Category Archives: Durango

Supermoon with McKenney’s

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IMG_7180We only live 80 miles apart, however the three mountain passes keep us from getting together more often. We’ll make a run south to Farmington 50 miles and only an hour away, but to go north 80 takes 2 ½ hrs one way and a lot of planning since it’s an all-day commitment no matter which direction you start out.

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What made this last weekend in Ridgway a special treat was that we also visited with Kurt and Carol who were in town for the Ridgway Art Festival.  They only live 7 miles away and we don’t often get to spend an evening with them as our summer schedules don’t always mesh.  Fortunately we do see them individually on a more frequent but shorter basis in town and occasional potlucks.
The McKenney’s Ridgway house, garden and projects are always a joy and marvel to see, we wish we were closer to help or appreciate the work they’ve put into their home and IMG_0691grounds. Tom’s current and lingering project has been the “detached” shop and it’s Belvedere / Mirador atop the shop.  Winter, surgery and recovery have no doubt frustrated the progress, nevertheless daily improvements add up to major changes when we only visit several times a summer.
IMG_0699McKenney gets the credit for the bricks and mortar improvements, but Martha Ann’s decoration, polish, green thumb and artist’s touch cover the framework and infrastructure he’s built.  The garden is the jewel and the Aspen grove park is an in-town wonder on a quarter of the lot.
IMG_7175We weren’t encouraged to bring a thing and Martha Ann regaled us with a white tablecloth Aspen Grove dinner featuring homemade cheese, a tomato torte, mostly home grown organic salad and delicious local peaches with heavy cream for desert.  Outstanding.
Projects always loom high on my list of fun and McKenney allowed Kurt and me to team up on the north wall of the Belvedere’s shop base finishing the Tyvek wrapping, flashing the foundation and painting the T-111 sheathing prior to installation. We were told the siding needed 24 hours of counter-warping, but evidently enthusiasm trumped the clock, as Kurt and McKenney put it up the following day.
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Good times for all were topped off with a full moon around the garden’s raised fire pit.

 

Ice Lake Basin

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IMG_7118Getting back in the high country was the main reason to leave the Great Divide trail at Steamboat and this week’s solo backpacking trip to the Ice Lake Basin was reinforcement.  There were definitely beautiful views in the northern Rockies but we’ve got such great country right in our backyard.  Ice Lake(s) is known as one of the premier hikes in the Southwest and if you catch it when the wildflowers are blooming it’s unbeatable.  

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My trip was a couple weeks past prime, since I was still on the GD ride I missed the height of the season, but I also missed 10 days of heavy monsoon rains in the San Juans.  The IMG_7114wildflowers were a bit storm worn, all the same they provided quite a photogenic sight for those of us “late” to the blossoming.  There weren’t as many Columbines (Colorado’s state flower) in the basin as we’re used to seeing, probably because of the very late winter in the San Juan mountains, however when you found a bunch they certainly gave you pause and a smile.

IMG_7124Long shadow photo op’s still catch my eye, and early morn at 12,250′ makes for a nice contrast.  First light at Ice Lake is a wonderful time just to watch the sunlight slide slowly down the mountains and across the high green meadows.  And check out that true blue sky.

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Exploring the highest points of the upper basin seemed to be in order and I wasn’t disappointed when I discovered a long-abandoned mining operation just below the passes at the foot of Vermillion and Fuller peaks.  The detritus from the past mining operation was fascinating and told of living above 13,000′ digging for gold with hand-cranked ore buckets and hob-nailed shoes.  The midden pile of rusting cans could fill a dump truck and the purple and light-green broken glass bottles reminded me that they lived there for quite some time.  A crushed brass tub and dynamite fuse cord strung across the scree slope added to the discovery only those who venture this high get to enjoy.

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One wishes everyone could see this beauty, on the other hand if everyone came this high there would be nothing of the relics left to enjoy.  As it was I’d seen a hand-carved sign broken up for firewood much lower down.  Wish I could have read what it originally said.

