Tetons Adventure Part 1

2012's Memorial day adventure would take us to Wyoming, with the loose plan to tackle the Death Canyon loop over a leisurely 5 days, roughly 26 miles.  In May, snow is ever present at higher altitudes in the Teton Range.  The threat of hard-core snow camping and possible threat of a bear, wolf or mountain lion mauling quickly thinned the ranks of the expedition.  With 'real life' stuff in the way, it would be just three of us heading into the mountains for this Memorial Weekend Adventure.  Peter and I hopped a plane to Jackson Hole Airport where we would re-unite with Dylan for the first time since the Capital Reef Adventure.  His mountaineering experience gained over the years since moving to California would prove to be a great help.

Warning! Long post ahead!

We wasted no time to grabbing our bags and making our way to the rental car shuttle.  We were anxious to begin the hike, but first stopped to find bear spray - and on the recommendation of the clerk at the outdoor store headed over to the Garden Harvest where we quickly stuffed our faces with sandwiches and homemade bread.  On the way to the trailhead we had to make another stop at the visitor center to pick up a backcountry permit and additional bear canister.  We did a final check with the rangers on trail conditions.  The forecast had changed and it looked like we would be in for some weather.  They also reiterated we would need snowshoes, crampons and ice picks as the upper trails would almost certainly be buried under hard packed snow.

Continuing past the visitor center in our van for a few more miles of winding dirt and rock roads, we finally came to the Death Canyon Trailhead.  There were numerous cars there - day hikers heading to Phelps Lake which was just a couple of miles west.  We quickly dumped out our duffels and suitcases and loaded up our backpacks.  We strapped on our ice axes and snowshoes, and made sure our bear spray was handy.  My .45 went into my Maxpedition Versipak along with my trusty Canon PowerShot.  For this trip I would break in my new <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0042DWDWE/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B0042DWDWE&linkCode=as2&tag=wwwwillfinkco-20">Osprey Exos 46-Litre Backpack</a><img src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=wwwwillfinkco-20&l=as2&o=1&a=B0042DWDWE" width="1" height="1" border="0" alt="" style="border:none !important; margin:0px !important;" />, and it was filled to the point I though for sure something would explode.

The trail started out as a gradual climb before descending briefly towards the Phelps Lake overlook, which offered a spectacular view (even better when the fog lifted).  We paused just briefly for some photos, but had many miles to cover to reach our intended campzone in Death Canyon and the sun was already dipping.  We had just a few hours to cover around 5k of rough terrain.







We met a group coming up from the lake loaded down with fishing gear.  They remarked at our snow gear and were surprised when we told them about our trek.  These would be the last people we would see on the trail until we came back out!

After that brief break, it was a steady climb up into the canyon.  It wasn't long before we encountered hard packed snow.  The sky become dark and cloudy and the wind picked up.  The canyon walls rising up around us into the clouds looked truly unreal.

We found some Elk tracks and saw what we believe to be muskrats.  Heeding the many warnings about bear activity we occasionally called out versions of 'Hey Bear!" when the trees became thick or the trail made a blind turn.

Before long we came to our first ice traverse.  We put away our poles and switched to ice axes and crampons.  Peter and I had our poor man's crampons (Kahtoola Microspikes) but they worked quite well on the hard snow.  Dylan gave us a 30 second education on proper traverse and belaying technique as this would be the first time Peter and my ice axes tasted the white stuff.  We had just two crossing which we made without incident.




The climbing continued over rock trails.  We could still see far down below us but the tops of the canyon walls remained covered in clouds and Phelps lake soon disappeared completely.

As the trail leveled out, we entered Death Canyon proper.  A light but consistent snow began.  We were surrounded by narrow canyon walls, and ever larger trees.  All of a sudden we came upon a four foot snow wall - the start of the permanent snow cover.

The snow was hard-packed enough that we forego switching to snowshoes and plowed ahead as the weather came down.  With the wind whipping by us and the snow becoming heavy and wet, we picked up our pace.  We were slowed by the occasional post-holing

We crossed over several streams running beneath the snow, and took care to avoid falling into the icy water.  We were soon soaked anyway from the climb and the heavy precip.  We had our eyes out for signs that we had entered the 'Death Canyon Camping Zone', but quickly realized we could have passed many signs already - that they were likely buried.  To make it worse, we had no trail to follow at this point, and followed our intuition and general direction of the canyon to keep our bearings.  The sun had already disappeared into the haze, and we felt pressed to find a campsite.

