Poof

And now it´s Argentina. I had about six days in Seattle to unpack, repack, and connect with friends there. But nonestly, the hardest part is switching automatic languages phrases, at least the little that I know them. I keep trying to use Hindi words for simple things like now and yes, and taking a moment to realize why they haven´t understood me. Ha! My spanish is limited enough, but this is definitely making it less useful!

Fortunately, I´m pretty used to packing for these expeditions by now, so was able to spend a lot of time socializing with people I haven´t seen for two months and won´t see for another two. A screening of films from the traveling Banff Film Festival, tea with Mary, a tromp in the snow to get the feel of the Northwest again. The snow was hard from warm weather followed by a clear cold snap, so it was more of a hike, but good to remind my toes and fingers how to stay warm after two weeks of 90 degree weather! Freezing cold and windy, but great to get out.

Now in Mendoza, I´m getting food and logistics prepared for nine climbers and a few guides for almost three weeks on the mountain. I´m working with a local guide for the first time instead of all Alpine guides, and he seems to be a great guy. The best part is he knows where to find things it would take me hours to do with my broken spanish. (¨Do you have ... something ... for ... umm, uno momento.¨) But at least it´s warm again...

We´ll be posting cybercasts for Team 3 on Aconcagua at: http://www.alpineascents.com/aconcagua-cybercast.asp

Catch you on the flip side!

Off to Denali, round 2

I had gotten time off this past weekend to go do a triathlon with Mary, but this spring's injury meant I couldn't train.  So Mary, after an epic time getting a functional bike at the race location, rocked the house without me.  (Nice work!!)  Instead, I did a reprise of last year's glacier skills weekend with some friends I'll be climbing Rainier with after Denali.  More beautiful weather in the mountains!

This stretch of sun is more than a little unusual for Seattle, and everyone is a little loopy with it.  The highs in town were up into the 80s, and the day I flew to Alaska the forecast was 90 degrees!  Heat advisories were being issued, skirts and shorts and bikinis were being wantonly flaunted, and I finally wore the pink dress that I bought in India last fall.  Yes, pink!  Especially crazy is that 90 F (32 C) is relatively balmy in most of India, but in Seattle, a heat advisory is actually probably a good idea.  Ha!

A few days here in Talkeetna, packing food and getting ready for our expedition, however, has made us ready to fly into the land of glaciers just to escape the mosquitos.  Mosquitos!  So many of them it's hard to sleep; I'm looking forward to being in a tent just so I'm not woken up by their signature whine and inopportune landings.  The lack of night in town means eyeshades are a necessity; on the mountain it means we don't have to bring headlamps.  Ever.  It's so light at 2am you could read a book outside!  Wierd.

Track us at http://www.alpineascents.com/denali-cybercast.asp  We're Team IX, Rob and Suzanne with the all-Japanese team.  Yep - should be interesting.  See you on the flipside!

Back in the whirlwind...

Came back to Seattle and had a week off, and I'm not really sure where it went.  Getting over jetlag (perfectly 12 1/2 hours off!), catching up with friends after four months away, a bit of exercise and trying to organize all of my gear... suddenly a week is gone and it's time to work again.

I headed down to Bend, OR, historically home of beautiful spring weather in the nearby climbing area of Smith Rock, for a three-day recertification.  Every two years our Wilderness First Responder first aid has to be renewed, involving discussions of frostbite, fractures, altitude, and anything else you could have trouble with in the backcountry.  I got to pretend to have asthma, a spontaneous pneumothorax, and a broken shoulder for practice over those three days.  And it wasn't nice weather - it snowed on us all three days!

Back to Seattle for guide training/orientation with Alpine Ascents.  We headed up to El Dorado, had two days of decent weather, then four straight days of full-on storm.  Sideways snow, drifts building up around the tents - it was fun.  On the last morning, two tents collapsed as we packed up and headed down, glad to be leaving the mountains for now.

Today was nice in Seattle, thankfully.  I'm not quite sure I'm excited to be heading back up into the snow tomorrow, but it's time to start working.  My rib muscles are feeling good, almost entirely healed, and I'm looking forward to the season.  Back in a week!

...in between...

OK, so monster colds don't get better with the Mendoza treatment - staying up til 4am at the cafes and drinking lots of wine. But it sure is fun! After a few nights with our climbers and another group from the mountain, we spent a few nights in with a tasty spread of fresh fruit and tapas - little bites of olives, cheeses, etc. Enjoy where you are...

Back in Seattle, I thought I gave myself enough time to do taxes, take care of life stuff, and get ready to go again - ha! Managed to see some long-neglected friends in Port Townsend, though, a perfect welcome back to the Pacific Northwest. I love those quintessential Seattle moments - pulling away from the ferry dock, city lights on shore, mild night breeze bringing scent of salt water and seaweed. Nice to be home, if only briefly.

It had been beautiful weather in Seattle for the last week, and started raining the moment I touched down. But a night on my friends' boat brought another nice day and just enough time to stand on the rocky beach. A new front suspension fork on my bike, a few beers shared with friends, and taxes mostly done, I'm off for another 24-hour-plus flight itinerary back to India. Looking forward to riding, skiing, and whatever else!

Going, going...

