chill mountain chick

Teenagers?

2008-12-04T17:27:00.002-07:00

So...again....at soccer...age came up. This was a different league but at the same complex where I play with several of the same girls as the supposedly under 25 league. This league never had any age restrictions but last night I was chatting with a few women on my team and on the opposing team, when the one of the opponents mentioned that the league was supposed to be over 25, then glared at me for an uncomfortable amount of time. I wasn't going to say anything, but I just made a comment regarding the fact that I was over 25, as were all the girls on our team. My teammate replied "even those teenagers"...."those teenagers" are 25. All "those teenagers" also play on my under 25 team (see previous post) I thought it was hilarious. Age is in the eye of the beholder!

One day you're an old lady, a few days later, you're a teenager.

Old Ladies

2008-11-25T14:48:00.002-07:00

In response to my friend Lovey's recent blog post about birthdays...

I am currently playing in an under-25 indoor soccer league. No one on my team is under 25 - there are two girls that are 25, but the rest of us are a little closer to 30. I'm not sure what the rules are, but who cares...we have fun. Last night we played a bunch of high schoolers - their parents had to drive them because they couldn't drive. We won the game 5-4 in the final minute. The girls didn't appreciate that and told the ref that he favored the "old ladies". He does favor us, but he also lets them push us around until people start hitting the floor. I have rug burn from the turf, another one of my teams was bleeding from both knees. Not to mention the bruises...

These girls were so ridiculous they wouldn't shake our hands after the game. One girl came up to us and shook our hands. But even after I went to their bench to make a point, all but two kept their backs turned. In addition, they told the ref that our goalie (who is really good) is trying to live something she never had and that they hope that when they are moms they'll be as good as we are. So sorry to all my friends that are older...you guys must be grandparents or something.

Just as an aside note, the ref owns the place and we know him pretty well because we play there at least 2 nights a week.

Obsessed!

2008-11-03T18:16:00.002-07:00

I am completely obsessed with this election. I wasn't that preoccupied by it until I voted last week. Now all I do is check news websites to see something...I guess some how I think that the results are going to be in before tomorrow night. Hopefully, after tomorrow I can stop obsessing.

A good friend suggested that when you're in grad school you need to find something to be neurotic about. Right now for me, it's obviously the election. I'm trying out things to be obsessed about - running, yoga, looking at puppy pictures online. Basically anything that allows me to procrastinate. Facebook has even gotten a little boring - say it ain't so!

Obama

2008-10-26T15:43:00.002-06:00

So Obama is speaking about 7 miles away from me as I type this. I decided not to go - not because I don't like him - but because I have things to do and can't dedicate a day to seeing him speak for 30 minutes. I think it's great that there is over 20,000 people standing on the CSU campus right now. I think it's great that the line to get in was miles long...I also think it's great that I can sit in my home office and watch streaming video of his speech.

chill mtn dude is in northern Wyoming watching the speak on FOX News...every time Obama mentions McCain, the other side, or Bush....the tv station cuts away from the speech and talks about something pro McCain/Bush. Hilarious. chill mtn dude wanted to know what Fox was going to do when Bush wasn't in the White House any more. I suggested they would hopefully be lamenting that Obama won the election and was talking about how horrible things are now that a democrat was in charge. Blaming the democrats for all things wrong. Obviously nothing was Dubbya's fault - it was Clinton's fault...Right!

Random...

2008-10-23T12:57:00.001-06:00

I have determined that I have very few blog readers, which is fine, this is for me anyway! One Lovey H may check my blog here and there, but whatever.

chill mtn dog passed away a few weeks ago. Very, very sad but she had a wonderful life and we were together as a family, spending her last few hours comforting her. It's just so lonely without and chill mtn dude in the house...He'll be back soon.

Any suggests on cell phones? I need a new one...nothing fancy. It'd be nice to have the option of checking my email, but not mandatory...definitely a camera and text and pic messaging. Decisions, decisions.

Hmmm

2008-10-03T20:24:00.003-06:00

School is very time consuming, I'm surviving but I'll be glad when I get through this semester and realize how awesome research credits are!

Chill Mtn Dude turned 40 and we celebrating in Breckenridge. It was good to see his family. We got our season passes, abasin opens next week but we have some house projects that need to be finished before any snowboarding occurs.

