Best of 2007 - Part IV - New Tours!

Sept & Oct: After finishing tours in Glacier, we zipped back up to Banff to pick up gear used on the Canadian tours. September & October were a whirlwind.


Drove to Phoenix and the White Mountains bike route. Highly recommended trip if you like climbing hills on a bike! One of my best biking days of the season was the epic descent from Hannigan Mountain Lodge on the Mogollon Rim along the Coronado Trail Scenic Byway. We had an exceptionally fun group of people in Arizona, including Herb Winters, a 79-years young cyclist who led us all through the wind on our last day!


Flew up to Minnesota to scout & guide the Superior Hiking Trail tour. Reasonable temperatures, sunny weather most days, and forests displaying fall colors helped to make the week enjoyable for our group of hikers.


Flew back to Phoenix to lead White Mountains, then drove out to North Carolina to map & lead Blue Ridge Parkway. Memorable moments included cycling through all the tunnels along the parkway (we had headlights for our bikes), and hiking along the AT out to Charlie's Bunion in Great Smoky Mountain National Park.

Nov & Dec: After seven months on the road, we were spent! Rented a place in Salida, bought a couple ski passes, and settled in for the winter. See earlier postings for art/activity around Salida.

Happy New Year!


Photos from top: Brenda & Edith hiking along the Superior Hiking trail; view from Mt. Trudee on SHT; Along the Coronado Trail, AZ (photo by Deb Mohler); Steve, Deb, Peg, & Herb at the support van; Gary & Kevin exiting tunnel along Blue Ridge Parkway; Blue Ridge typical landscape.

Best of 2007 - Part III - Glacier

July & Aug: Led two hiking tours and three biking tours in Glacier this summer. People constantly ask me on tour, which do I like better: biking or hiking? Both! As I explain to newcomers to the park: the best thing to do to enjoy Glacier is to be flexible. You never know what you're going to get with regard to animal sightings, road work, bear grass, huckleberries, etc... carpe diem!

Photos from top: Going to the Sun Road; Steve wearing his old high school t-shirt at Logan Pass; hiking group taking a break enroute to Upper Grinnell Lake; Swiftcurrent Lake at sunrise; Two Medicine Lake reflection; Dawson-Pitamakin connector trail; Highline trail along Continental Divide.

More details about hiking and biking in Glacier to come later. For now, check out a Glacier hiking trails map here.

Best of 2007 - Part II

May: Not only was Splash Mountain a hit but the visit to Florida with my niece, Paige (see photo), was May's best highlight. We only wish we had more time at Cocoa Beach!
June: Part of the way through our "drive fest" from Denver to KY, OR, NM, Alberta, B.C. and ultimately MT, we led the Columbia River Gorge & Mt. Hood hiking tour. A colorful wildflower mountainside greeted us atop Dog Mountain (see photo).


July: We also were back in Windermere, B.C., visiting June at her "June's Originals" gallery (Photo: June's Originals gallery). I can't wait for June to get a website. She's a lot of fun and her art is so cool!

Steve says that one of his favorite tours of 2007 was the Glacier Park Alpiner. Wonder why? (See photo) He and Mike Heizman ended up lounging in Lake McDonald after a long, hot day of biking, literally! No, seriously, Glacier has great biking & hiking! More about that, later.

Late July also provided a week off enroute from Glacier back to Colorado for a SmartWool corporate bike tour. Snagging the opportunity along the way, we hiked the Cascade/Paintbrush loop in Grand Teton Park. (Photo: Steve hikes above Lake Solitude)

Best of 2007 - Part I

January: Denver released its snowy grip on us so we drive to Zion for Wilderness First Responder refresher. Ski Monarch & Telluride enroute during Colorado's January cold snap. Afterwards, we take refuge in Moab for a couple of days, the weather warm enough to run the Slickrock Trail loop.

February: Head north to Canada via SLC (where Steve picks up some downhill ski equipment) and Kalispell (we visit our friend, Stacey, and try out Steve's ski gear on Big Mountain).

March: Hibernating the rest of February at June's studio in Windermere, B.C., we emerge to take a short trip up to out to Bow Lake, one of my favorite spots on the Icefields Parkway (top photo). Options include ski touring, ice climbing, snowshoeing, and hiking -- we have snowshoes, so guess what? It's a beautiful trek out to Bow Falls and you might just be lucky enough to see ice climbers attached to them.

April: Who says that April showers bring May flowers? They haven't been to Texas in April, I bet! Central Texas boasts a colorful display of wildflowers, including the state flower, a lupine known as the Blue Bonnet. Texas Hill Country biking provides perfect distances and hill climbing for post-winter cycling warm-up. (bottom photo)