denverrides

this city i live in, denver, makes me happy all the time. yes, i receive good vibes and a charismatic touch from the city. it is alive.
it also decided to start [with thanks to Hickenlooper and his green outlook on denver] the nations largest bike sharing cooperative to date. it's been a few years coming and hard work but now, today :earth day: it's making the launch. there are 40 or so kiosks with 8 meticulously crafted bikes at each station around the inner city limits of denver. the trek designed bike has a basket, gps tracker, fenders, chain guards, built in lock and automatic lights [awhat?] included in the cruiser style fit for any person. i know this because i went to a v0lunteer training where it took two men to hold up the 45 lb bike in all its glory.
though i think the rides are a little expensive there is really no way around the "cost" of using the bikes. austin tried this initiative with yellow Lance bikes and they were repeatedly stolen and found damaged. it would be a beautiful thing to share with out price and rely on our fellow neighbor to return the toy but alas it's not looking promising. but that is not here nor there and a fare there must be. i can't wait to see these bikes cruising around town and will get to jump on one tomorrow for a test ride and promote what this is all about. if you are a denverite go check it out!

[designs and branding by crispin porter + bogusky]

gettinglost

so back to adventuring.....ahhh yes
i know sometimes it's great fun and all to get lost and even healthy to wander without knowing where you are going but i got sickly lost at cherry creek state park the other day. now, this place is 4,200 acres of hugeness. i did all the things i thought i should: scoped out a trail map prior, rigged the entrance fee by "walking in," set out a few hours before dark and even had high hopes of running the whole time. i did not intend on asking for directions but after meandering for a good 1.2 hours i opted for the second runner i saw of the night. whew! i turned around and started running with him and into the semi correct direction. thank you kind sir. the only frustration was that it was getting dark and i also had somewhere to be getting to. if it wasn't for these two factors, this is with out a doubt the best way to explore an unfamiliar place: get deeply hidden and discover your way out. if this poses some dangerous threat[in a light hearted way], all the better.
i used to run at a fabulous place in fayetteville that was an escape, if you will, to school and the whirlwinds of life. the ability to go there and move to nothing but the sound of the adjacent lake or the leaves bustling around you was great time spent. i've longed for a place like this in denver and think i may have discovered just this, it only took me 1.7 years, sheesh. being an urban park, cherry creek state park gives fascinating views of the cityscape, the chance to run through and near herds of mule deer [not the skinny kind of deer you see in san antonio because they are literally locked within the city neighborhoods] but free roaming and startling huge animals, plus some beautiful mallards in the water. i could go on about animals, but then again even a bunny will get me all giddy.
i'm not a fan of getting in your vehicle to drive yourself to a location to run. it just seems silly. problem is this is not a prime location from my house but i suppose neither was lake fayetteville and seemed like a treat when i got the chance to go. not being readily available is maybe what adds to the attraction of a place. well, next time i'll hopefully not ask for help with reckoning.

thoughtsalongtheway

sometimes the need to break free is so overwhelming that i'm not ever fully convinced what it would look like.
is it teaching english in another country, is it an extended road trip, is it moving into a colorado mountain town, or is it conforming and going to grad school to seek the life of being a student again? i think that this takes the words right out of my mouth:

"There is a secret set within each of our hearts. It often goes unnoticed, we rarely can put words to it, and yet it guides us throughout the days of our lives. This secret remains hidden for the most part in our deepest selves. It is simply the desire for life as it was meant to be. Isn’t there a life you have been searching for all your days? You may not always be aware of your search, and there are times when you seem to have abandoned looking altogether. But again and again it returns to us, this yearning that cries out for the life we prize. It is elusive, to be sure. It seems to come and go at will. Seasons may pass until it surfaces again. And though it seems to taunt us, and may at times cause us great pain, we know when it returns that it is priceless. For if we could recover this desire, unearth it from beneath all other distractions and embrace it as our deepest treasure, we would discover the secret of our existence.

- we long for life and we’re not sure where to find it. We wonder if we ever do find it, can we make it last? The longing for life within us seems incongruent with the life we find around us. What is available seems at times close to what we want, but never quite a fit. We must journey to find the life we prize. And the guide we have been given is the desire set deep within, the desire we often overlook, or mistake for something else or even choose to ignore. The greatest human tragedy is simply to give up the search. There is nothing of greater importance than the life of our deep heart. To lose heart is to lose everything. And if we are to bring our hearts along in our life’s journey, we simply must not, we cannot abandon this desire."

The clue as to who we really are and why we are here comes to us through our heart’s desire.

