Wedding Photos Part II are here!

More wedding photos have been posted. Check them out HERE in Melissa Beck's second Blog posting.

"Share the Love" –
With her blog postings, she offers a "Share the Love" comment contest. Each comment made on her blog about the photos, us, the wedding day/events or about her talent gives us a point. The more points we get the more credits we earn towards products like prints and photo albums. So let us know what you think of the photos by commenting at the end of her blog. (One comment per person please.)

She will be uploading one more posting, so check back for more!

Enjoy!!

http://www.melissabeckphotography.com/blog/melissa-jason-bride-and-groom-part-two/

Wedding Photos are here!

We got word today from Melissa Beck, our wedding photographer, that she has started to post photos from our wedding on her blog. Take a moment to view them HERE.

"Share the Love" –
With her blog postings, she offers a "Share the Love" comment contest. Each comment made on her blog about the photos, us, the wedding day/events or about her talent gives us a point. The more points we get the more credits we earn towards products like prints and photo albums. So let us know what you think of the photos by commenting at the end of her blog. (One comment per person please.)

She will be uploading to three postings, so check back for more!

Enjoy!!

http://www.melissabeckphotography.com/blog/melissa-jason-married-part-one/

Sorry, we've been MIA

Well, since our last post back in April, a lot has happened. We bought a house and moved to a great little neighborhood called Edgewater, CO. I got a new job as a Graphic Designer at Jackson National Life Insurance, and love it! And we spent all summer planning a big party for September 18. It was well worth it! I heard it went well, what do you think? ; )

So, now that things are back to a somewhat normal pace, we (yes we, Melissa now wants to start blogging as well) will try our best to get more posts in about our Adventures here in Colorado and beyond. We are still busy with work, things around the house, more weddings (we're looking forward to it Carah and Tom!) and trying to hit the mountains more than the past year allowed, so our posts may be delayed. But we will get to them and keep you all up to date on what we are up to.

Big trip planned for January! We are going on our honeymoon in Costa Rica. Half adventure activities, half relaxing ... just our style.

So, stay tuned to Coadventure.blogspot.com for more soon!!

See our recent posts and photos here:
Mt. Sherman #2
Steamboat Springs Getaway
Wedding Brew at the Hanke Farm
4th of July Weekend
Jefferson Camping
Memorial Day 2010

Mt. Sherman #2

So, last September 20th was a big day in our lives. We woke up bright and early at Copper Mountain, and drove to Leadville and the Mt. Sherman trail head. Our plan was to climb the 14, 036 ft. mountain and then head back to Denver. I, and Mother nature, had different ideas. My plan was to propose to Melissa at the top. Mother Nature's plan was less fun ... to not let us get to the top. Anyways, I still proposed and got a yes, just not at the top, and the rest is history. You can read all about it at this previous post from last year, if you have not already: Sherman Engagement.

This past weekend we drove away from the city and up to Keystone. The weekend was dedicated to our "Mini-Moon", as Melissa calls it. We are not actually taking a honeymoon till January, so we felt a weekend up in our beloved mountains was due and we might as well celebrate the recent nuptials at the same time.

Our weekend consisted of great food and drink at Modis, Blue River Bistro and Backcountry Brewery, hot tubing, biking around Lake Dillon (25 miles) and finishing our attempt at the summit of Mt Sherman.


Mt. Sherman Stats:
Difficulty: Class 2
Exposure: 2 of 6
Summit Elevation: 14,036 feet
Trailhead Elevation: 12,000 feet
Elevation Gain: 2,100'
Round-trip Length: 5.25 mi
- We got a sweet Garmin GPS unit from Gary as a wedding gift. We tracked both our bike and hike, but are still working out the download of info. Hope to have that up and working for our next hike/bike/ski blog! -


The weather all weekend was amazing with high 60s low 70s, blue skies and amazing fall colors with the Aspens in a full blaze of gold.


We finally made it to the top of Mt. Sherman (my second, Melissa's first) and had a very relaxing weekend. Can't wait to get back up to the mountains. Maybe for some skiing?

See photos from our bike and hike weekend HERE

Steamboat Springs Getaway

It was a long summer of wedding planning, but we did make it up to the mountains a few times. Late in August we said, "We need a weekend away from 'wedding stuff', where should we go?" Adam and Elisa were nice enough to host us at their house in Steamboat and along with their son Ethan, we had a fun and relaxing weekend away from the city.

We took a nice hike with some great views, rode our bikes through town, perused the local art fair, hit up the rodeo and some tasty ribs, and finished it all off with a great tub down the Yampa river which flows through the center of town (a must if you are there during the summer).

