful area. Amazing memories, and such a beautiful adventure. Photos below are grainy due to loss of original files!

We settled easily into the super awesome accommodation for two nights. Thank you again, Amy Brown, if you are reading! We managed to see some old friends and get just a taste of old stomping grounds. Our local friends noted some things had changed. Some changes were more significant than others. In life, you can find yourself in a small bubble. But it does seem Steamboat is becoming more like Vail. Unfortunately, this means I could never really fit in there again. Still a magical, beautiful place, and I’m happy it was once my home. It rained a bit. So, we took advantage of an opportunity to get massages. These were very needed due to the bed switches, travel, and some soreness from the 14ers we climbed. My therapist was tiny but mighty in power and skill. I jokingly asked her if I could take her home with me in my pocket.

We said farewell to Steamboat. We drove back to the Front Range. We spent a few days with friends before flying back. A glorious CO vacation indeed! See you again soon.

Part 3- 5/5 Goal Completed

No foreshadowing, we did it! Day 3- Uncompahgre and Handies 14ers done! I was really feeling rough going up Uncompahgre. It is a beautiful peak, but I was so sick the entire time with stomach issues. TMI for the sensitive reader, but when I finally got some of whatever upset my stomach, it was green. Enough said. So, it was not the best time for CK, but I did my best. I turned the corner post-summit and started feeling stronger again. I look forward to redoing this one again, although the drive-up is a PITA. Very grateful for a Jeep and not being the driver.

I was so happy I felt better. I knew I would rather push it to Handies, even if I was catching something. There was a risk I would have no energy or face weather issues the following day. So we went for it. We ran back to the Airbnb. We ate rice for lunch for some extra carbs. Then we went on a Jeep drive to American Basin TH. We started Handies at 3:07 pm. Sunset was at 7:17. We needed to do this one as fast as possible to avoid driving that 20 4WD miles in the dark.

I think CK had his doubts, which considering my performance on Uncompahgre was understandable, but I was ready.

Our total elapsed time on Handies was 2 hours and 47 minutes. We had indeed saved the easiest for last. I can envision just how beautiful the wildflowers are in the American Basin. We had some odd encounters with hikers on the way.

The Strava stats say it all! Massive effort, complete with amazing moments, some mental and physical struggles, and overall, success and character building experiences.

Oddities on this hike with others included an older gentleman who had decided not to summit. He left his party and was waiting for them both at the alpine lake. Then he must have just gone back to his truck. He was driving back to the parking lot as we were leaving and asked if we had seen them. We advised of whom we saw and their descriptions but were pretty sure we had not seen who he described. Hopefully, they all reunited!

We were super stoked, and for a celebration went back to our favorite eatery, this time for yummy ribs. It was chilly outside, and dark, so we sat inside. Our waitress from the previous two days congratulated us on our completing our goal.

Looking back, I was amazed we were able to complete it in 3 days. We were very lucky to have been able to accomplish this goal. Next blog post our first return to Steamboat Springs in 6 years! Keep on keeping on, looking forward to getting outside for some NY ADK fall foilage tomorrow!

Part 2- Wetterhorn on Friday 13Sep2024

I was in a deep sleep. My body was likely exhausted from completing yesterday’s adventure on Redcloud and Sunshine.

I was awakened abruptly at 3am. At first, I was a little confused, like waking from a lucid dream and trying to remember where I am? Oh. Right. I’m in Lake City, in the Airbnb, where there is bear activity. Holy smokes, there is a bear in the garage behind the bed I am sleeping in. She is ravaging, looking for food. CK was sleeping in the downstairs bedroom. I quickly ran to him like some child waking a parent. I had never been that close to a bear on the hunt before. I remembered that everything I knew was to be loud and make noise to try to scare her away. I certainly was not counting on the bear not being tempted to barrel through the bedroom wall. So we flipped the lights into the garage and did some yelling. She finally left, and somehow, likely exhaustion, I fell back asleep before the alarm was set. I found out that she then visited outside the downstairs where CK was sleeping. Unfortunately, he was not well rested for our Friday 13th Day 2 14er, Wetterhorn Peak. However, he handled it like a champ. We headed out with happiness and relief that the bear bothered neither the rental car nor the Jeep. The Airbnb had a shed. The door was destroyed. I sent a message to the host. Off we went to Wetterhorn! We saw a few folks en route. We met an awesome couple who live in Superior, CO, Jackie, and Alan. We would complete most of the hike with them, including the technical parts, and walk out.

