Peacocks and Chinchillas

My little sister Tayler is headed to Madrid tomorrow, for a month-long intensive teacher-training course. Well that’s what she says. I think it’s to eat tapas and dance the night away.

We’ll both be in Europe at the same time, although I don’t think our paths will cross. We’re not going too close to Spain, and she’s resolved to live it up in Madrid!

Bon voyage, T-Bird!

T-Bird

Steve and I were in Telluride for a few days, and decided to hike Mt. Sneffels. We had never hiked a 14′er in the San Juan Range, mostly because it’s far from Boulder and we have not spent too much time in SW Colorado. The San Juans are much craggier and jagged than the mountain ranges in central Colorado. Most of our hike was shrouded in fog and clouds, but occasionally the fog peeled away and revealed beautiful views. Our trip to the top, about a 3 mile hike 3,000 feet from the trailhead, took us about 3 1/2 hours to go up, and 2 hours to go down. It was a brutally steep and loose climb, but well worth it, even though the top was completely foggy (like one of those ‘Paris by night’ postcards — you just had to trust that there were beautiful views beyond the clouds!).

Here is a slideshow with our pictures:

We’ve been riding a lot lately – Steve counted that in the last three days, he’s ridden almost 60 miles. On average we get to ride about four days a week, and on the days when we’re not riding we’re usually hiking or riding. We’ve discovered trails in some of the hottest (literally) places these days, like Santa Fe (Dale Ball trails), Gallup (Zuni Forest trails), Sedona (Highline, Made in the Shade, Slim Shady), Flagstaff (Schultz Creek and surrounding trails, especially Upper Moto!) and Telluride (Bear Creek Falls, Prospect). The latter two rides found us riding in sheets of rain and thunder, but let’s just call it an experiment in hydrology surveying.

All of those rides are highly recommended: lots of sustainable singletrack, beautiful views and the requisite good company that I would wish upon all of you. Here are some pictures from our ride in Telluride today. Enjoy! (I posted the set of 23 pics from our ride on my flickr page.)

It rained on us, and snowed in the mountains!

Morgan riding and smiling

Steve posing at the top of the Prospect Trail

What a gorgeous place! (Bear Creek Falls)

Pandora is awesome. You never know what gems are going to come up!

It’s rare that Steve and I are in the same picture together these days. On trailbuilding days, one of us is always taking the shots. When we’re out riding, same thing — someone gets to be the model and the other is behind the camera.

Our friends Steve and Cath Washburn in Santa Fe, snapped a nice shot, if I may say so myself, of the two of us after our field session that day in the Santa Fe National Forest. The rest of their pictures from our trailbuilding school can be found on their website. Thanks Steve and Cath!

Trailbirds

Have you ever come across the Edible magazines? They’re usually free, and up for grabs at many local merchants. The magazines are usually written by local food enthusiasts and farmers, and cover all aspects of your local food system: farms, farmers markets, food policy, seasonal recipes, sustainable agriculture and upcoming local food events. The magazine is nationwide, but each region has its own edition (and it’s ever expanding).

When we were in Chicago, that region’s Edible steered us to some delicious restaurants. The Santa Fe edition highlighted local food purveyors and growers. I was excited to spot the San Juan Mountains edition (the first edition for this region) while we were grabbing coffee in Cortez on our way to Telluride.

Hens

It’s a really neat read, and I recommend it for anyone who’s interested in food and eating well. The local Boulder edition is called Edible Front Range. Here’s the link to find an Edible near you.

The San Juan Mountains’ “Hen House” article about raising chickens really made me miss my old ladies! Soon enough we’ll have more chickens.

Adventures, adventures, adventures!

And by adventures, I mean backpacking into the desert, chasing after petrified wood, hiking in arid creek canyons in 100 degree heat and dancing with rattlesnakes.

Hopefully my shots from the Petrified Forest National Park (eastern New Mexico) and Sycamore Canyon (south of Sedona) convey the fun we’re having in the desert! Just press play and check out the pictures I took (my favorites are the petrified wood shots in the first slideshow, and the old man in the rocks in the second).

Who doesn’t like breakfast? Especially breakfast that involves spiiiice.

Tecolote (Owl) Cafe

The breakfast we had in Santa Fe, NM certainly stands out as our most memorable meal in New Mexico. Although we spent a fair amount of time in this state over the months (Gallup, Ruidoso, Las Cruces, Raton, not to mention ample highway miles), only one thing counts: bakery basket.

If you are in Santa Fe, be sure to visit Tecolote Cafe. The breakfast entrees span the gamut: French toast from homemade breads, New Mexican spicy specialties (I had the sheepherder’s breakfast: boiled new red potatoes with jalapeño and onion, then browned on the grill, topped with red and green chile, melted cheddar, and two eggs any style), and BAKERY BASKETS! As soon as you place your order here (and regardless of your order), the server carries out a basket of homemade treats (instead of toast), including cinnamon rolls, biscuits and muffins. The perfect antidote for having endured the long wait for a table.

We had the 4th of July weekend off, and chose to backpack into Snowmass Lake with our friends Schivonne and Kris (and my sister who hiked in with us but didn’t spend the night).

The lake is in the Maroon Bells-Snowmass Wilderness, which is one of Steve and my favorite places on the planet. Craggy and challenging peaks, hundreds of crystal clear lakes stocked with fish, incredible flora and fauna, and close to home to boot.

To access the trailhead, drive up Snowmass Creek Road for about 20 minutes. The lake is about an eight-mile hike, and for those who choose, you can continue for about three miles to summit Snowmass Peak. We camped at the beaver ponds about six miles from the trailhead, and the day after we hiked in, continued the hike (without packs) to the lake. We hiked back down that same morning, closed up our camp, and hiked down. It was a two-day trip. Steve and I fished a little, so ask Steve how many fish he caught (his favorite topic).

We hiked with S & K’s doggie Hank, who was a very good boy! I couldn’t help but take many pictures of him, since he’s so photogenic.

Check out some of my favorite pictures below (click for the whole image), and the whole set is on my flickr page.

Steve and I were lucky enough to be able to spend a few weeks in Colorado. We had work scheduled in Boulder/Golden, Laramie and Breckenridge, so we took advantage of our time close to home to visit with friends and family, ride in our favorite spots and refuel before taking the Subie out for another long spin.

So we’re back on the road again now, in the midst of a five-week work stint prior to our month-long vacation. Last week we were in Santa Fe, NM, this weekend it’s Flagstaff, AZ, then it’s Southwestern Colorado, Park City and finally Driggs, ID (very close to Jackson, WY). It’s a hard life, but someone’s got to do it! We feel at home in the Rocky Mountains, and the Southwest is one of our favorite places to explore. We’re going on as many adventures as possible in our days off and getting a good mix of hiking, backpacking and riding in.

We are spending our month off in Europe. The first two weeks we’ll travel around Southeastern France and Northwestern Italy with Steve’s family, then we’ll hang out around Annecy, France (where I grew up) visiting with friends, then we head north to Belgium in order to see my grandma and bike tour. It’s our first major bike tour, so it will be not only a good introduction for us to tour in a familiar country, but it will also reveal whether we want to embark on longer bike adventures in the future!

After we return from Europe in mid-September, we’ll be working on Montana one weekend, then basically traveling down the Pacific Coast from Seattle to San Diego over the course of three months. We can’t wait…