Christmas in Colorado 2024

 12/14

Gunnison County has this cool program where they will let you test drive an electric vehicle (EV) for a week for free, and they'll pay for all the charging. It's part of their commitment to try to get the county carbon neutral by 2050 (or something like that). So we signed up for it for this week as we had plans to head to the Front Range. It's a Chevy Bolt, a small, but efficiently sized car.

We charged the car up in Gunnison while we did some errands and shopping, but we still had to charge it up again in Fairplay as we hadn't gotten a full charge in Gunnison and because when the temperatures are really cold (<10F in Gunnison and over Monarch) the battery loses efficiency.

The first reason we were going to the Front Range was to go to Bailey for VonSheibness, a Christmas party hosted by Clair Von handorf and Neal Scheib. It was basically an Antarctic Reunion with Chad (fuels) and Megan (Crary Lab), Jammee (Ship and Palmer) and McNifty (husband), Joni (IT) and Cory (South Pole Traverse), Katie (Project Software), and of course Neal (Research Assistant) and Clair (Hazardous Waste). It was a fun party with tacos as the main course, lots of dessert and appetizers and margaritas. Then there was a white elephant gift exchange. We stayed the night with Clair and Neal, while everyone else headed back down to Denver.

In the morning we had brunch, charged the EV up in Bailey, and then headed down to Denver to meet my parents for a matinee of Tchaikovsky's 'The Nutcracker' ballet at the Buell Theater. After we parked, we walked by the Capitol building and then through the Christkindl German Christmas market before getting to the Theater district. 

We met my parents and headed into the Nutcracker. We tried to dress up, but most people were really fancy. It was a great show, with favorites being the Russian Dance and Snowflake Dance. But the sets were really cool too.

After the show we walked to the 16th street mall and had dinner (a feast) at the Cheesecake factory. After dinner, we dropped dad off at my parent's hotel for a nap and then mom, Elisha, and I first went to the City and County building, which is always lit up spectacularly for Christmas. And also there was a giant lit tree that had lights 'dance' to music. It was really awesome, especially when you went inside of it and looked up. It was a really cool and festive area! And then at one point they did a light show to music on the city and county building. Then it was back to the theater district to watch a very cool drone light show.

After all that, the 4 of us met at the Denver Botanic Garden for the Blossoms of Light. It's a walk (about 1 mile/1 hour) through the botanic garden amongst just a spectacular set up of Christmas lights. They also had a field with lights set to 'dance' to music.

After the Botanic Gardens, Elisha and I charged our car and then headed up to Estes. We wanted to see lights of Estes Park as well as my mom's Christmas decorations. It was extremely windy (as per usual) and there were 2 massive bull elk in the driveway as we pulled up. Mom's tree and lights were indeed nice and the snowvillage was of course the highlight!

12/15

We headed to downtown Estes to do some Christmas shopping and charge the EV. There was a giant herd of elk on the golf course where we parked the EV. Then it was a very quick lunch with mom and dad before heading down to Denver to meet Nate.

We met Nate in Denver at the Grateful Gnome brewpub. It was a surprise for Elisha as she loves gnomes. It was fun to hang out with Nate he's always hilarious. And the poor guy is hobbling around right now as he shattered his patella working on his cabin outside of Salida.

After hanging with Nate we headed to Red Rocks Amphitheater for 'Christmas in Color'. It was a really cool drive through light show. You tune your car to a certain FM frequency where music is playing and the lights are synced to it. It was really awesome!

Then we headed to Colorado Springs, but we charged the EV in Sedalia on the way. In the Springs we were visiting Jake and Elya. They were waiting for us with a yummy brownie cake thing and tea. We talked for a long while as well as watched some funny comedy shows.

12/16

We hung around Jake's in the morning, charged the EV near their house, and then headed to Jake's school so that he could show us his classroom and the school campus. He's a middle and high school Spanish teacher. We then went to a big (and too busy) shop at Trader Joe's and Costco in the Springs before heading home. We charged real quick in Salida (their S hill is lit up cooly in lights) before heading to Crested Butte. I then towed in the heavy sled of groceries to Gothic under a beautiful nearly fully moon (no headlamp required)

12/18

Did a fun backcountry ski up on the North side of Gothic mountain. Normally you wouldn't want to go there b/c it's under a huge avalanche path running off the summit, but with our dearth of snow right now, it was fine.

