Just another beautiful day in Sedona!

     Just spent a fantastic day in ole Sandony getting to give my friend Allen from Durango a brief tour of the Supercrack Tower.  Allen and I have never had an opportunity to rope up together, even though he is married to my good friend Anna.  We've talked about it for quite some time but somehow, either due to the distance between Flagstaff and Durango, or other logistical restraints it just hasn't happened.  Anna and Allen had come to town several days ago but unfortunately Anna came down with a wicked stomach bug and hasn't been able to climb.  We had had plans to climb the Mace on Weds. but had to call it off and Allen ended up bouldering at the Anvils instead.  A great Sedona offering but not what people come to Sedona for.  People come for towers, and choss, and adventure, and amazing scenery, for this I was sure that the Super Crack Tower would not disappoint.

     I rolled into the Midgley Bridge parking lot at 0900 on the dot, just as A&A were piling out of their car. It was on track to be a beautiful day!  I was so excited to get to share our sandstone playground that I was already pointing out the routes and formations on the horizon, the curiously named Pointed Dome, Queen Vics, Moose's Butte, the Tea Pot.  Allen grinned and Anna clutched a roll of tp, the stomach bug was still with her.  We did a 180 and I pointed out the Acropolis, the tip of Tisha Spire, and our destination the Super Crack tower.  We fiddled around in the parking area getting our gear organized and packs packed while the dogs ran absolutely wild.   Once everything was situated we began our approach, really one of the easiest in Sedona, as you are following a well worn trail or streambed for the majority of the hike.  Having the opportunity to share one of my favorite areas with good friends allowed me to re-appreciate the beauty of the area, water trickled over the slick rock and occasionally sheets of ice could be seen in the creek bed.  It was cool, but not cold and you could feel the promise of warmer temps in the air.
     After about 30 mins of steady walking the Supercrack Tower came into view and I was able to point out our first route to Allen.  Several months back Dustin and I completed work on a new route we called Inception, a beautiful line that takes one to the top of the lower summit of the Supercrack Tower.  I had been able to free the crux pitch shortly after we put the line up but have been anxious to have some one else climb it and hear their opinion.  Allen was psyched, he's been spending quite a bit of time in Indian Creek and the splitter finger crack of the crux pitch was calling his name!  We made the final bushwhack up the gully and soon found ourselves at the base of the tower.  While we racked up for the climb Anna, still feeling out of sorts made her way to a nice sunny vantage point from which she would be able to watch Allen send.


     Allen and I made the initial slab traverse to the first anchors and got tied in.  Allen looked like he had some butterflies in his stomach, first real route in a new area and going for the onsight second ascent!  That would get me going as well!  Well Allen grabbed the gear and launched up the initial 5.9 hands/big hands pillar that leads to the base of the money pitch.  He made short work of the pitch and seemed to adjust to the soft Sedona sandstone very easily.  I joined him shortly at the belay and we sat there for a few minutes trying to decide if we should wait for the sun to hit the pitch or if he should just go for it.  It didn't take too long and impatience got the best of him.  As Anna lounged in the sun with a literal dog pile about her Allen re-sorted the rack and gave it hell!  He cruised the first half of the pitch, right through the awkward changing cracks section, fiddled in the hidden #2 placement and got to the base of the finger crack in no time.  After a brief pause and some shuffling of hands and feet Allen moved into the overhanging fingers and hung on tight and plugged and chugged his way through the crux.  He definitely was pumped when he finally pulled into the first pod and found himself at the first no hands rest, a funky knee thread/key hole lock.  After hanging out for a few and getting the circulation back to his fingers he made the final bouldery face climbing moves up to the belay ledge.  ONSIGHT!  Pretty impressive.  I  made my way up to him, turns out the finger crack is still hard for me,  and we sat on the ledge in the sun.  Him psyched to have sent a great pitch and me psyched to be able to share this route with him.  He eyeballed the third, un-freed aid, pitch curiously but we decided to descend and check on Anna and the dogs.
      We rapped quickly to the ground and were met by Anna and the hounds, all of whom were excited to see us!  We enjoyed a brief rest on the ground and then decided to climb the "Chossy Chimney" into thewindow and Allen would lead pitches 2 and 3 of the Windows Route.  I started up the chimney and soon discovered why it was called the "Chossy Chimney".  Soon I was covered with the fine dust of Sedona and looking at long run outs over marginal gear on crumbling rock.  I arrived at the Window unscathed and belayed Allen up to me.  The look on his face when he took in the Windows pitch was priceless.  He had seen pictures of the route in the Alpinist but up close the pitch is even more wild!  Always gung ho Allen grabbed the gear and after about 2 face moves began stemming like mad.  Such a unique climbing experience.  Allen again made short work of the pitch and was soon at the second belay calling to Anna through the small window/tunnel at the belay.
    

