Roadtrip

The Woodle scoping out snow in Fruita.  Nobody was at the Kokopelli trailhead so we hiked the frontage road for a few miles and it was great.  Pretty level for the elders, lots of tracks and sniffs for the youngins.

Kenny, er...the Smrp I mean, with RTT and the Gups.  Bear (right) is scooping up snow as he walks.  We didn't expect to see so much snow in Fruita! Or Moab for that matter.

Down to Moab, the view from the River Road.  Looking up at the La Sals from the Colorado River. Coldest I've been in Moab, didn't know it did that! Only 8 degrees and almost a foot of snow.

After driving through Vegas to visit a friend and her family of horses and dogs, we headed north to Santa Cruz to visit a couple with new adopted TWINS...crazy! They have their hands full but looked very happy.  Brad was able to show me a loop from his house after stopping to pick up Dave.  So amazing to ride the Hunter as a single in it's homeland.

Zooming through the lush undergrowth.

At the top of the climb, about to descend into the park. Santa Cruz has some different culture than Colorado, it's cool in a way only SC is.

The Medusa Tree.  Not sure the species actually, but this is one twisted tree!

Jesse on TOP of her crate...not supposed to happen (bad girl, but really funny).

Me dwarfed by the redwoods.

After two days in Santa Cruz, we drove north to Placerville for a bite to eat, then over to Georgetown and Cool.  Check out the signs - especially the name of the radio station.  A really cool area around here for running, bikes, and horses.  Below the snow line so you can ride all year long on some amazing trails.

And on up to Auburn, CA. Foresthill Bridge - 730 feet high, it's the tallest bridge in CA. It's kinda creepy heading over it!

Big oaks and big redwoods on the Foresthill Divide Trail. Awesome rolling 12ish- mile loop just outside Auburn.  Connected this loop with Stagecoach, Culvert, and an old grade along the American River that has become a bit of a downhiller's shuttle run with huge gap jumps and stuff.

Red slicky mud on the south slopes, frosty dirt and leaves on the north sides. Didn't clump like clay thankfully.

Smooth as silk singletrack and mossy trees

Oak grasslands mostly around this area, but higher up on Foresthill you get some rather large Digger and Ponderosa Pines like seen below next to the Hunter.

Now up to Tahoe. I did a solo tour up to Twin Peaks just south of Alpine Meadows. The starting point was a short 5 mile drive up Ward Creek from the house where we stayed. Lots of snow, but the locals said this year was the worst Sierra cement they've ever seen...warmer than normal winters and more rain.  So...i wasn't too surprised to see it the night before my tour, and the day after.  The conditions were low on the avy scale but wow...so crappy because there was a raincrust on every aspect at every elevation.  Still, it was amazing terrain to check out.

Rock and Ice

The view of the lake is so prominent and beautiful, it never gets old.

Twin Peaks from the north looking towards the lake.  I skied the slop below me in this picture.  Great steeper slope with widely spaced trees. 

The fake twin peaks. I took a right instead of a left at one point and ended up here.  When the fog/clouds cleared i thought i was in the right place (never been up here before...these are pretty much "twins" to me!).  Had to backtrack a half hour to gain the right ridge.

My run off the north side of the Twin Peaks.