Sunday, January 27, 2008

Back from the retierment lifestyle...

... And I started to get used to the daily rhythm and flow in Green Valley

After spending eleven glorious days with my grandma in Green Valley, I am back in Wisconsin. Last night I realized that I was adjusted to Green Valley life because of these reasons.
1. I unconsciously drive five below the speed limit.
2. 9:00pm rolls around and I start to get tired and am thinking about going to bed.
3. It doesn't seem absurd to engage in a conversation about the "wind chill" effect when it is 57 degrees.
4. Driving to the grocery store at 7:00pm and seeing three other cars doesn't surprise me.
5. I wear a jacket when the temperatures dip down into the chilly low 50's

I thoroughly enjoyed my time in Green Valley with the warm weather and good company. It was great that I had the freedom to extend my stay and help out my Grandma until she felt more comfortable taking care of everyday tasks by herself.

I now think that I am going to travel down to the friendly confines of Madison on Wednesday and enjoy the talents of Sean Moore as he rips up the comedy circuit performing both Wednesday and Thursday night, and then head down to Chicago for the weekend.


Grandma and I eating dinner one evening.

Tuesday, January 22, 2008

Carpe Diem

I awoke to the brutal sonorous ringing of my alarm clock well before the sun was even thinking about showing itself. I dressed for the day's expedition at base camp(1051 W Calle Excelso) where I had been adjusting to the altitude at 3000 feet and acclimating my body to the the rigors of high altitude excursions with the help of my trainer, Ruth Creagh. I hesitantly checked the day's forecast and was uplifted to see that the weather will hold, and the unrelenting winds and snows had past, maybe overnight, maybe earlier. I knew the task I was about to undertake would seem reckless and heedless to some, but I knew deep down in my heart it was something that needed to be done. I was going to do what no other human being had ever done before in the history of the world, I was going to risk my life ad wager my soul to summit the last unknown peak on our planet Earth: Mt. Wrightson. For centuries man has wondered what magical views and spirits lay atop that rocky and rugged terrain, and I, Benjamin James Creagh, son of John Creagh Sr. was about to go up and conquer that mountain once and for all. This summit would not be for personal gratification, or mearly to chart the unknown, but more to celebrate the nature of man-kind in our continual pursuit of exploring the unknown.
At the base of Madera Canyon, I began my assent armed with the bare minimum to allow for a quick assent and to stay light of foot in case of an unruly wild encounter. Within the first hour I was bombarded with tens of birds, ranging from migratory to native to woodpecker species. They continually made dives at my head, trying to keep me away from the secrets their fortress has been able to conceal for so many centuries. I made my way up and made eye contact with a mountain lion, who quickly recognized the viciousness in my eyes and retreated because my stare. Nothing could stop me to find the apex of that mountain, not even the ice and snow that greeted me at 7500 feet, no I was a man on a mission.
The rest of the world depended on me for this. Did Lewis and Clark turn around when they saw snow? Did Christopher Columbus about-face when the Arctic winds blew? Did Ferdinand Magellan head north when it got cold in South America? Did Neal Armstrong give up when gravity ceased to exist? Was Benjamin James Creagh about to let snow, wind, and ice deter him from creating history? no.
On I marched my slow and steady gait leading me up the mountain over downed trees, around frozen waterfalls and head into the fierce, bitterly cold blowing wind. My legs felt as if they were about to fail me on every step, I probably was delirious from the altitude and cold, but all of a sudden, I looked up and realized I was about 1 mile from destiny. The one place that has held the millions of people's thoughts and imagination was soon about to be seen, from an entirely new perspective. Up I went, switching back attempting to negate the steep mountain side. Finally after a little under three hours, I was on top of the world with a view of Mexico, Green Valley, Tucson, and Sierra Vista. Oh the joy I felt looking out over the southern Arizona landscape feeling the complete and euphoric bliss the accompanies such an epic achievement. Standing on top of Mt. Wrightson I knew that the feeling I felt up there could never be translated into archaic words, but needed to be discovered from the soul within.

