First, the most important one, my Dad, Thomas Caulfield turned 90 years old today. His longevity is really screwing with the actuary charts used in planning my retirement.
Happy Birthday, Dad!
Second, the landing on the moon. I remember sitting in Kimball, MN watching the landing on a little black and white set with poor reception. We had just gotten back to the US after 2 years living in Goose Bay, Labrador.
Monday, July 20, 2009
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Burning Mall Bus
Watched a Denver hybrid Mall Bus burn this morning at the Civic Center RTD Station. The smell of burning plastic was real strong. You may be able to see burning something dripping from the underneath of the bus.I submitted the photo to Channel 9 here in Denver. We will have to see if it makes it on air.
It appears it has and here is the link to the story on their website: http://www.9news.com/news/article.aspx?storyid=119484&catid=188 .
And in the Denver Post: http://www.denverpost.com/ci_12841875
And on WorldNews Network: http://article.wn.com/view/2009/07/15/2nd_16th_Street_Mall_shuttle_catches_fire/
And on NewsChex: http://colorado.newschex.com/denver-colorado/2nd-16th-street-mall-shuttle-catches-fire-denver-post-2/
And on the Spanish language television network Univision: They called me on the ride home tonight and asked permission to use the photo;
Monday, July 13, 2009
Mt. Sherman July 10, 2009
We had not been up one of the 54 14er's in Colorado since Labor Day weekend 2007. Mainly due to repairs being made to mine and Herb's frames last year.
This year we planned about 2 weeks ahead of time to climb Mt. Sherman to limit the time in which we could injure ourselves before going up the hill. You know its hell being this finely tuned physically. Marlys is usually not impacted by these concerns so she was ready to go at any time.
Mt. Sherman continues our lightning fast serial assents of the peaks of the Mosquito Range. In order to say that I need to include Quandry (last one climbed) in the Mosquito Range, but I believe it is actually in the Tenmile Range.
In two years, we have hiked...well two peaks.
As per most advice when hiking up peaks during the summer in Colorado we started early to avoid any mid-day storms and reduce the chance of becoming human lightning rods.
We were late out of the house and didn't arrive until about 6:15am, just as the sum was really starting to come up.
There are a number of routes on Mt. Sherman, but we were going up the standard trail up the southwest ridge from Fourmile Creek ( http://www.14ers.com/routemaps.php?route=sher1&peak=Mt.+Sherman ).
There are a number of parking areas and we started from one just short of the 12000' level. It added maybe a quarter mile to the hike, but the thinking was it wouldn't get too congested by the time we came back down. In fact, we were the first party going up the mountain that day, and we didn't get passed until we were at the summit ridge by a couple of guys finishing off their last Colorado 14er.
Because of the abandon mines along the way, we didn't really push it right off the bat and spent some time looking at the old structures. You have to wonder about the type of person that would work, let alone build these structures in this environment.
The first mine we came across was the Dauntless. It had a number of wrecked structures scattered around and would be one of the last places with any privacy during the hike, if you know what I mean.
Further up the trail is the Hill Top mine perched on the side of the saddle between Mt Sherman and Mt Sheridan. It is hard to believe that all of the materials to build this place would have to be hauled in, along with working in the thin air (12,296') it would make for a slow process. 
I am not sure when mining up here started, but I read a reference to the Hill Top producing $600K ($9M in 05' dollars) in silver back in 1888. looking at the current mine data it looks like pretty run of the mill minerals (http://www.mindat.org/loc.php?loc=46519&ob=4 ).
As we got above the Hill Top, the route is to the summit saddle, but the trail was blocked by the remains of snow field/drift. It was still pretty early and the sun had not yet warmed it, so it was as hard as ice and just as slippery. He had to tip toe around it on a large scree field where any falls would result in cuts, bruises and the risk of twisting an ankle. It seemed as if we spent allot of time in covering this ground, but once we regained the trail we were on the saddle quickly.
Once the saddle is gained there was a view down both sides of the range with Fairplay to the east and Leadville to the west.
We also now came had a big wind, which would stay with us until the summit, where amazingly there was none.
Up until this point the temperature had been just about perfect for me, but now...it was cold. The temp when leaving the car was in the mid-forties and it drops ~3.5 degrees per thousand feet.
Marlys had not worn a shell, only a hoodie which had gotten partially wet from her camelback mouth piece leaking. I kick myself because when we left I thought of recommending a shell and didn't. She would need to keep moving and stay in the sun as much as possible to stay warm and those of you who know Marlys know that that is her preferred state.