Thanks for your great hospitality Adam, Elisa and Ethan. It was a much needed vacation from all the wedding planning. We are looking forward to hitting the hill with you all this winter!

Check out photos from the long weekend HERE
Note: We had a little technical difficulties with the camera settings, so the photos are a bit on the blue side.

SOX in KC!

Click HERE to see photos from the trip or view in the slide show at the end.

Well, it was quite the spontaneous weekend to say the least. While watching the Red Sox play the Royals on Friday evening, Melissa came up with the idea to drive to Kansas City on Saturday and see the Sox play game two of their three game weekend series. I thought she was crazy, since we already had plans for the weekend and KC is 600+ miles and 9+ hours from our house. So she called her dad, Rich, and proposed the road trip to him. He was game and soon I was talked into it as well.

Rich showed up to our house at 6:30 a.m. on Sat. and we started the drive through one of the most uninteresting parts of the US, Eastern Colorado and Kansas. Not much to see other than signs at every little town saying that they are the birthplace of this famous person or president, or home to a museum with five legged cows, an 8,000 lb prairie dog, or the National Greyhound Hall of Fame. The Eastern part of Kansas seemed to be completely on fire with grass fires for as far as the eye could see and smoke blocking our views of the flat plains. But cops and residents in these areas seemed to not really care, so must be a typical spring occurrence.

We made great time and got to our hotel, which was across the street from the park, a couple hours before game time. We donned our Red Sox apparel and headed to the park with quite a few other Sox fans. It was a beautiful evening and the stands were almost full. They were giving away Royals jerseys to the first 20k fans, so the place filled up fast. Best tix we could get at the gate were in the upper deck, but the stadium is pretty intimate so the view was just fine. A great game that held our attention to the end and the Sox won 8-3.


We were high on the win and the 600 miles of driving, so we headed down to the ticket counter after the game and decided to get tickets to Sundays game as well. Better seats this time. Back at the hotel we wondered into the lobby bar and got a drink with a ton of other Sox fans. Chants of "Yankees Suck" popped up with the occasional "Sweet Caroline" being belted out by the happy crowd. 14,000 miles from Boston and the Nation was alive and kicking!


After a great nights sleep, we drove into downtown and walked around. It was dead in the business district so we headed towards the river and stumbled upon City Market, a great outdoor marketplace with everything from fruit and veggies, to spices and nuts, and yard sales and flowers. We grabbed a coffee and strolled around the plaza. Not about to pass up some fresh spices for $1 a scoop we grabbed a few bags as well as some peanuts for the game and then headed to lunch.

Our friend Mario suggested Arthur Bryant's as the place to go in KC for BBQ. The receptionist at the hotel also suggested another place. We figured asking a local would help, so Rich asked an old man with no teeth who looked like a local at the market. "I love Arthur Bryant's and they give you the most meat", he said. So between that and Mario's tip, we knew exactly where to go. The line was down the sidewalk even before they opened, so it had to be good. And boy was it! Fall off the bone ribs and delicious sweet pulled pork. I think we ate too much, and so did Wally!


Back to the ballpark. We checked out of our room and headed across the street. Half as many in the stands today. Guess the Royals fans only come out for the free shirts. There was a sea of red in the lower level and it was nice to cheer on the Sox with a ton of fellow fans. The weather was beautiful again for the 1:05 p.m. start and the Sox belted a bunch or runs to put us up early. The Royals made a bit of a comeback, but not quite enough as the Sox took two of three on the weekend with an 8-6 win.


Back to the car and a looooooong drive to Denver (thanks for driving most of the way Rich!). It was well worth the drive to see our beloved Red Sox win two. We are looking froward to the three game series in Denver vs the Rockies in June. We have tix to all three and the drive will be much easier!

GO SOX!!

Click HERE to see photos from the trip or view in the slide show below:

Crested Butte

This weekend we enjoyed one of my gifts to Melissa for Christmas ... a ski weekend in Crested Butte, CO. I've been here a couple times before, but it was Melissa's first visit. A 5.5 hour drive from Denver (well worth it for no traffic and no lines at the lifts, unlike Summit County and Vail). We stayed Friday night through Sunday. On Saturday we skied as it snowed all day, then Sunday we took a 4 mile snowshoe on the road to Gothic (closed in the winter, goes to Aspen in the Summer). We enjoyed the local shops and restaurants in town and even got in a couple more Breweries on the way (Gunnison Brewery and Amica's Brewery). The drive home was a bit longer due to an hour long road closure on 285 as the snow blew across the plains and iced up the road. Four vehicles had flipped in the icy conditions. We made it across slowly and in one piece.