We paused for a brief moment and then Allen wrangled up the big cams we had hauled all the way up and set off onto the third pitch.  The third pitch of the Windows Route feels, to me, like old school Sedona.  Muddy OW for about 30 feet with a wild stopper move that almost sent Allen for the big whip.  Good thing he didn't because the piece below him was on its way to falling out.  Not only is the pitch OW but it also flares in the back, making a good placement difficult in a few sections.  He persevered though and soon was on top of Super Crack Tower.  I thrashed my way up and we savored the summit and the beautiful late January temps.  We didn't get a summit shot but we did get a hanging belay foot shot at the second belay.  Soon we were back in the Window and Allens last task was to lead "Walk the Plank" the technically easy traverse Mark G and I put up, that allows you to get back to your packs.  Technically easy but before its lone bolt appeared more than one strong climber backed off.  We were back at the packs, and dogs, and Anna within 20 mins.  (Poor Anna, still felt rugged after a full day of lounging in the sun).  We packed up our bags and were hiking out in no time, already talking about possible trips to Zion and other routes that A&A should do while they were in Sedona.
     It was a great day in Sedona spent with an old friend and a new friend and climbing partner.  For the first time roping up with Allen it was a fantastic outing.  Hopefully next time we'll get more pitches in and have more amazing adventures.  Unfortunately Anna was still sick this morning and she and Allen made the decision to head back to Durango.  Hopefully they make it back soon because I look forward to getting out with them again soon.

A beautiful day at the Unsung Wall

     I found myself lucky enough to enjoy a cup of Joe this morning with an old friend, Will Cobb (probably the nicest guy around).  It was good to catch up with Will and get a progress update on his recent shoulder injury... which came right on the heels of his ACL injury.  Will is a hell of a guy, who I first met years and years ago when I was working at the front desk of the Wall Aquatic Center.  We quickly realized that we had a mutual passion for climbing and well after some memorable (mis)adventures I consider myself lucky to call ole Willie C. a close friend.  But I digress.  After coffee I made my way home and began running down the list of usual suspects to see who would be up for getting out for a bouldering session.  However, the list of usual suspects is dwindling... Greg was out galavanting (theoretically penciled in for next weekend, we'll see if he remembers), Bustin Dustin is off to Cali, Gordo is starting a brewery or some nonsense in N.C (I think) and its a bit of a drive for him, JJ is still recovering from an epic bout of epistaxis, and well I was starting to get frustrated when low and behold Carracuda called.  My day was set!

     Carracuda aka Cara Lawrence is most likely my oldest friend in Flagstaff, we met my first week at NAU back in 96 and have been good friends ever since.  I consider it my good luck that she blew back into town last winter and has tamed her gypsy ways for the time being.  Not only is she a good friend but she is also the first person that I ever laced up the ole rock shoes with and was there when I did my first boulder problem, EVER!  I had just come back from Ireland and had some left over traveling money.  I went to the ole Peace Surplus looking for a pair of hiking boots and walked out with shiny pair of too small Boreal Stingers.  I had never done any rock climbing before but something about those black and yellow lace ups just called my name.  Well Cara was the only person in town I knew that also had a pair of climbing shoes and soon, armed with a tattered copy of "A Cheap Way to Die", a ziplock bag of chalk, and an old hand towel to clean the dirt of our feet we made our way out to Buffalo Park.  

     I look back at those days with great fondness, we'd tromp out there and marvel over the "tiny" hold that "they" were using.  "They" were a mysterious clan of Uber strong climbers who we never actually saw but apparently could crimp on the tiniest of holds and were capable of inhuman feats of strength.  Whenever we would try a problem and get spit off of it we would mutter that the "they" could do it.  Over the weeks that we bouldering at BP we slowly got stronger and braver and crossed paths with more "official" climbers.  I did my first boulder problem and was hooked, my ego took a swift kick in the nuts after Cara fired the Centerpiece sans crashpad...  ignorance is bliss....  Soon after we started climbing together I blew my knee out playing soccer and was out of comission for quite some time, but my appetite had been whetted and the course of my future drastically altered.  Cara however drifted in and out of climbing and as of recent has been using her harness to get pulled by her sled dog...

