Mountain Biking with Philip

A couple of weeks ago Philip had Friday off. He said he wanted to go mountain biking. I took him over to Sweetwater because it is the easiest trail system I know of. I apparently need to rethink "easy" because everyone I have taken there says it is way harder than I think it is. He didn't have that good of a time, but he has agreed to go again sometime.

Climber Speak

OK, I admit it. I think and speak in climber. More than once a non climber has made the mistake of asking me about climbing. Usually their eyes glaze over and I can tell they are lost and only pretending to be interested just to be nice. Sometimes Amy will tell me "Nobody understood what you just said. You were speaking climber again." Fortunately my non climbing friends ask for clarification. Brett even asked if he could come along.I still haven't figured out why he thought trusting his life to me was a good idea, but he came back in one piece. I decided to post a Climber to English dictionary in case you ever feel like I'm speaking a different language, or that I am just making up words as I go along. http://www.rockclimbing.com/Articles/Introduction_to_Climbing/Climbing_Dictionary_528.html

Brett the Newb

Friday Philip had a scout camp out so I went with him. We were going to get up and go finish off his climbing merit badge. All he needed to do was rappel. When Brett found out he decided to come along. He had never rapped or climbed outside before. Here he is going over the edge for the first time.

Brett did really well for his first time out. He learned to trust the gear very quickly, and concentrated on climbing instead of "what happens if I fall." Here he is about to top out.

He even got his first climbing battle scar.

Climbing Sunset

Thursday Ryan and I went to Windy Point on Mt. Lemmon. We climbed on the North Fin. We did Slippery When Wet and Agatha Christie. We had a great time and met some interesting characters. On the way out the sunset was incredible. Ryan agreed to pose on top of a rock for a picture. It's a little fuzzy because I didn't have a tripod and had to turn off the flash.

Ridgeline

Yesterday we spent the day climbing as a family. Except for Caitlin. She was off babysitting and cleaning house. That kid has more money than I do. We went to Ridgeline. It is one of my favorite moderate crags.

Truly Original

I had Thursday and Friday off this week for the kid's fall break. I got up early every morning to go run. On Thursday as I was trying to warm up to start my run, (I was a little stiff OK the temperature had plummeted below 70 degrees), when I heard a mountain biker coming. As he got closer It sounded funny. Like he was really struggling to ride. I could see his head and shoulders over some bushes and it looked like a young guy on a bike that was to big for him and had a brake stuck. Then he rode out where I could see him. He was missing half of his bike. I had to go over to talk to him. His name is Andy. He is a mountain unicyclist. He let me take a few pictures of him and sent me this video. He rides stuff on one wheel that many people are afraid to ride on a mountain bike. I told Amy that after I take up BASE jumping, mountain unicycling is next on my list.

Night Run

1 Above is a picture of my night run. Last week was really busy. In fact I didn't even get my miles in, and I have been very good at making sure I get out lately. Thursday night Amy had a class to go to so I had to run the kids around. I decided to make the most of the 45 minutes I had while waiting to pick them up. I grabbed my headlamp and Cascadias and went for it. Trail running at night is a completely different animal. My pace was slower because I was trying to stay upright. With shadows it is very easy to catch a toe and hit the deck. I really like my Petzl Tikka Plus headlamp for hiking in the dark, but it is a little anemic for actual running. My first mile I ran by at least 30 mountain lions that were considering eating that slow fat two legged creature that surely must be sickly otherwise he would be moving faster. No I didn't actually see them, but I'm pretty sure they were there. One's mind can play tricks when one can't see outside of a very dim cone of light from a headtorch. It wasn't long and I was truly enjoying myself. I was lost in thought when I saw it. I was sure it must be the mother ship coming to take me. I thought the aluminum foil in my hat would keep them from tracking me, but somehow they found me. Four lights on the ridge line coming directly at me moving erratically. Then disappointment set in. Just two mountain bikers with lights mounted on their helmets and handlebars. I finished up my run without being eaten, abducted, or falling on my face. That was my favorite run so far this year. I can't wait to do it again.

Test

Anyone know where this bench mark is? I've seen it with a few of you. It is on top of Wasson Peak. Wasson is the highest peak in the Tucson Mountains. Every once in a while I like to test myself on it to see what kind of shape I am in. The trail is fairly steep and really rocky. I run as much of it as I can, but ultimately it beats me into submission on the way up and I have to hike parts of the trail. I always try to make up for it on the way down. One hour fourty two minutes round trip this time. Eight and a half miles. Here is the view from the top down to the trail head. It looks like a dead end in the middle of the picture. There are three cars parked there. It was really windy on top. I was all sweaty and freezing so I didn't stay long. The mountains in the background (to the west) are the Silverbell Mountains. To the right of my big ugly mug there is a light colored spot on the mountains. That is the Silverbell copper mine. My dad worked there for thirty nine years, and my brother still works there.