The Double and Double Black Diamond in Summit 10Sep15

Kala and I were fortunate today to follow yesterday's ride up and down the dam and then down the Blue River to N Park Ponds on the rec-way (the Blue River rec path in Silverthorne has tighter turns and more folks than what we've encountered on the rest of Summit's rec path) with a hike into the Eagles Nest Wilderness. We strode Mesa Cortina trail for several miles into the wilderness and enjoyed views of Williams & Buffalo Mtns, Silverthorne, Lake Dillon and, well, the wilderness. The aspens are just starting to change and in this wilderness there's an amazing amount of new pine growth on the floor taking seed from their blown down, beetle fatigued parents. It's hunting season in CO and we saw a full camo bow-hunter, backpacker on the hike back to the car. We recently got new hiking poles for Kala - adjustable Leki carbon ultras - OMG so light, so rugged, so adjustable - 5/5. At lunch I met a pretty young couple on day 85 of traversing the CDT - they are of course southbound to Mexico - cool. After a brief respite I enjoyed a full single handed race lap with some 10 knot winds and whitecaps aboard Mon Ami. There's a reason Lake Dillon is called the double black diamond of sailing lakes - mountain winds change and gust. While I didn't film the unintentional 32° move 'cause I was kindof busy at the time - it was a rush shit was tumbling all around my cabin and I was also otherwise flying around the lake. Skipper Dave's skills are improving. This season's roller furler conversion on Mon Ami does allow me to quickly trim in the jib and try differently sized front sails (smaller typically thanks goodness). I also need to shout out to the Canon PowerShot D20 I recovered from the PT after it spent the '14-'15 winter months in the river - after it dried out it takes better images than the waterproof Fuji which replaced it. That said, I did get a new Canon EOS 6D body to replace my 2D; wow, a full frame, super-fast 20M-pix wonder. A simple shot from the fireworks deck of the aspen in the back yard is pretty good even in low light. I'm registered for intermediate photography classes starting soon to try to improve to its level.