Tomahawk Section Of Middle Fork ~ And Joking Around With The Browns 27Jun25

I stopped at the Tomahawk section of the Middle Fk to fish for the 1st time in a while. Flows were pretty high @130cfs but the day was nice and the stream was in good shape, except there were already 7 cars near where I parked when I arrived at 11am. NP, we were pretty spread out and catching small browns and rainbows was pretty easy. Most took my #18 UV chubby toss from the Rodfather True 3 but some were on the droppers of rainbow warrior Perdigon or a small BH gold ribbed hares ear. The browns were tiny and fewer on this outing. It was fun with 20 fish in 2 hours but I was done and hungry and hiked back to the car to head over Hoosier.

I stopped at ORB/Bird Cafe for a brew and Thai chix. Nice view from the deck. I picked up Steve's June 4 pack while there.

I hung out with the Brown's for a while with Molly and her kid James and Derrick and Steve all into the Lodge to hike Quandary on Saturday. We had a rousing game of cornhole and then played wiffleball. I didn't play but called the game and kept score.

Walkin' The Creekwalk With Kala ~ Hittin' The Free Concert With Black Rose Band 26Jun25

Kala and I took a spin in the Boxter down to the Creekwalk shopping center. In part it was recon for when K2 visit next week. We got to see the Kempf sculptures on the walk and took in a decent show on their tiny amphitheater given by Black Rose, a local-ish country & western band. OUr butts got a little wet sitting in the grass but whatever. The site was approved for another visit. 

We then spun the BGTS to Ivywild nearby to see the latest vibe there and grab a beer from Bristol. We arrived on Go Cornhole night where competing teams weren't very good but did enjoy a discount on the beer. Pretty fun night. 

Pike's Peak Hill Climb Race ~ Pike's Peak Or Bust... It Was A Bust 22Jun25

Matt & I arose at 3am to grab our fan bus to Devil's Playground at ~13Kft elevation on Pike's Peak. We grabbed P1 on the first bus out. We chose the highest vantage point from which to view the race due to the large number of turns visible from that point. It was very crowded in the line of cars, and a few buses, to get up the PP Highway to parking spots before the race began ~ I slept a bit on the ride. We liked that we didn't drive and wear out clutches. We arrived and quickly gathered our packs with extra layers and the beer and food coolers for the long day of racing. We hustled out and found a spectacular viewing position.

Unfortunately 80mph winds through our area and @ the peak made it cold and uncomfortable. Nonetheless we stuck it out for hours in all the clothes we brought. We secured our site eventually and went back to the bus to learn of many start time delays due to wind. I get it, the PPHC cars are light and have huge wings and driver safety had to be their greatest concern. Ultimately though the race was shortened to about 50%, finishing at Glen Cove about 5 miles down the mountain. And we, at Devil's Playground were basically stuck without a view of the race. The bus ultimately did leave during about the 3rd class of cars to race; but not with us! They were ultimately only going down 3 miles to a huge queue of vehicles ~ a move to "get closer" to the action, but not much. Matt got a hitchhike ride down and caught up with the bus to drop stuff off and I hiked down and eventually got a short ride to the lineup; I caught up with Matt at the bus and we headed down along the big queue to "view" spot #2. We could only really get to the point a mile after the finish line in time for some of the race and grabbed a seat near the after-drive lineup of cars. Some of them knew the day was shot for race fans mostly and did burnouts in front of us.

We did see the Porsche 911 GT4 Car champ across from us and did see the ultimate winner in a garishly air winged and diffused Mustang E bespoke car idle by. Loni ended in 3rd in class but the turbos weren't as differentiated from the naturally aspirated cars with the course and elevation shortened. And from our un-viewing spot we did meet some cool folks from NE and ND ~ at least Matt & I only drove 25 min to get here.

I did snap a pic of the starting line as we finally left the racecourse as we headed back to our cars. I understand the cautions of shortening and delaying the race... I less understood the need to abandon us and have us hike to the bus. Maybe we'll try again but the mountain always has the last say.

I also will add that I did have to go to the Porsche shop in COS for a quick fix and went into the showroom to see what they had. WOW! This is best inventory of cool Porsches I've ever seen ~ no comparison to others. There were 2 $425K 911 GT3RSs, a yellow Singer of unknown high value, and a 918 Spyder hybrid worth about $1M.

