USGS, retouched.
Another thing I am excited about with the USGS photo library that I wrote about earlier is the endless opportunity it provides to retouch, restore, and otherwise play around with old photos. It is a hobby of mine and now I have thousands of pictures to practice on. The more I explore the database, the […]
USGS Photo Library
The USGS has recently scanned over 40,000 (and adding more) archival images. All available to view and download at no cost – and at very high resolutions. I can see myself spending a lot of time browsing through the photos, many dating back over 100 years. These photos tell a rich, detailed story about the […]
Moose Dodging and a Summit Climb
“There is a moose on the trail!” My sister is leading my dad and I up the Timpanogos trail. Bringing up the rear means my line of sight is limited. We all stop. “Here it comes!” I move to my right – the downhill side of the trail – and in a split second of […]
Timpanogos
“…The chief did not like to lose the horses, so they decided to have another contest. That was to climb by night a mountain without using the trail. Ucanogos and some of the Indian maidens would be waiting on the top of the mountain.Timpanac studied the mountain trying to figure out the best way to […]
What is Real?
What does it say, that I am always awe struck when I ride the singletrack of the Wasatch? I have skidded to a halt in the same place and gawked at the same view over and over. Am I easy to please? A hopeless dreamer? Or is the scenery just that good? Maybe it is […]
Classic Audacity
On paper the world looks smooth and flat. Manageable. On maps the contouring trails are fascinating and beautiful, like sirens whispering sweet temptations into an eager and hungry mind. In reality everything is uglier and rockier and steeper and longer, and yet, still beautiful. And so it is with the Wasatch Classic. I spent hours […]
Classic, at Last
Finally it is time to ride the Classic. And I could not be more excited. I created this year’s route in the hours after last year’s slightly ambitious hike-a-fest. And since then I have been anxiously awaiting an opportunity to string all these great trials, many of my very favorite, together in the course of […]
Winds of Change
“You don’t have to be a fantastic hero to do certain things – to compete. You can be just an ordinary chap, sufficiently motivated.” ~Edmund Hillary I can feel the restful, relative ease of the summer of 2008 draining out of my mind and body. Like a low level toxin it is running its course. […]
