Viva Baja Mexico

4th of July float

Lori and I spent seven days testing out our new Sotar inflatable kayaks on the San Juan river in southern Utah.  The boats treated us well and the River Gods smiled on us once again.  We put in at Sand Island near Bluff, UT and took out 83 miles downstream at Clay Hills.  The flow was around 550 cfs and I would call that the bare minimum.  We bumped butts once in awhile and had to drag the boats off of sand bars a few times below Slickhorn Canyon where the reservoir effect of "Lake" Powell causes extreme siltation.  If you didn't already hate Glen Canyon dam, you will after floating the San Juan.  Great wildlife viewing, mellow water, petroglyphs and ruins, and amazing geology all conspire to make the San Juan a must-do for all boaters, beginners in particular.  More pics here.

Swiftwater rescue

Spent the weekend chucking myself into a raging river and I lived to tell about it - thanks to Abi and the folks at Sierra Rescue. If you are a private boater, you owe it to yourself to learn some basic survival skills. More photos here.

Northern Jaguar Reserve

Lori and I spent the last week down in central Sonora Mexico volunteering at the Northern Jaguar Reserve. We were there to make adobe bricks to be used for a couple of small buildings on their property. Our crew ended up making over 2000 bricks (all by hand with shovels and wheelbarrows!).

The goal of the Northern Jaguar Project is to buy up and protect critical habitat for jaguars. They currently have over 50,000 acres of former ranchland set aside for these magnificent and elusive creatures. Please check out out their website for more information and consider making a donation. I will vouch that they are doing good work.

More photos here.

Pinacate Biosphere Reserve

Spent a few days south of the border in the Pinacate lava flows. More pics here.

13 for '12

Started the year off with 13 repeats of A Mountain.

My latest video:

Powder day on Mt. Lemmon

After living here for 10 years, I finally got to snowboard on Mt. Lemmon (the southern-most ski area in the Lower 48). Six inches of fresh and catching first chair made for a great day.

That's Dave.

On Travel

Photo by Steve McCurry

"There's nothing more important that you can do with your life than to experience different cultures and see how different people live and see all the amazing variety of life in this world - human life, animal life, the natural world, the sea, the oceans, the mountains. To try and experience that is about the most interesting way you can spend your life." -Steve McCurry

Brian Setzer's Rockabilly Riot!

3 Gibsons. 3 Marshalls. Rock 'n Roll.

Supersuckers. Rialto Theatre. December 2, 2011.

Grand Canyon photos

The 100 best photos are here.

The 321 best photos are here.

And here is a 2-minute "hero cam" video from the trip:

Photo of the Day

My POTD project is up to date. They can be viewed here.

Grand F**kin' Canyon

Here's the proof:

El Tour de Tucson 2011

Despite a severe lack of training, I rode El Tour de Tucson for the fifth time yesterday. I rode with El Grupo and we posted our second best time ever (5:45). Congratulations to all the kids and coaches. See you next year!

Thanks to Kathleen Dreier for the photos. More here.