Torrential down pours and obeying instincts

Got up Sunday early. Felt great. Kids were asleep. Forecast was for showers but it was clear outside. Thought to myself - perfect opportunity to hit the Tiger trail and be back for lunch. As I gathered my gear, the house looked mighty comfortable and I craved to sprawl on the couch and scratch my boxers. No. I must get out there and feel the rush, the wind in my face, the adrenalin coarsing through my veins. Somthing deep inside told me not to go. Stopped for a coffee along the way. It was cold. Every light between my house and the freeway was red. It just didn't feel right. I sauntered on eventually reaching the trail head. It was colder. I had a cool-max t-shirt on and went ahead anyway, excited to be outside and on the trail with nobody else arounf knowing my body will soon warm up on the 1500 ft vertical trail. The first ten minutes were sluggish as usual but then things didn't improve like they normally do. The bike felt heavy, The tires were sticking to the dirt. My heart was pounding in my ears. I was knackered! And then the rain started. It got heavier and became torrential within seconds. I was out in the open eventually finding shelter under a tree. I was soaked through to the skin. I stood there like a wet cat, arms folded hoping the rain would pass before my body cooled down. Ten minutes later I continued as the rain eased off slightly, reaching the top of the trail 20 minutes later. Here the trail cuts in and sweeps and windes through thick forest. After a snack and a rest I hopped on the bike and went just a few yards. My seat wasn't right. Re-adjusted the seat and went a few yards more, The ground was wet. Tree limbs and roots were slippy like ice. The single track trail was thin and had many drop offs. If I came off and hurt myself I would be completely on my own miles into a forest with nobody around. After all who would be stupid enough to hit the trail in conditions like this? I turned back and peddled back down the dirt road as fast as I could go. It was amazing. Mud and dirt sprayed everywhere. The rush was intense. I hopped over pot-holes and rocks, breaking within seconds of bends in the road. My bike felt like a super charged state of the art machine. It was amazing.

Twin Lakes, Snoqualmie

Every now and then I stumble across a place that is really special. This trip started out late (after an England world cup match), frantically packing lunches and galons of water to help compensate the early summer heat-wave. About an hour from Seattle we exited the freeway and drove 4 miles on a forest service road. Finding the trail head would have been impossible if I hadn't asked two trail runners.

We immediately started on the old trail that wound its way through giant fur trees at the side of a small gorge with rapids running below. As the trees got thicker we soon found patched of snow and ice stil melting in the 80 degree temperatures. Both Muirenn and Aislinn were in their element as they crumbled ice flakes over their faces.

About a mile along the trail we reached a cross roads that was completely covered in snow. Taking a leaf from my boy-scout training I guessed the way and within minutes we found our destination - Twin Lakes.

This picture perfect setting was straight out of backpackers guide book I once owned. I could hardly take in the beauty of the place. Snow capped mountains surrounded a pristine lake being fed by two streams of ice cold snow melt. Muirenn and Aislinn were immediately paddling in the water despite a temperature so low it actually hurt. We had lunch before the real excitement to began.

Muirenn and Aislinn discovered a frog and spent their time catching the slippery fellow until he escaped. We thought he had got away until Muirenn shouted out, "A snakes caught the frog!". Sure enough a foot long snake had wrapped himself around the poor unfortunate frog and locked his tiny head around the frogs head which was four times the size. Needless to say both Muirenn and Aislinn were horrified. I stepped in and managed to seperate the determined little snake from the frog who jumped an entire yard before swimming away. Our curiosity with the snake continued as we attempted to pick him up. Aislinn had no fear and tried to grab his tail - as seen on t.v.'s crocodile hunter. He found his way to our camp, hid under a rock before casually leaving. Our dog Leah, watched the entire event with perked up ears as I had to call her off a number of times. Our afternoon came to an end all to soon before we were back on the road home.

Days like this, were precisely the reason why I decided to move us all the way to Seattle. Muirenn and Aislinn will grow up with memories like this to treasure for the rest of their lives.

