Moab, UT

Here for the weekend. It abides. Cold but not freezing and no snow anywhere below 5500 feet. Deep fresh air giving me a detox from salt lake. The air thing is such a big deal for me I always talk to my boyfriend about living here again, or at least grand junction, which I hear is more affordable than anywhere else in Colorado.

Hunter if you see this how was your april trip?

fuckin rad, san rafael is cool space. objective achieved. my little escapade got wonderfully friended/transformed into a 6 person rodeo posse.

and weirdly, we were pretty far in the back of beyond near the end of day one and we went through an uncommon and random campsite near muddy creek (which campsite looked v grand, with sand bocce going and kiddos and dogs around). days later after the trip, i got pinged by a close pal from grand junction who asked me "how was your outing over the wknd, i saw you and your crew buzz by our camp/bocce setup? i couldn't yell to you in time." damn, you think you got away from everything, but nope. wish i'd seen him and stopped tho.

still, that buddy of mine knows that space well, and he noted that the increase in traffic at san rafael generally is p significant, lots of bikepacking and hiking. at our trailhead post-ride we met two separate sprinter van couples from outide of usa (uk and germany). both were bikepacking extensively in the rockies and further west.

the pack route we took was the standard one you can find in bikepacking.com, nothing novel. scenic.

(advisory-- if you find muddy crk tranquil and filterable, filter and store it immediately. creek can mysteriously become turbid and unfilterable while youre not looking, and it can wreck your breakfast and your hydration).

oh and also since my jan post i've read _west of the 100th meridian_, by stegner. it's basically about the great basin, j. wesley powell, and the region's exploration by euroculture and the mess and destruction we cannot stop making in and around it. generally recommended if that's your kind of thing. cool to consider in relation to like, _cadillac desert_. or abbey.

the swell is no longer a secret i guess. it's been a few years since i've been anywhere deeper than the reef, not a soul to be seen at the time but it's probably a little different now. i have a friend who is a super outdoor adventure guy, also very kind and very gay, who rafted the muddy a few years ago, i think he said they saw a handful of people the whole trip.

i've been having a long running conversation with my partner about why we love the utah desert. it's generally the quiet, the visible time, and the clean air, tho i have fun on my short little trail runs (shuffles really). my partner takes photos of small plants, leaves, sand eddies, that kind of thing. occasionally we hit the mtn bike trails because they're good running. my partner drifts off trail because he doesn't like the bikers. i have to concur generally, i've certainly met good souls who are bikers but more often than not whenever they pass me there's a lot of nervous energy on display... people are fuckin loud out there for no good reason.. also packs of men with something to prove to each other and male gear acquisition bonding rituals to engage in. it's fucking tedious. i don't want to hear anything human when i'm out there except for the sound of my breath and nervous system. anyway, rant over.

it was quiet this weekend. moab was pretty dead. the winter dark at night and the quiet have such a depth to them.

ayup, i hope u can keep finding peace.

i def understand the disruption u feel, i fear we may be rowdy enough to annoy. fwiw none of my set are gravity types who yip or yowl “spontaneously.”

i rode the lake city alpine 50 this year in CO, and i’ll say this— several circles of hell are navigated almost entirely by RZRs, and they’re now overspilling into the rockies/grt basin in astonishing abundance.

i try to stop and remember that slickrock was “founded” by throttle twisters and then just think about serenity and shit.

ha here was day one of the swell, good sense of the space
https://www.relive.cc/view/vPOpZ1NyrRq

mlk weekend scene report

a few out-of-towners for the holiday weekend but mostly empty. snow level at about 5000 feet, snow free in the valley and blessedly snow free at klondike bluffs when we stopped in on saturday. the entire desert south of price was blanketed in snow, almost all the way to green river. i've never seen that before. looks like tons of snow in the san rafael swell. it's going to be an explosive spring. boyfriend noticed a lovely little plant with large flower stalk at klondike, ided it as winged buckwheat.

we've been down 3x per year over the past 3 years. still dream about owning a piece of land with a cottage or trailer on it in the area. have this idea that it should be in thompson springs.

Dream it do it.

And yeah the Lower Green and Jordan and Weber basins are all 200%+ and are just getting hammered over and over. My friend in the Wasatch is already wore out by snow.

down for another mlk weekend! this trip was so so good. i went with an incredibly beautiful boy who i love. we hiked horseshoe canyon to the great gallery. the art was overwhelmingly sublime. that canyon is glorious. no one else the entire time.

nice and so appealing. front range is tucked under that below 0°F zone and i’m like dreaming of even 40° desert skies.

a grand cottonwood and me

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1kjWnV6xpyOIEtGS83wsmCZrQ0tsY0lNd/view?usp=drive_link

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/drive-viewer/AEYmBYSbTTde6mQi28NbKb5eLKdIO89AZgcbOy1dCHVkfRAdVsDBJKit4NJ9dSms-VzIhnyN-Onp17XU9P8_beEeQsaJU1abrQ=s1600