Gotta love Wisconsin

I had been telling Carrie for weeks how I wished we could make it up to Wisconsin this year since we had such a great time last year up there. My family owns a cabin in Minong WI on the Minong Flowage lake (~1,600 acreas). While we are there we fish, play cards, eat way too good, and relax a lot. This year I took my dad's boat which completely makes the trip for me since I'm used to fishing out of it and there isn't an actual fishing boat up there for us to use.

We took off on a Tuesday evening and drove up to Portage WI and stayed the night at a hotel, then hit the road fairly early the next morning. The weather was iffy for our entire trip, but the day we arrived it was pretty darn good. We ended up heading to the north end of the lake to do some fishing and eat at Pogo's on the water. Although Carrie didn't catch her first fish, we still had a great time ( I caught more than I could handle :p )

The next morning we hit the water again and Carrie caught her first ever Northern Pike, and it was a monster! Well, not really, but still exciting:

That afternoon the rain came so we pulled out the cards and I whooped up on Carrie, like usual. This was the last time she smiled that day.

On Friday my parents came up for a few days of relaxation, so when we got good weather on Saturday we hit the lower damn area for some more fishing. Carrie hooked a nice fish, but it ended up being a sucker!

I caught the big fish of the day, a monster rock bass!!! Check him out...hint, you might have to look close:
On Sunday evening Russ and I headed to Lake Pokegama and caught about 35 fish in the rain over a 3hr period. One was a nice bass I caught on my favorite spinnerbait.

One morning I ventured up to the river which is always fun, and hard work to boot. Fishing was slow, but I did catch the biggest northern to date, a 7lbs ~28in beast.
Russ and I did lots of work in the yard and cleaned it up real nice like. In 3hrs we managed to cut this log pile (it's two deep!)
We finished things off by burning all the brush we had cut which took 3hrs of heavy burning. The coals were still pretty darn hot the next morning too.
All in all it was a good trip. Weather was off quite a bit for early August, but that's northern Wis for ya. Can't wait to head back up next year.

My longest hike, and biggest mistake to date

So yesterday I decided to push myself a little harder than before, ya know, to find my physical limits. After all, how do you know what you are capable of if you never find those said limits? So I'm in Grand Lake Colorado, about 2hrs from Denver and near Winter Park Ski Resort. Grand Lake borders the south edge of Rocky Mountain National Park, and is around 8,500ft in elevation. I've done some hiking up over 9,500 quite a bit, and spent a decent time close to 10,000ft, but this would be the first time over 10,000ft and also my longest hike by far. In Yosemite I did a 14mile hike which was pretty easy and left me in good shape, so I knew I was able to withstand 20 miles, but the purpose of the day was to push myself further so I could find that limit for future reference. The only map I had was a freebie from the park's visitor center, which was enough to tell me where to go, but not enough detail to let me know exactly what I was in store for.
The morning started off good, I arrived at the visitor center (and trail head) at 6:50am, got ready to go and was off by 7:30 or so. The plan was to hike two trails that paralleled each other with about 5-6 miles between them. Each trail was app 10miles long and to cross over to one another was a nice tough ~7mile hike up and over a mountain pass/flat that would take me near 12,000ft! Sounded like fun! I got rolling and took my time for the first few miles enjoying the scenery, taking in the sights, and snappin a few pics along the way. I saw a couple mule deer which is always nice to see, but still no elk or bears : (

Maybe 6 miles in I stopped for a quick snack and then picked up the pace. Eventually I made it to the last camp site on the south trail which was 9.2miles in and just before the big climb to the pass. I was greeted by a park ranger and we had a quick conversation. He looked concerned, asked me where I was going, what time I started, and didn't seem comfortable with my plan. I asked if I could make it before night fall, but he seemed way more worried about the weather which I hadn't even noticed till this point. Some clouds were rolling in which in the mountains means, don't go up, go down and prepare for the worse. See, mountain storms can come quick and be harsh, dropping temps 20+ degrees in no time and howling 40+mph winds. I decided to keep pushing on and he let me know where he was camping just in case I needed help.
At that point I was over 10,000ft and had a 1,500ft+ climb to get up on the pass. Climbing for me is not a problem, it's the decent that gets my knees calling out for help. Once I got up on the pass I could get a good look at the clouds that were coming my way, and they looked bad, really BAD. I had to make a decision, turn back and head in the way I came (boring), or roll the dice and try and get to the north trail before the storm hit (what a real adventurer would do). With no rain gear, hat, gloves, shelter, and weather worsening by the minute I should have gone back, but I decided to gamble and go for it. Not a wise decision!

