4/1/22
We left Phoenix, not as early as we'd hoped. We drove from Phoenix up through Payson and then on to Petrified Forest National Park, where we spent a couple hours doing the touristy viewpoints and short walks to see the really cool rock trees! We then continued on and spent the night in Cortez, CO.
4/2/22
We drove up and over Lizard Head Pass and eventually made it to Crested Butte in time to enjoy apres ski cocktails with my mom, bro, and Mary. We had dinner over at Zach and Mary's house
4/3/22
Spent the day getting ready for my job (packing and getting food to last me potentially 4 weeks) and quite a bit of time stressing about the new job.
4/4/22
I met my boss in the morning--he had driven over from his office in Pagosa Springs--and we snowshoed into Gothic where I met Wess, the lead site technician. My boss said farewell and then it was just Wess and I. Wess is a really good cook, and he enjoys cooking, so he made me a yummy dinner of pork loin. Beautiful blue bird day.
4/5/22
Began my training on how to monitor and take care of the various instruments. Snow storm today
4/6/22
I met Red Lady, a red fox that comes around quite often for the first time. She is very curious and fearless. I named her after the Red Lady Mountain. She'll seit on the deck railings and look at us. In the morning, we sometimes see her running through the Aspens towards our cabin.
Here's a very interesting short piece about Red Lady Mountain:
https://www.patagonia.com/stories/keep-red-lady-free/story-74996.html
The rest of my gear and food came in on the snowmobile, courtesy of Nick the snowmobile driver (who happens to be dating my cousin)
4//7/22
Elisha hiked in for lunch and to see the place. It also happened that Zach and a few of his friends skied down Gothic mountain and also showed up. Wess served them all elk stew. There are 2 moose that we often see around the station: a mom and her yearling calf. Today was the first day I saw them as they strolled through town. Also played around a bit on the E-fat tire bike
4/8/22
I skied to town towing the sled and my laundry and a few things for my first "weekend"
4/9/22
Went for a ski up Washington Gulch with Elisha and then watched a movie at Zach and Mary's house
4/10
Biked back to Gothic in the early morning with Elisha. When I got done with work we skied up to Judd Falls and to the area where a giant avalanche came down and buried a large bathroom structure. Elisha stayed over the night and Wess made a fancy dinner of steak, asparagus, potatoes, and grilled pineapple.
4/11
I towed Elisha back to town, me biking and her on skis.
4/12
Big snowstorm came in
4/13
I went exploring around on snowshoes as the storm continued
4/14
Went for a ski in the fresh snow higher up into the valley. The river is starting to melt so it makes a cool contrast between the white snow
4/15
It snowed a lot overnight. After my rounds, I skied back to town pulling the sled through the powder. I helped Elisha unload some things and then we drove to Estes Park to drop off my parents car
4/16
Did some shopping in Boulder, looking for xc ski (unsuccessful). On the way back to Crested Butte, we stopped in Salida to see my former boss Nate and his girlfriend Treasure. We arranged to meet that at the Biker and the Baker, and we were surprised to also find his brother K-Dub (who I worked with in Greenland besides Antarctica) and Gavin and Robyn (from Antarctica).
4/17
Chill Sunday. We had the house to ourselves as our roommate Hillary was doing a triathlon (ski then bike then whitewater kayak), so we enjoyed staying at the house, with the fire on, and watching a musical
4/18
Skied back to Gothic. Elisha joined me for a bit of it before turning back. After work I fat-tire biked back to CB to hang out with Elisha. We made dinner and watched a movie at Zach's since Elisha is house sitting for them (watering their plants). Also found out the 3rd person, James, on our team had been hospitalized (perhaps from a ruptured spleen)
4/19
Wess skied out to town so that we could cover James' Crested Butte portion, and we went out to breakfast in downtown CB. Being mud season, town is dead and most places are closed. We then skied back to Gothic
4/20
Packed up my stuff and took the weekly snowmobile back to town as I am going to be starting my CB sting. Started training with Juarez from the Los Alamos National Lab at the CBMR (Crested Butte Mountain Resort) portion of the SAIL project, called the AOS (Aerosol Observing System). He's originally from Brazil. Elisha flew from Montrose to LA today to hang out with friends, which is a bummer since it's my 2 weeks in Crested Butte. Hillary and I hung out and chatted, getting to know each other.
