An Aspen View

This is the view from Smuggler Mountain, taken from the Specialized Stumpjumper the evening before I started work. And sprinkled throughout this great little town, we often see randomly placed bear traps. Funny enough, we see many more bears than we do traps.

Sam & Hank . . .

Sam's "happier" encounter with Uncle Dave's new dog, Hank. The first encounter didn't go so well.

High Uintas Fly-Fishing

I joined my friends Bubba & Ben for a few days of alpine fly-fishing in the High Uintas in Eastern Utah. Stellar!


We only had a few setbacks: cold rain storms, being lost on a steep ridge at over 12,000 ft., being run out of camp by a bull moose, and virtually running out of food by the last night. But in the end, we caught hundreds of alpine trout, and who can beat this view?

Comic Book Sam

An impatiently selfish friend of ours, Jason Barlow, complained at having to watch Sam eat peaches every day. He demanded a new post. So in honor of his immaturity and impenetrable love for comic books, I made this photo for him.

Jason, grow up.

Organic "Shmorganic" Peaches

Sam's reaction to this beautifully organic peach his mother mashed up for him says it all. Organic is for Shmucks!

Castle Peak - 14,260 ft.

To decompress after the bar, a few of us decided to head to the high altitude summit of Castle Peak just outside of Aspen. I had previously climbed King's Peak in Utah a few times (13,526 ft.), but I had never climbed above 14,000 feet. Here is a photographic summary:


This is the road we drove up, which took us well above treeline.


Above, you can see the most scenic parking lot in all the rocky mountains.


This is Matt & Joe scoping the route up . . .


Almost to the summit, looking back down the ridge just below 14,000 ft.


The Summit Shot! 14,260 feet! But there was no view except for heavy grey mist.


Once the mist cleared, this was our view.


The fast way down . . .


. . . and then back into town before the evening lightning storms roll in!

FULL SUCCESS!

Front Porch Visitor

The other night, I drove home from Denver in a daze after enduring the two day Colorado bar exam. Back in Aspen, I went to get my bags out of the car in the rainy darkness. As I went to open the back of the Jeep, I looked to my left, and there on the front porch was a black bear. He looked at me, and just wandered away.

I, on the other hand, made a mad dash for the back door. Welcome back to Aspen!