Wetterhorn was so much fun. The ADKs have their scrambles, but this type of exposure is not the same. We were playing a little leapfrog with Jackie and Alan on the trail. Then once we got to the class 3 section, we were all in together. It was super fun, the only part I wasn’t looking forward to was the downclimb. How was I going to manage some of those sections? I’ve always had a rule in hiking. That is to never go up when you aren’t willing to come down. Certain parts of this had me wondering. 🤔 . Up we went, around the Prow.

What an amazing day! On the downclimb, Alan and Jackie gave awesome beta. I only felt sketchy on one move. CK gave me a hand on that move. It was great hiking both the technical parts and non-technical parts of this hike with them. Small world, as Superior is super close to Louisville!

We went back to revisit our favorite eatery. We also chatted with the Airbnb host. The host was very relaxed about the bear incident. And that was 14er 3 complete. Two more to go to meet the goal. The weather was not looking promising on Sunday. Could we do Uncompahgre Peak and Handies on the same day? It would require a full day of hiking, and driving to different trailheads ( about an hour apart on 4WD roads.) I had started to feel slightly run down and tired, which was not super surprising as my sleep scores/body battery were quite low.

Find out in Part 3!

Exploring Lake City’s 14ers: Our Adventure

Due to other priorities, we vacationed in Colorado in Sep 2024 this year. The trip was dynamic. Plans were in place. However, life happens. Some friends could no longer join us for our big goal, which was to complete 5 14ers of Lake City, CO. https://lakecity.com/a-guide-to-hiking-lake-citys-five-14ers/. We didn’t get to visit with as many friends and family as we would have desired. But, we are very grateful to everyone who made an effort to connect. Even if the time was limited, it was special. Our greeting outside the airport was that I-36 to Boulder was closed with little warning. We later learned there was a shooting incident. We ended up the first couple of nights in a hotel. We were eating brunch on Sunday morning in Denver. We did so with special friends/family.

Before we traveled to Lake City, we went to check in on our property. We had some ‘adulting’ to do before our adventure could truly begin. We ate at our favorite Mexican place, and hiked Bear Peak as an acclimatization hike. Then we went to Casa Bonita! Finally! We had been in a queue for ‘tickets’ for a year. It worked out where Grace and Sky joined for the adventure. Super sweet and quite organized, we definitely enjoyed ourselves! (some perhaps a bit too much, if that’s a thing).

As we studied the weather, we decided it was time to drive to Lake City. There was a beautiful window of opportunity. The weather was nice the day we traveled, and we were only delayed by some minor road construction. We arrived at our Airbnb and chatted with the owner. They warned us that a mama bear was coming around with two cubs in the neighborhood. We enjoyed the evening, ate some pasta, and got ready for the next day, game time. Day 1- Redcloud and Sunshine. I had studied this route. It is a straightforward Class 2 climb up Redcloud. Then, lose elevation and gain Sunshine. Descend and regain Redcloud. Finally, descend back to the Grizzly Gulch trailhead. There were warnings and signs about the pathway, as some people can make a loop for RC and Sunshine. I was in no mood to potentially end up on cliffs on the first day descending. So we stuck to the trail on 14ers. This was to avoid issues with getting off trail and having to add on extra mileage. This was a marathon, not a sprint. It was a beautiful day. We met a contagiously happy and strong gentleman. I had seen him on social media working on his 14ers. Such energy and positivity! He was lifting weights when we arrived at the trailhead. He greeted Chris and me with hugs and high-fives. He was working his upper body strength. He told us “You guys are so fast.” Yet he was the one lifting weights in the parking lot. He explained it’s a total body package. He had worked his lower body, but not his upper on these two 14ers. Some amazing photos from Redcloud and Sunshine:

