My New Love

I love everything about hiking Washington but I am a bit maxed out on Snoqualmie Pass. Too many crowds, looks the same, too many crowds, etc. But man oh man do I like that Tortilla Soup in North Bend - there is no other soup like yours.

So for Big Bro's Birthday hike we decided to go to Steven's Pass and immediately fell in love with the reduction of folks, natural beauty and I could finally hear pikas again.

So I was too lazy to rearrange these pictures in the right order so you're going to have to look at these Tarantino or Memento style. Love it.

I actually took this on the trail after I got done gazing at the creek which followed our trail. I just liked how it looked like I was in a cave of trees.

Holy green right? Seriously, I love Washington - I had a beautiful creek on one side and greeny green goodness pastures to my left side.

So this is my Big Bro in *all* of his hiking garb for this hike. He's an Eagle Scout so I guess he always wants to be prepared. Plus the pansy doesn't like pine needles to get in his boots so he loves his gators hahaha Love ya Big Bro!

Anyway - this tree and rock looked very supportive to us. We love supportive rocks.



Did I mention this was called Surprise Creek? My goodness this water was soooooooo stinking beautiful! Crystal clear! And it accompanied us the whole way until we started going up to Surprise Lake which I can only assume is it's Mom in the sky.

Look at this clear beast of water. You're lying if you don't have the urge to want to hop into that pool of water right now.

I actually think this was my last picture on the way out. But obviously I'm a water junkie. Enjoy it.

Ok Tarantino fans, this is us at the "top"...I think. Surprise Lake was still covered with snow and is over that hump of rocks. The trail book said it's a good swimming lake - oh yeah, I have some unfinished business with you baby!

You can't even tell this is water since it's so clear - but here's the run-off from the lake. Surprise!

OH yeah, this is at the top too. Somewhere under this snow is the Pacific Crest Trail.

And Memento fans this is Big Bro and his wife halfway up to the top. I didn't give them much warning for this shot.

OH, is that all my pics? I guess so! In any case Steven's Pass and I have some unfinished business - Snoqualmie I still love you and I'll promise I'll come back after I use up some of Steven's pass.

Colorado Baby!!

Big D and I have birthdays one day apart and make an effort every year to spend our birthdays together. After a winter hike months ago we decided over beers that we must celebrate our 30th birthday by going to Colorado.

Big D being the top notch planner and researcher that she is read Frommer's book on Colorado cover to cover and recommended a good variety of things to do on our 8-day-trek.



For each day in Colorado we decided to take a moment from our 20s that was synonymous with our day (scroll to end).



Something that we quickly learned about Colorado is that the vast variety of terrain reminded us a lot of Washington. And you know what freaks me out? It's legal to not wear a helmet. Tons of dudes on Motorcycles enjoying their Rocky Mountain High then....SPLAT!!! That horrid thought crossed my mind everytime I saw someone without a helmet - which was quite often! But I digress....

Here's Big D and I on the plane anxsiously awaiting take-off. When we were approaching Denver we could see some wicked thunder and lightening storms which are typical in the late afternoon/early evenings in Colorado. And we both LOVE thunder and lightening. Except when it involves Poltergeist...*shudder* Remember how scary that clown and tree were? Sheesh!




So after we got our rental car (shout out to the powder blue Ford Focus) we put on some John Denver to listen to some Rocky Mountain High. Nevermind that it was interrupted 3 times by freaking tolls. We love mapquest but sometimes the quickest route is not the cheapest route...

On our way to Colorado Springs we decided to pick up some wine and some dinner. Above is Big D cutting up some avacado and tomato to go with our usual wine consumption. However, we learned the hard way that wine isn't sold at grocery stores.



Big D: Excuse me, where's your wine? (desperation in voice)

Store clerk: You mean wine coolers?

Big D: NO - Where is the WINE!?



Thank God a liquor store was next door. Grocery stores don't sell anything higher than 3.5% alcohol in their stores. So not only are there tons of people without helmets in Colorado but there's also a ton of liquor stores.



Memory from our 20s:

Krista: All this flying in airplanes and traveling in unfamiliar territory reminded me of my 27th birthday when I flew down to Guatemala to Big D who was already down there. That was an amazing trip.

