Moose Alley

You may recall that last year Elvis ripped up Sugarloaf. This year we met up with her again along with some friends for a weekend filled with sunshine, warm weather, puppies and skiing.

After the morning drop off we took a short hike down the Golden Road before dropping deep into Brackett Basin. 

Elvis hit up Mountain Magic for the day to work on her skiing and have fun with friends before showing off her skills by visiting her friend Amos's house on Moose Alley off off Whiffletree.

It was a beautiful day to hit up the mountain and I'm pretty sure that a good time was had by all. 

I even managed to get a bit of knitting done in the warm sunshine. This doesn't happen often- knitting outside in the warm sunshine on Timberline. First off, it's the east coast- a sunny warm ski day is to be treasured. It means getting out of bed early to walk the pups so you can still get on the hill at a decent hour and not lingering over the Bag Burger at lunch time... even if it is so much better now that they offer gluten free buns that really just makes the Gucci burger. 

We were able to squeeze a lot of good times in and were pretty exhausted by the end of the weekend. We missed our cousins by one weekend but thankfully they had sent along photos of the crew regrouping at the Bag over lunch so we got to live vicariously through text messages. 

Of course Elvis went home with new knitwear from Aunt K8 Knits... 

for more photos from the weekend click here

campchaos- the mountain dogs hit the beach

It's the way people try not to change that's unnatural...the way we change to what things were than letting them be as they are... Change is constant. How we experience change, that's up to us. ~ Meredith Grey from Grey’s Anatomy

If you had asked me back in October where I'd be in 6 months the answer would have been Carrabassett Valley. Our reality has shifted and we've adjusted along with it.  Today campchaos hit the ocean and as we walked onto the beach the waves from the Atlantic came crashing in.

2012 Chaos plunges in while Mayhem timidly checks out the surf

The tide was high and the sound was monstrous; the big dog broke out into a smile while the little pup tucked his tail and hid behind Dave. We realized that Mayhem's never been to the ocean before and Chaos has danced in both the Atlantic and Pacific.

2006- Chaos in the Pacific Ocean

Before too long Mayhem's fears were soothed by Chaos's joy and he frolicked on the beach and danced in the waves with his brother.

 Change may be scary but like Mayhem we eventually we all figure out how much fun it can really be.

dreaming of snowy days at camp chaos

the best part about snow? Easy- that would be good days on the mountain.

like Dave's first day out in November

What's the worst? Realizing you have to shovel the whole driveway by yourself...

with a bit of help from furry friends and the motivation to wear cute Boggs

But at this point I'm ready... Mother Nature bring it on. I haven't shoveled the driveway in over a month and I'm ready for it to start dumping.

campchaos returns to Maine

One 16' Penske Truck loaded with furniture, gear and other toys plus the 4Runner containing the 4 legged members of the crew traveled over 2,600 miles to relocate campchaos to Maine. It's been a long couple of weeks with a flurry of packing, driving, unpacking and settling back into Valley life.

 so far these two seem pretty happy to me....

biking with Mayhem...

East Coast Travels with the Turtle

We hit New England just in time for the biggest heat wave of the summer. Of course with us travel is always entertaining and since we had booked tickets a month out and not 24 hours out it was destined to change at least once.

From July 11 East Coast

Two days before our trip our 6am flight was canceled which shifted our wonderful 3pm arrival time into Boston back to 6pm. A bummer and it put us into rush hour traffic but we could deal with that... but then our new flight was delayed... then canceled. We were sent back out through security of the small Montrose Airport to the desk. I left Dave with our bags and hobbeled back towards the desk.  I was gimpy from an ankle injury I ended up towards the end of the line. Like my fellow passengers, I jumped on the phone with United Airlines customer service in India...and was given new flights that had us leaving Montrose at 8pm and getting to Boston 3 flights later at 8am on Friday morning. I called Dave back out through security and when we got to the desk agent (40 minutes later) she managed to get us on the noontime flight and into Boston at midnight.
We killed some time in Denver and the turtle enjoyed a Fat Tire before getting started on Moyer's Red Sweater.

From July 11 East Coast

Turns out the turtle is quite the knitter and started the project while in DIA.

From July 11 East Coast

And while on the plane he made good progress...

From July 11 East Coast

But took a break when it was time to get the bag after the late arrival into Boston.

From July 11 East Coast

Hope Lake with a touch of camping in the rain

Saturday morning we were up early and packing for a day hike to Hope Lake then camping that night. We stopped on the way to the trail head to claim our favorite spot. We had last camped here in 2008 and had a couple of great nights with friends. We were dismayed to find a few large trees had fallen but hit the spot anyhow.
I had hiked Hope Lake last year with the pups but it was a first for Dave. The day began with sunshine but clouded in as we ascended to the high alpine lake. The pups didn't care and were in the water before Dave and I crested the top.  The sun broke for a bit as we were leaving the lake and descended the 2.5 miles back to the 4Runner.

