Some (Novice) Artsy Clips :)

Click on the photo to view a little video I made the other day 🙂

Tree Hunting

One of my favorite parts of living in the midst of a National Forest is that everything feels a little kludgy, a little pioneer-y. We buy things from town (Denver) on rare occasions. We run into BV a little more frequently. But mainly, we figure out how to patch stuff together up here. Christmas trees are one of the more fun versions of this. The bit tree in our dining room (15ft) ends up being an adventure which requires lots of hands.

We all trundled over to the tree Caleb picked by the river. The guys had already cut the tree, but it was poorly angled and downhill from the truck, so we all squeezed between the branches to haul it out. It was a sharp tree and our legs got all bloody from the pine needles poking through.

We finally managed to haul the thing onto the trailer. We girls squeezed into the cab (Katherine did an admirable job of managing the trailer, driving stick, navigating the ice, and manipulating the snow plow simultaneously). The guys rode in the bed and held the tree the whole way back. Pictured, Carson crushed under the giant thing.

It took us an hour to get it inside the lodge and standing upright. Our original cut still had the tree at 25 feet, so we did lots of subsequent cuts, which was great because the majority of our other decorations are fresh pine boughs strewn about (in what I hope is an artistic way!)

I’ve been loving preparing for Christmas now that the decorating is done. I’ve been writing notes to the soon-to-arrive Christmas guests, coordinating programs, and getting last minute laundry done. I feel like I’m getting ready to welcome old family friends into my home. 🙂

As a plus, several of my favorite people in the whole world will be in Colorado over the next month and I am STOKED to see them all!!

xoxo

Ceci

life in the mountains

Spring Canyon Summer

We’re two five weeks into summer (three weeks of training and two weeks of working), and sheesh it’s getting HOT here in Colorado! I’m the Senior Outdoor Guide this summer, which means I’m simply a guide with logistical responsibility.

The work dynamic this summer is a bit complicated: I’ve been dating Conner Truitt for five months. Conner is one of the other guides, so I’m technically his supervisor. His dad is my boss. It’s been going relatively smoothly (with how much potential for difficult situations there are in that whole triangle). We started out the summer with a wedding in the Truitt family! This wedding was that of Conner’s older, Tegan, to Bethany. They started dating at Spring Canyon three years ago, got engaged here last summer, and are now married.

The wedding itself was beautiful. There were a ton of people here (too many!), but Bethany and Tegan were so joyful. Quite delightful on the whole.

Mr. Truitt’s mom got really sick and couldn’t come to the wedding, so as soon as it was over, he left for Texas to help out. Mrs. Truitt and Conner went to Speech and Debate nationals. It was a stressful week because I unexpectedly had to take over the training. On the upside, I also dogsat Watson.

Raina came up to visit for a day!

After I ran out of training which I could do (I was allowed to train on ground rigging for high ropes and our outdoor climb site, but the Truitts had to be here to officially cert us), we all started working on the hardside construction. A lot of our outdoor program guests stay in the hardsides which are insulated cabins with electricity but no heat or water.

We’re a good bit into the summer now. These first few weeks have been pretty chill, but starting next week we have a pretty hectic schedule. I’m pulling out hairs trying to stretch my guides enough to get everything done and still have off days from time to time!

xoxo,

Ceci

Winter Sports Retreats

Working over Christmas was an odd new first, but I actually loved it so much. I got Christmas day itself off (until 7pm), so I was able to drive down to Denver to spend the day with my family. But otherwise, I spent all December up in Buena Vista.

^^ The Family

I was in charge of the teen class with my pals Peter and Riley. This was a very simple job…one hour each night for two weeks. Riley and Peter are hilarious and also deep, so we had amazing conversations and sometimes we played uno all night. I struggled some days because I had to come up with hard questions about classic Christmas stories, but I loved how most of the discussions turned out.

I also got to work the rock wall with Conner and Riley, which is always a blast (both the rock wall and Conner & Riley). The rock wall building uses a stove for heat, which adds a very mountainy vibe to a gym.

The teen class also has the option to go skiing and skating. I went to all of these and had a blast. Our second ski day, the teens who came opted to go off with their friends, so Peter, Conner, Tegan, and I skied together all day. Since Monarch is mostly two person lifts, this was the perfect group. I loved riding with all of them and we had a good number to mix and match. Plus (with the exception of Peter who’s really good) we were all around the same skill level.

The Truitt family decorates Christmas cookies together every year, but Mrs. Truitt made a plethora of cookies this year, so they invited all the young folks who work at Spring Canyon to come and decorate with them. We had a jolly time and the cookies ended up in a hilarious range of sophistication.

