So I was sitting at work, browsing Summit Post and 14ers.com and dreaming of actually climbing some of the routes people posted. The more I thought about it, the more I felt that I could actually do it. Southern Colorado is a day’s drive away; I had some extra vacation time. I looked up the map of 14ers (mountains higher than 14,000 ft.) and browsed some of the peak guides for the southeast corner of the state. I settled on the Lake Como trailhead, and its easy access to Blanca, Ellingwood, and Little Bear Peaks.

I called up Ryan, and he readily agreed to the adventure. Comparing our schedules (Ryan works as a flight medic, with rotating twelve hour shifts, and I work as a paramedic with a 24 on/48 off firefighter-style shift), we picked the second week of September as ideal. Vacation days and shift trades worked out, and we became more and more excited about the pending adventure.

Ryan suggested adding on whitewater rafting, and we found a place—RaftMasters—that does trips in the Royal Gorge past Labor Day. Sure, the water would be low, but it would still be fun. So the bones of this adventure were simple: Drive to Colorado, do some whitewater rafting, climb a mountain or three, and drive home. Stop at as many cool coffee places as we could on the way. Five days full of fun.

(More, and pictures, after the jump).

Friday, September 9

I spent all day Friday sorting gear and packing it up. I tried to go as light as I could, as simple as possible, but still ended up with a massively overpacked multi-day pack. A smaller briefcase bag would haul books and such for the car ride, and I put most of the foodstuff in a plastic bin.

Early Friday evening, I opened the door and found Ryan smiling outside, excited. This was going down! He brought a few things in with him, and we talked while I finished up a simple potato soup for dinner. I went over the maps with him, and we talked shop (the world of emergency medicine), and then I finished packing. In a misguided attempt to cut weight and bulk, I tossed out my baselayer bottoms and down vest, a choice I would regret later.

We also put together bags of trail mix and breakfast: My go-to breakfast for backpacking is made of instant oatmeal, protein powder, dried fruit, and nuts. Adding boiling water results in a pretty tasty, nutritious meal with plenty of fat and protein.

We had nearly everything we needed except for a tent. Ryan had been wanting to head up to ALERT anyway, and so we drove up there in time to meet with some of the guys who were fighting wildfires. While waiting for them to return to campus, we visited Basic Training (Ryan was a Drill Instructor before and knew some of the guys). One of my friends loaned me his tent. I had a great time catching up with people I’ve not seen in a few months, and after a while, we returned to Tyler and headed towards bed.

Saturday, September 10

Packing the Jeep

Saturday morning, we got up late, ate omelettes,  packed Ryan’s Jeep Liberty, and hit the road. We drove all day, stopping for coffee at little boutique shops in Tyler, Grapevine, and Amarillo. Lunch (at 4:30 PM!) was out of the back of the van in Memphis, TX, a small town in the panhandle area. Sunset found us right at the New Mexico border and it was all dark before we even saw any mountains. Crossing from New Mexico to Colorado, I-25 quickly started twisting, turning, climbing and descending and we knew we were in the mountains. We knew they were there, but couldn’t see them. Finally, at nearly midnight, we pulled into the campground west of Cañon City and pulled out some supplies. Even though it was late, I reheated potato soup while Ryan set up the tent. I was glad our neighbors were still up; we tried to be quiet, but I would have hated to wake them up by our late arrival.

The campsite was beautiful, even at night in the dark. It was isolated from the rest of the RV park by some trees and a dirt dropoff, and we could hear the Arkansas river rushing past us barely fifteen feet from the tent. After a much-appreciated dinner, we crawled into our sleeping bags and dropped off to sleep.

I rarely sleep in very late at all anymore, and woke up Sunday just about as soon as the sun crested the small hill up the river bank. Eagerly, I began investigating our campsite and was floored by how beautiful our surroundings really were. The river, rock bluffs, distant mountains, clean air—just gorgeous. Really, really wonderful. We boiled some water, made coffee and oatmeal, and read our Bibles. Something about the surroundings made God seem more real, more present. Its easier to see God when you can so clearly see the beauty of His creation.