The edge of the storm clouds!

Not bad for a little camera : )

I really picked up my pace knowing that getting over this 5-6 mile pass was critical. When you are near 12,000ft and have a storm over the top of you, well, it's not safe at all. Being that I was the tallest feature around, the chance of being struck by lightning was way too good, and with no help around for miles I could surely fall to Mother Nature's wrath with one strike. As I made my way across the tundra like ground I felt exactly what I knew was coming, but hoped and prayed would somehow pass me by. A cold breeze hit my light layers going right through them, the storm had arrived. At that point it was prob in the high 50's, but the temps fell quick along with small rain droplets. I started moving quicker, almost jogging to get across this death pass. As if Mother Nature wanted to test my limits, she started throwing down pea sized hail at me stinging my head, face, and hands, then they grew to marble size with freezing rain mixed in. Soon I was soaked to the bone and getting cold fast. I started to jog on top of the marbles that now covered the ground, splashing on the water that wouldn't penetrate the frozen ground. Rocks become more of a hassle because they were slippery now and begged to twist my ankles. I thought to myself, keep a good pace but be careful, your at 12,000ft and you can't over do it with another 6-7 hours to go, but all I could think about was keeping warm and getting off this stinkin pass! After a few miles I started to slowly descend and the hail turned to freezing rain then to a light rain. The temp was 43deg at that point and I was frozen. My hands had turned deep red and became immobile even though I kept shaking them in hopes to increase the blood flow and warm them up. It was not working and I actually got pretty scared, especially when my finger tips turned purple. I stopped at a sign that said "Grand Lake 12 Miles." I was glad I made it over the pass, but at the same time horrified at the distance I still needed to cover. I just happened to glance to my left and saw a herd of elk about 250 yards away. It was the first elk I'd seen on my adventure, and for a second it took my mind off the pain. I took my pack off, now soaking wet with ice stuck on it, and dug for my camera. My hands weren't working all that well, my fingers could hardly be forced to bend and it hurt to try, but I managed to get a few pics and a short vid of the elk. There was no time to stop, I need to get down in altitude where the temps would warm back up a bit.

The herd of elk off in the distance.

An hour later I was back down under 10,000ft and the temp hit 50deg, I was happy at that and surprisingly my pants had dried up fairly well, but my socks and shirt were still wet. I knew I had made it through the storm even though rain was still falling lightly, now I just had to focus on making good time to arrive back at the trail head before dark since I didn't have a light source (I was not very well prepared for this hike). The miles went by, but they went slower and slower and each one got harder. My knees were getting sore, my legs tired. I stopped for break to refuel, but the mosquitoes were so bad I couldn't sit in one place, so I walked slowing while I ate and drank water. I made it to a campsite that was 5.2 miles from my car, it gave me hope, but I was drained and loosing strength quick. The next campsite seemed to take forever, as did the next, and the next. At one point I thought I was under 2 miles from the car, but then another campsite sign told me it was 3 miles to go. My emotions started to get the better of me as it hurt to take a step, especially if it wasn't on flat ground. Each time I would take a step up or down a strong shooting pain would come from deep inside my knees letting me know I was done, I couldn't go on, but I had to, I had to make it, there was no other choice but to sit and rest and let the bugs eat me alive, or go on. At times I imagined Carrie waiting at my car for me, rooting me on, giving me hope, but soon those thoughts were once again taken over by pain. I was hungry a few hours back and had to stop to go both #1 and #2, but my body seemed to shut down now as all those feelings went away. I didn't even feel like drinking water, but I knew I had to. At one point I thought I saw a coyote pup, I even took a picture of it, but it didn't move, not a bit. It was a log. Was my vision getting blurry? Was I loosing my mind? Was I going to make it or collapse on the trail?

