Segment 28

On our hiking trip we met an accountant who saw Craig's hat which said Deloitte Touche, and thought he was an accountant too. Craig wisely said he was just a consultant. It reminded me that America is a land of untold wealth. Most of it is untold on the tax forms. But I know it's a privilege to be able to pay taxes. If they keep going up, I may have to give up the privilege!

We enjoyed our hike and few good laughs along the way. I'm looking forward to our next trip.

Kennebec to Durango

Here we are at Kennebec Pass in the La Plata range near Durango. Tyler and I met Craig in Pagosa Springs and drove up to the pass to meet David as he finished the Colorado Trail. Our objective was to hike Segment 28 with him from the Pass to Durango. We waited over an hour for him and decided to hike back up to 12,000 ft Taylor Lake and wait for him there.

When we arrived at Taylor Lake we found David, and he had another "through hiker" with him, Elizabeth from Breckenridge, CO. This 25 year old hiked the entire 500 mile Colorado Trail, mostly alone except for her trusty dog Nanook. She told us that Nanook had encountered a porcupine earlier on the trail. Evidently, she couldn't pull the eight quills from Nanook's rear end with her hand, so she had to do it with her teeth. We found our three days with Elizabeth to be delightful. After the trip we enjoyed pizza with her at Farquarts in Durango.

Our campsite at Taylor Lake was perfect. The weather was great and the campfire that night was perfect. We ate well and laughed a lot.

David and Tyler decided to go for a swim at this 12,000 ft. lake. BRRRR. It couldn't have been too cold though, they stayed in the water for at least 10 minutes.

The next day we got up and "enjoyed" a two day 23 mile hike into Durango, mostly in the rain. As a result, I have no more photos beyond this one of Craig near Kennebec Pass. I would imagine that my toes and feet will recover within the next few weeks. My stuff is now dried out from the rain, rain, and more rain.

Pride

I like the way Larry Crabb in his book, The Pressure's Off reflects on pride and thinking we deserve something when we don't. He talks about the proud Pharisee who came into the temple, stood up tall, and prayed about himself. "God, I thank you that I am not like other men - robbers, evildoers, adulterers - or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get."

What's the difference between the proud Pharisee and the humble tax collector? Neither had any right to claim God's blessing. One knew it. The other didn't. "The Pharisee," says Crabb, "still believed in the modified law of linearity: If we get the law mostly right, then everything we do will prosper. The tax collecter pinned all his hopes on the law of liberty - come as you are, undeserving, broken, desperate, and trust God will come near to you rather than banish you." Like the tax collecter all my hopes rest on God's grace. I don't have much else.

Grocery store politics

Nancy was at the grocery store today. She picked up a carton of eggs and another shopper said to her, "Do you know that the price of eggs has doubled?" She said, "I didn't know that, but I'm sure Obama will take care of it." The man replied, "Sure," with a smirk on his face. And while Nancy is telling me this story I thought about the price of gas and said to myself, "Sure, he'll take of it, like everything else he's promised." I think I'd like to run for President. It's inside work, and you don't have to do heavy lifting.

I'm not going to vote for the better candidate. I'm going to vote for the one who'll do the least harm. I love the story about the candidate who was speaking to a large gathering. Concluding, he said, "My opponent has been stealing you blind for eight years. Give me a chance!"

Tony Hall

Today in church we heard Tony Hall speak. I thought the highlight of his talk was his encounter with Mother Theresa. He said when he met her, they walked through Calcutta stepping over poor people sleeping in the street, they saw poverty beyond belief, and people near death. He said he asked her, "where do you start?" Her response was, "Do what's right in front of you."

What more can be said?

Balloon festival Chatfield

This morning I got up and walked down to the balloon festival at Chatfield State Park which is just a 30 minute walk from the house. On the way there this motor-powered para glider stole the show as the balloons were filling up. He regularly flies over my house on weekends. I've often thought about getting one of these to commute to work. But now I work from home and they cost about $6,000, not to mention what it probably does for your insurance rates.

They said there were 55 balloons going up today. I believe it. I couldn't get them all in the camera. While it was only a small version of the mass ascension they have in Albuquerque every year, it was still impressive.

A little breeze came up this morning and blew them all away. Oh well. I had hot cup of coffee, a $5 cinnamon roll, and enjoyed the view.

CT hiking photos

Tyler took some awesome photos on the Colorado Trail hike I thought you'd like to see. So here are a few samples. He said he would be putting all of them on his site in the near future. The photo below is looking into the Breckenridge area from Georgia Pass.

This photo of Dave was taken just as they left the North Fork of Lost Creek. When we met them at Kenosha Pass they talked at some length about this beautiful spot.

Here is a photo of Paul laughing near Georgia Pass. We found out that Paul did finally drop out of the hike due to some knee issues that developed. I will try to bring you more news and information as events develop. Tyler did call the post office in Creede today and told them to put David's name on the box of food waiting for him. They said, "no problem." Details, details.