Chill Mtn Dog is fine. She started thyroid medicine....she's eating, but no dog food lately. She gained 2.5 pounds.

Tomatoes are getting ripe, I canned 13 quarts of tomato sauce last weekend. I'll can some more tomatoes tomorrow...all while working, doing research, getting school work done, and playing soccer.

I started running a few weeks ago - I don't really enjoy it but I do need to get the stress out and get back in shape for soccer....so, it's a means to an end.

Maybe I'll be inspired to write something soon...

Trip Down Memory Lane

2008-09-14T22:25:00.003-06:00

Recently an old friend found me on Facebook, someone I hadn't talked to or thought about since high school. That's pretty cool. It's always nice to talk to old friends. Then I got an assignment for another friend to locate old pictures....this was even a bigger than I thought it was going to be. I stumbled across pictures from high school - pretty mellow...but then I got to college...the first two years weren't too bad, more silliness than anything else...Then senior year came and it appeared to be all over. I mean, obviously we had fun. I remember it being fun, I don't remember being sober very much...the pictures are true to that. Thank goodness there wasn't Facebook and Myspace back then, the world does not need to see those pictures...I'm sure my friends have similar ones and I'd love to chat with them about the good ole days. Then I saw pictures from grad school, more of the same craziness but confined to special times. I guess I realized I couldn't spend 7 nights a week drinking and get a master's degree.

Since then I've apparently really mellowed out or perhaps there isn't a camera at every turn, every event. I can think of some times that rival the partying I did in Geneseo and Boone, but we don't have as much photographic evidence of that or it's confined to special occasions like rodeo, bachelorette parties and tour de fat, not week night events that required drinking everytime someone dies in Night of the Living Dead.

All the reminising stirs up some strange emotions, I don't really know what I am feeling except for the need to have a beer with my friends...but it's 10:30 on a Sunday night and I have class in the morning...research to be done, labs to be written, articles to be read. I guess coffee hour tomorrow will help me get passed this...plus I'll be so busy that I probably won't be able to think straight.

28 = 30?

2008-08-24T17:00:00.002-06:00

Apparently 28 is the new 30, or it's just 30. I went to the soccer club's office a few days ago to register for the upcoming season. I've been playing on a "masters" (i.e. over 30) team as an exception - they allow 5 women between 25 and 29 to play on each of these teams. I was speaking with the gentleman in charge of registration about determining when I would no longer be considered an "exception". The conversation went something like this.

GM: So you were born in 1986?
CMC: No, 1979
GM (strange disbelieving look): Then you're not an exception.
CMC: Ok, thank you.

Apparently, they go by birth year and since this is the 2008-2009 season, anyone born in 1979 is considered to be 30 by the club. Very interesting...in my conversation I went from being 22 to 30 in about 30 seconds..

A New Era?

2008-08-21T09:37:00.003-06:00

Over the past few weeks I've been discussing things with my girlfriends, when I realized several of us are returning to school after a break. Many of use took about a 5 year break and are going into different fields or research areas, some less, all the same I have 5 friends (all women, all in their late 20s) returning to school right now. Good luck to all of us!

I know I need it as I figure out how to balance school, research, work, and life. Today I'm actually hiding from that life to figure out a plan of attack...classes start on Monday and my research kicked off last Monday.

chill mtn dog's new diet

2008-07-30T20:26:00.004-06:00

Today chill mtn dog ate the following:

1/2 lb ground beef for breakfast
1 lb ground turkey for dinner
1 small can Pedigree Butcher's Selects Prime Rib Flavor for a snack while waiting for chill mtn chick to cook her dinner

What she would not eat: spaghetti, chicken breast, zucchini bread, Purina Salmon and Rice Natural Dog Food.

At least she ate some dog food.

Tomorrow is any one's guess, but she does have an acupuncture appointment.

