I Spoke too Soon!

The last post I made fearing the end of snow was premature! I posted that whiny blog entry and then headed to the Nordic Center for some end of the season skiing with sadness in my heart. As I started driving up the mountain I saw dark skies ahead and the little flakes, my friends, started to fall. Jackpot!

Staying dry, thanks to the Showers Pass Double Century jacket

I skied in heavy snow the entire 2 hours I was out there. What a blast! I had the place to myself; the parking lot was empty. Apparently nobody likes to skate ski in powder in the middle of a snow storm. Am I the only one who finds this really fun??? I guess I don’t really care because it just leaves that much more snow all to me.

Awesome, snowy day!

So, what kept me dry out there in the snow storm where I was balancing the sweat inside my clothing with the need to stay dry on the outside from all the snow? Showers Pass!

If you don’t know what Showers Pass is, take some time to educate yourself and click the link. Your body will appreciate you next time it’s stuck outside in wet weather. I’m wearing the women’s Double Century jacket in the photo. If you click on the image to view a larger one, you’ll notice the snow falling around me and turning into little water droplets that never soaked through the jacket. This thing is amazing! And to think I was saving it for bike season.

I’ve been trying to dial in the clothing for skate skiing when it’s snowing. I generally end up wearing something that is way too hot and I sweat profusely, which leads to a cold core. Today, with the temps 27 degrees F and full on snow, I had the combo perfect: Under Armour base layer, long-sleeved synthetic top, Mountain Hardwear windproof vest, and the Double Century as a shell. My clothing breathed and I stayed dry and warm the entire time. Perfect! The vest was a tad on the warm side, but I unzipped the pit zips on the Double Century and that allowed for enough ventilation.

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Hot Weather Reprieve

It’s been hot here, and having no air conditioning in the house doesn’t help matters. Matt and I decided to escape to the high country after work for some cooler temperatures.

How awesome is this? A full day’s work, then you still have time to get above 10,000 ft for a hike in nice, cool temps. It was great to be out here, hiking fast enough to get in some good exercise while not having to sweat.

The wild flowers are still blooming in the high country.

Matt took me to Pass Trail which starts at Coalbank. He wanted to show me a great loop that I can do on the bike.

Start at the bottom of Lime Creek Road (dirt), climb to the road, drop down on the road to Pass Trail, and take this to Engineer Mountain trail, ride this down and back to Lime Creek Road start. I’m going to have to get out there and try this soon. Anyone want to join me?

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New Shoes

Picked up some new snow shoes at REI. I of course couldn’t wait to try them out, so Paige was kind enough to come along for the hike. I love snow shoeing, I can’t believe it has taken me this long to get into it. I think I’d almost rather snow shoe than downhill ski…not quite, but almost.

We decided to head toward the Tram today, which was nice! Skipped the cabin, expecting to catch that on the way back, but we ran out of time. Paige has to leave for clinicals today! Glad she was able to have a little fun before leaving.

We took Rocky Point trail, which is very different when there’s snow; not so many rocks! Along the way, we found lots of deep powder. It was *then* that I wanted my downhill skis so I could swoosh through the trees. It was beautiful!

We stopped at the Tram to take in the views and have a quick snack before heading back. The day was beautiful! Lots of people out enjoying the outdoors.

We took the Gravel Pit trail for the return hike, giving us a nice little loop for the day.

2 hours, 600 calories, and an average heart rate of 140 was a great workout for today! I found that I can get my heart rate up to 160 pretty easily on these things, which is zone 4 for me. I can maintain at or just above my lactic threshold pretty easily. First time I wore the heart rate monitor for one of these jaunts, but I’m happy with the results!

Great day, lots of fun. Thanks, Paige!

Finished the day off with a visit to the gym. It was hypertrophy day, and I couldn’t skip that…

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Ingenuity

Zach and Susan, two friends of ours in the Burque, built their dream house a little over a year ago. Not only did they build a spectacular dream house, they have also been building some dream trail!

Nice stuff, don’t you think?!?!

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Happy Fieval Day!

Merry Christmas to those of you who celebrate this holiday. For us, it has become Fieval Day. Fieval was our one and only feline friend whom we adopted right after we were married. We lost her 5 years ago, right before Christmas. It was a sad time, but we’ve decided to celebrate our furry friend by having a great time together every December 25.

Today was a hike in our backyard. The Foothills are so beautiful! We decided to head towards La Cueva picnic area and the La Luz trailhead.

The views are beautiful. The weather was great for the hike today. Warm at the start, but just as we made it home, the cool winds started picking up. Supposedly we are to get a storm this evening. We’ll see.

Here’s our holiday picture that will go out to the masses if I ever get it sent. Take care, all of you. If you’re traveling, be safe, and have a wonderful holiday season!!

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They’re Nuts!

So I took the wussy route on the bike today, right in front of the DVD player, with Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson acting like goofballs in Wedding Crashers, thanks to NetFlix. Nobody wants to see pics of me riding on the trainer, so here are some more lively images…

Matt riding outside in the snow…

Some local NM boys riding out in the snow (they’re nuts!)… note that there are only 3 of them riding together. How they finish off the bottle and still get their ride in is beyond me. I rode with a couple of these guys a year ago at GITA in Los Alamos.

GITA…what a great event. If you haven’t tried it, you’ll have to hit it next year. Here’s a shot of my favorite area in Los Alamos, Shoeshine!

An overhead shot–

And another shot that REALLY shows you why this little route is called “shoeshine”–

Scott Sportsman was lying on the ground right in front of me for this shot. He had to trust that I’d stop before running him over…luckily, my brakes were working that day.

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Snow Shoeing the Sandias

I got to go snow shoeing for the first time with Lyn. What a blast! I was able to borrow an extra set of snow shoes from Lyn (thanks Rita!!) and otherwise, I was good to go on all the gear.

We headed up to the Crest and decided to snow shoe the north Sandias. Quite a few other snow shoe folks and cross country skiers were already out enjoying the beautiful blue NM skies.

The trail started out on packed snow, which was great since I was just getting the hang of the shoes. Actually, there’s not much to get the hang of, it’s pretty simple. Doesn’t require all the balance I need for cross country skiing. Anyway, we found a little detour that one other snow shoe adventurer had taken, so we decided to hit the powder. That’s a ton of fun!! We got some awesome views, and made first tracks for a long trek.

We eventually dropped back down onto the main trail for more hard packed fun. We tried out jogging on the snow shoes, which was an excellent workout! This isn’t hard to do on the hard pack if you’ve got relatively small snow shoes.

Eventually we checked the time and realized it was time to head back. By this time, we were getting hungry, so we found a great secluded area and brought out the nourishment…Mexican Hot Cocoa, coffee, banana walnut Belgian waffles, and Flying Star Cowgirl Cookies…yum! A definite feast.

With more than enough food in our bellies, we made a fast hike, mostly up, to where we started. Ran into Sandra and her friend Amy, but otherwise, not too many people.

The day ended with a fun visit to see Kasen, Lyn’s new son. He’s quite a cutie and showed me how he can jump up and down in one of his nifty little Jumparoo contraptions. He’s really grown since I last saw him, and he giggles, points and squirms more than ever.

Matt and I polished off the day at the Werkmeister’s for dinner. A perfect way to get ready to embark upon a new week.

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