Week 2 - To Taos and Back

Day 9 - Day to Rest
Well kinda. Most of the day consisted of preparing for the upcoming trip to Taos. We also decided to go to the Abdominal Snow Mansion Hostel a night early so we can ski on our travel day. We spent most of the day making trips to REI and calling Dr. Macias about snowshoes. Finally, we headed to Santa Fe at 4:30pm, where we stopped at another REI and found a SWEET local gear shop called MountainWorks. Almost everything was 40-60% off. I love a sale and can always justifying buying sale items BUT we're trying to stick to a budget. I ended up with a much needed foam thermarest and a wind-blocking-ear-covering hat. Yes!! Oh Sh$t. It's 8:30 and we still need to eat dinner and drive to Taos.

Found a nice local's secret, Second Ave Brewery. I got a kids burger which was the same size as Clay's adult burger! Benefits of looking twelve. Then I drove, a food induced coma couple (Clay and Corey), to Taos. No one but me to watch for deer or know the speed at which I drove. We arrived at the Snow Mansion at 11:30. Corey decided that he needed to lay the piano in the common area which surprisingly? woke someone up and made them angry. What a way to introduce ourselves. Can only blame the general surgeon in him.

Day 10 - Skiing at Taos
Woke up to 10" of Fresh POW!!!!! Finally, got the crew organized and hit the slopes. I skied with some of the girls most of the day and we took it easy, knowing that the next day would be a loooong one. I loved Taos - not too touristy, not many other skiers and nice variable terrain. At the end of the day, Gabe & I, hit a few harder runs and they were SWEET!

Day 11 - Snow Shoeing to infinity

Its hard to get 23 people anywhere at anyone time. We naturally split off into groups as we ascended the mountain. The Orthopods raced to the top and cut some trail - thanks for making the journey a little easier. Clay, Triod and Beth weren't too far behind them. Yelena, Sam and I found ourselves cutting some new trail about half-way up. Ben was crazy enough to think that carrying his downhill skies up to the top was a good idea. He looked like some strange snow creature once he hung his jacket off the tops of the skies that towered above him. Hopefully, the viagra helped. (Cyalis and Viagra are not only a man's best friend but also improve pulmonary function at altitude.) At least it gave him an arrest device since neither of his hands were free.

They told us that the trail was only 1.8 miles. About half-way up, I decided that they were lying. I was sucking wind after taking Dr. Rimple’s "easy path". Sure, it's easy if you're on a backcountry set-up and float easily above the snow. But when you're on snowshoes with a heavy pack and cutting trail....man my lungs were burnin' not to mention my quads. Alaska Sam and I found ourselves alone on the trail. Each time we'd come around a bend, I thought "this'll be it." Eventually, we got to the Yurt after thinking "this will be it" about 10 times. Sam even made it in his crazy 1920s snowshoes. I decided that it was probably 1.8 miles when you factor in the elevation change from 7,000 to 11,000 feet, that's a nice steady climb.

Clay, of course, beat me up the mountain and had dug 80% of our snow cave by the time I defrosted my toes in the yurt. It was about the right size for him and me. I dug some of it and added a few feminine touches. (The "R" above the snow cave.)

Everyone eventually made it to the top and into the yurt. About half of us decided to brave the snow caves and dug our own various homes. The other half decided that a night in the toasty yurt was the better option. Clay and I crawled into our snowcave about 11pm and he insisted that we did no need a door. (Usually a backpack placed in front of the opening.) He crawled in first, then I crawled in next and had the spot next to the door. Just as I was getting comfortable, Clay proclaimed "I have to pee." He then log rolled over me and put his hand strategically on my bladder. Thanks!

I lay there contemplating in the snowcave after he left. The cave was about 4 feet deep from the door to the back wall, about 6 feet long and 3.5 feet high. I started to feel very claustrophobic and realized that I had a pounding headache. I reminded myself to do some yoga breathing. "Calm down. You are fine. This is safe. You can do this. If you wimp-out you'll hate yourself and Clay'll never let you live it down." Okay, I'm a little calmer but the headache is worrisome as it could be a sign of AMS. Clay returns from his trip to the bathroom and I request some Acetazolamide. Then we snuggle into the cave for the night.

Day 12 - 3am
I have to pee. Can I hold it or do I really have to climb out of my sleeping bag, out of the cave, put on shoes, find the headlamp and walk to the outhouse? Uh, I get up and do all the above mentioned things and find the potty. Sweet, relief. As I'm using the facilities, I reevaluate the situation. So far the night’s gone okay. This doesn't mean I've slept much but I've slept some. And I've been relatively warm. Those feet warmers were the best $1.50 investment that I've ever made. I would have wimped-out awhile ago if it weren't for the feet warmers which kept me roasty-toasty. But if I ever do this again then I insist on a door or at least that Clay sleep next-to-the opening as every once in awhile I get a very chilly breeze that sends a freezing sensation down my spinal column. I walk to the yurt. Fumble around in the darkness of the yurt, trying not to wake anyone. Find my extra layers. And as I'm exiting, throw another log in the wood stove to keep 'em warm. Then I crawl back into the cave.

