One of the fellow engineers on our hut trip just emailed over these screenshots from his GPS unit that was used throughout the hike. I found the data to be really interesting and therefore wanted to share it for all of the nerds out there. This first screenshot is an overview of our hikes. The yellow line is the trail that we followed on our way down, also known as the correct trail. The white line is the path we carved on our way up to the hut after missing a turn, becoming lost, and trying to find our way to the hut. You will notice that we obviously started on the correct trail, split off for awhile, and then eventually found the trail again to complete the hike.

What is even more interesting are these elevation profiles for both hikes. You will notice that both start off the same, but the hike up quickly becomes extremely steep when we lost the trail. We ended up hiking much higher than we would have if we followed the planned trail. After peaking at around 10,600 feet, we went back down to around 10,000 and then finally back up to the hut at 11,000+ feet. The profile for the hike down doesn’t have nearly the same amount of elevation change and is much more consistent. Here are both screenshots, with the hike up first.

I definitely need to get one of these devices. I tried using a watch that I bought from woot.com that uses a pressure sensor to estimate altitude, but it somehow reset itself at some point in the hike. And besides I wouldn’t have been able to download any data to my computer anyway.

Update: I put together an overlay of both of the hikes, so you can easily see the extreme differences between the two:

Over the weekend I participated in my very first hut trip. Along with fourteen others, I hiked around six and half miles (from 8,620 ft to 11,180) up to the Eiseman hut on Saturday morning and afternoon. Most of the trip we wore snowshoes on our feet as there is still a ton of snow up in the mountains. We managed to accomplish this strenuous hike, with large and heavy packs on our backs, in around eight hours. This includes the time we spent lost off of the trail. Thankfully we were well prepared with plenty of snacks and water, along with GPS units, two-way radios, and maps. We all arrived with no major injuries just many blisters, aches, and pains.

In each of our packs were sleeping bags, minimal extra clothing, and lots of food for dinner that night along with breakfast the following morning. After leaving the cars at 8am, we all arrived within a half hour between 3 and 3:30. After that we popped open a few celebratory beers, relaxed and tried to stretch out our painful muscles. We then prepared a great dinner, and afterward held a friendly euchre tournament with sides of whiskey and wine. It was a great way to spend the evening hours.

The following morning, after breakfast, we packed up all of our bags, cleaned up around the hut, and then started our descent back toward the cars. The hike back was mostly downhill, besides one section of strenuous hiking, and we actually managed to follow the trail the entire way this time. The scenery was beautiful as we had a couple inches of fresh snow covering everything. The trip down only took three and half hours and was pretty relaxing for the most part.

I often ride my bike to work, using the light rail for most of the commute. This consists of riding from home to the I-25 & Broadway Station (a couple blocks) and then from the Lincoln Station to the office (around one mile). It’s pretty easy to do, but from time to time I crave a longer ride. Sometimes I’ll get off at the University of Denver stop in the evening and ride home through Wash Park. A couple of times I have tried either riding the full length from home to the office or vice versa after a long day at work. Yesterday, Earth Day, was one of those days.

I decided that I’d ride a new route home via the Willow Creek Trail and then the High Line Canal Trail. Upon reaching Dartmouth, I took street marked bike paths home. The full route can be seen below, all 22.5 miles of it. I didn’t think it would take me too long to do, but in the end it all added up to two hours. I probably should invest in a quicker bike, though I’m not sure how it would handle the partially gravel/dirt path of the Willow Creek Trail. Regardless it was a nice workout and a smooth ride.

As I mentioned at the end of last week, Kim and I headed up to Vail this past Sunday, which was their last day of this season. We attended a pub crawl on Saturday, and therefore were really slow to get moving Sunday morning. We finally made it up to Vail around 1 or 1:30, we checked into our hotel (highly recommended), and hit the slopes. Immediately I noticed how slushy the conditions were. On the first lift I saw a big crowd gathered at another base nearby. It was at that point that I realized that the pond skimming competition that was originally scheduled for Saturday was taking place Sunday. I later found out that it had to be postponed due to road closures from the previous days’ storms. So we headed over that way on our first run to check out the action.