Mid Life Crisis

2008-07-29T18:36:00.002-06:00

Hmmm. I'm not suffering from this but I know someone who is... characteristics courtesy of Wikipedia

Standard Feelings:

search of an undefined dream or goal, check
a deep sense of remorse for goals not accomplished, check
desire to achieve a feeling of youthfulness, check
need to spend more time alone or with certain peers, uncertain

Standard Behaviors:

alcohol abuse, occasionally
conspicuous consumption -- acquisition of unusual or expensive items such as clothing, sports cars, jewellery, gadgets, tattoos, motorbikes, etc. CHECK - can everyone say "HARLEY" together?
depression, perhaps
paying special attention to physical appearance, no

Any suggestions on how to deal with a significant other who is suffering through a mid life crisis?

Still Not Much Going On

2008-07-28T20:23:00.002-06:00

I went home for a week. It was really nice to see my family and to relax at my parents house. I forget how beautiful and green upstate New York is in the summer. I've been back for almost a week - and it's been all work and no play. No wonder I feel like a dull person. Like my dad said, I'm pretty much middle age now that I have a mortgage. Pretty lame but true. The weekend consisted of picking out exterior house paint, a sliding glass door, and a window. Very exciting!

Classes start in less than a month. Since my friends left in May to do field work campus has been pretty quiet for me. I'm excited for them to come back and to get back into the groove of school.

chill mtn dude is turning 40 soon...He may be getting a Harley. I told him I'm concerned about him having a middle age crisis.

chill mtn dog is starting to eat dog food again but prefers steak, salmon, chicken, and the occasional pasta dish.

2008-07-07T21:47:00.002-06:00

Not much going on around here except yard work - including cleaning up the neighbor's yard. Foreclosure sucks and it sucks when it happens across the street and the house looks vacant, the newspapers are piling up in the yard, the weeds are taking over the mail box, and the grass is long...We fixed most of the problems and acquired some plants in the process. It looks better now but still looks vacant.

The other big thing is that chill mtn dog decided to start eating again and she's full of herself. Of course she's not eating dog food - she prefers ground beef, turkey, catfish, sardines, and bread with peanut butter. She'll eat canned salmon but she prefers it grilled...What kind of monster have we created? Last check she had lost 15 pounds since January so it's important that she eats...whatever it may be. I hope when I'm 100 years old I get whatever I want.

Thing in My Leg

2008-06-26T21:26:00.002-06:00

Two weeks and two days ago, I went mountain biking with my friend Tracee. We had to pull off the trail to let some guys go by and I got something stuck in my leg. I tried to pull it out on the trail and couldn't. I didn't worry much about it - I thought it was just a prickly thing from the thistle we stopped in. When I got home I had serious difficulty extracting the item from my leg, turns out it was half an inch long. I'm not exactly sure what it was - perhaps part of a yucca or a dried piece of grass? Following the extraction I was in pain, my leg became inflamed and nasty. A few days later I was able to get some brown gunk to squeezed out...it started to heal or so I thought. It was still bright red but the swelling had gone down some and the redness had decreased to the size of a quarter. Well, I decided to give it another look today because I was convinced there was something still in there - there was, there may still be...I got something out but I can't tell if it's all out...YUCK. I can't really justify going to the doctor for this...I don't know what they could do for me. I dumped a bunch of rubbing alcohol on it and put some neosporin on it with a band aid...Hopefully I got it all this time.

The Dump...I mean Sanitary Landfill

2008-06-21T11:45:00.003-06:00

Dump runs always upset me. People are dumb. Today was no exception. I paid my $3.87 to throw away some trash that I could not recycle or compost...a few bags collected over the past few months. I back the old subaru up to the dump off area, get out and see about 30, perfectly straight t-posts. Now, what the heck are they doing at the dump and it is ok for me to take them home? I throw out my trash, rearrange the recycling that I'm about to recycle and start loading up the t-posts. I feel wierd, not sure if this is legal, so after grabbing 5 I stop. Really, I should have taken all of them and dealt with the consquences. But, who was the moron who throw these away? Paid money to dispose of perfectly good materials? That moron should have brought them to the habitat for humanity store, at least they would be put to good use. I'm not sure what I need t-posts for but Kevin can use them for landscaping.

The other annoying thing is there is an area for yard waste that the dump chips and composts, yet about 75% of the morons at the dump today were dumping their yard waste (trees, shrubs, what have you) in the regular dump...MORONS! I don't understand why the guy working lets them do this...require that they dump it in the composting area...compost it and be done. We have a limited amount of land on this earth and we should be doing anything we can to limit our garbage.