    Anyhow back to today.  A while back I headed up to a small band of limestone just south of Booze Pig which I've taken to calling the Unsung wall after the Slaid Cleaves album.  Several years back Greg Prescott and I had stumbled upon an intimidating roof crack that tops out around 20ft and has an gutwrenching landing.  About a year after finding that roof with Greg I went out with my friend Anna and got the FA, calling it Breakfast in Hell, but on a recent trip out it got the best of me and my partner!  There are a handful of other lines on the wall and with Cara in tow we headed out for a leisurely day of cleaning problems and hopefully sending some new lines.

     After re finding the wall I gave her the brief tour and immediately noticed a large, dorm fridge size, block with fracture lines all around it, right below what looks to be a good line.  Well, luckily I had come prepared and we set about prying at the damn thing with the WonderBar.  Turns out that a WonderBar is just as good as a hammer when it comes to smashing a finger tip as I quickly found out when the bar slipped and destroyed the tip of my finger.  Now my middle finger and thumb match with nasty bruises. 

 While I recovered from my pain induced nausea Cara pried away on the block. 

  Good thing we did because after only a little work the whole think came peeling off.  Leaving behind a whole mess of lizards!  I had totally forgotten the last time I was up at this wall I had disturbed a pile of lizards behind a different loose flake.  We sprang into action, or at least I did (turns out of all things Cara is afraid of lizards).  I scooped up most of them, about 50, and deposited them into the bag Cara was holding.  We then transplanted them to what we thought might be another suitable crack, away from the main cliff.  Once the lizards were situated we returned to the base of the wall and Cara got to work cleaning the area where the block had been and I built a mediocre landing pad with the fallen rocks.  In the process of cleaning Cara discovered a huge nasty centipede(?) which she transplanted to the same crack as the lizards.  Those things freak me out!

     After cleaning most of the dirt and debris off the line we both threw a couple tries at the line, Gospel Moment, to no avail.  It'll go but it will be nice to have a couple more pads, its pretty damn tall.  We then moved down and Cara stemmed up Call it Sleep, probably her first real boulder problem since the old days.  She then tried Broke Down, which was probably a bit higher than she was comfortable with.  It probably didn't help that her shoe has a huge hole in the toe.  When I said "man you need a new pair of shoes look at that hole" her reply was "What hole?"  I put up a new line Race Car Joe and then we cracked into the sixer of PBR we had brought with us.  We sat and looked over Lower Lake Mary and laughed about "the old days".  As it got a bit later we headed over to Cold and Lonely a problem I had filmed myself climbing (and falling) off of earlier this winter.  We did a little "trimming" and with Cara on the camera and after a couple false goes I fired it which while it wasn't the hardest problem ever sure felt good.  That is until I grabbed a hidden cactus at the top!  My hands have really been taking a beating lately!  We sat for a while longer and then figured we better head back down the hill.  Before we loaded the dogs in the truck we let them take a run down at the lake and well Mariah was so determined to get the stick I threw she fell through the ice and couldn't get out.  Much to Cara's great enjoyment this resulted in me stripped down to my boxers breaking a path through the ice out to my hound and dragging her back to shore.  Let me tell you even if its a nice day out beneath 3 inches of ice that water is cold.  That was the second time of the day I thought I was going to vomit!  Sorry no pictures!  So that was it the day, probably not the most exciting to read about but it sure was fun to experience.  