Day 12 - Waking at dawn and learning about Hoar

It's just before dawn. There are no birds chirping. The sun has yet to rise. "How much longer do I have to lie here in order to feel that I've made it the entire night?" Clay of course is sound asleep. He can sleep anywhere and through anything. If we ever have children, then there will be no sharing of nightly duties as it would be impossible to rose him from his sleep. Clay, the baby's crying....snore. Uh, Clay the baby needs a new diaper...snore. Clay the house is burning down...snore. Clay the house is burning down and your climbing gear is in danger...wide awake. Hmmm. Huh, I'm in a cave. What's my power animal? Something small but incredibly smart, feisty and strong. How bout’ a fire ant? hmmm.... These are my random ponderings as I try to distract myself from realizing that I'm sleeping in a cave made of snow.

I finally decide that I can get up and be assured that I made it through the night as long as I don't go back to sleep. I go into the yurt. Gabe's just left his snowcave as well. We revive the wood burning stove with some difficulty and had to resort to using Iris's mini-fire-starting-log. We need some practice. Looking around the room, it seems that most snow cavers did not make it through the whole night. I feel some warm pride bubbling up. The yurt crashers are dispersed on the floor and look like a gaggle of brilliantly colored butterfly cocoons all snuggled in their sleeping bags.

After breakfast we split into groups. Dr. Macias teaches us about avalanche rescue. Dr. Rimple and Alcock takes us on a hike and discuss terrain features. The Ortho doc teaches us about Hoar. Hoar is another term for snow and apparently there is a whole Hoar science. Interesting.

The day is pretty much over. We're all in the yurt eating lunch, defrosting toes, and packing gear. Dr. Macias is still outside and he starts blowing his whistle. Apparently, there has been an avalanche and we need to rescue some peeps. This means putting on my cold boots and snow gear. Ahh, Clay is missing. He must be part of the scenario. I don't have life insurance on him yet. Better go dig him out of the snow.

The rescue scenario was a bit of a cluster f$@%! Too many chiefs, not enough.... (that doesn't sound right, how does that phrase go.) You get the drift. We all wanted to lead and none of us wanted to follow. Finally. We rescue Seth and Dr. Alcock but Clay's still missing. I know he has his Avalung and that he's probably buried pretty well. Internal thought: "could he please stop volunteering for potentially deadly situations. I have to work on that." We finally locate him with the beacons and probe. Hopefully, he's luckier than Seth as he took a probe to the testes. Oopps. Yelena starts diggin with fervor but I'm kinda afraid that she might injure him in her haste. Plus, I'm pretty sure that she's kneeling on his legs. Hmmm..I realize that there isn't much for me to do. So I take a team and go back to the cabin. We get the hypothermia burrito ready for Clay. Eventually, they lug him back to the yurt and we wrap him up. Scenario is over. Everyone rescued even if it was chaotic. Oh, where's Alaska Sam?

Iris, Corey, Gabe and I decide to buddy up for the descent to base camp (a.k.a. our cars). We enjoy a leisurely pace, taking in the scenery, participating in some photo opts, and telling stories. It was a much nice hike down than up.

We rendezvous at the cars and half of us decide to hit-up Second Street in Santa Fe. When we get to the brewery, there's some live music. We enjoy some brewskies and relaxing.

Day 13 – Time Off
Slept!

Day 14 – High Angle Rescue
Dr. Macias said read the blog and it’ll tell you where to meet. I read the blog but my mind saw “Indian School Road” and shut off. I think I was just very tired yesterday and so I thought “Oh, it’s were we met before.” Wrong! We ended up being 30 minutes late and I HATE being late. Nice little adrenaline rush to start the day. I’d still feel bad but we weren’t the last to arrive.

Here’s the scenario: Climbing accident in Embudo Canyon. Maybe 6 injured. Not much more info.

The strike team departs the trail head. Kennedy, Yelena and Coughi are led by Jackie. They’re gone about 30 minutes. Everyone else is at base breaking into groups. Jackie radios to Seth that there are 6 victims and the approximate location. She describes some of the victims. We have a guy with an open fracture. We’ve got another guy with a knee injury. We’ve got a guy unresponsive. And I’m not sure what else. I didn’t have a radio and I’m getting deaf in my old age. We reorganized into smaller teams so that we’d have a team per victim. The hike was fairly easy except for lugging the stretcher with wheels. That things heavy and kinda awkward. You have to push down and roll but my brain kept wanting to pull up and roll. I know that pushing makes it easier but it seemed counter intuitive.

