I am in Boulder, CO for the summer working as an intern for NOAA. There are several other NOAA in terns and then an equal number of students who are working at NIST for the summer. Most of us live in the same apartment complex which affords us some great free time activities and drama. Biking, hiking and all around fun are had nearly every night and especially on the weekends.
Personally I traveled out here a week earlier than everyone else to get a glider rating add-on to my pilots certificate. By the end of the second day I had already logged 4 solo flights in one of Mile High Gliding's SGS 2-33A gliders. This progress continued through earning my certificate, and the weekend after that I was training in a Grob 103 Acro III.
Yesterday I went to go get checkout one more time in the 103, fly with Alice, and then go fly the single seater Grob 102. The soaring forecast looked promising for Saturday, but nothing really developed, so it was a day of gliding, not soaring. The G102 is a tight squeeze for me physically, but it is a blast to fly; I can't wait to fly it when there is actually lift out there.
I've told other folks, other than Alice that I'll take them up, so I'm thinking about getting some insurance so I can fly the faster, quieter G103 ship instead of the SGS 2-33A (a factor of 2 performance difference).
On the more outdoorsy side of things several friends and I have made it a point to have several good rides each week. 2 weeks ago was by far the most intense, here was the schedule:
Sunday - Airport and NCAR
Monday- NCAR
Tuesday- Flagstaff
Wednesday - city ride with lots o wind
Thursday - sleep
Friday - the end of Four Mile canyon via Boulder canyon
Saturday - Walker Ranch via Flagstaff
Just to give you an idea of how steep Flagstaff is, I clocked a speed of 55 MPH on the way back from Walker Ranch with my GPS. That's no pedaling right before a hair pin turn...so much fun.
Also there have been some hike in the local area. The one that I really love is through Settlers Park at the mouth of Boulder Canyon. As Ethan and Lucas put it "it's an underwater castle". Once you hike the short trail and then do some rock climbing, you are rewarded with a lovely view of the plains, especially the between sunset and night.
Work is great too, I'm able to work in a lab everyday, and while the tests are running I work on some calculations, or data analysis. In a couple of weeks we should be deploying our system to the Niwot Ridge Biological Preserve to measure the methane habits of a sub-alpine forest.
And last but not least are the pictures care of Alice (check them all out here):
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