Fall Time Campout...

For the 7th year in a row we pulled off a fall campout. This year we did the Sonora Pass. The weather was typical with cold nights and nice comfortable days. Leavitt meadows is a beautiful place with alot of Aspens for color with the upper Walker river running thru it. We had a great camp site right along the river and awesome views in every direction. We did some great hikes on Saturday and Sunday to Secret Lake and Roosevelt Lake (my knee prevented me from making it all the way to the lakes.) . Elevation was starting around 8,000 ft. to almost 9,000 ft. so the air was thin and gave you a good workout. Sure was nice to have the crew together again and we look forward to the winter ski season.

Not alot of water this year...

Sweepers...

Somebody was having fun...

Leavitt Meadow...

A nice sized herd of Elk...

Legends of the fall...

Happy campers

This is the river at the camp site...

A river runs though it...

Labor Day Reuion Party...

My sister and myself went up to Mammoth for the Labor day weekend for the first and only Reunion of anybody that has/does live in Mammoth or is part of the community spirit that makes Mammoth such a special place. The vibe was incredible and the party alot of fun. There were bands all day long ending with Rod Piazza blues band around 9 that night. It was a treat to meet and thank Dave McCoy and his wife for building a premier ski resort in such a beautiful place that has impacted soo many of us thru the years. Almost all of our ski crew was there and soo many of the old timers that we have made turns with thru the years also. Some of the best pics didn't come out (the one with the ski instructures especially) but I am hoping some of my friends who also had cameras send me their pics and I will update the site. Of course as always we ended the weekend with a BBQ at Tomatos. We are now finalizing the plans for the Fall campout...

Great party with awesome people and incredible vibe...

The man who built the Mammoth ski resort Dave McCoy and his wife Roma

Sister and myself

Gary and myself at the Reunion

Mark, Dan, and Myself

Blues and Brews...

Just got back from Mammoth for the Bluesaplalooza festival. Starting early Saturday there was 50 micro brews serving all the beer you could drink and blues bands. The show ended about 10 that night after Charlie Musselwhite and the Fabulous Thunderbirds played. It was a long day with great sounds and perfect weather. On Sunday the crew gathered down in the valley to do a 3 hour float trip on the Owens river. There were over a 100 people in every kind of floating device (including a blow up doll) on the river. It was quite an adventure. I am home now and sore but it was all worth it...

The crew for the float trip on the Owens river...

The great Blues man Charlie Musselwhite blowing that harp.

Here is the last bit of snow from last winter on Daves run.

This is the sign that 2 winter ago was buried by snow!

The great and awesome Cornice without snow!

This is what you ski over in the winter when you jump off the top!

Sunset shot taken with my phone camera...

What About Bob...

Well I went and saw Bob Dylan for the second time in the last 18 months and was interested to see if his performance was better than the "phone in" he did last time. I must say that I had good seats and could see him pretty good without binocs and he sounded much better than the last time, BUT Bob is done. His voice is shot and none of his songs sound like they did making it a guessing game to what he was singing. He really did try and it showed but he doesn't have the voice to sing his great songs of the past. Bob was hard to understand in his prime now it is just mumble mumble. Sad to see this out of such a great artist.

Road Trip...

Well I went on my first road trip in a long time and it was a nice one. Spent a few days in Gold Rush country and saw some great old small towns. Found a great swimming hole on the Yuba river named Emerald Pond. I spent some time with friends by Truckee then went to Nevada City for a street fair with music, food, and all kinds of fun. I then headed south to my good friends place by Placerville and saw his property and house they are building. It was a nice trip but the drive home was 9 hours of terrible traffic, so it was nice to get back home.

Emerald Pond

Rainbow Bridge

Fun Night...

On 7/11/07 I was lucky enough to enjoy with some close friends an intimate concert at the House of Blues with Stephen Stills. There were maybe 500 other people there and you could get as close as you wanted to the stage. Stephen looked great and sounded even better than the "old days" when he was the big thing. He was very talkative about life and how songs got written and such which even made the evening a greater experience. He played 2 50 minute sets with a 20 minute break in the middle, this allowed him to do many of his big hits and also some of the better songs that aren't played on the radio. The picture was taken with my phone camera so it isn't the best, but it is hard to take a pic with spot lights in the dark. A wonderful night with awesome music from a true music legend.

Stephen Stills

Thankyou...

To my family and friends I would like to say thankyou for your thoughts and prayers through this difficult time for me and my health. As most of you know I have been out of work for almost 4 months now. They are going to do a full body PET scan next Wednesday and if they don't find any cancer anywhere in my body I hope to start back to work in July. So I am trying to keep up my positive thoughts and get back in action soon.

Maui...

Sometimes it is hard to figure out if things that happened in the past were as great as you remember them. When somebody from your past sends you a pic reliving a magical time we shared it sure warms the heart. This was taken in the early 70s on my front porch in Lahaina Maui. Underneath that beard is a big smile.

Spring...

Well just got home from 6 wonderful days in Mammoth. I got up there just before 2 winter like storms that dropped close to 2 ft of the best snow of the season. Then the weather turned spring like and it was beautiful days and crisp clear nights. Saw a big black male bear in Tomato's front yard taking a lazy stroll. The skiing was great and a good time was had by all...

Happy Times...

I R List...

Well I haven't posted in awhile due to inactivity due to health issues. Had skin cancer surgery last Wednesday with about 30 stitches then went in yesterday for surgery on my right knee. I have been out of work for about 3 weeks and should be out for about 5 more. Good thing is everything came out great and am looking for a full recovery and maybe catch some late season skiing if the snow holds up. We finally got some coverage on the mountains just as I came up hurt. Now the weather is up in the 60s in Mammoth and that is not good. I am keeping my fingers crossed for some more winter weather soon to keep the season alive. So keep in touch friends and hope to have some adventures and pics to post soon.

Super Ski Trip...

Had a great Super Bowl trip to Mammoth with nice weather and good snow (what there is of it!). I skiied Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, then went to the annual Super Bowl party at Grumpys with all the Mammoth locals. Good food, open bar, and great friends. On the other side of the coin the snow is melting fast and if something BIG doesn't happen soon the mountain will close and end our season way too early. The weather pattern is looking promising but it has to happen soon. So we are doing our snow dance and keeping our fingers crossed. The pic below is of the mascot Wooly who recentley got beat up by some drunk Aussies. We gave Wooly some moral support and kind words. The Aussies got arrested then deported.

Getting down with Wooly...

Mammoth Delivers...

The day before we left for Mammoth things looked sketchy, but once again Mammoth delivered the goods. Our timing was perfect as we got thru Hiway 14 just before they closed it due to bad weather and got to the pass outside Bishop just as it opened. We arrived at Chair 2 and got a front row parking spot with snowing, 20 degrees, and 40+ mph winds. The snow was fantastic and no lift lines. Little did we know that was the warm day as the next morning it was minus 20 at the top and even harder winds. But with nobody on the mountain and perfect snow we took advantage and skiied 5 full hours of non stop top to bottom turns. The Cornice was soft butter snow with not a ripple on it. The next 2 days were clear and cold with more people braving the weather, but we skiied everyday till our legs gave out. The last night we celebrated both Rick and Tomatos birthdays with a big BBQ and cheese cake with candles for the event. Great to see everybody and have such a wonderful ski adventure.

Ricks pole...

Beautiful day...

Going to the top...