Correction: Apparently the hike I did was a popular day hike in the national forest reserve. Honest mistake. But seriously it was a fun hike. I hit the trailhead at 7:20 am, and reached the peak around 9:45. I had an early lunch at the peak and nearly froze myself solid. If I were to do it again, I'd bring pants to change into, hat and gloves. I'd guess it was in the high 30's with a nice wind on top. The trail was snow and ice covered for the last 1.5-2 miles of the hike which made the climb down very interesting. I only fell twice coming down. Also in the morning I did see a mountain lion walking up the mountain about 30 minutes below Josephine's saddle when I stopped for some water.




It wasn't exactly warm up there. This was taken near the peak.


I've seen ski resorts with less snow.(Picture from the last 0.9 mile stretch)




Mt. Wrightson is the peak on the left.

Thursday, January 17, 2008

Down in Arizona with Grandma

I got home from Lake Tahoe late Sunday night after another great week of snowboarding and entertainment. I gambled for the first time and ended up winning $44.56 ($20.00 blackjack, $22.50 blackjack, $2.00 slot machines, $0.06 slot machine) The ticket for $0.06 I found at a machine when I was talking on the phone and I had no problem going up to the cashier's window and cashing out six cents. The cashier really didn't know how to handle the exchange because it was such a small number. Also, to play a slot machine you have to put in a dollar, so if someone were to really cash out six cents it would only be after losing $0.94. Either was funny and Tahoe really is a beautiful ski resort. The contrast of lakes and mountains reminded me a little of New Zealand.
After getting home I went down to Madison for a day to finish up some Resale business and run some errands for my Teach Abroad program. I finally sent out the set of poles, boots and skis to the vendors that they belong to(from the December 1st and 2nd sale) and answered a few financial questions in the Hoofer office. Then got my travel shots for Chile. I ended up getting four shots( tetanus, hepatitis A, influenza and Typhoid fever). They were the most expensive shots I've ever taken, and now my shoulders are sore. That night I was able to meet up with some friends that I went to school with at UW-Madison. We went out for dinner at the Great Dane and had some drinks at everyone's favorite Churchkey Bar.
Today I arrived in Green Valley, AZ to visit my Grandma Creagh. It should be a nice, relaxing time down here. My flights went smoothly and I slept for most of the trip out here. I'm going to help my Grandma around the house and she's going to teach me some tricks about my computer(seriously, she knows more about mac's than I do). I think it's an even trade off.

Friday, January 11, 2008

Some pictures from Vail

Dylan and I as we were snow-shoeing in the valley.
      A little fun doing some jump after snow-shoeing.  
           The view from the top of Vail chairlift.
            A cool rainbow showing itself when we were waiting for the bus one     morning
               Vail liked me so much the decided to name a run after me :)

Wednesday, January 9, 2008

You know me, I can't complain



On January 1st I left Manitowoc at 4:45am and arrived in Vail, CO to visit Dylan, a good friend from college around 1pm.  I had quite possibly the best riding I've ever experienced in Vail(until Tahoe).  Right before I got there they got dumped on, and while I was there they got close to two feet of snow.  One of the days Dylan and I shoe-shoed up a trail and created a little kicker(jump).  After entertaining ourselves and each other on the jump we snowboarded down the path right to his truck, which was stuck in the road.  Randomly a tow truck found us and towed us out.  Overall I snowboarded 4 days in Vail, and snow-shoed the other day, and had a great time there.  Dylan was a great host and has a sweet place about twenty minutes west of the base of the mountain.  

From Vail, my ski trip continued.  After dodging avalanches and catching some late connecting flights I met up with the Hoofers Ski and Snowboard club in Reno, NV where we caught a bus and checked into our hotel.  The Block Hotel looked like it would be amazing, but it is really just a standard hotel, but our initial disappointment was more than made up by the amazing snow here in Heavenly Ski Resort.  I'm calling today the best day ever of riding.  That is quite the proclamation, but the powder was amazing.  All afternoon I rode steep, deep and fresh snow, right from the base.  I felt like I was cheating.  Aren't you suppose to hike to get amazing powder runs?  Apparently not.  After that, I took care of some business for my Chile visa application and then my roommates Jake, Brett and I walked around the town and then ventured into the casinos across the road in Nevada(Our hotel is in California) where I had my first experience gambling.  We sat down at a blackjack table and I ended up $20 up.  Not bad.  Jake ended up $150 up and bought Brett and I dinner at the all you can eat buffet.  Now we're just waiting for tomorrow so we can ride some more of the fresh powder.  We got up to 15 inches again today, to add to the ~9 feet they got here over the last 4 days.