Back down in the valley:

A sign appeared up ahead. I knew I was getting close, I had to be. It said 0.5miles! A jolt of energy shot through my body and I took some quick steps, but my legs wobbled and hurt to bad to keep that pace up. That last 1/2 mile seemed to take forever, almost 20min if that tells you how slow I was going at that point. As I saw the parking lot I almost felt my emotions surface. It was the hardest physical task I've ever done in my life. I didn't know if I was proud of myself, or wanted to punch myself in the stomach for being such a fool. I was way too weak to throw a punch with anything on it and my brain couldn't fathom anything but sitting down, so that's what I did, in the men's restroom at the visitor center : )
After resting a bit I went into Grand Lake town and ate a 1/2lbs burger and cup of macaroni and cheese, it did nothing for me. My stomach was empty after burning up all the food I had ate throughout the day, but all I could think about was getting in my tent and relaxing. It was just over 10hrs of walking with no more than a 3min break for lunch at 12:15. The best I could figure out was 27miles, between 5 and 6 of that at over 11,500ft, and half of that jogging soaking wet freezing to death...literally.
I laid there in my tent, legs aching, knees burning, and a strong headache, pretty much miserable. For once my sleeping pad felt wonderfully comfortable. I talked to my Mom and Carrie for a bit. She reminded me that I still had some pain killers from my surgery a few months back so I popped one of them babies in and watched Lee and Tiffany Lakosky's Getting Close hunting DVD on my laptop until the battery went dead (ordered two extras today, take that!). By that time the pain killer had kicked in and numbed my pain so I could fall asleep. Early in the morning I woke to horrible pain in both my legs especially in my knees, so I grabbed a few breakfast bars and another pain killer and downed them with water. So far today I've taken three of them to keep the pain away, and it seems to be working quite well compared to what I thought it would be like all day. I've spend about 7hrs at the library uploading pics/movies, downloading songs, buying spare laptop batteries, and a summer tent. Unfortunately the connection here is super slow so everything is taking longer than it should. I did have a wonderful and huge breakfast at Carrie's Corner (I took a pic of the menu and sent it to my Carrie). The pancake was by far the biggest I have ever seen, prob close to 13in in diameter! The sausage patty was about 5in in diameter and close to 3/4in thick. They did some amazing home fries which were freshly cut potatoes seasoned and pan fried with onions and green peppers...yummy!
My brother arrived today with his family. They are staying in a cabin near Grand Lake so I'll go meet up with them soon for dinner and some relaxing. I need to give them some warnings about the great west even though I'm sure they will all blow me off.
So, lessons learned. Be prepared for anything. Take small steps in pushing yourself physically, and if a park ranger shows genuine concern you better listen to him!

More pics on my smugmug page, just click on one above and you be there. Some vids on youtube under my user name : iambquinn
thanks for reading

In search for the ultimate Gyro!

So it's all Carrie's fault. I'm hooked on Gyros, that's right, the tasty "Greek taco" as I like to call it. Ever since I had some of hers from Fedoras (see earlier post with pic) I've craved more and different offerings from everywhere I go. When I see a sign that says "Greek" I have to stop in for a gyro even if I'm not hungry.

So, I've decided to keep a running track of all the gyros I've had and rank them per my taste buds. I like to break things down to each component of the gyro and comment on each, then as a whole.

The pita is the most consistent part of all the gyro's I've had. It should be soft, not too hot, and easy to tear with not so sharp teeth. If a place screws up the pita, there are in trouble.

Next is the meat, oh the meat! Tender, and full of flavor the meat is the heart of the gyro and for the most part is also fairly consistent which each place. It's important to mention the size of pieces on the gyro. I've had a few where the pieces were too big for one bite, and that's not good. You don't want to have to tear a piece in two, or worse, as you bite and pull the gyro away from your mouth end up pulling extra chunks of meat out falling to the table (if you eat over your plate that is). So bite size meat chunks is a must.

The toppings. This is subject to every one's personal taste, but there are a few things I feel are a must on a gyro. Tomatoes and the sauce are at the top. Onions are a tough one, and the banana peppers, so far only found at Fedoras, are icing on the cake.

The tomatoes are easy, but I'm surprised how many places screw them up. A sliced tomato is a no-no, and big chunks are not good either. The tomatoes should be small bite sized pieces that can be taken in with the bite, not worked in with effort on each bite. The center of the tomato doesn't do much in a gyro (too gooey), so stick with the outer portion please! The placement of the tomato is also a biggie. Many places put them on top, but then you don't get anything when you are on the bottom of the gyro. So spread them around so they can be easily had on each and every bite.

