Insane in the membrane, INSANE IN THE BRAIN!

WOW! That word pretty much sums up my weekend! What a way to end the winter climbing season! Mark, Mike and I began our hike up one of the gullies on Mt. Webster fairly early on Saturday morning. We had the most perfect weather you can imagine. We all actually got a little bit of a sunburn on our faces. Most of our time was spent hiking some 1500 ft on a snow-covered gully, which turned into some ice at the top, then we had to bushwhack through some very dense trees for a 100 ft. or so until we finally reached the top where we spent the night on the ridge. We found a cozy spot amidst some trees where we dug out a tent site and set up shop. It was a lovely night (not too cold) and we awoke to yet another beautiful sunny day today. A mere 3.4 mile hike through some portions of knee-deep snow and the occasional opportunity to glissade got us to the road where we had to walk another mile or so to the lot where we had parked to the car. My feet were really excited to see the car! Ha! :-) It was definitely one of the best weekends I've had this winter!

Moving on... the weekend leading up to this past weekend, Danielle and I headed up to Loon where I finally, FINALLY, got to use my skis! It was so AWESOME to be back on skis! It was a beautiful day and the snow was just right. Danielle and I experienced some great "spring skiing"!

Going backwards even still... the weekend before that, Mike and I headed north to get some more ice climbing in. Despite the crowds, we managed to get a couple climbs in at Kinsman. We spent the night in North Conway and got up early to attempt Black Pudding Gully. We hiked all the way up to the base of the climb, Mike started up the climb and with the first swing of the ice axe into the vertical section, out rang a loud hollow sound (not good when ice climbing). Mike did some investigating and discover that he could do the Irish Jig in the large, 10 foot tall section that was between the ice and the rock. In my opinion, Mike did the smart thing and backed off the climb. We decided to venture further up the road to a place we hadn't been yet, Texaco. We were able to get a couple climbs in there and then headed home. So, with Spring just around the bend... I guess you could say I've had one, totally rad winter!! The picture of Mark, Mike and I above was taken from atop Mt. Webster. For pics of Mt. Webster, click here.
For pics of Kinsman, Black Pudding and Texaco, click here.

OK... so I'm not awesome at keeping up-to-date with this blog stuff... Hmmm alright, let's see... what's happened since my last entry?... I typically can't remember what I did yesterday so you'll forgive me if I forget something, right? Here it goes... Sometime in January Gina, Danielle and I went snowboarding at Pat's Peak. It was Gina's first time on a snowboard and Danielle and I did our best to keep her off her butt! :-) She did really well and I hope she keeps up with it! I still have yet to use my skis that I bought last season!! It's starting to drive me a little insane... I don't know what my problem is but everytime I go to the mountain I end up snowboarding... maybe it's what my inner-self truly desires... Ha! :-) At some other point in January Mike and I went ice climbing at Frankenstein Cliff in New Hampshire, it was totally rad! We had a beautiful sunny, 0˚F (with the windchill) day! The weekend following that Sean and I went up to Mt. Snow in VT. I've never been, it's a pretty sweet mountain! Sean totally showed off in the park! Ha! (Sean - if you read this, I'm kidding, I'm just envious of your mad skillz!) Which brings us to this past weekend... Mike and I drove up on Sat. to the Crawford Notch area and did two short climbs, stayed the night in Twin Mountain and returned to Mt. Willard to do a longer gully climb on Sun. Now for all you MA people, while you were enjoying the beautiful, sunny 40-something degree day, Mike and I were freezing our butts off in a snowstorm in the White Mountains! Ha! It's amazing how different the weather can be from one place to the next. Now keep calm... don't get your panties all up in a knot, I'll have pictures posted soon!

Like... WHOA!

Like... whoa! Don't get me wrong, I love the holidays, but MAN I'm glad this craziness is over! So let's see... Christmas Eve was awesome! The fam all came over and it was good times as always (Auntie Jan & Uncle Jim, we missed you both!) The weekend following Christmas my mom, Joanne, Jim, Scott, Steve, Michelle, the Canadians and Lou took to the slopes of Sunday River... slopeside! Granted the weather was a bit strange we still got a full day in on Saturday and I rode a half day Sunday, it was AWESOME!! Oh and did I mention we also enjoyed the heated outdoor pool and jacuzzi!! Yeahhhh... like I said before, AWESOME!

New Year's Eve Nick and I went to Nate's house in Essex. Nate lives in a cool house connected to a saw mill where he works. I enjoyed some live music provided by Nick, Nate, Tim, a couple guitars and a bongo. We counted down to 2009 with the folks in Time Square and then froze our butts off watching a firework show in the driveway. At about 3AM I partook in some drunken guitar lessons thanks to Tim. I met a lot of really awesome people and had a grand ol' time! Now it's time to catch up on some much need sleep!

