Happy New year.

I am not a morning skier

We got up this morning and out the door with enough time to do one run on the skis before work. The skin up was beautiful, the scenery was great, and the ski down...well, left something to be desired in terms of my skillz. But I'll keep working at it!

Christmas day skin.

Skinning the notch.

Dog

BC skiing in Hubbard...Shhhh dont tell the snowshoers...

Typical evening in Montpelier, ski town?Mmmmm maybe....

Our fifth of day skiing with good snow for almost a week! Winter was finally here and mother nature was more than making up for her late arrival. Were fortunate enought to live where the mountains, the people and the snow are all embeded here in central Vermont.
I live in a town where good friends can boot it through downtown with their skiis past their favorite bar to find their favorite lines in Hubbard park as the snow just keeps coming and coming. Then afterwards stop at their favorite bar Three Penny that is and share a beer together.
This is where I live and I try not to take it for granted, that is Im lucky to have friends and lots of good snow that remind me just how lucky I truly am.

Heres to those......

First turns

Early sunday morning 7 AM we found ourselves waiting to get our whack at what would be our first turns of the season. Not only did I turn but I managed to do my fair share of eating it in surprisingly forgiving snow. The snow was deep and we were surprised at just how much snow we found.

If it weren't for Kip I would have been skiing down on one ski as my binding had pulled out of its insert on my left ski! So heres to Kip and many more turns; or who knows I'm sure there will be plenty of eating it as well.

Turn Good.

Leonids

A friend invited us last night to go check out the Leonid meteor shower. I think we averaged 1.5 meteors viewed per person, but the stars were beautiful, the rum was tasty, and the people were great.

This topped off a night of successful skin-cutting (see below post) - What a great night!

Skin Cutting season

Shot Ski!

So a couple of old tele skis, four shot glasses and three good friends: Shot ski!

Fall at the Cabin

We've had a couple lovely fall nights out at the cordwood cabin. We usually bring some beer and some snacks from the Co-Op and make a night of reading by the fire. On the most recent visit, we had a guitarist with us, so we made a night of singing badly by the fire.

I can't wait to use the cabin as homebase on some ski tours this winter. Maybe even a day of touring over at Millstone?

Last Ride at the Kingdom (2009 season)

We enjoyed our last jaunt out to the Kingdom, for biking season anyways, this past Saturday. We had a great group and did a fun loop. We were all quite tired after a couple hours of riding. Not too tired to do a jump shot, though.

Happy trails!

FALL-ing in love

Fall in Vermont is well my favorite time of year, so after a brisk run in Adamant we found ourselves where else but Three Penny Taproom. So as we shared a pint with friends and watched the best post-season baseball game I have ever seen to this day, van Morrison happened to play and, well, I got that feeling that this was it.
My life has been good; so great the last ten years and it only keeps getting better. I have walked many a mile, ran and biked beautiful places and met beautiful people along the way who we still keep in touch with, matter of fact we're about to all come together once more come next week! I have also found a home here in Vermont and waking up in the morning just seems a little bit brighter everyday. I have spent the last ten years with a particularly beautiful person too who has made that ten years the most memorable of my thirty-two on this planet and that is Sarah. Sarah you make everyday my best and have taught me how to live and that life is what you make it of it. So here's to you my love and the life we live together - and what a life it has been. I love you.

Snow in the mountains.

A couple mile hike into the mountains revealed what we had already suspected; snow.

Fun with PBR in the Worchester range.

What a night for a hike up Whiterock with good friends and good spirits, It was a night only to be had in september. Welcome Ryan and Lindsey youve clearly upgraded from Number four to three! and Sylvia the newest and greatest adition to ORS! As always a good time is had by all.

My new temporary look?.

So this is the second time now that I have been stung by a bee in the Kingdom. The first was on my knee while riding the second time above my left eyebrow hence my new look. This probably means carrying lots of benadryl and an epupen yeah! So here I am in sequential order and yes the first picture of me does resemble sloth from the Goonies movie one of my favorite movie heroes.

What a Great Day to be Alive!

Tristan and I took a spur-of-the-moment trip up White Rock to spend the night. We missed the sunset, but caught some magnificent stars and an amazing sunrise over the White Mountains.

Life is pretty great!

Odin on the Pinnacle

Fun With Bikes

We spent Friday morning riding at Kingdom Trails in East Burke. It was great riding overall and we went back and did Kitchel a second time, with the camera, to capture the fun. Unfortunately, Noah broke his bike, but he still finished the trail. Check out the video!

Life is so damn fun!

A Winning Combination

Here's my rule for keeping a light backpack on long-distance trips: Keep the weight of your three essentials (pack, shelter, and sleeping system) under 10 pounds.

