New Addition to the Family

Chester Joins the Family -

Today Holly and I went to the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals shelter in Reno, near the coner of 4th and Wells. We adopted Chester, a 10 month old yellow lab with a great temperament. We've been looking at getting a dog for quite a while now, but have been waiting for the perfect dog to catch our attention. Holly noticed Chester on a visit to the shelter to look at another dog. Chester has a great personality and lots of energy. He appears to be mild mannered, yet full of energy and curious of everything around him. We're looking forward to taking him on walks and hikes.

Photograph of Mount Moffit in Alaska

Mount Moffit from Mount Hayes -

My rock climbing season got off to a good start this year until something called a thesis got in the way. As a result of my thesis I'm going to be working 24/7 this summer to get the thing done so that I can graduate. Of course that means that I won't be posting frequently this summer. Therefore, I've decided to throw up a photograph from a trip to Mount Hayes that Sean Bemis and I undertook in 2004.

The photo was taken from a spot called Levi's Bump, which is on the northeast ridge. The view looks out across the Trident Glacier to the east. That big peak is Mount Moffit, a truly impressive and challenging peak. After hiking in 30 miles and spending several days on the ridge at 10,000 feet we never made the summit. Frequent snows and rapidly changing weather conditions shut us down and sent us back early. We had to cross the Delta River at flood stage.

Ironically, that week was to be the final rain event of the summer. The summer of 2004 turned out to be a record fire season in interior Alaska. That summer we were forced to live in a thick cloud of smoke, because no matter which direction the wind was blowing from there was always a fire.

Added Links

Added Links Section -

I've added links to some of my favorite websites. First up is Scotty Strachan's Dayhike.net which is a great source of information on peaks in the Great Basin and the Sierra Nevada. Scotty is a personal friend of mine and has an impressive list of summits that he has visited. Check out his website.

The second link that I've added is Vagabonding al Mundo, which is my sister's blog that chronicles her trips around the world. During her college years she managed to travel five continents and has spent time in Switzerland, Morocco, Uganda, Thailand, Kyrgyzstan, and Singapore. Check out her blog to hear about her worldwide adventures.