Dave Gifford

The Show Me Mountain!

Finally got out this week and made my way to the top of a 14er I hadn't done before:  Missouri Mountain, 14,067 feet.  Number 36 for me.  I started my climb with my dog at the trailhead (9600 feet) at 6:40 a.m. on Monday the 3rd of August.  We climbed steady to the upper basin and to the far south end of it walking in the shadow of Mount Belford.  We made it to 12,600 feet in about 2 hours which was making very good time.  (1500 ft./hour)  I think I made the mistake however of not eating much up until that point, and I ended up paying for it later.  It was a struggle to connect to the summit ridge at about 13,500 ft.  By the time I got there I was feeling a touch of altitude sickness.  It was a long walk across the ridge to the summit and my dog had to navigate a couple of pretty steep places, but we made it on top at about 10:40 a.m.  I didn't stay on the top very long though cause clouds were gathering pretty quick.  We walked steadily down getting to the bottom with my family waiting for us at about 1:30.  Dog and I were quite beat and it left me wondering how many more of these crazy mountain climbs I have in me.

What, no Ice Cream?

My wife and I are vacationing in beautiful Cabo San Lucas Mexico this week.  So far we have had a very relaxing time with the ocean just 100 meters from our balconey.  One surprising thing however is the seeming scarcity of Ice Cream in this sunny locale.  Because we don't have a rental car we stopped at the grocery store on Sunday knowing that we would need a taxi to take us back to our resort.  We made this our last stop because we knew we would have ice cream that we would have to put back in our freezer right away.  Imagine my surprise when the grocery store didn't have any!  I was dumbfounded.  How could I go through a whole week of vacation without Ice Cream?  Over night I lamented the fact that we didn't get to the new Wal-Mart that had been built here recently. Surely Wal Mart would have Ice Cream I thought. I determined that I had to get there to get some of the beloved creamy delicacy that makes every vacation better.  The next day I would go on mission.

I awoke early yesterday morning, wondering if Wal-Mart would be open at 7 or 8.  I decided I would shoot for 8 o'clock, thinking that if it was 7 I was fine, and if it was later, it might be too hot for me to make it there and back before dying of heatstroke anyway.  I left at 7:45.  On the way out I asked the guys at the resort "how far is Wal-Mart?"  They said 3 miles if I was running and then they added "it's only 5 minutes by car".  I was off up the hill to the main road.  I was feeling strong but had little thought then of how long a mission this would end up being.  I passed two other little grocery stores on the way, but neither of them had the half - gallon size and I was worried about how cold they might be as well.  I ventured on in search of Wal Mart.  I avoided one stray dog and sporadic sidewalks on the busy thoroughfare.  The store was further than I thought, but finally I made it to Wal-Mart at about 8:30.  I chose a half gallon of Ice-Cream that was furthest in the back of the case and headed off to the checkout. 

I was now on the clock. 

The lady in front of me obviously didn't know that I still had 3 miles to run with my Ice Cream.  I left abruptly after paying and then walked a bit, concerned that the police who were keeping watch outside the store might think something strange was up if they saw middle aged man run out of Wal-Mart with Ice Cream tucked under his arm like a football.  They didn't suspect anything.  I hoofed it past the country club and another stray dog came by to see what was up.  He barked at me, but I didn't have any time to be scared or worried like I usually would have been.  I was on mission, sorry dog.  I zipped by another policeman who had stopped a motorist but he didn't seem to care much about me either.  I worked hard to keep the Ice Cream away from my body so as to have the cool breeze keep it cool.  When I finally made it back to the resort almost 2 hours after I had left, the guys at the resort just waved and said "running man".  I could still hear them saying "Wal-Mart, just 5 minutes by car".

Clear the streets!

A new driver has just begun his career putting in time behind the wheel.  My son!  What?  Yes, my son Calvin is now 15 years old and the proud owner of a brand new learner's permit. I took him out driving this past Saturday and Sunday and he is already getting the hang of driving in circles and maintaining a steady speed.  He needs to work a bit on using his turn signals but at least he hasn't hit any parked cars yet. 