I recommend:

- Pack: Granite Gear Nimbus Lattitude (3.8 lbs.)
- Shelter: MSR Hubba Hubba (3 lbs.)
- Sleeping bag and pad: EMS Mountain Light (1.5 lbs.) and Thermarest Prolite (1 lb.)

TA-DA! 9.3 pounds total. Next, find a pal you can share a tent with and divide that shelter by 2.

Happy trails!

Millstone Hill Touring Center

Kingdom Trails in East Burke, Vermont is still my favorite place to ride (http://www.kingdomtrails.org/). But look out trails, there's a new number 2 in town. Hmmm...a new #2? That didn't come out right.

Anyways, Millstone Hill offers some excellent riding. And in the spirit of backyard adventures, we shot up to Grand Lookout at the end of a 2-hour ride. This sunset over Camel's Hump and the valley below was so worth not being able to see a thing on the trail back down to the car. Boy was it dark - and muddy!

And for those of you who want more than just some romantic sunset pictures, check out the shot of the bridges at the top of Millstone's newest trail: Rollercoaster. WOWza.

Happy trails!

Oh, and check out http://www.millstonehill.com/touring/.

Soda Can Stoves 101

T and I subscribe to lightweight backpacking. We've each been known to carry less than 20 pounds on long-distance trips, food and water included. One of our secrets is to hike with a pal (you only carry half the gear). Another is this awesome little soda can stove. We've had ours since 2005.

These are also called denatured alcohol stoves because they burn isopropyl, or denatured, alcohol. You can get the fuel at a hardware store, or in a pinch you can burn 90% rubbing alcohol from a pharmacy.

We bought our stove (and a pot stand) on eBay for $10 from some guy in Canada who was making them. Since then, T has learned to make them himself: a necessary skill in case you step on yours while out on a trip. Last week we had a few friends over and made some stoves.

Step 1. Drink 2 beers.

Step 2. Make the cans into a stove.

OK, so there's several more steps than that. If you want to know them, guess you'll just have to attend the next workshop. Until then, happy trails.

Does Anyone Else Have This Problem?

We have A LOT of gear. It's a good problem to have, I suppose. We fashioned a ski rack out of an old CD tower. This is the unspoken brilliance of iPods: they free up our CD towers for other more creative uses.

T and I are cleaning and organizing gear today; but we'll get out for our singletrack fix later this afternoon.

First Foray into the Whites

Tristan and I have never really hiked in New Hampshire's White Mountains. I know. WTF? Well, last Thursday we ducked out of work and took advantage of this summer's elusive sunny day to do a loop on Franconia Ridge. We hiked up the Falling Waters Trail on to the AT and then down the Bridle Path. We summitted Little Haystack Mountain, Mt. Lincoln, and Lafayette. It was magnificent! We can't wait to get back over there.

p.s. When I say "sunny day," I mean partly cloudy. I've lowered my expectations.

Paying it forward

Today we hiked a section of the Appalachian Trail also known as the Beaver Brook Trail up to Beaver Brook Shelter. Along the way we met Bad Hummous and Johnny, two thruhikers. At the shelter we met two more...and gave them our snacks! Fresh fruit, smoked cheese and gummy bears! It felt so good to deliver some trail magic; countless times it was the giving spirit of others that got me through a rough day of hiking. I'm thinking about those two up at Beaver Brook Shelter and hoping they're having a nice night.

Happy hiking!

Montpelier naked bike riders are awesome!

To anyone who felt so inclined to use there freedom of speech rights towards the naked bike riders, so be it. But didn't your mother ever teach you that if you dont have anything nice to say you might as well keep it to yourself? Oh my god! naked people on bikes! What has this world come to? In my personal opinion there ain't nothing better on a lazy sunday afternoon than a bunch of naked bike riders. So go right on practicing that freedom of speech; do you really think anyone would have listened to you especially during the parade? I didn't think so. Ride on naked bike riders, ride on! See you all next year!

Active Spring Weekend

Got out for an evening hike with some two- and four-legged friends on Saturday evening. Sunday did a date/hike up Mt. Abe from Lincoln Gap.

























Late lunch after Abe at the Warren Store. Amazing sandwiches, Vermont products and a beautiful atmosphere both inside and out.

You cant touch this hair.

In the Kingdom

With less than ideal but classic New England conditions at Kingdom trails in East Burke, we loaded up the bikes and headed out. Mike, Sarah, PJ and I were ready to see what could be had; as usual we were not disappointed. Check it out.

Enter the Clunker

Bike polo alive and well in the capital city.

Our weekly gathering Tuesday proved... well...see for yourself.