Tyler returns

Tyler returned from the Colorado Trail yesterday. We got a call that said he was hitchhiking home and that his ankle was not doing well and he couldn't go on without risk of further injury. We did manage to connect with him in Colorado Springs, so we picked him up and then drove home together.

After 280 miles he was obviously disappointed and told David to continue on his own, which he did. Tyler's goal was to hike through the entire trip but we think he made the right decision. Depending on how he does in the next week or 10 days, he will consider continuing and meeting David in Silverton. I will try to post some of his photos in the next few days for you to see.

Report on CT hikers

I heard from Tyler and David today. They reached the Monarch Lodge and are spending the night there to dry out and restock. They said it's been raining and drizzling quite a bit so they did about 16 miles today to try to get to the lodge.

Tyler said his ankle is about the same but today it was feeling a little better. He said they climbed Mt. Massive and plan on doing San Luis Peak next week on the way to Creede.

Fast food

I thought my dad would appreciate some of the "fast food" they have in China for the visitors to the Olympics. He is one of those adventurous people who will try most anything. Not sure about these delicacies though.

Update on CT hikers

Here's the latest I got from Craig this morning. Tyler and David made it to Buena Vista but not without some excitement. There was a mountain bike race on the Colorado Trail with Lance Armstrong right where they were hiking and hundreds of people watching from the side of the trail they were hiking. Evidently, Armstrong came in second to a local rider. When they arrived at the end of the segment, hundreds more people were there and cheering them on! I will find out more on this when I hear from them next.

They did not see Paul in Buena Vista and are now hiking on to Monarch Pass. Tyler did report he is having trouble with his ankle.

Fun tonight

Last night I took Eric and Ginny to the Rockies/Diamondbacks game. They seemed to enjoy it. Eric got a game ball and his team won the game.

Colorado Rockies second baseman Clint Barmes, left, ran into right fielder Brad Hapwe as he pulls in a fly ball off the bat of Arizona Diamondbacks' Chris Young in the ninth inning of the Diamondbacks' 4-2 victory. He was lucky to have snagged this fly ball since both players hit the ground hard.

More on the Colorado Trial

I haven't heard from Tyler, Paul and David since they called and left a cryptic message on our voice mail. They said they reached Leadville, CO and were headed to to Mt. Massive Wilderness area and planned on climbing Mt. Massive. That's it. Nothing more. Today, I mailed their next box of food to Creede, CO but it seems they're still pretty far from Creede. The last time we saw them, they were talking about getting The Colorado Trail logo tattooed on their bodies somewhere. I don't know if the "somewhere" is the next town or on their chest or something.

They did tell me in Breckenridge that they met a group of volunteers working on the trail. They stopped and talked with them for about an hour and really enjoyed getting to know everyone and where they're from. They said everyone treated them like heroes.

Servant leadership

Phillip Brewer writes about the paradox of servant leadership. It is a "both/and" concept, so to speak. Of course this is a big deal (or used to be) with my company. I like the way Brewer captures the essence of this concept. I think most people in the world understand about half of these things. Ezekiel said, "I sought for a man to stand in the gap and there was none."

Paradoxes of a Man of God

Strong enough to be weak;
Successful enough to fail;
Busy enough to take time;
Wise enough to say, "I don't know."
Serious enough to laugh;
Rich enough to be poor;
Right enough to say, "I'm wrong";
Compassionate enough to discipline;
Conservative enough to give freely;
Mature enough to be a sinner;
Important enough to be last;
Courageous enough to fear God;
Planned enough to be spontaneous;
Controlled enough to be flexible;
Free enough to endure captivity;
Knowledgeable enough to ask questions;
Loving enough to be angry;
Great enough to be anonymous;
Responsible enough to play;
Assured enough to be rejected;
Stable enough to cry;
Victorious enough to lose;
Industrious enough to relax;
Leading enough to serve.

Trip to Portland

I flew to Portland, OR this week for meetings. It was as hot as possible in Oregon, with temperatures reaching close to 100! But I kind of liked it. A hot summer has its advantages. You don't have to shovel it! My meetings went well in spite of the fact we're beginning to worry about our accounts receivable. Maybe its the economy but last week we had to add antifreeze to our cash flow.

Camping in Lost Park

Nancy and I went camping in Lost Park this weekend. The weather was very nice and since we had so much fun with the guys last weekend, we decided to head out on our own and enjoy the wilderness. Below is a photo of the mountains in the Lost Creek Wilderness area from our campground. On more than one occasion we took the kids into this area for hiking and camping.

The trail is very nice going into Lost Park. But you have to be careful, some rancher still has grazing rights in the area and one misstep will give you a smelly shoe!

Here is a view of the area we hiked into. After about 3 or 4 miles into our hike we stopped and soaked our feet in the water. This is a family tradition, and feels pretty good on the feet too.
When we got back, we ate a couple of buffalo steaks, corn on the cob cooked in the coals, and of course we had to have smores! Nancy held mine while I took the photo with chocolate on my face and very sticky fingers!