Big D: All this traveling reminded Big D of going to Europe to visit her parents when she was 23. Of course while she was in Europe she found her way to Morocco - you can't keep this girl out of Africa!

Colorado - Day Two

On our 2nd day we wanted to do something in Colorado Springs and quickly decided on Garden of the Gods. Pikes Peak was recommended to only do when it's sunny for the views. And perhaps I'm just spoiled by Washington State but Pike's Peak didn't seem that big...even though we know it was. Foolish eyes!

Everywhere we looked at Garden of the Gods (Pikes Peak towering above) was bright in color and absolutely beautiful. It is a bit touristy so we decided to walk the trails that surrounded the park as we made our way into it.

There were some crazy rock climbers all over - this rock wasn't that high but I still was in awe. If only I had the skill to climb a red rock.



See these little specks? Rock climbers! Best view in the house.

Did I mention how much the elevation change was kicking our butt? We would walk up a slight hill and be quickly out of breath. We could barely talk and walk at the same time. Which worked out fine because we were too busy "oohing" and "ahhing" at our surroundings.

As you can see from above the afternoon storms were starting to roll in. Looks like we were skipping Pikes Peak. I totally have Pikes Peak regret right now. So....I have to go back.

A very nice gal took this picture for us. I loved all the red rock - many of the roads in Colorado Springs were red too. Loves it.

"Ooooohhhhh", "Ahhhhhhhh".

Fun with red rocks.

So after a full day of walking in new terrain at 3-4 times the elevation that we were used to we were absolutely zonked. We headed over to Manitou Springs for some grub. It's a cute little hippy town with good beer thankfully.


Memory from our 20s:

Krista: All this desert-like terrain reminds me of my first summer in Ellensburg hiking and bonding with my new friends. Shout out to my main college hiking buddies Marketa and Alicia - two women who still mean the world to me today. Age....early 20s? Ay yi yi don't ask a 30-year-old a memory question!

Big D: Between the ages of 22-25 Big D worked at Lost Coast Brewery while attending Humboldt College. The bar we visited in Manitou Springs reminded her of Lost Coast in the summer when she worked long and hard shifts followed by playing harder at the beach with her friends.

Colorado - Day Three

Day three was whitewater rafting on the Arkansas River! Shout out to Roberto our river guide - coolest guide ever. I didn't have a picture so I stole the below pic from their website.



Anyway - it was so much fun to survive The Spinner, Kamikaze and especially Satan's Suckhole. It should be noted that after we made it thru Satan's Suckhole Roberto pointed out a backboard that was tied to a tree next to the river - this is utilized for the rafters who aren't so lucky in Satan's Suckhole.

Sheesh.

Anyway - Big D and I were in front and I didn't fall out! At one point all of a sudden I was knocked into her lap though. Better than the suckhole. We saw some real Colorado rams along the way and Big D took a dip in the river when it was calm because she couldn't let the 12-year-old show her up. Just ask her about it.

Afterwards we made our way to the Royal Gorge which is really just a big gorge with a bridge over it. And you know why they made this bridge? For tourists. There are fair rides and they charge you just to walk across. Big D and I decided we'd rather spend that money on wine and not some bridge that we could walk over in Washington for free.

The Bridge. This is my "free" view.

If you squint you can see a raft from our rafting company in the gorge below. It's quite the drop. This inspires me to do skydiving next.

So after skipping out on the Royal Gorge we decided to check out the Colorado Prison Museum nearby - which was super interesting. We were able to go into a gas chamber, see weapons confiscated, learn about past riots, criminals who stayed there - and our favorite part? The gift shop. A lot of gifts were made by prisoners from the nearby prison. Some of them had a lot of artistic talent when it came to toilet paper sculptures!

A bad man of Colorado.

After the prison museum God steered us to Holy Cross Abbey for some wine tasting. This wine was soooo stinking good that we bought some bottles for the rest of our trip. What seemed fitting was when lightening struck the building zapping out the power temporarily. Thanks God.

Memories from our 20s:

Krista: In my early 20s (not sure of age again) I went white water rafting for the first time with Monica and Marketa. I of course fell into the river and was rescued by Marketa's husband Will. Today I did not fall in. YES!

Big D: The rams we saw along the river reminded Big D of her backpacking trip thru The Enchantments when she was 28. A group of mountain goats had invaded her campsite! Bill Gruff's goat just doesn't know when to quit....

