A Look Back

Here comes a year end extravaganza. 2011 was my first year of "real" (post-collegiate) adulthood. I celebrated by more or less refusing to be an adult. Living in the tipi set a pretty good tone for what ended up being a helter skelter kind of year. Once "out" of the snowcone home, long stretches of floor sleeping, truck sleeping, and tent sleeping ensued. Late winter provided one of the most important records of 2011 for me: Edge of the Earth by Sylosis. Mid-spring truck time was a pretty rewarding time to make a little money on the road, fist bump true bros, recharge in the southwestern sun, and embark on the a pretty challenging Grand Canyon double crossing. In a year where I failed to reach most of my racing goals, I am still carrying a lot of pride from my journey into THE CANYON. With the calendar suggesting that summer was nearly upon us, I took on a much more time consuming job than I usually look for in the summer by signing up to build the Reno to Rim Trail for the Nevada Conservation Corps. I am so glad about the amount of "volunteers" we had out working on the project, because the end result was miles of beautiful singletrack in the remote Mt. Rose Wilderness. Additionally, I had the pleasure of meeting a few more true bros (and a couple of lady bros) who literally carried me out of the backcountry on their shoulders when I blew up my ankle.

As summer was winding down, Alaska consumed me, certainly being the centerpiece of my year. I finally got my hands on Turbid North's masterpiece, Orogeny (self released in 2010, Re released on Ironclad in 2011) shortly before they played their first Norcal date ever. Next thing you know I was looking out the window of a plane at the glacier covered majesty of BC's Coastal Range. Running in Juneau was a major mindfuck in the best way possible. An abundance of trails led straight up through the rain forest to some of the best alpine style (treeline was around 2500'. Low elevation highcountry = mindfuck) ridge running I have ever been able to indulge in. Loops were pieced together, big on elevation gain and imcomparable in beauty. The scope of the place is its greatest attribute, I was constantly blown away by the disorganized rows of mountain ranges, growing larger as they fell deeper into the wild. I certainly understand a bit of the draw this place has on the great Geoff Roes and can't help but imagine spending more time there in the future.

Talk to - Your family, they are probably pretty awesome.

Go to - Alaska, Mt. Rose Wilderness, The Colorado Plateau.

Listen to - Turbid North, Sylosis, The Acacia Strain (I am still car moshing to 2010's Wormwood), The Antioch Synopsis

Watch - Fast 5

Read - A Song of Ice and Fire

With that, 2011 ends. I have an early morning and lots of miles ahead of me...

THE NIGHT IS DARK

AND FULL OF TERRORS

some changes

i am writing this from my bed. thats right, my bed. not a sleeping pad in a tent, nor a foam mattress on tipi floor, not even a good friends wooden floor with a light sleeping bag. my bed. i packed my mattress in storage back in march 2010 when i decided that i was going to ride my bike down the coast of california from santa cruz to santa ana. after the ride i spent time in baja california. then a month and a half in a tent in truckee. then traveled all over eastern asia for a couple months. upon my return i was a vagabond. living out of my car visiting friends and family as far north as yaak, montana and newport beach, california in the south.during this time i was convinced, rather easily i might add, to live in a tipi for the winter, IN TRUCKEE. by the time march 2011 rolled around i had yet to take my mattress out hiding. spring and summer were unable to afford me any opportunities either. there was more tent time and car time and floor time. oh and alaska to top it all off. but finally the time has come. my name is in the dotted line. i am permanently here for 8 months. permanently sounds a bit strong. lets say that i have a mailing address for the next 8 months. and with that; a mattress. but also: a closet, refrigerator, shower, power supply, internet, and of course as goes without saying, bills. 

my mattress and buffalo. my bed

connor and i have moved into an apartment together. its a newer place in northwest reno and pretty affordable. the main draw was access. access to trails. from the door i can run up the road a half mile and hit dirt. not any dirt though. dirt that takes me up. up to the summit of peavine which is 3000 feet above the apartment. both connor and i have talked about being able to get ourselves in a healthy routine where we would trek up and down that mountain all winter long, hopefully without too much snow but even if there is a lot of snow we will have a trail broken and it wont be an issue.

we are prepared. i think

view of peavine from my bed. its taunting me

keeping in trend with changes. i chopped off the beard. kinda regret it. but it was time to give it a fresh start. im hoping with a few weeks of daily shaving the new beard will supercede any gentic issues i am facing and grow in thicker. thats the old wives tale anyway. shave it and it grows back darker, faster, and thicker. in the mean time i look like this, ha.

the hot straight shave was great