Finally we found a bona-fide landmark, the ranger patrol cabin.  With little time left before pitch darkness settled in, we were tempted to shelter inside.  But the cabin cabin was locked up tight, so after snapping a couple quick pics we moved out.  We knew the camping zone was less then a kilometer away, but judging distances proved difficult as we were trail blazing the entire time and slogging through ever deepening snow.







With the light nearly gone, we followed some animal tracks for a while as discerning a path became pretty hopeless.  We decided to pitch camp in the first descent ground we could find.  For all we knew, we were already standing right on top of the designated camp sites,

Dylan broke out his 3 person tent, and he and Peter went about digging out a flat patch to set in up in.  I strung up my Eno Pro-Fly to give us some cover for dinner about 100 feet away.

We whipped up some quick dinner before bunking down for the night.  The snow continued until just before dawn when I crawled out of my sleeping to stretch my aching back.  I got a small fire going to warm up and melt some snow for tea and breakfast.

              

When the sun was up we were treated to some blue skies at last.  We finished thawing out our bones and cleaned up breakfast, then broke camp.  After topping off our water bottles from the nearby stream, we were ready to head out.

We opted to go for snowshoes this morning, as we had been post-holing constantly in the last minutes of the previous nights march.  Plus it got four pounds of extra weight off our packs.

The snow covered terrain was rolling, and we had to immediately start climbing from our campsite.  It took a little while to get our 'snow legs' in the tough terrain, and we were again weaving our way over  hills and through trees looking for any kind of trail to follow.  The brief glimpses through the canopy of the canyon walls were spectacular.

Soon enough, we finally found the sign posts for the actually camping grounds.  Turns out we had been just 50 feet short, as we found a couple of markers just peaking up from the snow.

And through that first campsite we found tracks that let us know we weren't alone!  As we backtracked the large paw prints of a lone bear, we weaved our way through the Death Canyon campsites.  The bear it seems, at least knew where the trail was.  We would spend the next couple of hours back tracking his tracks, which went right by our camp.

                         

The fact that the bear was headed down and out of the canyon probably should have been a clue about   what we would face.  But the scenery was magnificent, and the weather was holding for the moment.  As we hiked deeper into the canyon, gaining altitude, the peaks around us rose ever higher.  While I was glad we had gotten right to hiking on our first day in country, I regretted not having the typical extra day to acclimate to the higher altitude.  The climb on the first day had been much harder then I expected, and I was glad when the climb leveled off again finally.

       

              

We still had our friendly bear tracks to follow for the moment, and we began crossing back and forth over the river using several log bridges.  The temperature was perfect for hiking, and we glimpsed the occasional mule dear and muskrats in the distance.  They always quickly disappeared before we could get good snapshot. 

We stopped for a leisurely hot lunch and a much needed break for our legs and feet.  While better than plowing through the snow, the snow-shoeing was still proving exhausting.We had barely finished lunch and filling up our water bottles when the weather starting turning ugly again.  We were at the big turn in the canyon, and the wind gusts brought snow and hail.  The peaks we had been admiring quickly vanished again as the sky fell.  We hastily repacked and got on the move before all our equipment got soaked.

The foul weather cleared up a few hours later, when we reach the 'bowl' at the end of canyon.  Somewhere to our right - buried under several feet of snow - there was undoubtedly a lovely group of switchbacks to make the climb less hateful.  With little options, we attacked the slope at an angle and began the slow march to the top.  We chase a section of the mountain with the smallest avalanche danger.  Just to our left at the steepest part of the bowl, we could see the remains of a recent one.

We were already tired at this point, and this climb would take all we had.  We spread out for safety, still climbing with snowshoes.  The incline grew steeper as we went.  Eventually I was reduced to counting out 30 steps at a time, then resting for 30 seconds.  I don't know how many times I repeated this cycle, but it felt like climbing the South Rim of the Grand Canyon again, but compressed into half a vertical mile.  I still felt ill-adjusted to the altitude.  This climb put a lot of stress on our gastrocs and achilles, with Dylan's fairing the worst.  His shoes lacked the 'heal step' that Peter and I had.

