mooses!

First grizzleys, now moose! Colorado Division of Wildlife now says there are moose near me. One was spotted on Rampart Range road, an area I run in quite often.

woohoo yet again!

The Gazette reported today that Grizzleys were spotted in the Collegiate Peaks wilderness, not too far from my house! And it was in the Independence Pass area, where Melissa and I were camping last week. Another great reason to get off the roads and into the woods!

Read about it on this blog.

woohoo!

After a good nights sleep and a big breakfast at BK, my BAC when I reported to work was .074. Musta been a good concert!

for the record...

I wish Terrell Owens would have suceeded.

Colorado birth control

I read in the paper today that Colorado state law provides amnesty and anonymity to parents who leave babies three days old or younger at a hospital or fire station. Not that a morally upstanding person such as myself would ever consider pre-marital sex, but I'm gonna hafta remember that law, just in case!

Tim Reynolds @ the Black Sheep!

Woo-muthafuckin'-hoo! Tix are $12 at the door. Pre-lube at Knob Hill!

Jack Quinn's

Another Tuesday night, another quick run followed by cheap Bristol! Should be a good one tonight too. We get QnA honored as the only perfect attendance dude, $100 Fuck gets her shirt, and, of course, we get the NASCOCK excuse-du-jour for why he can't drink.

Anyways, Lauren, the only chick ever to beat me in the beer mile (not Social Retard, FYI) wanted to see how Bungholio (the founder of JQRC) spends his free time. Well, he wears a dress, and he sips peach schnopps!

mark your calendars!

On April 14th, in celebration of the 100th CKH3 trail, Kimchi mismanagement will bring you the Platte Road Challenge! The following bars are on the list:

Arctic Brewery
Calamity Jan's
The Putting Green Lounge
Baby Doll's
The Wagon Wheel
The Black Sheep
Knob Hill Lounge
Irish House IV
Skybox Lounge
TexMex

Yes, folks, that's ten bars in less than a mile! And it's possible we'll add two more bars for an even dozen.

More details will be announced later. Just wanted to give everyone a heads up so they can arrange travel.

more red dress pics

Lowlife's red dress pics can be seen here.

happy birthday!

Hundred Buck Fuck turns a year older today!

more red dress pics

Q-n-A's red dress pics are here.

Happy 21st birthday...

...to the Reading Hash! Proudly hashing in Pennsylvania's most dangerous city since 1985.

Their GM has a pretty cool hashing blog too. Worth checking out just for the skirt pic and the Brandi Chastain post.

Keep Austin Weird

All yunz Austinites should go read the Las Manitas post on this blog. Good to see someone carrying on the fight. Though I will admit I took off my Keep Austin Weird bumper sticker in protest of Runtex having budweiser at the KAW 5K. I actually have a Runtex shirt with the "KAW" logo on the back, and next time I go camping that shirt will be thrown into the fire.

P2H4 Red Dress

Good times at the Pikes Peak red dress hash yesterday! Even had an impromptu beer check at my house, from which I carried a box of wine on the rest of the trail. Don't remember much after that. Good stuff.

My pics are here.

Phacial Kondom's pics are here.

warmin' up for the Red Dress hash...

winter workout #1

Bailed from work a bit early yesterday and headed over to the Incline. Was raining pretty steady at the bottom, but it was obvious the rain was gonna turn to snow shortly after I started climbing.

Sure enough, about halfway up the Incline the snow came. Wasn't laying on the ground yet, but it was covering the plants pretty good.

Made it up the Incline in 36 minutes, not too bad since I hadn't done it in a while. Was feeling pretty decent, so I decided to go play in the snow a bit more with a trek up Rocky Mountain. Continued up the Barr Trail to No Name Creek (which is the pic at the top for those familiar with the trail) and then began the bushwack up to the peak.

Had a great time! Lots of snow at this elevation. I was soaken wet very quickly, but luckily it wasn't windy so I was able to keep warm.

