Surpise! I'm actually in Fort Collins hanging around until Saturday. My last tour in Washington was good, but also had a few bumps. I took my time heading out there. Tracked down my brother, Mark in Winter Park, Colorado. There we plans to hike three 14ers, but the weather wasn't good. We ended up walking around the Frisco Art Festival. Lots of cool sculptures and awesome photograhpy. On a chance we picked up the local paper and saw that the Leadville 100 Mountain Bike Race was happening. So we decided to head up there. We saw the winner, David Weins, finish. We also saw this guy named Lance Armstrong finish. Ya'll should have seen the crowds go wild, but ya didn't, and we did. After an awesome pizza from High Mountain Pies we bike the loop around Leadville. Wow! is it ever great to visit this place.
Then it was off to Washington, via the scenic route. Picked up a 60 year-old guy section hiking the Pacific Crest Trail and he talked my ear off for about 40 minutes (don't all hikes do that). After scouting the route and spending too many hours reworking the route in libraries I was planning to head to the Olympic Pennisula, but I ended up hanging around Mt Rainier instead. Enjoyed excellent weather and saw Rainer from the East for the first time, although I've been here three times. Certainly one of my top 5 camping spots of all time on the crest of the Cascades! The next day I was planning to ride up to Paradise and back, but my front tire came dangerously close to blowing out, so I had to abandon my plans half way through. Huge bummer, but Specialized gave me a new tire, and they certainly owed me big-time!
Then the 8 day tour began. The first two days I was the only guide and luckily the guests were veterans and helped me out. It was a bit stressful though. The rest of the tour was basically a repeat of the last, but in reverse. Although there was one huge bump in the road that required exstensive laundering to remove. Fortunately the ride to the top of Old Blewett Pass was quiet possible the best riding of the summer. 12 miles of descent pavement, great scenery, and only one car. It was magical!! The dinner at the Summit Cafe atop Crystal Mountain also provided wonderful views of the whole Cascade Range. And then the pranks began!
Saw some of my Seattle friends again. Stopped by Missoula to pick up rental bikes and eat another awesome Griz burger at Iron Horse Brew & Pub. We also stopped at Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument (Custer and Sitting Bull) for a few hours. So Saturday I'll be heading up to Grand Teton & Yellowstone National Parks for my first hiking trip of the season. I'm also attempting to make my Fall plans. Ha ha.
2 comments:
So what kind of a bump was it that required major laundering? Come on, spill!
What kind of pranks? Did you pull any?
And what is a Griz burger??
Pranks were pretty basic: lots of "birthdays" and some attempted shortsheeting. I decorated a room with birthday galore, hid glow in the dark snakes in another, and conspired two birthdays.
A griz burger is named in honor of the Montana State University Grizzlies. It has a half pound patty of quality meat. Blue cheese, bacon, and all the rest.
Post a Comment