 Soon we came to climbs of trees and brush, and we were forced to take off our snowshoes as the incline approached and passed 60 degrees.  We careful changed gear while holding onto the slope to keep from sliding back down. Crawling with ice ax in hand, we climbed another hundred feet or so, reaching a slight level spot in a group of trees.  Utterly destroyed, we decided to camp here rather than be trapped at the very top with no shelter from the brutal wind.  The climb had taken about 2 hours so far, and we doubted we could make the 700 feet or so to the crest before nightfall anyway.

Peter was adamant we dig deep in our little hillock, and this proved to be the best decision ever.  Dylan's ice shovel proved invaluable, and we took turns digging and chopping ice with our axes.  We stacked up the blocks of ice around us, forming a nice four foot wall.  We got Dylan's tent setup, then stretched my tarp as extra shelter over the tent opening.   Hunkering down in the little bit of space left, we made our chow.  Afterwards we crawled into our sleeping bags, completely spent.  We worried little about bear attacks this night, figuring no animal would be fool enough to be here!

In the night, Peter awoke shiver uncontrollably.  He insisted he wasn't cold though.  Dylan and I were concerned about altitude sickness.  Though we are just shy of 10,000 feet - it was not unheard of.  He was fully lucid however and the symptoms didn't match.  Dylan produced a gel shot shot, after eating it and drinking some water the symptoms cleared up in minutes.  We reasoned that lack of electrolytes and sugar were to blame, as Peter had had almost nothing but oats so far.  Which did little to replenish the body fuel we had burned getting this far.

 A little before dawn, the call of nature and my aching back forced me out of the tent.  It took several minutes to get my boots on as they were solid bricks. I made a small fire (no small feat with frozen twigs and frozen hands) to warm up a bit while I stretched out.  The wind started gusting over 50 mph and was whirling snow around in our foxhole.  I was afraid my tarp would be ripped to shreds, so I lowered it down to and keep the wind off the exposed side of the tent.  Then took shelter back inside to keep from freezing.

We hunkered down as the wind continued to rock our tent.  Extremely glad to be dug down into the hill.  Digging snow out of the side of our wall, we had breakfast inside and waiting out the worst of the storm.  At this point we made a collective decision to abandon our original plan.  With out knowing what the weather would do, and just as important, not knowing the conditions were on the other side of the peak - we worried that we would run out of time making it back out if we kept going.  Marching along the exposed ridge didn't appeal to any of us with the wind still howling and even more fresh snow.

When the weather finally slowed down enough, we quickly broke camp - after digging through piles of fresh snow to find all our gear.  With the plan in place to book it back down the canyon, we decided on the most expedition method to get back down the canyon wall - glissading.  Strapping everything down tight, we left the relative safety of our hill shelter and approached the edge of the decline.  Dylan gave us quick tips on safely glissading, then led the charge down the slope.

What took us hours of painful climbing we retraced in 15 seconds, and it was one hell of a ride.  Reinvigorated, and out of the merciless wind, we began retracing our steps out of the canyon.  We made good time descending, despite the foot of fresh snow on the ground, and kept just ahead of the storm at our backs.  Our previous tracks were obliterated, so we had to plow a new path with our snowshoes.  Eventually we reached lower altitudes and were able to shed our shoes, and some extra layers.  We ate a fast lunch of snacks, then pushed on before our legs had a change to tighten up.

As we neared the entrance to Death Canyon, and began descending towards Phelps Lake, we encountered fresh bear tracks heading down the trail as well.  This time, it looked like it had a cub in tow. We began making more frequent bear calls as we wound through the switch backs, especially around the blind turns.  Luckily we avoided any bear run-ins, breezed through the ice traverses. We made it back to the turn by the lake and then began the last climb to the parking area.

The last ascent just about did me in.  Two nights of little sleep caught up to me as I practically crawled up the last hill.  The trails turned back to rock and mud as we made the finally push.  We encounter a huge moose just sitting a field chewing on the grass.  We gave him a wide birth to be on the safe side.
          

We reached the trail head with relief, eager to get warm and dry.  We took a quick pic then jumped back in the rental van.  After scoring a hotel room we rewarded ourselves with massive amounts of pizza.  Then the planning began for the second half of the trip....

...to be continued.


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Grand Canyon Rim to Rim Hike

I completed the Rim to Rim back in October with two buddies, and figured it was about time to do a write up on it.  While words (or even pictures) can't do the Grand Canyon any justice, I want to capture some of the adventure while it's still somewhat fresh in my mind.  This will certainly be a long post, as this was an epic trip.