... almost out of town. Haven't seen the sun for at least a week, and it's supposed to start raining in Mendoza the day I arrive in Argentina. You've got to be kidding.

And just in case you're curious, no, the UPS people don't know if they have a package for you, or where your last Christmas package is, or how the main roads are. And they're tired of

running up your un-shoveled walkway and getting the truck stuck in the snow and trying to work through a jam-packed

cargo area while answering these questions. Just hold

on and try to remember that Christmas will still be here whether you get your presents or not.

With all of the snow that must be falling in the mountains, I haven't actually gotten to go skiing, just working to recover financially from three months of playing! But I finally got around to waxing the skis and getting them ready to go for my return from down south - more ironing than I've done since... the last time I waxed skis. Priorities.

A huge thanks to those friends who have given me a place to live for the last month. But I'm definitely excited to get back to guiding work - being in town is really hard on me. The last time I was in one place for more than 10 days was two winters ago in Utah! Time to get out...

But it's getting better

This is what winter in Seattle offers for those of us who foolishly risk Seasonal Affective Disorder and Vitamin D deficiency - snow!  Mary and I went for my first foray into the mountains (yikes!) since Thanksgiving and were rewarded with a perfect day - quiet, fresh fluffy snow, and just enough of it to be fun.  

I finally made it to Annette Lake - the trail crosses some major avalanche paths so is unsafe and sometimes unfindable for much of the winter.  We brought snowshoes but didn't need to use them, preferring instead to enjoy the feeling of ankle-to-knee-deep powder.  Fun!  Plus I re-found a great hat I'd forgotten about, which added to the ridiculousness.

And now it's snowing in Seattle for the second time in a week!  Totally uncharacteristic - it's usually warm here next to the water with plenty of snow in the mountains - but nice because of that.  Won't be biking today - work is going to be interesting!

December in Seattle

Really isn't all it's cracked up to be.  And it's not cracked up to be much, so there you have it.  The nature of guiding and expedition work makes it highly subject to change, so instead of going to Argentina this month, I'm making ends meet here.  Fortunately I have incredibly generous with whom to stay whether they're in town or not, so have a roof over my head.  Thanks!!!

Got a job for the month with UPS during their busy holiday season, and signed up to do deliveries by bike in a small neighborhood in Madison Park.  Interesting, yes.  Fun?  Well, only when the weather's nice.  *grin*  I guess it's getting me used to cold and obnoxious weather again after some time in India.

But it's work, and I'm grateful for that!

Re-entry

…is being particularly hard. Flew through Seoul on my way back to Seattle, catching the election results as I got off the plane for my layover. One of those where-were-you-when moments.

But though I have only been in India for less than six weeks, the same as last year, everything feels more familiar, and my jet-lagged brain isn’t ready for the States just yet. It’s weird, having become automatic even in such a short time, not to:

Flip light switches down to turn them on
Walk and drive on the left
Bring my own toilet paper everywhere
Use fingers to eat
Pay next to nothing for good food
Be different than everyone around me
Engage the organized chaos of traffic
Decide if directions or advice are actually accurate
Expect random crowds of staring onlookers, anytime, anywhere

Oddly enough, I’m still dreaming in India – waking up, I’m confused by the readily available English all around, the coats and fancy shoes, the briefcases and sense of self-importance, places to be and things to do. Ramblings about why and how are more than need to be discussed here…

One day in Seattle, and I’m off to visit friends and family on the east coast. The grey and rain and cold of the northwest was a bit of a shock, but now that I’ve traded my sandals for warm shoes and sparkly pinks and oranges for brown, I’ll figure out how to adjust, eventually.

Chaos

Last week on Rainier was, indeed, cold and snowy - all except the last day as we were leaving, of course. The better to prepare folks for Denali, I suppose.

These two weeks, however, have been much less structured - it's amazing how hard it can be to make a trip happen. Of the solicited suggestions from friends, I've probably planned and changed plans to include nearly all of them:

Week-long canyoneering trip to Zion. Nope, conditions are bad, so week-long kayak trip, then ski St Helens. Nope, I actually have a place to stay for the week so short bike trip and ski St Helens. Nope, people are coming back early, so long bike trip and ski St Helens. Nope, St Helens friend can't do it, so back to a week-long kayak trip. Next!!

Currently planning to kayak somewhere for a week, not sure where yet. Until tomorrow, when it will all change again...

Down time

Hell's Canyon was nice - managed to find a little camp spot by a stream and have some nature time to myself. Lovely.

How to stay in shape and out of trouble (ie sitting on the couch or spending lots of money)... Took the last week to catch up with some Seattle friends, hiking and climbing and skiing, and get affairs like oil changes and drivers license renewals in order. A couple more days of that, then ready to head off on a bike trip to Portland, the long way.

It's about 430 miles around the north side of the Olympic Peninsula on Hwy 101 then down to Rain City avoiding the interstate. Plenty of time to ride as slow or fast as I want, with a couple days to escape the rain if need be. The weather's supposed to clear up next week (it snowed in the city today!), but it is, after all, spring in the Northwest. Rainy and 41 degrees...

Planning to return to town mid-April, with little chance of internet on the trek. Til then, it's central heating appreciation fortnight - enjoy!