[desire:eldridge]

the closest things i've got to what i envision simply contains more than one ardor. i believe, the real secret to any one's existence will run dry if it is one passion singly deep. passions [not to be confused with fascinations], to name a few or the real few to be more honest [in absolutely no order whatsoever]are: architecture, soccer, jesus, climbing, jewelry design, cities and how they function. i would be inclined to say traveling, but who doesn't like traveling, its a luxury and a great deal of fun and though liked more by some than others, it just doesn't seem fit. i would put traveling as a means to pursue my passions. and sometimes that is just as so traveling to the nearest hobby lobby for supplies and goodies.
isn't this blog supposed to be about embarking on adventure and going new places?
i think i got a little off topic on this one but felt compelled and would hope you are out there doing the same thing, using your means accessible to cultivate living passionately as there is no other way to be.

snowshoethissnowshoethat

what more could the state of colorado possibly have to give? don't answer that, not just yet. i can't get over how much there is to explore and it's not like i'm sitting around thinking about the one great weekend trip that happened two summers ago when i first moved here and reliving that. to have a passion is to purse something with intent. deeply. along with so many other Coloradans there is a true pining to be outside. there isn't much to explain here, just that this is how you are wired and what you long for. i suppose i have a crush on the rocky mountains and sometimes they like me back. isn't it rather amazing that people live in flat places with no geographical flux around them? and more than this, they are okay with it. perhaps there is proximity to such terrain. how dare i be so presumptuous? don't answer that either.
great news here: the means to pursue the passion of this so called outside life can come in so many forms. you can hike it out, ski down it, run through it, climb up it, bike around it, float down it, snow shoe into it and these are just what come to mind. i'm partial to a few but always willing to give anything* a shot.

so, the weekend before last we went on a hut trip. not until two months ago did i actually know what a hut trip was so don't feel unfit if you don't know either. apparently and supposedly there are a network of cabin like huts that connect vail to aspen. and here in the rocky mountains they are the 10th mountain huts, 29 of them to be exact and built for the men who trained there during WWII. pretty sweet if you ask me. well, we snowshoed in with 7 new friends and gained around 2,000 ft. over 6 or so miles. it was tough, but not like the hate-my-life-rightnow-why am i doing this for fun-tough. just the ordinary great accomplishment feeling where you are still in decent spirits. we blazed through new snow, got the hut heated, melted and boiled snow for water, played cards on an elvis deck and chatted with new friends all the while up in the mtns. in the middle of nowhere colorado. and thanks.


*by anything i mean almost anything, where right now i'm not sure there is anything i wouldn't try but not just anything.

snowfriends

"wandering re-establishes the original harmony which once existed between man and the universe"

two great friends came. one from the northwest. one from south texas. we ventured to the mountains and skied at keystone, one of my favorite spots. there is a way back part of keystone and takes some time to reach but feel like you are in the depths of the mountains and far away from all built infrastructure, except of course for the crucial ski lifts [but those can stay]. here you are free to wander in all the silence of snow capped nature.

[Manda rockin' skis]

[Court on her new board]

glenwoodsprings

so we have a fun list. a list of fun things. fun things we want to do. the list is long. things we think will be fun. and most usually they end up following though. this past weekend was nothing shy of that. great fun.
since we have 10 days to expend at Vail and Beaver Creek we thought we better use them since the snow will soon be gone and these are both unbeatable places to ski. you could spend a whole season at Vail and still not touch every run, it's THAT big. trying to get lost is always the objective when riding there. just when you think you've seen enough on the front side of the mountain you finally cat-walk-it to the back and embark on a new plethora of white trails. a world of bowls and moguls and trees to play in. you could take one named run and never ski the same line twice.

so we decided to stay in Glenwood Springs which is a mountain town west of the two ski resorts and has tons to offer. a town of about 8,000 and not trying to grapple with the showiness of other colorado ski towns. i just found out that Amtrak makes a stop at Glenwood, must be a heck of a great place. Not far from outstanding skiing, tons of mountain biking in the roaring fork valley and all things water on the colorado river. the laid back folk, and a hostel for us to stay in rather cheaply is exactly what we enjoyed. and, after a hard day of riding nothing sounds better than soaking in the hot springs. it's an entire pool of natural water full of salty minerals, diving board included. you betcha we froze our butts off to wait in line behind the 8 year old's to get a few good cannon balls in. nothing like jumping off a diving board takes you back to that childhood feeling. though jumping off of a diving board wasn't on the "fun list" it was a small surprise and these sorts of things happen when undertaking adventure.

[winter aspens of beaver creek]

[the view from copper mtn.]

on winter:
there is a privacy about it which no other season gives you ..... in spring, summer and fall people sort of have an open season on each other; only in the winter, in the country, can you have longer, quiet stretches when you can savor belonging to yourself

i once spoke about seasons. how seasons are an amazing attribute to a place and its specific locality. when a city can offer the residents 4 distinct seasons, i am allured. thank you denver for doing just this but my heart is longing for warmth. spring just needs to hurry on up.don't get me wrong i'm all excited for march skiing and great powder and attempting to wear shorts while flying down a hill of snow but the trip south to mexico hasn't curbed this desire long enough. that is why a trip to moab, ut is in the works. all for some red rock climbing, miles of mountain biking trails, camping along the river and least of which 70 degree sunshine in the desert. it seems that in the depths of the winter i finally learned that within me there lay an invincible summer. does summer time seem to set you as free as it does me?
as i looked back to what i described my season of life to be, i've realized since a year ago how i have lived through that season and on into others. not always so boldly obvious but that there was a time needed for that spell of my life. if i gave thought and limited words to the current season i would say: a time of never-looked-at-before-reflection with a side dish of simplifying material needs and a glass of looming educational dedication..hmmm, seems odd. but maybe that is just the winter speaking.

