Highlights of 2011

The year is just about in the books and it was so full of change it made my head spin.  Lousy PHD programs took another one of my closest friends across the country.  So there was one less number to call for last minute trips which led to a lot of solo mountain bike rides and tamer outings.  I hit up the Honky Tonk Happy Hour after work on Fridays like it was my job and found a whole new family of Honky Tonkers.  When I needed a break from it all there was always the baseball diamond.  I went to more baseball games than I ever have in a single season in 2011, and had a winning streak that lasted until the final game I went to.  My record of attended White Sox games ended at 6-1.

Opportunity came knocking more than once, I climbed Camel Back Mountain at dawn outside of Phoenix, AZ.  There was more climbing with the Chicago Mountaineering Club, I went to Devils lake 3 times, my cousin invited me on a 4 day fishing trip to Lake Clinton (I still have never caught a fish) and took a trip out to Yosemite that really got my head right.   I saw the sun rise and set all over the country.  My GoPro Hero Helmet Camera became my favorite piece of gear.  I documented my morning commute, cross country mountain biking, rock climbing and anything else that caught my eye.  I saw some amazing art and some great rock shows.  

By the numbers I spent a total of 11 days sleeping with my head in the dirt, climbed 30 pitches with 5 days on the rock,  3 days of skiing, 0 powder days.   I was on a bike around 300 days this year with an estimated 5500 miles of pavement behind me. 7 White Sox games and 2 Cubs games.

The year started off with a blizzard that shut down the whole city.

Lake Michigan right after the blizzard.

This sunset photo took me so far from my back porch where it was taken.

A happy day with Dr. Vincent Pham who was bound for sunny California.

One of many Chicago White Sox winners including my first Opening Day.

A fog on the lakefront path.

Go Go White Sox.

My Go Pro helmet camera mounted on my touring bike.

May Arizona trip to visit with Chris and his wife Kassie. 

Top of Camel Back Mt. AZ.

The "L" ride home on the Orange Line.  The end of my AZ. trip.

Go Pro Rig on my MTB.

4th of July with Melissa. 
I took this picture after every White Sox winner it was my good luck charm.
Ozzie would leave the team come the season's end.

The Beer and Crew for Tour de Fat.
 I love it when the mountain culture comes to me.

The Bikes.

The Ballyhoo.

Devils lake.  One of many trips.

Brendan leading my first multi-pitch climb in Yosemite National Park.

Atop Tenaya Peak in Tuolomne Meadows in Yosemite National Park.

California Sunset.

Brendan and me atop Cathedral Peak.  It was bad ass.

The Honky Tonkers got out of the bar and went on the road to the Homer days Harvest Festival.

At summers end this sunset appeared over the Yorkville Days festival grounds.

A day a of hiking at Devils Lake Wisconsin.

I never quite saw the park like this before.

Magic Hour atop the East Bluff Trail.

Wisconsin Dells.

Best Halloween costume ever.  Aron Ralston anyone?

 

The best Thanksgiving turkey fry in all of Chicago had me keeping the beat into the night with Steve and Jonathan. 

I did a lot of living this year. Here's to next year's adventures.

Looking for an Adventure

Over Thanksgiving last month I pulled out a story that had moved to the back of my repertoire. I don't know how that happened as it is one of my favorites. I've told a ton of stories about my livin' out west and how it inspires me in the middle west. Well my first adventure in the Midwest came long before my western days and has more ties to Florida than anywhere else. I remember it being spring however it could have been fall and a few years after the turn of the century. I was at home in the south suburbs of Chicago after my Thursday night class at the local community college. Months earlier I was living in Florida, where it was spring break every night and I was feeling pretty lame about to turn in at 9pm. Out of the blue I received call that took my night on a most memorable tangent. My Hoosier friend Jeremy, a buddy from my Florida days had driven up with another guy to the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore. I met them at I-65 and I-80 where we hung out at a Denny's for a few hours and decided to "make a night of it". After driving back to the burbs to get my sleeping bag we drove back to the dunes and parked on a 2 lane highway just outside of Gary. Parking near the visitor's center would have been a dead give away as to our presence and getting caught would have meant a night in the clink for sure. We grabbed our gear and flashlights and headed in to the forest. Jeremy was wearing a headlamp and I had never seen one before. Every time his head would move it looked like a spotlight piercing thorough the darkness. As we hiked we spooked deer and other nocturnal creatures. To this day I've never seen a deer leap as high or move as fast. The elevation began to increase, the terrain transformed from dirt to sand. The forest canopy disappeared as we came to the crest of the dune. The wind off of the lake howled as the waves crashed down below at the beach. By now the time was around 3am so we prepared for the cold in the coming hours before sunrise. The three of us retreated into our bags that would slowly slide down the dune at different rates throughout the night. We appeared out of our bags to the majestic site of the sun creeping above a cooling tower for a local power plant to the east and a golden hue on the Inland Steel smoke stack to the west.


OK imagine the scars of industry aren't there....now its majestic. With our bed rolls up we headed back to Route 12 to see if our vehicles had been towed in the night. They were not and just like that our adventure was over. Jeremy and his friend headed south to catch a class at noon at IU in Bloomington. I headed home with no classes on Friday to reflect on what three guys starved for adventure could accomplish.

Turkey in the Desert

The view from the campsite

My friends out west invited me to come along for a bit of a Thanksgiving tradition they've had going for the past 4 years or so. Hiking in the high desert of Utah. This also comes along with some cold weather camping. I forgot how much I enjoy off season camping. The fire is a necessity not just entertainment. Sleep is work and the predawn coffee can never be too hot. I've had cold summer nights out in the open but not since my teenage years have I intentionally crawled into a seeping bag for a night of below freezing temps. It makes you earn the experience. Of course if I hadn't borrowed a 15 degree bag my musings might have been a different story. There's a saying "there is no bad weather, only bad clothing" and I'll put a whole bunch of stock in that. The earned experience was one that I won't soon forget. Mostly due to the people it was shared with, even though the setting was second to none. I have yet to meet an Iowan I didn't like. This trip was no different. 4 top notch boys from Iowa, a gentleman born in Japan but seems to have grown up all over the States, and one of the coolest girls I've met who is super sweet and from Colorful Colorado. The seven of us set out on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving to Canyonlands National Park just south of Moab, Utah. We pulled in to the best campsite the Needles District had to offer. After listening to Alice's Restaurant on Thanksgiving day we set out on a mild hike to Confluence Overlook. We got back early enough to start on our own Thanksgiving dinner that couldn't be beat, complete with a 12 pound turkey cooked in a cast iron Dutch Oven pot with all the fixins'.
On Friday 4 of us set out to climb a desert tower called South Sixshooter however time was not on our side so after some bouldering and backseat driving on for the climbers ahead of us we bailed as not to hike out in the cold darkness. The second night in a row I ate better in the great outdoors than I do in my apartment. Our final hike was Saturday and about 15 miles out to Chesler Park. Our last night at camp was spent burning all the wood and exchanging stories of our misadventures, with great hilarity I'll add.

The crew

Cryptobiotic Soil. Don't bust the crust, Don't hurt the dirt.

I believe this is Confluence Overlook

Sunset over the Needles

Magic Hour

Mushroom Tops

Balancing Rocks

Sunrise the morning we hit the road for home.

It was a damn fine vacation with some excellent travel mates. I'm glad I didn't miss it this year. Being Thanksgiving and all I'd like to say thanks for the invite and picking an Illinoian up and dropping off him off at the airport over the busiest travel weekend of the year. Thanks guys.