We departed and drove the easiest path to any of the trails in our rental car. We then headed into town. We ate at the restaurant of choice, the Packer Saloon and Cannibal Grill. They treated us with kindness and amazing food. Their hospitality truly fueled these 14ers. Afterward, we picked up a Jeep for the following day’s adventure. Up next, Friday the 13th, on Wetterhorn!

Summer Hiking Adventures: Mileage, Elevation, and Beyond

It’s been a while since I last wrote many things keeping me busy and still processing the loss of Tela. Of course, grief has its own way, and we learn to keep navigating life without those who were so much a part of our existence. Still miss and love you sweet Tela, so blessed.

We were able to go down to NC to the mountains for Mother’s Day and stay in the cabin where I went to grad school. That was a great deal of fun with beautiful sunrise hikes, unfortunately, rained out s’mores, connecting with old friends, and great family time. The weather was great for sneaking in some fantastic sunrise hikes.

I was glad to get some hikes in pretty steady training, and now things have changed in our original summer plans, doing the right thing by my employees, so Chris and I are targeting a new fitness goal of attempting 5 14ers in Lake City, CO in September. https://lakecity.com/a-guide-to-hiking-lake-citys-five-14ers/ We may end up adding on La Plata Peak or switching something of course dependent on weather, but training has begun, and I always do better when I have a goal to train for.

We went to Belmont non-remarkable, lol, not my thing, and had a team building training at work. I felt my strength finder matched my thoughts.

The first week of summer has been super miserable for any hiking with strong storms in the forecast and even being experienced here. We had to switch up mountains for running, and my body definitely told me this morning, ‘You haven’t used these muscles in this way recently.’. This is a good reminder that training for hiking by hiking to ensure you are getting some mileage and elevation, cross training, especially cardio training such as running is critical to regain cardio fitness before the trip as well. Some recent photos of hiking in the ADK, Jay Mountain, Buck, and Catkskills with Becky, hoping this summer turns out to be much drier than last, some photos include this magnificent solo sunrise and moonset hike up Cascade and Porter! Need to make more sunrise hikes a priority in life. Be well, happy adventuring!

Celebration of Life for my Sweet Tela Part 3

Now, wait just a minute, I thought I was going to spend the rest of my days in Switzerland, Mom. I’m going to have to get on that airplane again in a crate, and we are moving to what state, NY? I don’t know anything about NY. There are two mountain ranges we can play in? Ok, I guess so.

Just before we departed Switzerland, Tela gave us a crazy scare with intestinal tumors, surgery, and thankfully she recovered pretty well, minus a set back of the healing of a growth on her paw. The timing was so close before our move from Switzerland to Saratoga Springs that Tela still wasn’t even able to run with me or hike with me during most of my sabbatical. It was a true bummer. You can’t ever explain to a look of excitement that you slowly see turn to despair and at times crying when she wasn’t coming along for the adventure.

Tela got integrated nicely into life in Saratoga, spending time hiking, walking and exploring. Once we purchased our home, we really settled in. It was the first time Tela has had such a huge fenced in back yard. It was new for a while, like what is this?… then she always enjoyed her perimeter patrols and squirrel chases along with other backyard shenanigans.

