Life on the Runn...

To steal a few lines from one of our favorites, John Mayer:  Now it's September; the engine's started You're empty-handed and heavy-hearted But just remember on the way home (ooh ooh ooh) That you were never meant to feel alone It takes a little while, but you'd be fine Another good time coming down the line This song, "On the Way Home," has become a bit of an anthem for us.   So this journey, the one I cannot wait to end, began in February of 2013, when Brian looked into an internship-to-employment opportunity with a company in Boulder.  As long as I have known him, and it has been nearly 20 years (holy cow!!), he has loved the mountains and climbing. Considering that, and considering the fact that he wanted nothing more than to move there when he was 17, there was no way I could suggest he do anything but take the internship, and that was what he did. At the time, the thought of him living away from home for an entire month was daunt...

The joy of weekends, well life, in Colorado is that the mountains and climbing are never far away.  In fact, it's rare when the entirety of a weekend isn't spent hiking and/or climbing.  Being that this past weekend was also Brian's birthday weekend, some time in the Park was a must.  It is, after all, his favorite place.  Earlier in the week, some pals from home, Billy and Andrew, joined us in Colorado.  We tried to pack in as much as the greater Boulder area has to offer in the few days Billy was in town (Andrew is sticking around a bit longer); Brian didn't waste any time showing our guests around, and on Tuesday evening, their first night in town, we went to the Park.  Rounding off the whole experience was the chance to chat with a RMNP legend and professional climber.  I think the guys enjoyed day one.  The next few days required less hiking - we went to climbing gyms - but involved a lot of climbing.  I was sore every day and c...

When talk first began of taking a long-weekend trip to Utah, it seemed in the oh-so-very-distant future, but as it is with summer, time moves all too quickly and before we knew it, Psicobloc Masters Series weekend was upon us. "What is Psicobloc?" you ask.  Well, it's a rather unique competitive climbing event, one that involves bouldering on a 55 foot wall above a body of water to reach the top as quickly as possible. Though the concept of deepwater soloing is something typically reserved for places like Mallorca, Spain, the founders of this event made use of the ski jumping pool at the Utah Olympic Park and brought it to the US last year.  Brian and I were unable to attend the inaugural competition as we were celebrating our friend Matt's wedding back in Wisconsin, but this year, we were all in! Brian and I arrived in Park City on Wednesday evening, much later than anticipated thanks to an unexplained delayed departure from DIA.  We spent longer on the runw...