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| Mt. Timpanogos Summit 11,749 |
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| Utah Alpine |
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| Salt Lake Valley |
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| Final Stretch to Summit |
Friday, June 29, 2012
It's Finally Arrived....
I can't believe there's only two days left until we start on this trip. Although we have most everything planned and figured out for this trip we still have a couple crucial elements that are still in the unknown category. The biggest being our trailer, which we plan to carry the surfboards and extra gear in. After a lot of thought and an unexpected find on craigslist, I decided to buy a trailer instead of our original plan to custom manufacture one ourselves. It will still need to be modified so we can tow the surfboards in it, but at least we're not starting from scratch. And the only other problem with that is that it still hasn't arrived. I've been tracking it for the past two days since it left Sacramento and it should arrive within the next couple hours. I have more anxiety over this trailer than waiting for Christmas morning.
Other than all the planning, list making, and collaborating over all the 'what-ifs' of this trip, I had a great trip to Utah which I realized is way more rad than people give credit for. Obviously spending time with family was the highlight of my visit but I'm blown away by the easy accessibility to the mountains where you can enjoy stellar climbing (bouldering, sport, trad, and alpine), mountain and road biking, kayaking, trail running, skiing, and the list goes on and on within only twenty minutes of Provo. It reminded me a lot of how easy it is to access the mountains in Europe as well, very much unlike the Northwest. Got a couple days of both awesome road rides and mountain bike rides in and a bunch of trail running including my first summit of Mt. Timpanogos. After realizing all the potential in that area I definitely want to return and explore this area some more.
One of the best feelings was flying into Seattle. I've been craving trees, and mountains, and clean air for months and seeing the Great PNW from the air was a great way to be re-introduced to 'home' again. Since I've been back its been a lot of times spent with friends and a lot of preparing for this adventure that starts July 1. I wish I was able to stay for a couple months to see everybody and get out in the Cascades! I'll be back soon enough.
The next post should finally be from the road, which we will try to update regularly for the few that care.
Simply
T
Other than all the planning, list making, and collaborating over all the 'what-ifs' of this trip, I had a great trip to Utah which I realized is way more rad than people give credit for. Obviously spending time with family was the highlight of my visit but I'm blown away by the easy accessibility to the mountains where you can enjoy stellar climbing (bouldering, sport, trad, and alpine), mountain and road biking, kayaking, trail running, skiing, and the list goes on and on within only twenty minutes of Provo. It reminded me a lot of how easy it is to access the mountains in Europe as well, very much unlike the Northwest. Got a couple days of both awesome road rides and mountain bike rides in and a bunch of trail running including my first summit of Mt. Timpanogos. After realizing all the potential in that area I definitely want to return and explore this area some more.
One of the best feelings was flying into Seattle. I've been craving trees, and mountains, and clean air for months and seeing the Great PNW from the air was a great way to be re-introduced to 'home' again. Since I've been back its been a lot of times spent with friends and a lot of preparing for this adventure that starts July 1. I wish I was able to stay for a couple months to see everybody and get out in the Cascades! I'll be back soon enough.
The next post should finally be from the road, which we will try to update regularly for the few that care.
Simply
T
Sunday, June 3, 2012
Thee First!!! (aka long and boring)
Wooo hooo. First post of the trip. We are just under a month away from the start of our adventure, cycling the West Coast via Highway 101/1, also known as the Pacific Coast Highway. Our not-so-official start date is July 1, 2012 and we still have a lot to get done and figure out to pull this thing off in time. The past five or six months, since we have thought of this plan has been filled with lots of training, planning, almost daily calls/ texts psyching each other up as the date gets closer, researching, and lots of unanswered questions. With the big date less than a month away, speaking for myself, I'm really nervous of the unknowns and the potential for things to go horribly wrong, but am quickly comforted and totally stoked to be a partaking in such an epic trek. I have a good feeling, and know that the moment we start pedaling south from Port Angeles all those fears and what-ifs will fade away. It's the anticipation thats the killer.