Ever the hiker, Tela completed the following ADK High Peak Summits:

Cascade
Porter
Big Slide
Phelps
Tabletop
Gothic (Cables Route)
Armstrong
Upper WJ
Lower WJ
Street
Nye
Marshall
Whiteface
Giant
Algonquin
Iroquois
Esther

She also hiked many of the Lake George 12ster challenge, but the stupid cancer had slowed her capabilities by that time, and it was indeed a long day for the Tongue Range, so the right call was made. She got to hike in the Catskills with Becky and once even with Jason. Becky and Laura were both such wonderful hiking partners with Tela. Special thanks to both of them for a couple of dicey situational help! (Armstrong Ladder/ Almost winter whiteface stairs). She loved being in front of our pack. And if you followed her, you were likely going the most direct route, until she got into her golden age. The best part about hiking with Tela, was she would go ahead at times, then turn around and give you this huge smile, like no matter what, you’ve got this! I have missed this for a few months, but I know I will continue to miss this about her on the trail. Our favorite place to be together. In her last years, she got to be a part of the Saratoga Dog Walkers, later Pink Pup Farm experience, but had to stop due to the cancer/vet orders.

Above is my favorite photo of Tela and Becky, it always brings such a smile as we were doing Algonquin, Iroquois (inclusive of Boundary) and then Wright for me and Becky, while Laura stayed with Tela.

Below is our last big hike with Tela up Whiteface and Esther. I can’t find the pic, but bless Laura for taking Tela down the stairs of Whiteface that day. The postholes were so bad on the trail we didn’t want to descend that way, so chose the stairs. They were their own type II adventure, and Laura took Tela.

The final days of Tela’s cancer battle were ugly, raw, and made me wonder if I had waited too long. Her last night was the worst, and I didn’t get my last planned walk with her. I think I’ll always regret that, but I had no idea things were going to take such a rapid turn. We were so blessed to have you in our lives, Tela.

I am not sure what I miss most, but I will certainly miss your smile and companionship. Your memory and funny personality will always be with me. I will look forward to traveling back to some key places you loved to spread your ashes. Love you always, the dog with so many nicknames, T, sweet T, T munch, T munchkin, well, all in all I can say I never thought I would feel greater hurt than when I lost Marley. Never say never indeed. Blessings.

Tela taught you to indeed always go for it!

Celebration of Life- Tela Part 2

So, where do we adventure next? Wait, mom, you want me to get on a plane and move to a foreign country where they just let cats roam freely but dogs are to be leashed? Oh, but they do provide cool access for dogs everywhere? And there are these mountains we can hike close by? I can go into restaurants? Oh, but still not the grocery store. Ok, I’m up for it.

So many adventures we had! Tela’s journey abroad began when she was picked up in Steamboat->Driven to Denver International->DEN->Frankfurt, held for about 12 hours, then took a flight from Frankfurt->Zurich where she stayed for 2 hours, then was transported to our home abroad in Luterbach. I can say I don’t know what happened on Tela’s journey to CH, but it definitely impacted how she felt about crates, which she previously loved and felt secure in. So I ditched the crate, and Tela adapted to life in Switzerland. On one of our first weekends, there together, we went on our first boat ride after visiting the beautiful St Beatus Caves. Tela had her first Swiss boat and train transport experience. It was funny as I’ll never forget she wasn’t so sure about this big boat (pictured below). A native Swiss German started chatting with me and her, and told her it was “all good”, then looked at me and said, “All dogs understand Swiss German, lol.”. She was relaxed for the remainder of the trip. I also just realized typing this blog and looking at these photos why Tela was so darn stubborn to drink water on the ADK trails she hiked. She was waiting for the running Swiss dog water drinking stations that are abundant.

Oh wow, this is surreal looking backl. Living abroad brought about many adventures, but not as many as we hoped as we dealt with the lockdowns of the pandemic during our three years there. But we so enjoyed every country, moment space in time, hiking all over Switzerland and beyond… it was magical. The fantasy land of hiking and beauty everywhere! We explored so much in a short time, ran all around Luterbach and Solothurn, hung out with amazing people. So happy my girl was able to live abroad and have that extra special adventure with us!