keystone

skiing. wooooooo.
justcan'tgetenough.
justcan'tgetenough.

pretty much views like this keep me coming back for more. and the company :)

[back side of keystone]

[mark and adam about to fight the wind]

slow.it.down.now

gosh i love maps. gosh i love guide books, and i'm partial to the climbing ones. they all help you to understand where you are going, what you are getting into and how in the world you get there. the location for this trip was el potrero chico, mexico. and what? mexico has 31 states. we were in nuevo leon and most near the town of hidalgo, population 22,500. hidalgo is honestly known for its proximity to an endless plethora of limestone towers. offering thousands of feet of bolted lines to climbers of any skill. part of the beauty is that you could come with the most talented of climber and find something to challenge them, while alongside a novice climber and still have routes to choose from.

the camping setup was beyond luxurious and made the 8 days of outdoor sleeping incredibly enjoyable. i've never done camping where you get to take showers every night and a full on kitchen to cook up a storm at your convenience. there was a pool, restaurant, casitas, people from all points of the world laughing, sharing stories, learning languages and all the while with the amazing backdrop of the sierra madres. truly unbeatable, spoiled camping no doubt.

even though we were two or so miles outside of hildalgo we still got to share these week of life in their culture, if you choose to do so. even the people who owned and ran the campgrounds were native to hidalgo and great people to chat with and be around. so i attempted my best spanglish, we went to the local tuesday market for deliciousness of all kinds, we trekked into town in search of a restaurant where a woman in her kitchen make us a burrito to share, even though we ordered two, we drove and got lost, we jammed out to some great Mexican music on many a climbs and just really slowed down to what the pace of life is like there. and time is not of the essence. unless of course you are starting an 11 pitch climb behind a slow moving duo that happen to get there 7 seconds before you and happen to be kicking off their multi pitch experience on the exact same climb you are destined by the stars to climb on your last day, theoretically speaking. other than this scenario that may or may not have happened, there is no rush of any kind really. now i could get used to this. hopefully some of this approach to life will carry with me in my life here in colorado. maybe i'll start with the slow food italian notion which “establishes that people should eat and drink slowly, with enough time to taste their food, spend time with the family, friends, without rushing. slow food is against its counterpart: the spirit of Fast Food and what it stands for as a lifestyle.” we forcefully did it when we lived in rome, which yielded fantastic results and great times.

don't you believe this amazing diverse world has so much to teach and enlighten us about how to live life? i loved that being immersed in other cultures when traveling to an unfamiliar country makes you question your current lifestyle. hopefully enough to attract yourself to get up and change a thing or two.

-to the left-

-to the right-

finally got a camera and can now take pictures of my own again :)

homeagain

say we take a look at things backwards.
homecoming: the final physical step of the leave.

even though the adventure is over with, nothing wraps up a traveling time more than a joyous homecoming. to hug again. to share stories. to see that face. to sit in a known room. comfort food. how the flood gates of familiarity are something that always opens and fills a void. a void you might not of known was missing in the act but can't help but fall into once embraced.
beginning to express the integrity of coming home is something i haven't given too much thought about. though i do know there is importance in the immediate feeling and actions and are about as noteworthy as the head end of the trip. remembering back when i first came home from living in Rome, i was probably the least talkative i've been in my life. not sure if i was taking American lifestyle all in again, or just not used to English echoing everywhere, maybe i finally understood that you can learn a heck of a lot with just listening and watching, most especially when it comes to other cultures.
yesterday morning i got home from a climbing trip to Mexico. this had to of been the most rushed homecoming to Colorado encountered to date. i was literally 7 minutes shy to missing my only nonstop flight which precisely got me back to Denver with enough time to swing by home to change and make it to work in a "i'm only moderately late and not late enough for anyone to really notice, and not late enough to have to stay extra late to make up for it" timely fashion. i plopped down at my desk and didn't know what in the world to do. the whole day was uncomfortably still. the contradiction of this is that Mexico is a slow pace kind of lifestyle and especially in the small town of Hidalgo, our location for the trip. so why would the transition of getting back to work and sitting down and slowing down be an obstacle? i think what it comes down to is a matter of the heart. I recently read that "loving requires a heart alive and awake and free". this is not to say my heart is not alive at work or by routine life, by no means is this what i am saying. i just know that with an adventurous soul and being out filling that, my heart is utterly free. the sun waking you up. the moon crooning you to sleep. mountains delighting in your presence. and all i realized with the homecoming. this transition from travel is crucial and deserves a moments thought and perhaps, personally, some patience to readjust.