Grand Canyon Bound!

I hope everyone had a Happy Easter or First Day of Spring! :-) I did! We had Timberline staff training last weekend and it snowed (as usual!). Doesn't matter what time of the year it is, it always snows on training weekend. Such is spring in Colorado...!

The bottom photo above was taken in November 2006 during a backpack trip that Steve & I took to the Grand Canyon. We hiked down the Hermit Trail, then across on the Tonto, down to the bottom / Bright Angel CG, and out South Kaibab. This location is near the top of S. Kaibab. If you look closely, you can see the trail descending from Cedar Ridge in the middle ground on the right.

We're headed there this weekend for the Grand Canyon/Havasupai trip, yay! The top photo is Havasu Falls, located below Supai Village on the Havasupai Reservation just west of Grand Canyon's South Rim. "Just west" is kind of a simple explanation. The location of the village quite remote and takes the better part of the morning to shuttle over to the trailhead from the South Rim. Access to the village is by foot, mule/horse, or helicopter as there are no driveable roads! As you can see from the photo, though, it is worth the 8-mile walk to the village. A day exploring the waterfalls of Supai is our reward for completing the 2-day hike (one day down, overnight at Phantom, next day hike out) into the Canyon. No matter how many times you visit, it's still a magical place!

Before I forget, those of you who asked for my summer schedule... Realize that this is subject to change, but here it is as I know it:

May: California Dreamin: Central Coast California bike tour, Kentucky Bluegrass bike tour
June: Blue Ridge NC bike tour, Yosemite hiking tour
July: Oregon Coast Classic bike tour, Rogue River Rambler bike tour
August: Columbia River Classic bike tour

Yes, looks like a lot of bike tours! I've already started cruising around on my bikes in preparation. :-)

You may ask, what's after August? Well, I'm going to have to keep you in suspense for now. I'm probably going to be away from touring this fall... but Steve will still be out there. I'll let you know as soon as I know for sure!

Spring!

This big guy lives in our neighborhood. Maybe I'll do well with chocolate eggs this year! ;-) Happy Spring & Easter to everyone!

Colors

It's snowing. Large flakes are drifting down from the sky. I spent a little *too* much time online this morning letting myself be distracted by discovering some more cool art blogs out there.

I added Anna Maria Horner's blog to my favorites list. Check out her website here. Such amazing color schemes! Some are funky, retro, rich, etc.. Check it out!

During my workout this morning, I resurrected a design I already have for a future project. I've been working on the computer version but need to polish it up a bit before I can accomplish the project I have in mind. Anyway, after a bit of modification, I came up with this little sketch. The colors washed out a bit in the photo (ugh, as usual!). If I could get those funky, rich colors, I'd love to try a version of this as a painting of some sort! Hmmm. The artist brain wheels are turning...!

Consolation Prize

Ah, Fruita! Yesterday, I wanted to share with you some pics from a previous mountain biking trip to Fruita, CO. Couldn't get the photos to upload on Blogger, though. Now it's working, yay!

The Colorado Canyons area is the eastern trailhead to the Kokopelli Trail, which basically goes from Fruita, CO, to Moab, UT. It's a really cool area. You can see a trail in both photos. I think these are photos looking down at Horsethief Bench Trail. The mountain bikers on the trail in the first photo give you a sense of the scale. In the second one, note the three rafts on the Colorado River below.

The reason I'm pointing this trail system out is that during my recent (and brief!) trip out to Green River, I stopped at these trails for a quick Friday afternoon run. I consider it my small Consolation Prize for having truck problems. The day was gorgeous, sunny, & warm enough for shorts! I ran from the Loma parking lot out and around Rustler's Loop. Saw quite a few mountain bikers out getting a head start on the weekend (maybe instead of the weekend, since Saturday was cold & cloudy, but such is spring in Colorado!).

Detour!

So much for my recent trip up to Canada! I'm back in Colorado already. It was a relatively short trip, two days, 600 miles total out & back just to Green River, Utah, where my truck died (though it has been resurrected now) in front of the Comfort Inn. Yikes! Thankfully it wasn't the backcountry.

After the battery died out in Utah, I just felt I had better count my blessings, tuck my tail between my legs, and bolt for home. So I did! The truck ran as fine as could be expected for an old girl all the way back. I've been debating about getting a new Toyota, probably a Matrix eventually, though I've been struggling with it a bit. Do I really need a new vehicle before she dies for good? Cars have become so pricey since 1989. Gas, too. The process is a bit like deciding to put your senior kitty to sleep (although yes, I know, trucks are inanimate objects).

My vehicle and I have covered a lot of ground together in the past 19 years. Lots of road trips all over the North American West. She has 267,000 miles on her odometer. Yep, you guessed it. Toyota all the way!

I'll admit I'm attached to her. She has character. And my old girl's camper shell is now proudly decorated with stickers of her accomplishments: national parks, Canadian flag, "Life is Good", one of my artist friend, June's, hummingbird designs, Colorado state flag, etc. She lost her cat tracks stickers on the back tailgate after an icy wreck in Toby Creek Canyon several years ago -- she was repainted the same color, off white, but the kitty prints & Nike-style striped decals on the side were left off. Harsh winters she endured in Summit County, CO, Whistler, B.C., and Invermere, B.C. are now showing with rusty spots weathering her body like age spots on an old woman. But I love her anyway!

More Hawaii Photos

Here are a few more photos. From the top: Ki'i Statues at Pu'uhonua o Honaunau (Place of Refuge); Barbara & Mark on Napau Crater trail (Hawaii Volcanoes NP), Carol, Barbara, & Mark at Pu'uhonua o Honaunau.

I'm now headed up to Canada for a couple weeks. This month is super crazy for me with trying to get all my errands done before the hiking/biking season gets busy. I'll post as I can! Please check back soon.

A Few Big Island Photos!

Sorry it has taken me a while to get these photos online. After being on the Big Island of Hawaii hiking & snorkeling for a week, we flew back home to Colorado. Had to catch up on "practical" stuff, like bills and laundry! Hawaii was great. We had sun for the most part. Rain was there when we needed it (hiking on exposed lava trails!).

Photos, all from Hawaii Volcanoes NP, from the top are: The view into Kilauea Iki Crater; Carol & Steve viewing steam vents with Mauna Loa in the distance (see snow on top!); Looking down into Halemaumau Caldera; Mark photographing Mauna Ulu; Walking through the steam vents on Napau Crater trail.