Click here for pics from the aforementioned Sweater Party and Sunday River

I've got a need... a need for speed!

Ice climbing, rock climbing, driving across country... yeah, they're all good but I need more in my life... I need to fly! Ha! Kidding! It being close to Christmas and all, I've once again got lazy about updating my blog... shame on me! Anywho, let's see... two weekends ago Mike took me flying in the morning, it was awesome! I flew the plane all by myself (pictured above)! Ha ha ha! That night Mark, Mike and I were off to an ugly sweater party... good times, indeed!! Sunday afternoon Mike and I went back into Boston to watch a game of racquets. It's similar to squash but far more dangerous. It's played in a granite room with an acrylic ball wrapped in twine and tape that can reach speeds up to 180mph... don't believe me? Google it! Fast forward to this past weekend which was FILLED with snow!!! YAY!!! The fam and I went to our annual xmas party with friend's of the fam, also good times!! And ahhhh well, I shoveled... a lot! I'm looking forward to this coming weekend when I'll be hitting the slopes up at Sunday River! That about does it for now. For the folks who actually read this, Happy Holidays to you all!

Click here for Plane Ride pics!

Does it get any better?!

I'm in love... This past weekend was my first time Ice Climbing and I must say, I can't WAIT to go again!! I love it!! Mike and I hiked up to Tuckerman's Ravine and did some mixed climbing. It was amazing! As I stood there on the top of Tuckerman's, the wind nearly knocking me down, snow flying by my face I thought to myself, "Does it get any better than this!?" I looked out at the snow covered mountains and realized all in one moment that this year has been absolutely incredible, I've done many things I thought I'd only dream about doing and I'm so grateful. Above is a picture of Mike on the first pitch of our climb.

10 mile hike in knee deep snow without snowshoes... AWESOME!

I ended this nice long weekend with another snowy hike!! Mark, Mike and I hiked Galehead Mtn. on Sunday via the Gale River Trail to Garfield Ridge Trail to Frost Trail. It started off with a little dusting of snow on the ground which then turned into ankle deep, then knee deep and then nearly hip deep! Judging by the little snow we encountered at the trailhead we figured we'd be fine without snowshoes... boy were we wrong! Luckily for us a couple people had gone up ahead of us with snowshoes and blazed a nice little trail. We took turns with another party ahead of us, who were also lacking in the snowshoe department, breaking trail beyond what those folks in the snowshoes had accomplished. It's never a bad day hiking in the snow, even if ya have to do a little extra work breaking trail! Above is a picture of Mark from the lookout just below Galehead's summit.

Isolation

This past weekend was a chilly one! Mike and I headed north early Saturday morning, we drove into some snow showers up near Cannon... I can't even begin to tell you how stoked I was to see snow!!! We started our hike into Isolation Shelter around 2:30 and found ourselves searching through the dark, snow-covered woods for a campsite after discovering that a bunch of dudes had overtaken the shelter. We set up shop quick and enjoyed our dinner while listening to some Christmas tunes as the snow fell around Mike's little tent. It was like Christmas except we hadn't even made it through Thanksgiving!! :o) The wind was howling that night. We guessed the gusts had to have been up in the 60mph range. Mike's watch read a whopping 16ºF inside the tent... I can't imagine how cold it was outside the tent, especially with the wind chill and all! It was a wonderful, chilly night!! I love winter!!! Above is a short clip of our drive up 93 (you need to have the sound on to fully appreciate this clip). Click here for pictures!! :o)

Brian Regan & good beer

Tonight was filled with lots of laughs, good friends and frothy beer.
Mark (seen in the photo above), Mike, Luke, Seth, Katie, Bryan,
Danielle and I saw Brian Regan at the Orpheum Theatre and then had
some munchies and drinks at Cheers! It was a damn good time! Mike and
I are hoping to get a hike in a some point this weekend if the rain
will ever let up... we'll see! ;-)

Exploring Crawford

Ok... so I've been a little lazy this week. I'm just now getting around to posting a blog for last weekend, sue me. Nonetheless, last weekend Mike and I did a little bit of exploring. We revisited Mt. Crawford in hopes of discovering a new climbing route on the summit. It was a bit colder than it was the previous weekend, as you can see in the picture above, we're bundled up pretty good. We repelled off the summit only to find a 20 some-odd foot cliff with nothing on it worth cleaning out and setting up an anchor for. Oh well, it was still a great time and... hey, we tried! :o) Just a side note... I can't WAIT for ice climbing season!! YAY! Click here for pictures!

