No Vision All Drive, 3rd Edition

Chapter 6 A Personal Milestone

In April 1998 my friend Nancy Boyd invited me on what’s referred to in Colorado as a “hut trip.” The hut we went to was called Francie’s Cabin, and it was located in the middle of the wilderness, up at the edge of the tree line, at around 10,500 feet. Francie’s, like many other huts in the Colorado 10th Mountain Division hut system, sleeps more than 20 people and is fully stocked with beds, pots, pans, utensils, and board games. There is solar-powered electricity, a sauna, and other comforts that belie the remoteness. Friends of Nancy’s had rented out the entire hut for a long weekend and we set out early on a Saturday morning with a large group. We snowshoed uphill for hours, with two days of gear and rations on our backs.

One of the other hikers, also a last-minute add-in, was Kris Hiemstra, whom I would marry less than two years later. Kris and I didn’t talk that much on the trip, but we did get together a few weeks later for another hike in the Boulder area.

Kris and I seemed destined to be together from the start. Before either of us realized what was happening, we were going on vacations together, meeting each other’s families, and spending all of our time together. We got engaged in July of 1999 and got married on the eve of the millennium, December 31, 1999.

Kris has always been a great support in my efforts to grow Pinpoint. She was present on the day I met the CEO of ZOLL and was supportive during all the long hours of the process of ...