Rocky Mountain isn't a difficult climb, but the last 15 feet or so are somewhat technical. Especially when covered with snow. As I was hugging a rock I wondered, "if I were to fall and bash my skull or break a leg, I wonder how long it would be before someone came along and found me." Luckily I didn't have to find out.

Total time to the peak of Rocky Mountain was just over 80 minutes. Total round trip was a little over two hours.

Took a few pics, they can be seen here.

The view of Pikes Peak from Rocky Mountain can be seen here.

You know you're a hasher if...

Got this from an Albany (NY) hasher, thought I'd pass it on...


1. You see colored splotches on the ground and start following them just to see where they go.

2. You realize your performance during any physical activity is greatly enhanced by the consumption of beer.

3. You are male and own a multitude of dresses.

4. You have scars from PI.

5. Half your tshirts are too obscene to wear in public.

6. You know the reason behind that anthrax scare in your neighborhood.

7. You can't remember the real words to "Take Me Out to the>Ballgame."

8. You really do whip it out at the ballgame.

9. You can navigate the woods, trails, and streams in your town better than the roads.

10. Ivy Block and/or Technu permanently reside in your backpack.

11. Your dinner on Thursday nights consists of Yuengling, Oreos, and Goldfish crackers.

12. You used to work in Chicago in this old department store... but you're too afraid to tell anyone why you're no longer employed there.

no surprise here

You Are Olde English

Drinking is more than a hobby for you. It's your favorite drug.When you drink, you want to get wasted. As quickly and cheaply as possible.Looking back on your best times drinking... well, you don't remember them at all.You may be a few brain cells short, but you still can chug a 40!

What's" Your Beer Personality?

I am part of the problem

I drove to work every single day this week. I could offer all kinds of lame excuses as to why, but the bottom line is that I was lazy. Especially disheartening is the fact that the only reason I drove on Thursday was because I didn't want to be cold and wet. Some of the money I wasted on gas will be used to kill American troops in the middle east. Shame on me.

snow report

I think skiing and snowboarding are total poser activities, despite what the mountain dew ads say, but I know a lot of skiiers read my blog. So here's the latest on the snowfall:

Breckenridge, 8 inches at base, 12 inches at top
Vail, 11 inches at top
Beaver Creek, 5 inches at base, 8 inches at top
Keystone, 5 inches
Forecast: More than 8 inches predicted for Friday night into Saturday morning.

I may jump on one of the KILO bus trips to Monarch this year. Then while everyone hits the slopes I'll hang out in the hot tub and get shitty drunk! Woohoo!

let it snow!

Front range is currently getting it's first significant snowfall of the season. Colorado Springs low lying areas are currently snow-free, but it looks as if anything over 7,000 feet is getting a white blanket. Should make my Manitou Springs workouts a lot more interesting! And for you ski bums, some of the CO resorts are planning on opening next week.

Go Buccos!

Who are these people, and what have they done with the Pittsburgh Pirates?

For those keeping track at home, the Pirates have won five in a row. We've also climbed out of last place, passing the Cubs, and may very well pass the Brewers soon. We've won 15 of our last 21 games, and are 35-27 since the all star break. The 'stros and Cards are lucky the season is gonna end soon, or we'd catch them too!

more Invihash pics

Q-n-A's final batch of Invihash pics can be seen here.

Pony Express

Despite the fact that I was severly hungover from the previous night's Kimchi hash, I got up super early on Sunday for the Pony Express Trail Run, a 15 mile loop around Rampart Resovoir put on by the Pikes Peak Road Runners.

Never been on this trail before, and what a great trail it was! Mostly non-technical singletrack, very runnable. And some of the best views of Pikes Peak I've ever seen!

I ended up running 2:10:30. Not blazing by any means but it was a good training run. It was pretty cold with an annoying wind, and I lost a lot of time at one point there I had to empty some rocks out of my shoe. My fingers were so cold I had trouble untying and tying my sneaks.