Planning
The idea to try for a Rim to Rim started all the way back in may during the Badlands adventure in South Dakota.  The Red Fox and I talked about it, decided we wanted to go for it.  The fall of 2011 was the chosen as the target, because it typically provides the best hiking weather.  Planning in earnest started in July.  We decided on doing the hike in 3 sections, spending two nights in the Canyon.  You can apply for the permits starting 4 months out, which we did, and still the first one was shot down.  Luckily the second application was successful, and with our 3 person backcountry permit in hand we were able to finalize the travel plans.  My friend Josh locked in the third spot, and so the expedition was officially formed.

The challenge in doing a Rim to Rim is of course, getting transportation around the Canyon.  Belatedly we decided next time we would just do the Rim to Rim to Rim and avoid the problem altogether!  But in the end, we just forked over $80 dollars a head for the Trans-Canyon shuttle, which also required advanced registration since regular shuttle service stops after Oct. 15.  Likewise, reservations for a campsite on the South Rim, and a lodge for the final day were made.  Even four months out, choices were slim.  But luckily we obtained an open campsite at the Mather campground, and one night as the Maswick lodge for the end of the trip.

Sunday Oct 16
We boarded a Southwest flight from BWI to Phoenix (surprisingly there aren't that many airports near the canyon, unless you want to pay big bucks).  We got our rental SUV and bombed north, arriving at the South Rim after a 4 hour drive.

We played tourist for a little while, checked out some overlooks and generally got the lay of the land.  We located our campsite at the Mather Campground, then loaded up on some food to cook over the campfire.  We spend that night out under the stars.






Monday Oct 17
I didn't get much sleep that night, and climbed out of my sleeping bag about about an hour before dawn.  Soon everyone was up, and we loaded up our packs for the short drive over to the Backcountry visitor center.  We left our car there, and walked a half mile to the Bright Angel Lodge where the shuttle would pick as up.  We got one more look from the overlook at steep climb we would be making in just a few days.

After a short wait, the shuttle arrived.  We loaded up our packs, a couple bags of food, and two bundles of firewood we planned on using up that night (the North Rim in about 1000 feet higher in elevation, and much colder).  The drive around the canyon to the North Rim took just under 5 hours with a couple of stops for fuel, including one at a bridge over the Colorado.

We stopped for some quick pictures in the blinding sun, then back in the shuttle we went for the last leg.  The scenery changed steadily, and we marveled at Arizona's awesome landscapes.  It was somehow different from all the other adventures we had been on, even the relatively close Utah.  Eventually the desert gave way to forest as we closed in on the North Rim.  We entered the park, and were dropped off at the abandoned check-in center.  We quickly gathered up our gear and heading into the campground.

After staking a claim at a campsite (all facilities were shutdown for the winter, so it was first come first serve), we had a quick snack then began exploring the rim while walking towards Bright Angel Point.  There we spent a while chatting with an off duty park guide and a gentleman who seemed for all intents and purposes to be a professional hiker.  He proved a wealth of information about the canyon, and also offered up some other lesser known hikes to check out for future adventures.

On hiking back to our site, we found our food stores had been raided by marauding ravens!  We lost a total of about 7 or 8 mountain house dinners.  Luckily I had stashed my share of the food supplies in Jake's tent before heading off.  The other guys had a few snacks left.  We had just enough food for that night, and the next night.  At this point, there was nothing to be done, there was quite literally only one way out and back to civilization, and that was down through the Canyon.  We enjoyed a fire using the wood we had brought and some leftover from departed campers.  Ate a hot dinner and then hunkered down for the night, anxious to began our journey in the morning.  The remote and empty North Rim gave an even more spectacular view of the starry sky then had the South Rim.  This night I opted to sleep under my tarp since the wind was picking up.

Tuesday Oct 18th

The night was pretty chilly, but clear and dry.  As usual I tossed and turned, never quite able to get comfortable with just my thin sleeping pad, but I stayed plenty warm.  We awoke just before dawn for a bite of breakfast, then quickly broke camp and began hiking north towards the North Kaibab Trail Head.  The weather couldn't have been better, with just a hint of chill in the air and clear sunshine overhead.  We saw just a few other campers beginning to stir as we left the North Rim Campground behind.

Arriving the the North Kaibab TH, we took a moment to check out what we were in for, but didn't tarry long.  The beginning of ~7 mile hike down was mostly in the shade as we worked our way through the switchbacks.  Breaks in the foliage came often, giving us awesome views of the Canyon and the lower points of the trails.

