Old Man Bull

This post is more or less a time stamp and a reminder for me more than anything else. Every year around this time, I put myself through the rigors of a 30 day cleanse.  This year, due to an amazing vacation full of vice, it will be an abridged 27 day cleanse.  Getting all of the toxins out of my body feels great, but it does take some discipline, especially with a fridge like this! The tradition was born after hearing the wonders from some co workers who observe Ramadan.  The benefits they talked about were great, and after doing it for a few years I concur!  For me though, there isn't a religious connotation, just a way to shock the body, and get levels back to normal.  Amanda and I have two pretty big races coming up, so it comes at a great time and will provide some extra motivation:)

... unparalleled views of the Adirondack Range and Lake George Date:  August 17, 2012 Climbing Party:  Aaron Dover, Amanda Harnden, Susan Harnden Elevation Gain: 2,253' Distance:  6.0 miles R/T Difficulty: Moderate We drove from Wilton to Lake George and it took us about 35 minutes to reach the trail head, we were the second car in the lot on what seemed to be a quiet Friday morning.  We signed the register and got on our way! We had been warned that there were a lot of rattlesnakes in this area, so our crew was on high alert for the pesky little buggers.  It was early in the morning and quite cool when we started, so thankfully we did NOT end up seeing any rattlesnakes on our hike.  What we DID see was a trail in great shape, from a lot of use.  It started gently and rolled through the NY woods.  It was great being back east and seeing familiar flora and fauna (namely brown toads and daddy long legs).  The smells in the ...

I just finished a great book about some of the disasters that have occurred in the mountains of Colorado.  I read it because I wanted to gain a perspective of what has been happening on mountains I have climbed or are on my list.  The book came at a great time, as we had done day trips to Bierstadt and La Plata in consecutive weekends, and it was nice not to have to wake up at 2:30am and drive somewhere! In the book Colorado 14er Disasters, the author talks a lot about the sequence of events and mindsets that have precluded some of the fatal events in our mountains.  I just wanted to touch on a few of the points Nash made that I found interesting... Point 1:  There is a "cascade of errors" that preclude a large error.  This is so true.  The case he mentions occurred up on Holy Cross, where a hiking party of two separates, and a lady vanishes.  The author goes into how the "leader" had forgotten his lunch, his water purifier, took the wron...