THE GOOD LIFE

What I am listening to: Andrew Bird “Noble Beast”. Released January 20, 2009

OK, so I though I would start posting the music that I am listening to while I am writing my blog! That way, you can see what I like, and perhaps discover a new artist or song that you might like! If you haven’t heard of this artist of CD, then you must find it and listen to it because it is fantastic!

I have been at a loss of topics to write about recently and so I haven’t published much of anything lately, at least nothing of substance. This post isn’t going to be much of anything this time either. However, I did want to just express how excited I am for summer because along with summer comes summer activities! Here is what I am planning on doing this summer. Please let me know if you want to join me because I would be happy to have you!

1. Off-Roading! This has to be one of my most favorite things to do in Colorado. I have seen more beautiful parts of Colorado this way since joining with my friends in this wonderful outdoor activity. My friend Austin has a Jeep Wrangler Rubicon, and we usually take off the doors, put down the top, and explore the wonderful scenery of Colorado with friends! There is nothing like it! Once you go, you get hooked. I now want, and will get a Jeep Wrangler Rubicon because of it!

2. Camping! This of course is a given. Colorado is perhaps the most beautiful place to camp. This of course is something that I do frequently when off-roading. We are currently planning a multiple night trip to Webster’s Pass for off-roading and camping which should be phenomenal.

3. Backpacking! I have not done this yet, but I want to. The problem is that I don’t have the property backpacking gear yet. I am planning on getting a backpacking backpack and tent among other things like trekking poles and a backpacking sleeping bag and pad. Hopefully in the next few weeks I can invest in that and have some gear in time for summer!

4. Rock Climbing! If you haven’t been rock climbing at all, you need to try it. I have done the rock gym before, and last year, when on vacation in Ouray with my friends, we did some actual rock climbing. I have to say that it is much more difficult than the rock gym, but so much more fun! I will be doing this again for sure, and will eventually be investing in rock climbing gear in the next few years…once I get the basic camping and outdoor gear and clothing purchased!

5. White Water Rafting! I have not done this before, and have been previously afraid to do this. However, I really want to do this now, and have a few friends who are interested in doing it! Hopefully we can get a trip planned before the summer is out!

6. Spelunking! I have always though that cave diving and exploration would be a blast! There are a lot of caves and mines here in Colorado that I have wanted to explore, but of course my better judgement has prevented me from going into the abandoned mines! I did find a society called the National Speleological Society. You can become a member in a local chapter, and they have planned events with guides who take you on cave explorations! It is great too because they are all about cave conservation, and ensuring that the caves are taken care of and preserved not only as a habitat, but also so that future generations can enjoy them. I think I am going to become a member and begin exploring with these groups!

7. 14ers! Of course, you cant live in Colorado without attempting one of these! If you do not live in Colorado, you may not know that we are home to 58 peaks that top 14,000+ feet in elevation. Each of these mountains can be climbed and you can summit each of them. I tried to climb one last year, Mount Huron. I wrote a blog post about it and posted some pictures. Check it out if you haven’t seen it. Unfortunately, I wasn’t well prepared for the hike and only made it to 13,200 feet in elevation. I still think that is pretty good for my first time out. This year however, my goal is to climb and summit 2 14ers! We’ll see how I do! If you are interested, check out www.14ers.com. It has a whole lot of information and pictures on Colorado’s 14ers!

8. Fishing! Colorado has excellent fishing locations. We fishing during last years vacation to Ouray and caught several beautiful trouts and bass! I will most definitely be doing this again this year!

OK, so that is some of the outdoor activity that I plan to do this year! I am working on trying to get into shape right now so that it will be easier to do some of them like rock climb and hiking. You have to really work out your stamina and cardio for that type of hiking and backpacking!

Aside from outdoor activities, summer is the time for movies to be released! I recently got in the mood to look at upcoming movies that are going to be released this month through the summer time. These are all movies that I want to see and I wanted to share the list with you. They are listed in order of release date:

1. Monsters vs. Aliens – March 2009
2. Sunshine Cleaning – March 13, 2009

3. Gigantic – April 3, 2009

4. Paris 36 – April 3, 2009
5. Star Trek – May 5, 2009
6. My Life in Ruins – May 8, 2009
7. Angels & Demons – May 15, 2009

8. Land of the Lost – June 5, 2009
9. The Proposal – June 12, 2009
10. Year 1 – June 19, 2009

11. Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen – June 24, 2009
12. Public Enemies – July 1

13. 500 Days of Summer – July 17, 2009

14. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince – July 17, 2009
15. GI Joe: The Rise of Cobra – August 7, 2009
16. Inglorious Bastards – August 21, 2009

To see all of the trailers for these videos, you can find them in YouTube, or go to Apple’s website and view all of them there. http://www.apple.com/trailers/

So I guess this post is more than I thought it would be! I am just really excited for summer time as you can tell!

