Fifth Anniversary - Isla Mujeres

For our fifth anniversary, Kate suggested that we take a quick trip to Mexico to relax, unwind and spend some quality time together. We'd both been busy with work and play for the past few months and we wondered if we could still let time idle by under the Mexican sun.

Thursday we hopped on a smooth flight to Cancun, caught a shuttle to Puerto Juarez and picked up a few Tecates for the ferry ride to Isla Mujeres.

Villa la Bella on Isla Mujeres was as we left it: quaint, tranquil and inviting.

...and tastefully kooky.

Villa la Bella was nearly booked full when we decided on our fifth anniversary adventure and we were forced to reside in the spacious honeymoon suite, to the top left of the photo below, above the bar. So far I haven't taken the second story dive into the pool, but it's tempting and the trajectory has been carefully studied.

I'm amazed at the vertical nature of Caribbean cumulus clouds.

After a swim and a nap, we relized that if we didn't hurry, we'd miss sunset on the north beach of Isla Mujeres.

A rainburst moved across the island as we enoyed the sunset, driving us to a nearby beach-bar to wait out the rain. Nearly got our pesos soggy.

Breakfasts were nothing short of delicious at Villa la Bella. Here, Kate falls off the vegitarian wagon with a chorizo souffle.

Villa La Bella benefits from a near constant breeze from the Caribbean ocean, keeping the bugs at bay.

I've become a big fan of building rock carians, this one visable on the beach from our balcony.

A few farewell views of Villa la Bella.  Adirondack chairs, I barely got to know you.

Until next time Isla Mujeres.

June Kayaking

It's shaping up to be a big year for whitewater in Colorado. Snow pack is the deepest in about 30 years in the South Platte River (Denver) and Colorado River (West Slope) basins. Although it is mid-June, the mountains remain white and the ski lifts are still running at Arapaho Basin.

June 1st on Independence Pass near Aspen:

When flows reach 20,000 cfs on the Colorado River near Grand Junction, CO the "Big Sur" wave forms. The last time that Big Sur ran for any length of time was in 1995. Some buddies and I visited Big Sur when it started running in early June:

Near Big Sur is Plateau Creek, an easy scenic Class III float:

The "slaughterhouse" section of the Roaring Fork near Aspen:

Preston setting up for Slaugherhouse falls:

The snow melt in the mountains has left verdant meadows. Dry Park, west of Carbondale, CO:

Wildflowers on the Slaughterhouse shuttle:

This last weekend found me on Bailey Canyon on the North Fork of the South Platte River. 615 cfs puts the Class V- Bailey run on the high side of manageable. Our crew of 5 enjoyed five swims and two broken paddles. An exciting day on the river!

Gavin in falls 2 of 4 falls:

Flooded creekin' fun in "the steeps."

No line looks good in Trashcan:

Paul headed to the rodeo in Deer Creek Rapid:

All smiles on the float out:

The season is young. I'm looking forward to many more miles of whitewater fun this summer.

Raft & Ski Utah

Kate and Dan were glad to receive an invite for a late March Westwater Canyon overnight raft trip. Westwater is located on the Colorado River, just past the Utah border.

As the trip neared, weather forecasts called for a series of major winter storms to pound Colorado's mountains. We weighed powder skiing with a potentially cold Utah adventure. Forecasts called for below freezing temperatures and light snow in Westwater canyon. After deliberation, we decided to do the best of both: float Westwater over the weekend and then ski in La Sal Mountains near Moab, UT on Monday.

Gear was packed:

We arrived in Fruita, CO, one hour from the Westwater putin on Friday night and spent a nice evening at the Super 8 Motel. Words of wisdom on Fruita: the H Motel is a pit. The Feedlot Restaurant is fantastic.

We launched on Westwater after running shuttle with 7 rafts and one token kayaker, who spent much of his time on different rafts.

The float into Westwater canyon is though the beautiful Chinle and Wingate formations. Proterozoic basement rocks are exposed in the heart of the canyon.

There is more than one good surf opportunity in Westwater Canyon:

We enjoyed the Upper Dolores Camp, just above the "big rapids" of Westwater. Kate poses in front of Little Dolores Creek:

Upper Little D camp from above:

Kate is bitten by the rafting bug:

To our great relief, we got on the river under partly sunny skies on Sunday morning to enter the heart of the Canyon:

With no raft flips or unintentional excitement, we floated the 7 flat lonely miles to the Cisco takeout. Both Kate and Dan took a try at the oars.

After getting off the river, we headed down to the comfort of the Red Cliff Ranch on the Colorado River near Moab, UT.

The next morning, we headed up La Sal Mountain loop for some skiing. Not your typical views on the way to the mountain:

We switched around gear in the car, trading kayaks and drysuits for skis and skins:

There's nothing like touring with snow covered mountains in front of you and Canyonlands below!

Kate makes some turns on soft consolidated La Sal Mountain snow:

We took the long way home after skiing and took one last look down Castle Valley.

...and took a look at the mountains we had enjoyed during the day.

...and made funny faces.