The dump in Fort Collins is a lot less disturbing than the dump in Sheridan because people actually recycle here. All the same, I'm still disturbed.

Where I'm at Part 2

2008-06-18T12:35:00.002-06:00

The other cool thing about where I'm at is the vet school. Rumored to be the second in the nation after Cornell, there are a million experts here. Seeing that chill mtn dog is getting older and having health problems, I google things very often regarding pet health. 95% of the time, the researchers I find have taught or still teach at CSU vet hospital. Our vets went to CSU and are excellent.

Where I'm At

2008-06-18T09:42:00.002-06:00

I've moved recently to start an Ecology PhD program at Colorado State University. The past few months have been eye opening. In terms of learning what is out there happening in the world of landscape ecology...and in terms of the phenomenal research connections and research team I'm currently working with. Just in the last week, I've learned that professor wrote a book on GIS.

I just got back from a meeting with the National Park Service where I learned that the work I've been doing for the past few months will actually be used by park managers to make decisions about natural resources. In addition, the projects collaborate with the "best landscape ecologists" in the west.

My professor and another professor have several maps in the July 2008 issue of National Geographic - check out the fire story.

I'm really thankful for our friends who suggested looking into the program at CSU and for chill mountain dude for supporting my decision to come here. I never really questioned that this would not be the best place for me to get a PhD, but I am really glad that I came here instead of the alternatives.

I think the best part is that professor and other researchers are just "normal people"...who happen to be the the field's best researchers.

Wow...

2008-05-28T19:52:00.001-06:00

Ok...after many moons of not posting I thought maybe I would start again. We'll see how well that goes!

Wolves in Yellowstone

2006-12-27T17:56:00.000-07:00

This weekend Kevin and I ventured to Yellowstone National Park for a few days to celebrate the winter solstice and Christmas. After a long drive involving black ice, a cracked windshield, and a squeaky drive train, we arrived in Gardiner, Montana on Friday December 22. Friday was rather uneventful in the park, we went to Mammoth Hot Springs for a little while, but it gets dark earlier here and we retired to our hotel.

On Saturday, Kevin fixed the squeaky drive train first in the morning. We spent the day driving in the park. We saw lots of charismatic megafauna, went snowshoeing and really enjoyed ourselves. We finished the day with meals of trout and elk at the Mammoth Hot Springs resort.

Saturday morning we woke early and ventured in to the park in hopes of finding wolves. After driving about 40 miles into the park, we came across some folks with telescopes and binoculars. They were watching a wolf pack feeding on a kill. We were unable to determine what the wolves had killed but it appeared to be either a buffalo or an elk. There were 13 gray wolves (6 jet black wolves and 7 gray wolves). The kill was approximately 100 yards from the road and the wolves were scattered around the kill and on the hill about the kill. One wolf remained on the kill the entire time we watched (approximately one hour). There were ravens and magpies on the kill and the wolf would occasionally lunge at the birds with its mouth open to scare them away. A bald eagle circled the kill and landed in a tree to wait for the wolves to leave before feeding. A few coyotes showed up while we were watching. The coyotes were very wary at first, but after some time began getting closer to the kill. One coyote got a little too close to the kill and a wolf chased it off. From behind some tall grass, we could see the wolf and coyote had an interaction, but the coyote escaped. The coyote climbed on top of a nearby rock and began to bark at the wolves. The wolves did not seem to care about the yipping coyote.

There was fresh snow on the road and we could see 4 sets of parallel wolf tracks, the largest tracks were much large than Kevin's hand.

We had a great trip and hope to go back again this winter.

SPECIES LIST:
American Dipper
Coopers Hawk
Goldeneyes
Buffleheads
Cinnamin Teal
Greenwing Teal
Townsend Solitaire
Golden Eagles
Bald Eagles
Big Horn Sheep
Bison
Elk
Mule Deer
Wolves (heard from hotel)
Coyotes (about a dozen, some hunting for lunch)
Ermine (short tailed weasel with mouse in mouth)

Click here for photos

Jeopardy

2006-12-04T19:18:00.000-07:00

Just last week we were watching Jeopardy, when a GIS Specialist won a few nights in a row. It was nice to see someone who shares my profession completing at the national level, in a quiz show that you must have some knowledge to appear on. As I watched this fellow GIS user play, I began to wonder when I was going to see someone I know appear on Jeopardy.