Big Dave skipped out on the hike due to a leg injury but came up for the camping... sans tent. He's got a Tacoma now and is discovering the joy of truck camping in the back bed under the camper shell.
We finished setting up camp and the sunshade rainshade just in time before the first drops hit. Eventually the rain let up a bit and fueled by a bit of beer and a chill we couldn't shake, we got to work on the campsite. (Click here for photos...) We had two Gerber hatchets and a fold-able saw and hacked the smaller of the two trees. The boys made benches for the firepit and while I debranched the larger tree that won't be moved without a chainsaw.  Yup, that's what happens when you give a bunch of Mainer's some hand tools, time and beer in the woods.

weekends are for playing

We finally hit a weekend where the only plan was to roll with it. The weather's turned from full on summer to July Monsoon season where rain and or thunderstorms roll in most afternoons. Our rain jackets are constantly with us and usually on by 2pm. On Saturday we cruised to town to let the dogs swim in the raging San Miguel and surf a few rapids then Dave hit the golf course with a few friends while I had a quiet afternoon with the tired pups.  I managed to hem a few pairs of pants and make this snazzy holder for my knitting needle stash, a side for my double pointed needles (dpn's) and a side for my circular needles. 

From Knitting

From Knitting

 

From Knitting

Today we grabbed the dogs, rain jackets and climbing gear and met Dave and Sally by Society Turn for a bit of climbing while avoiding the storms. You can see all photo's from this weekend here...

summer and the 4th of July

It's officially summer here, meaning we haven't had snow in over two weeks and have been sporting the flip flops consistently. Last week I took the dogs swimming on a rainy afternoon and today we hit the 4th of July Parade in Telluride. It's not a small affair as our town of 2,000 grows with folks coming from all over to enjoy the iconic Main Street Parade. Our friends had grabbed a spot early and when we came in to town 90 minutes before the parade all the prime spots had been snagged. Elaine and Emory just had their first baby and even little Rocco came out (after the loud fire trucks had passed). After we got the text last Tuesday about Rocco joining the Telluride pose I dug through my yarn stash and picked out the colors for his first homemade sweater to go with his collection of k8 knit caps.

From Priest Lake and Happy Birthday USA Day

Then I whipped up this hat for Emory so they could match...

From Priest Lake and Happy Birthday USA Day

Thankfully it was much to hot for Rocco to try on his sweater today. We're hoping it fits by the time some classic late summer festivals hit town along with the cool nights.
Wanna see more? Watch the slideshow or click here.

Dzia Dzia comes to Telluride

Billy flew out to Colorado in May then he and Jon drove down to Telluride to see the Colorado version of campchaos for the first time. As luck would have it we were having fine spring weather...the kind that drops over a foot of snow and takes almost a full day to melt off the sidewalks. We had a good visit and made it up to the Telluride Historical Museum which was a highlight for all of us.

 Thankfully the clouds went away and we were able to get a few shots of them on Colorado Avenue in front of Ajax Mountain.

a three hour tour...

Friday night we pulled outta town and camped in the mountains above Telluride. Our neighbor always jokes with us that we're packing for a three hour tour as we load up dog food, sleeping bags, the tent, tripods and other gear.
We camped above Telluride off the Last Dollar Road... which is the same road that once killed the midpipe of the Subaru's muffler back in April of 2006. The moon made a good showing as it peeked through the aspen trees and the puppies toys created streaks across the dark sky. You can see those here...


Sunday we loaded up the dogs and headed up towards Alta Lakes so the dogs could get some much needed time in the sunshine. We headed up the road and found it mostly melted.... mostly. The 4Runner cleared most of the hard packed snowbanks easily... until it didn't. Dave backed up and did a second take....and the undercarriage came to rest on the glacial mound of snow and ice while the tires spun deeper in the softer snow. Somehow the avalanche shovel we keep in the truck wiggled it's way into summer storage and we found ourselves working at the ice mound with our axe and Mayhem's chuck it stick. One was very effective while the other was just good for throwing tennis balls. You can view all the good times here...

The phones worked fine and Dave called Emory who came to the rescue with his 4Runner and two young labs. Emory had two shovels and the boys were able to dig the truck out quickly. Cheers to friends with four wheel drive, shovels and time on a Sunday afternoon.

mountainfilm in telluride

this is the first mountainfilm that we've been able to share with a visitor and Sara dived into it head first. The festival still has another day to go but so far we've seen 26 flicks (anywhere from 4 to 80 minutes long each) on topics ranging from the climbing photography of Jimmy Chin to truck farms (seriously, only a guy from MA would think of a farm in the back of his dodge ram in Brooklyn)

We enjoyed some time down by the river between movies on the first nice weekend we've had all year.

And headed to town park for some movies under the stars with friends after the sun set with a few light sprinkles.

lazy Saturdays....

We're finally able to have a lazy Saturday at campchaos. Even the pups knew and let us sleep in before we all had quality couch time. We did muster up some motivation and channeled our inner Fred as we make donuts that reminded us of dunkin donut munchkins... you can see that post here.

