Chilly Reception @ 11Mile 16May17

Back in COS for at least a couple days I chose to hit 11Mile with flows on the PT >1Kcfs and similar conditions further up the Ark in BHSC (due to increased releases from Twin Lks AND snowmelt). It was a windy and chilly day and flows are low @ 80cfs; not much action around the house that I observed. Far from epic, I could not seem to get many hookups. I caught ~1/hr on midges and BWOs and even a dry. Nothing big stayed on my line... hmmm. Perhaps its because I'm pretty sick but probably it was just conditions :).

I Chose Poorly But Enjoyed The Day Anyway 12 May17

We were headed to Boulder for our monthly dinner date with Tom & Leslie but the nice weather beckoned me to fish in the AM... Hmmm, 11 Mile or PT? Both tailwaters would be ok after rain had subsided 8 hours earlier. I checked the flows and both were great. PT is closer. I chose poorly - the river was milky green on arrival but I was undeterred and rigged up (out of Valco to begin for a change). I hooked up pretty quickly but didn't close, behind the diamonds above the deep pool at the parking lot I was broken off on a rock by a decent but clever cutbow - and finished my cross of the river to get the sun on my back. I noticed more & more stuff floating downstream in front of me; the river was rising. I heard the siren and it was unleashed while I was caught on the north bank. I quickly found a stick and recrossed to head out - fortunately I made it. Here's the big weir with submerged log above Valco on the way up, just after I'd re-crossed. The flows increased from 380cfs to >4000cfs! I got home early and spun out a 20 miler with Kala then headed to Boulder. We needed to avoid 3 accidents on each of I25, 470 and even #85 as we approached 470 - we went around the south and west of Chattfield Rez on backroads. We had a great Italian meal in Boulder then I got to play one of my rare rounds of golf with Tom on his home course, The Flatirons. We drove up to Summit then to help commission Mon Ami and do so maintenance stuff. OMG Clear Ck Canyon was packed with hikers, kayakers, fishermen and gawkers - always a pretty cool drive.

TIDAL Streaming & MQA 11May17

I was given a 90 day trial to TIDAL's HiFi service at the audio show I recently attended in Denver. I've been testing it and researching their distinctions from Spotify. #1 is that TIDAL is mostly lossless FLAC 44.1KHz/16bit streaming (1411Kbps) vs Spotify's MP3/AAC streaming (320Kbps). Music quality is the key and Spotify's catalog is only a smidge larger and social media integration tighter/better (I don't care). While TIDAL has had issues and I love Ariana Grande's impressions of these on SNL - it is better a better quality service once the music starts. In fact, TIDAL is now streaming MQA (96KHz/24bit) for the HiFi subscriber (and I am able to test that too). The library is somewhat limited but TIDAL has decent access to masters because they offer sales of HighDef music of that resolution and can therefore create the MQA source files needed. They've integrated MQA decoding into their desktop apps but not iOS or Android apps yet - so my TIDAL app on my DP-X1 doesn't stream MQA to me despite the MQA decode available on-board. When my desktop is streaming MQA it displays "Master" instead of "HiFi" in the quality icon in the lower right of the screen. Can I tell the difference? - Maybe, the Wavves V album is available in MQA and is very good - think Green Day but from SoCal - maybe it's me and punk pop rather than Q. Hmmm... 

CutBows Before The Storm 10May17

The PT is still "on." I caught many smaller fish and the bigs were a tad smaller but I still managed a 20"er and a couple of 19"er. I went early and caught a gob right away as we enter the water at the NC. BWOs and midges worked all day including a Two Bit Hooker weight, Mercury RS2, a new Loop Wing BWO Emerger I'm tying and liking and KF Flasher midges.