 

 

When I came down from my high morning traverse of the basin, throngs of hikers popped over the ridge below to view the lake I’d had all to myself.  The weather brought an unusual number of hikers, Stanna and her Wednesday women’s group as well.  She had planned her venture weeks before and the weather worked out perfectly for them.  My Spot Locator told her where I was camped and they almost got to the tent before I had time to pack it up.

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At this point, I felt like an intruder to their high altitude picnic, so I ventured off with my backpack to a higher lake to the northeast of this basin.  As a WIS volunteer I’m supposed to be familiar with the territory and I’d never gone over this adjacent ridge, so I supplemented my local knowledge by visiting nearby Island Lake. Luckily, there was someone else there to take my selfie.  Come visit us and see for yourselves; after all, “how many summers do you have left?”

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Back in the San Juans

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Finally got back into the high country again, this time without any planing or forethought, just accepted an opportunity to join fellow UL friend, his daughter and granddaughter to an early morning start on one of Durango’s most famous hikes, peak climbs and landmarks.  The wildflowers took a beating over the last week and weren’t still in their prime, nevertheless offered splendid colors and contrast to the sometimes bleak roads I’d recently traveled.

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Only 30 miles from Durango, just north of our Purgatory Ski Area, at Coal Bank Pass you leave the summit parking lot and wander uphill thru some old growth trees and verdant undercover to the high meadows below the just-under-13,000′ Engineer IMG_7095Mountain.  For those not adverse to “a bit of exposure” the trail continues right on up to the peak for a total of 2,800′ of elevation gain.  It’s always best to be off the top before lunch in the San Juan’s and we were well within those guidelines with a total “moving time” just over 3 hours.

In case you might be anxious about the climbing part of this hike, I should have photographed the 5-year-old who summited shortly after us (admittedly his mother was not along).

Besides having the Spot Locator on, I enjoy tracking the hikes with my GaiaGPS iPhone Ap.  It’ll give me all the stats save calorie count.  At the end of the hike I can export the track to my computer and import the track into a variety of applications like Google Earth or my new favorite TOPO a National Geographic app (shown above).

IMG_7070This hike also qualified as a WIS hike since I wore my Forest Service Volunteer shirt, picked up trash, blocked off switch-back short-cuts, answered hiker questions and took note of downed trees. Our reports go to the FS trail crews who come out later and remove downed trees and repair trails.

 

As if hiking for the beauty, pleasure IMG_7087and exercise is not a goal in itself, the WIS (Wilderness Information Specialist) aspect gives these hikes an additional purpose and the benefit of community service, which makes getting out all that more significant and pushes me out the door more often.

 

Thru Hikers

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As you might imagine the Great Divide route along the Continental Divide crosses tracks a number of times with the Continental Divide Trail (CDT), a cross-continent trail for hikers.  The CDT is one of the jewels in the Triple Crown of American hikes, the others being the Appalachian Trail (AT) and the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT).  I saw and talked to probably 12 or more of the hikers, always in groups of two or three, trying to glean whatever I could about their ultralight gear.

The one question I always try to remember to ask is, “What would you do different. Or what would you change if you could?”  This far along, all that I talked to had started at the Mexican border and had already “dialed-in” their gear, so I generally got comments like, “the weather” or “nothing.”

IMG_7067One solo hiker was zipping along with his head net on. After stopping and talking to him for several minutes along the road, I asked him about his net, which evidently was so comfortable that he hadn’t noticed it was still on.  He quickly pulled it off, embarrassed, saying he didn’t know he was wearing it from early morning.

Later I asked another group of four about head nets and one hiker quickly whipped his out saying it was the best one available, Sea to Summit, and that I should try it on.  It actually has underarm shock cords that keeps it down and away from your neck.  I’ll definitely be looking into this new piece of gear for backpacking.

Other info gathered from the troops of thru hikers: One preferred a canister stove, a cheap 4-oz knock-off of a MSR with the smallest fuel can, he only ever carries one canister and when it’s out, he eats “cold” until the next resupply.  One guy carries his alcohol in a squeezable Platypus water bag, so volume decreases with fuel level.  Another guy absolutely loves his Z-pack chest bag (another item I’ll be looking into).