How Teddy Roosevelt Dropped the ball

     So, I have been lucky enough to have spent the past two days galavanting in Sedona.  The weather has been superb, not cold, but not too hot.  No wind, just beautiful mild days.  One day spent climbing with Mark G., always an adventure and always a way to embark on my Total Mental Devestation, and the second day was spent running with the dog.  Amazing, but on both days I found myself privately berating Teddy Roosevelt!  Now some of you may be wondering Teddy who? and others likely are thinking well Dean has definitely been reading too much Ron Paul, but let me explain myself.
    As you may remember TR was our 26th president, he took office after McKinley was assassinated and was the youngest president at age 42.  He was an advocate of progressivism, fostered the square deal, walked softly and carried a big stick, he won the Nobel Prize, rode with the Rough Riders, started the Bull Moose Party, was shot in the chest and still gave a speech, was known to carry a revolver, contracted and later died from malaria... but none of these are what I found myself thinking of as I wound my way through the red rocks.  No, my thoughts drifted to his never ending advocacy for the environment and the wild spaces of America.  TR placed 230 million acres under federal protection, set aside more land for national parks and preserves than all of his predecesors combined.  He was a close friend of Gifford Pinchot and John Muir, and the list goes on and on.  He declared the Grand Canyon a national monument, one of the initial steps of it being declared a National park... but he missed Sedona!  This is where my disappointment with ole Teddy arises.  He traveled to the Grand Canyon and gave a great speech in 1903 right around the time that Sedona was beginning to be developed (Sedona recieved its first Postal Station in 1902, thanks to the Schnebly family).  How, oh how did TR one of our greatest environmental presidents miss the opportunity to save Sedona, turning it into a National Park?
     Mark and I had a great discussion/daydream about what it might look like if Sedona was a National Park, and I've been daydreaming a bit on my own.  Picture this.  You are driving south from Flagstaff on 89 and as you arrive at the switchbacks you are hailed by a Parkie complete with the flat hat.  They hand you the requisite park service map as you flash your golden eagle pass (yes you bought one because you're a local and its the right thing to do).  You wind your way down the switchbacks and are overwhelmed with the views of Oak Creek canyon.  The boundaries of the park basically run from the switchbacks, to the top of Schnebly Hill, to where the Village of Oak Creek now is, to oh right about Paige Springs fish hatchery, out and around the peripheries of Secret, Boynton and Long canyons, around Dry Creek and Sycamore, who knows how far up West Fork, right up to the rim again.  Where the "downtown" Sedona area now is lies the Sedona equivelent of Curry Village, lodging, shopping, permit offices etc... and then poof theres not much at all.  Feeder roads take one to multiple trailheads, perhaps the pink jeeps are still allowed, but operate more in a shuttle capacity. There are shuttles that will take you to all the trailheads, or if you get a permit you can drive your personal vehicle (much like Zion).  Ed Abbeys vision of loaner bicycles for park visitor transportation is realized.  And air traffic is greatly restricted, much like Grand Canyon.  And best of all no multi million homes sully your view as you climb, bike, run, ride your horse, hike, camp, swim, or perhaps even paraglide(since the rim is not in the park you can launch from above and land in the park- a loophole I just invented).  Ahhhh can you see it, can you feel it?  I can and as I continue to hike and climb and bike and run this dream will be in the corner of my mind...

TBD...Total Body Devestation!

Thanks to everyone that read the last post.  I'll try to continue to add to it as the mood strikes me.  I thought I would write about something a little more current today...