Less than a week later, this has become a reality. Tonight, much to Kevin and my amazement, a fellow student and friend from Appalachian State University appeared on and won Jeopardy. We have shared many beers at the fine Boone establishment of Murphy's with Bob over the years we spent in Boone. I hope Bob can triumph over the other contestants tomorrow night (December 5th).

First Snow!

2006-10-09T08:43:00.000-06:00

It's snowing out! This is the first snow I've seen this year. It may have snowed last week when we were on vacation, but I did not see it. I found it ironic that I was wishing for snow this morning as I was walking Bella and now it's snowing. It was 35 degrees and raining at 5:30 am this morning. It's tough to get up and walk the dog when the weather is so cruddy, but I did it!

Sept. 13th-15th, Denver, CO GIS in the Rockies Conference

2006-10-05T12:49:00.000-06:00

I attended and presented at the GIS in the Rockies Conference at Invesco Field at Mile High Stadium in Denver, CO. For all you football fans, this is where the Denver Broncos play. The conference was in the suites looking over the field. It was a small conference, but still enjoyable. The main surprise I had was that I ran into one of my former classmates from graduate school, Matt. I haven't seen Matt since graduation. He still lives back east (GA to be exact) and is an instructor at a small state college. He presented some of the work he's been doing and we caught up over a few beers.

I also gave a presentation. My presentation went very well, there were approximately 25 people in the room. My presentation last for 45 minutes and people listened attentively the entire time and there were many questions following it. People commended me on the all the work I've done at my current position and the skills I possess. It made me feel good.

I also got a chance to tour the NOAA facilities in Boulder. This was really neat. The best part was the Science on a Sphere display. Essentially, they brought us into a dark room and project images of earth (and Mars) on a sphere. It was neat.

Boulder is an interesting town. Although I only spent a few hours there, it seemed as if the town was struggling to identify itself. It felt like a mix between a small mountain town, a trendy city, and college town.

All in all, I enjoyed myself.

Updates

2006-10-05T12:24:00.000-06:00

It's been a long while and that long while deserves several posts. I will attempt to get to them in short order, but here is a preview:

Sept 13-15th, Denver, CO GIS in the Rockies Conference
Sept 15th-19th, Greg visited us, we celebrated Kevin's Birthday
Sept 22nd-Oct 2nd The Big Trip (thousands of miles of flying, driving, & visiting)

Mr. Gay & Mr. Payne

2006-08-30T11:37:00.000-06:00

As I begin to study for the quantitative section of the GRE, I have flashbacks to 7 & 8th Grade Math with Mr. Gay. I remember learning how to reduce equations, using the acronym PEMDAS, which some people use “Please Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally”, but Mr. Gay used something else that ended in “Momma Down A Staircase”. It’s been 14 years since I sat in Mr. Gay’s class and I still remember this ridiculousness. I also remember where I sat, about halfway back near the window overlooking the “chicken coup”, where my 3rd grade class was held. Mr. Gay didn’t turn the lights on, the room was most always lit by natural light for the large windows making it seem more friendly. I didn’t think I retained much information from math class these two years, but apparently I did. Hopefully, more if it will come back to me as I study.

Across the hall from Mr. Gay’s room was Mr. Payne. Mr. Payne was the 7th & 8th grade history teacher. Mr. Payne really liked arrowheads and guns. He talked, what appeared to a 12 year old, constantly about guns and arrowheads. I think we had this large white textbook with some Indians on the cover. I also remember where I sat in this class, in the middle near the windows. Mr. Payne liked to keep the lights on, his classroom seemed more harsh than Mr. Gay’s.

Mr. Gay and Mr. Payne always stood outside their classrooms and talked when classes where changes. I always thought as a kid that they were friends outside of work. I now doubt that, probably just cordial coworkers.

Ah, the memories….I suppose I should study for the GREs instead of reminisce about junior high.

Back After a "Brief" Hiatus??