Right up until our departure both Max and myself are busy trying to juggle work, school (for Max), training, planning, and staying healthy. Im busy finishing up the last two weeks till my summer vacation starts in SoCal, and will be heading up to Utah for about ten days for a family reunion starting June 14. I've been really looking forward for a quick stop in Utah, not just to spend time with family, but also to explore and take advantage of what the Wasatch Range has to offer. Our family reunion is held very close to Sundance, which is in close proximity to Little Cottonwood Canyon which offers some great climbing and tons of hiking and mountain biking trails all over the area. It will be great to spend time with much of my family on both sides and also get some last minute training in a setting a little more pleasing than the over-crowded concrete jungle of Orange County. On June 25 I'll be back in Seattle with less than a week for Max and I to get all the details finalized and make sure everything is in order before we take off. It will be one crazy busy and exciting week.
We dont have a very strict schedule for the simple reason that our current situation on the road will be decided by so many unknown factors that having such a strict itinerary could compromise the whole essence of the trip. As of now we are planning to leave July 1 from Port Angeles and head south. Since we will be towing surfboards with us and want to incorporate that into our plans as much as possible we are planning on averaging around 60 miles/day. Obviously some days we'll travel further and other days much less depending on weather, health, and hopefully more often than not, that the surf is up. At this rate, in theory, we should finish our trip at the Mexican border by sometime in middle August or about six weeks. The Pacific Coast has so much to offer in terms of attractions that it will be difficult to see and do everything along the way but we're planning on hitting the major ones such as the numerous spots along the Oregon Coast, the Redwood Forest, San Fran, and all the major surf areas in California. There seems to be some great hiking trails and climbing spots along the way that we are hopeful to check out as well. Our biggest objective is to ride bikes, surf, meet tons of people, and simply enjoy life in the present while trying to accomplish what we think is a semi-rad feat in the process.
As for now we will continue to update and post our plans, thoughts, ambitions until we depart but probably won't happen with any regularity until we actually start. Once we do start, hopefully, we will update this with more consistency. And with any luck, or perhaps Max will just write on this thing, they wont be this long-winded jabberish nonsense.
Simply,
TCope
Right up until our departure both Max and myself are busy trying to juggle work, school (for Max), training, planning, and staying healthy. Im busy finishing up the last two weeks till my summer vacation starts in SoCal, and will be heading up to Utah for about ten days for a family reunion starting June 14. I've been really looking forward for a quick stop in Utah, not just to spend time with family, but also to explore and take advantage of what the Wasatch Range has to offer. Our family reunion is held very close to Sundance, which is in close proximity to Little Cottonwood Canyon which offers some great climbing and tons of hiking and mountain biking trails all over the area. It will be great to spend time with much of my family on both sides and also get some last minute training in a setting a little more pleasing than the over-crowded concrete jungle of Orange County. On June 25 I'll be back in Seattle with less than a week for Max and I to get all the details finalized and make sure everything is in order before we take off. It will be one crazy busy and exciting week.
We dont have a very strict schedule for the simple reason that our current situation on the road will be decided by so many unknown factors that having such a strict itinerary could compromise the whole essence of the trip. As of now we are planning to leave July 1 from Port Angeles and head south. Since we will be towing surfboards with us and want to incorporate that into our plans as much as possible we are planning on averaging around 60 miles/day. Obviously some days we'll travel further and other days much less depending on weather, health, and hopefully more often than not, that the surf is up. At this rate, in theory, we should finish our trip at the Mexican border by sometime in middle August or about six weeks. The Pacific Coast has so much to offer in terms of attractions that it will be difficult to see and do everything along the way but we're planning on hitting the major ones such as the numerous spots along the Oregon Coast, the Redwood Forest, San Fran, and all the major surf areas in California. There seems to be some great hiking trails and climbing spots along the way that we are hopeful to check out as well. Our biggest objective is to ride bikes, surf, meet tons of people, and simply enjoy life in the present while trying to accomplish what we think is a semi-rad feat in the process.
As for now we will continue to update and post our plans, thoughts, ambitions until we depart but probably won't happen with any regularity until we actually start. Once we do start, hopefully, we will update this with more consistency. And with any luck, or perhaps Max will just write on this thing, they wont be this long-winded jabberish nonsense.
Simply,
TCope
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