It’s been a while since I’ve posted images and such from the other side of life. It’s been a rather strange, disjointed, fast-paced summer. No long breaks, no monumental family vacations. A lot more work than I’d like. But time for riding, mountains, and wine…and pictures of same. So to them:
My family has been going to Mammoth Lakes, California since the 1960s. My mother has a place there, and this is her dog, who lives to swim after sticks in Sierra lakes. Not a bad living…That’s Crystal Crag in the background for anyone who knows the area.
This is one of the many single tracks from the top of Mammoth Mountain down – this is the backside of the mountain, looking out toward the lakes and across to the Southern Sierra. That’s my son on the trail. We had a great day riding the mountain, which included some pretty ridiculous technical stuff, even some man-made nuttiness where you get essentially sideways, to wit:
Yes, I did ride this. Several times. And yes, I don’t have any idea how or why I did. And it wasn’t even close to the scariest part of the trails.
More relaxing was the fishing, earlier in July in Colorado, then again in Mammoth/Yosemite. Here’s me, with a happy “I’m fishing and I don’t care if I catch anything” grin:
No, I didn’t catch anything. And nope, I didn’t care. That’s Convict Peak in the background, for those of you keeping track at home. It’s also called Mt. Morrison, but not to locals.
This is Tuolumne Meadows in Yosemite. My son and I tried our luck in the river, but mainly the adolescent trout were rising when we were there. No matter. I mean, look at the scenery. Who cares.
Besides Mammoth, we had another “mini-vacation” – I took the whole family to the Outside Lands music festival in San Francisco. A great lineup, a great group of friends, and three days of pure music. A few shots:
A highlight was the renunion of Grandaddy, one of my family’s favorite bands. They played just about everything we wished they would. This is the drummer, who really did not look like Aaron Burch. But he smoked himself about ten cigs during the set. If that is Aaron, well, time has not been exactly kind.
Of course, highlights included Metallica:
(Love those flames!) ….and Stevie Wonder:
We saw dozens of other bands, and we had some wonderful wine, including this vintage from Dave Matthews, courtesy of our friends at his management company Red Light:
This is Dreaming Tree Cab, and the label was drawn by Matthews himself, I am told. We really enjoyed it, but I’m sure the music in the background helped…
Which leads me to a few key vintages for your consideration. In no particular order, above is the Chateau St. Michelle, which I love, and not just because it shares a name with my wife. It’s just a great drinking wine right now, and not expensive.
And while the last wine *sounded* French, this one actually is. We have four or five bottles of this in the band room, as you can see. Chateau Les Gravieres, 2001. Both came from WTSO, which I highly recommend.
This Tablas Creek meritage was a surprise, we had it at our favorite place, Picco, just last week. A bit pricey, but very nice on first blush. Didn’t age well in the glass, I am afraid.
And not for the faint of heart, but this Handy sazerac is 140 proof. Yep. You read that right.
And lastly, one shot of my new favorite trail in Marin – Willow Camp, which drops down to Stinson Beach from the top of the coastal range. I know. It’s not fair. I got to ride this trail three times in the past month. I guess looking back, it was a pretty good summer after all. Thanks for visiting….