Most hikers seems to be in the 12-pound base-weight range and most had a tarp-tent.  All but one was in trail-runner hiking shoes, everyone had poles and two I saw coming down the road with identical Go-Lite Chrome Dome umbrellas deployed above their heads like Asian ladies in the afternoon sun.  Water filtering was with Sawyer minis or Aqua Mira, no one mentioned SteriPens.

Most surprising was a couple of guys, the ones with the Chrome Domes, said when I mentioned Z-Packs, “Z-Packs gear doesn’t hold up.  Not suitable for thru hiking.” When I protested that I love my Z-Packs gear, they remonstrated adamantly, “it may be great for bike packing but it’ll never hold up to a thru hike.”  Strange, I’ll be looking into this further.

Best of all, every one of the thru hikers seemed jovial and eager to talk about their gear and the six-month journey.

Portland Visitors

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IMG_6845Our son Daniel and his girls from Portland visited us this week.  We crammed a lot in the short three-day visit: hiking, horseback riding, visiting the St. Paul Lodge and entertaining the extended family for dinner on the deck.IMG_6844

 

 

Daniel’s lady friend hadn’t been to Durango before so there was much to see and show off.  Silverton was first on the list, and it was difficult to decide on whether to see Animas Forks Ghost Town IMG_6816or the St. Paul Lodge on Red Mountain Pass after a quick tour of the town.  Weather was perfect so we climbed the newly thawed and greening slopes to the tree line and on to McMillian Peak.  The young girls weren’t excited about hiking too much over 12,000′ so they waited under the last tree while Daniel and I bagged the peak.

 

IMG_6842High on Sophie’s list was horseback riding so we all mounted up at Rapp’s Haviland Lake corral and took a two hour ride to the cave overlooking Tamarron.  Interesting that the current instructions on using the reins is to, “Use it like a Joy Stick.  Left, right, back for stop.” Fortunately the horses knew what a Joy Stick was.

IMG_6846The finale was a big feast on the deck overlooking the Animas River with our Durango friends who’ve known Daniel since his youth.  Everyone had a good time catching up and filling up on the fare.

New Addition to the Clan

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IMG_6779A lot of schedules and routines got jjiggered over the last couple weeks with the pre-mature birth of Inari, the new daughter of our nephew Christopher and his girlfriend Aidan.  Long story, but short version was that Aidan and my sister Donna were air-flighted to Denver several weeks ago, where mother and unborn Inari were ensconced in a high-risk unit in Denver’s premier preemie hospital.  Baby was born at 36 weeks and she arrived at 4 pound 2 ounces in good health.  Adding to the kerfluffle was they closed on a new IMG_6778Durango house (via FEDEX) while in Denver, and all the family and friends moved them into it in their absence.  Stanna had to rush her contribution off the loom in time for their return to Durango and the new crib. The super soft blanket was fashioned in green because she (and the parents) had no idea what color blanket would be appropriate.

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Hke and bikeI finally managed to slip away for a couple of single-day jaunts – a shake down bike tour and a trail hike.  The Shake-Down was a bike packing trip to check out all my gear for the Great Divide ride, and it proved worthwhile because I had a number of bike failures that I’d rather take care of locally than 1,000 miles away.  First the seat came loose from the seat post after about 20 uphill miles and then the bottom bracket started to make ball bearing grinding sounds as I reached the summit after the 4,500′ climb.  Thankfully there was still plenty IMG_6775of light and one Subaru high up on the pass, so I hitched home rather than continue with the overnight trip. It wasn’t easy climbing the last 2 miles out of the saddle, so I’m going to change out the seat post before I go out again.  (The bolt wouldn’t tighten enough and I didn’t want to strip it – I’ve already experienced a stripped bolt this year).  My nephew Christopher, the new father, will change out the bearings in the bottom bracket as soon as he settles into the new house.

