Day 9: La Sage to Alpage du Moiry

I realized last night after reading a friend's blog about following her dreams, that I never finished posting about the Haute Route. I should probably be writing about Liberia but let's take this one country at a time ;)

Day 9
Hiking in the Alps rules! This was one of my favorite days. Amazing considering the day started with a slight hiccup. We left the gite fairly early and went to a grocery store. We bought all sorts of stuff to make dinner at the Chalet du Moiry. Then we called the Chalet and found out they were full … and there are no other options within a 1-1/2 hour walk! Well, we decided to just figure it out as we went and set off toward the Col de Torrent. It was a long hike up but the views were amazing. One of the most impressive sights was an icefield at the head of one of the 2 valleys below us. The largest peak emerging from all the snow and ice was Tete Blanche, which is in Italy. Even though the hiking was hard at times, all I needed was to take in the views and I would feel re-energized.

We spent an hour at the top enthralled by the vista. It was amazing how much of our journey we could see. There was Rosa Blanche (above the Grand Desert), the Grand Combin, the Pigne de Arolla, Aguilles Rouges, Mont Blanche de Chielon (above Cab. Dix), and Grand Dent! Whew! As we headed down toward the absurdly blue Lac Moiry, we decided we wanted to camp. The day was pristine and the mountains at the head of the valley were impressive and glacier-clad – the kind of thing you could look at for hours. We tried to find the owner of the alpage (which maybe means “ranch”?) but he wasn’t around, so we headed back up the trail and found a perfect campsite in between some of the small hills. It was heavenly!

We laid in the sun and read, and watched shadows creep across the glaciers. Can life get any better?? As the sun got lower we set up the tent and “feasted” on half of our lunch for the next day, plus a bottle of wine and a chocolate bar. It was a very cold night, though, and a frost set in and dusted our packs. Not the best night’s sleep but worth it for the views and tranquility of the evening!

PS This morning Chris’ pack weighed 35 lbs and mine weighed 30 lbs (pre-groceries). We had no coffee, and our heart rates were below 52 bpm each!

A view back up the valley on the way up the Col de Torrent. Arolla is up the valley on the right. Les Haudres is on the valley floor.

One of the best lunch spots of the trip.

Typical signage at trail junctions.

I wouldn't mind being back here right now!

Best camping spot ever! We spent the afternoon lounging in the grass and reading.

Sad News

My adviser's son was in a really serious car accident early Tuesday morning. I don't know all the details but it sounds like he was thrown from the car and has several broken bones. :( He's had surgery and is in stable condition but probably has 6-12 months of recovery ahead of him. This is really sad news, and I feel really bad for my adviser. He's had to deal with lots of frustrations and set backs in the last year and this must be really hard.

Now I am even more convinced that I will be getting very little input as I go forward on my PhD, at least for a few months (which of course I completely understand, he should be with his son right now). Becoming more independent is the point of the doctoral degree anyway. Today I took part in a poster session being held for the National Science Foundation's review team - they are determining whether or not CMMAP (where my funding comes from) will be renewed for the next 5 years. I hope so - I'm enjoying the research here and the opportunities to interact with other grad students and scientists, and the educational and outreach activities. Anyway, doing the poster made me realize how many different things I am interested in right now, and it's hard to decide which topics to focus on. I am feeling pessimistic about the feasibility of my proposed doctoral research. The model I'd like to use is still being developed, and could take a couple of years to be ready. But, like I said, I still have lots of interesting things to do and maybe that project can still happen one day.

I went to a meeting at NCAR last week on their land surface model and had a couple of good conversations. I met a PhD student from Arizona, who is analyzing observations and dynamic vegetation models in the Amazon. We are both interested in the drought sensitivity of the Amazon so it was useful to meet him. I also talked with someone who used to be in my research group about looking at a vegetation model forced by future climate scenarios. This sounds great to me b/c I could look at the Amazon forest's response to a range of possible climates, giving an envelope of possibilities. (Some models predict the Amazon forest will disappear by 2100 because of climate change. I am dubious of this result. However I'm also dubious that people will stop cutting down the forest, unfortunately.) Also the model he uses does a good job of representing the current Amazon, which is something lots of land surface models don't do. That is a pretty important first step before predicting the future!

Ok, I've rambled, which is ok because the server with all my data is down right now. But now that I've reminded myself of all these research interests, I'm sure I can find something productive to do, other than writing on my blog. :)

Colorado vs Liberia

So far, coming home from Liberia has been bittersweet. I actually wish we had a few more days there, things didn't really come together until the last few days and it would have been fun to have some more time to get to know the friends we made there. I keep thinking about how different life is here! So in honor of that, here are some things I've been grateful for since returning, and things that I've missed.

Grateful for:
- electricity and running water
- brushing my teeth with the tap water
- how clean it is here
- my education
- our government (there's plenty to complain about but at least it works)


I don't miss:
- worrying about running over hundreds of pedestrians while driving
- all the attention that comes with being an American in Africa (especially when holding a camera ...)
- people assuming that just b/c I'm American I have plenty of money to spare
- sweating all day
- not being sad or wanting to cry several times a day.


I miss (oddly enough):
- seeing the status of the ants on my bathroom wall each morning
- talking with Chris while showering and filling the bucket in case the water pressure runs out
- waking up to Francis' beautiful smile and hugs
- being surrounded by joyful people
- the inspiration of Rev. Luther and the Transformation International boys,
- coke with real sugar
- swimming in the ocean after a long and hot day.


We have tons of pictures to go through, soon I'll start posting a few at a time with some stories.

YIKES!!!