Check out photos in the slide show above or HERE

Mountain Wine Tasting

We decided to spend the weekend in Keystone and bring along a bunch of wine to taste for our wedding. Each person brought along a white and a red under $15. We cooked up a great dinner and tasted all the wines, judging each as we went along. We found a few winners and will try them again over the next few months. On Saturday we took some runs at Breckenridge, then went for a hike out behind the condo on Sunday.


Check out photos in the slide show above or HERE

Vail Powder Day!

A great day at Vail. 9 inches new reported, but there was much more than that in the back bowls!! Knee to waist deep in areas. Melissa disappeared a few times. Should have brought our snorkels. Great day!!


Check out photos in the slide show above or HERE

Happy Holidays!!

Oatmeal Wheat Stout

On Sunday we brewed up some Oatmeal Wheat Stout at Erich's house. We made a 10+ gallon batch of all grain. Erich put half in his fermenter and we put half in ours to take home. Erich is planning on experimenting with a gallon of it when he switches to the secondary. He'll try adding some coffee to it and see how it tastes. Should be good. Looking forward to a creamy dark stout with some great flavor and color!

Click HERE to see a larger slideshow.

Wedding Party Invitation

Melissa and I decided to ask our bridesmaids and groomsmen for our wedding in a little different way than usual.

You can watch the invite video we made here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5LaTlKo38w0

Enjoy!!

Sherman Engagement

On Sunday, Melissa and I attempt to climb Mt. Sherman 14,036' in the Mosquito Range from the Iowa Gulch trail head in Leadville. We started at 6:15 a.m. and got to the ridge line where we were turned back by wind that was knocking us off our feet. This would have been my second summit of Sherman and Melissa's first.

My plans for the top fell through, but I found a great opportunity on the way down. After getting out of the wind, I set a ring on top of a cairn (trail marker above treeline) on the side of the trail. As Melissa approached, she asked if I was going to take a picture of the unique cairn. Then she saw the ring. I got down on one knee and asked her to marry me. She said YES!

We are looking at about a year till the wedding. Time to start planning!

Click HERE to see a larger slideshow.

Estes Park Fly Fishing

Melissa casting her fly rod in Estes Park, CO.

On Saturday, we headed up to Estes Park and threw out the flies for a bit in a pond just up the hill. Melissa caught a 10" Greenback Cutthroat, I got skunked!

Melissa's catch. A 10" Greenback Cutthroat.

Click HERE to see a larger slideshow.

DemCamLinBro

Melissa at the top of Mt. Lincoln (14,286')

This past Saturday, Melissa, Erich, Julia, Yeti and I headed into Alma and up Buckskin St. to the Kite Lake trail head. From here you can summit four 14ers in a round trip of just 7.25 miles with 3,700' in elevation gain. The 14ers include Mt. Democrat 14,148', Mt. Cameron 14,238', Mt. Lincoln 14,286' and Mt. Bross 14,172'. These four peaks, plus Mt. Sherman 14,036' (I have summited, but Melissa has not yet), make up the Mosquito Range in Park County, just South of Summit County.

Map of the route. We traveled clockwise from the blue arrow.

This hike is very popular due to its proximity to Denver, the combination hike opportunity and they are fairly short and easy Class 2 hikes when compared to most of the 14ers in Colorado. So you have to get here early. We stayed at the condo in Keystone on Friday night and woke up bright and early at 3:00 a.m. to hit the trail. We were geared up and on the trail by 6 a.m. as the sun started to rise. There were already many cars in the parking lot, so we could tell it would be a busy day. Many parts of the trail system passes through private property. There are a ton of mining claims around these peaks, so you have to stay on the trail.

We summited Democrat with about 20 others. Number 11 for me and 10 for Melissa. Democrat was the hardest out of the four with 2,150' of elevation gain over two miles. However, compared to our last 14er (Mt. of the Holy Cross , 6 miles, 4,500' gain to the top) this one was a cake walk. Erich, Julia and Yeti all summited with us. I think this is number six for Yeti!

Melissa and Jason at the op of Mt. Democrat 14,148'

Then it was on to Mt. Cameron. We down climbed back to the saddle and then headed up Cameron. Julia did not get much sleep with her night work schedule over the past week, so she was feeling a bit sick and decided to turn around with Erich and Yeti. Melissa and I continued on to the top and bagged number 11 for Melissa and 12 for me. Mt. Cameron has a large flat top strewn with loose rock. Not that exciting of a 14er, but we'll count it.