The onions are tough because many people don't like them. The trick to utilizing onions is to add the flavor without jumping out and watering eyes. Small pieces spread throughout the gyro is in my opinion the only way to add them. I myself do not like raw onions, but if used this way I don't really notice them, but they do add some flavor that is welcomed. What not to do, same things as the tomatoes, no big pieces, and not all on top or bottom.

Sauce: WOW, how can so many places screw this up? First off, sauce is a must, whether it's the white or red sauce. I myself prefer the white (cucumber) and feel it's the only way to go. Second, if the sauces flavor does not jump out at you then find another sauce or work on your recipe. I've had quite a few gyros that the only thing the sauce offered was a cool creamy feeling in my mouth, no actual taste. I didn't understand it. The placement and amount is very critical. The sauce should be available on every bite and never over powering. The biggest mistake I've found is having all the sauce on either the top or bottom of the gyro. What in the world are these people thinking? It's so easy to spread the sauce before you wrap the gyro up, so just do it people!

Extras include the banana peppers found so far only at Fedoras. These peppers are so good and I wish everyone would try them at least once. If taken in smaller bites they aren't over powering and offer up a great sweetness to the package. They need to be sliced up in smaller bites and spread throughout for the best effect. I also like to add hot sauce to my gyros, but that's just me. The last is a house dressing type sauce that is so far only at Fedoras. This is good stuff, but be careful because if you get the gyro to go as I do often there, the sauce can soften up the pita too much. This should be applied on top of the gyro to soak down through the meat.



Here's what I got so far in the order of digestion:

Fedoras (Chillicothe and Peoria IL): THE GYRO that started it all. First off, I always get the deluxe which as extra meat, tomatoes, banana peppers, onions, and the cucumber sauce on the side. At $5 1/2 (not sure the actual price but this is close) it's a bargain! The size is the first thing that grabs you, it's huge, enough meat to make an entire 2nd gyro. In fact Carrie and her Mom get the deluxe with an extra pita and share it, and usually never finish their halves. Ok, lets break it down now. Fedoras' pita is just right, easy enough. The meat is tender and good, pretty much on par with everyone else. The chunks of tomatoes are great, the onions are good but sometimes a little to long and stringy, the sauce on the side is wonderful and probably the best so far. They do use both banana peppers and their house dressing which add some fabulous flavor. Overall this is the best gyro I've had mainly due to the size and bargain it is. Perfect, not exactly, but what is perfect anyways?

Yannis Greek Cafe (Salt Lake City): So upon arriving to SLC I was thinking about trying to find a gyro place so I jumped online and started a search which led me to Yannis. "The best gyro in SLC" many people said. I was excited to say the least. What a bummer!!!! The gyro was over $5, and about the size of a taco, like a Taco Bell taco at that. The pita and meat were good, but the sauce was boring and smothered on top like I hate. I left hungry and majorly disappointed never returning again.

Crown Burger (Salt Lake City): Directly after Yannis and went to C.B. planning on having a burger, but when I saw they had a gyro on the menu I immediately decided I better have one. I was rather impressed with C.B. since they don't specialize in Greek food. The downfalls where similar to Yannis though, first and foremost being too small. The meat and pita were good, toppings ok, but just not worth the money for this little guy.

Mad Greek (Salt Lake City): I saw their commercial on TV and went looking for them! Once again pretty typical SLC gyro, not all that big but good. Their sauce was on the bottom of the gyro so the top half didn't get any. Why would they do this? Price was sub $5, but still not near the top of my list.

Greek City Grill (Salt Lake City): I just happened to stumble on this new joint, only 2 months old at the time of my visit. Owned by actual Italians their gyro was the best of SLC, but still fell short of Fedoras. The size was the main difference from their competitors along with a decent price for the added size. The pita had some strange salt size crumbles on it that stuck to my hands, kinda annoying. It felt more dry and hotter than others too. I like my pita soft and just warm.

Greek Soulvakia 1 (Salt Lake City): One of the originals in SLC I was really excited about this visit. The place was packed so I new it had to be good. Again, this gyro could be lumped in with all the others, except for Greek City Grill because of the size. Once again I left hungry because the gyro was just too small. The taste of the meat was good, but they put sliced tomatoes on top along with all the sauce. Not a good combination for me. Disappointing.

