Mellow days,
Saw the Dr. again toda,y not much really to tell about. Another round of blood work to see if the protiens that indicate that all is not well in heartland are still elevated. I asked and I'm getting an echocardiogram tomorrow. Should be intresting and answer some questions as what the hell is really going on.
The cough that I had over a month ago is back so I'm thinking I never got the original bug out of my system to begin with.
On a happy note I've been blowing money and just got set up with a time lapse camera setup, its an old Nikon I got off of ebay that accecpts a controler, combined with a homebrew AA rechargable battery pack I should be able to make some pretty cool new time lapse movies.
I'm in competion with a friend over the adn 50" plazma tv setup. Not that I actually want such a thing but seeing the junk that was being entered made me go edit some stuff new and old and see what happens:
http://www.adn.com/includes/vmix/vid_contest.html
Southcentral in motion and Chugach baby...
Wednesday, April 25, 2007
Thursday, April 19, 2007
pericarditis & sewing projects
What was that stabbing chest pain I had two weeks ago?? well if I thought I needed help trying to get an excuse to rest my knee, you better watch what you ask for... Pericardidis is defined as an inflamation usually with fluid of the sac that surrounds the heart, it can be very painfull and cause difficuilty breathing. I'm on the total R&R plan now, and am supprisingly content, I think I've gotten into Long haul mode with it where I'm not totally going crazy that I cant be climbing peaks every day. Slowly starting to feel better, but I'm still not planning anything bit.
I canceled my spring mountaineering trip to what was going to be Mt. Redoubt, but (and a big but) I feel better super quick I can join some friends going to Marcus Baker, I'm not crossing my fingers. The big carrot is heading down to climb the liberty ridge on Mt.Rainier at the end of May. If I'm not better by then, then lock me up cause its not going to be pretty...
Aside from that I've spent a lot of this past winter honing some more mellow skills of videography and film editing and sewing outdoor gear. Here are some pic's of stuff. The Backpack took me forever, the two frame bags not so much, a day each, I'm starting to get those dialed in pretty good. THe camera case was a pain in the ass... I find sewing is the more homey creative side to my engineering mind. Its way more rewarding than work and more fun, teaches you patience... If I knew I could make a good living doing it, I'd probably jump ship.
ha haa
The other big thing lately has been the slide show for my south america trip. It went off big at teh BP energy center on the 5th. We raised almost $700 for singletrack advocates - right on!!
Giving it again in Palmer tomorrow night, should be more low-key and less stress than the first time through.
Thursday, April 12, 2007
Inactivity
So the short story is that I havent been doing much of anything lately.
I got into a cycle this winter where I'd go backcountry snowboarding on my splitboard then have knee pain for the rest of the week just in time to do it all over again. On top of that my 25 min each way bike commute just kept feeling worse and worse. I wasnt doing my knee any good by trying to push it. Started seeking help again and getting the cycle of PT's and Dr.s going. Basically I decided on my own to simply take a month off of everything that would aggrivate it and give the cartlidge a fighting chance to heal.
I havent been on my splitboards in like 6 weeks now and I've cut biking cold turkey by DRIVING to work. Yes Driving to work, I've been biking to work since college and its killing me.
So the days flip by and I try to stay sane with a long haul mentality, swimming, lifting weights, the usual recovery stuff...
Then out of the blue last week I get massive chest pains, cant breathe, cant sleep... Turns out that a virus from a case of bronchitis I had made its way to my heart and has caused Pericarditis.. More of do nothing time, this time really do nothing...
2 trips canceled so far, I'm hoping for a comeback in May.
I got into a cycle this winter where I'd go backcountry snowboarding on my splitboard then have knee pain for the rest of the week just in time to do it all over again. On top of that my 25 min each way bike commute just kept feeling worse and worse. I wasnt doing my knee any good by trying to push it. Started seeking help again and getting the cycle of PT's and Dr.s going. Basically I decided on my own to simply take a month off of everything that would aggrivate it and give the cartlidge a fighting chance to heal.
I havent been on my splitboards in like 6 weeks now and I've cut biking cold turkey by DRIVING to work. Yes Driving to work, I've been biking to work since college and its killing me.
So the days flip by and I try to stay sane with a long haul mentality, swimming, lifting weights, the usual recovery stuff...
Then out of the blue last week I get massive chest pains, cant breathe, cant sleep... Turns out that a virus from a case of bronchitis I had made its way to my heart and has caused Pericarditis.. More of do nothing time, this time really do nothing...
2 trips canceled so far, I'm hoping for a comeback in May.
Tuesday, April 10, 2007
An update?
Thought I would get this blog going again... It was originally created by my sister Laura while I was traveling and I dont think I have a single actual post of my own on here! There will be some big changes to come to make it more my own.
Cheers
Cheers
Friday, June 02, 2006
Home safe in Anchorage
Hello there!
Just thought I'd give a brief Denali story. We got back from the mountain on Tuesday after pulling an all-nighter crossing the Kahiltna coming down from 14,200' camp. It was a great trip! Had pretty much great weather for most of the time and met some really fun people. Things changed when we moved up to 17 however, we were sadly reduced to 3 when Steve decided to go down. We arrived at high camp on what we thought was a week of high pressure, so we were in no rush to make a summit bid. Then things got windy, reallll windy. We spent a few days in battlemode, then made a summit attempt on Friday (?) making it to the Football field at 19,300 or so before havingto turn around. I was worked after spending so much time at high camp and the difficulties that comewith it, then it turned to a nasty white out and that was that. The following day was the windiest by far and we built massive walls for the tent while getting tossed like rag dolls in the 80-100mph gusts. Made for a genuine Denali experience! Nice to come back to summer! Hope to see you all soon.