Camping at the Grand Canyon

It's been a long winter without as much snow as we'd like to see so by the time the last chair fell silent we were ready to get out of town. Dave took a week and hit the east coast to spend some time with his dad while I stayed home to work and pack for the next adventure. I happen to be a very OCD packer and made a very comprehensive list to ensure our comfort for our adventure. We also packed a ton of food as my research didn't yield much for gluten free friendly dining at the park.

We loaded the 4Runner full of dogs, gear, flip flops and food and headed southwest towards Grand Canyon National Park. We had four nights booked at Mather Campground at site #308 in the Pine Loop. I'd been keeping an eye on the weather and the forecast said we were headed into warm weather.... but the first few nights were below 30. This would have been fine but our sleeping pads deflated and offered no cushion and more importantly insulation from the cool ground. We had three sleeping bags for the humans so we bundled up and dealt while the dogs had a shared bed and a few blankets. They have doggie softshells and wore those each night as the sun and temperatures dipped. Mayhem did crawl into a sleeping bag with me one night while Chaos's thicker coat served him well.

Grand Canyon is one of the more dog friendly of the National Parks and the dogs were allowed on the paved Rim trail for some great walks each day. They joined us for a sunset at Mather Point and enjoyed attention tourists across the world. Mayhem had played rough and cut a paw so he wore his Ruffwear shoes to prevent further injury to his pads. He had a lot of folks laughing at him but overall enjoyed the attention. After sunset the parking lot cleared out and we took the opportunity to play ball with the pups. We found a new light up ball which rocked Mayhem's world and allowed him to get some serious energy out at night. It made some great photos in the dark parking lot with the dog's glowing collars and the disco light ball.

We had a ton of photos from the little s6000 and from the D100 and each worked our skills a bit. We narrowed it down to the highlights from sunrise to sunset and a bit of Chaos and Mayhem.

Marching on through it all

This winter I've been slacking- partly due to my blogging over at Think Outside the Breadbox, partly due to two dogs and knitting nights and in large part due to a lot of stress. I've been going over past blog posts and remembering  good times with good people, adventures of the travel dog, cross country drives, festivals, turtles and Tomas, and lots of laughter, it's been good to have these memories in one spot and I've been appreciating the online journal of campchaos.

This year we've had a tough winter with not nearly enough powder and sadness that could fill the box canyon. We've had some good bright spots but this March will be remembered as a very sad time here at campchaos.

A year ago we drove through a snowstorm and found a bit of Mayhem waiting for us. This year we flew to Boston in near perfect weather to the biggest storm we've ever had to face as we said our goodbye's to Dave's mother.

It was hell and there's nothing to say fix this- although the cards, emails, text messages and good vibes have helped. Crashing trucks, slicing tendons and sick dogs can't prepare a person with how to deal or cope through times like these. It's not just a tough day but a long process that has no cure, no remedy, no guidebook to help steer us through what we're suppose to do or how we should deal with life. The world didn't stop and we returned to Telluride and went back to the routines of everyday life but with the knowledge that life will never be the same. 

The whole experience was hard on everyone... we all cope in very different ways and hit the stages of grief at our own pace. Comfort can be found in many forms and I really wished the dogs could have been with us.

Chaos knew something was wrong. He behaved well at his friends house while we were back east but on the day his Granny passed, he got sick. Chaos is a very in touch monster and knew life at campchaos was not right. When Jess and Jared told us about it over dinner after our return, Chaos laid quietly with his sad face melting into the floor. He knows. Mayhem- maybe not so much. He's still begging for attention and ball time but then again these things have proven to be good for us too. Long walks on the bike path on a sunny day, fresh air and mountain views- these are good things for sad people. Maybe the little guy has his own way of helping too.

We just wake up each day after to happy dogs with wagging tails and find a way to laugh again, to find pleasure in the simple things and raise a glass of red wine and toast good memories.

hitting the (rock) wall....

We took advantage of the warmer weather and hit the wall this past weekend with friends. It was a gray day but relatively warm in the high 40's and some gusty but manageable winds. We haven't been out there in a long time... we scouted another place in the area last year but hadn't roped up there since late April, 2008. I have no idea why we waited so long to go back (oh wait the photos reminded me... it's too hot in the summers). It's less then 40 minutes from our house and just a short, steep hike to a bolted wall that has a number of routes rated 5.8 and up. We've only been to the gym once this season back in October so my paws were very tender and I only did two routes as I eased myself back into the game.
 
We had an equal number of four legged monsters as two legged people with Sam & Kaya, Conrad and Kiera and us with our two monsters. Sam hasn't climbed much before but took to the rock like spider pig- even in  his LL Bean hiking boots. Conrad's worn out more then one pair of climbing shoes in his career and lead the climbs for the day. 
The dogs were very well behaved and Mayhem had the only bit of trouble as he managed to get 4 small cactus plants stuck in his paws during the day...which meant that I got stuck a few times while removing them. He's very stoic and doesn't flinch in pain which is unlike Chaos who would have whined if he had been that unlucky.Back at the car we enjoyed a late lunch before heading back to Telluride and the winter weather.

cats, hats and dogs