Finishers awards were pretty cool, a rusty horseshoe with a tiny plaque on it. Not bad for $6.

Jack Quinn's

Had a special visitor to Jack Quinn's last night. Like most Austin hashers, the 5K distance was too far for Happy to run, but he did drink with the best of 'em.

Congrats also to Q-n-A, who is the final remaining perfect attendance dude for the Quinn's running club.

kimchi hash

"I don't like the Kimchis. They drink too much." -Meatgazer

Pretty bad when other hashers avoid your kennel because of too much booze. But maybe Meat has a point, as evidenced by the latest Kimchi pics.

GO STEELERS!

Three football fans were on their way to watch the games when one noticed a foot sticking out of the bushes by the side of the road. They stopped and discovered a beautiful nude female dead drunk.

Out of respect and propriety, the Steeler fan took off his cap and placed it over her right breast. The 49ers fan took off his cap and placed it over her left breast. Following their lead, the Browns fan took off his cap and placed it over her crotch.

The police were called and when the officer arrived, he conducted his inspection First, he lifted up the Steelers cap, replaced it, and wrote down some notes.

Next, he lifted the 49ers cap, replaced it, and wrote down some more notes.

The officer then lifted the Browns cap, replaced it, then lifted it again, replaced it, lifted it a third time, and replaced it one last time.

The Browns fan was getting upset and finally asked, "What are you, a pervert or something? Why do you keep lifting and looking, lifting and looking?"

"Well," said the officer, "I am simply surprised. Normally when I look under a Browns hat, I find an asshole."

How much for a drink?

Good article on alcoholism on the front page of the Colorado Springs Gazette. They say that everyone in the U.S. will spend around $620 a year for the consequences of hardcore boozers. Hell, I'll spend more than that just at the Knob Hill Lounge, and beer is super cheap there.

Anywho, I don't know that alcoholism is any worse in the Springs than anywhere else I've lived, but it's definitely more visible here. Especially now that I work around parolees, most of whom are alcoholics on top of other drugs, I often wonder what pushes someone over the edge. I drink a ton, but I never not been able to function in the real world. In fact, despite getting shitty drunk last night and not remembering a chunk of the evening, I still got up at 5:30AM for a fifteen mile trail run. I'll probably get drunk again tonight, yet I'm sure I won't miss work tomorrow. I would love to know why I'm able to do this yet someone else wouldn't be able to get over that hump and return to the bottle despite knowing that it's ruining their life.

There were some interesting quotes in the story. The article follows "David," a heavy boozer who was in the cycle of detox, rehab, and relapse. One of David's nuggets of wisdom: "It's good to be sober and go to church and all that stuff. But it's also good to be drunk, and pick up a chick and go to a hotel. There's two sides to the coin." This coming from a guy who would drink a pint of vodka before he got out of bed in the morning.

Some good stats from the article too.

-Colorado ranks 5th in per capita consumption of alcohol. Only Alaska, Delaware, Nevada, and Wisconsin are higher. This was before I moved here though.

-Colorado Springs police department made 2,428 DUI arrests in 2005. 550 were repeat offenders (22.6% of the total).

-Colorado spends six cents out of every $100 spent on substance abuse on prevention, treatment, and research. The other $99.94 goes to mop up the messes that drunkards leave behind.

-There are 744 liquor licenses in Colorado Springs. 118 are for liquor stores. 441 are for bars/restaurants.

The full article can be read here.

Sherman and a bitter end to the climbing season

Had a fairly ambitious plan for what I figured would be the final weekend for climbing. Unfortunately, Mom Nature wasn't hearing any of it.

Did manage to bag Mt. Sherman (14,036 ft). But to do so I had to take shelter not once but twice in old, abandoned mining buildings. Seems the snow came to Colorado one week too early. And it was a snow/hail mix, and the driving wind caused the hail to pelt off my face, which got annoying really quick.
Almost didn't make this one. There's a long ridge you hafta traverse to bag the peak, and the wind was howling and the visibility was super low. Plus, it was freezing cold and I was just plain miserable. But I kept on, and eventually got to the top. I usually spend a good hour on the peak of a 14er, but I was there just long enough to down my PBR today. And I had planned on doing two 13ers on this hike, but I had to bail due to the weather. On the hike back down the ridge, I was knocked over by the wind. Pretty scary.