As we headed across the saddle to the Mt. Sherman side and the approach to the summit ridge we came across a very old telegraph/power pole. We could see a few more on either side of the saddle so maybe this was a way to get power/communication's up to the mines.
I was still marveling at the ability of 1880's people to undertake what it would take to make a buck up here.
The transition to the summit ridge was abrupt and the trail made a number of switchbacks in getting to the most difficult (crux) part of the climb, a narrowing ridge with loose stone. What made this difficult was the exposure on both sides of the ridge, but mainly to the west where it dropped off thousands of feet. With the wind blowing this seemed like more then a 2 on the exposure scale (1-6). Which is the rating of this route.
Let me preface the next part by explaining that Marlys has been up two 14ers. Which is pretty amazing when you consider that she sometimes has height anxiety bouts when riding chairlifts.
Well, when we crossed over onto this narrow rocky path at 13,600', she said no way. I could tell this was something she wouldn't and shouldn't be talked into trying. This is where we were passed by the guys finishing off their climb all of the 14ers. One of them mentioned to Marlys that this was his first time this high on Sherman, because the last time he had stopped and turned around about 100' below where she was at, because of the same exposure in front of her.
We weren't that far from the top, so I got Marlys arranged on the sunny side of the ridge out of the wind. I figured it would take us about 30 minutes to summit, and get back to her for the hike down. Above all I didn't want her turning around by herself.
I didn't take a picture here, but this is a link to a photo taken at the very spot Marlys made her decision and would wait for us: http://www.14ers.com/photos/mtsherman/RSher_113.jpg . Even though you can get a feel for the grade in the photo, it really isn't the same thing as standing their, the wind blowing, looking down thousands of feet of barren rocky, treeless mountainside.
Herb was a little bit ahead of us, so I moved quickly to catch up.
Once we were on top and the actual summit was only a easy walk away, seeing the two that had passed us only a short distance ahead, the though of trying to pass them and be the first ones to summit that day was a thought...a passing thought.
We all got to the summit marker at about the same time. It was 8:15 and had taken us 2 hours from the car.
Out came the signs to cemmemorate the day. Cameras were passed around for the picture taking.
Last time on Quandry we didn't have a sign, but there was one being passed around. This time we brought our own. The calligraphy is due to the efforts of the Herbster. It didn't need to be shared because the other guys brought their own to signal their last ascent of a Colorado 14er.
We though miss the guys making coffee .
This view to the southeast shows Black Mountain on the horizon. Black is located in the South Park Hills which is the mountain complex that Waugh (the view out of our front windows) Mountain belongs and is the highest. Black is the little nipple in just about the very middle with the sharp drop off on the eastern side (left). We live just SE of it.
Off to the north, on the horizon, beyond the guy who never talked to anyone and went and sat by himself, are the possible next targets for a summit hike.
This cirque (I am picking up french climbing terms , but they sound kinda cool) of 14ers is made up of Mts. Democrat, Bross, Cameron and Lincoln. The remainder of the 14ers on the Mosquito Range. They are in the middle right of the frame. They sit just south of Quandry and the ski resort of Breckinridge.
Because of the way they are situated they are generally all summitted on the same trip, by going up Democrat and then traversing the summit ridge over to Cameron, Lincoln and Bross, then descending its southwest face to the starting point at Kite Lake.
This too is a 2 on the exposure scale, and even though the routes net altitude gain is only 250' greater then Mt. Sherman, because of the up and down on the summit ridge between the four peaks you actually climb 3700'. The length of the route is also longer at 7.25 miles about a mile and half longer then the Mt Sherman route.
We found the summit log, but because we wanted to get back to Marlys quickly we didn't sign it. That's it attached to the stake in the lower left of the shot.
On the horizon is the tallest 14er in Colorado Mt.Elbert. That is Leadville in the middle right of the frame.
Mt. Sherman is one of the lowest 14ers at 14,036' and is ranked 45 out of 54 in height.
You can find more info on Mt. Sherman and the route we took up check this url: http://www.14ers.com/routemain.php?route=sher1&peak=Mt. Sherman .
This year we planned about 2 weeks ahead of time to climb Mt. Sherman to limit the time in which we could injure ourselves before going up the hill. You know its hell being this finely tuned physically. Marlys is usually not impacted by these concerns so she was ready to go at any time.