The first week, I helped Conner with the middle schoolers for the all-day childcare program. We had a lovely time. I like middle schoolers. We made gingerbread milk cartons and went to the tubing hill. Conner and I laughed at the flirtatious escapades of two of the twelve-year-olds.

It snowed really hard right after Christmas, so we worked pretty nonstop all day to keep the shoveling under control. The early morning snow dumps (see first photo) hold mixed feelings for me now. I love wading through the snow, but I’m also distinctly aware that every step I take will ice and make shoveling that much harder.

Conner and I go boarding at the tubing hill a lot. I’m learning. I can sometimes make it down without falling now. He texted on Jan 1 asking if I wanted to do something, go boarding, but since the tubing hill usually has guests now, I suggested we see if we could wade through the snow on the Colorado Trail. Tegan and Riley joined us (happy day!) and we had a jolly time traipsing up the hill. Very doable. They’re all great people.

Here’s a last photo from skiing at Monarch. Can’t get much better, can it?

I’m so grateful for living at Spring Canyon. I feel like every day is a vacation, even working all the time, so now that I’m on a two week break, I feel totally content to stay at home with my familia. That said, Mamma, Ellie, and I are heading down to Miami next week! Roll tide 🙂

xoxo

ceci

Snow Week

It’s been SNOWY the last few days! The first day, I reveled in the snow. We’ve had that crusty, icy snow for a few weeks, so it was time for some fresh powder.

I usually get up at six, but it isn’t light until after seven, so just as I finish reading and journaling for the first hour of the day, it’s the perfect time to go shovel. This snow has been dry enough that I mostly use a straw broom to sweep. I loved sweeping snow at first. The picture is above is from the middle of a three hour sweeping stint. It’s just about the best sort of job one could have…outside, not too physically demanding. But now, after four days of snow, it’s a little tiring. The snow piled up on the side of the pathways. I have a cracked and dry callus between my thumb and pointer finger from the broom. My neck and back are sore from leaning over. And it just keeps snowing.

I’ve started going up to the prayer chapel in the mornings again. I got scared off for a bit by all the mountain lion tracks around it (plus the game camera footage of a big mountain lion a couple dozen feet away), but I figure what the heck. The odds are slim, especially since it’s so dark when I go up there…not dawn anymore. It’s freezing in the prayer chapel. I’m just about the only one to use it, so I feel bad turning the heater on at any time except when I’m actually in the room, but the other morning, despite wearing all my heavy snow gear, my fingers were so cold I couldn’t hold a pen. It was two degrees F outside. So now I turn on the heater when I head home for the night and it’s semi-bearable in the morning.

I love that as I sit in the prayer chapel, I get to watch the sunrise over the canyon ridge. I don’t usually see the sun itself because of the way the ridge is, but if there are clouds they turn the entire sky into a sunrise.

It’s snowing again now. This is my view as I sit in the dining room (taken half an hour ago). The snow usually blows in from the south, so the Hook (pictured) turns all misty with clouds as a warning about the coming snow. I tell you what, Christmas feels real here. I’m loosing my grinchy-ness by the day.

xoxo

Ceci

Our First Winter Summit

Raina came up to stay with me for a few days, which was a BLAST. It’s hard to describe how beautiful Spring Canyon, so I was really glad she got to visit and experience it herself. She came up on Monday. I had the afternoon to work on a project, so we met up down in Bunea Vista at The Roastery, which was miraculously open for indoor seating! I had Tuesday off. We didn’t think there would be enough snow to cross country ski. Additionally, I discovered that day passes at Monarch, where Raina has reciprocity, were a hundred bucks. Not wasting that on a bad snow day. So instead, we decided to gander up the Denny Creek Trail, the farthest we can go up the pass now that it’s closed for winter.

We looked up the conditions on Yale and saw a couple people had done it in the past few days without traction. We figured we’d give it a shot and turn around if necessary. The weather looked good, and since it’s the winter, we didn’t have to bother with an early start.

The latest in the season I’ve ever done a 14er is September. Usually it hasn’t snowed by then, but the afternoon thunderstorms are less common, so it’s actually a great time to go. Conner and I hiked Yale this September soon after an unexpected foot and a half snow storm. While there was some snow and ice at the top, it was pretty manageable. We submitted in two and a half hours.

Rains and I had a harder time because we wore thicker shoes (she, boots, me, waterproof tennis shoes) and snowpants. They were both totally worth it, though, because there was a fair amount of snow. It was too slick to hike down without slipping, so we had a jolly old time sitting and sliding down the steeper hills.