4/21
More training up at the AOS site. Street party at Pitchfork (neighborhood where my brother lives) for a birthday (actually of the girl who told my brother Hillary was looking for a roommate).
4/22
It started snowing hard in the afternoon. I took the e-fat tire bike and biked in the heavy snowfall down to Crested Butte and then up Kebler Pass road to the point it is closed to cars due to snow, then I continued for a couple more miles up the road. Fun to play in the snow
4/23
It snowed 12+ inches overnight. I pedaled the fat tire bike up to our parking lot where Juarez picked me up. We tried to get up the road in his vehicle, but he got stuck. So we had to go back down to get my car. The good ole PBR was able to get up the road to get to the trailhead to walk to the AOS site.
Because of all the snow, I wanted to do some backcountry touring, but my skis were in Gothic. I also needed to return the bike to Wess. So I tried biking out to Gothic. The snow was just too deep! It was impossible to bike even with the pedal assist. I tried to push the bike, but I was post-holing through deep snow. It felt like I was going to have to just abandon the plan and abandon the bike BUT, I was carrying cross country skis on my back so that I could ski back to CB with my touring skis and boots on my back. So I had the brilliant idea of putting my skis on and pushing my bike. It worked really well, and it left a really funny 3 lined track in the fresh powder. It was definitely beautiful ou there in Gothic with all the fresh snow
4/24
My day off, so I did several touring laps on the ski resort mountain (they close Crested Butte Resort very early despite having plenty of snow because they just don't have the help to keep it running). In the evening I drove to Gunnison to pick up mail for work (We have a mobile home in Gunnison). I got to meet James who is the guy quitting, but who had to end the job early b/c of a ruptured spleen.
4/25
Did a sunset ski up on the mountain after work
4/26
Today we switched out trainers and John from Los Alamos National Laboratory drove up to start training me. Another sunset ski up on the mountain. Had a meeting with the RMBL bigwigs down in Crested Butte
4/27
Another sunset ski, this time to the top of Crested Butte mountain.
4/28
Another ski up Paradise bowl, then bought a 6 pack of beers at the local Mt CB liquor store and drank them with John at the base area
4/29
Skied up CBMR
4/30
After work I skied from the Snodgrass parking lot to Gothic to Emerald Lake (which was frozen), and up to Schofield Pass and a little bit beyond. The total round trip was just over 20 miles. Very beautiful through the snowy mountains during this warm bluebird day. The river is starting to melt out and starting to rush. Fun to ski back down from Schofield
Elisha arrived around 7pm after her time in California. So happy to see her!
5/1
May Day
Elisha and I skied up Paradise bowl and enjoyed a beer while sitting in one of the closed chairlifts. In the afternoon we biked down to Crested Butte and explored it a bit on our bikes (it's so empty in town right now! how it should be!) before we headed to Pitas in Paradise for a really good and cheap happy hour. In the evening we went on a date to the always yummy Secret Stash.
5/2
Snowed 5 or 6 inches, so I skied a powder lap at Paradise bowl before starting work
5/3-5/17
Skied most days after work
5/19
Birthday party for Ace Hardware's cat, Mr. Jingles. Free tacos, free beer, and a mariachi metal band. Quite the party
5/21
Snowed about 6" overnight, but not as much as the front range which got about 18"
5/23/22
Had my brother over for dinner to watch the Avs and to CELEBRATE he and M-nuggs getting engaged while they were in France and Greece
5/24
Bro and I went for a really beautiful bike ride and at the end a huge snowstorm rolled in
5/25
Bike and picnic with Elisha
5/26
Skied some laps up at Cottonwood pass after our softball game
5/27
Had Zach over for White Russians for my birthday and did some mtn biking in Gunnison
5/28
Really yummy bbq provided by Wess and fire out at the cabin for Memorial Day
5/29
Finally got to see the new fox pups. So cute!!
5/30
Pretty big snowstorm, up to 6" at the AOS. Roasted hot dogs on the fire out by the cabin in the snow
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