Disqus - Latest Comments for Kate C

Re: Zero Endurance

Kate C — Fri, 16 May 2008 10:08:18 -0000

Well, I didn't see it, and I don't know what it's like in Utah. In Colorado, we see a fair bit of big game laid out by trails in the spring when people are hunting illegally. The hunters will go through at night with spot lights, which make the deer freeze and make them easy to kill. Then they lay them out for pictures and leave them there. It's crude and disgusting, really. And, if the wound is on the ground-side of the animal, you might not notice it.

Re: Blizzard Warning

Kate C — Wed, 20 Dec 2006 19:07:46 -0000

It was an exciting drive home for me at 11am, and it took Mark 2 hours to get home after leaving at 12:30. I'm betting walking a bike would actually go faster than that. Though, watch out for frost-bite.

Re: Links Page

Kate C — Thu, 04 Jan 2007 15:13:29 -0000

Oooh yeah! I forgot that one this morning, but I've been an avid reader since the site was called ClimbingBoulder. :-) Thanks for reminding me!

Anybody else have suggestions of sites I've missed?

Re: Home Sick

Kate C — Fri, 05 Jan 2007 09:47:59 -0000

Hey Jason, did you get my email? Check your hotmail folders!

Re: How close do you want to go?

Kate C — Wed, 10 Jan 2007 09:20:31 -0000

Orly is great! That cracked me up! Thanks for the link. :-)

Re: Mark vs. Wild: The Rocky Mountains

Kate C — Fri, 12 Jan 2007 18:56:31 -0000

Thanks everybody!! I'll see what we can do about getting more episodes out (hopefully with less over-laughter by the camera woman, if I can control myself). We're hoping to grapple such scary and important survival issues as: "How to dig a snow cave in your drive way" and "How to go to the bathroom in the snow." Should be thrilling!!

Re: Snow Covered

Kate C — Wed, 17 Jan 2007 17:33:13 -0000

Thanks Dylan! It was kind of silly for me to just drive into an unplowed parking area like that, but a lot of fun (until I got stuck)! Still, I learned a good lesson. And Mark gets a new yoga mat.

Re: Bald Eagle

Kate C — Wed, 17 Jan 2007 17:34:35 -0000

I felt kind of bad when I saw him. I figure it's hard to fish when it's this cold out and everything's frozen, and the few bits of water where he might be able to find some food are covered in stupid ducks. I think he looks hungry, but that's probably just me.

Re: Mark vs. Wild: The Rocky Mountains

Kate C — Thu, 18 Jan 2007 16:01:41 -0000

Thanks Doug! I'm glad the laughing didn't detract from the drama of the moment. :) If your sister's husband also tivo's it, that means the total number of known tivo-ers of Man vs. Wild is up to ... 3! Maybe 10 was an over-estimate.

Re: Haircut

Kate C — Tue, 23 Jan 2007 16:32:04 -0000

Thanks! Yeah, washing it was weird last night. I used waaaay too much shampoo. Then I rubbed a towel on it and it dried instantly! I actually think short hair is quicker to take care of than long hair, because you don't spend as much time in the shower, drying, combing, and braiding. Waaay easier.

The color difference is pretty dramatic, but I didn't do anything to that. I guess my highlights were all from last summer, and they just grew out in the last couple of months. Plus, the blond streak in front is now under my bangs.

Re: Haircut

Kate C — Wed, 24 Jan 2007 12:25:30 -0000

Thanks Granny and Pop! It's great to have you commenting! I really like the new cut too. :)

Re: Haircut

Kate C — Wed, 24 Jan 2007 14:18:48 -0000

Thanks! You know who I think I REALLY look like now? I mean, weirdly look like now? Kevin! I look just like Kevin. And, I'm actually happy about that.
<center><img src="http://colocalders.com/KevinGreen.jpg"></img></center>

Re: 2006 Climbing Year in Review

Kate C — Wed, 24 Jan 2007 14:21:50 -0000

I'm really itching to get out. But I don't want to plan any trips until they stop having to airlift hay to snowed-in farm animals.

