Green Mountain - Mountain Biking

After several days of rain it felt good to get on the bike and ride
Green Mountain again. It's hard to believe such a cool trail with
such fun single track is in the city.

U2 360 Tour - Denver May 2011

Wow!!! The U2 360 tour in Denver was amazing!!!!

U2 has been around for 30 years and instead of getting old or dated
they just get better and keep on rocking. Bono and the rest of U2 are
true performers. They sang, played and performed every song with
passion and energy like I have never seen before. It's with good
reason that U2 is the worlds biggest rock band.

In addition to the energy transmitted by U2 to 80,000 plus fans at the
concert U2 had the most technological stage I have ever seen. The
stage was modelled to look like a spaceship. U2 played in the center
and overhead was a giant 360 degree screen that showed the band and
other stuff related to U2 music and education. U2 brought the energy
but the stage definetly help harness and focus the energy.

Check out a U2 concert if you ever get a chance. It's a bucket list
type of event.

May 1st Snowmobiling - Amazing

Can you say snow!!! Because that's what's it's been doing all
winter / spring in the Colorado mountains.

We went snowmobiling at Rabbit Ears on 4/3/11 and it was 50 degrees
and slushy. Today, a month later at Rabbit Ears on 5/1/11 it was
endless untracked powder and blue skies. Eventually we made it to the
Buffalo Pass radio tower which was buried by 17 feet of settled snow!

What an awesome day. Thanks for going Dustin.

Will we be sledding in June?

Deer Creek Canyon Mountain Biking

We mountain biked Deer Creek Canyon tonight with Kendra and crew.
Motivation for most of us was lacking when we started and the initial
climb took it's toll but the upper loops and downhill were worth the
pain. Tonight was my first time riding upper Deer Creek but will not
be my last. If you look at the picture backgrounds you can see
downtown Denver.

Rattlesnake Arch Walking II

While Jack and I climbed up under the last arch then walked back via the canyon rim and arches, Judy and Mark took the dogs back. From the trail below Judy was able to take a couple pictures of us from the trail looking up.

Rattlesnake Arch Walking

While hiking up the canyon there was a gentle breeze which felt good
and helped keep us cool. But when Jack and I climbed on top of the
canyon so we could explore the arches that breeze turned in a gale
force wind. We walked two of the arches which was my first arch
walking experience. It was a little scary but a real rush.

Rattlesanke Canyon Arches

Sunday I joined Jack, Judy, and Mark for a hike up Pollock and
Rattlesnake Canyons to the Rattlesnake arches south of Fruita. It's
usually 14 miles total out and back but Jack and Judy have an access
point from their rock house that saved us several miles. The arches
were amazing and maybe even better then those in Moab because there
are no crowds and you have full access.

Fruita / Grand Junction April Mountain Biking

I joined Frank, Angela and bunch of other cool people in Fruita this
last weekend for some camping and mountain biking. The weather was
perfect and everyone went home in one piece. On Saturday, 15 of us
biked the Tabaughe / Ribbon above Grand Junction which is a technical
rocky downhill and where I punctured my side last year.

http://oklacolo.blogspot.com/2010_10_31_archive.html

April sledding on Rabbit Ears

The last week of March dumped four feet of snow in the mountains while
I sat at my desk and watched snow reports. So after some back and
forth we decided to make another sledding trip to Rabbit Ears.

The Saturday forecast was near 80 in Denver so we knew it would be
warm but had no idea how warm. When we started it was 45 degrees and
by mid day it was 55. The snow started hard but quickly turned to
slush and was a lot of fun.

We explored several new areas including the north side of Steamboat
ski area. We also had several good stucks. Ted almost lost his sled
in a 15' deep blowhole but luckily we got it out without it dropping
into the water below.

It's been a great year. I wonder if there will be any May sledding...

Italy / Greece / Sweden Average Fall Weather

Rome, Italy
~~~~~~~~~
Sep. 81/57/3.0 (high/low/precip)F/in.
Oct. 72/50/4.20
Nov. 62/43/4.70
Dec. 55/37/3.60

Athens, Greece
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sep. 84/66/0.5
Oct. 73/58/1.9
Nov. 65/52/2.0
Dec. 58/46/2.0

Bastad, Sweden
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sep. 61/50/2.0
Oct. 53/44/2.1
Nov. 44/37/2.1
Dec. 39/32/2.1

Snake Lights

While taking pictures of the Golden Fire I also took some pictures of cars in the canyon and city lights.  The cars coming down the canyon look like a snake of lights.

--
M.B.

Golden Fire Day 2

The Golden Fire, now officially called the Indian Gulch Fire is still going and growing.  As of Monday night it had burned nearly 800 acres and was moving northwest towards Golden Gate Canyon.  Out of caution, 100 homes around Golden Gate Canyon were evacuated.

--
http://oklacolo.blogspot.com/
M.B.

Golden Fire Day 1

This last Sunday was a typical spring day with warm weather and wind.
Unfortunately a wildfire started just west of Golden up Clear Creek
Canyon. When I saw the fire Sunday afternoon it was just a few acres
on the steep canyon hillsides. However the strong winds gave the fire
strength and by that night it had grown to several hundred acres and
was still growing.

Last sled trip 2011?

We went sledding this last Sunday on 3/20. The mountains had a foot
of fresh but it was spring riding. On the north facing slopes some
nice soft snow was found but everywhere else is was getting hard.
Late in the afternoon we lost one rider for a couple hours down a
steep hill but we eventually got him out and we all made it out and
back home.

Well. Until it snows again or until next winter. Either way it's
been a great year of snow, friends, adventures and sleds. I can't say
enough good things about the 2011 Pro. See if I'm riding it next year.