Mt. Sherman continues our lightning fast serial assents of the peaks of the Mosquito Range. In order to say that I need to include Quandry (last one climbed) in the Mosquito Range, but I believe it is actually in the Tenmile Range.
In two years, we have hiked...well two peaks.
As per most advice when hiking up peaks during the summer in Colorado we started early to avoid any mid-day storms and reduce the chance of becoming human lightning rods.
We were late out of the house and didn't arrive until about 6:15am, just as the sum was really starting to come up.
There are a number of routes on Mt. Sherman, but we were going up the standard trail up the southwest ridge from Fourmile Creek ( http://www.14ers.com/routemaps.php?route=sher1&peak=Mt.+Sherman ).
There are a number of parking areas and we started from one just short of the 12000' level. It added maybe a quarter mile to the hike, but the thinking was it wouldn't get too congested by the time we came back down. In fact, we were the first party going up the mountain that day, and we didn't get passed until we were at the summit ridge by a couple of guys finishing off their last Colorado 14er.
Because of the abandon mines along the way, we didn't really push it right off the bat and spent some time looking at the old structures. You have to wonder about the type of person that would work, let alone build these structures in this environment.
The first mine we came across was the Dauntless. It had a number of wrecked structures scattered around and would be one of the last places with any privacy during the hike, if you know what I mean.
Further up the trail is the Hill Top mine perched on the side of the saddle between Mt Sherman and Mt Sheridan. It is hard to believe that all of the materials to build this place would have to be hauled in, along with working in the thin air (12,296') it would make for a slow process. 
I am not sure when mining up here started, but I read a reference to the Hill Top producing $600K ($9M in 05' dollars) in silver back in 1888. looking at the current mine data it looks like pretty run of the mill minerals (http://www.mindat.org/loc.php?loc=46519&ob=4 ).As we got above the Hill Top, the route is to the summit saddle, but the trail was blocked by the remains of snow field/drift. It was still pretty early and the sun had not yet warmed it, so it was as hard as ice and just as slippery. He had to tip toe around it on a large scree field where any falls would result in cuts, bruises and the risk of twisting an ankle. It seemed as if we spent allot of time in covering this ground, but once we regained the trail we were on the saddle quickly.
Once the saddle is gained there was a view down both sides of the range with Fairplay to the east and Leadville to the west.
We also now came had a big wind, which would stay with us until the summit, where amazingly there was none.
Up until this point the temperature had been just about perfect for me, but now...it was cold. The temp when leaving the car was in the mid-forties and it drops ~3.5 degrees per thousand feet.
Marlys had not worn a shell, only a hoodie which had gotten partially wet from her camelback mouth piece leaking. I kick myself because when we left I thought of recommending a shell and didn't. She would need to keep moving and stay in the sun as much as possible to stay warm and those of you who know Marlys know that that is her preferred state.
As we headed across the saddle to the Mt. Sherman side and the approach to the summit ridge we came across a very old telegraph/power pole. We could see a few more on either side of the saddle so maybe this was a way to get power/communication's up to the mines.I was still marveling at the ability of 1880's people to undertake what it would take to make a buck up here.
The transition to the summit ridge was abrupt and the trail made a number of switchbacks in getting to the most difficult (crux) part of the climb, a narrowing ridge with loose stone. What made this difficult was the exposure on both sides of the ridge, but mainly to the west where it dropped off thousands of feet. With the wind blowing this seemed like more then a 2 on the exposure scale (1-6). Which is the rating of this route.Let me preface the next part by explaining that Marlys has been up two 14ers. Which is pretty amazing when you consider that she sometimes has height anxiety bouts when riding chairlifts.
Well, when we crossed over onto this narrow rocky path at 13,600', she said no way. I could tell this was something she wouldn't and shouldn't be talked into trying. This is where we were passed by the guys finishing off their climb all of the 14ers. One of them mentioned to Marlys that this was his first time this high on Sherman, because the last time he had stopped and turned around about 100' below where she was at, because of the same exposure in front of her.
We weren't that far from the top, so I got Marlys arranged on the sunny side of the ridge out of the wind. I figured it would take us about 30 minutes to summit, and get back to her for the hike down. Above all I didn't want her turning around by herself.
