Had a great ski with Pat and Devlin. Tried a new route (for us), starting on the SW corner of the mountain off the road. We skinned up the road a ways (big monster trucks could've saved us a few miles, but it was easy skinning). Then the bushwhacking began. The winds picked up on the ridge and there were times when we weren't sure if we should skin or boot. On the way down we hit the most glorious pow field... and all was well again.
Snowy Monk
since snow monkey was already taken... and no one could spell my last blog name... including myself.
Saturday, January 9, 2021
Wednesday, December 30, 2020
Bandon with the Bridges - post Xmas Oregon Coast Adventure
I love the Oregon Coast in the winter. So dramatic. The waves crash all around, the weather is unpredictable, it all makes you feel so alive. Good thing we found an AirBnB to crash at post X-mas break. And the Bridges got a hotel room in town for the first few days.
I'll let my strava tell the story.
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After skiing in the morning, we drove out to Bandon and met up with the Bridges at Bullard's Beach. |
Next morning, I went on a run - https://www.strava.com/activities/4530299045. Really fun run where we ran though some sea tunnels... Shasta got wet. Quite soaked actually...
Then we checked out Whisky Run - https://www.strava.com/activities/4531249460 where I chased the boys on foot. Kim loved riding the xc trails. Ashland needs some XC trails!
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Then we walked around Coquille Point, Face Rock area at sunset. There were horses, it was low tide, tide pooling, oh my! |
The following day, I got out for a quick solo Whiskey Run (https://www.strava.com/activities/4535463918), then we went up to Cape Arago where we checked out the coves and sunbathed with a elephant seal. https://www.strava.com/activities/4536390809.
We said bye to the Bridges here, and we went a bit up the road and checked out Lighthouse Beach where we had the beach to ourselves. https://www.strava.com/activities/4536767614 The other end had a few surfers. Really cool spot.
On Wed, I went on another run (it was windy) - https://www.strava.com/activities/4539987243
Then after the storm had somewhat passed we timed it at low tide and took the mtn bikes on the beach. https://www.strava.com/activities/4541844199 Make sure to wash your bikes if you do this as our bikes got a bit rusty. Only took a few hours. I'd love to take my fat bike next time.
On NYE, I did another run. This time on Bullard's beach. https://www.strava.com/activities/4545246103 After packing up, we made it home at 2 pm. So I decided to go skiing. And got to Mt A with 1 hr to ski. I got in 5 laps down the bowl and was one of the better days yet.
Monday, November 30, 2020
McLoughlin with Tim!
I skied McLoughlin last year solo in pretty bad conditions, but it opened my eyes to the decent terrain up there. You need to be careful as there's definitely some terrain traps and above treeline in a storm or flat light the skiing could get tricky, but there is plenty of potential there. I vowed to go back multiple times. This was Tim's first big backcountry outing, and I hope to drag him along on a few other local adventures.
Low down in the early season there's a lot of navigating through fallen trees, little lava fields, so this can be a tricky peak on a splitboard. On this outing, we dropped the East Bowl, which looked like the best snow, and caught the PCT, which luckily had some ski tracks on it (from XC skiers?) and was clear.
Saturday, October 31, 2020
Halloween in Bend '20
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Smith Rock! Haven't been here for ever! |
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Our monkey in front of Monkey's Face |
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Family bike ride! |
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We watched Brynn play her last soccer game of the season. |
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Nikko! |
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on out last day we went to Sun River... which is la la land outside of la la land. Fun bike paths, nice brewery. And tons of things for the kids to play and discover. Perfect last day. |
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cheers! |
Sunday, October 11, 2020
EBM '20
Having finished last year's EBM, I had to return for this year's event. Especially with Sam joining me.
But the repeat didn't happen. This year's route seemed "easy" on paper, but as folks started dropping out I knew I would have to dig deep for this one. My main mistake was when I started bonking up Sawtallian and veering too far right. Should've studied this bit more and started further left. Alas. No excuses... I could hardly keep up with Scott and Loren as they passed me after I turned around on the last hill. I was donzo... Next year... next year...
https://www.strava.com/activities/4183800900/overview
Thursday, October 1, 2020
Ashland Enduro!
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Getting ready at the start of stage 1 |
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Jack had some issues and flatted on stage 1. He would've won otherwise... |
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Check out this crew with a husband towing his 7 mo pregnant wife! Mad respect. |
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Sunrise next mornig |
Tuesday, September 8, 2020
Shasta in Shasta! Selling Seashells in Smokey September
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That's the sun... |
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Shasta at Shasta. He always looks like he's in trouble when I try to take a pic of him in front of something... |
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Mama! Gimmie mo' ramen! Nikko, why are you in a can jam? |
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There are some fun trails here, but many parts of the trails need some more TLC. Also, the dirt here is sooo dusty... |
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Can Jam! |
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we rode from Ski Bowl down to our camp... there were lots of hike a bike sections... but the kids fared well. |
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A bit dusty... |
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Let the games begin! |
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a dip at Lake Siskiyou was essential after this trip. |