And instead of waiting on the new house stoop with all the family for the baby’s arrival, I snuck away on a day hike with Kurt.  We cleaned trail 5 miles up Burnt Timber Creek for the Forest Service under the WIS program I’ve joined.

IMG_6768Saving the best for last, I got to set-up the latest Zpacks Hexamid Duplex tent I ordered for my riding partner on the Great Divide.  I’ll have to have one for next season as it’s only 1 ounce more than my current Hexamid and has lots more features I’m impressed with. I especially like the fact that you don’t need to place the poles inside the screen, the sewn-in bathtub floor, and the over-lapping double doors, plus the extra head room for the 2nd side.  For the sailors out there, this is all Cuban Fiber sail cloth fabric (total of 19 oz for two people) .

 

 

 

Almost Summer

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IMG_6748Hard to believe how fast the time goes, especially when you’re hanging around home. In a twist of the common “just retired” comment: How did I ever find time to hike (bike or raft)? It’s almost summer and if it weren’t for chores, commitments and complications I’d rather be logging hours as a WIS volunteer, breaking in my new Brooks saddle, or rafting the Middle Fork.  But all play makes the responsibilities stack up, and June is the month I’ve got to knock off as much as I can, because July, August and September are already booked up.

One of the pleasures of being home is hosting Warmshowers.org cross-country cyclists and Eddy was the rider of the month so far.  He is/was a delightful South Korean who decided to traverse the US on a bike after discussing it with several students in his English as a Second Language class (in Kentucky).  Well equipped and enthusiastic, he made it from Los Angles to Durango in 17 days, including stays in Las Vegas and the Grand Canyon.  He liked Durango so much he stayed over and made a quick 9-mile day hike with me on his day off.  Only comment I had for him was to put some toe-clips on the pedals because he was attempting the 3,000 mile trip in tennis shoes and pedaling flat footed.

Since we’d contracted to sell our rental house, I had to sort, move and trash items in that rental garage, which dove-tailed nicely with my purging of the equipment wall in the spare bedroom.  Between a friend’s fortuitous yard sale, the thrift shop, some give-a-ways, various dumpsters and a nephew, I’ve lightened my load considerably.  Now if I could double or triple that amount of divesture, I could fit into assisted living if they’d allow bicycles, backpacks and raft.

IMG_0566I did make time for a sewing project – a bike-packing frame pack – for my high school and cross-country-cycling buddy, Don Ahlert.  I’m not announcing it yet, but he’s going to cycle the Great Divide and I’m going along.  This little custom pack will fit between his top and down tubes and hold a pump and tent poles, plus a few spares for his cross-country adventure.

IMG_0568Luckily I was in town for a program at Rotary this last week on a local bear study with the Division of Wildlife. Evidently we are the only community in the world studying the conflicts between bears and people living in close proximity. This is a totally fascinating multi-year project that uses GPS technology to track adult female bears, all within our county.  The Division of Wildlife knows where each of the collared bears are year round, and tracks them down in their dens during winter to change the batteries and count cubs. If there was any doubt about how many bears are around our community, we now know there are at least 270 that have been trapped, tagged and released exactly where they are found.  We know for certain that drought conditions bring the bears into town and more importantly, those bears who’ve discovered town trash don’t come back to town if there is plenty of food outside of town the following year.

Soon it’ll be summer and I’ll be back outdoors.

 

Visit us in Durango

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Chalong bannerFun to have visitors.  We always felt that on the boat, and it’s just as fun when folks from out of the US come to visit us in Durango.  We’ve been quoted many times saying, “We get to see our ‘old familiar things’ thru fresh eyes, our visitors’ eyes”. This week’s visit by Chalong (just like it sounds ‘Cha-long’) from Trang, Thailand was almost as exciting for us as it was for her.

IMG_6638As many know, we have great friends in Trang, Thailand, among the Trang Cycling Club, and Chalong is the wife of TigerSong the defacto leader of all our Sunday and weekend excursions, each of the three years we’ve stayed in Trang.  TigerSong and his crew have toured us repeatedly around southern Thailand showing us sites, events and occasions that the average foreigner would never see or IMG_4119even notice.  We finally got to reciprocate when one of “their own” came to Durango.