Next up, Mt. Lincoln. The view of Lincoln from Cameron was an interesting one. Besides the hundreds of people on the trails to and from, there was a vast "wastland" of a saddle between the two peaks. We made quick time of the short hike between the two and joined another large group for lunch at the top of Lincoln. Number 13 for me and 12 for Melissa.

View from the top of Mt. Cameron over to Mt. Lincoln.

At the top of each peak we took photos and checked out the scenery. On each peak we got a photo of us with our WhichWich bags. WhichWich is a local chain sub shop that offers free sandwiches to anyone who hands in a photo of themselves with the sandwich bag on the top. Sweet, four free sandwiches this week!

Melissa with her WhichWich bag. Free sandwich!

Now on to the final peak of the day, Bross. We headed back down Lincoln and towards Cameron, just below the peak we traversed left and along the gentle decline along the Cameron/Bross saddle. Talk about cake walk, it might as well have been a dirt road, and pretty much was, once we started to ascend Bross. Mining roads were all over the place and we followed one up to the summit at 14,172'. Number four on the day and 13 overall for Melissa and 14 for me.

Time to head down and get away form all these people. There must have been about a thousand people (no joke) strewn out across the four peaks. I've never seen a set of trails so busy! The descent from Bross is fairly steep and full of loose rotten rock. I'm sure glad I had my trekking poles or I would have ended up on my ass a few times. Many amateur hikers were all over the trail falling and slipping their way down. It was nice to finally be at the car and on our way away from the crowds.

Panoramic view from the trail head.
Left to Right: Mt. Democrat, Mt. Cameron, Mt. Bross. Lincoln is behind Cameron.
(Click on image for a larger view.)

We drove back to Keystone dreaming of the hot tub that awaited our sore muscles. We made a pitstop at Downstiars at Eric's in Breckenridge for some baked wings and a pint (I highly recommend the baked wings!). Great day overall, plus four 14ers to add to the list!

Check out the slide show below for more photos from the trip:
(You can click the icon in the lower right for a larger view.)

St. Mary's Glacier Hike/Ski #2

See PHOTOS from our ski adventure HERE
See Erich's photos from our hike HERE


Yes, Hike and Ski! Yes, again! Yes in August!

We got our turns in for August today at St. Mary's Glacier (we skied here in July as well: July Blog Post). 11 consecutive months of skiing now.


St. Mary's Glacier stays around all summer and is only about an hour drive from Denver. We found out that it's not really a Glacier, because Glaciers move. This is just an area of snow in a valley that happens to stick around all year. So it's a "Glacier", not a Glacier.


This time Erich (Melissa's brother), Eric (my roommate from Breck) and Steph (Eric's fiance) all joined us for our hike/ski. Once you get to the trail head, there is a short 3/4 mile hike up to the lake. On the far side of the lake, the bottom edge of the Glacier can be seen stretching up the hillside. We made our way around the lake and started up the snow towards the top.


The weather was beautiful with blue skies (again). It didn't take us all long to make it to the top of the Glacier where we threw off our packs and clicked on our skis and boards. There was a little less snow than in July, bit we started at almost the same spot. The glacier was just a little narrower up top. The snow was still very variable with mogul like conditions to negotiate. We all enjoyed our turns in the dirty snow that was soft in areas and crusty in others. We finished with about 600 vertical feet under our belts for the month of August.


As we headed down the trail back to the car, with our skis strapped to our packs, we got quite a few inquisitive looks and comments from tourists taking a short day hike to the lake with their kids and dogs. We finished up the morning with a great lunch and a few pints at Tommyknocker Brewery in Idaho Springs.

Not sure where September will bring us for some turns, we'll have to see what mother nature brings between now and then.

Colorado Rules!

See PHOTOS from our adventure HERE
See Erich's photos from our hike HERE

Four Pass Loop

WARNING:
This post may make you quit your job and move to Colorado
(if you have not already)!!

For my birthday last week, Melissa and I headed out towards Aspen to hike the Four Pass Loop around the Maroon Bells. Here is a recap of our four day adventure along with photos and a compilation video. Enjoy!

