Hurricane hike/canoe/bike ride (that was somehow uphill the whole way)

Hurricane hike with Brian and Paul (and the hounds)




The PJ could be my investment of the year. Brian feels the same way about his Keen's but they haven't really been put to the test yet.



a few weeks later, Hawkeye wanted to check if his sea legs had gotten any sturdier. turns out they hadn't.

Brian heads out for a solo paddle. He and his canoe were the envy of all the "dad" types at the lake. they all wanted to talk wood shop.

ahoy!


where to next?

how about a hike up the slopes at Spring Mountain? we would go to this place in boy scouts every winter. it was the first place either of us skied. those trips were great. I have some classic pics of our winter gear circa 1989. if I can find 'em I'll post 'em. I happened upon this place on my bike ride to Emmaus years ago but the trails were all over grown so I couldn't really explore them

The Rock Lobster! I wonder what Webb, Johnston (Dirt), Jason (Meatball), Drew (Alfred) and Randy (Redwood) are doing right now. Troop 25 til death.

we were stoked to find this. it's just a rock that kids painted red cuz it looked like a lobster when you were above it on the lift but it was cool to see it again after 20 years. wait, 20 years? well considering some of the stickers that were on my ski boots at the time, yeah, I'd say that's pretty accurate.


tarantula


later that day, city jaunt/pedal/hang before heading to mom and dad's


soaking up the view I ended up with a cameo in Dave's favorite skater's shoe commercial. although of the two, I'm much prouder that this video documentation exists. Brian and I spent $1,000 on a video camera in 1994 to capture all the magical moments of our college years. On a semi-related note, I went skating by myself for the first time in a long time the other night. I hit a bunch of random parking lots trying to find curb spots and gaps. although they're always more fun with a crew, many times, these end up being my favorite missions. skate tough.

following morning, off to meet Matt for a bike ride over the Blue Mountain. i swear i get up earlier on the weekends than i do during the week.

I arrived to the sound of sawing logs. seriously, either turn that alarm up or cool it with the benders.



to the top of Blue Mountain and back was the goal. that's it off in the distance. much like with Spring Mountain, I was transported back to the school ski trips we'd take there in junior high. those were also great times. at 14 years old, being stuck in school, in need of constant physical, audio and visual stimulation, it was sheer torture getting stoked all winter watching stuff like this and ending up at places like this. I wonder what Chad, Bortz, Kathy (Hair), Bachert and Bomboy are doing right now. Probably not remembering being psyched to go see Ski Patrol on opening night like I was.

miles later we reached the summit. the preparation I put into setting up this shot was not worth the end result.

I like to call these "mom shots"


still on the to-do list. a ways down, but still on there.

impractical yet sufficient hydration system

skid out session on the way down



if you enlarge it you can see the tower on the mountain where we just descended from

onward and into Leaser Lake which, as you can see, has been drained


walk 'em...

ride 'em...

or carry 'em

looking back at the northern side of the lake where we started crossing

great ride except my palms were rubbed raw. as you can see my bar grip was fresh so i'm not really sure what the problem could've been

here's the route. 45 mile loop that was somehow all uphill.

anybody know how many avocados there are in a large veggie pizza, a 2 liter of coke and a pack of peanut butter kandy kakes?



let me get this straight, if i was 18 years old i could be walking around this park with a loaded gun and nobody could legally do anything about it but since i'm 35 years old and i have a skateboard i can't walk inside this fence and put my board down without having the cops come. yeah, ok. oh well, that's what memory banks are for.

one more thing, i have a few pics that are gonna be in this book. if you were a child of the 80's/early 90's "alternative" suburban lifestyle, in other words if you skipped slow dancing with all the norms to this at school dances and instead stood by the speakers waiting for the heavy part to start so you could slam, you'd probably enjoy it.