Ever since learning the term “breaking the fun barrier”, I’ve used it with abandon, and once again we practiced what we preached.  Chalong only came for four days and the first day was aborted by United Airlines when her flight was delayed 18 hours due to equipment issues.  But she hit the ground like a champ when we thrust her into an open-house potluck (potlucks don’t happen in Thailand – if you can’t afford to feed everyone you invite, you just don’t invite many.  It IMG_4151must be a matter of ‘face’ because they do have big parties and the host provides and usually has a rented tent, tables and chairs).

Chalong is just finishing her studies for a Doctorate in English and she’d come to the states for a month of classes in San Francisco to prepare for her final exams.  We’d convinced her Durango would be a great diversion between classes and testing back in Bangkok.  The open-house was super as she got to see and talk to many folks about language, culture and her country.

IMG_6619The next day we drove the “million dollar highway” in search of snow, which she’s only seen in pictures.  Neither of the two passes had accessible snow left, so we motored right thru Silverton and up the Alpine Bypass to Eureka where she finally got her wish in an avalanche debris flow that had almost as many broken trees as snow.  Her smiles, laughter and joy were priceless.  As we approached historic Animas Forks town site she got lots more snow opportunities.

IMG_6628We picnicked in the ghost town parking lot and zipped back to Silverton where Stanna and Chalong boarded the Durango & Silverton Narrow Guage Railroad open car #20 and rode thru the Weminuche Wilderness toward Durango.IMG_6636

 

 

Next day was just as ambitious, because we visited Mesa Verde National Park touring both Balcony House and the Cliff Palace with another picnic lunch between tours.IMG_6719There was barely enough time to freshen up back in Durango, before we took in the Bar D Wrangler Chuckwagon dinner and Cowboy music show.

We took over 250 photos of her enjoying some of Durango’s highlights. Thanks Chalong, for reminding us what a wonderful place we live in.

Breaking the Fun Barrier

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IMG_6580John Wesley Powell reportedly used this iron-prowed skiff and ones like it on his 1869 exploration of the Green River in Utah. We travelled in far better skiffs, in fact I was the crew in a restored Grand Canyon dory owned by a Durango friend, John Lawson.  This dory was recognized by other rafters on the same river and John was told that there are photos of the Niagara running the Grand in a movie making the Art House film circuit, called DamNation.  This was my first time in a dory and I was lucky enough to row her and take her down a couple class 3 rapids.  The ride is much different than in a conventional raft because it only has a four-foot wide “wetted surface”.Niagara

DCIM100GOPROGreat trip, 11 people on 6 boats for six days.  Actually, the best trip I’ve ever had down the Green River thru Desolation & Gray Canyons because the heat and bugs weren’t an issue this time of year.  Forecast was for perfect warm weather, but high winds and night rains struck us several afternoons during our dinner gatherings.  Fortunately all the boaters were experienced and well-enough equipped to handle DCIM100GOPROadversities both on and off the river.  The pictured “para-wing” tarp covers the kitchen and most the galley.  Only one night did we have to have five people hold down the tarp as 35 MPH and higher winds whipped down the beach just after dinner.  As you can see in these photos, most of the camps were on sandy beaches which makes for easy camping.

For those who’ve never done multi-day river trips with a private group, the meals are divided up by boat and on this trip each boat was responsible for one dinner and one breakfast (lunches are individual since they don’t require a community kitchen).  It’s always a treat to see and eat meals the other boater provide for the group. Our “directives” were not to make very fancy or elaborate dishes so our crew made grilled pork chops, vegetable shiskabobs and mashed potatoes.  Cheese cake with berries for dessert. (We forgot to pull out the Cool Whip for topping.)

IMG_6591IMG_6588Lunches weren’t too shabby either.