2006-08-28T16:01:00.000-06:00

When I started this blog, I thought, I post once a week, minimum, to keep everyone up to date with my life. After a month and a half, I determined, I must post once a week or else I won't post at all. Only after being harassed by my friend Heath about not posting any photos, I updated my photos, however they're out of date now.

Since my last post here are some updates, mainly in this order:

Heath and Michelle got engaged, congrats!
I met some friends from NC in the Tetons, Check out the pictures.
Bella tried to eat a porcupine. Poor Bella.
Kevin and I went to Maine and had a wonderful vacation with my immediate family. Pictures to come...
Kevin's been installing landscapes, I help him when I can.

What's happening in the near future?

We're going to Yellowstone for Labor Day weekend.
Kevin's brother Greg is coming to visit in September.
I'm going to present at a conference in Denver in September
We're going to the Southeast (NC, VA, WV) to look at grad schools and to go to Farm Fest at the end of September.
Scott & Jessica (Kev's brother and fiance) are coming to visit in October.

That's about all we've been up to and will be up to in the near future. I'm not sure where the summer has gone, but as my life slows down...if my life slows down... I will post more often.

Between all this I have been studying for the GREs, working, and playing soccer. Although my first test scores were APPceptable, I need to bring my scores up by at least 200 points to be competitive at the next level. I'm planning on retaking the exam this fall. Hopefully it goes well.

Big Horn Mountain Festival -- A Review

2006-07-10T14:07:00.000-06:00

This weekend, Kevin and I attended the Second Annual Big Horn Mountain Festival in Buffalo, WY. We learned about this festival from our friends in The Steep Canyon Rangers before we relocated to WY and were looking extremely forward to the event. It was filled with three days of fun and friends. Upon our arrival on Friday, we were greeted by our new friends the Arkamo Rangers. We camped on Friday and Saturday nights, both nights were filled with amazing jam sessions late into the night. We connect with a bunch of friends from Sheridan and made a bunch more friends both from Sheridan and throughout the west. We ran into a guy we knew from Appalachian State University and several folks from NC.

The music was phenomenal, both the picking in the campground and the official bands. We learned a lot about bluegrass activities in the area and some new festivals that we can attended.

The festival was relatively small, but it was great. We could camp near the stages and have Bella there. It has really inspired us both to begin learning to pick. Kevin started playing his guitar again last night and, since I didn't win the banjo at the festival, I've begun shopping for one.

Kevin came up with the wonderful idea of having potluck once a week with our friends that play music so we can improve and play with others. We were planning on waiting until the fall when the weather was cooler to play, but the first one is the week! Our friends were really excited about the idea and are going to start a band. Of course, I'm not very musically inclined so I probably won't be in the band.

We topped the weekend off by visiting the Steep Canyon Rangers, Sweet Sunny South, and Ann & Pete Sibley at their hotel. They were picking together. It was a nice mellow way to end the weekend. It's been so hard to get back into work today!

July 4th

2006-07-06T08:47:00.000-06:00

Thank goodness for long weekends in the mountains! This past weekend Kevin and journeyed to Lander, WY. We spent Friday night at our friend Nyssa's house, then headed into the Wind River Mountains with Nyssa and her friends. We found a great camping spot on a little mountain lake off the Loop Road. The camp site was on a small meandering mountain stream. The water was crystal clear and full of trout. The larger trout weren't biting, but Rio did catch some smaller fish. The stream ran through a meadow, which was spotted with willow trees and appeared to be an old beaver meadow.

We did some biking, some swimming, and some exploring of the small stream. The weather was great, except for some thunderstorms Sunday evening. Sunday afternoon, a large cow moose tramped through our campsite, luckily Kevin saw the moose before Bella did and was able to control her. A few hours later, a calf moose came through from the other direction. Again, Kevin saw the moose before Bella did. Shortly after seeing the calf, the cow moose followed.

We also saw several red-naped sap suckers, snowshoe hairs, and other small animals.