Mountain Biking the Tiger Mountain Trail

I took off Sunday morning for my first real mountain bike trail. After getting familiar with my new bike I decided to break her (and myself) in on the local trail 45 minutes from the house. It was a 13 mile loop trail. The first 3 1/2 miles are a vertical climb gaining 1500ft in elevation. After the first mile I was shattered and took a rest as two experienced looking dudes quickly passed me. I re-adjusted my seat and hopped back on and eventually got into a rythm. By 2 1/2 miles I was picking up on the two dudes and by mile three I was passing them. I felt great. The picture above shows where the downhill part of the trail begins. I buckled up and embarked on a roller-coaster ride through the tree's. It was as if I was riding one of those speeders from Return of the Jedi. There were routes to hop over, rocks to jump off and plenty of unexpected ways to get thrown over the handlebars. I came to many an abrupt halt inches awy from ledges and holes. Some how I completed the 10+ miles of single track deep forest riding with only one scratch (and that was only when nature called!). I can now offically declare that this sport is as great as snowboarding! We'll see what I have to say about that after I hurt myself - and apparently everybody does. Home by 12:00 for Sunday lunch. Perfect! Time 1:10 of continuous riding. Top speed 23.5 mph. 13.5 Miles.

Last day of skiing and snowboarding

April 20th 2006
Today was a dream come true for Muirenn AND me. It was our first day skiing together. For years I had dreamed about this moment, skiing with my kids. Our last winter storm had brought a fresh coating of snow to the mountains. We went to Steven Pass as Snoqualmie was already closed for the season. We kitted Muirenn up in ski's, boots and a helmet before doing a few practice runs on the bunny slopes. We then hopped on the ski lift and Muirenn was a complete natural getting on and off. Muirenn pointed her ski tips down hill and started to ski like she had been doing it for the past three years, not a grand total of three days! It was such a pleasure watching her speed down the mountain. I constantly had to tell her to slow down. We stuck to the same trail all day, apart from one occassion when we became a little too adventurous and ended up having to walk down the mountain! A wonderful day was topped off by a freshly cooked meal at home. See the photoshow on our photo page.

Whistler-Blackcomb, BC, Canada

Starting to lose track of the snowboard trips. We took off Friday morning and spent the weekend up in Whistler, one of, if not THE, best ski resort in North America. Needless to say the snowboarding was epic on the Saturday. The main events were Muirenn and Aislinn's introductions to skiing. They both took lessons over the weekends and both girls finished top of their classes. I felt like the proudest man alive... more to come on this great trip....

For this trip I was correspondent for a new website www.wejustgotback.com, article just posted here
www.wejustgotback.com/default.aspx?mod=blackcomb

A great day at STEVENS PASS

Woah! Friday before New Year's Brian and I hit Steven Pass http://www.stevenspass.com/index.aspx during a storm front. We were first on the lift. We reached the top, strapped into our boards, adjusted our goggles and hit the fresh powder on the back side of the mountain. We literally flew down in a world of white. It was snowing and foggy. I couldn't tell the difference between the trail and the sky - so I just went for it. Carving the fresh soft powder like it was butter. I can honestly say I reached a whole new level of snowboarding that day. The grin, remained etched on my face for days to come.

Alpental

After another night of cold temperatures and 6 inches of fresh powder, I sampled one of the local mountains just an hour away from the house. With low snow levels the drive was a beautiful winter wonderland cruise up interstate 90. The Subaru was put through her paces as the road became first slushy and then hard packed snow.

I parked, geared up and hopped on the nearest lift. Within minutes I was up high surrounded by spectacular peaks jutting out of the mist as snow continued to fall. Alpental is known for it's steep terrain and after my first run down it wasn't long before the trail was cut to shreds by the many Saturday morning skiiers. What this means is, as a skiier or snowboarder rides down the mountain, he or she takes the same track which creates large moguls (mounds or lumps) of snow. As snowboarding is a free riding sport these moguls become obstacles, inhibiting most snowboarders ability to cruise at leisure. In other words, it was a lot of work, especially when a mogul is in actual fact a rock. I got a couple of good turns in but that was it and took off home after a couple of hours. Still, what a way to spend a Saturday morning!