After escaping the crappy weather it was off to Alma, where I proceeded to drink in every bar in town. Yup, all two of 'em. The South Park Saloon and Alma's Only Bar (which is right next door). Might have the pub crawl there for CoTex.

The weather actually started getting a bit better, or maybe I was just getting drunk, and I thought the chances were decent for the planned Quandry Peak night hike. Met up with Melissa, Just Susan, and Hundred Buck Fuck at the trailhead around 8PM. Beautiful night, and I really thought I'd finally beat Quandry. But once we got above treeline the wind was awful. I've heard many stories about the wind on Quandry, including hikers literally getting blown off the mountain, so not too far above treeline I made the decision to turn around. I think I'm gonna save Quandry for my final 14er, that mountain seems to have my number and I should lay low for a while so it forgets about me.

Susan and HBF had to bolt back to Colo Springs, but Melissa and I were off to the Collegiate Peaks for an attempt on Columbia and Harvard. Rained all night, and of course that rain was snow up at higher elevations. So we only got about three miles into the hike before we had to bail. Didn't even get to see the mountains, it was so cloudy. Melissa had a good breakfast though.

So that's it for my rookie climbing season. Managed to bag a dozen 14ers. Might try some winter climbing on Pikes Peak, but other than that I plan on being lazy until next May or so.

Pics can be seen here.

malt liquor

So Wetspot and Gagger and the like are getting all giddy, because their day planners are telling them that in a few weeks they'll drink a 40 and then get to talk about the experience for months afterward. A slap in the face to those of us who actually drink malt liquor on a regular basis and don't feel the need to brag to everyone we know about it. Anyways, if you're gonna be such a poser, at least study up so you can pretend to know what you're talking about:

40oz of fury

I think Team Brass Monkey should be divided up into two groups. Team 8-ball for the real hooch drinkers, and Team King Cobra for the rest of the wannabes!

bar fifty!

Been in Colorado Springs for a little over seven months now. And I've kept track of every bar I've been to. On Saturday, the Kimchi hash will meet at Arctic Brewery and it will mark bar number fifty for me. Here's a list of the first 49:

Ancient Mariner
Back East Bar & Grill
Baracuda Bob's
Benny's
Bernie's Lounge
Bijou Bar and Grill
Bristol Brewing Company
Calamity Jane's
El Dorado Lounge
Finish Line Lounge
Il Vicino
Irish House IV
Jack Quinn's
Judge Baldwin's
Keg
Kelly O'Briens
Kinfolk's
Knob Hill Lounge
Mission Inn
Murray St. Darts
Navajo Hogan
Old Mill Tavern
Old School Tavern
Oscar's
Overtime
Penalty Box Lounge
Phantom Canyon Brewery
Pine Top Lounge
Putting Green Lounge
Red Rock Lounge
Robin Hood
Rumbay
Sam's - The World's Smallest Bar
Sharky's
Shot's
Skybox Lounge
Southside Johnny's
Squatting Chicken
Thirsty Parrot
Thunder & Buttons
Time Out Lounge
Tony's
Townhouse Lounge
Triple Nickel
V-Bar
Vue
Walkabout
Wayfarer
Yukon Tavern

The majority of these bars are within three miles of my house, quite a few within walking/stumbling distance. I have a lot of work to do, as I have yet to even scratch the surface of Colorado Springs pubs. I'd estimate that I've not even been to 10% of all the bars here in the Springs.

another one

Started a blog about my fascination with Pikes Peak.

congrats!

A bit late, but congrats to all the tridorks who finished the Wankerman triathlon last Sunday!

more Invihash pics...

