Livin' Out West

1 ounce of High West Silver Whiskey
4 ounces of tonic water (preferably Hansen’s)
A wedge of meyer lemon

Named for Stanley, Idaho where the riding is adventurous, uncrowded, and delicious. Lots of miles in these trails but they are buff and fast leaving plenty of time for sitting around the campsite looking at bald eagles, sawing wood and drinking newly conceived cocktails. Even the rednecks are friendly in Stanley!

Looking at eagles in Stanley

Crossing Kelly Creek... one of many many creek crossings

Fisher Creek, the local classic and totally worth the highway and fire road climb

Erika coming down the Ridge Connector

I want to start by thanking The Tour of Utah for having their crit in Park City today! Every cyclist/hiker person in  SLC and Park City went to the bike race and left the trails completely empty! Erika and I cruised up through PCMR on the new, improved best way to the top (thanks Kevin!) and arrived at the Crest trail on Saturday afternoon, perfect blue sky, having seen only a handful of people. We rode the entire Crest into the Canyons, down mid-mountain, and finally saw someone on Colin’s trail. No one on Mid-Mountain on Saturday afternoon… Utah locals should try and wrap their minds around that. And just to add to the perfectness… it rained hard on Thursday and the trails were perfectly tacky. Perfect trails, perfect new route, perfect timing.

Thistles on the Cobblestone trail

Today I trusted a co-worker’s opinion of the weather, despite the large puffy walls of clouds, and went for a fairly long ride on the singlespeed after work. And he was right… other than being sprinkled on (while it was sunny) for the first few miles, it remained ominous but harmless, dropped the temperature and maybe even scared the crowds away. Flying Dog trail at Jeremy Ranch has a long moderate climb that feels a lot like a grinding trudge on the singlespeed. But the descent down to the bottom of Cobblestone is fast and fun. I scared two buzzards and two baby deer (not at the same time). And saw few enough people to forget about them altogether.

Emma at my feet

A short trip to Steamboat Springs (where I am not sure I have been before, despite growing up in Colorado) this week-end to meet up with some of my family. First night we camped in the most mosquito infested meadow of all time, but Emma curled up by my feet, and also cooled down in the shade of the truck. Colorado brought out the dog in her.

Coulton Creek Trail

There are some lush, overgrown trails in these parts! Tall and thick grasses obscured the trail (sometimes trenches that are the trail) and got caught in our chains and derailleurs. But the Wyoming Trail (a section of the Continental Divide trail) was a wildflower extravaganza and A++ fun. Funnest ride in a long time.

Fishhook Lake on the Wyoming Trail

There was some discussion about why so many of the outdoorsy folks (fairly hardcore climbers and skiers) that I work with are getting into shooting small animals and driving dirt bikes in the desert. Guns and fuel-powered recreation. Ironic redneckness? Like mullets and mustaches? And there is a billboard that I see every time I head south on Interstate 15 that advertises the Parowan Prophet (which I will not link to but there is a website… use your search engine!). Free survivalist plans. Not ironic. Are these things related?

Me? I just need to know where my coffee is going to be each morning. At a work camping trip I had the foresight to prep my stove-top espresso pot the night before, so when I woke up to pouring rain this morning, I simply unzipped the tent and fired up the stove. All my co-workers slept in their tents and trucks while I sipped my coffee and read The New Yorker and it rained.

utah survival kit

Wasatch Crest Trail one half second after the moose and her cub disappeared over the ridge line

After a roasting hot week-end and what with the full moon being on Monday night, I thought it would be grand to have the shuttle drop us off for a night ride on the Wasatch Crest trail. Of course the thunderstorms were unexpected, but we followed the radar and it looked like most of the rain was in the valley, so off we went. Dropped at the top of Guardsman’s Pass a bit after 7, it was chilly and sprinkling and incredibly beautiful. We rode through the clouds. Saw only a couple of moose and no people, stopped for beer and a sip of bourbon before the Spine and then rode out with lights through the empty buffness of Mill Creek canyon.

Folkies drinkin' beer

Originally my plan for this morning included a big ride in Park City, but there was thunder and rain while I walked Emma and so when I got home I obsessed over the radar long and hard before realizing that Park City was a crapshoot but meanwhile the temperatures in SLC were lovely and I should just ride. Here is a view of where I would have been riding from where I was riding.