Velorama - Whiteout Conditions by New Pornographers & Red Rocks - Big Mess by Grouplove AND Beer 09May17

I'm really enjoying the New Pornographers recent album release, Whiteout Conditions. I think it's better than their recent couple of discs despite no contributions from Bejar (who normally kicks ass on NP offers) of Destroyer. Neko sings Play Money and This Is The World Of Theater - which are great... I featured "Theater" on a ride on my new Liberty Origin boards earlier on GR8Fish. Newman's writing and arrangements are getting even more complex but here he doesn't try to eclipse Brian Wilson and sticks to his upbeat fortes, which is very good for us. I've seen/heard a half dozen live renditions now of the song Whiteout Conditions on various shows - duet acoustic to big band arrangements - all very good - AJ has mad skills as a composer. I'm looking forward to catching this stuff live at Velorama on Fri Aug 11th downtown Denver with Wilco and La Santa Cecila. Plus, what's not to like about an album with all the references to wicked winter aspects - check it out if you dare.

I've also drawn in a newer band called Grouplove - they are kindof like the Killers I'd say and super different. Like many of my "likes" (except K and above) they hail from NYC and the vocals are excellent. Here, the lyrics are weird, like the Killers. All the albums are good but the most recent including Big Mess will be revealed live at Red Rocks on Aug 2nd & 3rd with headliner The Head and the Heart (who Kala and I enjoyed a couple of years ago opening for none other than the NP at the Gothic). Unbelievably good.

Whoa Firestone Walker retired the IPAs! But fear not - I've tried an unadulterated DIPA called Leo vs Ursus from their experimental batch brewery (the bear and the lion now more aggressive than ever  and compete for taste - the founders then unite) which is awesome! We can debate the ultimate vector which a craft brewer selling out takes - but here, there's innovation and advancement. From Wooky Jack and Union Jack that's really something.

Revelation vs Original Bikepacking 09May17

We returned through DEN from EWR (arrived from Manhattan via subway + NJ train for 1/3 the price of taxi) to no hail damage to the Crusher stored at the Parking Spot - thank goodness, as we can't have the value increased by a storm. BTW, Parking Spot was $40 for 8 nights and they dropped off and arrived for shuttle in <5min each way - online app is super easy - good company.

Too, I reviewed the H2O systems of the camper today and saw no damage was suffered from the freezing despite my having left all the lines, pumps and vessels full - I am REALLY please at that. I replaced the failing faucet on the camper for $30 - pretty easy.

Most importantly in the gear realm, I picked up my Revelate bikepacks from REI (~20% off list basically) and fit them to my Broadaxe. In order I got the M size Dangle framepack, the Feedbag, the M size Bar Rollbag (awesome), and the Terrapin seatpack. The Terrapin is different from most as it employs a soft frame you leave on the bike and then use a removable drybag - I'm hoping that's handy.

I'm including images of David Koenig and me as some of the original bikepackers; Arizona baby. I rigged an already heavy aluminum Trek with a gen1 oil damped fork (which totally sucked - 1 second response time) and racks for panniers. I did a number of outings, pretty stellar - 35 years ago we rode from Mt Humphrey to the Grand Canyon self supported in the backcountry. There are stories from the Navajo Rez for sure. And Hellsgate Wilderness - I love the verse "horses cannot handle the last .5 mile" - holy shit, I didn't ride that either but the "gate" on Tonto Canyon was awesome for view and swimming relief from a desert traverse. Cutoff jeans shorts were my chamois, and yes, those are the original Oakley Blades which put them on the map - if Kickstarter where then, I'd be buyin'. I sold all but the Oakleys (and I kept my original Apple Mac too - SN < 10K) so I'm net zero on the new bikepacking bags!

REPOST - Summit | Brooklyn Pizza | The Met 07Mat17

Kala Marietta and I headed down to Summit, NJ to visit my uncle Steve Pardee and Aunt MaryJo Pardee - we enjoyed fine conversation (including that with Burr Davis) and lunch at Fairmount CC, designed and built by MJ's dad's - big fail by me not getting the pic. We walked the Brooklyn Bridge after the rain subsided. We were with our friends Cyndi Vosburgh and Craig Vosburgh before heading heading to enjoy some of the best pizza (and apple pie) in NY at Julianna's in Brooklyn and then on to the Pulitzer (and likely other awards) winning melodrama Sweat. We hit Crave Fishbar for oysters and totties and then MetArt for art from van Gogh, Cezanne, Pollack and many others - what an incredible spot. It's been a great to see Voz & Cyn and enjoy NYC and now it's time to get back to Colorado.