So, traditionally I have not been a big subscriber to "New Years Resolutions", but this year I thought I would try something a little different, not resolutions per se but rather life goals (as cheesy as that sounds).  I have to blame (or credit) my partner on the ambulance, Brian, for unknowingly planting the seed for this plan.  We were discussing something fitness related when we hatched a plot that rather quickly grew and grew and grew until the climax was to be us fighting in a cage match.  Now I know you are scratching your head wondering what the heck kind of plot would end with Dean fighting in a cage?  Well here was the basic gist of it all.  I was curious what I would look like and feel like if I gained 20lbs, we laughed at the thought until Brian wondered what he would look like if he dropped 20lbs.  The it hit us... we would both weigh 185.  Holy hell this could be epic.  We built a game plan which would involve utilizing the workout room at the station and get advice from another paramedic, Isabelle, on how we could each attain our goal. And the lynch pin of the whole operation was that all three of us would be at the same station for 4 months starting Jan 1, 2011!  Iz and Brian were to be partners and I was working with another medic, Kerri, who also was on board to get into better shape.  We were fired up.  Then I mentioned this master plan to some fellow climbers thinking they would probably want to join the challenge...  not so much.  Instead they looked at me in horror and said "what is that going to do to your climbing?"  OMG (pardon the abbreviation but I thought it looked funny) my climbing, the one constant activity in my life for the past ten years... back to the drawing board...  New plan for Dean, get strong and if I gain muscle weight so be it but no longer would getting bigger be the focus.  Whew.
     So as Jan 1 drew closer and closer I started to wonder "how am I going to get stronger"?  Then that little light bulb went on in my head and I remembered a conversation with a fellow climber who had told me of a training facility he simply called the Hurt Locker.  Hmmm... time to do some research.  Turns out the Hurt Locker is actually Paragon Athletics, run by Ryan Whited.  Originally his garage or a shed or something like that he has finally branched out and rented a small warehouse thats now his new facility.  I gave him a call and he was psyched to have me over and show me what he was doing.
     As I thought more about my plan to get physically stronger, I wondered if that might be a bit of a hollow goal, seeing as the body is essentially the shell.  So then my plan became more challenging, I decided that my goal for 2011 or actually my life would be to become physically stronger, mentally stronger, and emotionally stronger.  While more difficult to demonstrate or quantify than physical strength, without the other two aspects of ones being strong what are we?
   On to the TBD or total body devestation!(again I just thought the abbreviation looked funny!) So I somewhat eased into this plan and on New Years Eve my friend Cara and I drove to Snowbowl at around 4 pm and started hiking up bowl side.   We almost reached the catwalk, but it was too damn cold and we had places to be right?  But, we did snag the absolute last run of 2010.  The next day was fairly easy with some cross country skiing with my close friends Greg and Mariah.  Not too strenuous but still I was outside and it felt great.  The next couple of days I kind of puttered around, bouldering at the climbing gym and getting outdoors with the dog.  Then the phone call came, it was Ryan, he wanted to know when I could come by and we settled on two days down the road when I got off work.  As I drove to Paragons gym, I wasn't entirely sure what I was getting into, did he want to show me the gym?  discuss training philosophy?  come up with a plan?  I pulled into the lot and walked in.  Its small, but not claustrophobic.  Theres no big stacks of weights, actually not really any free weights at all.  On the walls are a variety of odd instruments, skateboards, a keg, kettlebells, chains, a firehose... hmmm...  We small talked for a bit and then he looked at me, "do you want to work out or what?"...  "uhh yeah?  my stuffs in the truck..."  After  came back in and changed Ryan handed me a jump rope, no problem I can jump rope, after about 100 I was feeling pretty good, then he handed me a jumprope on steroids...  I'm not sure but it probably weighed 15lbs and I promptly hit myself in the head with it... Ryan just grinned...
     After the workout I felt a little dazed, but I was sold, I want more of this.  As I left Ryan warned, "be careful you might feel a little compromised today."  Odd statement right? Until I got home and realized, "crap, I am compromised!"  Nonetheless I put out a flurry of phone calls and found at least one other person willing to suffer!
     The next day I felt like I had been hit by a truck.   Even the arches of my feet were sore.  But damn it felt good.  That shift at work we didn't get a workout in.  The station is being painted and is sort of chaotic, but did spend about 40-45 mins swinging a sledge hammer, chipping away the 3-4 inch thick ice dam in the driveway of the station.  The next day I was still sore, but got the dog out for a walk and did a half hearted session at the climbing gym.  Friday, another easy session at the gym, still sore and then a message from Katie O seeing if I wanted to hike up bowl side with her.  Sure, what the hell, she was doing some last minute training for Acongagua and well I'm trying to get in shape.  Somehow, I didn't have a full picture of the plan, or snowshoes, or mountaineering boots, or poles, or a concept of "what goes up must come down".  Heck I was just along for the ride.  We ran into Whitey in the parking lot and he skinned up with us.  It was all going well until we hit the last section before the catwalk, Whitey advised me not to hike the actual bowl but a steeper section where he thought it might not be as slippery and I could get better purchase with my non-mountaineering boots.  As I headed up I stole a last glance down and saw the Cat working its way up, all I could think of was slipping and becoming a human toboggan and meeting the Cat operator in a very unpleasant manner.  HoHum onward and upward.  It got steeper and steeper and every once in a while I would post hole up to my waist.  But I eventually made it to the top and enjoyed beers, brownies, and hot chocolate with Kate and Whitey.  Then the descent.  Not really easier or less scary then going up.  But hey we made it.  Oh yeah it was dark dark and we forgot our headlamps.  At least Whitey was prepared and patient!
     The next morning I lay in bed wondering if that smell was me or the dog when I received a text from Iz, "you coming to free Saturday".  Once a month Crossfit Flagstaff hosts a free saturday class.  I turned off the phone.  Then I groaned and rolled out of bed.  Wow my gluteus maximus was sore.  As I drove to Crossfit my phone rang, DKish, looking for a climbing partner, this afternoon at the Pit, sure no problem.  I hobbled into Crossfit and promptly got annihilated.  Thanks Mike and Lisa.  Then home for some bacon and granola and then the Pit.  Not a huge day, not even a moderate day but at the end of it I could barely lift my arms over my head.  Yesterday was not much better, on a steady diet of ibuprofen and Zyflamend combined with copious amounts of water I groaned my way through the shift.
     This morning I awoke feeling a bit better, still stiff in the shoulders but not debilitated.  I drove to Paragon and sat in the parking lot.  Ryan pulled in a big smile on his face.  We had to wait a few for Ryan Stuber to arrive but he showed up fired up and ready to go.  Unfortunately our third member bailed     but what can you do, (nickname the Pinche!).  Ryan put us through an awesome workout that made me forget my sore shoulders, laugh with disbelief, and feel like I was going to puke my guts out.  I guess next time I have to work harder.  Stuber and I scheduled our next three sessions and the season of TBD continues!  (If anyone is interested in working out with us, we're looking for 1-2 other guys that are down to put in hard work and get stronger, we'll just have to work out the schedule.)
     So, we'll see how this all goes, I'm fired up and excited to put in some hard work.  Next will be TMD and TED.  Just kidding I'm not sure you can train those aspects in the same way!  Perhaps though...
    