Fun time on the river and evidently the same storm came thru Durango and shortened the Memorial Day traditional Iron Horse Classic to only 25 miles and none of the passes.  Glad I’d opted for the desert and hiking this year rather than training for the mountain passes.

And just because it doesn’t warrant a full blog on it’s own, I made a quick 2-day mountain backpacking trip just out of Durango IMG_6595behind the Purgatory Ski area the day after getting off the river.  We started high behind the ski area and hiked down the Little Elk Creek trail to the Hermosa Creek drainage, 13 IMG_6594miles, and then back up another trail further south called Dutch Creek trail.  It was fun once again being the first footprints on the trail after the winter snows melted.

We’d hoped to see lots of animals this early in the season.  Lot’s of fresh tracks and scat, but we only saw a young black bear scooting away at a speed I’d never thought possible.  When I asked about their mobility my hiking partner told me they can easily do 30 MPH and uphill at that.  Creeks were so high on the return up Dutch Creek that we had to ford with our shoes off three times.  Amazing how easy it is to get in a first-class backpacking trip in just two days only 30 minutes from home.

Pine River Trail

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IMG_6418 - Version 2Several friends and I were itching to go backpacking once again. Our backpacking trip in the desert several weeks ago, was probably the last one possible until the Fall because the daytime temps make hiking uncomfortable.  We finally got to backpack into the (lower-part of the) High Country wilderness around Durango, by going up the “Horse Highway” as one friend at Rotary called it. About 32 miles ENE from Durango are the Vallecito thresholds to the Weminuche Wilderness.  I’ve hiked several trails directly north of the Vallecito Lake drainage into the Weminuche, but not the more Easterly drainage of the Pine River. Many Trail Head parking lots have hitching posts for horses in our area, but this TH had rails for 25 or 30 head. It must be a horse highway because of it’s gentle rise along the Pine River for over 20 miles.  IMG_6434Fortunately for us, we were the first to travel more than the 3 miles up to the Weminuche boarder sign and get the first look on to the trails this season.  Horseback riders are probably aware that it’s not a good idea to venture out on these freshly thawed trails because of the all the deadfall from even our mild winter makes the going tough. We’d come across so many downed trees that we couldn’t clear, it would be very discouraging for anyone on horse IMG_6553back.  One family of beaver were very active recently leaving more than 20 large sized trees blanketing the trail.

Most of you don’t know, but I’ve joined a group of volunteers known as Wilderness Information Specialists (WIS) and this was just the type of hike where we can be helpful, in that we recorded the quantity and size of the downed trees that a trail crew would have to come and remediate.

IMG_6573By enlisting as a WIS volunteer I’m forcing myself into spending more time in the backcountry that I have habitually said, “I’ll enjoy the area close to Durango when I get grey”. Well, what’s left on top is certainly grey, and as the byline says, “How many summers do you have left”.  Now is the time to get out there.

Having converted to an evangelist ultralight backpacker makes the endeavor all that more enjoyable.  Four of us, all similarly out-fitted, pushed the season door open and tramped IMG_6447almost 20 miles up this horse highway until the snow line only offered “post holing” for passage.  Over the two nights and three days we camped low (8,880′) and hiked high (10,000′) so that the night time low temps wouldn’t be more than our light weight gear and packs could handle.  As it was the lows hit 23° F and we all slept in every stitch we IMG_6468brought inside our sleeping bags (No one got cold).  We did allow ourselves a campfire in one to the established campsites both nights, so that kept the chill off while we waited to bed down. It was really fun to see the foliage pressing itself out of the ground like the skunk cabbage (false hellebore) shown below.  This plant will grow to be 4 to 6′ tall by Fall.IMG_6526

 

And even though we all had base weights in the 10-12 # range we still had room for a birthday cake, albeit with only one candle.  Mike Taylor celebrated a “surprise” 71st birthday midway thru the hike.  I should also probably mention that the average age of the crew was 69 years old.

2014-05-15 18.28.25A good time was had by all. And ice cream was the first stop on the way home.