Colorado - Day Four

Our fourth day in Colorado we discovered that we absolutely love satelitte radio. 80s on Station 008 and 90s on Station 009 - awesome. It was all we needed for this road trip - that and the occasional clean bathroom. Thank you Shell.



So anyway - we made our way to the Sand Dunes which is actually a National Park in Colorado. It's unlike the sand dunes that I've seen on the west coast because it's formation is greatly due to the mountains that it rests against. Now, don't expect a lesson here because I didn't pay that close attention to the "How are sand dunes formed?" portion. They did have this cool thing though where I could crank a wheel and change wind patterns that would change the formation of the sand dunes - all in this little box. But I digress.

What's so pretty about this is the water runoff between the parking lot and the sand dunes. The current surges every 15 seconds so we had to time how we crossed this. And I read somewhere why the current surges but I didn't retain that information. So just trust me that it does and that it's natural. But we got our pants wet anyway.




This was our first glimpse of the sand dunes and we scanned the horizon for the highest peak and said "let's go there." We were determined to get some good grunting exercise in after the long drive. If you click on the picture you can see the small specks higher on the dunes which are people. We wanted to be with those people.

I took one look back at the parking lot (hard to see) before I ascended the dunes. It is so stinking beautiful here. But the Ranger did warn us that a thunder and lightening storm was coming and lightening WILL strike the sand so to be careful. Roger that. Reminds me of the movie Sweet Home Alabama.

This is me after we thought we'd reach the "top". There is no top there's just more dunes. But anyway, I had JUST seen a hummingbird before this picture was taken. So stinking random a hummingbird at the top of the dunes. I still wonder if it was trying to tell me something...

I really like this picture but I can't take credit for it - it was taken by Big D. That's me following her tracks along this ridge. We kept on walking these sand ridges and I had two songs in my head "Living on the Edge" by Aerosmith and...I can't remember the second one. I'm sure it fit though and I had just heard it on satelitte radio.

This is my attempt of a cool picture. 2nd place to Big D's but I like how she's standing with the swagger of Marlboro man looking into the distance with all that green behind her.

This is pretty much what it looked like at the top - dunes as far as the eye could see. It would of been really fun to spend more time up here and see how far we could go. Walking in the dunes was great exercise. The elevation difference did make it tough but we were determined.

Did I mention how stinking windy it was? I took a video (below) but you can barely hear me. I think early on you can hear my reaction when a bunch of sand blows into my ear. That really woke me up.

Where did we stay that night...Alamosa? Anyway, shout out to the brewery we ate at. We got the beer sampler and I seriously had the best Amber that I've ever had on these lips. I just can't remember the name of it. I'm 30 now, give me a break. I have a bad memory.

Memories of our 20s:

Krista: Just last year at 29 I climbed Mt. St. Helens with Big D. Climbing the sand dunes reminded me of trekking thru the ash just before we reached the summit. I also learned the hard way the importance of putting sunscreen on the back of the legs because sun does reflect off ash. Serious blister city. Serious.

Big D: The terrain here reminded her of her time at Biosphere 2 at age 22. No, she wasn't locked in. In any case, that is where the roots of her close college friendships started with "The Girls". And it's really the time in her life where she started to get serious about her life path and be an adult. Lots of reflections on these dunes.

Colorado - Day Five

Day Five and we love satelitte radio even more. Heading towards the mountains seriously reminded me of Eastern Washington and how it's all flat and golden. But soon we were heading up, up and more up. We had decided to do some geocaching during the long drive and the GPS was reading 11,000 feet elevation. No wonder our heads felt like it they were about to burst! Then all of a sudden we saw the signs for The Continental Divide (and our geocache!).

This is a picture taken from the pullout on the Continental Divide. I loved knowing that very soon our trip would be taking us closer and closer to those mountains ahead.

OH yeah, I had that great divide between my legs!

This is Big D at our geocache we found on the Continental Divide.

So this picture is actually upside down but I just really liked how it looked. I like feet pictures but I'm refraining from posting too many of them - this one was an exception however.

This was my true view of where I took that shoe picture. When we saw this rock we literally ran to it. Below is Ponderosa Springs and looks to be retirement heaven. So many houses had lakes and rivers on their property - all guarded by the mountains. It's also very close to the Southwest terrain of the state so you can get the best of both worlds. I was really loving Colorado at this point.