At the base of the accident there’s a guy with a knee injury. My team assesses him. We get him calm and brace his knee. Then his friend, a cute blonde, starts having a panic attack vs an allergic reaction. Hmm, I’m thinking allergic reaction as she’s been “stung by a bee.” We give her some epinephrine, steroids and Benadryl. She gets better. Sweet, two rescued and I haven’t broken a sweat yet. Seth scrambled up to the unconscious victim and yells down that he’s “dead”. Hmmm, maybe we should us a better word as the living victims start to freak out a little. Clay & Nate are involved in setting up a high angle rescue. They’re gonna have to lower a guy while bagging him. The rescue team at the very top also needs a stretcher-rescue device. (I’m having word finding difficulty, I know a stretcher is not the right term but my mind can seem to come up with the word.) So Tripod and I scramble up the trail around back to bring them one. There are 6 people taking care of the patient with the open fracture at the top of the climb so I let them do their thing. As I’m sitting watching, I notice a 6 year old boy that was just hoisted from a crevasse. He’s climbing back toward the danger zone to look for his mom. So, I go over and make friends with him. We sit and talk while is mom’s being rescued. What I don’t want right now is a real scenario involving this cute kid. Once mom’s out, then Yelena and I escort them down the climb. A little while later, the group up top has the guy all packaged but needs man-power to get him down. Eventually we get everyone rescued and we all worked pretty well as a team. Seth did a great job of keeping us organized and Iris gave us some good direction in the beginning when we were all about to wander off and do our own thing. Go Bestie! All in all this rescue went much better and we were done by noon.

Clay, Ben, Yelena, Corey and I made a quick trip to REI. Then we met Macias back at Embudo for a little bouldering. Macias had his youngest daughter and little Darrylito with him. He showed us some good boulder problems then scurried up a V3, tucked Darrylito under his arm and was gone. We worked on the problem for a few hours and only Clay successfully conquered it. We moved on to a less challenging problem. Yelena and I got pretty far up the problem but the end seemed quite sketchy and our bouldering pad was small. Clay kept saying “it’s less than vertical. It’s easy at the top. Come on you two and get it done.” Yelena and I said no. Clay went up and at near the top he said “hey, there really aren’t any holds up here.” Then he fell and hurt his ankle a tweak. Hmmm, why is it again that the frost bite ration in men to women is 10:1? We ended the day at sunset and took a few amazing photos.

Day 15 – Climbing at Soccoro

The weather threatened to turn ugly but we all wanted to get some climbing in. We met at Indian School Road and divided into our various caravans. I climbed in the car with my bestie, Iris. We were accompanied by Gabe, Dave and her doppelganger Fat Mini. Apparently, her family went to Disney without her and her mom bought Iris “Fat Mini” because it reminded her of Iris. Anyway, we were busy discussing Fat Mini as we pulled out of the parking-lot and so immediately lost the caravan. No biggie! We knew the general direction. When we got close to Soccoro, we called our fearless leader Jason. He said we are too rendezvous at the Cheveron. We pulled into the lot and he informed us that we were 30 minutes ahead of the others as they had stopped for caffeine fixes. Iris and Dave wanted to make a “run for the boarder.” Jason said to met him back at the gas station and to hurry. It literally took us 15 minutes to fulfill Iris and Dave’s Taco Hell craving but when we got back to the gas station, Jason was gone. Hmpf! Luckily, I called Lynn and we were able to rerendezvous with the other group. I later learned that Jason had not ditched us but that he began to have some food cravings too.

The climbing was pretty good. I decided that I’d lead the 5.8 as it’d be a good refresher in lead climbing for me and a good climb for some of the less experienced. As I was climbing, Jason made a comment about the 5.6 that I was leading. Man, he really knows how to ruin my party. I decided to focus on the climb. I was pretty sure it was not a 5.6 as Jason suggested nor a 5.8 as Macias said. I called it a 5.7 and the guide book agreed as a 5.7+. I was proud that I cleanly led the route after 2 years of a climbing hiatus. Then I tackled a 5.9 and 5.10 on top rope. All in all not a bad day. Everyone got to climb a little. And the weather held out. Oh, and I rescued a dropped Mike’s hard lemonade. I accidently dropped it on the rock and it started spurting so I rescued it with my mouth.
As we were debriefing, Dr. Rimple reminded us that tomorrow was “black Monday” and if any of us did not match, visiting students included, that she could help us in the scramble. Then she said “Erin, you have nothing to worry about.” (my brain said “what does that mean?”) The day concluded and we all got into our caravans to head home or to eat. In the car, Iris started hypothesizing Dr. Rimple’s hidden message. I didn’t want to read into it so I suggested we eat. My crew went to an amazing pizza place where I drank a little too much. Tummies full of pizza and booze, Iris drove home while I napped in the back.