12/19

We skied into town to go to a showing of an episode Rocky Mountain PBS' Colorado Experience titled Gothic's Outdoor Science Lab. The showing was at the historic Majestic Theater and included free popcorn! (definitely a reason to make the trip out to town). The episode was really cool and afterwards there was a Q & A with PBS producers and RMBL scientists and staff. We skied back home under gorgeous stars

You can see the episode here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZkMzdZcDrUo

12/20

We skied out to Crested Butte for a Christmas Play at the tiny Mallardi Theatre. It was a 3 person play titled "Every Christmas Story Ever Told". It was really good! And funny. And shout out to the Mallardi Theater for selling Hot Cocoa and PBR for only $2. We skied back on a chilly and starry night.

12/21 Winter Solstice

Elisha and I did a short tour up Copper Creek. We watched the sun go behind Gothic and put us in the shadows at exactly 3:33pm. That's not the sunset, it's just that Gothic is such a tall mountain right next to us that it blocks the sun early. The actual sunset time would be 4:49pm if Gothic wasn't there. Today I started reading a book of Mary Oliver's poems entitled 'Devotions'. Jake Hess gave the book (as well as another) to Elisha and I as advent gifts. He wrote in the cover "To the Guysers: Advent 2024. In hopes that these poems only expand your love for nature, its beauty and mystery"

In the evening Benn had the 3 other caretakers over for a Solstice Dinner Party at Calder. He made a super delicious roast with cornbread casserole and mashed potatoes with a mushroom gravy. Sophia made green beans and we brought cauliflower and ice cream to go with cookies we baked at his place. And we had Whiskey Mules.

I really enjoy the long nights, unlike many people it seems. So the winter solstice is a bit sad for me. I feel like it gives you more time to rest and relax and do things like reading and learning piano while drinking yummy tea. When it's sunny and beautiful out, I'm the kind of person that takes full advantage; hiking or biking until the darkness. In the summer this means not getting home until after 9, which doesn't leave much time to recharge. Plus I just really like the cold and snow!

My 8th grade earth science teacher, Mr. Adams, posted this on facebook, and I really liked it:

“The winter solstice time is no longer celebrated as it once was, with the understanding that this is a period of descent and rest, of going within our homes, within ourselves and taking in all that we have been through, all that has passed in this full year which is coming to a close... like nature and the animal kingdom around us, this time of hibernation is so necessary for our tired limbs, our burdened minds.

Our modern culture teaches avoidance at a max at this time; alcohol, lights, shopping, overworking, over spending, comfort food and consumerism.

And yet the natural tug to go inwards as nearly all creatures are doing is strong and the weather so bitter that people are left feeling that winter is hard, because for those of us without burning fires and big festive families, it can be lonely and isolating. Whereas in actual fact winter is kind, she points us in her quiet soft way towards our inner self, towards this annual time of peace and reflection, embracing the darkness and forgiving, accepting and loving embracing goodbye the past year.

"Winter takes away the distractions, the buzz, and presents us with the perfect time to rest and withdraw into a womb like love, bringing fire & light to our hearth".

.. and then, just around the corner the new year will begin again, and like a seed planted deep in the earth, we will all rise with renewed energy once again to dance in the sunlight.

Life is a gift a Happy winter to you all...''

12/22

I started reading "Part of a Winter" by George Sibley. George was a caretaker in Gothic for 4 years in the 70s. He might have been the 1st one. He even predated billy barr. He used to be the editor of a weekly newspaper in Crested Butte. He's now in his 80s, but I had the interesting good fortune of meeting him in a very random way. Elisha and I received a grant from a local town organization to help with a small amount of funding for the condo we bought. In return, we were asked to right a thank you note to the organization in the paper. As part of my thank you, I wrote a quick poem (kind of dumb and not much effort put into it in my opinion; however, George saw it, and asked if he could publish it in his yearly locals publication. I said yes, and that started communicating with him. He's a writer, but he's also really interested in rivers, especially the Colorado.