The trail was fairly wide and sandy, with occasional rocky bits.  I was using hiking poles for the first time, which at first seemed like a cop-out, but as we cruised down the switchbacks the poles took the brunt of the impact instead of my knees.

We passed several groups of hikers as we made our descent, and made a detour to Roaring Springs for a break and some lunch of snack bars and apples.  Climbing down further off trail we explored some pools and streams, cooling our heals for a few minutes in the frigid water.

At this point the trail was primarily desert, very canyon-y.  We encounter some small wildlife, many lizards, a snake, and squirrels.  The temperature climbed as we descended, and the blazing sun ensured we sweated constantly.  But it was never miserable, and we encountered constant bits of shade.  I can only image making this hike in the summer months, it truly would be an oven as I had seen described on the park website.

We made good time in reaching Cottonwood Campground, our first 'backcountry' camp site.  Services are minimal at Cottonwood, but it has water and pit toilets.  We spent a few minutes carefully selecting a campsite with some shade, as at this time the sun was fully overhead and beating down on us.  We were probably the first or second campers to arrive, but others quickly flowed into the site.  We explored the nearby Bright Angel Creek, and did some fishing.  Though we saw several Rainbow Trout, we only managed to entice one with out bait.  But it made dragging the cheap Chinese made fishing rod with me worth it!


As usual, the other hikers proved a wealth of information.  After talking about our incident with the Ravens, one hiker told us if we hurried to Phantom Ranch (our next campsite) we could put in our reservations for steak dinners.  Another pair of girls we met had actually run out of food, and Jake kindly gave up some of our meager remaining supplies.  We ate what we had left for dinner that night, and then all three slept out under the stars once again.  The stars and moon were so bright it almost kept us up all night, but it was a gorgeous view.

Wednesday October 19th

The night was mild, almost warm.  Though we didn't sleep a lot once again we were up before the dawn for some breakfast.  We hit the trail before the sun ever reached us, and as it turned out we would spend most of the day in the shade as we descended even lower into the canyon.  Trees were few and far between except right around Bright Angel Creek, but Cacti abounded - and a misplaced foot sent me sprawling into one.  I got to take home a number of souvenirs in my left hand arm, but other than some mild irritation no damage was done.

We passed just a few hikers coming from the south, but none the the Cottonwood caught up to us as we were making a good clip to ensure we had steak for dinner instead of empty bellies.  We still took our time however to enjoy the sights, making a lengthy detour to Ribbon Falls, which from a distance appeared to be a tiny trickle.

Getting closer, it was much bigger then we thought, cutting through the canyon wall, creating a very lush and wet micro-climate.  We spent some time climbing up, around, and behind the falls.  It was amazing to see water oozing out of the rock all around in this tiny canyon, all flowing to the east to join the Bright Angel.  Still having my pack with me, I made a cross country bee-line for the Kaibab trail, while Josh and Jake back-tracked to wear they had stashed their packs.  After fording the Bright Angel creek we met up again and continued our fast walk south.

The trail leveled out while gradually descending, the canyon walls getting closer and higher.  At the lowest elevations the trail was cut right out of the side of the canyon, with the Bright Angel running just next to it.  Large sections of the pathway were covered with rock piles, and the air was quite cool here - the sun never quite touching the canyon floor.

 

At last we arrived at Phantom ranch, exhausted and sore from the last few miles of hot marching.  Walking into Phantom Ranch was almost like going back in time, and stumbling into a western frontier town.  We dropped our packs in front of the Cantina/General Store.  As luck would have it, they had exactly three steaks left!  We got in our reservations, picked up some snacks and cold beverages to refill our tanks in the meantime.

We wearily shouldered our packs once again, marched south a little less than a mile and picked out a campsite for the night.  Just as we made ourselves comfortable, a train of a dozen mules bearing riders from the North Rim passed by on the other side of the Bright Angel.  More hikers trickled in from both directions, and the site quickly filled up.

Wildlife through the canyon had been abundant, even here mule deer wandered right through camp.  We explored the nearby raft landing beach on the Colorado, encountering more mule deer.  From there we had a good look at the ascent - 9 miles which seemed to go straight up.  Back at camp, we took a quick siesta, and then left plenty early for the walk back to the cantina.  Dinner was served family style, and we hungrily devoured our steaks and all the sides we could get our hands on.  Nothing went to waste!  During dinner, an older woman who had just come down the trail had a feinting spell.  She was alright after a minute, and the proprietor said this was a fairly common occurrence, even in the mild fall months.  Another reminder to rest often and always hydrate!

