In the spirit of adventure and having new experiences together, the Missus and I rolled the dice on some informal recomendations and an ad from the back of Surfer Magazine for a 'Private Surf Island' off the coast of Panama. Suffice to say - we had a great, diverse crew on the island, scored some of the best - and longest waves - I have ever ridden and already have the island booked for next year. This is the DL from Morro Negrito - 2006.
So, we live at 8,040 feet. We commute via bike some 17 - odd miles and 3,200 feet of vertical down to Boulder, most days. On the other days, we are running, skiing, snowboarding, hiking, drinking beer in the meadows and ridges around the house. The natural environment is something we are immersed in every day. This album is an attempt at reflecting on and capturing some of the beauty that we are immersed in every day. After a decade and a half of this - I am just getting warmed up and feel like a tourist seeing it for the first time every day.
All these photos are in the hood - in the yard. It's a hellofa yard.
In August of 2004 an assortment of riders from Nederland, Belgium and Northern California set out to ride some 320 miles of trails across the amazing state of Colorado.
This is their story.
Being that we live at 8,040 feet, weather, and snow are both a huge part of life. We shovel it, ride through it, ride on it, pray for it, curse it. We love it. Whether it's burying the ramp, blowing into hug lip launches at Edlora or carrying us over a cornice in some distant part of the state - it is a huge part of our constitution.
I borrowed Scooty's gun for this trip - a very linear - 7"2 thruster made by Yvonne Chouinard's son - Fletcher. Had one of the best day of waves ever on this about 6 years ago. Large, hollow lefts in Mexico. This board is really, really fast and strong down the line. It's a fricking great board.
And finally - I lament leaving. The crew is going to Fruita this weekend and I am sure they are going to have a blast. The ride in this am was so amazingly pretty - like perfect out and birds chirping and snow pouring down off the trees. 40 by the time I left the house and it was toasty and spring like until the drop. Now - I gotta blast home, finish packing the boards and all our gear, and try and sleep - as tomorrow is going to be a hella long day. Leave Denver at 11am; Atlanta, Panama City - a 6 hour bus ride to make high tide - and a boat ride to the island. After that.....keeping it mellow for 8 days on the island. Hasta Luego as they say.....STay Metal - as they say as well. Whoever it is - that they are.
This looks tropical and fun. I dig this. Looks inviting. Looks luscious.
This - on the other hand - looks like a full dry mouth, hyper-ventilating prior to punchdown threatening mass of fear. This one kinda scares me.
I like the looks of this - I think this is P-Land....you can see some dry reef in the background there. But - that's probably just the lense - right - like that's not right there - right in the take-off zone. Right? Mommmmmy?????
Same wave, different day - different view. I have to say - this could be a double diaper drop for me - if I was having a really good day - maybe a few days into the trip - I'd do it. Timing is the last thing to come back to me when I haven't surfed in a while. And timing - in waves like this - could make a difference between surf, swim, or mopping the reef with your bottom.
In the motherf%$#@'n Hizzouse...Never - in my approximate 38 years of surfing - have I ever had a board - quite literally - with my name on it. Goes to show ya - fellas - it's a solid rule that the woman - ALWAYS gets the fresh gear:
Shenna's board came today - an absolutely gorgeous Bruce Jones 8"6.....this is a seriously pretty board and she was so freaked out when she called to talk to someone there - and she talked to Bruce - the guy who would be shaping her board.
I look forward to hauling this board down from the rafters in the sheep barn in about 30 years for a session with the Grandkids...and tellin' 'em how their Mum (you can hear the light New Zealand accent as at this time we will have had our farm on the water in New Zealand for years and years) got this board right when she really got into surfing. Then - I'll give The Rubber Soul Fish (that little lunch tray looking thing next to the long blue board) to one of the kids - and tell them - if the years is say - 2036 - that way, way back in the late 60's when they were just starting to experiment with shortboards - this is the board that they were making. And I will tell them that I took this sketchy, pretty tough to surf board on our FIRST trip to Panama way back in like 2006 - and that I had THE BEST sessions ever - and it would still carry the moniker of a magic board. This - is - how - it - will - be.