Q-n-A's Invihash pics. All these people taking all these pics. Was I the only one drinking heavily at Invihash?

MOPP

Day 3

Day 4

Royal Gorge

this weekend

Shaping up to be a killer weekend!

Fri AM: Mt. Sherman (14,036 ft) and Gemini Peak (13,951 ft).
Fri PM: Quandry Peak (14,265 ft)

Camping Friday night in the Collegiate Peaks Wilderness.

Sat AM: Mt. Harvard (14,420 ft) and Mt. Columbia (14,073 ft)
Sat PM: Kimchi hash

Camping Saturday night in a pile of my own puke at NBN's house.

Sun AM: Pony Express 15mi trail race around Rampart Resorvoir
Sun PM: Lunch at Purple Castle

Mon PM: Steelers on Monday Night Football

Should be interesting as there's been significant snowfall reported on all the 14ers I'm gonna try to bag. Plus, the Arctic Brewery will be my 50th different bar since I moved to Colorado Springs!

Congrats, coach!

Coach Bell, my old cross-country and track coach, won his 300th XC meet yesterday! I was partially responsible for a good chunk of those wins back when I was a Shikellamy Brave.

Happy birthday, Jes!

Happy b-day, sis! I couldn't find any pics of Jes on my computer. In fact, I only found two pics of actual relatives, so here they are.

new hash blog

Everyone go tell Nuthin' but Net what a flamin' piece of poop he is.

Happy Birthday...FUCK YOU!

Everyone wish Ass Gagger a happy 45th birthday!

Kimchi hash this Sat!

The CKH3 will be on the poop again this Saturday. We're starting at some fancy schmancy brewery, which is very unlike the Kimchi. To make up for it we'll be featuring some awesome hooch at the beer stops.

Good times!

Climbed Pikes Peak with Johnboy, Stop and Blow, Strip Me, and Susan this afternoon. It was my 10th summit of the purple mountain (though the first time was by the Cog Railway and doesn't really count) and my fifth consecutive month with a summit of Pikes. Went a new route, via Crags Campground. Here's the beta:

Depart Crags: 7:30AM
Arrive Summit: 12:30PM
Depart Summit: 1:00PM
Arrive Crags: 4:00PM
PBR cans consumed on summit: 3 (two by brownie)

Pics can be seen here.


In other news, the Steelers and Panthers are undefeated! The Buccos are NOT in last place (that is not a typo - we're a half game ahead of the fuzzy Cubbies)! Oh yeah, and Penn State got their asses handed to 'em! Hell, even local underdogs Air Force are givin' Tennessee a game.

And, there's a hash party within biking distance from my house tonight! Woohoo!

more Invihash pics

Gagger's pics from the greatest MOPP hash ever!

HAIL TO PITT!

After a slow start, Pitt went on to whomp the always dangerous Cincinnatti Bearcats in the River City Rivalry last night. We now stand undefeated on the season!

I'd never root for UT, but I kinda hope they go undefeated so we can play the 'horns for the national championship. It wouldn't be a good game, as UT doesn't have the weapons to play with us, but it would be fun to give all that shit to the Austinites.

By the way, Nicole is a Cincy alum, so if any of yunz see her be sure to rag her about losing to Pitt!

my pics

I was too busy drinking and hashing to take a whole lot of pics this past weekend, but the ones I did manage to shoot are here.

And thanks to my two roomies for putting up with me all weekend! I promised I'd post flattering pics of the both of them, so here they are.

Jack Quinn's

A lot of my loyal readers have heard me blabbing about Jack Quinn's Running Club, my Tuesday night hang out. Good article in the Gazette about the club.

JQ's

They even have two TX hashers on their guest list, Just Nicole and Closet Freak.

first of many invihash pics...

Lowlife's Invihash pics can be seen here. See if you can spot Closet Freak's boobs!

Pics from Follow the Bleeder (FV) can be seen here.

Colorado Invihash

I survived, but I think I took off a few years of my life in the process. More stories later.