Re: Nau

Kate C — Tue, 06 Feb 2007 22:35:56 -0000

Thanks James! I fixed the link, it should work better now.

I agree, the use of corn as a "renewable" resource is more controversial than many people believe. The amount of fossil fuels used the make the fertilizers required to grow the amount of corn we need will make up for some (much?) of the gains of making the clothes out of the corn instead of the petro-chemicals. I think it's along the lines of "Do we save that many resources when recycling if it requires so much energy just to do the recycling"?

I think, in the end, we might come out ahead. It's definitely worth looking in to.

Re: One more from Shelf Road

Kate C — Wed, 21 Mar 2007 12:26:13 -0000

Yeah, it would be cool to use their tick-list, but as you can see above, 4 of the total 9 climbs we did this weekend aren't on their site. I suppose I could add them, but that kind of makes me nervous. :)

Plus, what do I do with my previous 5 years of climbing? I think it would be cooler to just put something together for myself here on the blog. Not sure what yet. I'll keep everybody informed.

Re: Sunday in Eldorado Canyon

Kate C — Wed, 28 Mar 2007 14:59:23 -0000

Oh yeah, you're right. My bad.

Weird, I wonder what happened to my brain there...

Re: Snowshoeing Montgomery Pass

Kate C — Tue, 03 Apr 2007 12:20:12 -0000

It was definitely a nice surprise. I wish I'd gone ahead and finished out the trek to the pass, but it was some wicked wind up top. Maybe we'll get up there again later this spring.

Re: Colorado National Monument TR (Part I)

Kate C — Fri, 20 Apr 2007 11:29:35 -0000

It really is a gorgeous spot. I've been through Grand Junction a few times before, and I didn't even realize this was here! We just found out about the climbs last week, and decided to make the trip a few days before.

Matt, maybe I'll put those up. They're just top-rope climbs, I'd have to make up names and grades. :) And, I'm not sure how helpful that would be to people.

Re: Colorado National Monument TR (Part II)

Kate C — Fri, 20 Apr 2007 11:57:00 -0000

Ah, ok, I see. I was surprised that the actual trailhead didn't seem to be in there. The parking lot is about a third of a mile north of the entrance to the canyon. You hike along the outside of this fence protecting a very swank neighborhood from all of us rock climbing ruffians for maybe 20 minutes before you get into the Monument. I didn't have my GPS so I can't really add that in accurately. But I'll fix the link above.

Re: Colorado National Monument TR (Part II)

Kate C — Sat, 21 Apr 2007 01:39:50 -0000

So, the fall factor is dependant on both the length of the fall, and the amount of rope out. Ironically, a 200ft tumble off the belay has the same fall factor as a 20ft fall off the belay (length of fall/length of rope = 2).

Mark says the climbing was easy until the pitons, which were bomber, and that he wasn't worried because 20 people a day climbed the route, and none of them died. :)

Mark also thinks the pitch could be protected with a larger tricam than we brought. If you climb it, Matt, bring a #2.5 and a #3 or the Red and Orange TCUs.

Re: When it rains, it POURS

Kate C — Thu, 03 May 2007 11:10:49 -0000

Thanks Jason. It would be nice to get away with only $1k in replacement costs, but I have to have a mac for work. Our whole research group works exclusively on Macs now, as OSX is just a pretty face on the standard Unix OS. Thus all of our stinky old command-line Unix-based compilers and such will still work on these shiny new machines.

The new powerbooks (aka Macbook Pros) also have built in WiFi and bluetooth (as did my old one), 2 gigs of Ram, Dual Core Intel processors now, and 2 gigs of RAM. Plus built in webcams, iLife, and all the fun Mac toys. They just cost twice or three times as much.