I did a backcountry ski up the 403 near to the saddle between the East River Valley and Washington Gulch. The fox visited us tonight on our porch!

12/23

We had billy barr over for tea and cinnamon rolls. It felt like a HUGE accomplishment to get him to come out! And all 3 of us had a good time. He has such interesting stories and knowledge of the old days at Gothic and is funny to boot.

12/24

We skied out for Christmas Eve to Crested Butte. We went to a church service with my mom, bro, and Ellis. Then we all went to my brother's house where we had a Christmas Eve party with amazing food (artichoke dip, meatballs, shrimp bisque) and very potent cocktails. Steiny, Chris Miller, and Cheese were also there. We played some games: That's what she said and catch phrase. We skied back home under Christmas Eve starlight.

12/25

I did the weather station work, and then we skied back into Crested Butte in a beautiful snow storm. We met at Zach and Mary's where we had brunch and opened gifts. We eventually moved over to mom's condo in Skyland where we had delicious--as always--fondue. We then went to the hot tub and then watched a new Christmas Movie (That Christmas). Zach and Mary headed home, but we stayed the night.

12/26

We hit the hot tub in the morning and then had a chill morning at mom's condo before heading back to Mt CB to pick up Zach, Mary, and Ellis to ski into Gothic. Under snowy skies, I pulled in a big sled full of everyone's stuff (including Ellis' oxygen tanks), and Zach carried Ellis, and we all skied into Gothic on fresh snow.

For dinner we had dhal curry and we played farkle. Then we all snuggled up by the Christmas tree and snow village lights and watched Armageddon.

12/27

With 12 or so inches of fresh powder, bro and I skinned up the north side of Gothic mountain to ski Gothic's north cirque. It was awesome!! Then I took mom on a xc ski tour of Gothic, where we of course ran into billy. We had yummy ramen for dinner. It snowed most of the day and night.

12/28

I gave everyone a small recital of Christmas songs I had been learning on the piano: Oh come all ye faithful, oh holy night, joy to the world, silent night, and oh come oh come emmanuel. Then bro and Elisha and I skied 2 laps on Snodgrass in really deep powder. So deep it was actually hard to move on the lower angle stuff. We then met mom, Mary, and Ellis and skied out to Crested Butte.

We went to Nicky and cousin Emma's to watch the end of the Broncos' game (they lost in OT) and to watch the Buffs' bowl game against BYU (they unfortunately got creamed)

Afterwards, Elisha and I skied back to Gothic in a snowstorm.

12/29

I did 3 powder laps on Snodgrass. We had a most beautiful sunset!

12/30

We skied a lap below Avery Peak. A funny thing. We left a little bit of sardine juice out in a sardine can for our friend the fox. She ate the juice and then left a little poo right in the can. haha. We had left a little salmon out before, and she had also dropped a little nugget for us right by where we had put the salmon. If you've got nothing else to give, well then, I guess that's a good gift

12/31 New Year's Eve

We skied a lap below Avery peak on a very cold (-10F) and windy day.

“We never tire of each other, the mountain and I” – Lao Tzu

Winter Caretaking in Gothic at The Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory

This winter (Sept-June 1st), we'll be winter caretaking in Gothic. Gothic is an old silver mining ghost town that has been a research station--Rocky Mountain Biological Lab (RMBL)--since 1928. The majority of the research here happens in the summer when it's a bustling station full of scientists, grad students, and undergraduates studying everything from marmots to flower phenology to hydrology to pollination to stream ecology to tree transpiration. My advisor, Todd Palmer, actually worked here one summer and some of the famous pollination ecologists that I cited in my paper work here in the summers now (ex. Alarcon and Brosi). But the winter is very quiet. Sometimes there is climate and snow science studies going on, but mostly, like this year, there is not much science going on. I did spend 1.5 winters here when I worked for SAIL (Surface Atmosphere Integrated Laboratory), which was studying climate, the atmosphere, and precipitation in mountainous areas.

But due to the harsh winters and heavy snows, there needs to be people out here taking care of the station. The typically closes at the end of November and opens June 1st, so there needs to be caretakers living out here as it's about a 4 mile ski from Gothic to the road (Snodgrass Trailhead). And the road isn't always passable. If avalanche danger is high or extreme, you cannot travel on the road as the road passes below several large avalanche paths. 