The Tipping Point

I've been meaning to put this down for quite some time now, so please indulge me as I attempt to recount my Haitian experience.  As many of my friends know I spent 2 weeks working in a tent hospital in Haiti last spring.  Prior to signing up for the trip and departing I had discussed with friends and co-workers my desire to travel and give back to the community at large, utilizing my skills as a paramedic and former educator.  It had seemed to simply be a pipe dream and then suddenly I found myself on an airplane flying above the ocean towards a country I knew next to nothing about...  As we winged towards the darkened city of Port au Prince I looked around at the others on board and looked into myself, wondering what the hell am I doing?  Then it dawned on me, I had no idea what I was doing, no altruistic desire to "do good", no religious obligations, no clear picture of why I had signed up for this trip.  All I knew was that I had felt a compulsion to volunteer and now I was letting myself follow that invisible path that leads one through their life.
     The plane circled the darkened airfield and I did not feel nervous or apprehensive, only intrigued and curious as to what lay ahead.  I looked around, into the faces of my fellow volunteers and it dawned on me that this must be what army recruits look like on their way to basic training.  Our clothes were clean, we were all showered, relatively well rested, well fed, and excited, we were fresh.  One volunteer sitting near me was returning and looked over and passed on the most valuable piece of information that I would receive on that trip, "Don't fill your water at the main spigot, go to the silver bullet, its better."  As with most sage advice this was cryptic and easilly dismissed until several days later.
     The plane touched down and we all piled out onto a darkened tarmac, and an organized chaos ensued.  We shuffled through the dark and dimly lit customs area with no clear direction and then people began piling into cars that were pulling up, filling to the brim with passengers and then screeching into oblivion.    I tried to keep track of the few people from Flagstaff that I knew but then I was piled on top of strangers and whisked off to the hospital.
    We rolled into the gravel lot that was the driveway of the hospital and we all piled out of the car and looked dazedly at the array of tents in front of us.  With little time to adjust to the new settings we were directed to the main volunteer sleeping tent, which was the size of perhaps a circus tent with row upon row of narrow cots lining the center and encircling the perimeter.  Tattered mosquito netting draped over the cots and scraps of trash and other detritus blended with the mud and gravel of the floor.  Over head bare bulbs illuminated the interior as we tried to find the ideal cot.
  Upon finding a suitable sleeping cot I exited the tent looking for the other ER personnel, Jamey Kreun, PJ Lingley, and Becca Sacora.  A tall guy came running down one of the wooden plankways towards the sleeping tent shouting for an ER doc.  I told him that we hadn't brought an ER doc, but that I was a medic and there were several more ER staff around somewhere.  He looked disgusted, or perhaps frustrated as he grabbed me and headed towards the ER...
    (What follows are the few journal entries that I made while in Haiti exactly as they were written in my journal, punctuation and all.)
May 1, 2010
     After many delays landed in Haiti and literally hit the ground running.  Not 10mins in camp and through and through GSW, followed by 5 other pts. who would be deemed critical or at least urgent trauma stateside.  Now in tent under mosquito net.  7a.m. will come fast.