Alison Krause & Union Station Concert @ Dillion Amp ~ Brock & Anna, BobR, & DaveS Joined For The Show And The Weekend 21Jun25

Kala & I headed back to Summit for a great concert and to host friends at the Nest. We had a blast. We started early at Dillon Dam Brewery as we expected a long queue for doors @ 5:45pm at the Dillon Amphitheater. We predicted correctly and got in line at 5:05pm further back than I'd ever been for a show at the Amp... it was gonna be packed and we came with chairs and plenty of clothing laters for being back in the grass. NP really, they were fine seats given our keen kit of low chairs, blankets, and many layers. Sunny as this pic was, soon enough in Summit the sun dipped behind the Gore.

Sunny & Willie did not crush the operner... we applauded nonetheless. Cool Appalachian vibe throughout.

Yeah, AK & US are on on their last tour... they completely showed up. Musicianship among this group is spectacular. Every song on this tour, some of which are new releases from the latest Arcadia drop, is great. Get there from Alison's voice or the tight instrumentals. We all had a blast.

Alison's schtick was above the usual ~ probably the ending tour thing... pretty funny. The band, as ever was tight and blew our minds throughout the eve. Fiddles seemed as trains; guitars and dobros ripped keen lines. Alison's voice remained other-wordly. It was very cool ~ recommended. It was not cheap for GA by any stretch  ~ still, grab 'em if you can. Next, we let out on the local Mesa Cortina on trail.

Very nice with fine ORB brews (hazies and stouts, depending on the couple ~ thanks Brock) after; Anna enjoyed Thai chix. 

Pikes Peak Driver Meet Up ~ Another Porsche Event At COS Porsche 18Jun25

I had to pick up the Boxster after a glowing post-purchase inspection (what are they really gonna say at that point) at the COS Porsche dealer on Motor Way. Matt discovered an event was being held there to introduce whomever wanted to the Porsche drivers who'd be tackling the Pike Peak Hillclimb on Sunday. It was cool... we met the drivers including the top qualifiers with GT3s and GT4s as well as the latest Unser on the hill, Lonnie (SKA sneakers and her car is the dusty rose colored one). There were guys driving classics, a guy in a wheelchair who used all hand controls, rookies, and extreme veterans... introduced by a 7-time winner. The bonus was that they rolled in the cars around the grounds and we got close looks. They had stuff for sale too of course... I liked the jacked up 4WD Dakar 911... it'd be perfect for Colorado. Matt liked the Farfignugen (sp) truck.

Dad's Day Driving ~ Canadian Grand Prix Watch & Driving Sims @ DRS 15Jun25

We hustled back from Summit to meet MLC and LPC at the Denver Racing Social (DRS) for an F1 watch party of the Canadian Grand Prix on Dad's Day. Matt found and booked the event for especially me as it included not only totties & nosh and a nice video theater for the F1 race, but a dad & kid team event in a killer race car driving simulator.

We got some practice on the Canadian GP track and with the F1 car in smaller sims before loading into the main show. The sim rigs were very cool and sophisticated and the DRS vibe was good; owner Andrew (left in pic) was cool and helped a lot and the day's sponsor catered in a great Mediterranean buffet. We believed we had a shot (lowest average summed best laptimes of teammates) despite the experience of some of the other sons. That was naive ~ I sucked with lots of un-smooth moves and Matt was sufficiently aggressive to not post a clean lap. The jiggyness of the $100K sim rig was a distraction, but very cool. Even my Apple Watch suggested I had fallen hard and was in-process of emergency calls ~ also a distraction.

To get a sense of it, here's Matt driving the '24 Mercedes F1 car in the DRS Sim around the Montreal GP track for a bit.

Denver Racing Social is a unique experience in Colorado; they regularly cast their races and competitions of members to members and others. They even have post race interviews. Heh heh. There were plenty of keen cars in the lot, including Matt's own 911 with his new plates.

So, back to the real race... George & Kimi performed well as the Mercedes car tends to improve in colder climates and weather, which Canada was this day. McClaren was faring well till a fav, Lando Norris, made a bonehead play on his teammate and wrecked out of the race with just a few laps to go. Letha was aghast at the situation but liked Kimi's 1st podium and even George's first win this year.

Dad's Day 2025 was a blast; thanks for coming out everyone; especially thank you MLC for leading a fun memorable day.