This winter, Gothic will have a population of 5. Three caretakers: Elisha, Sophia, and myself. Benn the head of maintenance. And then the infamous billy barr who has been living out here year round since the 80's taking meticulous measurements of snow. 

Billy also does finance stuff for RMBL. He's an interesting guy. He's a "hermit", but at the same time, he'll talk your ear off if you run into him skiing around town. He's got a funny sense of humor, is really into movies, including Bollywood, and likes cricket. He's from New Jersey and came out here straight out of college (Rutgers) and hasn't left since then. He's very scared of infectious disease, so covid was tough on him, and we still wear masks around him when indoors. He has a classic mountain man beard. He enjoys skiing, reading, recording birds, and movies. He also likes to bake. There are tons of news stories and videos about him, but below I pasted in a few of the best. At his office he provides an assortment of 10 or so different types of chocolate, all from Hershey's. He has a sign explaining why it's all Hershey's, bc Hershey's is owned 80% by an orphanage.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L72G8TLtTCk&t=11s  (Snow guardian by National Geographic)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-0JHpGst84U  (Hermit of Gothic by 9 News of Denver)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8noEWvfRChQ    (Citizen Scientist by the Associated Press)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o5Z--SJHXTA  (A Colorado Mountain Man)

There are 53 or so cabins, a community center (cafeteria/meeting area), and a couple lab buildings that need to be watched/taken care of throughout the winter. So 3 times a week we do rounds where we ski around to the various cabins checking on them. We go into the labs, community center, and a couple of the winterized cabins to check that the heat is working, water is running, and then systems like the solar panels are working. We also check the water treatment plant to see how much water is being used, and we perform a test to check for the amount of chlorine in the water. Once a week we perform tasks at the weather station where we mail of samples to the University of Wisconsin and University of Florida who are monitoring pollutants such as ammonia and ozone and also checking on contaminants in the snow. Then we also do other random maintenance tasks as required. And as you might imagine, there is shoveling when it snows.

There are 2 modern cabins (Maroon and Crystal) that can be rented out by the public for a hut trip. To me they're not super idyllic compared to huts like the 10th mountain hut division, but for others it might be really nice. They have heat (no need for a fire), hot showers, flush toilets, internet, a big screen tv (though you would need to hook it up to a computer or phone to play something), refrigerators, microwave, etc. Anyways, one of our tasks is to look after those and interact a bit with the guests. Just like more true backcountry huts, the guests are responsible for leaving the hut as they found it, so we don't really have to do any cleaning or anything.

Something that I find interesting in Gothic is that it feels like each cabin/building is its own floating island in a sea of snow. It's impossible to move between buildings without having a snow travel device such as skis or snowshoes. Fat backcountry skis with skins is the best method. If you try to go just in your boots, you'll quickly be wallowing in snow and won't be able to move. So when doing rounds, or going to visit the neighbors, you're doing a lot of clipping in and out of skis. The fox and hares that are around are really good at staying on top of the snow, the moose is not!

We're staying in Gates cabin, which is perhaps the nicest cabin in my opinion. It has giant windows that have an amazing view of Gothic Mountain and of part of Gothic town. You can hear (and see) Copper Creek from the cabin, when it's not frozen that is. It also has a shower, flush toilet, washing machine, and woodstove for heat. It's 2 stories with an attic. It has a little office space and 2 bedrooms and then a large living/dining room. 

Benn lives in Calder, which is where I lived when I worked for SAIL. Calder doesn't have a wood stove, but instead a propane heater. It also has a flush toilet. Sophia lives in Galena (though she is dating Benn, so it seems like she spends a lot of time there). Galena is similar to Gates, except it has no flush toilet. But it has a wood-heated small hot tub. Both Benn and Sophia must take their laundry down to the Johnson Lab where there are a couple washing machines. 

All 3 cabins are on what I call the Upper East Side and have great views of Gothic Mountain. We're on the East Side of the East River, up about 100 feet in elevation from the mainstreet of Gothic. We get a little bit longer afternoon sun then the cabins down by the river, but not much. Gothic, being a huge massif to the West of us, really blocks that afternoon sun. When it hasn't snowed for a while, the ski track down to the town is pretty fast on cross country skis.

