Ex-Ed April 15th-22nd San Juan River

Yet another reason I love teaching here at Aspen... Aspen High has a program they call Ex-Ed, the Ex stands for experential, Ed obviously education. The teachers at the school have to come up with some sort of week long experential education course. Mine was a raft guide training course on the San Juan River. There are many other courses such as going to Mexico for service work, Ski mountaineering/canyoneering in Utah, Chicago art museums, rafting Cataract Canyon, etc...over 27 course in all.

Andre Wille and myself led a week long river training trip. We navigated the San Juan and Colorado rivers. Megan my sister and her boyfriend Jared (who are also guides) tagged along for support. We had 13 guides in training ranging from 9th to 12th grade. They were beginers overall, with a few intermediate kayakers thrown in the mix. The river matched their ability perfectly.

The San Juan is a class II river through the canyon country South Eastern Utah. It cuts through some very interesting geologic formations as well as having a rich archeology history from the Anazi 600A.D, to gas miners, to present day river rats like us.

Here are a few of the pictures from the trip...enjoy

just the girls

i thought you all would like to see a picture of the two women i consider my closest friends in our little mountain town. helena from sweden (left), and robyn from seattle via boulder via east coast (center)! for my birthday this year, helena hosted a wonderful dinner where we talked and laughed by candle light. afterward, helena and i took the bus up to aspen, to have one last wild night before all the tourists and seasonal workers leave with the close of ski season. we had a blast, laughing and dancing with all the young 20-somethings...i can't beleive i actually felt OLD for the first time out on the town! (i am 26 now after all....haha) we danced and danced until the wee hours of the morning. these two women have helped to make my transition back to CO so much more connected and grounding. they both bring out my depth and my wild side too! i thank them now for being in my life.

brent is away this week, teaching his students how to kayak and raft guide. ahhh, the difficult life of being a teacher in aspen.

more pictures to come!

love you all, thanks for reading

Kayaks+Road Trip= Dirt Bagging

Dirt Bagging is becoming a lost art. What is Dirt Bagging you say? It was, and faintly is, the art of travel, adventure, and experience all on the smallest of budgets. Usually cans of sardines in mustard sauce, hand rolled cigarettes, and sleeping in your truck are common occurrences when on a dirt bag expedition.

Dirt Bagging hit its hay day in the mid 70's in Yosemite's Camp 4. Here climbers would spend months living in the camp, climbing hard day in and day out, drinking wine from leather pouches, eating cold beans, and only spending $2 a day max. From my research the first documented and published works of Dirt Bagging was Jack Kerouac and his buddies traveling from coast to coast, living the life, and doing it for next to nothing.

My college friends and I were heavily influenced through climbing into this life of Dirt Bagging. Every weekend offered a new trail to navigate, rock to get scared on, and river to wrestle. We often had jobs with the utmost of flexibility to allow for spur of the moment trips to the desert, river, or mountain (if we had jobs at all.... i.e. Tony Cappa, Colin Coulsen, and occasionally myself). The beauty was the spontaneity, simplicity, the usual outcome of adventure, laughs, and friendship.

College ended, much to my dismay, and we all took new roads to follow. Kyle went to CA to work as an English teacher, Colin and Tom building cell phone towers in South Dakota, Phil teaching in Denver, Dane in CA sitting in the cubie, Tony going back to college, Kazu to New Hampshire for his Doctorate, Joe delivering babies out of a fire engine, Gee somehow getting into grad school, and me teaching full time in Aspen. Yet the flame has not extinguished. I hear stories through the grape vine about cross country bike tours, climbing Indian Creek 3 weeks in a row, traveling to Guatemala, driving to Joshua Tree for the weekend, and quitting your job to live in a motorhome you bought from a gypsy in Fresno. This is what life is all about and I am happy to be part of a culture of people who go on day to day with this drive and passion to really do it right (in our eyes at least).

The following pictures are of Kyle and I's latest Dirt Bag foray. It was over my spring break and was a small pre-season paddling pursuit on the Colorado and Yampa rivers. On the Colorado we ran Barrel Springs into Shoshone and on the Yampa we can Cross Mountain Gorge at about 2300cfs. It was a true Dirt Bag experience in its finest. We paddled difficult rivers, laid on the ground around a fire sipping PBR, smoked DRUM rollies, ate sardines with crackers, slept in the van down by the river in Steamboat, and didn't shower for 5 days. What a life....enjoy the fotos...

Do you Townie?

Last week a small group of community members and I got together at the Double Dog Saloon to discuss an uprising. The topic? Bringing some soul back to the Gucchi streets of Aspen. The movement? Riding your bike, cruiser, townie, uni, or other mode of pedaled transportation. The goal is to build some local community, encourage people to ride bikes rather than drive (Aspen has a horrendous traffic problem), and of course have fun.

We will meet for the first ride in April and a date is yet to be set. Hopefully over time the ride will grow enough to take up whole streets, slow traffic enough so that drivers will notice the riders, and a new tradition will be born. If you would like to participate please call or email so I can tell you a date. All you need is your bike, a smile, and a little velorution....

Mazatlan

When I think of Mexico I see color. Colors deep with life, black and white lines, shadows, brilliance, contrast, and depth. Mexico is a country built of layers, stacked high, and always in motion. Some areas move faster than others, some layers crack, exposing the roots and history in present day.

We traveled to such a place, Mazatlan. This is a tourist hubb in the state of Sinaloa on the pacific coast. This town is layered with rich history, change, evolution. Most of the growth spurred by American influence and our willingness and longing to spend money for a vacation.

Our vacation was a gift of sorts. As I wrote before the Fleming family of Seattle invited us to join their vacation south of the border. Cara went down 3 days before me, watching the kids for a few hours a day, the other hours relaxing by the pool, sipping a drink, and turning off her head. I joined her Wednesday of last week leaving a blizzard in the Rockies to warm humid ocean breezes.

When we weren't at the hotel, or should I say Italian Rivera Villa, we were riding the local buses, eating at taco stands, talking to the cabbies, and soaking the riches of Mexican life. Most of the before mentioned riches were oddly absent or significantly watered down at the hotel. Again the world of contrast.

At the hotel we played with the kids Casey and Max. Probably two of the most amazing kids I have met so far. Casey is a beautiful little girl with inquisitive, curious, eyes, and an eager smile. She has recently discovered photography and wants to couple this talent with saving animals such as sea turtles and whales. She is an ambitious three year old. We took daily expeditions around the hotel, searching out the fish in the ponds, the green lizard, and the pink flamingos. Max her little brother is a ball of fierce energy and engaging grins. Cars and his bottle where the main sources of intrigue. He drove toy cars all over everything and chased his sister from one end of the resort to another. When we were with the kids Brian and Krista could be a couple again, go out on dates without toys and bottles, talk without interruption, and enjoy the peace a vacation can bring.

Below are a few pictures of the journey, travel, and down time. Enjoy...And one huge thank you to Brian and Krista, Max and Casey for such a great time with your family in Mexico! B-