This is the word that came to mind - about 20 minutes ago as the rain blops hit me in the face and woke me up from a three hour nap in the meadow. That's how I wanted to wake up. I SHOULD be at Yoga - but I have no energy and I need this time here at The Ranch to settle (and feed the baby elephants - oh wait - wrong ranch). This will be mostly images. Full few days - something new and different - eh? But - I need to capture this - as much for Ewe - and I mean the royal blow up Ewe as for me. Actually - more for me. First - a couple of pretty creepy images:
The first one there on the left - is a Fox leg - we believe - that we found last week on the regular old daily dog walk. Kinda creepy, kinda gnawed off. Then - yesterday - not 16 feet away - here's this munched on Elk Leg. Now - I don't want to be an alarmist - but - whatever is stashing these things here me-thinks would likely be something that might be territorial, have very sharp teeth, and from what I read - hunts by observing patterns. We think this is it's poo:
Not the smallest Dookie on the planet - maybe some of you wilderness minded folk can clear some of this up - and from what I know of how Mountain Lions stash their prey - this is not what it looks like - they bury it and stuff...so....beware out there. There was an attack last week in a highly populated suburban mountain park in Boulder. Look out for the cats!!!!!!
Whirlwind two days.......winding down - I can smell the weekend...smells like woods, and beer and skate pads and chili and friends. A few images as I am too cooked to write....
Forgive me dirt father - as it has been 4 days since my last ride. Seems like a million fricking years. Yes, I have had some outside time, but it was mostly on my back in the meadow, passing in and out of consciousness and not being PART of the outside world - more - being an observer. I have tried to let go of this NEED to be on dirt everyday, amongst the woods, sometimes twice, sometimes three times to facilitate this tender, tentative, delicate connection to the earth through the land around me. I have stared out of the car window and lamented the buds - as I was seeing them through glass and not FEELING them and crawling up and kneeling in front of their every day minute changes.
I hate to use the word addicted - but I felt it the first time I walked the acreage surrounding the then-rotting cabin that was an afterthought to THE LAND that I bought almost two decades ago. I don't know what it is. I don't really care. I may spend the next 17 years or 50 years trying to figure out exactly what that 'something' is. All I know is I got to ride in the rocky mountains tonite - and watch the sun set from some of my favorite places - and for this I am eternally grateful.
About stoke - and these deserve to see the light of day. 1/2 day of work today - feeling better but still pretty bad..hoping to be back by Wednesday. We did manage a session last night - amidst hacking cough and spittle. I need to send out props to Joe - as he had never even skated a spine before - and he decided he was going to learn to transfer. And he did. He took a light beating, but in the end he did something that he never thought he could do - and he charged it and he played through. That's what skateboarding is - doing things you didn't think were possible (like a switch nose stall transfer revert out for the skaters amongst us). Heling'.....healin'....!!!!!!!!!
Is that nothing stays the same. As with the rest of the universe, the MWB serves as a microcosm for everything in the world. Change is good. Change is progression. Change is inevitable. Change is life. Change is health. In my three days on my back in the meadow recuperating from this hellish Spring cold - I have been reminiscing about 17 springs ago - when I first came here - and what has transpired and what will transpire in the next 17 years and beyond that. Everything will change over time. I am looking forward to continuing to observe these changes from here in the middle of paradise.
And finally - I lament leaving. The crew is going to Fruita this weekend and I am sure they are going to have a blast. The ride in this am was so amazingly pretty - like perfect out and birds chirping and snow pouring down off the trees. 40 by the time I left the house and it was toasty and spring like until the drop. Now - I gotta blast home, finish packing the boards and all our gear, and try and sleep - as tomorrow is going to be a hella long day. Leave Denver at 11am; Atlanta, Panama City - a 6 hour bus ride to make high tide - and a boat ride to the island. After that.....keeping it mellow for 8 days on the island. Hasta Luego as they say.....STay Metal - as they say as well. Whoever it is - that they are.
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