Summit Weekend Fun 13Jun19 - 16Jun19

Kala and I hiked and festivaled and tested gear at the Nest this weekend. First I hoisted the sails on Mon Ami - of course I dropped a vital $90 part into the lake before finishing the head sail install on the furler - here's the fuller is naked. I'm ready to rock on the Thu night racing series now though - all I need is a fearless crew. Kala joined soon after and we hit ORB.

I received my new 5 wt Sage X rod and Hardy Ultralite CADD 4000 reel from backcountry.com, who sharply beat all other pricing when I called my account manager. Is it too much I have an account manager at an outfitter? The reel is a repeat and mates with the X well-balanced. The X feels similar to the One, like a canon; more on this after field trials. Too, I've upgraded to SA Amplitude Infinity  line in hopes of even better distance, accuracy and floatation; it's a half weight heavy to mate with the power rod. My rod is again marked with 16"/18"/20"/22" lines.

We took a new way toward Buffalo Mtn on Meadow Ck Trail... ultimately it jumps Eccles Pass though we didn't go that far this day. The hike started in nice weather but turned to hail, which is when we turned around. Meadow Ck and other feeder streams were raging from snowmelt, and the upper trail had yet uncleared deadfall. Most folks took the lower turnoff to Lilly Pad Lk but we forged up to find new spots in the Eagles Nest Wild.

Back to the car in warmer weather we headed to the Frisco BBQ Festival. We've been before and ran a similar play - try as many samples from competitors as we can handle. It's a very good festival - we liked "the guys in the green truck" best and enjoyed mango-habanero sauce. Too, we heard some keen music from New Orleans Suspects, a good funk band, but chose not to stay for the Flobots a  strong local alt band. I got a chance to field trail my small rig... humbling - I won't post that movie.

Then, happy Dad's Day... I tried my hand on the new grill, using the smoker box and a GrillEye to make baby back pork ribs with a Memphis rub; they took 4 hours at 225° with hickory chips. Temp control was a bit challenging with wind and changing outside temps but, yeah, yummy.