I didn't take a picture here, but this is a link to a photo taken at the very spot Marlys made her decision and would wait for us: http://www.14ers.com/photos/mtsherman/RSher_113.jpg . Even though you can get a feel for the grade in the photo, it really isn't the same thing as standing their, the wind blowing, looking down thousands of feet of barren rocky, treeless mountainside.
Herb was a little bit ahead of us, so I moved quickly to catch up.
Once we were on top and the actual summit was only a easy walk away, seeing the two that had passed us only a short distance ahead, the though of trying to pass them and be the first ones to summit that day was a thought...a passing thought.
We all got to the summit marker at about the same time. It was 8:15 and had taken us 2 hours from the car.Out came the signs to cemmemorate the day. Cameras were passed around for the picture taking.
Last time on Quandry we didn't have a sign, but there was one being passed around. This time we brought our own. The calligraphy is due to the efforts of the Herbster. It didn't need to be shared because the other guys brought their own to signal their last ascent of a Colorado 14er.
We though miss the guys making coffee .
This view to the southeast shows Black Mountain on the horizon. Black is located in the South Park Hills which is the mountain complex that Waugh (the view out of our front windows) Mountain belongs and is the highest. Black is the little nipple in just about the very middle with the sharp drop off on the eastern side (left). We live just SE of it.
Off to the north, on the horizon, beyond the guy who never talked to anyone and went and sat by himself, are the possible next targets for a summit hike.This cirque (I am picking up french climbing terms , but they sound kinda cool) of 14ers is made up of Mts. Democrat, Bross, Cameron and Lincoln. The remainder of the 14ers on the Mosquito Range. They are in the middle right of the frame. They sit just south of Quandry and the ski resort of Breckinridge.
Because of the way they are situated they are generally all summitted on the same trip, by going up Democrat and then traversing the summit ridge over to Cameron, Lincoln and Bross, then descending its southwest face to the starting point at Kite Lake.
This too is a 2 on the exposure scale, and even though the routes net altitude gain is only 250' greater then Mt. Sherman, because of the up and down on the summit ridge between the four peaks you actually climb 3700'. The length of the route is also longer at 7.25 miles about a mile and half longer then the Mt Sherman route.
We found the summit log, but because we wanted to get back to Marlys quickly we didn't sign it. That's it attached to the stake in the lower left of the shot.On the horizon is the tallest 14er in Colorado Mt.Elbert. That is Leadville in the middle right of the frame.
Mt. Sherman is one of the lowest 14ers at 14,036' and is ranked 45 out of 54 in height.
You can find more info on Mt. Sherman and the route we took up check this url: http://www.14ers.com/routemain.php?route=sher1&peak=Mt. Sherman .
As the saying goes getting to the top is optional, but getting down isn't. Herb and I headed down to meet up with Marlys, then back to the bottom.
Going down hill is always more treacherous then the climb up, because generally if you stumble you end up falling away from the slope. Going up hill you fall in to the slope. Down hill hiking also seems harder on the legs, so we were real careful.
We got back to Marlys at 8:30. The first thing I noticed was that she was shivering, even though the sun was on her and the wind was not. We had most of the summit ridge to walk down and this was not good. I got her to walk right behind me and hold onto my pack to steady herself. We got back down to the saddle quickly, but didn't hurry.
One of the things that can contribute to being cold is holding your water (urine), I believe it is due to the clenching of muscles which cuts down on blood flow. Marlys needed to go bad. So all modesty aside she squatted and let go.
Once we were moving again we thought there may be a better way around the frozen snow field that took so much time earlier. We followed Herb across the saddle to the foot of Mt. Sheridan. Herb was about 50' ahead of me when we started to walk out on some snow to see if we could spot a trail. I saw right away that we were walking out on to a big cornice and I yelled at him to stop. These things can collapse in to avalanches and I don't know but the heating and freezing could be helping.
We backtracked to where we came up in the morning and since then the snow had softened. Herb did a very gazelle-like dance across the snowfield, with Marlys and me following.
Once back down to the level of the Hill Top mine it was a pretty leisurely hike back down to the care.
We were passing allot of folks just starting out and wondering how many would make it to the top, since some seemed prepared for the trip and some seemed like they were ready to walk a circuit at the local mall. I thought that the snowfield and the wind that hits at the saddle would decide their fates.
We got back to the car at 10:15. It had taken us 4 hours round trip. Not bad! I think the hikes around Autumn Creek had helped Marlys and me, plus I was carrying about 30 less pounds of ballast around my mid-section.
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