Laying under the stars once again that night, sleep was elusive.  The moon was as bright as ever, and our neighbors took awhile to quiet down.  Several of the less considerate campers had a bad habit of shining their headlamps with reckless abandon, usually directly in our faces as they stumbled around looking for their campsite.  But after a few hours of shut eye, we were up again just as the sky began to lighten.





Thursday Oct 20th

Tightening down our packs for the last time, we took a few minutes to gather ourselves - then off we went.  The next 9 miles would be a grueling endurance battle.  We crossed the bridge over the Colorado, and quickly reached the switchbacks that would take us up the approximately 6000 foot elevation gain.





Despite the brutal incline we passed many groups of travelers, keeping a good pace until we reached Indian Gardens.  This would be the half way point, a good spot for camping if you want to break the climb in two.  This wasn't in the cards for us however, we merely took a 15 minute break for some snacks and to fill our water bottles.  We chatted up other hikers taking a similar break, some headed up, some down - then to keep from freezing in the chill morning air and shade we got on the move again.

Soon we found the sunlight again, and began the slow steady slog uphill.  We broke the remaining 4.5 miles into thirds, as there was a rest stop every 1.5 miles.  Jake would invariably beat us to each stop, with Josh just a few minutes behind me.  We would regroup, refresh for a few minutes and then begin again.



This climb truly tested my endurance, and I found myself wishing I had spent more time on cardio training.  The closet thing I have to compare it to is the Upper Yosemite Falls trail, which I thought was actually easier, but the descent there left me a total wreck.  The hiking poles had saved me from serious muscle damage on the North Rim Descent, but the relentless uphill struggle of the South Rim was truly exhausting.  Every step was a test to keep moving.  But we did, all three reuniting at the top for much deserved congratulations.

PNC Bank - It seemed like a good idea....

...at the time. When choosing a bank for Serenity Computers, I looked at the usual suspects. My current bank Wachovia was in the process of being absorbed by Wells Fargo. And Well's didn't offer any free business checking options. Not having had stellar experiences with them in the past, I nixed them from the contenders list. Next was Chase. While they had no local branches, they had a good rep for being to do everything online, and my experiences with them were good. But while trying to setup an account online (or even get some more info) I ended up with variations of "This service is not available at your location". Well....ok, guess they are cut from the list too. Next up was PNC...close to my house, a big plus - And it seemed you could set everything up online in just a few minutes! A winner!

Not so much. And so begins the string of screw ups culminating in this blog. And it's sad really. All the reps I have spoken to have been friendly, courteous, and for the most part knowledgeable. But PNC's technology infrastructure is so flawed that at this point I'm not even sure how they continue to operate.

And so from the begging - that initial sign up on line did just take about 10 minutes. 10 minutes until you arrive at a screen that says "Thank you very much for signing up for a PNC Business checking account....blah blah blah...please bring the following paperwork into a local PNC branch, and they will complete your account setup". Well that seems kinda weird to me, but this is my first Business checking, I guess they need to do some extra stuff, whatever.

The next day I receive a phone call from a PNC rep. He wanted to thank me for signing up. He also went through all my information again, but said I still had to go into a local branch. But not to worry, it would only take a few minutes because the bulk of the work was already done. Ok that sounds good I guess....whatever.

So the next day I go into my local branch. The woman who helped me was very nice, she spend a few minutes trying to pull up my info - but couldn't find anything. She then started me on some signature paperwork. Then called another branch for a manager to help. After much waiting, and a few calls back and forth, it was decided that I couldn't actually setup a business account at this branch. I would have to go to the 'full' branch just down the road. They were closing at 5 (it was about 4:45 at this point), but if I promised to hurry right there, the manager would wait for me and get me taking care of.

So I went on down the road to the other branch, not hurry too much because at this point I didn't really give a crap. If I got there and they were gone I was finding another bank. But the manager was instead there, and unlocked the door. She was very nice and helpful, and did indeed manage to get my account setup. When I inquired about online access, she said to just go online, and use the pin I had just created for the account. If that didn't work, she assured me, a pin would be mailed to my address in 5-7 days. Ok......