Pond skimming is a competition where the entrants ski or snowboard down the hill, hit a rather large jump at the bottom, and then attempt to skim over a pond. The goal is to skim all the way across to the other side, but that is something that is rarely done. We must have sat and watched wipe-out after wipe-out for an hour or more. Before we knew it, we were ready to get something to eat, and decided to do so before closing time on the slopes, which would allow us to get in somewhere without a wait. So, we pretty much only did one run for the day.

On the way back to the hotel to drop off our gear, I heard the sounds of O.A.R. coming from around the corner. We walked around and found that the band was getting ready to run through a quick sound check. After playing about half of their song “Shattered,” the band members came down into the crowd to say hello to Kim and I. They were playing a show later in the night, which was the biggest reason we decided to stay in Vail for the night. But more on that later, in another entry.

So, the season officially wrapped up for most of the resorts in Colorado. Arapahoe Basin is still open, and we stopped there on our way back to Denver Monday. As their location is higher up than most, their conditions were much better than we experienced the day prior. We managed to get in close to ten runs in a short amount of time, and before too long were back on our way home. I’m sure we’ll head up to A-Basin a couple of more times before they close in another month or two.

By my count, we only did 15 days (16 for Kim) this year. I guess the low snowfall did hurt us this year, after looking at last year’s stats. Anyway, here is how our days broke out this year:

• Breckenridge – 7 days
• Keystone – 4 days (1 was on the same day we did Arapahoe Basin)
• Vail – 3 days (I missed 1 of these days)
• Arapahoe Basin – 2 days
• Beaver Creek – only 1 day :(

I’m hoping we can get to twenty days next season. A guy, I’m assuming retired, was awarded a free pass for next season after he hit the slopes of Vail every day of this season. Something like 137 days! Can you say, jealous?

Nearly a month ago I mentioned that I needed some new running shoes. Well I finally made it into a store last night to get evaluated for a new pair. It’s always a long process once I get into a store, as the employees try to figure out what the heck is wrong with my feet and legs. The first pair I was given felt fine, but once I was on the treadmill it was easy to see that they weren’t going to work as I still had some major pronation occurring. So we moved onto to a series of four new pairs. Each of these corrected my stride very well and so then it all came down to a matter of personal preference on the fit. It came down to a pair of Mizuno’s, Asics, Brooks, or a new brand to me Pearl Izumi.

In the end I went with the Pearl Izumi syncroFloat III. I really liked the way they hugged my foot, giving a nice secure feel. This is due to the seamless uppers with webbing support where the fit comes through the laces, not the material around. I’m still not 100% sold on them, since I’ve had no experience with them before, so I took them on a test run at the gym. As long as I keep them inside I can bring them back to the store for a refund. I noticed some pain behind my right knee after about a mile and then realized that I forgot to put my heel lifts in the left shoe. I still couldn’t kick the pain during this run, but I’m hoping to give it another go on the treadmill before taking them outside.

While in Cincinnati this weekend, I took a trip with my family down to the Cyclones game. Kim, her parents, and youngest brother also joined in for an evening of fun. Even though the clones couldn’t pull out a victory in the second game of the best of seven series, we didn’t let that stop us from having a great time. My brother’s friend, Nick, recorded Kim’s brother, also named Nick, getting jiggy during a break in the action and being featured on the scoreboard screen.

In just over an hour, some of the finest ice hockey action you can ever see will begin. That’s right, I’m talking about the NCAA Frozen Four. If it weren’t for some important events taking place in Cincinnati this weekend, I would be in attendance for these tournament ending three games, just as I did last year. Fortunately both games tonight are on ESPN2 and the championship is on ESPN Saturday, 7pm EDT.

Competing for this years championship are Miami Ohio and Bemidji State, who play in this first game, along with Vermont and Boston, who will play later tonight. I am definitely pulling for the boys up the road, Miami, and in the other game I have to do with Vermont. I remember sporting a Vermont hockey hat throughout high school, after watching them play at the first Frozen Four I attended back in ’96. Ultimately I hope that Miami is able to win the entire thing.