Stoopdafied @ Slightly Stoopid

Mike and I got stoopdafied at Slightly Stoopid last night!! Well, not really but it was one kick ass show!! We witnessed a fight between someone in the crowd and one of the two lead singers... It was sweeeeeet! Now I'm packin' up for some more backpacking and a possible
route discovery! Weehooo!

Climbing and backpacking all in the same day... I must be dreaming!

This weekend was splendid! Mike and I drove up to Franconia Notch Friday night and spent the night in the truck so that we could wake up early to begin our climb on Cannon. Sure enough we were the first ones in the parking lot Saturday morning. We climbed Wiesner's Dike and about halfway up the climb it became extremely windy and cloudy, by the time we reached the top of what once was Old Man's head we were experiencing 50mph winds! It was freakin' awesome!! We met Mark (who hiked up) at the top and headed down together. We were soon on our way to Davis Path which we hiked up to Resolution Shelter where we spent the night. Sunday we hiked through the very wet trails which lead to the summit of Mt. Crawford. At first the summit was very cloudy and we couldn't see a thing but after spending a few minutes there the clouds started to clear and behind them were some pretty sweet views! The picture above was taken at the summit of Mt. Crawford and you can find more pictures by clicking here!

Camel's Hump, VT

So, as most of you know Mike and I returned to MA Thursday, the 9th.
We drove from a little west of Cleveland to western MA and
accidentally took a detour through PA... It was about a 13+ hour
drive. Ooopppsss! Ha ha ha! Nevertheless, we stayed at Jim's and
returned home on Friday. So, I'm now back into the grind but totally
missing the road!! If you'd like to see 373 photos from our trip please click here! Now that you're all caught up to speed, the image
above is from the summit of Camel's Hump in VT. Yesterday my mom, Mike
(my brother) and I hiked VT's third highest peak, at 4,080 ft. It was
a really nice hike it was just too bad that we had to share it with a
million other people. Ha! Anyways, we had a great time and I highly
suggest this hike to anyone, you just might be better off on a week
day or in the winter! :-) Click here for pictures!

Greetings from the windy city!

We're now leaving Chicago after spending most of the day there. We
visited Millenium Park, took the elevator to the top of the Sears
Tower and enjoyed a tasty deep-dish pizza at a local restaurant.
Sunday we visited the Theodore Roosevelt National Park in North
Dakoda. Monday, we saw the largest buffalo in the world (sculpture),
you're jealous... I know. Tuesday, we visited Minneapolis, we walked
around the city for a bit and had lunch at Key's (best turkey & wild
rice soup EVERRR!!)... and thennnn... we went to the MALLLL OF
AMERICAAAA!! Holy cow that is one HUGE mall!! Oh! And, of course, we
went for a ride on one of the roller coasters and the swings IN the
mall!! Wooohooo! Which brings us to today. Above is a picture of part
of the Chicago skyline from the Skydeck atop Sears Tower.

Glacier (pronounced glas•e•aire)

Friday we drove from West Glacier to Logan Pass in Glacier National
Park. Unfortunately, the road was closed to thru traffic due to some
construction so we were unable to see the East side of the park. We
were, however, able to hike the Hidden Lake trail at Logan Pass and
see some Big Horn Ram and a Grizzly!! That was the first time I've
seen any bear in the wild, it was awesome!! Fortunately for us the
bear was far, far away... man, he was one big dude though! Glacier was
amazing! We're now in eastern Montana, where livestock outnumbers
people 5:1, experiencing some overcast as we head back East. The
picture above was taken from the Hidden Lake trail at Logan Pass,
looking towards Going-to-the Sun Mtn.

Direct to you from the WiFi Bonnie & Clyde

We're currently parked outside a Hampton Inn in Montana stealing some WiFi because I've been seriously slacking with the whole taking pictures with my phone thing (so the picture you see above is from my digital camera, so sorry if it's a bit large or small... or anything)... Anywho, we camped in the Clearwater National Forest in Idaho last night. This morning we woke up a bit earlier than usual to hike up to some natural hot springs off of Rt. 12 in the Selway-Bitteroot Wilderness Area, also in Idaho. The water temperature was a mere 106° F... it was niiiiiiiice! I digress, Friday we made it up to Seattle around 7pm and stayed the night with Paresh and Sibyl and then on Saturday, Mike, Paresh and I headed over the pass to Leavenworth to do some climbing/camping (in the Westfalia!!). We got a couple of climbs in on Saturday and went into town for a nice Mexican dinner... Sunday morning we were up bright and early to start our 6 pitch climb, Outer Space, in Leavenworth... well, I wasn't so bright that morning because that Mexican food I had the night before didn't quite agree with me... so Mike and Paresh did the climbed and I hiked in a bit later to snap some shots of them. It was a beautiful day for a climb or a hike, in my case. After having a grand 'ol time in Leavenworth we were on the road, back to Seattle. Monday we visited the Museum of Flight, Mike was in his glory! I had been there once before but it was fun to visit there again! Afterwards we had some Thai food on Fremont Street, it was delicious! Tuesday we walked around Pike's Place and dragged our feet because neither of us wanted to leave. A BIG THANK YOU to Paresh and Sibyl for putting us up for 4 nights!! You guys are AWESOME! We had a great time and THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!!! :-) Above is a picture of Paresh and Mike climbing in Leavenworth.