Billy lives down in the valley at the foot of Gothic Mountain by the East River. His cabin is surrounded by weather and snow equipment.

There is good cross country skiing and backcountry skiing right from our cabin. And being that we're a 4 mile hoof from the nearest road, it stays pretty quiet out here. In fact, after the storm, it was 4 days before someone arrived to Gothic (we could tell b/c of the fresh snow and no one's tracks showed up for 4 days).

As it's quiet here and not a ton of work, some caretakers have historically also done remote jobs. I think Elisha will do a bit of remote work for Eleven. I have some plans to slow down a bit from busy life. I will ski a lot, and I hope to read more. I also want to try learning piano again and maybe Spanish too. I also have some project like catching up on my blog (this!) and sorting through my photos. If I have time, though time seems to fly, I might see about trying to figure out a way to make some money writing. I also still would like to publish by last chapter of my thesis in a scientific journal. But we'll see. I also think Elisha wants to work on some crafts and projects of her own. We're so busy in normal life that it just feels really great to slow down. There are not many negatives to living in Crested Butte, but one negative (though it's also a positive) is that you stay extremely busy. Outside of work there is just so much fun stuff to do: hiking, biking, camping, paddling, skiing, etc. And that's just the outdoor things. Then there are all the fun community events and such. Long story short, it feels like there is hardly time for catching up on life after work, play, and sleep. So we're really looking forward to it!

11/13

Got back to Gothic. Was able to drive to Gothic, but quite a lot of snow on Gothic Road. Elisha is still in Montana visiting her friends and family.

11/14

I went for my first cross country ski of the season

11/15

Frank is in Gothic doing some research for his advisor

11/21

Mom is in town to visit Ellis. Today mom and I went for a cross country ski above Gothic. Frank held a party at his cabin as a goodbye. Benn, Sophia, Elisha, myself, and Kyle (the last remaining work crew person) were all there. The only person missing was billy barr

11/22

We had Frank and mom over for brunch and mimosas before Frank had to leave for Montrose to catch his flight. Elisha and I went for a xc ski and mom came over to Gothic for taco dinner

11/24

Got 6 or so inches of snow

11/25

We drove our cars out of Gothic this evening to park out at Fantasy Ranch in Mount Crested Butte. With a storm on the horizon, we figured the road would close. We skied back to town in the dark after dropping off our cars

11/26

We woke up to 8 or so inches and heavy snow. The road was undoubtedly closed for the winter! We did our Tuesday weather station tasks and then we bundled up and broke trail to ski to Mt CB for the town's free Thanksgiving dinner. When we got to our cars, they were completely buried. You wouldn't know whose car was whose. But we managed to get my car out of the unplowed parking lot (about 20" by now) and onto the road. We met Zach and Mary and Ellis at the town dinner as well as Katie (from RMBL), Sam (our former neighbor and volleyball friend), and Alexis (who was almost a roommate of ours). Dinner was really great. Then we skied back to Gothic with our tracks from before quite covered. Also lots of small avalanches on the steep parts of the road cut

11/27

Avalanche danger was raised to high, so we just stayed around Gothic. But I had fun skiing around town in all of the powder

11/28

Happy Thanksgiving!

We did our first ski tour of the year behind our cabin, then cooked dinner. It was delicious! We invited billy barr, but of course, being the hermit that he is, he politely declined.

11/29

We did a longer ski tour today up by Red Mountain. Then billy trained us on how to operate his snow station. He also gave us a tour of is cabin, which is very hermit like. But it does have a nice growhouse and a sweet movie theater. He has over 3000 dvds because he used to not be able to stream out here. But now he has subscriptions to all the major streaming devices, including one that is from India for Cricket. He also has tons of cassette tapes of old radio shows. 

He skis down to Gothic every morning to work after he does his snow station first thing in the morning. In the afternoon, he has a decent little hill climb to get to his place, but he continues on past it up valley for some exercise before going back to his cabin. He then does chores, cooks (he likes to bake too), drinks tea while reading the New York Times, reads from a book, and then watches a movie. He told me he goes to bed about 11pm and gets up at 4:30am.

