Starbound

I boarded the Starbound on the 31st of April. It is a 240 ft fishing boat bound for the Bering sea. It drags a trawl net to catch Walleye Pollock, which is processed by the 100+ people on board.

On June first we left the dock in Seattle and entered the Ballard locks. It was an odd experience to look down on all the people gathered around to see the ships going through the locks. In their minds going off to sea is a big adventure. The thought of leaving home for months at a time seems incredible and exciting. They have no idea of the dreary monotony of crossing the Gulf of Alaska at 12 knots.

The weather has been good so far, the standards being windspeed and the resulting size of the waves. It has been mostly cloudy and cool, but that is irrelevant for most of the crew that stays mostly below decks looking out through the tiny port holes in the gally and only occasionally pops up for a smoke on deck.

Picture: A tug pulling the Starbound out of the locks

Working for Bella Energy

I have been filling in the days that I have off from REI working for Bella Energy. It is nice to work out side and on the roof. Many of the jobs have had great views of the Flatirons. It is a pretty laid back company and I am working with some good people. The as needed, and as available approach is working out alright so far.

The pictures are from a job that was done for Boulder Housing Partners, an organisation that provided low income housing in the Boulder area.

First picture: Me standing on the roof. Second: Jake on the peak where he stood to take my picture. Third: Patrick, fixing a problem on the next building.

Longs Peak

It had been about 3 weeks since I arrived in Colorado and I had not yet climbed a fourteener. So on Satuday I got up at 4:30 and drove to Longs peak. I went up the Loft route which is the less traveled of the 2 non-technical routes on the peak. The route leads right up between two massive cliffs. When starting up the valley it looks as if the route runs right into a wall. But as you get closer up there is always a ledge that lets you angle up to a higher point. I got stuck once when I walked to the left along a narrow ledge and it came to an end. But from this vantage I could see clearly the place I should have switched back about 15 ft straight below me. It took only a few extra minutes to go back across the ledge to where I could get down and back on track. Near the top the route I was on joins the Keyhole route, the standard way to get up the mountain, the last pitch is called the Home stretch, It is not as steep as the cables on Halfdome, but just as busy, there are a couple of wide cracks angling across a broad slope of granite. It is not that difficult to go up, if you trust your balance, but many people don't and you can see them crawling or sliding along on their butts. On top there were dozens of people. I asked to get my picture taken and ended up talking for a while with a group from Colorado Springs.
On the way down I went through the Keyhole. Long's peak is pretty spectacular from both sides. Although the view from the downward half of the climb that sticks with me is when I was standing in the Keyhole notch and seeing the lines of hikers stretched out across the boulder field below.

Photos: First- The summit shot, as you can see it was not lonely at the top. Second- the keyhole that give the keyhole route it's name, again there was no way to get a picture with out capturing the bystanders, on the other hand he adds a sense of scale to the picture.

My apartment

I moved into the Edgewood Apartments in Westminster, a western suburb of Denver. I got my couch, bed, bike, and coffee table at the flea market, I got the desk and chair at the thrift store.

Moving to Colorado

I loaded my possesions into my car, which didn't take long because most of them were already in there, and headed to Colorado. I stopped at rest areas a couple of times to catch a nap. It was getting late as I approached Denver so I got off the highway and found a dirt road heading into a national forest and pulled over, put the seats down to get a good nights sleep. I bathed in a small stream at first light and headed into my new home town with an ambitious list of things to get done on day 1. I spent most of the day driving around looking for some place to get on line, and every little thing took along time because I had to figure out where I was and where I was going and usually had to stop along the way to figure out where I was and where I was going. The first night I headed out of town looking for camping. I had to go quite aways to get away from the private homes that extend up into the front range. After that I took advantage of the hospitality of Aunt Joyce and Uncle Daryll for about two weeks while I got started with classes and searched out an appartment.
Photo: Trucks at rest stop in Idaho

Passing through Washington

At the end of every contract I have to pass through Seattle to make sure that all of the data I collected is in the proper format and was obtained using valid methods. I took good advantage of the time in the Northwest. I got in some camping on Mt Hood with Dad, Uncle Bob and Andrea; a family reunion; and some rock climbing and river riding with Juliette.

Photos: First- Gearing up for a predawn hike on the slopes of Mt Hood. Second- Juliette at the Gunshow area off Exit 38 of I-90.

Hickory Wind

After 3 weeks of easy shifts at the plant in Dutch Harbor. Saltwater Inc. flew me into Kodiak for a quick trip on the Hickory wind. They told me it would be for a day, but that sounded suspicious. I was aboard for 2 days, still the shortest trip I have been on.

Picture: Sablefish (or Black Cod) are a high dollar fish. At the time it was selling for about 5 bucks a pound. And each one weighs about 4 to 5 pounds. The orange fish are Short Spined Thornyheads (or Idiot fish). Despite the name the spines are long enough to poke through gloves. This one was probalby forced in the the mouth of the sable fish when they were mashed together in the net.