Apparently SLC does not know what a GOOD gyro is???

...to be continued

Moving on out of SLC

Well, my time in SLC has come to an end. I'm now in Colorado, getting ready to see my brother and his family on their vacation. Internet access may be limited to libraries, but now I have my new laptop to rely on!!!! Yeah, finally my own laptop. I got a Sony FW, it's pretty sweet. I built it up online at Sony with a P8700 2.53GHz processor, 320GB HD, 1GB graphics card, Blu-Ray player, full 1080p screen and all the little bells and whistles. I'm actually at a library right now in Denver typing this up. So anyways, not sure how often I'll be able to write in the blog, but I'll try and keep it updated as much as possible.
So last week Carrie (my GF) came out to visit me in SLC. She has never been IN the mountains before, so that was a good experience for her. We camped one night and were planning to camp again the next night but some rain kept that from happening. We went to the zoo, saw Transformers and Public Enemies, saw two moose (not at the zoo either), saw the fireworks on both the 3rd and the 4th, stayed at some nice hotels (and cheap since it's the off season out here), and ate some great food. I don't think I can sum up how wonderful it was being with her again and it only makes me more anxious for our next time together. Love you honey!
So what's in store for me now? Well, the next couple days I'll be up near where my bro's family is staying near Rocky Mountain National Park exploring for fun things that he and his kids can do. I'm really worried about the altitude keeping them from doing much in the way of hiking since it's going to be 8,500ft and higher. I'll look for some rather easy going trails they can hike, and maybe some nice mountain lakes and streams we can do some fishing in. After they leave, well, I don't really know what I'll be doing. I guess I need to figure that out.
I'm going to start contacting hunting outfitters looking for some freebie work in Sept once season starts. I have this strong desire to be a part of something hunting related, so hopefully there is someone out there that will need some help and put me to work. We'll see.

Went fly fishing for the first time, and caught fish!

So a couple days ago I bought a fly fishing setup, at least something to start with. I went down the street to a school yard to practice my casting since it'd been well over 10 years since the last time I've used a fly rod back in the midwest. It was just like riding a bike! No problem.

So last night I looked on my trail map and found a set of lakes just up Big Cottonwood Canyon that supposedly had fish in them. This morning I woke up early (about 6:45 is super early for me now-a-days), and headed out the door just before 9 to the lakes. It was a 3.5 mile hike up a fairly steep trail, but not too bad. The lakes are 3 in series, each fed by a mountain stream, with about 40ft difference between the first two, and maybe 10ft between lake 2 and 3. The first lake has the most fish, but worse for casting a fly rod. The second lake has fish, but not near as many as the first, and the 3rd seemed to be fairly empty compared to the first.

So I spent a couple hours at the first lake and caught 6 small rainbow trout, lost about 4 flies, and figured out quite a bit about fly fishing lakes. First off, you need clear line, and I have fluorescent green/yellow made for streams, and long leader is a must. The water is clear and the fish can spot the line and YOU easily. Sneaking up to them is very important. Anyways, here is a pic of one of the fish, they were pretty much all the same size varying no more than a few inches. I'm guessing there are bigger fish in the lake but they are probably out deeper and don't feed as much.

Done with my first road trip.