We spent the majority of the weekend up in the mountains. We started off with an early morning drive to Vail on Saturday, where we did some snowboarding. I was hoping to find lots of fluffy powder, but I think the melting and freezing cycles got the best of the week’s snow. We found the snow to be heavy and mostly packed, even all the way out in Blue Sky Basin. I did okay, but probably should have stayed on the groomed runs since I hadn’t been out in weeks. I ended up tweaking my bad ankle just enough to convince me to stop for the day, so we headed back to the car and drove over to our hotel in Keystone.

With the misadventures of our day, we decided to find other entertainment for Sunday. We decided on a snowmobiling tour with Goodtimes Adventures, out near Breckenridge. Having never tried snowmobiling before, we went with their “classic” tour which included guides to show us the ropes and lead us all the way up to Georgia Pass at 11,585 ft. Our group included about ten other snowmobiles and two guides. After a quick instructional demo, we were given the keys and led out to the practice track.

I started off driving, with Kim as the passenger, and got the hang of it pretty quickly. Before leaving the practice area, we switched so Kim could give driving a try. After that, we switched again and followed in a single line with one guide in front and one at the rear all the way up to Georgia Pass. Once at the top of the continental divide, the area was wide open and we were allowed to play around on the snowmobiles, even hitting a couple of small bumps. After a quick break there, we switched again so Kim could drive on the trails and once again followed one of the guides to another meadow for more riding.

At one point, we flew up a steep incline and then had to make a quick right turn. When doing this, our snowmobile nearly flipped onto it’s side, and we were very close to falling completely off. I guess we weren’t leaning hard enough to the inside. Afterward, Kim was a little more cautious driving through the trails. Before the two hour tour was over we encountered yet another open area with a large track. Kim took a few laps driving and then we switched it up again so I could get a few more turns in before it was all over. On the straightaways I was able to get it up to 50 mph or so. It was really thrilling to be flying on top of the snow at such speeds. I loved every minute of it and hope to do it again soon, though it will likely have to wait until next year.

We forgot to bring a camera along for our mini vacation, but we were able to purchase a photo of us with a snowmobile before taking off on our adventure.

Another weekend gone by and still no snowboarding. We haven’t been out since Valentine’s weekend when Kim’s brothers were visiting. This is partly due to my ankle injury but also due to the very crappy conditions in the mountains. Everyone that has been up on the slopes in the last few weeks has said nothing but bad things about the snow. Fortunately, it looks like some new snow fell overnight and there should be more following throughout the week. Hopefully we can get out this coming weekend.

So, instead of boarding, we resorted to other activities in Denver. Saturday night, we went bowling south on Broadway at Moe’s. Our friend Ken came along for the fun. Kim convinced us to all bowl left handed for our entire third game. Somehow I think she has done this before, as she kicked our butts! I believe I finished that game with a score of 52. Pathetic.

Sunday, the weather was very nice, and so we decided to play a quick game of golf. Again Ken joined us for a round of nine holes at Harvard Gulch. This is the really short course not too far from our house, which we played toward the end of last year. My game started off pretty well with a par on the first, but went all over from there. I got a six on the second hole, then back to par on third, and then a pair of sixes to follow that. Despite how short the course is, it can be really frustrating for me. I guess it goes to show how terrible my short game really is.

March Madness has arrived. I think I am in a record number of pools this year, but unfortunately none of them are for any money. The only money I have on the tournament is in my dad’s squares game. This is the one where your square is randomly assigned two digits 0-9. One of them is the last digit of the winner’s score, while the other is the last digit of the loser’s score. There are 100 of these spots, and the money collected is distributed as the tournament progresses.

Back to my brackets. I think I picked them all the same, or at least I tried to. So far, after three games are over, I have two wins and a loss. I picked Butler over LSU, but they couldn’t quite pull it off. I can’t complain with this start though, especially since Memphis pulled out the win. You can see why by visiting my picks. I don’t know if I’ll start off as good as last year, but I’m doing better than the President.