Trip Statistics:
Days on trail: 4
Nights camped: 3
Miles hiked: 27
Passes crossed: 4
Valleys hiked through: 8
Start Elevation: 9,580 ft.
Highest elevation: 12,500 ft. (West Maroon Pass and Buckskin Pass)
largest elevation gain: approx. 2,420 ft. (Camp Two to Trial Rider Pass)
Largest elevation loss: approx. 2,920 ft. (Buckskin Pass to Trail Head)
Blisters: zero!
Approximate Route: Google Maps Pedometer

On Wednesday after work we started the three and a half hour drive to Carbondale, CO where my stepsister, Karen, and her husband Eric live. On the way we stopped in Edwards at the Gore Range Brewery for some dinner and a pint. We're always trying to add to our Colorado Brewery list! We got to Carbondale late in the evening and enjoyed a short chat with Karen and Eric before heading to bed. We woke early in the morning and headed up to Maroon Lake to hit the trail head.


Our backpacking trip around the Maroon Bells was amazing! From the awesome panorama views through the valleys filled with wildflowers, to the steep climbs up and over four passes. We only hiked about four hours each day and were able to relax at camp for a few hours each afternoon exploring the area and preparing dinner. We woke to the sunrise each morning and packed up camp to conquer the next pass. There were many other people doing the loop at about the same time we were, some the opposite direction. We would meet up with some of them at the passes and see them in the same areas for camps in the evenings. Camp One and Two were very peaceful, Camp Three, at Snowmass Lake had quite a few more people around us, but the views made us forget about that.


The weather for our trip was the best we could have hoped for. Blue sky days for day one through three. As we headed into the tent on night three at Snowmass Lake, it began to rain and poured off and on during the night. Fortunately it had stopped when we woke up and we were able to pack up camp without precipitation. The sun was in and out as we headed up to Buckskin Pass and as we rolled over the top, the clouds moved in quick and it began to rain and hail. The rest of the hike back down to the trail head was off and on rain, but it didn't bother us too much since we were headed for the car and not another camp.


After throwing our gear back into the car, we drove into Aspen to enjoy a juicy burger with fries. Boy did that taste good! We hit the road again, Denver bound. Little did we know that the anticipated four hour drive would soon turn into an eight hour trip. Unfortunately for us, ready for a shower and a comfortable bed after four days on the trail, a semi tanker truck had rolled over on I-70, shutting it down Eastbound for hours. We ended up taking an 80+ mile detour North through State Bridge and Kremmling and back down to Silverthorne to get back onto I-70. We ended up back at home around 1 a.m., dirty, tired and not wanting to head into work on Monday morning.

Surprisingly neither of us were too tired or sore on Monday. No blisters, no cuts, a few bug bites and a little sunburn were about all we had to show for our trek around the Maroon Bells. Oh yeah, and also about 400+ photos and some video!

I've cut down the photos to 241 for you viewing pleasure HERE. I think the photos tell a better story than I do, so have a look when you have a few minutes.

I also took 360 degree video at the top of each pass along with a few other clips here and there. You can view the compilation video HERE. It's about 6.5 minutes.


DAY 1
Start Elevation: 9,580 ft.
Left trail head: 9:15 a.m.
Miles to Camp One: approx. 5.75
Moving time to Camp One: 4 hrs. 7 min.
Camp One Elevation: approx. 11,367 ft.
Passes crossed: None

DAY 2
Start Elevation: approx. 11,367 ft.
Left trail head: 9:04 a.m.
Miles to Camp Two: approx. 6.5
Moving time to Camp Two: 4 hrs. 26 min.
Camp Two Elevation: approx. 10,000 ft.
Passes crossed: Two - West Maroon Pass 12,500 ft. & Frigid Air Pass 12,415 ft.

DAY 3
Start Elevation: approx. 10,250 ft.
Left trail head: 9:17 a.m.
Miles to Camp Three: approx. 6.25
Moving time to Camp Three: 4 hrs. 40 min.
Camp Three Elevation: 10,990 ft.
Passes crossed: One - Trail Rider Pass 12,420 ft.

DAY 4
Start Elevation: 10,990 ft.
Left trail head: 9:50 a.m.
Miles to trail head: approx. 8.5
Moving time to trail head: 4 hrs. 21 min.
Trail head Elevation: 9,580 ft.
Passes crossed: One - Buckskin Pass 12,500 ft.

Approximate overall elevation map:

Vail Powder Day

Two weekends ago, Melissa and I drove up to Vail and had the best powder day of the season. With more than five feet in the past two weeks and a report of 13 inches Saturday morning, we were knee deep in powder while it continued to dump all day. We spent the majority of our time in Sun Down Bowl, with hardly anyone else in sight!

NOTE: This is my first movie using iMovie. The video is from our digital cameras, so the quality and lighting is bad. I'd like to have some tracks slowed down or sped up, but this program does not allow that in the version I have. Anyways, enjoy a very amateur video.