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Starkweather Beer Company

 When I moved back to Madison to attend law school in 1987, we moved to a crappy little apartment near the banks of Starkweather Creek on the unfashionable east side.  Today, the east side is booming, and one of the newer brewpubs is called Starkweather Beer Company. It was Saint Pat's Day.  While Guinness is a decent light-bodied stout, I opted for Starkweather's dry Irish Stout, named "Jamestown Jackdaw." Coming in at 5.9 ABV, it had a malty chewable backbone.  It's a new favorite stout for me.  Julia had Late Winter Haze, a New England IPA that didn't have as much fruitiness as she likes in a hazy.  It was still well-executed. We walked down the street to the Harmony Bar, where Julia enjoyed a complete corn beef and cabbage dinner.  I opted for the Reuben sandwich.  Mine was washed down with an Edmund Fitzgerald porter from Great Lakes Brewing.  Julia enjoyed her Chaos Pattern IPA from 3 Sheeps Brewing.  Both are great beers. Justin update:   After a long h

Inca Trail: Ascent to Dead Woman's Pass

I woke the next morning to a flat inflatable sleeping pad, which isn't ideal, but I had a good night's rest. Our alarm clock was one of the pack animals braying just behind our tent.  A few minutes later, a porter came by with a tub of hot water for washing, soap, and cups of steaming coca tea.

We had a quick breakfast and  started hiking just before 7 a.m.  Julia and I were excited for the big day.  Our camp was at 3100 meters (10,170 feet).  Dead Woman's Pass tops out at 4215 meters (13,828 feet).  P still wasn't eating but was determined to power through.  

All smiles on the way up

Within the first hour, we entered high altitude jungle--full of mossy trees and vegetation that you would normally expect at much lower elevation.


Porters

On flat ground or downhill, the porters easily outpaced us.  But this day was all up and steep.  The porters frequently took breaks and we took turns passing each other.



The guy in the above photo was hiking very slowly and deliberately--never taking a break.  We learned from his friends that he was still getting over an extreme case of food poisoning, but there was no "quit" in him.  

Taking a break
Julia re-hydrating

When we stopped at 9:30 a.m. for for the last Gatorade stand on the trail, it was about half-way to the summit.  Temperatures were cooling quickly, and the views were opening up.



Comments

greg said…
Going back over my stuff I think the highest I've ever managed to hike just might get me up to Dead Woman's Pass. That was a while ago but I think the age thing might be offset by the fact that I'm in better shape now than then.

It's good to see that it's all smiles up there.

Looking forward to the next installment
John said…
I've only managed to nudge over 14,000 feet twice, and both were on Colorado's Gray's Peak, which is the easiest of all of the 14k peaks because the trailhead starts at 11k. It's got to be satisfying that you're in better shape now than then.

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