2009 year in review

What a year this has been!!!! So many ups and downs in my life since 2009 began, if it weren't for a calendar I wouldn't know where to begin.
The year started out with me having to make a tough decision that affected my heart greatly. Having a hard time recovering from that prompted some friends and family to say/write some things that were hard to, but neccesary to hear/read. Thank you.

In Feb I went to San Francisco with my sister and niece and we had a wonderful time despite mostly damp weather.



We went all over the city soaking in the moisture and the sights/sounds that SF has to offer. A return trip with more time is certainly in my future.

In March I moved from the suburbs into the city. I now live in a neighborhood called "Capitol Hill" It is a rather diverse neighborhood that is rather close to downtown and my job with the city.



As the months wore on I spent a lot of time in and around Capitol Hill with my camera at the ready. I got to watch a fundraiser game of softball between the "Dykes" and the "Drag Queens". It was most certainly the most colorful game of softball that I have ever seen.



In June my sister and niece flew back home to Michigan to visit with friends and family.



During the rest of the summer I spent most weeks in the mountains with friends. Up to this year most of my hikes were contained to established trails. This year I decided to challenge myself a bit more and dabble in "scrambling". Talk about a rush!! I found myself in situations that really forced me to stay in the moment and make some very precise decisions. There were a few moments in there that made me ask myself what the heck I was doing. Persistance paid off and we usually got to our intended summit, unless safety would be compromised, then we forwent a summit or two.





November found me celebrating my birthday back home in Michigan as I drove back to help a dear friend with some things. For the first time I took 2.5 weeks off from work and I relaxed and enjoyed life and the chance to be there for somebody who's been there for me a lot in the past year.

In December I re-took the placement test for college and I've enrolled in my first college class in almost 15 years. I'm a bit nervous, but also excited about the challenge of furthering my education and one day earning a college degree.

This is of course just a rough skimming of the surface from this year, but I've learned so much this year and am so grateful to those who have stuck by me and have been there when I needed them the most. Your continued friendships and love has helped me in ways that I can not fully describe.

I look forward to an exciting year in 2010 and the chance to continue to stregnthen the friendships that I have and make some more as I continue on in my life.

3 scenes from today

I don't plan on doing this everyday, but I thought it'd be cool to share some random images from my day with all of you. I don't plan on having any sort of theme to these shots, just if something catches my eye.
So with that in mind......

Bus ride to work


Crowds in the street for the Christmas Carol Contest.


Participants in the contest.


Have a good day!!!

Long time no update.......

It's been almost a month since my last blog posting and it's been a busy time with a lot going on.
My trip to Michigan went great! I had a lot of fun visiting friends and family. I was able to help a friend out around their house and that made me feel really good. Being able to utilize my skills and talents in a way that can help a friend is one of the best things that I could ever do, especially when it's for someone who is such a dear friend to me. On November 13 I was able to celebrate my birthday at a great restaurant with this same friend. It was a wonderful evening and one that I won't soon forget.
I made the drive back to Seattle in about 48 hours with some severe leg pain, which I'm still dealing with today.
On Thanksgiving my sister and I had some turkey and other turkey day foods and relaxed at my place while her daughter spent the day with her father. Lisa and I had had other plans for Thanksgiving, but the day before they changed so we figured things out and enjoyed the day together.
Lately things at work have been going pretty good. I adjusted well after being away on vacation and got right back in there and do the best that I can everyday.
While I was home my dad gave me an old bicycle that he doesn't ride anymore. Even though the frame is a bit small for me, I've managed to make it fit for the time being and I've been riding around town and to and from work. It's been fun to be able to ride again, but I've found that I have to be even more aware of what's going on around me as cars take less time to look out for cyclists these days, some don't even look for us at all. I've had a few close calls with cars and buses, but I do the best I can to keep my eyes out for them.
Last night my niece had a choir concert at school. My boss let me leave work a few hours early so that I could attend. She did great and I had a nice time at the event which also included vocal jazz, jazz band, concert and symphonic bands. It was fun to be able to watch my niece interact with her friends and to be able to meet a few of them myself.
So that about wraps things up for the most part. I've taken lots of photos but none that I really care to post as they don't seem to be as good as others that I've taken. Maybe I'll get some decent ones soon and I'll post those, we'll see.

Drive to Michigan

As usual, I have a handful of photos at Flickr which can be found here.
On Halloween night after work I jumped into my car and began the 2300 mile drive back home to Michigan.With some vacation time to burn and a few furlough days yet to take I decided that I would head back home and help a dear friend out around her house.
I left Seattle at 6pm and headed east on I-90. Once in the mountains I hit some rain which offered up some good hydroplaning opportunities... The trip through Washington was mild if not boring with daylight fading and rain falling.
My goal for the night was to make Butte or Bozeman MT. Well I didn't make either as I was rather tired and made it just short of Missoula instead. After 4 restless hours in the backseat of the car in a rest area I got up and saw the beauty that is Montana all around me.



I talked with a couple of guys who were walking their dogs and they told me that I would pass by a Prairie Dog area a few hours down the road as I made my way to Devil's Tower in WY. At many point along the highway I stuck my camera out the window and snapped away. I end up taking over 200 shots, even though most did not turn out too good, but a few did pass the test.