We saw three other groups, but we had the summit to ourselves. I’ve never had another 14er summit to myself, but now it’s happened twice with Yale. I think it may be my favorite 14er, partially because of the empty summits. I also think it’s a nice hike. Gets super steep in parts but then flat for bits. It’s a little over five miles to the summit, so totally doable, with only about 4000ft of vert. Treeline splits the hike almost exactly in half, which is pleasant. The bottom half follows a nice stream. I also think the view from Yale is something else. It’s not the most striking view (Handies was pretty cool in that department, surrounded by super pointy peaks). But it definitely has amazing variety. You can see all the way across South Park to Pikes Peak. Democrat, Bross, and Lincoln are visible, as well as all the Collegiate Peaks, Mt. Elbert, and the others in the looming Sawatch range. To the west, the Maroon Bells, Pyramid and Castle Peaks, and that whole range are visible. Plus, in the foreground, Ice Mountain and the Three Apostles, which are striking. To the south you can see the San Juans and Raina’s personal favorite, Uncompahgre. We want to hike that this summer…maybe. Then, directly to the south, is Princeton, which I’m also fond of. From the summit, I can trace the Princeton ridge down to the Hook and then down a steep slope into the canyon where I live. I see Sheep Mountain which edges Spring Canyon’s property. I can trace the road down to BV and see the ponds and the little criss crossing roads.

It’s just about my favorite to stand on Yale and see so many mountains I’ve climbed before because they bring back amazing memories. Democrat with my dad when I was six. Lincoln with Ellie. Handies with Holly. Pikes Peak with Rains. Countless drives through South Park to Breck. The Maroon Bell loop with Daddy and Raina. Gosh, I’m lucky to live here!

It was so fun to have Raina with me for a few days. She’s a real gem. I’m luck in the sibling department too 🙂

xoxo

Ceci

Self Authoring

I’m working on Jordan Peterson’s Self Authoring exercises right now. They’re extensive. It’s hard for me to focus. It’s hard to think about my flaws and strengths, my past and future. I’ve been focusing on the past for now, writing forty two stories about my life thus far. Sometimes, I hop on this blog to review big points from certain stages of life, specifically China and Israel. They feel distant already.

Anyway, I found this photo of me, TO, and Akwasi from our road trip around Scotland’s north coast. An epically beautiful trip!

Since I’m going back through old posts, I’m thinking about blogging more. I certainly have beautiful photos from up here at Spring Canyon!

Sheesh, life is so, so wonderful. I know this has been a hard year for a lot of people, but I’ve had such a lovely time. My plans have changed significantly. Heck I was expecting to be living in a hut in rural Guinea this month. But the things which have come from the change have been beautiful, even when they’re somewhat disappointing. Good things have sprung up everywhere.

How lucky we are to be alive right now!

On Life in the Mountains

Six weeks ago, I moved up to the mountains to work at a conference and retreat center. My decision to come here, while not impetuous per se, didn’t have clear reasoning. I found myself with a difficult task if I wanted to stay abroad, as I had planned, so I decided instead to move into the almost-wilderness.

It’s been wonderful. I work a lot, and I enjoy working. Sometimes, college academics don’t feel like real work. Even engineering feels fake sometimes. Here, I use my hands almost constantly. Some days I work front office, which is fun on a guest interaction front, and two or three days per week I do housekeeping. I serve a lot of meals when retreats are here. I shovel snow when it snows. Some days, I split wood. Two days per week we have academic discussions. My teacher is incredible. I’m learning a lot, and I feel like the philosophical content I struggled to grasp my freshman year of college is now within reach. I get one day off per week.

This is my little cabin. We don’t have windows in our bedroom because it’s set into a hill, but the living room is beautiful and cozy. I’m looking forward to fires in the winter.

Speaking of winter, we got a big snow the first week of September. Luckily it all melted and the aspens didn’t die (they’re the most beautiful yellow right now), but I loved the snow while it lasted.

I’ve never lived in the mountains for aspen season! It’s delightful! My father, mother, and brother visited. Also delightful.

Here’s my new housekeeping life. We have three lodges (sort of like hotels with living rooms, see picture above) and four chalets (private cabins). I like cleaning the lodges best. I am starting to get it down to a rhythm.

My new hobby is this: mountain drawings. Helps me really focus on what I’m doing. Ugh I love how they turn out. Hoping to do many more of these this winter. There’s an endless array of mountain ranges within a short drive from my new home.

xoxo

ceci