We leave for Liberia in just a few days. My bags are packed and I'm physically ready to go, but emotionally and mentally I feel far from ready! I talked to Sarah Jane today about it and she said she thinks she just needs to be there so she can stop worrying about it. I think I might agree with her.

My conference in San Diego went well. I loved the area, and for the first time in a few years I can say that I could see myself living somewhere in California! My favorite part of the conference was when we brought up policy or ethical issues. It's not really related to my research but personally is the most interesting part of what I do. On one hand, I enjoy being a part of a field that is very relevant to society right now, but on the other hand I don't want to get wrapped up in the policy side of things because that is way beyond my area of expertise!

Anyway, I'm just stopping in between packing and cleaning. It is sooo nice to be home, I kind of wish I could be here a little longer before heading out again.

A strange year coming up!

For the last few years, by this time of year I am either into my cycling base training or getting ready to start a triathlon training plan. I am extremely goal oriented and have become hooked to this lifestyle of training and racing. But this year is different, for a few reasons ...
1. I need something different. I did a lot of base training last year, and it gets boring going the same, slow speed all the time.
2. I'll be in Liberia 2 weeks and won't workout at all, so what's the point in ramping up the fitness until after then?
3. I have no idea what races I will do this year because of the B-word, which Chris and I have been talking about lately. I would hate to register for and invest my time in training for a race and then not do it because I'm the P-word. Then again, Chris also brought up how much he wants to travel still this morning, so maybe we will just never have the C-word. And just because we might start trying to get P-word (which won't happen until after Liberia, at the earliest) doesn't mean it will actually happen any time soon.

So this is strange for me, and I am at a loss for what to do or how to motivate myself to workout when I have no idea what it's for. So for now I am just living in denial and daydreaming about how I'm going to get faster this year.

Differences

I keep thinking about the man we had dinner with last night during a meeting to get ready for Liberia. He's from Rwanda, but spent much of his childhood in refugee camps in Uganda. He talked about watching his two sisters die of starvation, of barely surviving on a bowl of porridge a day, and of being hurried into a hospital to hide after learning a group of rebels were coming to kill everyone in the village. He kept saying, "It was very hard" or "It was challenging." I kept thinking about all the things I've said are challenging in my life and how easy they were in comparison! We are so lucky for the lives we have.

Also, he started a feeding program in Rwanda that serves a small community of children. He is a student and earns $800 a month, and he sends $300 a month to this program. How can I hear a story like this and not question my own unwillingness to part with my time and money to help others? I'm so grateful that he came and had dinner with us!

2009 - a great year!

As I predicted back in January of 09, it was an amazing year. One that I don't know if we'll ever top. Right now I'm okay with that, on top of being a lot of fun, 2009 was exhausting and I wouldn't mind a quieter year in 2010. As soon as we get back from Liberia ...

But one thing that strikes me is that even if you take out our life-list type feats, it was still a pretty good year! I attribute that to the Colorado lifestyle and the good friends we've made here in Fort Collins. So for this post, I want to reflect on the more "normal" good times of 2009, the ones that make day-to-day life in the Choice City.

In January, we went snowshoeing at Lake Agnes near Cameron Pass with Nick and Levi. It was a beautiful day and we had a great time sliding across the frozen lake!


In February I went to one of my favorite place, Moab, with two of my favorite people, Michelle and Rachel. Here we are at our campsite with enough supplies for a week:
And we traveled back to Atlanta to visit Chris' grandfather, who since then has turned 90 and gotten remarried! :)

In March and April I taught at Colorado College in Co. Springs. On a weekend back in the Fort, Chris and I went on an urban hike around the city. We saw fox, deer, made a snowman, and had some fun with the prairie dogs (look for the prairie dog and snowball in the picture ... no animals were harmed in the making of this picture):


Chris also came to the Springs for a weekend and we hiked around the Garden of the Gods. I worked a ton while down there but one positive was finding just enough spare time to explore the natural beauty of this area.


May brought us spring and the beginning of our athletic pursuits - the Colorado half marathon, and a great weekend for the Iron Horse Bicycle Classic in Durango.


We went on a couple other hikes with Nick and Levi - first a failed attempt up Mt Spalding (a thirteener next to Mt. Bierstad) where we fought willows and mud and ultimately had to turn around near the summit due to thunder. Then a beautiful hike near Pingree Park, which was a little longer than expected but extraordinarily scenic. And in July, Chris and I traveled to the Cloud Peak wilderness in Wyoming for a weekend of sitting by the campfire trying to stay warm and fend off mosquitos. We'll have to go there again sometime, the mountains were beautiful!
Hiking up Spalding:

Captain of the campfire in Pingree Park:

Chris & I in the Cloudpeak Wilderness:


The lesser talked about part of our Europe trip is the week in Jena, Germany for the International CO2 Conference. I took an afternoon off and Chris and I explored the city, including a small festival where we rode a ferris wheel. We also visited the Buchenwald concentration camp. That was an experience I won't forget, it was VERY sad but a good thing to see. One of the wierdest things about it was the camp was on a hill overlooking a town - I just don't understand how people could be going about their normal life just a few miles away.




In October, we went on a nice hike in RMNP for our sixth anniversary. After hiking in Switzerland, it was a great reminder that we live in a pretty amazing place, too! Just an hour from our house is some of the best scenery in the country, how lucky are we?



In November we traveled back east - for me the trip included a visit to friends in Lexington, KY and my brother in Nashville. Chris also finally taught me how to throw a cast net in our feeble attempt to catch shrimp. Turns out it isn't so easy from the banks of a marsh.


And we ended the year with a relaxing Christmas at home. Here is Chris showing off his favorite present.