Eric
Just thought I'd give a brief Denali story. We got back from the mountain on Tuesday after pulling an all-nighter crossing the Kahiltna coming down from 14,200' camp. It was a great trip! Had pretty much great weather for most of the time and met some really fun people. Things changed when we moved up to 17 however, we were sadly reduced to 3 when Steve decided to go down. We arrived at high camp on what we thought was a week of high pressure, so we were in no rush to make a summit bid. Then things got windy, reallll windy. We spent a few days in battlemode, then made a summit attempt on Friday (?) making it to the Football field at 19,300 or so before havingto turn around. I was worked after spending so much time at high camp and the difficulties that comewith it, then it turned to a nasty white out and that was that. The following day was the windiest by far and we built massive walls for the tent while getting tossed like rag dolls in the 80-100mph gusts. Made for a genuine Denali experience! Nice to come back to summer! Hope to see you all soon.
Eric
Tuesday, May 30, 2006
News from Eric
Just got word, my Mom got a phone call from Eric!
He was back at the 14,000' camp after being stuck at the high camp waiting for the weather to clear for a week. Apparently, the winds were really high and storms were constant, keeping them hunkered down in their tents at the high camp. They did make it to within a few hundred feet of the summit. They felt themselves getting weaker from the altitude and finally had to go back to a lower elevation. Looks like they are on their way out now. Stay tuned! :-) Laura
He was back at the 14,000' camp after being stuck at the high camp waiting for the weather to clear for a week. Apparently, the winds were really high and storms were constant, keeping them hunkered down in their tents at the high camp. They did make it to within a few hundred feet of the summit. They felt themselves getting weaker from the altitude and finally had to go back to a lower elevation. Looks like they are on their way out now. Stay tuned! :-) Laura
Friday, May 26, 2006
Postcard from Denali
Hi everybody!
I got a postcard yesterday from Eric..marked 5/19/06 from Eric on Denali. He wrote it at 14,000' and a climber coming off the glacier mailed it for him. On the postcard he wrote they were headed up to the 17,000' camp. He said all is going great, it's cold up there! From the higher camps they do the summit push. By now it's likely they have already reached the summit and are on their way down. Looking at the webcam pics and the weather in that area it has been perfect and clear the past 3 days. I hope they are all doing well. It must be so breathtaking up there at the top of the world!
It's pretty cool to think they are the tallest people in the USA right now.
More as soon as I get it!
:-) Laura
I got a postcard yesterday from Eric..marked 5/19/06 from Eric on Denali. He wrote it at 14,000' and a climber coming off the glacier mailed it for him. On the postcard he wrote they were headed up to the 17,000' camp. He said all is going great, it's cold up there! From the higher camps they do the summit push. By now it's likely they have already reached the summit and are on their way down. Looking at the webcam pics and the weather in that area it has been perfect and clear the past 3 days. I hope they are all doing well. It must be so breathtaking up there at the top of the world!
It's pretty cool to think they are the tallest people in the USA right now.
More as soon as I get it!
:-) Laura
Wednesday, May 17, 2006
call from Eric on Denali
Eric called me today at 5 pm, I could barely hear him the wind was so loud!
I only made out a few words. He said " All is well here"
"weather is good" "we're going for the summit in the next weeks" and "I love you" thats all I got because we got cut off, so hard to hear him but I got to say I love you and he heard me! Thank god. Our family has been thinking about him and praying constantly for his safety. The cut off call made me break down in tears because I miss my brother and wish I was with him. The statistics are bad for Denaili, and 1 in 8 climbers die each years from what I read, scares the crap out of us, but we know he is doing what he loves. There is a huge base camp there and a support operation.
He sounded good from what I could tell all was well!
I found a link for a webcam that faces Denali. http://www.talkeetnaair.com/webcam/index.html (webcam image)
Hard to tell what the weather is like on the mountain because storms come in so fast up at 20,320 feet!
Please hold good thoughts for the safe return of all the climbers this season!
Thank you, Love,
:-) Laura
I only made out a few words. He said " All is well here"
"weather is good" "we're going for the summit in the next weeks" and "I love you" thats all I got because we got cut off, so hard to hear him but I got to say I love you and he heard me! Thank god. Our family has been thinking about him and praying constantly for his safety. The cut off call made me break down in tears because I miss my brother and wish I was with him. The statistics are bad for Denaili, and 1 in 8 climbers die each years from what I read, scares the crap out of us, but we know he is doing what he loves. There is a huge base camp there and a support operation.
He sounded good from what I could tell all was well!
I found a link for a webcam that faces Denali. http://www.talkeetnaair.com/webcam/index.html (webcam image)
Hard to tell what the weather is like on the mountain because storms come in so fast up at 20,320 feet!
Please hold good thoughts for the safe return of all the climbers this season!
Thank you, Love,
:-) Laura
Denali Map from the air
A few details of the mountain and the general area
YOu can click on the pictures to make them bigger.
I think that pic with the planes is where they flew in from Talkeetna.
Friday, May 05, 2006
Denali Expedition
Hey! Writing to tell you that Eric has is taking off on another trip already! Eric and some of their friends are heading out to climb Denali! I will post updates from the mountain as they come in. Hopefully they will have good weather! he referred to this climb simply as "doing some winter camping" ...amazing!
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