It's big, it's blue, it's Crater Lake!

San Francisco, Redwoods & Crater Lake... Let's see... We arrived
Sunday evening in Oakland, CA. Monday morning we woke up early and
toured San Francisco. We saw Fisherman's Worf, took a ride on the
trolly, admired the switchbacks of Lombard St, and took in the views
from atop Coit Tower. Later that evening we had dinner with Carlo
Fiatarone and his mom, Dina, and two cute kids she was babysitting.
That was the first time I met any relatives from the West Coast. They
were super nice people and I'm looking forward to seeing them again
someday!! Tuesday we headed up to Redwood National Park. Man, they got
some BIG trees!! It's like walking around in some kind of fairy tale
land! Ha! :-) Wednesday we started our drive to Crater Lake. That is
definitely the most pristine lake I've ever seen!! Sooo inviting but,
sooooo cold!! :-) Now it's Friday and we're heading up coastal route
101 to Seattle where we'll be meeting up with two of Mike's friends to
do a little climbing and such!

Yosemite

The picture above is not some cheesy backdrop nor did I superimpose my
feet... That was taken from my little perch at Glacier Point,
overlooking Yosemite Valley. Wow... That's all I have to say. Standing
tall in the center of it all is Half Dome. Mike and his friend Jim
climbed that 3 years ago, I'd like to come back again to do the same!
Friday we went for an afternoon sail on Lake Tahoe then we were off to
Yosemite. We arrive late Friday night and stayed the night just
outside of the park. We woke up early Sat morning and climbed Fairview
Dome in Tuolumne Meadows, it was awesome!! Today we drove through the
valley and we're now on our way to San Francisico.

Lemon Drop Martini + Lake Tahoe sunset = I'm not leaving

Drinks on Lake Tahoe... that's all I have to say.

Bonneville and beyond

After we spent a grueling day and a half waiting for the truck to get
fixed we were finally heading out of UT but we couldn't leave without
seeing the Bonneville Salt Flats! As we pulled up to the entrance the
lady collecting money told us we were just in time, it was the first
day of the 22nd Annual World of Speed. It was AWESOME!! There were all
different types of cars, my favorite was the Lakester, gosh darn thing
is like a bullet! Just before we left one broke the 300mph mark!! I
believe it's exit speed was clocked in at around 307mph!!! It was
insane!!! :-) So now we're in NV, we stayed the night at a Walmart in
Winniemucca, NV and we just walked around Reno, the biggest little
city, and had some lunch. Now we're stuck in some serious traffic just
outside of Reno on our way to Lake Tahoe. Above is a picture of the
Bonneville Salt Flats, you'll have to excuse the quality of these
photos as they are taken with my cell phone... I think the poor little
cell phone camera got freaked out over the massive amount of sun light
and under exposed the picture a bit.

We're homeless...

On our way to CA yesterday we stopped at a scenic view area, as we
were walking back to the truck Mike noticed smoke coming out from
under the hood... Two nice men stopped and took a look at the oil
leaking under the truck with Mike. They all agreed we needed to get it
up on a lift and looked at so off we went to the nearest town, Tooele,
UT. We drove the truck to Tunex and they said there was definitely a
leak that needed to be fixed but they didn't have any time that
evening and we'd have to bring it back the next morning. Lucky for us
there was a Walmart right next door and that's where we spent the
night, after a round of bowling and a movie, of course! Today we've
spent the day roaming the streets of Tooele. My feet are ridiculously
dirty and I'm ready to get our home back! Now just as you might start
feeling bad for us... please note that the night before last we drove
into Park City, did some shopping, ate out at a nice brewery, drove
back to our executive suite at the Homestead Resort, floated around
for an hour in a 55ft deep mineral spring crater, and from there we
hopped in the whirlpool tub in our bathroom! So yeah, I guess we had
this coming to us...