I eventually made it to the Greycliff Prairie Dog Town State Park. These little guys are so darn cute, and small too.







I spent about 30 minutes watching and photographing the Prairie Dogs before I decided I should keep going so that I had some daylight left when I got to Devil's Tower. I drove into Wyoming and saw some storm clouds off to the south and hoped that it would be dry at the tower. As I neared the tower the clouds were not present, but neither was an abundance of daylight.
Having only seen this national monument in the movie "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" I was excited to finally see it in person. Of course it did impress me too!!







I hiked around the tower until it was dark and still had half of the trail left to hike, in the dark. I made it back to the parking lot and headed off back onto the dark highway.
I am a firm believer that South Dakota is best traveled through in the dark, and that's exactly what I did. I stopped for another 4 hour nap before heading into Minnesota where I stopped for another hour long nap.
I needed to make a brief stop in Minneapolis and took a smaller state highway diagonally through the state which offered some views of what Minnesota is really like. I also got the chance to sit in some construction traffic........



Upon completion of my 1.5 hour visit to Minneapolis I was off to Waseca MN to stay with an old friend and his family for the night. By 9am the next day I was off for my last section of the drive that would bring me back home to friends and family.



By 9pm I had already visited a dear friend of mine and was back home at my parents place ready for a good night's sleep after a great drive.

Using my new camera around town

Recently I got a new camera body as my old one had a short on a circuit board. I shopped around for different cameras and finally decided on the Canon XSi. With it's 12mp capabilities this camera can produce larger images than my last one. An improvement over my last camera is the 3" LCD screen. My last one had a 1.8" screen, so this one feels like sitting in front of a movie theater screen!!

As my abilities with photography improve (slowly) I'm trying to expand my photographic prowess into other areas aside from landscapes. Utilizing black and white can really express an emotion if done right. It is my hope to be able to convey that emotion in my shots. Enjoy.







I will never turn my back on color photography though....

Kendall Peak & Alaska Mt

I was once again joined by my friend Adam for a beautiful day hiking in the mountains. We decided to stay a bit closer to home this time and head to Snoqualmie Pass and hike to Kendall and Alaska.
We left the trailhead at 7:10am with skies still a bit dark. We followed the old Cascade Crest Trail, which is now abandoned, for about 2.5 miles until we connected with the Pacific Crest Trail, or the PCT. It wasn't long before the views opened up and we enjoyed clear skies too.



We found the cutoff for the faint route up to Kendall Peak and were at the summit by 9:25am.



We didn't spend too much time up here as we still had more miles and one more peak to summit. Back on the PCT we made it to the "Kendall Katwalk". This section isn't for the faint of heart as it was literally blasted from the side of a steep mountainside.



Once past the Katwalk we passed a few lakes, Gravel, Ridge and Alaska. They were all very pretty and we stopped for a few moments at Gravel and passed by the others. With virtually no breeze, the reflections on the water were wonderful.



We followed along the trail as it flanks the lower section of Alaska Mt until we reached the eastern ridge. With direction from another hiker we headed up this ridge and encountered some really "fun" spots as we maneuvered around some rocks which reminded us of our ridge traverse from Mt Daniel a few weeks ago.
At last we made it to the summit where I rewarded myself with a great snack.



Oh, did I mention the views!!!!!!!









After enjoying the summit for a while we made our way back down the ridge and onto the PCT for our return voyage.







As usual I have a full set of pictures on Flickr with a link here.
I also created a video which unfortunately has a few small editing glitches due to my Windows Movie Maker software..... that video can be found on YouTube, or at the link here, or below.

Mixed weather on Scorpion Mt

My friend Adam and I went for a short hike up to Scorpion Mt. The route is 8 miles round trip with about 1800' elevation gain.
The forecast was for rain below 4000' and snow above. Our trailhead sits at 4100' which put us where I wanted to be, above the rain!! The views were abundant even at the trailhead.



We were lucky enough to be in a hole in the weather and enjoy a few sun breaks!



As we neared the summit the land opened up and the colors of fall became more apparent.





We finally reached the windy and cold summit and we had fun taking in the disappearing views as the clouds rolled in and snow started falling.



A link to a full but small set of photos can be found here.
A link to a video with a few shenanigans in it can be found here.

Mt Clifty hike on a snowy day

For this hike I drove east on I-90 to exit 62 and headed west on the Stampede Pass Road #54. Drive towards Stampede Pass for 3 miles and turn left (south) on Road 41. Proceed 10 miles and turn right (south) on Road 4110 and drive 10 more miles to the trailhead on the left for the Blazed Ridge Trail #1333.



The trail is "mixed" use and is shared with dirtbikes. It is very easy to see the wear that a trail used by dirtbikes as it was more like a deep "V" than a trail. The first mile or so was up this "great" trail before it levels out more and the trail condition improves.



The trail runs the top of the ridge for another 2 miles or so before connecting with the junction of Manastash Ridge, trail #1388.



The views along the ridge were great!! I could look across the Greek Creek Basin and see North Ridge.



The winds were picking up and a few snowflakes started to fall from the sky.



I made my way up to the summit and climbed the 10 foot summit block.



Winds and snow continued on my entire way back down to the trailhead where I found about 1/2 inch of snow covering my car.





A full set of photos can be found here.
I also made a video from this trip too, that can be found here.