Dave/Dad's Page

Summer 1999

Here's a brief report of my fun and work activities of recent months or "my summer vacation". Outdoor sports still occupy much of my spare time and all of my energy (none to spare). The new sport for me this year has been whitewater kayaking which finally opened up for me by virtue of learning the Esquimo roll in an intensive 6 day course last summer. I started the kayaking season in Honduras in January running a couple of scenic and fun jungle rivers, and blessed by a huge snow pack and slow run off enjoyed a long season locally on the Wenatchee and other local rivers (total 39 kayak outings on 15 different rivers--all moderate). The big trips were the lower Salmon with Jerry and friend Chris, highlighted by a raft flip in Demon's Drop executed by Jerry (8.0 style points) simultaneous with a kayak flip and swim by Chris. Three days of sunshine later we managed to dry out. A few days later a group of six guys including Jerry flew in to the Selway river also in Idaho and kayaked this pristine wilderness stream while Jerry flawlessly guided the raft with the camping gear through the difficult rapids. Great trip including the historic Liberation Day celebration on August 1, l999 (further details provided in a plain brown envelope on request). The rest of the summer fun included a great climbing trip in the Sierras with friends Freeman, Bob, and Karen featuring a climb of Half Dome and a feature called Charlotte's Dome. Perfect weather and sound granite and congenial friends. Also summitted Rainier in July for the first time since the 80's on a clear and nearly windless day. Work has been rendered infinitely more enjoyable by getting off weekend and night call due to my advanced age and state of decrepitude. What a delight! I recertified in Nephrology last year and intend to recertify in General Internal Medicine this year. A new partner has joined us making the workload far more reasonable. Socially I'm still single, doing better with cooking and baking (good birthday cake for Eric) and enjoying my grandchildren as much as possible. Looking forward to skiing and a Christmas kayak trip to the Bahamas with friends Bob and Karen. Cheers to all, Dave.

9/98-

We have enjoyed a couple of nice hikes (including the requisite Dave Jaecks bushwhacking) lately, and as usual he has been staying very busy with one expedition or another. The latest was a three night rafting trip on the Deschutes River in Oregon with Jerry. On a more serious note, he and his wife of seven years (Diane) split up this summer. He is in the process of doing a complete redecorating job on his house- we can' t wait to see the final result. Dad is no longer online, and can't seem to figure out any use for computers. I need him to get set up some time (so I can get his advice on those tough cases by e-mail!).