To be honest I am rather enjoying the opportunity to help my son learn this new lifeskill.  Talk about a skill that he will be utilizing the rest of his life.  When it comes to driving you certainly can't say "when will I use this in real life?" and have a point.  I know at least for me, I have been driving almost daily since I started almost 30 years ago.

 For all of you who shudder at the sight of "student" drivers steer clear of the streets in Thornton Colorado.  You never know when Calvin may be headed your way.

Conformed or Transformed?

The "world's" influence can overwhelm us as we seek to open ourselves to God's transforming work.  Check out my latest post here

Going back to Yale

 

Saturday (May 23) I took the long Journey back to Yale.  Mount Yale that is, in the Collegiate Peaks Wilderness near Buena Vista Colorado.  Here are the specifics of the climb:

8.75 miles round trip, 4300 vertical feet in elevation gain.  The last one and a half miles was rougly 1400 feet/mile average.  Let's just say it was very steep!

Myself and 4 others:  Mike, Paul, John, and Nathaniel made our way up this beast. There was a covering of fresh snow from the night before and it was cloudy all day.  In spite of the fresh snow we never had to wear our snowshoes, and because of the foggy conditions we never got a look at the summit until we were on it!  This was my first climb at altitude this summer and I certainly felt it.  Glad I had the advil along to squelch any onset of altitude sickness. 

I climbed Mount Yale some 23 years ago when I was much younger and used to doing 3-4 peaks in as many days.  I now know why I waited 23 years to do it again.  It is a brutal haul to be sure. 

Stations of the Cross

Check out the pics and run down from our stations of the cross journey that my friend Scott and I and a small crowd of others took in commemorating Jesus journey to the cross last Saturday night in Longmont Colorado.  Check it out on the Wellspring blog here

Fro Boy!

  When I was in high school, I got my first perm. (Still don't know why they don't call these "temps" because they really aren't permanent at all)  Yes, I am willing to admit that over the course of the next few years I regularly went to "The Strawberry Patch Salon" and had my hair done up.  I guess I really must have wanted it done pretty bad to frequent a place by that name.  My manhood must have been in place already at a young age.  My primary reason for getting a perm was because I hated having to deal with the whole mess of drying my hair everyday.  I just wanted something that was low maintenance.  I wanted to wash and go as it were.  So I got my hair curled to accomplish this and create greater ease of life.  These days, I just keep my hair short enough (Of course there's less and less to deal with anyway) so the ease of caring for it is still pretty much intact.

A couple of weeks ago my son who is now almost 15, got a perm of his own.  I'm not sure if he wanted a perm for the same reasons I did.  I think he just thought it would be cool to have a "fro".  I think it looks pretty good on him, and he seems to like it.  It seems that at least for now, he is following in his dads footsteps, save for the fact that he doesn't have to go into an establishment that is obviously a place for girls.  If I don't have to go to someplace like that, maybe I should grow my hair out a bit and get another perm myself?  Hmmmmm? 

Green or Red?

This weekend my wife and I are spending 3 nights in Santa Fe New Mexico.  As we entered the state of New Mexico on Friday the sign displays a picture with green and red chile's and asks the simple question Green or Red?  New Mexico is quite well known for their red and green chile's, so much so that they want everyone entering their state to ask themselves this very important question.

Rose and I are here very prepared to partake of red and green chile's wherever we can get them, although at my age I can only handle so much before I need to pull out the bottle of tums.  Yesterday I had a mixture of both red and green ("Christmas") on my breakfast burrito, it was very good.  I have to admit though, I needed to have some veggie pizza last night to give my stomach a break.  I think today I will be back ready to eat some more of this New Mexican delicacy.

Get out from under the cloud

You can read my latest Wellspring blog here

Forget what is behind

Check out my thoughts on Philippians 3:13-14 here.