better days ahead

My Grandpa passed away Wednesday night. I feel torn up inside when I start thinking about it, but I cannot show it, that's just me. I know I will probably loose it tomorrow at the viewing or when I see my Grandma, but what can you do. it's called being human, something I am typically not very good at. I do have some very good memories of g-dad, mostly of fishing, hunting, and him calling me Andy-Bear. heh. As a little kid, it's cool to be called anything bear. sounds, manly. I will admit the last 5 or so years have been tough to get close to him, we are truly two worlds apart. he is a staunch straight-ticket republican voting Mormon. I am scotch drinking, beer swilling, liberal democrat. we didn't really see eye-to-eye. I guess that's how it goes when you are really 2-3 generations apart, he has a much wider focal length than I do. ah, crap, I hope I don't catch the right-wing bug when I get older. is that genetic?

I really hope his last weeks here on this mortal coil weren't too bad. I know he was hooked up to the morphine machine and probably didn't feel anything. just kind of crappy to have to be in pain for your last days.

Godspeed Mr. Barrett, I wish I would have visited you one last time. See you on the other side. I am going to miss you greatly.



--A

Mt. Olympus

OMG, I am freakin' worn out. woke up this morning at 6:00am to go hike Mt. Olympus. I got to the trail head at 6:50 and it was already busy (WTF!?!?!) there were at least 10 people getting ready to roll when I pulled up. GAH, I hate crowds. I pushed past the last slow-pokes about 1/4 mile in, that first section certainly weeds out the people that probably shouldn't be hiking (but for some reason, I still see people I don't expect to make it 30 ft, making it to the top.). After I got past the general riff-raf, I got into my hiking zone and started to chew up the altitude. For those unaware the trail to the top of Olympus is 3+ miles long (depends on the crow and the time of day) and climbs a little over 4000 vertical feet (that's a lot! kind of like climbing stairs for a few hours). Finally breaking out of the bottom scrub oak area, I found myself about 1/2 way, by tolcat stream, it's nice to see that is has some decent water coming down. I have founds some hikers that are keeping a good pace for me, if I see them disappear then I know I am moving so, or if i catch them up, I know I am probably pushing too hard. that was nice as it gave me objectives and kept the time going by.

Once I hit the final ridge before the summit wall I left everyone around me in the dust, I wanted to bag that bitch, and i wanted it badly. So, I put 'er into 3rd gear and started the scramble to the summit, unfortunately I got stuck behind some freakin' Zoobie troop from provo taking their sweet ass time going up. Hey, Zoob, this ain't timp! move the fuck out of the way when parties are going faster than you! FFS! Once I smoked past them in a fit of all out climbing there was nothing stopping me... well, except my lack of routing finding. hah, I ended up damn near circling the summit before I found a small ramp to some boulders just shy of the top. after some fancy fanangaling I found myself on top of the mountain!! I was victorious!!! and so were about 20 other people. :( Nothing beats getting to the top of a challenging mountain to see 3-4 small kids and a herd of middle age men from the ward house. kinda takes the sweet victory away.

But anyways, I managed to beat the shite out of the mountain, stomping to the top in personal best of 2 hours 10 minutes. I was out and back by 11:20am. well before the days heat kicked in. I feel pretty damn tired right now, I also had to go help Felecia at the World Refugee day, which zapped the rest of energy away.

below are some pictures from mah hike.

Reggae Motion!

hehe. I got a kick out of this song.

http://www.mediafire.com/?2ev0mbwzzgv

I lay wood

Today Felecia, Parents and I laid down a new hardwood floor in our living room/entry way/dining room. total of about 460 sq ft. The Dad's were a huge help, I don't think I would be even close if I didn't have their help. at this point, I have some custom cuts to finish, but I will be finishing that tomorrow. I am glad that we did it. the floors look fookin great (those o's are long vowels).




Now, I just have to swifter dust and pick up mah tools. I love home improvements.

out to go consume beverages of an adult hue.

Freakin' Slacker

hehe. I am such a slacking B-logger. I have had too much going on as of late, and it doesn't seem to be slowing down. Work is ramping up with a new project looming in the near distance, We are fixing up the house to sell in the next few months, and I am trying to fit in hiking/camping/running etc... into the mix. Rar! livin' life to the fullest.

Yeah, anyways, we went down around Goblin Valley a few weeks ago. that was pretty chill. went on a hike, ate campy hotdogs, and got mad at how windy it was. oh well, it was totally worth it to get away.

as you can see, I got in some sweet climbing. I was like 500' up this super hard route, free climbing of course.



well, maybe not 500' feet... but there was some serious exposure... well.. uhm.. hmm..

the only bummer is I got popped down 85 in a 65 on I-6. that REALLY put a damper on my mood that weekend, mostly because I then had to do 65 the rest of the way AND all of the fuckers I passed got a good laugh as they passed and saw me pulled over. fuckers.

Extreme Fire Danger!!!

I shot this photo back in December up City Creek. I didn't know snow was so flammable.

walker Andy ranger.

I went out for a hike this morning. It was good to get out and stretch my legs as this is the first time since February that I have been out. I made it just about 2 1/4 miles up the canyon past the gate about half way to the top of the ridge and the antennas. I want to make it to the top, I just haven't had the ~3 hours in which to do it. maybe if i had rolled out of bed sooner :). I ended up with some unwelcome blisters on my feet which is very irritating. I definitely need to get some insoles for my boots. I swear no one makes a boot for narrow feet, the boots I have now seem to cradle my feet, but it just seems that it is not enough and I usually end up with some classy blisters on my heel. oh well, just have to get some nice calluses built up.
Well, enough of my dribble, I am off to bed.

Oh, on a side note, if anyone who reads this is looking for hiking partners this season hit me or Felecia up. We want to do a schload of outdoor activities this year, so hit us up.