How do the women keep the beanie on their head when they jump?
Backing up, Got up early Saturday and made the drive over. Nothing spectacular other than noticing how much less gas I consumed than normally getting to the edge of Colorado. I had been motoring along either at or a little above the speed limit. Hmm... so what they say about lowering speed limits and gas consumption is true.
Around noon, I arrived in Palisade where lunch was in order.
The Golden Ale is delicious
Kept motoring on, passed the aforementioned Menonite Olympic team and got to camp. After pitching a tent, it was time to ride.
Add a beer to the picture and there is nothing else a man could need
The riding was incredible. I don't care what level of rider you are, Kessel Run is just a fun, fun trail. Through my two days, I rode the thing four times, grinning through the endless serious of high-banked S curves. Is this mountain biking or bobsledding? And do I really care?
You know it's a good time when you don't even realize you've ridden for five hours and it might explain why your reflexes are slowing a bit or that last little stretch of uphill seemed more taxing than it should have.
Zippity Do Dah start. You can get the gist of the trail by the name and this pic.
Vegetarian
Local shrubbery. No I didn't go into the forest and cut down a tree with this herring.
I admit, I had to push the bike up the last couple hills. Joe's Ridge. I discovered it is best to descend my ascent - so take the trail counterclockwise.
After dinner I wandered about as is often my prerogative. I'm not one much for trails. If there isn't Devil's Club baring my way, I'll go that way. It is one of the benefits Colorado possesses, off-trail travel is much, much less laborious than it is in the Pac Northwest.
If the fauna doesn't get you, the flora will
During my rambling, I felt a prick in my foot, then another, then another. Looking down it looked like my feet were the victims of heavy-petting by a porcupine. The grass is deadly out here. I cleared my feet off three times while on walkabout and then spent another 20 minutes picking out the minuscule acupuncture needles from my socks at camp.
Looking at the Book Cliffs at sunset
Beer, book, stars and quiet neighbors (Maybe the Menonites mountain bike after all), you couldn't ask for anything more at camp.
Up the early the next morning as it began to get warm. After Saturday's 6 hours of riding, I was a little saddle sore in the touche. I knew of some bouldering near the east entrance of Colorado National Monument. I had never been to the protected park but heard a comparison of it being a poor-man's Canyonlands.
Balanced Rock
Wandered aimlessly off a trail up to the cliffs which enveloped the spiraling canyon I was in. After vertical dirt and rock detritus hiking I came to the first band.
"Ryan you're wearing sandals."
"But it's not tough. Look it's like a ladder."
"You're wearing sandals, the rock is friable, and if you fall, you're going to tumble a very long way."
"It's easy. I want to see what's on the next layer of shelfs. And since when did I start talking to myself in the second person?"
Above this is more walls, rock detritus and more mud. The downclimbing was, oh so delicate.
Pretty view
On my last hike I came across a quizzical hole into the hillside.
It was a coke oven used by early settlers and miners to, well, cook coke (and we're not talking about the soft drink nor the narcotic). I don't like caves. Sometime during my early adulthood, I developed a fear of them. Actual terror is the best word. Fear is when you're 20 feet above your last piece of protection - and it wasn't even a good placement - and you come to a tricky section on the climb.
Fear I can manage. What I experienced inside this tunnel was uncontrollable, body-quivering terror. It didn't look very menacing and walking in I noticed the temperature drop about 20 degrees. So far so good, this is interesting.... and long than I expected... and it curves. I made it to the curve before a pseudo panic-attack struck. It was total darkness around the curve with no gauge of depth nor sense of feeling.
I wish I had my headlamp with me because it wasn't light in there until the flash went off too quickly. I had to get out. I tried to maintain composure as I walked back towards the entrance, looking behind me expecting to see Beelzebub's pet mastiff to be chasing after me. I was tingly the entire walk back to the car.
Finally I arrived at the bouldering area.
Joe's Right. Fun problem that required a few false starts before I figured out the sequence. You bring the right foot up and match your hand in the giant dish. The gives you the leverage to stay on the overhang and reach for the surprisingly good hold up high.
Obligatory shirtless climbing pic on Joe's Left. There is no sense of the overhang in this picture unfortunately. Fun heel-hook though.
After climbing and flashing five more problems in the area, I lost motivation. It probably had something to do with the oppressive heat. Drove through Grand Junction, found a Starbucks and cooled off in the AC for half an hour sipping my iced fru-fru drink.
Finished the day off with a lack of style. Drove out west again to Loma and the start of the Kokopelli trail. The Koko is a 140-mile mountain bike trail which ends in Moab. It is legendary. It kicked my butt thoroughly.
Add 90-degree temps, a full day already, and breaking in a new cassette on my mountain bike, it was a recipe to much cursing. My chain slipped repeatedly on the uphills. Nothing is more frustrating than huffing through a technical climb, with rocks you have to lever up and onto while maintaining forward momentum, only to have your chain slip during pedaling and then to get derailed from the crankshaft.
This happened 6 times. It was annoying. I still made a 6-mile loop of Mary's Loop and Moore Fun. And I have all of my skin.
ARTIST OF POST -Santogold. I'm sure I scared the residents of Vail as I was bopping to the this song while driving on I-70.
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