That's my butt in reflection taken by Big D.

They call it Chimney Rock. I call it C*ck Rock. Don't judge - you thought the same thing when you saw it.

What is this? A kiva! We had finally made our way to Cortez, Colorado to stay at Kelly Place. It's a fantastic bed and breakfast that has actual pueblan ruins on it. The property was huge and one of the most positive experiences on this trip.

So right away we got there and explored some of the ruins - this kiva is literally a minute walk from the house. We peered in and it was soooo stinking dark that I took a picture to illuminate it below but the above was the result. Very mysterious.

This was our view of the kiva. Big D immediately decided to go down first.

It's so funny because once we were inside it was totally bright and easy to see. They've obviously made some efforts to preserve this kiva to be visitor friendly. We wandered to another kiva further on the property and it was vastly different. More eerie to me so I didn't take pictures.

The sun was setting as we explored the property. Their (Kelly Place) property actually meets up with Canyon of the Ancients National Monument. So amazing.

Big D striking a red rock pose.

This is my sunset, album cover pose after we passed over to the Canyon of the Ancients line. Canyon hiking is such a great way to end the day. I have bliss on my face if you can't tell.

Those lights are from the building that we were staying in - literally the middle of nowhere. I was standing in this field the next night, at midnight, and felt things crawl over my toes. Who knows. I loved Kelly Place though - loved it.

Memory from our 20s:

Krista: I have two - all this driving reminded me of the many trips I took down to Cali to visit Big D while she attended Humboldt when I was 23-25.

Second I should mention that on today's long drive I exchanged many text messages with some past co-workers who totally punked me. I hated working for NWTS - hated it. Underpaid, underappreciated and unfulfilling work. However, I met some remarkable people and was constantly punked by the "Bellevue Boys" that worked there when I was 22-25. Ken - you will be a great father - Congratulations!! You got me good!

Big D: Speaking of Humboldt - all of today's driving reminded Big D of the first trip to Humboldt she took with our friend Jessica when she was 20. It was literally love at first sight and she knew instantly Humboldt was the one. She chose a great path as a result of that trip.

Colorado - Day Six

Day Six - Mesa Verde! So stinking awesome. It was so humbling and awing to see how the Pueblans used to live. The below pic was my first glimpse - that group of people is being led by a Ranger, they are standing around an open kiva.

We learned and saw many things that day. For example, the Pueblans used urine for mortar. Waste not, want not.

This is Big D navigating her way thru the ruins - there were many steep ladders, tunnels & crevices we had to venture on. We loved it.

See the homes? All that black on the rock is from fires way back in the day. How far back you ask? Can't remember. Being 30 prevents me from recalling that information.

This is a picture of a kiva up close. I'm still just so amazed just how preserved everything was and how close we were able to get.

Another one of our tall ladders to climb. It should be mentioned that one of our Rangers picked the grumpiest 14-year-old girl to "help" him in his presentation. He even had her pick out a 13-year-old husband. Her parents loved it. We loved it as well. I had tons of second-hand embarrassment for her but she was a good sport about it. That made that Ranger my favorite...Ranger Brown I believe.

This is Big D making her way up the steep cliff wall. After we climbed the steep ladder. A lot of steep here - and we don't even have 50 pound jugs on our heads to balance and carry!

This is an outside view of Mesa Verde park - I actually took this from a nearby geocache that we found. Holler.

That full day of exploring Mesa Verde had us wiped out. We decided to wind down by drinking wine on the patio at Kelly Place and played games. Like Skip-Bo. But Big D totally cheats cuz I couldn't even win one game. Not even one.

Awww, wine. This is from a nearby winery - at the time I could of told you the name but now I've forgotten. 30, remember?

A pose I've made many times in my 20s. Which brings me to....

Memories of our 20s:

Krista: Nothing compares to Mesa Verde but spending the evening drinking wine with Big D reminds me of many nights at the cabin Big D's parents own close to Mt. Rainier. Ages 27-29.

Big D: At 21 Big D took a trip to New Mexico for one week with her Mom - the cliff dwellings they saw on that trip reminded her of Mesa Verde. Or vice versa. You know what I'm trying to say.