11/30

We noticed that the heat at Maroon cabin wasn't working and that the water was frozen. We put in some heaters to warm it up

12/1

When we checked Maroon again, a pipe had split from the freeze and was shooting water. We dug in the snow to access the main water line and shut it off

12/2

Benn and Sophia got back from their Thanksgiving trip to Santa Fe. With Benn we fixed the frozen pipe by replacing a part of it. Luckily that was all that was it!

We went up valley and found ourselves a perfect Christmas tree. We cut it down and hauled it by sled through the deep powder back to the cabin

12/3

We skied out to Crested Butte to watch Gladiator II (The historic Majestic Theater has $5 movies on Tuesday). We then went out to Ramen to warm up with Sophia before skiing back under a basically zero moon, meaning the stars were just amazing.

12/4

We did a ski tour up valley by the Gothic campground. The area is called Gothic Mini Golf

12/7

We did our first ski tour of Snodgrass. Benn and Sophia left for a week or so to go to the Geophysical conference in D.C. We had our first guests to the Gothic ski cabins (They rented both floors of Crystal). A weather station nearby reported that since the storm, the average temperature during the past week was -5.6F (time-weighted average) with an average low of -18.3F.

12/8

I skied a couple laps on Snodgrass, and then I set up the Snow Village.

12/10

Elisha and I skied a lap on "Aspen Alley" below the big face of Gothic, which has nice views back towards the townsite. The sunset was also really cool as there was a small storm that made the whole valley glow in red-orange. On our way back we saw one set of footprints going towards Gothic. This is highly unusual due to the fact that it's a long way from the trailhead to be without skis or snowshoes. We followed them, and they led to Gothic to the lab where they disappeared due to the fact that there is no snow under the giant awning surrounding the lab. We were a little worried that this person was in trouble and too tired to head back, but also a little creeped out considering the cold-blooded CEO killer is on the loose, haha. We tried to find the guy, but with no luck. We were talking about him and mentioning killer and stuff. And as we started heading back up to the cabin, we saw him emerge from one side of the lab that we had not checked. He was hiding!

This is what I sent to the other caretakers who are at a conference (Annual American Geophysical Union) in D.C.

Humorous story:

"Yesterday we did a sunset lap out by the avalanche cabin. On our way up, Elisha had seen a guy just walking on the road--no skis, no snowshoes. On our ski back to Gothic we saw his footprints, going just one way. They started to head up mainstreet, but turned around and headed up to the GRC. We followed them, but then lost them in the melee of footprints that is billy's territory. It looked like he had gone maybe into Willy, but also onto the pavement of the GRC. We poked around but couldn't find him. It was brutally cold with high winds, so we were initially a bit worried it might be a tired hiker out of his element that would freeze to death. But after not finding him, and with the news of cold-blooded CEO killers about, we were entertaining the idea of a more sinister reason to be visiting Gothic. We openly were talking loudly about killers and whether he was out here to get billy or hideout from Gothic due to some crime committed downvalley. But with no luck finding him, we skied started to ski back up to Gates, and then we saw him emerge hiding by the GRC mech room door. We yelled to him if he was okay, and Elisha thought he said "Just looking at the sunset" and I thought he said "Just resting a bit", but we confirmed he had a headlamp, and we headed back up, but we were laughing that while he was hiding he probably heard us talking about cold-blooded killers. hahaha"

Started piano lessons tonight with playground sessions. Elisha was saying it sounded terrible, and she was thinking the keyboard sounded out of tune, but we didn't think electronic keyboards could get out of tune. But we found a hack on youtube to re-set the keyboard, and now it sounds great

12/11

I went for a backcountry ski today. The route I was taking already had a well established skin track, and I could see the fox had followed the skin track all the way up from the road to the top of the ski run. It always cracks me up. We also say we should hire the fox because it always does nightly rounds. You can follow its footprints as it goes to our cabin, then Benn's, then Sophias, then down to the lab, then Maroon Cabin, then Crystal cabin, then trotting up towards billy's.

12/13--Friday the 13th

Snowed decently hard for a couple hours today while we were out skiing, which made for some nice turns.

After our skiing we put on Christmas movies and constructed and decorated gingerbread houses. Then we watched a new Christmas movie that we liked, Red One