Saturday, September 27, 2008

London



Usually I only post pics that I took myself, but these shots (from boston.com) of London at night are too cool not to share. For more go here.

Monday, September 15, 2008

Monument Valley

Monument Valley, at the AZ/Utah border.






Kanab to Page / Glen Canyon





Horseshoe Bend, Colorado River




Glen Canyon Dam below Lake Powell, Page AZ









North Rim, Grand Canyon

Yeah that's the North Rim, 60+ miles straight ahead across the Kaibab Plateau.








In these last two you can see the Colorado River in the upper right corner. There were a few rafts floating down, I was surprised they were visible to the naked eye. I was also surprised at the water clarity - usually the Colorado is a muddy mess.





Sunrise at Bryce Canyon

Thors Hammer, grabbing a piece of the day's first rays.










Beaver to Bryce

A GREAT day on the road.









Thursday, September 11, 2008

Brian Head

Hubris: An irrational sense of overconfidence. Perhaps unqualified and bordering on arrogance (just ask Alex), it can lead to one's ultimate demise. That's my own loose definition of hubris - and on this day the definition may as well have included a picture of me.

For reasons still unclear to me, I decided that my skills at snow skiing combined with my skills on a bike qualified me to hop on a mountain bike at 10,000 feet and fly down the rocky slopes of Brian Head Ski Resort. This despite the fact that I'm an intermediate skier at best, not to mention skiing skills will mean nothing here today. This also despite the fact that I live and ride at maybe 5 feet above sea level max - rarely up, rarely down, just riding. Sign me up!




As I pulled up to the resort I was excited and ready, still blinded by hubris but also perhaps eased by the pictures I'd seen online. This was going to be a scenic ride with some adrenalin mixed in, and my itch would be scratched. As I rode the lift up, feeling the air getting thinner and cooler and seeing myself rising above the neighboring mountains, I started to get a sense of being in over my head. Really - you think??

I was told to follow the 'Color Country' trail for my first run. It's the park's easiest, and at 6 miles long it's a good way to get used to the mountain. On the trail map it looked like a nice ride but in reality it was a violent awakening. I stopped about halfway down the trail to remove my sunglasses, which were vibrating so much due to the rough/rocky trails that I could barely focus enough to dodge the bigger boulders. Shades off, I resumed the bumpy ride down. It only took a few moments to realize that it wasn't the shades that were vibrating - it was my eyeballs, bouncing around in their sockets. Somehow I got used to that freakishness and made it down. With a new sense of respect for the mountain combined with a more tempered level of confidence, I rode the lift back up for my second run.



Less than a mile down, my front brakes broke. Didn't stop working or malfunction, the pads completely broke off. Unfortunately this happened as I tried to slow the bike from going about 650 mph. No longer able to control my speed or direction, the result was inevitable. When I find myself in this sort of pre-accident position when skiing - and I do - I simply wreck, so at least I control when I begin suffering. However, at this speed and in these rocky conditions, wrecking wasn't at all desirable. Right about the time that I finished having this long and thoughtful conversation with myself, I wrecked. Somewhere in the course of tumbling down the rocky trail I must have tried to stop my fall with my foot, and in the course of the attempt managed to shred both my foot and ankle. At least it kept me from feeling the damage I'd done to my elbows...

The best part of this was that it happened when it did, early in the day before I was able to gain enough confidence do do something even more stupid than what I was already doing (VERY possible), and risking a more serious injury. The resort refunded me my money since it was an equipment failure, but I'm sure my lack of experience played a large role as well.

In the end this day changed a lot about the rest of the vacation for me. Hobbled, I was no longer planning on hiking or biking several miles each day. Instead of hustling each day from place to place so I could hit the trails, I would seek out the dirtiest lines on the map to get me there.

Zion and Kolob Canyons



To get from Vegas to Cedar City you simply drive north on I-15 for about 2 hours. Or, you can drive through Valley of Fire and then take the scenic drive through Zion Nat'l Park, and then detour on the dirt road that moves through Kolob Canyons, eventually dropping out of the sky and 'down' (elevation: 5800 ft) into Cedar City about 8 hours later.

After about 4 hours of 20 mph zigzagging, and right about the time that I was wondering if I'd made a major error and would have to turn around, a big truck towing a dirt smoother (think baseball diamond) approached. Surprised to see a convertible slumming it on his dirt track, he slowed to chat. I asked him if this road would get me to Cedar City. "Heyull yeah!" he shouted proudly. Put at ease, and happily inhaling the swirling dirt from his passing, I eagerly continued on and eventually found civilization again.




So very early in my vacation, and already I had satisfied my desire to Get Lost. Yes this road was on some map, but it was gray and dotted. And I was on it. Heyull yeah.