So a couple weeks ago I took off from Salt Lake City heading south, then west for a couple week trip. To sum up the travel path I headed down to southern Utah, then into northern Arizona, through Vegas, up along the Sierra Nevada's in California, then across Nevada back to SLC...all in 2 1/2 weeks.
- Southern Utah: Zion National Park looks amazing. I didn't actually go into the park, but from what you can see on the edge the scenery looks amazing. I will definitely go back down that way when it's cooler and do some sight seeing. I rode Gooseberry Mesa, one of the more popular mtb destinations in the region. One word to sum up Goose', FUN! Not super hard, definitely not too easy, but a great flow and plenty of technical fun.
- Northern Arizona: Headed to the Grand Canyon, first the northern Rim. The big surprise, the high altitude. You'd think going south would mean going downhill, but the north rim is a oxygen reducing 9,000ft up, and quite a bit cooler than the surrounding low lying areas. After the north rim visit I headed back north to Lake Powell and the Glen Canyon Dam, the third tallest dam in the US. I quickly headed down to the south rim of the Grand Canyon to find a camp site. After quite a bit of driving I managed to get settled and got in my tent rather quick. Woke up freezing the next morning around 5:30, it was 39deg! I checked out the south rim view, watched the California Condors soaring (the largest bird in the US), and then headed south.
- Flagstaff: Well, I wish I could say more about Flag, but it was more of a quick stop and go town. Visually, Flag is beautiful, cool temps (it was 59deg mid day), and seems really down home small town living. Many people walking and riding bikes throughout the town which was nice. I'd definitely like to spend some time in Flag.
- Sedona: I've heard amazing things about Sedona..."the retirement capital of the US," "best weather anywhere in the country," and much more. Well, it was more desert looking than I thought, and much more tourist oriented then expected. I rode with John and James for two days with beautiful weather. Unfortunately I was a little under the weather, but I tried my best to keep my spirits up even with some achy body parts.
- Phoenix: Hot, not cool, sweat inducing, and it wasn't even hot for Phoenix. It was 95deg when I got there, and it never dropped much more than 10deg over night or in the morning. I visited my long lost sister Marilee which I haven't seen in about 10 years. Her dog, Zeus, a Siberian husky, is still making it at 13yrs old although a little slow. We ate lunch at the Elephant Restaurant and I had a wonderful jambalaya!
- Vegas: Stinking place took more of my money. So far I'm down a little over $1,500 to Vegas and I'm not sure I'll try and get it back. Had dinner with my friend Matt, he took me to a wonderful steak house that had the most unique dining style I've been a part of. You don't order off a menu, and it's one set price. So how does it work? Well, there's a salad bar and sides you can get buffet style, and mashed potatoes served family style. The meat, oh the sweet goodness, there are employees walking around with a cut of steak, lamb, and chicken on a sword, yes, a sword, and if you want some they will cut you off a chunk or in some cases give you a piece (small fillet medallions). So instead of getting one type of meat you can sample everything, or just your favorite. My favs were the bacon wrapped fillets and the flank steak...SOOO YUMMY. Thanks a ton Matt!!!! Looking forward to trying some food at Cut when I come back in Sept.
- Sequoia National Park: WOW, WOW, WOW. The trees are amazing, huge, breath taking, spectacular, mind blowing. You have to see them to believe them, they are THAT BIG. Pictures do nothing, take a vacation and go see them.
- Yosemite National Park: Hmmm, how do I top three WOW's? Well, Yosemite beats them and then some. The views in the park, especially the valley are wonderful. El Capitan and Half Dome are awesome, and the numerous waterfalls are majestic. Since it's so close to Sequoia I encourage everyone to take a vacation for a week and see both parks.
- Driving across Nevada: boring
- Salt Flats: cool to see once, would be better if I was racing my ole busy on the track. Driving across them, super boring. The road is STRAIGHT and you can see about 70miles to the other side. Ok to do once, hope next time I go across them someone else is driving and I'm sleeping.

So, back in SLC. Feels like home right now. A bed (futon) that I'm used to and sleep well in. Friends to talk to, and a consistent place to shower...much needed. Thinking back on the trip, I'd love to go back to Yosemite and climb up Half Dome and pack it in the park a few days. I still haven't got to do much in Vegas and would like to, just without spending much money. The southwest, well, just not my cup of tea. I like dirt, grass (natural), and seeing fall colors in the trees.

Next up: Carrie is coming out in less than a week (please let time fly bye) and we are going to have an amazing 5 day out here full of adventure. In the meantime I'll do some riding and hiking around here, and prepare for Colorado in July. Looking forward to seeing my brother and his family when they come to Colorado for vacation. I'm so glad I'll get to spend my birthday with family, just wish Carrie could be with me too (and I for her birthday which is 3 days later).

Tons of pics and vids posted. I rearranged my Smugmug page, mainly the Travel and MTB sections which are now divided into States. Good deal of vids on youtube under my user name: iambquinn. Feel free to check them all out. Warning, there are about 500 pics! Don't forget to read the captions on the pics.

Thanks for reading!