And completely off subject... we've got two Tivos at home, why would we need another one? :) Heros is like my favorite show right now too! DAMN! Peter Petrelli gets HOT in the future!! Mark is a huge fan of Dinner Impossible and Alton Brown, and Battlestar Galactica. I can't keep up with those space soap-opras though. "Who's sleeping with who? Who's kid is that? Isn't she actually a robot? You mean, that lady that he's sleeping with now doesn't even exist? Ok, I'm confused." It's way worse than Days of our Lives. I just can't keep up.

Re: When it rains, it POURS

Kate C — Thu, 03 May 2007 11:13:54 -0000

Heh heh, Dylan, that's so gross. You have no idea how much dog hair was also inside the computer when I cracked it open. This shot is after I cleaned it up the best I could. :)

I've gotten it to a point where it will power up, spin up the HD and the DVD burner, and then sit there quietly. It doesn't actually load the OS. I need some kind of system disk to do a device evaluation boot, but I don't know where mine is. I'm going to pull the logic board out and soak it in rubbing alcohol for a while tonight too. See if that does anything.

Re: Break Out the Big Bros! (A Vedauwoo TR, Part 1)

Kate C — Fri, 04 May 2007 12:37:27 -0000

Thanks Dylan!

Also, I added one more picture. I really like this shot of Dylan cleaning the anchor on top of Poland Hill. What a great view!

Re: Wet Weekend

Kate C — Mon, 07 May 2007 16:06:20 -0000

Yeah, it really was. I guess you guys got out during the 4 hours of sun, we spent that time sitting on our front porch, watching Liv eat the grass. It was a good weekend.

Re: Break Out the Big Bros! (A Vedauwoo TR, Part 2)

Kate C — Wed, 09 May 2007 23:24:53 -0000

Yeah, maybe you're looking at the shot funny, but I think that's a darn good big-cam placement. The big cams have so much travel, they can have a lot of space between the lobes and still be perfectly half-way through their camming spiral.

Re: Kate at Play: Girl’s Day in Vedauwoo

Kate C — Tue, 15 May 2007 12:13:35 -0000

Well, it could be #D there, Kasha is a 5.8. It's not on Mountain Project, and I don't have the book to look it up. Boy, that wide crack on Barley felt like an 8, but I guess off-widths will do that to ya.

Re: Kate at Play: Girl’s Day in Vedauwoo

Kate C — Tue, 15 May 2007 22:13:30 -0000

I don't think it took many dangerous hits. It just slid pretty darn far down there.... We'll get it back. I have plans!!

Re: Kate’s Garden

Kate C — Wed, 30 May 2007 15:10:56 -0000

Hmm, thanks guys! Yeah, it is still getting chilly at night around here. Well, it gets chilly at night all year long around here. Something about living in the mountains or something... I didn't think the peppers minded because their leaves look so healthy, but maybe they are hiding their discomfort. I will see what I can do to make a little plastic house for them.

Re: “Put yourself in a position to be lucky…”

Kate C — Wed, 06 Jun 2007 11:45:14 -0000

Well, mostly we were looking for Crescent Wall in order to find Fin City, not necessarily to climb on it. Though, I think the description of Crescent in my guide book (Gillett) starts with a line about "while this area has a reputation for hard-man trad lines, a few nice moderates do exist on the formation..."

Re: Read This

Kate C — Wed, 06 Jun 2007 16:35:17 -0000

That's the bottom of Piece of Dirt (5.11a). The climb actually goes up the layback flake to the right and then face climbs on a blank vertical face (the crux) for 20 ft. This shot was just me getting into the climb. I supposed you could climb that offwidth to the left, but it just ends up on the belay ledge for Kim. It's maybe 15ft tall.

Here's a link to the photo page: http://colocalders.com/photos/main.php?g2_itemI...

Re: Just Can’t Get Enough

Kate C — Mon, 11 Jun 2007 19:22:57 -0000

Heck yeah!

Re: Just Can’t Get Enough

Kate C — Wed, 13 Jun 2007 17:17:37 -0000

Hi Bruce! Thanks for the comments!

Yeah, I've been struggling recently with how much detail to include in these posts, and how concise I want to be. It's a hard balance to strike: making a nice, short little blog post with pretty pictures or writing a detailed and information-packed story?