May 2, 2010 Haiti
     Woke at 5 a.m. because someone was one hour off!  Camp quite until 0750, just after morning brief.  2 GSW arrived at gate.  One a thief who shot a man and was in turn shot.  The man shot by thief x-rayed and quickly moved to diff. unit.  Thief had been stabilized and moved to diff. unit where police collected him.  Last seen in back of pick up.

Steady flow of usual ER pts. until truck arrives with 8 y.o. girl who had been hit by a vehicle.  RT degloved from mid calf to foot w/fx.  Both arms fx.  Mandible fx w/avulsion.  Probable skull fx.  For 3 hrs worked to stabilize, 2 burr holes drilled to some improvement.  Pt. temp spikes to 105F neuro called from somewhere?  Arrives 1 hr later pt. not viable and aunt informed.  At same time woman comes in in active labor.  I find no pulse in child and death declared.(girl hit by vehicle)  PJ, JT, and I place child in body bag and dead transporters called.  I walk across to the other tent and see the delivery of child.  Life is a cycle.

  Must remember to drink.  Heat is stifling but bearable.  This evening shower was amazing.  Torrential rain storm ER flooded.  Water drips from everywhere and rises towards the ankles.  This is our first day.  This is Haiti 5 months after.

     
May 4
     Late evening of May 2 woke to screaming that pt. tent was on fire.  Entire camp mobilized and evacuated all pts.  Tent full of smoke from overhead lights catching fire.  Minimal damage to structure yet all pts outdoors until area secured and then all moved into one tent w/assistance from Army.  2 deaths due to inability to continue care. 

 In morning camp in disarray but spirits up.  People exhausted but pt. care continued to be as good as possible.  Fellow staff is amazing pts. are amazing.  ED shut down and used as ICU.  One pt. coded, very frustrating to watch as a Medic, to many people wth no direction or leader.  It is still before 9 a.m.  Temperature increases.  Unbearable in ED/ICU.  Everyone drenched with sweat.  Haitian staff is working hard.  Finally decision made and Ortho tent appropriated and new ICU made.  A/C everyone feels better.  Got to go for helicopter ride w/pt.  Hill country is amazing.  German pilot hilarious!  Med student pukes!  On return ED still closed air of relief.  Staff seems calm.  Long night drinking gatorade/vodka.  Beautiful night.  Good people.  Miss home but immersed in this time.  Wake up early on 4th ED/triage open one of first pts critically ill hypotensive, tachy, in pain, abdomen rigid.  Don't know why.  Dying no facilities to treat him here.  Transfered to other facility.  Dies en route.  Several pregnant women transfered.  Many pts. seen.  Never has "working" been so fun.  Evening at Mango Mango and mango stew(?)  Very good.  Dominoes.  RN passes out, over analyzed, too many people but good to see the concern.  Probably didn't need the neuro consult!  Another nice night.  Another late night!
This was my last journal entry before I lost track of time and the concept of journaling.  I will continue to update this post with more memories as they come.  Thanks for reading.  Dean.

Well here we go...

So apparently about a year ago I set up this page and never actually posted anything, well what the heck is a blog for if not to post? Rhetorical question really, its all about Ego right? A venue for those folks who have maximized their Facebook page and are in search of another venue... Perhaps... but as I sat googling something or other I stumbled across my friend Jason Henries "blog" (don't ask what I was looking for in the first place cause it escapes me right now.) But, suddenly I found myself reading about Jason's recent attempt at completing the "Hole to Hump," an epic endeavor and a mental and physical challenge of great proportions. As I read I thought to myself, holy hell Jason is tough, and you know maybe I should start journaling my adventures and thoughts as I travel through this life, my thoughts along the way as it were. So here it is, my journal, thoughts and experiences, pontifications and perhaps rants and raves. Take it or leave it, this is what I've got...