Protected: Pikes Peak Hike Group Photos

Pikes Peak Hike Photos

Introduction

As previously planned, we spent the weekend hiking Pikes Peak. The following are photos from our three day adventure.

Day 1 (August 25th)

We trekked seven miles to Barr Camp leaving Manitou Springs around 9:40am and reaching Barr Camp at about 2:40pm. The first three miles were really tough as they were all switchbacks. This, unfortunately, caused some blistering on Kate’s heels. Luckily, I had plenty of bandages and mole skin in the medkit to keep her patched up.

(click to view)

Day 2 (August 26th)

A little tired and sore from the day before we set out for a round trip hike from Barr Camp to Pikes Peak and back (12 miles). We left camp around 8:40am and reach Pikes Peak around 12:40pm. We didn’t start heading back down to Barr Camp until about 2:40pm. The hike was hard but a lot of fun and the views spectacular. We were back in camp around 5:40pm. I just want to say that the “16 Golden Stairs” are definitely not 16 nor are they golden!

(click to view)

Day 3 (August 27th)

We woke up early getting our fill of pancakes at the Barr Camp lodge, packed up the camp, and headed back down to Manitou Springs. We left at 8:30am and reached the trail head at about 11:10am.

(click to view)

Parting Thoughts

The three day hike up Pikes Peak was definitely not an easy journey but it was well worth it and I am glad we were able to conquer the mountain before season’s end.

Gnome Partition Editor

© Gnome Partition Editor

Introduction

The Gnome Partition Editor (a.k.a. GParted) is free, open source, software using the General Public License that allows one to manage partitions on a hard drive. I ended up using this software recently to fix some issues on my brother’s computer and thought I’d share some experiences.

Getting Started

The best way to get started is to click on the Downloads page and download the latest version of the Live CD ISO image. Once downloaded, simply burn the ISO to a CDROM disk and you are set.

Using GParted

Place the newly created GParted CD in your CDROM drive and reboot the computer (assuming you have set your CDROM as a bootable device in your BIOS). As GParted is loading, you will see a bunch of status messages eventually presenting you with a boot screen. While at this screen you can choose GParted to autoload the correct video settings for your machine (which might or might not work). In my case, I picked the first choice and then followed the on screen prompts for picking my video driver, keyboard, and language. You might have to experiment with picking the right option before you get it right. In my case, I eventually ended up using the “VESA” option which worked fine.

Once GParted is loaded, you get a nice graphical interface where you can delete, resize, and create new partitions on your hard drive. From this point, it is fairly self explanatory as to what you can and can not do. It looks like GParted supports the major operating systems such as Windows, Linux, etc. In my case, I was formatting my new partitions for NTFS.

Once you are done modifying your disk partitions, you can click on the red exit button and reboot your machine.

Caveats, Tips, and Tricks

• Partition Labels - Unfortunately, GParted does not allow you to label each partition that is created. You can only fix this once you have the operating system loaded.
• Number of Partitions - I was only able to create three partitions. Not sure if this was a Windows XP NTFS issue or not. I was also restoring my computer from a Ghost image so maybe that was the culprit.
• Partition Sizes - Should you have issues booting into Windows with a large, newly created, partition (say 60GB or more), you might want to create it as a smaller partition and then resize it, otherwise Windows will blue screen. Not sure if this is a Windows bug or a bug with GParted partition creation.

Parting Thoughts

I think the software has a few flaws but is handy to have around. In the past, I have used Partition Magic but if you are looking for something free, then this might be a good choice for you.

House Warming Party

Josh and Suzanne are having a house warming party this coming weekend for those who would like to attend. Here are the details:

• Date: August 18th, 2007 (Saturday).
• Time: 2pm, food will be ready around 4pm.
• Location: Details can be found here.
• Food & Beverage: There will be chicken, brauts, cole slaw, chips and dip, pasta salad, beans, watermellon, various beverages, etc. Feel free to bring what you want as well.

Be prepared to get wet as there will be some water games in the pool. Hope you can make it, if you are in the Phoenix area, that is.

Phoenix Trip Photos

As mentioned previously, I took a consulting job in Scottsdale, Arizona which required me to temporarily relocate. The following is a capture of a few of the locations that I traveled through on my way there starting on Tuesday (August 7th) and ending Wednesday (August 8th).

Jorgensen Park, Colorado

I stopped here for a late lunch. The park is located in Gunninson, Colorado just as you enter the town from the East.

(click to view)

It wasn’t long after I headed South from Gunninson that I had to put on rain gear and ride in and out of storms for the remainder of the afternoon. The weather was cool and pleasant so I had no complaints.

Lake City, Colorado

Located on Highway 149, I found a lot of campers here as well as people traveling by motor home and motorcycle. The town center had a few log cabins and mom and pop shops that seemed interesting. I definitely would like to come back and check this place out in more detail in the future.

(click to view)

Wolf Creek Pass, Colorado

This is one of many points of interest that one could stop at on Highway 160 on the way to Durango, Colorado. The first picture shows my location.

(click to view)

These were the last pictures I took for the day as the sun was soon to set. I was under the assumption that I could find easy lodging in Durango, Colorado but a summer fair and other events caused all hotels to be booked. This forced me to press on into Farmington, New Mexico where I was able to find lodging. This made for a long day as it was about 9:30pm when I checked into my hotel room.

Shiprock, New Mexico

Waking up the next morning, I left Farmington, New Mexico and traveled past Shiprock which can be seen for many miles in multiple directions.

(click to view)

This was the single most interesting sight to see on Highway 491. The last photo, however, depicts some of the lonely roads that I would be on for the next hundred miles and more as I headed into Arizona.

Conclusion

I arrived safe in Tempe, Arizona after traveling 852 miles in two days. Another great trip where I discovered a few more of scenic roads to, hopefully, be traveled again.

Phoenix Bound

I have accepted a two month consulting job with Studio One Media where I will be one of the lead developers working on a really interesting multimedia project. The details of which I am not able to discuss just yet.

This job, however, requires me to be located in Phoenix for the next couple of months where I will be couch surfing with family and friends. Never a dull moment it seems.

Map Details

The following illustrates the route I will be traveling today and tomorrow. I was very tempted to travel near Telluride since that is very beautiful country but I decided to stay further East since I have not traveled that way yet.

(click to view from left to right)

Trip Updates

I will be posting pictures and further updates when able but if anyone wants to be completely tuned in, I will be posting Twitter updates for gas stops, hotels, etc. from my phone. You can view my Twitter status or subscribe to my syndicated feed for additional details.

The motorcycle is gassed up and ready to roll. More details soon.