Our campsite by the Arkansas River

Late morning, we packed up, and headed down to Cañon City for our whitewater rafting trip. RaftMasters is a great outfit and our guides were top-notch: Friendly, personable, professional, and genuinely happy to be on the river. I was surprised at how many people were in our trip, probably 12–15 total. A bunch of Texans, which was also surprising. Our raft consisted of Ryan and I, our guide Kyle, a couple from Colorado Springs, and a guy from North Carolina (I think). A short bus-drive to the launch point was filled with the safety briefing, and then we set down the river. Initially, the trip consisted of a few miles of floating—slow moving water. A couple faster sections gave our guide the chance to test our skills before really big stuff hit us. The guide sat in the back with oars to propel the boat in slow parts and provide steering for the rapids. Everyone else got a paddle and instructions to paddle, in unison, when commanded by the guide.

The river was very high for this late in the year, and promised an interesting run. Overcast skies kept things a little chilly but removed the fear of a nasty sunburn, and the river temperature  was 63ºF, chilly but not frigid. So, for September, excellent conditions.

The whitewater stretch of the river was twelve miles through twisting gorges, exciting and beautiful. We had a lot of fun.

After rafting, Ryan and I agreed we were pretty hungry so we stopped for pizza in Cañon City before heading south. The pizza did assuage our hunger, but wasn’t remarkable. And the service was terrible.

And so we headed back the way we came and went out to Pueblo and the interstate. After getting Pumpkin Spice Lattes at Starbucks, I took the wheel and we continued south towards the Lake Como trailhead in Alamosa County.

As we got further west, we could see the Blanca massif rise from the plains. Even from a distance, these mountains looked enormous. Just immense. It was twilight and the mountains were shrouded in mist, towering above the flat valley land. It reminded me of illustrations of giant volcanic mountains in central America, first glimpsed by conquistadors, or of the first tales told of Yellowstone by mountain men.

About 8:30 PM, we finally parked, about 1.5 miles up the Lake Como road. We got out, shouldered our packs, and started hiking.

More to come…

Ryan in our campsite on the Arkansas river in Coaldale, Colorado. As you can see, we’re about to make some coffee using my Aeropress.

Aero press from Alexey Kurbatov on Vimeo.

This is the method I prefer (for simplicity and great taste, it is hard to beat). But mine is never this pretty. Maybe I should turn on some classic Sinatra next time I brew coffee.

via Shawn Blanc, one of my favorite authors who recently extolled his love of the AeroPress.

Panorama of Niagara Falls (click to view large)

While I was at Niagara Falls, I snapped the pictures that make up the 39 megapixel panorama seen above. I encourage clicking on it and viewing the full-size image; I think its kind of cool.

I’ve put up a gallery of other cool pictures from Niagara Falls here.

I was doing some routine maintenance in Aperture tonight, and thought it would be fun to look at all the places I took pictures in the last twelve months. A quick smart album later, and here is the result. Some of the highlights include:

• Tim & Katie’s Wedding (in McKinney, TX).
• My last Quest (in Big Sandy, TX).
• Backpacking in Oklahoma with Emma & Daniel.
• Joel’s graduation (in Wauwatosa, WI).
• Joel taking us to a Brewer’s game (in Milwaukee, WI).
• Visiting Hesperia, CA.
• A snowstorm in East Texas.
• Visiting Chris & Steph & Ray in Nashville, TN.
• The incredible 3,000 mile road trip Emma, Daniel, and I took through Oklahoma, Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, Arizona, and West Texas. Pictures are coming, I promise!
• My brother’s promotion from ALERT Basic Training.
• Visiting Niagara Falls and upstate New York for Luke & Marissa’s wedding.