Finally got pics/vids uploaded

Too much to tell, but got pics and vids uploaded to see. I changed up my Smugmug page to separate pics into states rather than just one folder for mtb pics, one of travel...etc. Should be easier to browse now. Enjoy

Quick update on Bob

Left a few days ago from SLC, headed down to southern Utah and road Gooseberry Mesa, awesome place. Camped that night then headed down to the Grand Canyon on Friday. Hit up the North Rim first, then went up to Page where Lake Powell and the Glen Dam is, then took off for the South Rim area to find a camping spot before it got dark. That night it got down to 39deg! I woke up around 5:15 freezing because I was in shorts and a tee-shirt and in my 45deg sleeping bag rather than my 15deg bag. Whoops. That morning I checked out the view from the south rim then headed south again to Flagstaff. That town is really nice, would like to spend more time there! I felt like crap all day, had a sore throat (still do) and was tired so after Flagstaff I went down towards Sedona but missed the turnoff and ended up heading down highway 17 instead of 89A. I spotted a road on my map that jump between the two highways, but it ended up being a mountain pass rather than a road, so I took it! Up top the mountain I stopped and took a nap in the woods for a bit before heading down to Sedona. I was surprised to find that there is no camping around Sedona, so with night fall coming I heading to the cheapest motel I could find to get some good rest.
Today I rode with two fellas, John and James, both locals. We took a rather epic ride, of about 26miles through the most technical trails I've ever been on. A little too expert rated for me, ended up walking through a few tough sections. My throat was killing me all day, made things less enjoyable. I'll post pics up as soon as I can, but I'm sitting on James's laptop and got tons of pics to deal with that wouldn't be feasible at this time. Tomorrow either heading down to Phoenix or staying here and riding again with these guys, but on a less difficult trail...I hope.

My first somewhat Epic ride left me beat up a bit

First off, if you don't know, Epic in the mtb community means a long, memorable, ride that is usually out of the way back into the mountains or just way off the road. Long to me means at very least 15miles, but more like 20+ miles and not a bunch of switchbacks on the side of a mountain. That's 20+ miles heading back off the road to a point where you look around and see nothing but other mountains and no sign of society.

So yesterday I went down to Diamond Fork Canyon just south of Provo Utah to hit up a loop there. It starts at Three Forks Trailhead down in the valley, then heads up Cottonwood Creek trail for about 4.6miles of rather easy going single track. This section of the trail has snakes!!! See my youtube vids for my first encounter with a rattle snake (user name: iambquinn). The trail forks and I headed up Second Water Creek trail to Rays Valley Rd (hard road). At this point you can take the hard road north to Fifth Water Creek trail and back down to the trail head for a 15mile loop, or you can be a man and go up further to the Center Trail...yesterday I decided to be a man.

Me smiling getting ready to head up to the Center Trail (no the trail isn't this wide, this is the entrance off the hard road to the trail which was 100% single track and much of it over grown)

At 5.7miles I crossed the road and headed towards Center Trail which is not an up kept mtb trail. It proved to slow me down too, the choppy trail that was recently ridden by a single dirtbike left chunks of dried earth that kept my tires from rolling easily. After a fairly easy climb up to the first fork where you can choose to go to Strawberry Ridge, the trail starts it's series of 'up and overs' to the next creek and fork. For about 7.5 miles you go over a small mountain, down to a creek, then up over another, and repeat this a couple times. The climbs were somewhat tuff, quite a few rocks and long inclines with some hike-a-bike sections.

The mud clogged up the bike a few times and the clay like soil stuck to the tires and added a few pounds that are felt in a big way on climbs. I must say, I was shot and did not make it up some inclines like I normally do. My body was starving for food, and all I brought were two protein bars that did nothing for me. I thought I could finish the loop in around 2hrs, but my lack of energy and slow average speed drug out the ride more than expected. Eventually I made it to the top of the last hill and enjoyed a fun downhill to Fifth Water Creek Trail which takes you another 5+miles to the trail head with a nice moderate downhill flow that made it all worth it.

An interesting find way back in the mountains...still not exactly sure what it is???
All was good until a nice little rock drop off got the better of me. It was around mile 18 on the side of a steep hill when I came upon a short drop of about 7ft in a couple steps. The first two were over roots and no biggie, then over some rocks to a final small drop-off of about 1.5ft. The drops themselves were nothing to write about, and I did a hundred of them just like it down in Moab, but the run-off was what bit me. The landing is slanted to the left and hard packed with a fine layer of dirt and small loose rock which proved to be my deal breaker. As I picked up speed quickly coming down the rock and drop-off (can't break much on drops) my front tire slid out from underneath and my bike and I slid down the hill about 10ft or so, which was plenty far on that type of surface. Normally when you fall on a bike you feel nothing, it's after you get up something starts to hurt, but this fall was different, in a bad way. As I was sliding my thumb was being pressed into the ground by my grip and I could feel it getting bent the wrong way and immediate pain shot into the big digit and sent the message to my brain. I felt the instant throbbing and discomfort and knew it wasn't going to be a short lived event. The ole right knee got a nice little cut too, but my thumb just got worse and worse.