 

Sedona

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100_5148We’ve written not as much about Stanna’s adventures primarily because there aren’t as many photos to show off her exploits.  Just now she’s editing those from the India/Bhutan/Nepal trip and perhaps we’ll feature that trip retrospectively.  Nevertheless I intercepted a couple photos from her Sedona hike with 8 of her Wednesday Hiking Ladies group, just last week.  Several of the same group made the Nepal trip this year and another, Debi, led the Switzerland trip several years ago.  Reportedly there are more than 20 women on the emailing list and typically 6 to 12 can show up any given Wednesday.  They’ve been taking overnight excursions to regional trailheads in addition to the local day hikes.

100_5141The trip to Sedona, Arizona (6+ hours from Durango – south of Flagstaff) is the latest multi-day excursion where they hiked several trails over the three days they were there.  Stanna has hosted several overnights up in Silverton in the past and they’ve gone to Pagosa and Moab as well.  The Ladies share trip leader responsibilities over the year and Stanna has led quite a number hikes herself.

Box CanyonHikes change each week so there is variety in distance, terrain, and effort: something for everyone, but generally they are 3-4 hours, and cover 4 to 6 miles average each time.  On the calendar for this summer is a Hut hike over in Dolores County and maybe a backpacking trip into Chicago Basin in the Weminuche Wilderness, besides the weekly Wednesday hikes.

Calm

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Other than a welcome routine of gym workouts and Wednesday hikes we haven’t done anything special. IMG_6403We’ve been host to a German Warmshowers.org cyclist who completed his 8,000th mile arriving in Durango this last week.  Daniel Poetschke from Dresden was on the home stretch of his 7-month adventure thru South America and the West Coast of the U.S. when he rolled up to our condo.  We convinced him to stay an extra lay-over day in Durango so he could warm-up and catch-up before the final leg to Denver.  It’s always a pleasure hosting these young tourers because we inevitably learn something and feel the good will is well worth the time and effort. It’s continually amazing how much these folks IMG_6399carry on their bikes, Daniel could set a weight record for our cycling tour visitors. However, at the same time he’d travelled the longest distance by far, so who are we to judge.  Suffice it to say we travel with about the same weight he had in just one of the small front orange bags on his bike.  He’s camped probably 90% of the time and the photo of his tent covered with snow in the high Sierras deserves the hardiest award.

IMG_6405It’s probably worth mentioning that Stanna got a replacement for her mountain bike we left in Trang, Thailand.  The Durango youth cycling club Devo had a swap meet last weekend with several hundred bikes available  at really 
IMG_6407great prices.  She found a Trek 7.2 FX her size tricked out with cross wheels and tires, 24 speed gearing and a rack, all for $95.  Only item she’ll replace are the gummy pink hand grips. So now we have the full complement of five bikes stored the the living room.

IMG_6395This blog wouldn’t be right without a food foto inserted, and the tasty treat we experienced was an avocado lime pie with almond and coconut crust.  This was so healthy it could very well have been the main course.  Thanks, Carol, for the wonderful dessert, everyone should be as fortunate as us to have dinner at your house.  Speaking, or more aptly, writing about food, both Stanna and I were very pleased to find that our Thai diets returned us home weighing in almost the same as when we left, even with the daily ice cream and popcorn regime I adopted.

IMG_0551The Ultra Light gear list got several upgrades as a result of the last trip to the Utah desert.  All minor tweaks, but I’ve saved another several ounces and even added a couple of essentials, or better, things that make sense.  The lightest of all the tweaks was adding a simple iPhone camera pole mount with a ½ ounce piece of shock cord [credit to John Martin]. My base weight is still under 10 pounds.  As soon as it warms up a little more, we’ll be able to get up in the high country around here; right now all the hiking is day hiking because the overnight temps still hover around freezing and there is plenty of snow on the north facing slopes, even in a light snow-pack year.  (Our usual Tomato plants are currently just inside the deck doors waiting for those overnight temps to rise.) And we’re just about set to make reservations back to Switzerland for another Fall trek, let us know if you’ll be joining us.