Hi 3D

I keep telling Ben to write a post but he is slacking and doesn't love you all so I guess I'm going to have to step up.

We unexpectedly got three days off in a row this weekend so we came up to the front range to go climbing in Boulder Canyon, hoping to get in better shape for Yosemite. Today we climbed in Dream Canyon. According to our guidebook it's a popular spot for nudists and/or homosexuals, but all we found was some nice, clean granite trad and sport. Our nearest option for climbing is called Penitente Canyon. I'm not a huge fan as it has slabby climbing on volcanic rock and rattlesnakes. The most prominent feature is a portrait of the Virgin Mary, painted halfway up the wall.

On the way up, Ben met up with some Dmouth alums and ran Bailey's Canyon. It was so sick that he reopened the hole in his creek boat. One of the alums had Steinberg's CPOESAD tshirt! I think we need to reprint that shit.

On other days off we've done other cool stuff. Over the July 31/August 1 weekend we went up to Montezuma Basin, which is near Aspen, and found some snow for some summer turns. We hiked two 14ers, Castle Peak and Conundrum Peak, and even got caught in a blizzard. The whole area was really beautiful, we camped in an alpine meadow full of pikas (watch this video... http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=7066578568747223192&ei=M_aASrn4NoHEqAPKn7DqBA&q=pika&hl=en) and had our very own camp marmot who devoted most of his energy to trying to get at our food, which we hid from him under a huge pile of rocks.

We've also spent some weekends in Buena Vista (pronounced Byoona Vista..) boating on the Arkansas river, and hiked Mt. Yale, another 14er, with the rest of the Dartmouth crew working at the ranch. (There is no Mt. Dartmouth)

Work on the ranch is not terribly exciting, but also far from terrible. My secondary X chromosome makes me uniquely suited for jobs such as housekeeping, laundry, and "watching the office"... I still don't really know what that entails, as nothing ever happens in the office. Ben does "boy jobs" like painting, fixing fences, washing windows IF and only if they are on the second story and a ladder is necessary. All of us work in the kitchen occasionally, which can be a lot of fun as I've learned a lot about cooking. For example, if you squish anything into a sawed off PVC pipe and call it a "stack," it is automatically gourmet. Mashed potatoes? commonplace. Mashed potato stack? four star dining. Working in the kitchen can also be terrifying, because the chef is completely and totally bipolar. Seriously, she yelled at me for sitting on a stool once. And then had the stool removed from the kitchen. Every day she acts as if guests arriving for dinner and requesting food is a completely unreasonable demand on her time, and preparing elk with asparagus for four people is the most difficult task anyone has ever undertaken. After work, she becomes our "auntie" and buys us rounds of shots at the local bar.

Hmm. I am sure there is more to add but this has been a little random and scattered. If you want to see some photos, mostly from skiing, check them out here: http://picasaweb.google.com/bowmankf
There's tons, so I won't be offended if you don't look at them all

Glad to hear everyone, including the intruder Greg, is alive and well!

Kate