I have two parts to my post today. The first is about my first 14er and the second is about my future educational plans which have changed yet again! Read on!

HURON PEAK: MY FIRST 14ER!

Yesterday I took a trip to tackle my first Colorado 14er: Huron Peak. For those of you who do not know, a 14er is one of Colorado’s 54 mountains that have a summit elevation of 14,000 feet or more. Huron Peak is, out of a class scale of 1-4, where 4 is the most difficult and can require rock climbing gear, a class 2. I didn’t think that it was going to be all that difficult to climb. I was wrong! It was exhausting!

First off, a group of friends, five of us total, went up to a campsite, just North of Leadville, and found a spot. It was about 9PM when we finally got our tents set up and got to bed. It was chilly that night at about 10,000 feet, but not too bad…until we got further into the evening. I don’t think I slept but a total of 1-2 hours. It was obviously cold because when we woke up in the morning, there was frost all over our tents, the car, the ground…everything! I was frozen to the core! 

We started up the mountain at about 7AM, and it was not long before we were taking a break. My heart was racing, my lungs were moving fast trying to catch my breath, and it was still cold! We camped at around or just above 10,000 feet and Huron Peak is just barley a 14er by 3 feet. Yes, it is 14,003 feet above sea level. The trail is about 5.5 miles round trip with a 3,500 foot elevation gain from where we were camping. That is an elevation gain of, on average, 8.3 feet per foot! Essentially, it is pretty much uphill the entire way to the top! 

The forest was beautiful, and when we got to the tree line at about 12,000 feet, the views just expanded to include several other 14ers and wide open spaces. The tundra was nice and quiet, Marmots and other little critters were everywhere. We reached 13,000 feet at around 1030AM. My friend and I were looking at the last 1,000 feet in elevation, and determined that we just cannot muster enough strength and stamina to continue and summit the mountain. We decided to stop at 13,000 feet and head back down a little ways and have lunch. The others pressed on, summated and returned in just over an hour. I was impressed with their stamina and their ability to have a conversation while they were hiking! Then again, two of my friends have hiked 11 other 14ers previously, and my other friend had hiked 17! They are native Coloradans so they have the lung capacity!

The way down was no pick-nick either. Without much flat spots on the trail, we practically ran down the mountain. Let me be the first to tell you that going downhill, 3500 feet in elevation without having a flat spot to rest the legs is very unpleasant. As if your legs were not tired enough from climbing up, now you have to support your whole body going down, and it was hard! Well, we finally made it down, packed up our gear and headed back home. I tell you, I slept for 12 hours last night without waking once! I was exhausted!

While I didn’t summit Huron Peak, I am happy that I got to 13,000 feet. That is a lot of hiking and elevation to hike for a kid from Arizona who has been in Colorado for only a year! Next time, I am going to climb a class 1, in the summer, and I am going to make it to the top! I am going to train and get my body into shape for that climb because it is the most taxing, hard, physically demanding activity I have done since living here. At the same time, it was beautiful and exhilarating at the same time!

MY FUTURE EDUCATIONAL PLANS

So ever since high school, I have entertained the though of being in education, both as a teacher and in an administrative capacity (principal or dean, etc.). All of the many career “tests” I have taken have placed my first or second career in education, mainly in a teaching role. For the most part I have largely ignored that though and skill until now.

I will graduate in December with a bachelors degree in Business Administration but want to get into education. I am looking at several different schools in my area and am finding some great programs that are offered that would allow me to obtain my M.Ed. or Master of Education. I would like to teach elementary school for a while, and then work my way into administration, including principal. Someday, I would love to teach or be an administrator at a university and I think the teaching experience would be helpful and play to my advantage. 

So, that is it. If I find a program that I like and can afford, I would like to start classes in August. Hopefully that would come to fruition. I would like to get into a career of some sort soon, and teaching would be awesome!