In the evening I took Emma up to Dog Lake in Mill Creek Canyon. There are signs posted saying THIS TRAIL ONLY OPEN TO BIKES ON EVEN NUMBERED DAYS… something like that. Today is an odd numbered day when dogs are allowed off leash. A lone biker passed me grinding up Little Water trail (this is a steep trail, not many people bike up it on any day). Right as he passed me a woman blocked his path and demanded that he turn around, asking me to confirm that he was not allowed. I confirmed the rule existed and moved on… I mean yes there are rules, laws, ordinances…and the exact reason I don’t go against that particular rule is my fear of being hassled by middle-aged ladies with a grudge and deep sense of righteousness. I assume this odd/even usage is a sort of compromise, but personally, I like to mountain bike with my dog off the leash, so I never get to use those trails as I would like to. And if the guy was a rowdy jerk running over people and dogs, perhaps I would have felt some indignation, but being bitchy about rules simply because they are rules rubs me the wrong way. Anyway, I just hiked on, saw a friend at the top and hiked back down again.

I start again with an adventure into the La Sal mountains, near Moab. 2010 may be the summer of adventure riding… when Lisa asked me what that meant, I could only say that to me it means just riding. Maybe going somewhere. But not feeling like you have to stick to tried and true MTB trails. Take any trail! Maybe hike-a-bike!

We camped at Oowah lake, the first campground we have stayed at in ages… it seemed less quiet and more crowded than we like our week-end adventures to be, but with the advantage of cow grates, so the cows were outside of the boundaries of the camp, though they seemed rather pissed off about being kept out and bellowed from dawn to dark. Non-stop. I assumed they must be in severe gastro-intestinal pain… but I don’t know anything about cows. Emma chased off a couple who were hanging around the fence near us.

We rode up from Oowah on the Clark Lake trail, up to Boren Mesa, looping back to Clark Lake and down. Steep, rocky, techy… tough climbing, but fun and challenging down.

I rode from Oowah again the next day, up to Warner Lake and the Hazard County trail. Saw no one except a belligerent cow who didn’t want to move from the trail. RK picked me up and we drove to Fisher Mesa… an absolutely awesome ride, with the exception of it starting downhill and therefore ending as an uphill. Still, classic desert singletrack winds along the mesa edge with amazing views, fun techy riding… and not anyone around. As a topper we rode the UPS section of Porcupine rim trail… complete and total awesome slickrock flowiness.

It rained back at Oowah and felt damp and cold, though at least the scary folks from site 9 had moved on. We turned in early, listening to the bellowing cows.

I’m working on a blog project with friend and artist Lisa Carroll. This one will take a pause while that one runs it’s course. Please check it out!

100 Days of Going For It.

1. The three-day week-end started off very fortuitously when I ran into a co-worker getting onto my same flight. I was in the first cattle call and saved him a seat… he’s a tall fella and I got him the one by the emergency exit that actually has leg room. As a thank you he bought my cocktail.

2. Lisa picked me up and was in the mood to go OUT, so off we went to MUA, a new and fabulous club/restaurant in Oakland.

3. Kelly and Jeremy were in the mood to rally and soon joined us.

lisa and kelly

4. Much drinking and eating, very delicious, very fun scene. Lisa fell down! In 12 years of knowing her, never have I been designated driver.

5. Erin rallied for wedding frock shopping. 8 dresses tried-on? One near panic attack with tight zippered dress that I couldn’t get off, but last one perfect. 40% off. Done!

6. Jeans. First pair tried on perfect fit.

7. Weddin’ shoes… a little anxiety here… the most I have ever paid for shoes, but they are perfect.

8. Whiskey and incredible wine at Kate’s. A new friend! Incredible wine! Whiskey straight from Scotland and a life-changing story of Lisa’s trip to Mongolia. Much laughter, inspiration, soul-searching and good times.

9. Alameda flea market. Friends. Erin’s awesome new house.

alameda flea

10. Much discussion about A Field Guide to Getting Lost, by Rebecca Solnit. Writing a Thoreau quote on Lisa’s kitchen wall in my best imitation of the font in the book.

thoreau

11. 8.5 mile run on the East Ridge trail… an old old fave. Lisa is fast and strong!

12. Burritos and beer and a new project formed. 100 days of going for it: http://www.100daysofgoingforit.wordpress.com.

13. Bay bridge closed so we did a driving tour of the bay. Wedding rings at Julia’s studio in SF — beautiful!

14. Pacifica, my old surfing beach, looking burly today. Akira hucking rocks at the ocean and running from the waves until he got progressively braver and finally soaked.

akira hucking rocks

15. Airport. A view of Lake Tahoe… I miss big water! Maybe my next home is Truckee?

16. Home. RK has worked a deal for a silly/sweet 60′s camper/sleeper.

ours?

17. Tubeless cross tires! With these and going for it… watch out.