So, to answer your question, "pink-point" means that Mark lead the climb (climbed it with the rope going directly from the belayer up to the climber, not up to a top anchor) using the gear that I had previously place to protect my lead. So he did not have to place his own gear, which makes it easier to climb.

"Beta" in this context simply means "helpful information". Before Doug went on the climb, we showed him where a few hidden ledges were inside the crack, and how to do a heal-toe, and that was about it. He figured the rest of it out on his own. Because he kicks ass!

Thanks for your questions, I'm trying to figure out the most interesting way to write these trips up, I need to remember that not all of my audience are climbers!

Re: Just Can’t Get Enough, Day 2

Kate C — Fri, 15 Jun 2007 11:26:58 -0000

Heh, me too! Actually, Mark is pretty sure he dropped one down inside a very thin, deep crack on Poland Hill. So, we're definitely down one there.

It might be time to buy a new set soon....

Re: Vatican City

Kate C — Fri, 27 Jul 2007 12:01:16 -0000

Yeah, I guess it makes sense. It probably wouldn't have bothered me if I hadn't also had to spend every day wearing long sleeves and long skirts just to get into the places.

I think if the Catholic Church was headed by women instead of (or along side) the men, the world might be a very different place today.

Re: Meditations

Kate C — Mon, 13 Aug 2007 14:43:11 -0000

Well, there wasn't that much jumping this morning, was there? Quite the tired doggie last night. She slept through THREE snoozes of the alarm!

Re: More Reflections

Kate C — Wed, 19 Sep 2007 13:17:46 -0000

Sean, you crack me up! And of course my first thought was that the manager of the place (whom I met on Sunday night) relocated to FtC from Denver. Now, how much fossil fuel did that use?? :)

You are both right. And it sucks that Francises can both spell the death of local character, and provide competitive goading for local establishments to improve. Why do we prefer Coops to Applebees? Not just because it's local, but mostly because it's waaaay better. Local places have the time and dedication to produce a better product, if they have the impetus to do it as well.

So, maybe I should suggest to Jake that he start offering a heated ashtanga class?

Re: Anniversary Trip to Estes Park: Sept 28-30 (Part II)

Kate C — Tue, 09 Oct 2007 10:29:22 -0000

Thanks Dylan, Mark, and esp Matt!! Yeah, it's a wild and beautiful place. I've always wanted to climb there more, but keep having similar experiences to this one. Maybe next time will be better.

And Matt, what are you referring to on the Owls exactly? Have you had similar epics in the area? Dish! :) I'll probably track you down at work and decipher the code that way.

Re: Anniversary Trip to Estes Park: Sept 28-30 (Part II)

Kate C — Wed, 10 Oct 2007 13:32:51 -0000

Dude Matt, just want to apologize for the fact that my spam filter seems to think that all of your comments are suspicious. I think they're fantastic. Thanks for the links and the info. We'll get on the book someday, I'm sure of it!

Re: Anniversary Trip to Estes Park: Sept 28-30, 2007 (Part I)

Kate C — Wed, 10 Oct 2007 13:38:59 -0000

Yeah, I know exactly which climb is "Shaking the Pope's Hand" and every time we've gone there I've stared up at that climb and said "I'm going to lead this today!" And then I fry myself of some stupid 5.11 on Punk Rock and/or it starts raining and/or a group of 15 people show up and all start climbing it. This time it was the rain.

I know there are a lot of better climbs further down the road. These two rocks are like the worst of the IronClads, but we've never been down there. Maybe next spring. And Lilly Lake sounds great, but bad for doggies as it crosses the National Park so we may not spend much time there.

Re: Crazy Big Falls

Kate C — Thu, 15 May 2008 17:34:06 -0000

Well you don't fall (often) and you certainly don't climb so high above gear. These climbers all knew they were risking big falls when they climbed that way. Our system results in much shorter falls.

Still, it's nice to see everybody walk away!