Mmm... Harvest!

Leaves are starting to turn and fall and the garden is producing like crazy... must almost be Autumn

Check out the link. It will blow your mind..

All Hail the Black Market

"What does it mean!!??"

What does it all mean!!??

Even the Double Rainbow guy would have been stumped by the thousand year old petroglyphs of Dinosaur National Monument.  Franks and beans cooked over the campfire on the shores of the Green River...not so tough to figure out.  It means campout time with Trout, Chainsaw and Highroller!  Great weekend in a cool new spot only a couple hours from the 'Boat.

"Rectum? I DESTROYED 'em! Ha ha ha!"

Teaching Trout the proper weenie roasting methodology for 5900' elevations, high desert setting, northwesterly breeze conditions. Yep, just poke 'em with a stick there son.  Roasted marshmellows were the finest I have had in decades and we were camped about 30' from the mighty Green River, private sandy beach and all!  You know the dog loved that

Big Agnes catalog shot

Heading into Box Canyon, UT

Huge in Germany!

Snack time at the Andechs Brewery

I ate pork, pork and some sausage, made of pork.  Also drank many large beers (not, to my knowledge made of pork).  Germany may be the meatiest country I've ever been to, definitely the beeriest and yes, we will be moving there shortly. Or at least returning for Eurobike next year...

Pitiful

Yankee Boy Basin!

Labor Day Weekend, 2010. Since I haven't been to Crested Butte in quite some time, and Amanda is pretty excited about her new mountain bike, we thought we would use the last 3 day weekend of the summer to reconnect with some old places and old faces. A day with an MTB 101 class down the Lower Loop, followed by a hot lap of Strand Hill was followed by a night camped up in Washington Gulch, which included a visit from a "bear" in the middle of the night that managed to spook us out of our tent into the car. A visit with Frank the next day to secure lodging for a winter weekend and we were off to Ouray, which I visited once when I was 15. Let's just say I didn't appreciate what it had to offer at that time.

We hit town with prepared to bang out either Wetterhorn or Umcompagre, with printed guides for both from our trusty 14ers.com website, just to add another 14er to the scoreboard. After setting up camp in the Amphitheater campground, which sits a few hundred vertical above Ouray, but is still surrounded by thousands of feet of rock wall, we rolled into town to grab a six pack of Budweiser Tall Boys and to stick our head into the local outdoor shop. In a educational discussion with the proprietor, we learned our plan involved far more driving than hiking.

"Of course, Mount Sneffels is right outside of town and an easy hike, what kind of car do you drive? A Tacoma, you'll be fine. Just follow this road up to Yankee Boy Basin. Yep, that is one lane.
Now, I'm not a fan of using bike racks. My bikes deserve better than to be exposed to the elements, bugs, and low rock overhangs.
Easy. Right.
Now, what's so striking about this one isn't how good looking I am, it's how blue the sky is. We didn't see one cloud all day.
The lack of clouds lead to unbelievable visibility. We could see the Elk Mountains, Book Cliffs, etc. Over my shoulder in this one - La Sal Mountains. In Utah.
Telluride Ski area on the left, Mount Wilson, El Diente, and Wilson Peak, on the right. Lizard Head Pass too.
This silhouetted peak is Coffee Pot. Not a 14er, but when we got back to the truck, we ran into 3 guys that stood on top of it while we we climbing Sneffels. One of them was this guy.

(Michael Jackson) Billie Jean - Sungha Jung

Holey Cow! 'Course by age 12 I had done plenty of cool shit too, like, um well...yeah ok. Humans are amazing ain't we!

A gaggle of Alfords mug Beckett!

Korova Milk Bar

What have you done to my memory core Dave? Dave?

I'll take the one with double soma, guv!  From one Epsilon Minus (mixing my esoteric sci-fi references here) to another, thanks for the birthday bar-crawl all!  Luckily my liver is so perforated most of the alcohol simple dribbles thru, pools in my feet and then passes harmlessly from my body in the form of damp footprints of the sort the Creature from the Black Lagoon (or Patrick Duffy) might leave behind.

Flat Top Wilderness

I'm not sure if I ever mentioned the trailer my family kept on an acre in Yampa, CO while growing up. We went up there several times a summer to go fishing and to get away from Denver. It's been 20 years since the last time I was up there. Last weekend, Amanda and I went to check it out to see if I remembered it right.

Like any bIKE cLUB adventure, we barely had a plan and definitely not a map. Fortunately, the map problem was solved with a stop at Little Beavers Liquors in Yampa, CO. Pop 400. Main street is still a dirt road. There is a hotel on the acre where our trailer was parked.

Note the disclaimer on the map. I knew we had the perfect resource.

We got lucky with the best campsite you could possibly get up there. Site number 2, Cold Spring campground. One of the few that was well off the forest service road, right next to a lake, a babbling brook, great views, table, fire ring. Plus, an outhouse on the other side of the campground. Close enough to be convenient, far enough away to not smell.

Yes, that is the King of Beers.

The plateau on the right is the top of the monolith in the background of the picture from our campsite. We were in campground that was on the left side of that drainage roughly between the two flat tops so we spent the whole time in camp looking up at them. Really enjoyed the different perspective while looking down on them.

So, we are on the surface of another flat top. As you could tell, these were just huge meadows on top of big monoliths and cliffs. Think a green version of Moab. In the background behind Amanda, you can see the big drainage above Trappers Lake. According to internet sources, this drainage was the inspiration for Wilderness designation. All the contour lines on the real map are really close together and it's an area designated the China wall. Big cliffs behind Amanda. We are definitely going to check out that part of the world next time.

Another option for our next visit. Devils Causeway. See if the big boy pants still fit.

This, of course, is a picture of me with a penguin.

Well, hello!

Riser bars, real knobbies and pedals, sweet!  Brakes?  Whatever...  3 years old and just about ready for Prime Cut.  Can't you picture Trout dropping that big rock?!  Happy birthday son!

Hat Trick

So, I've ridden in a car up Pikes Peak - I was 10, ridden my bike to the top of Mount Evans, and now I've hiked my very first 14k peak. Mount Elbert, because I might as well start with the highest. August 1, about noon. Easier going up than I thought, harder coming down that I thought. Amanda did it with a bum knee, so I can't complain, because she didn't.