Naturally, my pin indeed did NOT work. So I patiently (read - not patiently at all) waited for this mythical pin to arrive. After too weeks I'd had enough and called them up. I managed to get a rep on the phone who agreed after some badgering to give me a pin over the phone. After trying for 20 minutes with the rep on the phone to setup the account, no dice. Finally he gave up, and said maybe I had to wait for the pin to come in the mail. Whatever, fine.

A couple days later it finally arrived! And it didn't work. Another phone call, another pin giving over the phone which also didn't work. "Was I using my social or my business EIN on the setup screen?" My EIN I assured the rep. "Try your social" he says. But I setup the account with my EIN....whatever... I tried it. Didn't work. "I'm going to send you ANOTHER pin, you should receive it in 5-7 days". YOU HAVE GOT TO BE FRIKKIN KIDDING ME.

Another week goes by, I finally got another mailer with a pin. Naturally, it didn't work either. Another phone call, another rep. This guy seems to know a thing or two luckily. After a couple of new pin attempts over the phone, and resetting my account - success! Online access! Something I had taken so for granted with all my other banks. It was mine at last. I was finally free to view balances, pay bills and bask in the glory of the slow trickle of money into my checking account.

All was well for over two months. Then came a day when I noticed a sign declaring "Deposit your checks from your mobile phone!" At last! Technology I had seen with Chase, but had thus far been denied to PNC customers. I quickly went online to PNC sites to see how to get this ball rolling. No information to be found anywhere. Perplexed, I thought to myself "well maybe it's in their mobile app, and I just need an update!" Searching in the Android market place, it seems I had the most up to date version (already months old itself). Getting frustrated, I did some quick googling. It didn't take long to learn that check depositing from the PNC Droid App was coming sometime...maybe. But it was available now with the Virtual Wallet App. What the hell? Whatever, I'll just download that and be set. A quick search and I had the app downloaded and installed. At last! No more making trips to the bank to make deposits! The holy grail of banking!

I fired up the app, entered in my PNC username. Next came the expected security question screen to register my device. It asked for my mother's middle name. Great! An easy one! I hate the ambiguous security questions that you have to rack your brain to remember how you answered them. I quickly typed it in only to be chastised that I had answered incorrectly. Bull! I tried it again, no joy. Ok, maybe I had made a mistake at put in my mother's maiden name, I could see myself doing that. Typed that in, no joy. Maybe no caps? Rejected. Your username has been suspended. SERIOUSLY!?!?

Quickly switching to my laptop, I found my username had indeed be suspended. An email that arrived at the same time confirmed it, and assured me I could access this notice securely via the my PNC message center once I logged into my account? "How the frik am I supposed to do that if my account is suspended!!!?!?" seemed to on the nose so I instead dialed the number on screen in a rage. The auto prompts asked for my username, which I entered. "That is incorrect" said the infuriating computer voice. "Lets try something else, please enter your social" - a few seconds of furious typing - "I'm sorry, your account has been suspended" - NO SHIT - "Let me connect you to a representative who can help you".

Said representative proceeded to ask me for my username, which I told her.
"That isn't correct, it is usually your social", she told me.
"What? Why would it be my social? I've always used the same username!" I replied, starting to lose it.
"Oh wait, it seems you have never completed your account setup and security questions." she declared.
"How can that be?", I asked.
She then proceeded to tell me, "My records show you have never created an online account."
"WHAT?!?! I've been using it for two months!!!!!"
"Is there another signer on your account?" She calmly inquired.
"NO, there isn't. And I'm sure you can clearly see that from YOUR RECORDS.", I replied.
"Well it seems you have never had an account, we are going to have to send you a pin in the mail, it will arrive in 5-7 days."
I KILL YOUUUUUUU!!!!!!!

Popping the question

After almost two years of dating, I decided I had waiting long enough and proposed to Joan. After calling me an asshole (cause she thought I was kidding, but the ring finally convinced her), and after she stopped crying (eventually) - she said yes! I've never considered myself a commitment-phobe, but it was one of the hardest things I've ever done. But afterwards, several months worth of tension and stress just melted away. I didn't realized how much I was worrying over the decision, but now that it's done I feel completely happy and relaxed again - it's awesome! Of course within five minutes the news had gone viral over FB and chaos ensued, but it's all good.

Countdown to the Grand Canyon Rim to Rim!

The most complicated trip I have been involved in planning, hands down. But all the arrangements are made, and I can't believe how close it is! Pumped!





....time until The Red Fox, Landseer and I embark on what is sure to be the trip of a lifetime.