pq

that's "physically qualify"... i spent the past few days having a whirlwind tour of the medical facilities in the greater denver metropolitan area. getting poked, prodded, stuck and squished, peeing in little cups, and all kinds of fun stuff. even had to get my first mammogram--now i feel officially old. all in the hopes of going to the ice.

i hope i passed everything. i'm still an "alternate." on call, but maybe, maybe get to go. possibly as soon as a month from now. i still don't know. that's the challenging part for me, having things so up in the air.

it's 2am, i just arrived back at boss in utah. long drive, time for a beer. i brought some back from colorado so get a real one, not the utah variety.

took a detour last night to the family ranch in colo. hadn't been there since 2003, i think. much of the aspen groves have died. and there is so much development on adjacent property. i think we have the only large chunk of land there in that county that hasn't been subdivided.

when i left denver there had been a tornado warning. left the ranch today in time to miss the lightening/thunder storm, but later had an hour of stop-and-go traffic on I-70 because of some crazy flood -- mud and logs all over hwy. now back in s.utah where there's a forest fire raging. or at least it was when i left here earlier this week. ...what's with all the natural disasters i just barely miss?

almost hit a deer too on the way home. i still find it funny that i live in utah. but home is where the tent is, even if i only get to sleep in a tent every couple weeks. i start another course in a few days. this one will only be a 7-day. then i leave here for the summer. will go back to california for a couple days before flying to alaska for a short bit. then i hope i'll deploy to antarctica. if not though, i have a few fun options in mind.

oh hey, it's friday the 13th. cool.

apricots

best way to drive from boss to denver is through capitol reef national park. now how could i go through the park and not stop for a bit of the scenery? plus it's apricot time. there's an orchard there in the middle of the park/desert, near a river in the town of fruita, utah (not to be confused with fruita, colorado where i stopped later for gas--depressing.) anyway, you get to pick your own fruit. how fun is that? so i climbed a tree in my cowboy hat and got a fat bag of little orange fruit. yum. 

land nav

just finished up the mountain navigator course. no more red rock, sand & sage brush. now aspen, spruce, mosquitoes.

good group of folks. had one guy who was a navy seal. funny to think of him as a student. sea air and land, but as he says, "seals aren't know for their land nav." this course was hard for some, but was like a vacation for him. he also teaches sky diving. had another navy guy, a royal canadian mounted police guy (mountie on a mountain bike rather than a horse.) couple of brits, couple of boss alums, and couple young folk. fun group though half of them quit right before the solo.

had to shadow the students during their student expedition and solos. stressful, but kinda fun. had to work on being sneaky. got caught once because they started ealier in the morning than they ever had and went in a different direction than planned, so i walked right into them. oops. later got better, but few times was sure they'd see me, yet they didn't. amazing how focussed on something they can be that they don't even see you when you're in plain sight only a few feet away.

tweaked my back on the second to last day of the course. not a full blow out, but was hard slogging around the mountain top with a pack on. it's slowly getting better.

have a 9 hour drive ahead of me tomorrow going to denver for the antarctica physical tests (medical, dental, drug, etc.) so time for bed now.

back for a day

the course i just finished was a private trip for a group of frat boys. i was worried that i wouldn't keep up with all these young guys, but the course ended up kicking their butts. they moaned and groaned about it being the hardest thing they've ever done and how the other instructor and i hiked too fast, yadda yah.

i saw wild turkeys flying. i've seen them walk before, but never thought about them flying. but they do, and there you have it. they sound like helicopters. we hiked one night until 2 am with no moon light. and not on a road either. hard stuff. also a bull was in a small field where we had to walk (just as it was just getting really dark) and it was grunting at us. fortunately did not charge. phew.

going back out again today for another 2 weeks, this one is a special navigator course. then i have a week long break which will be filled with a drive to denver to get all the medical tests done for antarctica...

down under, way under

i have some news....sort of...about antarctica.

i still have heard nothing more about field safety instructor other than the initial request for application from HR dept. that would be the coolest job, but i'm not getting my hopes up too much since i don't have glacial/mountaineering experience.

i did just receive a job offer for field coordinator (which is the camping equipment maintenance job), but it's an offer for alternate not primary person. that means i am not guaranteed to go, i just have to get all ready and pass all physicals etc and be ready to go in case one of the primaries drops out. this job may start in mid-august or mid-october or maybe later depending on who drops and when. or maybe not at all if nobody drops out.

so i will head over to denver during the boss break in july and get all the medical, dental, drug tests done. show proof of citizenship, fill out all paperwork, etc. then try to keep my schedule open in case they call me for deployment.

as for antarctica...i might get to go, i might not, and i might not know for a long while. in case none of the stuff with this company pans out, i'm also trying to make contact with a tour company that runs small cruise trips to antarctica.

if i don't get an antarctica job, i'll check out a job as sled dog handler in alaska for winter. i've got the bug for cold now. summer in desert, winter in alaska. hum.

breather

first field course is over. i was still apprentice for that one in order to get back into the swing of things. i now have a week of "backup" duty, providing logistical support for the other courses out in the field. i'll be able to check email regularly for a while. my first course as an official bonafide instructor will start in a week. it's a special course for a group of frat boys. hope my ole self can keep up with these younguns. and remember all the lessons i have to teach.

i'm in process of trying to get a job in antarctica for this winter (austral summer). long application/interview process. if i get a job offer i'll have go through physicals and background check, etc before i can go.

sunrise

back in town for only a few hours to pick up food re-supply for the students.

cati are in bloom--beautiful bright pink and yellow flowers as we hike along.

this morning i watched the sunrise against orange cliffs with the moon still up. gorgeous.

more sheep

last week was the slickrock gathering where we got to take a workshop in some primitive/traditional skill. i chose textiles. we sheared a sheep, washed, carted, spun and dyed the wool. then we made simple looms and did some weaving. i also got a whole fleece and felted it as-is to make a rug. gave that to c to take to alaska for the ger. she was here for the gathering too, took medicinal plants. yesterday i got another fleece, a big ram, and felted it. i'm tired, but it's drying and i'll have a rug that fills most of my tent.

going out on a scouting run today, then courses start sunday. i'll be out for 14 days, then a week of logistics/backup, then a 7-day, then a two week navigator course. same nav course i apprenticed on last year, this year i'll instruct it. hope i don't get lost.

sheep

we killed and processed a sheep today as part of the training. like we do on courses with students, but this time we get to do the work to learn the process better. i finally drew the straw to hold the knife. i think i did a good job. first big animal i've killed. it wasn't bad.

i'd been nervous about it, hoping i'd do it right. also wondered how i'd feel afterward, but it was not much different emotionally from the other times when i'd been there for the kill but hadn't actually held the knife.

leavin' train

i've been a bit out of touch lately.

i think most of you knew c and i would be leaving town for the summer. as it turns out, we're leaving town for not sure how long.

i'm headin off to utah to instruct at boss. then some general road trip fun in the southwest plus a trip to colorado. c is going north to alaska. fall will find both of us in alaska for a bit. c will stay in alaska for the winter while i go hopefully to antarctica (if i get the job). then we're not sure what.

we are putting our stuff in storage and giving up our apartment. we will likely come back to live in bay area again, just not sure when...