And Another New Speed Record

Another new high max speed on my Long Haul Trucker going down "Kong."

Today's Hike

Today we hiked the Peralta Trail to the Freemont Saddle. Amazing views of Weaver's Needle from the saddle!

Karen on the trail.

Karen coming up the trail.

Weaver's Needle.

Hoodoos on the ridge line.

View from the trail

Another New Speed Record

On my LHT today riding down "Kong" on the Bush Highway.

Tiny Tire Ride

On Saturday we attended a group ride put on by PortaPedal. It was called the "tiny tire ride." Most of the people had Bromptons but there were a few other types too like Karen's Dahon. It was a pretty slow ride but we had a good time and met some nice people.

Karen at the ride.

Ross at the ride.

Moab, UT Day 2

During our 2nd day at Arches National Park we hiked the trail to see Delicate Arch. That's the arch featured on Utah's license plates. The hike to the arch is about 1 1/2 miles each way with almost 500' of elevation gain. It was very crowded at the arch!

Delicate Arch.

Some of the crowd viewing Delicate Arch.

Petroglyphs near the Delicate Arch Trail trailhead.

Later in the day I hiked the Park Place Trail. It's a short 1 mile hike leading through a canyon with balance rocks and some huge fins. A large section of the canyon floor had some pretty interesting patterns.

Self portrait on the Park Place Trail.

Patterns in the rocks of the canyon floor on the Park Place Trail.

Moab, UT Day 1

We were in Moab, UT this last week. We spent 2 days hiking in Arches National Park. The first day we went on the Fiery Furnace Tour. We'd been trying to take this tour for a couple of years now and it finally happened. The Fiery Furnace is a maze of slot canyons. It wasn't an easy hike but it was well worth it. During one scramble through a tight spot Karen ripped her pants and I shredded my pack's water bottle pockets.

Arches in the Fiery Furnace.

Karen during the scramble when she ripped her pants.

Surprise Arch in a slot canyon in the Fiery Furnace.

Karen leading tour members down the trail.

Coming out of the Fiery Furnace.

Today's Bike Ride

Soda break at Circle K.

Today's Hike

Near the start of the Wind Cave Trail.

Finally!

Speed

New high max speed on a bicycle for me. On my Surly Long Haul Trucker today. Downhill riding back from Usery Park with a stiff tailwind and pedaling fast. All I could think was "if I wipe out I'm toast!"

Cute Cat Picture

It's Peaches!

Karen's New Ride

Not really. We were just killing some time in a motorcycle dealership.

"Before" Picture

Another "before" picture. This was from our 1st season of Spring Training in 2009. It was posted on Facebook by Gary Barton who is on the right side of the picture.

Cat In The Bag

Grand Canyon

Last week we took a trip to Prescott and the Grand Canyon.

Karen on the Bright Angel Trail.

1 1/2 Mile Rest Area on the Bright Angel Trail.

Seen On Today's Hike

In Prescott.

Lizard

Seen while hiking the Wind Cave Trail in Usery Park today.

Today's Hike

We hiked in Usery Park today under cloudy skies. This is a picture of Pass Mountain taken from the Vista Trail.

Prescott

Karen coming down the trail with the Willow Lake Dam in the background.

Frog (toad?) seen on the trail.

Lots of ant hills.

Flowers and cactus.

The trails are normally empty during the week. Here we converged with 2 other groups. A rare crowd on the trail.

Prescott

We took another trip to Prescott this past week.

Karen in a narrow rock passage.

The Willow Lake Dam. The entire underside of the dam was covered with these mud nests. I think they may have originally been bird nests because of their large openings but on this day the only thing I saw flying in and out of them were wasps.

Recent rains created a lot of standing water pools. This is below Willow Lake Dam.