Halloween Cutbows On The PT 31Oct19

Wow... three big storms in October on the Front Range. These must've accelerated "winter" conditions on the Pueblo Tailwater section of the Arkansas (I thought)... question was when to go to avoid the cold but catch the front end of goodness... Halloween has often been that whether we have storms or not... I guess I'll do recon. That means hopefully finding big cutbows spread out among the features of cooler water and bug life featuring lots of midges and tiny BWOs. With flows @ 170cfs and highs of ~40° but a sunny day all I had to "fight" was serious snowfall on trails - it was gorgeous. And it was the start of "winter" goodness on the PT... I caught a number of nice cutbows on midges and BWOs including Grey KFlasher #22, Rainbow Warrior #20 (yeah, the weight), Destiny's Child #22 and Jimi's Axe #22. There were tons of fry feeding up top on midges and BWOs that I needed to avoid so I fished below all day and caught all sizes of fish, including these 17"-19" beauties. "Winter" is coming.

In my 1st field trial of some new wading boots - the Danner-Patagonia collaboration Foot Tractors, I found the footbeds wide and bit sloppy (I need to learn to tie them better for my foot) and they are HEAVY. I tired enough from the greater swing-weight that I needed to anesthetize with a keen new offer from Great Divide called Hopnaut - a dubl hazy; GD is the real deal.

Video Time: New Phoebe Drop. Big Browns. The 50. 26Oct19

Phoebe collaborated with the Nationals' lead Matt Berninger on a song & scene in the recent Galifianakis movie on Netflix. Dark and sweet, very good, video is cool studio live parts... click through to music video. Too, if wise, choose to audit the alternate version as well - more Phoebe. Also, yeah... check the movie (Between Two Ferns: The Movie) on Netflix at 42:30 for the segment from Zach's movie.

We need to get to Delaney Lks near Walden. I've passed a number of times on my way elsewhere and just never stopped. There's a video of CPW keeping the browns there safe (and harvesting eggs for elsewhere) which shows a lot about the spot. Click through to video.

Cody Townsend is skiing "the 50" most challenging lines in the world. The latest is in our backyard near Aspen... at Maroon Pk and Holy Cross couloir. Click through to video. So cool.

How Music Is Sold 24Oct19

The RIAA just published revenue composition report on music sold in 2018 (and historically). Here's the report. Looks like streaming subscriptions are recovering the industry a bit. I still do a lot of downloading albums.

Smacking The Pellet 22Oct19

Upon returning to the Front Range I was able to catch a date on the links with my bride! Kala and I played Kings Deer between storms. It was a gorgeous day where even I could post a 44 coming in.

Keystone Ribbon With Brown 21Oct19

Steve and I were able to soak the bones in the spa (after I shoveled) from our White Rim and Moab rides sufficiently to hit the slopes in the 14" of fresh snow today! We didn't take a lot of runs but they were soft and choice for such early season. 19° and high winds were weird for October but stuff we managed. Sure, we hit Baker's afterward.

Navaho-Chaco Loop With Rocky Tops Pinball 19Oct19

We pulled into Moab and stayed at an AirBnB after our White Rim experience. The spa and showers were great... the water ran red. On Saturday we awoke refreshed to take on another CO Plateau ride called the Navaho-Chaco Loop - a 17 mile jaunt through slick rock and otherwise. My hardtail was inappropriate gear for the outing and was really outgunned the entire week. While I rolled back to parking after 2/3 of the ride, da boyz made the entire loop and met me after my celebratory ORB. Another great ride but I felt like a pinball. 60% of the cars int he lot were from Colorado - odd except that we were facing early  and October snows and die hard riders know Canyonlands Utah is the place to be till the snow is deep & steep.

Wonderlicious White Rim Ride - Day 3 WC To The Top 18Oct19

It is the last day of our epic trip along the White Rim and DD took the wheel of the Crusher as he needs to ride the Shaffer climb alone and get all the way back to the Front Range early today. It was warm and clear enough last eve that I was able to flop on the cot under the stars - just a few smallish poison spiders crawled into my bag so no harm. The team assembled for the team shot for one final time before we let out to catch the sag wagons for lunch after a smaller climb to lunch. The canyons and wild landscapes continued to unfold and it was just too much for Jim, obvious, and Steve as his power blew up his chain. Voz got it repaired with his complete chain tool (mine was missing the press).

Ultimately I arrived at the car Daryle left as it was almost out of gas. I creeped it forward through a squeezer and then up to a nice spot atop the last real climb, with real oddity, before the massive Shaffer Hill.

The view from the overlook allowed me to gauge the team's climbing death syndrome but not a one had it. They took the long road in and then started the serpentine climb. Ultimately Hardeman finished first after rendering a full sprint once done with the switchbacks... woohoo.

Specianormous White Rim Ride - Day 2 PB to White Crack 17Oct19

We rousted for coffee, donuts, fruits, burritos and other stuff at Potato Bottom after a chilly night (lows <40°) in our tents. The environs were again surreal. After some contemplation and all leaving our dumps at the pit, Steve Brown and I drove the first leg of the day to a gorgeous lunch spot back up on the White Rim. The climb up was a smidge brutal for the riders, and the drive a bit rugged for the Crusher and Longbed, but the views were awesome. DD suggested I used fuzzy logic to chose the lunch point and that be at the top of a climb; it was. Fine views, vittles and brews were consumed.

It was Hardeman's turn at the wheel of the Crusher for the afternoon section - which he enjoyed. The riding continued very special with awe inspiring views everywhere.

But the White Crack campsite blew us away. It was a gorgeous spot on the plateau overlooking another deep canyon - totally remote. JimY and I cooked cowboy caviar and brats while an amazing sunset fell over camp. Then the team settled in to some serious drinking of rum and rye and sharing music choice duties. We almost all had left it all behind at this point.