Really, a remarkable year. I can’t help but wonder what the next 12 months will hold!

You can view the pictures in the Quest Leadership photo gallery I assembled.

This has come in handy many times and has made it into my travel rule set. But I have a rule I’d add: Always bring your passport.

A passport is not needed, usually, for simple domestic travels. But you never know what will come up.

Yesterday morning, I boarded a flight that would connect to Rochester, NY. I use my passport now when flying, so that I won’t lose my driver’s license again (long story). When I arrived in Rochester, I asked the rental car agent and the hotel clerk what I should go see. They both agreed: Go visit Niagara Falls.

After lunch at DiBella’s, a fantastic local sub shop, I drove the hour and a half there. It was a pretty drive, but the Falls were really stunning. I’m so glad I went. Because I’m on a budget this trip, I skipped the expensive stuff and spent a total of $11.50 on my experience (plus $9.50 in tolls). As I got closer to Niagara Falls, I could see all of the mist rising. So cool looking! I could also see towering hotels and casinos, all in Canada. The final bit of the drive was along the upper Niagara river. Absolutely one of the prettiest big rivers I’ve seen. Very clean and blue.

Parking was easy to find ($10). I walked over to the top of the American falls, then visited the elevated observation deck ($1). The observation deck sticks out over the river so you can see all three waterfalls and the Lower Gorge. I then descended to the lower river level, where you can climb a series of stairs and get quite close to the edge of the falls. Every few minutes, the wind would shift and cover us with water spray.

Like the Grand Canyon, Niagara had a plethora of foreign visitors. Not surprising; this planet has many amazing sights that belong to us, the human race. They are our birthrights. And it is wonderful to see people appreciate them.

After seeing the American side of things, I walked across the bridge to Canada. A few short questions from a strongly accented immigration officer, a scan of my passport, and I was in. Canada’s Niagara falls may be more developed, but it is also the prettiest. Gorgeous masonry walls and traditional English gardening. And the most fragrant lilacs I’ve ever smelled. I walked along the river gorge all the way up to the edge of Horseshoe falls. The river was beautiful, I had a stunning view of all three waterfalls, and with the sun’s late afternoon angle, I saw the prettiest, huge rainbows in the spray over the river. I am definitely glad I went, glad I had brought my DSLR, and glad I had a passport.

It cost $0.50 to leave Canada, and after walking across the bridge, I met a US CBP agent who queried me on the length and nature of my visit, inspected my passport, then said “Welcome Home”, and cleared me for entry.

The drive back went by quickly and I grabbed dinner at a burger place before turning in rather late.

I think the best time to leave is right before sunset. I got out of the Tyler city traffic, then rode the winding ribbon of a peaceful country road while watching the sun set over East Texas farm land. The interstate has left traffic on it, and as you get further into the trip, temperatures subside to perfect open window weather.

I love Dallas at night. The City feels alive, humming with a subtle energy. Lights and life aplenty, but no traffic to speak of. I always find it quiet and meditative. Tonight, I sped through without delay, windows down, air flowing. The soundtrack provided by the phenomenal worship album “I Am Living, Vol. 1″, which is a unique, intensely contemplative sort of compilation. I was traveling fast, but it was relaxing. De-stressing. Letting go of the weight and sheer tiredness that has amassed over the last eight days of 18-hours-a-day average work life.

That’s what I live about hitting the road. Life’s everyday troubles melt away and everything surrounding us becomes new. It’s like a small taste of the life to come.

I’m going to a wedding, so I needed some dress clothes. Casual clothes for the rest of the time. Versatile wardrobe, simple, and light. I find that I always get treated better when I’m dressed in a jacket and nice shirt traveling. Also, the jacket pockets are convenient for keeping track of things.

All of this condenses down to one small duffel.

Aeropress Americano from Samuel Kordik on Vimeo.

Done mostly to try out using my iPhone for video on top of a Glif and a GorillaPod.