At that point you can do nothing but hop back on the bike and suck it up, so that's what I did for the next couple miles to the trailhead. By then my thumb was swollen and super stiff with no chance of bending it without help from my other hand. I figured it would be ok, but it just got worse. Anyways, my thumb hurts and I'll get over it, it's just so darn frustrating!!!

The day after, good thumb on the right:
On my way out I met a super cool dude at a camp ground I was checking out. We had a nice long talk, one of those conversations that takes turns in all sorts of directions and ends up being three times as long as you think it really was, but in a good way. Definitely the type of person I was hoping to run into on my travel rather than the typical citizen that doesn't have much unique to talk about. Hopefully our paths will cross again in the future so we can continue the conversation we had going.

So back in SLC and resting today. My stinkin thumb kept me from falling asleep last night, so after only 6.5 hours of sleep I've decided to take the day off and rest...much needed.

All in all the ride was OK. It would've been much better with some good food in my belly for some energy and minus the thumb deal. Three hours 24min total, 21.11miles, and prob 12-14 uphill. Do it again, probably not. The Center Trail is just not a mtb trail, but I'm glad I did it once.
Tons of pics on my smugmug site of the ride. Click on the pic below to get into that area, starts on page 5 I believe. A couple of vids on youtube also of some snakes and review at the end.

Check out these little boogers

So last night I headed up into Big Cottonwood canyon to camp at Willow Springs Lake. The weather was pretty crappy in the afternoon and at one point I decided not to go because of the thunder and lightning. Around 5:30 the skies started to break so I took off up the mountain. The temp down in the valley was mid 70's, but when I got to the trail head it was a brisk 52deg and dropping along with the sun. I reached camp fairly quick and set the tent up. It was cold, but that was my fault because I was wearing really light weights clothes. Gathering fire wood helped warm me up, except for my hands which got a little cold holding the wet limbs. Problem number 1: everything was WET, really wet. I got the driest, most dead fire starting material I could find, but after a good 30min of trying to get it going I had to give up. Everything in the area was still soaked from the rain that fell just an hour or so earlier.
I nestled up into my tent as the temps kept falling. I wrote a page in the journal and opened up Walk Across America Part 2, The Walk West for the first time. I got the book before I left but haven't started reading it yet, until now. I was surprised to find out I had some cell phone service so I talked to Carrie a bit before I hit the sack, literally. My sleeping bag kept me amazingly warm all night even though it was fairly chilly and I was far from dressed for it.
The morning came along with bright sunshine heated up the air quickly. I had some simple breakfast and started to pack the camp up when I got visitors in the form of some curious, furry, hungry, marmots. The locals here call them "potguts", but basically they are a perfect mixture of a squirrel and prairie dog. They live in groups or families, have underground towns, and chirp just like prairie dogs.
So anyways, I'm getting my tent tore down and two of these little guys start working their way towards me. I had some mixed nuts so I go them out and tossed a few peanuts towards one. Eventually he found the nuts and ate them up. Soon afterwards he took off back towards the colony and within a couple minutes he returned with friends! Next thing I know there were around 8 of these fellas searching my campsite for food. I figured they weren't harmful, and definitely not close to a bear, so I kept tossing more peanuts out for them and one by one they ate them up. Little by little they got more brave and wandered closer to me as I sat on a log near the fire pit. At one point I had a few of them within 6ft of me, and eventually one actually walked under the log and sniffed my shoe as it passed underneath. I was able to get some pics and videos that you can see on my smugmug page (click on the photo below), and the videos are on youtube (you can search by my user name: iambquinn).
It was a good two hours sitting there with my new friends and probably the most fun I've had since I got out here (different type of fun than mountain biking). Enjoy the pics and videos.


Video links: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xCsPxANxEPE&feature=channel