valley of the rabbits

here are some pictures of the riding in Rabbit Valley. the riding is pretty fun with some quick ups and down along with some great views.

up a creek with a paddle

Schuyler and got down on a little gravel dirt ride sunday in the fort; weather was nice and the banquet beer was flowing. We happened upon a canoe that looked seaworthy and no one was in it so we gave it go. it was quite a lovely afternoon followed by dinner with COdiesel. solid.

just a little cheyenne wednesday

cheyenne bowl roll from sam elliot on Vimeo.

Is this nirvana we're in now or ain't it?

Showtime came out to good old colorful Colorado a few weeks ago to hang out in the mountains under the premise that if Rach watched the bears packers game and then drove him to Carbondale he'd hem our curtains. (guess what? we're still waiting for showtime to hem the curtains- asshole!) We had a few breakfasts in the poptop and did a couple donuts as well. On our first day of shred I picked grizzle up in Aspen and took him to the Highlands for his first time. It turns out that Highlands is a lot more fun on a powder day or closing day than a normal hardpack so we packed up shop and headed over to Snowmass to find the noon groom. On this particular day we had to cut the shred short in order to make hors d'oeuvres for Rach's surprise birthday party. We threw down on some bruschetta, homemade salsa, grilled bacon wrapped stuffed with cream cheese jalepeno peppers, baked brie, Katie and Tim made vegetarian chili and Rach's mom made chili with meat. I wish I had some pictures, but I was too busy cooking and surprising. About 20 of our nearest and dearest came over to the house to celebrate rach's birthday. We had a super good time that concluded in a lovely game of Things.
Tim and I don't get to hang out enough so the next day came a little too early, but we were en route to the snowmass by 9 to meet up with Chase and hope that TIm could get out of work. The skies were bluebird and the hard pack was as good as it gets which made for a fantastic day of high speeds and beer drinking. plus we had wings! yeah wings!

Something happened similar last time, just add Willy - http://deaddeerbikegang.blogspot.com/2009/01/mountain-of-good-times.html







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SHOWTIME!

the barnard hut

Last week we took a little trip to the Barnard hut just outside of Aspen. It was about a 7-9 hour adventure into the woods over 8 miles and 2500' of climbing. We made it to the hut just before sunset and instantly scarfed gorp, cheese, salami, cookies, tequila, whiskey and the stupid twelfer I hauled. Then more food; Sean cooked us a stellar bacon sausage spaghetti for dinner and soon after we all passed out for the evening. Day 2 started with several rounds of coffee to go with pancakes and bacon to fuel us for our day of skiing across from the hut. We broke trail through the woods in a foot of fresh before we crossed the ridge to our starting point. OC dug a pit and discovered that the snow had several incredibly weak layers on top of rotten snow on the bottom. Which means that we needed to stick to the trees and stay off the face to minimize the avalanche risk. We got ready, took our 1st lap down the trees and everyone shook off the cobwebs. At the bottom everyone agreed that another lap was needed. 1 hour later we're at the top again and have a better idea of where to descend through more open trees. OC played middle man and stationed himself near a grove of trees on a rollover to survey the action that we couldn't see from the top. Everyone else got to ski the pitch top to bottom one at a time which was amazing. Once again the crew wanted to take another lap which was monumental given the amount of bitching going on on the previous lap (myself included!). So we put the skins on and "think I can think I can'd" it all the way to the top for another hot lap. In the evening we drank whiskey coffees along with all of the remaining booze because there was no way in hell it was going to be carried out. Chase and Amy cooked stir fry for dinner and we then played an impromptu game of "Things" at Rach's request until we could no longer stay awake. Our last morning came too early and we had our last meal of sausage burritos before cleaning up the hut. The nice part about going back to the trailhead was getting to ski several pitches and only a few sections when it felt like a deathmarch. We all made it back without injury save for blisters and blue toenails. It was a stellar trip and I can't wait to do it again...even if I'm terrified to put my feet back in those damn ski boots!

its the food...

uh yeah, so i love food and I take a picture of it when I'm stoked. Generally, a solid meal involves a really good time.


A summer saturday with my lady


9 yr Anniversary dinner at Suehiro, just let Akron do his magic. no menu is needed


Lucille's midweek at the bar


about to crack a Bud before a big climb on a long bike with all my camping gear


Post northside session at pizza casbah


pre-blackout @34


lovely afternoon with Hessy


Fuel for an 85mile road ride in the spring


Meat fest @ rach's grandparents place on the river post 18hr race




lobster days in carbondale


Dolores park truffles on Willy's 30th wkend


Metzler threw down on breakfast in Vail in August


a leisurely morning at Grand Lake in the van