April 29, 2009

The first outing of 2009! Okay, so we had hoped that we would get out throughout the winter months and get some good snowshoeing in and get some blogging done with photo shoots depicting me, Bill getting taken out by avalanches. So you can guess either Debra decided the words “Bill” & “Snow” should not be used in the same sentence or we just didn’t get the chance to go.

Well actually we didn’t want to join the ski crowds driving up I-70 getting stuck in traffic to reach an area that actually had snow where we could get away from it all. Fact was we had a winter where the snow really did stay in the high country and the lower mountain elevations had snow that lasted as long as it does in Denver. Maybe next year. Instead we opted for spending our first married winter together doing the holidays and opening up our home that God has blessed us with for entertaining and sending our guests home waddling after we stuff them! We certainly have no regrets doing that!

I have been “jonesing” to get out and hike, rock climb and get the year started. As soon as the last big snow fell in April our lawn suddenly exploded in lush green colors and I figured since I had already fired the lawnmower up once it was high time to go. Trouble is that every weekend for about 4 weeks it would get rainy and snowy and during the week it would get nice and warm. So to fool the weatherman we did a novel thing: we took a day off in the middle of the week! And a perfect spring day it was.

We decided to stay close and warm up at 3 Sisters near Evergreen, a place we go frequently for a quick fix getting away from the noise and bustle of the city. The therapeutic value of enjoying God’s Country is enormous spiritually, physically, mentally and emotionally. We experienced that in spades.

A little rock climbing to work out the “shoes” and some brisk hiking stretches out the lungs and reminds you how much you have missed it and also reminds you just what all the Christmas cookies and the plethora of food did during the “hibernation” months. We all spend those winter months bulking up a bit and packing our bloodstreams with sugar and other wonderful non-nutrients that it takes some good sweating just to clear out the system and prep it for another year of endurance.

You also get the opportunity to see a new phase of life emerging after the cold of winter. We had the pleasure of eating our lunch of “healthy” food at the top of the Brother’s Overlook and being invaded by none other than:

‘Super Munk’

This little critter is like so many I have encountered who try and make you believe that they never get fed. Obviously this little guy makes his home in the rocks to protect himself from predators but he also had other motives. Since this is a site that many people climb to I am sure he knows he may just get a handout or 2.

With the green freshness of spring and the snow capped Continental Divide as a back drop we got some great photos to share with you. Just go to our picture website at:

http://picasaweb.google.com/howethru

There you can browse and download.

This year we will be getting out a lot and I will have Debra on her first 14’er in June if my plans stay on track. We need to do some altitude building and get the physical cobwebs flushed out from a dormant winter before that. I am making a list of new locations to hit this year so we should have pictures coming your way all through this year of 2009!

“Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” (Matthew 6:34)