First Days on the Great Divide

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Flights to Calgary went without a hitch. Don arrived from California within 15 minutes of me and the shuttle to Banff and Canmore was only another 20-minute wait. Assembling the bikes took almost an hour and we did it in a hotel parking lot and put the boxes in their dumpster. Even better, the hotel had wireless so we were able to send home a few photos and messages.IMG_0007

We’d decided to get off the shuttle in Canmore because of it’s proximity to the trail and a campground right in town. It was 7:45 by the time we were rolling, and we decided a good meal was in order. Yelp! showed an Italian restaurant close by. The food was excellent but the service from the kitchen unbelievably slow. Since we’d decided to start riding that night instead of camping in town, I actually asked to pay the check before our food arrived in anticipation of leaving the restaurant just after 9PM. One more stop on the way to the trail yielded two 12″ Subway sandwiches.

Unbeknownst to us, the Great Divide race this year was detoured thru Canmore and we all had a surprise having to climb an hour-or-more-long dirt road ascent to a reservoir. For us it was probably more pleasant because we were cycling in lower temps and with less recreational traffic. The longer evening daylight let us cycle until after 11 pm without a headlamp. The Spay Lake campground was our destination and we got there shortly after midnight. Neither of us had filled our water bottles yet because we’d planned to do that at the first stop. We never found the official campground and pitched our tents in the overflow parking lot. In the morning we learned that it was $20 and the water was at a trailhead down the road.

Slow start that morning with more gear adjustments for Don, because his new front bags came with me from Durango.  On the second night we found a traveler’s cabin and made ourselves at home.IMG_0008

Getting Ready

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IMG_6857Preparations are in the final stages for the Great Divide adventure which begins shortly after we fly to Calgary, Canada on the 8th of July. (I’m going with Don the high school friend I cycled from Austin to St. Augustine in 2009) The equipment list has been tweaked and jiggered, weights adjusted, packs & straps altered and waterproof bags sealed for items that shouldn’t get wet.  It’s hard to plan for this long a trip even though we’ll be passing thru towns and near outdoor stores, most of our gear is fairly specialized and mostly available thru stores online specializing in Ultralight and Backpacking gear. McKenney requested the above detailed photo with labels on each, but those labels will have to wait. It was a good idea to check off each item against the Excel sheet because there were still a few items in my hiking backpack that needed to be transferred to the floor.

IMG_6854IMG_6856 Shakedown(s) provided plenty of opportunities for changes, repairs and corrections to gear and the bike. Now it’s time to consider weights.

 

The Cannondale Lefty is an all carbon bike but with all the packs velcro’ed on she weighs in at 27.4 pounds.  Best guess on the frame packs is 5.15 pounds and the Excel sheet calculates the gear and clothes on the bike (Base Weight) at 10.2 pounds.  If I take out the Electronics at 1.78 pounds the Adjusted Base Weight is 8.16 pounds. Total bike push/lift weight should be right at 41 pounds.  Total Pedal Weight with water is 53 pounds.

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Thanks to my nephew, Christopher, who discovered a number of maintenance items – derailleur hanger bent, shock release not working, seat post rails too small, chain too dry and tires needing sealant – the bike should be in good shape now.

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.

Slickhorn

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IMG_6293Spring and Fall are the only rational times to go backpacking in the Southwest Desert and I was lucky enough to get invited on a four-day adventure thru the Slickhorn region of Cedar Mesa in Southern Utah the first week back from Thailand.  There are now at least four other Ultra-light backpacking enthusiasts in Durango and we all ventured 3 hours southwest to hike a route chosen by the mentor of many who prefer to pack ultra-light, Will Rietveld. (He’s written about and reviewed Ultra Light gear for quite a number of years and is a native Durangoan – link.)  Actually everyone on this trip except me  has hiked all over this southwestern wonderland, but only Will had done this particular loop before. Last year I’d hiked and blogged about trails north and northeast of Unknown-1this region, so it was good to discover another patch of this BLM-protected land where hundreds of Ancestral Puebloan ruins exist in a desert backcountry setting.  You’d think we’d get tired of seeing and visiting ruins because we live so close to Mesa Verde National Park, but when you find these relics and ruins of ancient time along a trail without a soul around, it always produces awe and wonder.  These folks, the Ancestral Puebloans, spent about 1,200 years with estimates of as many as 40,000 people this desert backyard of ours, WoodenKivaand it’s a never-ending quandary thinking about how they lived, farmed and especially wintered in this high desert region.  Not much remains and when you come across their art, their houses and their shards or a tiny corn cob, it’s pretty special. 

I’ve seen and gone inside a fair number of Kivas (ancient underground structures thought to be ceremonial or religious in nature) but generally not often in remote locations where there is only a placard rather than a ranger telling you to respect the ruins.  In our 4-day 41 mile trek we probably visited at least 3 or more sites a day, which besides providing cultural InfoBinderconsciousness was always a welcome break out of the sun and heat.  At the “Perfect Kiva” they even had an information binder stowed in an ammo box if you wanted to know more about that particular site, it’s discovery (as late as 1976) and the environs. It’s was amazing that we could still go down inside the Perfect Kiva and hang out as long as we wanted.

IMG_6358IMG_6362Not sure how many readers are familiar with the Ancient Puebloan concept of the Sipapu, so I’ll let you know it “symbolizes the portal through which their ancient ancestors first emerged to enter the present world” Wikipedia. All these Kivas had distinct Sipapus as well as well-used niches, chimneys and the meditative tranquility of a very scared place.

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Of course, just hiking thru, around and over sandstone canyons is worth the effort.  We averaged 10 miles a day and not much of the route was on what you might call a conventional trail. This area is often visited, but requires lot’s of route finding thru the boulders, stream-beds, slick rock  and slides.

traverseboxcanyonAnother benefit of hiking with these UL guys is that we all can learn some new or alternate tip or trick and I was able to tweak my gear shortly after getting home.  Can’t wait to get back out on the trail again soon.

BTW on this hike my base weight was just under 9 pounds, plus food and water which decreases each day.  Sure beats the 40-pound days of the past.

 

Back in the Saddle

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It seems to take us a little bit longer each year to recover from the 14 hour time change.  The stack of mail, posting tax statements in our returns, restocking the larder and restoring the Durango routines has kept us busy as usual.  We’re already spinning, hiking, mt. biking and road riding this first week back, despite the low concentrations of hemoglobin.

A maintenance trip to Silverton truly reminded us why we love Southwestern Colorado.  Just look at these clear blue skies, and the wildlife you’ll literally run into.

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IMG_0545Off on a four-day ultralight backpacking trip in the morning to high desert before it gets too hot to visit that country.  How many summers do you have left?