Goin' to church with the Dierkers /  by Dani Perrot

While Mary and Chris were in town, we did a hike up to Garnet Meadows to show them what it's like to be in the middle of the Cathedral Group. Mary stepped (or rather, scrambled) out of her comfort zone and into the boulder field, and was pretty pleased with herself upon the success. We paused briefly to baptize our feet in the creek and quickly sped past a grizzly bear (munchin' on huckleberries) on the way back to the car. 

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July Turns /  by Dani Perrot

Yesterday, we skied in the S. Fork of Garnet Canyon in GTNP to check July Turns off the calendar. The Meadows/Boulder Field are still under maybe at least 10-15 ft of snow, which is covered in pebbles and small scree from either an early-season avalanche that took rock with it, or rockfall off of Nez Perce. It was a good day for the rock skis. 

All in all, some significant effort was put out to earn some silly-fun turns, and we were rewarded by sandals at the car by 11:30 and beers by noon. 

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Dierker's First Fourteener /  by Dani Perrot

As most know, we are moving to Colorado in a few weeks; while we were in Boulder last weekend for Alex's job interviews, we took a few hours to go jike* Bierstadt (standing just above 14,000 ft) Saturday morning. Almost all of Denver seemed to be there, but Dierker and I still had a fantastic time with the masses. First of many!

*jike = jog-hike

SUP, fishes. /  by Dani Perrot

Turns out, stand-up paddle boarding (aka SUPing) is a rather fun mode of transportation while fishing. Alex was the only one to catch fish, but all three of us got a bit of a sun. [String Lake to portage to Leigh Lake.]

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Teton Trails with Dill /  by Dani Perrot

Dill came to town, and during our activity-filled week we spent quite a bit of time hiking and biking. 

First, we went to the Village and hiked to the Top o' the Tram. 8 miles with 4k ft of elevation gain? Something like that. The lure of the waffles at the top kept us going.

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The next day, we only had a few morning hours before I had to be at work and Dill had to hit the books. We went for a quick hike up to the Meadows in Garnet Canyon-- along the way, saw a grizz, lots of snow, and many humans. It was a good exploratory hike for potential July turns. From the looks of it...it's lookin' good. 

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On the 4th of July, we did a fun bike in the Cache Creek/Snow King area-- it was Dill's first time mountain biking, and she totally killed it. 

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When the weekend rolled around, Alex joined us and we went for an excellent hike up Death Canyon toward Static Peak. The snow turned us around just before the Divide, but we got excellent views and a group jump off of the Rock at Phelps Lake. 

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Street Life | The Spring 2014 Collection /  by Dani Perrot

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Creek Monsters /  by Dani Perrot

Look out Jeremy Wade. Dierker caught a blue gill out of the creek in my backyard (Rocklin, CA) with naught but some line, a bent needle, and a piece of confetti. 

That night, he made a simple lure out of some thread and a feather he found in the yard. Apparently, according to his mother, this is par for the course. 

Dierker in his happy place.

"Cali" trails /  by Dani Perrot

While we were back in "Cali" (as Dierker would say) for a week, we put in some great miles with the fam along quite the elevational gradient. 

8,000 ft

Alex and I took Sister on a soggy, foggy trail run toward the Benson Hut on the PCT off of Donner Pass. Right when we got to the ridge, a sketchy snowbank turned us around, and instead we ran toward Mt. Judah. The rain began to subside as the wind picked up, and we gained the little scree summit with cool views down to Donner Lake. For Sister's first trail run, I'd say she KILLED IT! The stoke was high as we bounced off of the rocky trail back to the Jeep.

1,200 ft

For you Western States fans, we hiked from No Hands Bridge and up the American River along the course, which had markers set up since the race itself was happening the next day. It was about one hundred billion degrees, and us mountain-folk were melting while the lowland-champs (i.e. Mom and Sister) chatted and bounced along. Nothing like a hike at noon in hundred degree weather to make you appreciate a dip in the river and cool air drifting out of a mine.

Dani, stop taking my picture.

Dani, stop taking my picture.

No seriously, stop. 

No seriously, stop. 

0 ft

Point Reyes! A beautiful 15 mile loop: hike toward Arch Rock, lunch on the beach (with minimal sand intrusion and many silly "jumping" photos), and single track and huge trees along the way back to the trailhead. It was so great to get out of the mountains for once and into a completely different ecosystem. 

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06 | 15 | 2014: The Lakes Balloon Loop /  by Dani Perrot

On June 15, we did a fun run from the Jenny Lake Visitor's Center, north along the eastern shorelines of Jenny Lake, String Lake, and Leigh Lake to Bearpaw Lake, and then back to the crossing at String and Leigh where we crossed to the western shoreline of String and ran back to the car along the west shoreline of Jenny. Most notable was the giant amount of avalanche debris on the west side of String Lake from a massive slide that must have come off of Rockchuck Peak during the sketchy winter season. The trail was mostly covered with downed trees and snow for more than half a mile. No wildlife on this one, unless you count lost tourists. 

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26 for 26 /  by Dani Perrot

So, Dani got a wild hair up her ass the night before her 26th birthday (May 31). We decided to get up one fine Sunday morning and run 26 miles...which turned out to be 28.5. Bears and moose and elk and pine martens oh my! Thank you GTNP. -Dierker

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June Turns /  by Dani Perrot

One June day, we skied Powder-8s. Incidentally, the name still held appropriate on that wintry-like spring day. About 2 inches of fresh on top of slushy corn made for some better-than-expected turns. 

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