Golder Ranch Riding
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 Rincon Moonrise Tim and I are hiding out in the Arizona Desert for January. Periodically joined by our fellow Jackson Hole winter escapee, Rob Gowler, we’ve explored the Black Canyon Trail, the Arizona Trail, the 50 Year Trail, Charouleau Gap and every Starbucks from Scottsdale to Tucson.  Chilly-Dipping 2012 Ringing in the New Year with Ann and Scott was the best way to start 2012. It goes without saying that we had to keep our midnight polar bear swim tradition alive. This year’s dip in the pool was at a frosty 45 degrees. It was a good thing that we’d saved that last bottle of champagne.  The Day After, a refreshing New Year's breakfast Crab cakes and mimosas were the New Year’s morning menu after a big night before. We followed up this meal with black eye pea chili and spinach salad for our yearly dose of good luck, good health and much wealth. Not sure what you eat to ring in a new Sailboat. Tim and I will be munching on everything from kelp to sushi to bring this 2012 dream to life.  Let's Jamboree! After a festive holiday, it was time to get down to biking business. We drove to Tucson to begin our month of pedaling. Verizon hasn’t seemed to become acquainted with Tucson though, so Tim and I spent as much time driving for cell service as we did on the saddle. While Rob relaxed at primo camping on Pistol Hill with7 bars of ATT “5G”, we drove 40 minutes into town each day for our daily blast of data. If you’ve not driven in Tucson before everything is at least 20 minutes away. Mileage is inconsequential. Whether it’s across town or down the street. You’re in for at least 20 minutes behind the wheel. Convinced that there must be the perfect trifecta of biking/free camping/Verizon Bandwidth somewhere in town, Tim and I searched from the top of snow covered Mt. Lemmon to the dales of Vail. With limited success through the week, we returned to Pistol Hill to meet up with Rob and Mike and celebrate the completion of the Arizona Trail with a 35 mile bike ride in the Arizona Trail Jamboree.  Shuttling to the Jamboree Start  Mike and Rob on chilly Saturday Morning  20 miles into a 35 mile ride. Now that's a rest station.  Relaxing over a Mesquite Grill on Pistol Hill After great rides on Saturday, we drove into the wilderness once more to set up for the work week. This time we went North and found camping, cell service and riding just north of Catalina at Charouleau Gap. The trail head’s busy so we may not stay long, but it’s a good stopping point for now. And the view’s not shabby either.  Catalina Sunset Not a bad New Year’s Day!
After camping in 10 degrees on the South Rim of the Grand Canyon, we were glad to come south to warmer weather. We drove to Scottsdale and parked Frank in downtown Old Town at Tim’s old friend Mike Aeed’s house. In the search for a place in Scottsdale that served a beer for less than $7.00, we wound up at the Tee Pee, a Scottsdale original, where the customers are local and the chile rellenos are as big as your head. Wednesday, Tim and I joined Rob Gowler and Guy, Kristie and Nicolette Turck to set up camp at McDowell Mountain Regional Park just outside of Fountain Hills AZ for some sunny bike time.  Sonoran Singletrack If you haven’t been to McDowell, it’s a treat. Bordered by 20 foot tall saguaro cacti, the bike trails are smooth, flowy and inviting for all skill levels. There’s miles of riding right from camp so there’s no excuses for not pedaling. Tim and I have camped here before, but with this crew it was particularly fun. We swapped stories and marshmallows over the campfire by night and rode in the warm sun by day. It had been months since I’ve spent time on a bike so the exercise was long overdue and just the thing to work off the holiday calories. 3 days didn’t seem like enough time (for either the calories or with the good company), but New Year’s is upon us and it was time to part ways for festivities. This year we continue our much loved tradition of visiting Ann and Scott in Scottsdale for champagne, Italian food and polar bear swims. Cheers to 2011, it was a fantastic year of friendship and adventure!  A Grand Christmas! You’d think that with Tim and my recent avoidance of winter that we wouldn’t go seeking out snow for Christmas. But when it came time to decide where to spend December 25th, we couldn’t imagine a more beautiful place in Arizona then the snow covered Grand Canyon. After a week of camping along Black Canyon Trail north of Phoenix, we said goodbye to our buddy Rob and drove north towards Flagstaff. The temperature dropped 30 degrees as we drove from 3000 to 7000 feet but the scenery easily made up for the chill.  Christmas at El Tovar  Oh Christmas Tree Our goal was to find a few couches in front of a fireplace where we could read, relax, and get our Christmas on. El Tovar is perfect. This century old Grand Canyon lodge has it all. With it’s dark log walls, granite fire place, poinsettia filled lobby and 3 story Christmas Tree, El Tovar is a Christmas sanctuary on the Grand Canyon South Rim. Even the elk get in the spirit.  Elk or Elf? We spent Christmas Eve in Mather Campground. Christmas Story playing in the background as we fixed a feast of homemade crab cakes, sweet potato fries and Tim’s favorite, tomato, basil, mozzarella salad. We ate until we couldn’t move, but were ready for Crab Cake Benedicts on Christmas morning. It was my first venture into homemade hollandaise, but we officially now have a new holiday tradition.  Christmas Eve Crab Cakes  Christmas by the Fire Christmas morning we checked in to El Tovar, found our fireplace and relaxed. Today we may actually go for a hike, but on Christmas, we were content to take in the view from above and let the season be merry!  Sunrise over the Grand Canyon  Making the Photo |
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