On Monday, we headed back to Sheridan, but once we got to the Big Horn Mountains we decided to camp for another night. After spending hours on rugged mountain roads searching for the perfect campsite, a campsite that needed to be on a stream because we were out of water and needed to filter some, we succumbed to the need of water, visited a Forest Service campground to get some water and headed back into the depths of the forest. Through this journey we located tons of great campsites, some great looking mountain biking roads, another moose, this time a big bull, and beautiful scenery. We ended up camping on the southside of Cloud Peak (the highest mountain in the Big Horns). We camped in a meadow among some young pine trees. We had beautiful views and a wonderful sunset and sunrise. About 9:30pm an intense thunderstorm rolled through. The lightening was spectacular, but Bella was scared and kept us up for awhile.

Pictures to follow soon at Chill Mountain Chick

Bighorn Trail Run

2006-06-19T14:49:00.000-06:00

Kevin and I volunteered at an aid station for the Bighorn Trail Run (both the 100 mile and the 50 mile run) this weekend. What would possess someone to run 100 miles, straight in a national forest is beyond me, but there were 100 registered runners and half a dozen, “pacers” from all over the world. There were 200 people registered for the 50-mile race, our aid station was at mile marker 34 on the way in and about 65 on the way out for the 100-mile crew and at mile marker 15 for the 50-mile crew. The 100-mile race started in Dayton, WY at 11 am on Friday morning. The 50 mile race started a Porcupine Ranger Station to nor

Kevin and I arrived at our aid station at about 2 pm, after hiking a beautiful 3.6 miles in. It was in a beautiful location, in Little Big Horn Canyon along a pristine mountain stream. The location of our aid station and the entire hike was beautiful. There were a dozen people at our aid station, 6 of us associated with the Sheridan Jaycees, the other six were volunteers from Sheridan County Search and Rescue. After setting up camp, we used archaic water pumps to pump approximately 50 gallons of water for the runners and split enough wood to keep the fire going throughout the night. Pumping water took forever and was not very fun, but hey it’s what we volunteer to do. The first runners came through at 5 pm. We handed them water, food, sports drinks, whatever we had that they wanted and they were on their way. The went on until 10 pm. At 10 pm, the last runner past our aid station and we were free of runners until 3am. Sometime during this time, one of the other volunteers grilled up some delicious elk steaks. At 10, Kevin and I decided to go to bed, thinking we would awake when the runners came back through and would rejoin the aid station. However, we did not manage to drag ourselves out of the tent until 7:30 am. All night, from 3am on runners were trickling through every 20 minutes or so, making it difficult to sleep.

We woke up Saturday morning, rejoined the volunteers at the aid station and continued to hand out food, water, etc to both the 100-mile crew and the 50-mile crew. This lasted until 10 am when the last runners came through. We then packed as much as we could into our packs and left.

The 100 miler runners were in extremely high spirits the first time they passed through. Joking, jovial, very grateful for our assistance. Many of them paused for a few moments and chatted with us. On the second pass they were much less happy, but still very grateful. The 50 mile crew was much more serious, although still grateful. Very few of the 50 mile crew stopped to talk.

If you’re interested in the race and want more information, check out: www.bighorntrailrun.com/

We were at The Narrows aid station. I am considering running the 30K next year. I have several friends that have run in it both this year and in the past, I know I can do it!

Check out the photos at http://chill.mtn.chick.googlepages.com/bighorntrailrun.

Welcome to My Blog

2006-06-06T10:25:00.000-06:00

I've been considering starting a blog for some time now. With my recent relocation to Wyoming I have thought more seriously about it to help keep in touch with my friends and family back east and in Europe. The main reason I have not started the blog is for lack of an original, fitting name. I have spent months philosophizing over what to name my blog. I still don't fully like the name "chill mountain chick", however it is what I always revert to when thinking about this. This title came from how a roommate once described me. At the time, I didn't live in the mountains, but I got there as fast as I could. After a brief hiatus from living in the mountains, I am only 5 miles from the Big Horn Mountains of Wyoming. I would love to be closer, but at least I can see them from my house and be in them in a few moments. As for the title, I love mountains, need mountains, and crave mountains when I have been away for an extended time...I am a chick, not the animal kind, but the human kind, and at times I can be chill, and I do like to chill in the mountains.

This will be my forum to rant and rave about a plethora of topics, from my job to the weather to the government, basically anything I can think about complaining about. It will also be a great way to keep in touch with those far away.