Bouncy Black Dog

Well, 15 degrees didn't end up being that cold after all. It's a bit colder now and to top it off, I can't find anywhere to, well, do stuff that good dogs do outside. You see, I'm a picky dog. Like some who require a fire hydrant, I require a nice patch of grass. If you pay close attention to the following photos, you will find that there is a current grass crisis. Hence the look on my face in this photo.

Oh, and this is not a picture of me laying in the snow. I'm standing up, doggy paddling so that I won't drown in the stuff.

This is our neighbor's orchard. It's not currently producing fruit. CAUSE IT'S FROZEN!

Prayer flags and icicles. They go well together.

The top of the small one's head while she made me help her "groom" a skate ski track on the back 40. Said grooming was done by skiing around in a big oval with tele skis and skins on while bribing me to follow with delicious peanut butter treats. Delicious peanut butter treats sent to me by my good friends Cathy and Jim! Thanks you two! I love ya!

And finally, this is my impression of a snow plow.

15 Degrees!

15 Degrees is not warm. Not unless you're from Antarctica. Then it's probably bordering on tropical. Here in Hood River, it is very very far from warm. The best part of it all is that when it is not warm, water turns into this white fluffy stuff my people call snow and I LOVE SNOW. We woke up this morning to quite a bit of the frozen liquid so we decided to wander around outside and enjoy it. Here are some photos we brought back from our exploration of the frozen world.

When it's really cold outside, I have to go very fast everywhere. Here I am going very fast.

And here is Jason just before he was hit in the head by what seems to have been a snow ball... MWAHAHAHAAHAHAHA!

The Black Hole

For your photographical entertainment my smaller person has made you this:

Is this the end of my career as a Wiggly Black Dog Blogger? You decide.

We're home. Our job as the Trail Care Crew has come to an end and it couldn't have been better timing. We've been craving a real winter, time with friends and family, and a house but hadn't gotten to the point of burn out quite yet so here we are enjoying all but the winter. Two years was the perfect amount of time to travel around the world. We had amazing experiences, met many new friends and some people we'll look forward to forgetting, visited some of the most beautiful places and some places that we now know to avoid, learned many lessons, grew as a team, continued our passion for teaching (well, maybe my peeps more than me), discovered a new piece of the bicycling industry/world that we hope to stay a part of for years to come and most importantly, we loved every second of it. My favorite part was more of the eating, sleeping, swimming and running but I added all the other stuff cause my peeps told me to. So, now we've stopped moving sort of. Not to say that any of us have stayed in one place for more than an hour or so with the exception of sleeping but we're working on winding down, doing a little nesting, and enjoying a home. 

This is me before I was discovered on the camouflage smooshy chair where I am very much not allowed to be (apparently NOT very camo due to my being discovered on it! I'm returning that to the manufacturer and demanding a refund!).

And here I am explaining that it was a simple misunderstanding. "I thought you said stay off the futon! I didn't realize that you were including other furniture in that rule. I am deeply apologetic and hope that you can find it in your heart to forgive me as I lay here on the hard hard wooden floor, cold and alone." How could you be mad at that shmoopy sad face? It always works. I sit on the couch, they kick me off, they feel bad, I get treats. Suckers!

So, you might ask "what are you going to do now?". I don't know what I'm going to do. It's really up to you. If you'd like I can keep writing stories because really, there's all sorts of exciting stuff going on here or I could stop and spend more time eating, swimming, running and sleeping. Heck, I might even pick up a new hobby and try fetching frisbees (the whole bringing them back thing doesn't sound so good though). If you want me to keep blogging post a comment. If you want me to stop blogging, keep it to yourself! I can't take that sort of criticism.

My peeps on the other hand will be jumping into their new positions with IMBA Trail Solutions doing a whole lot of trail design, consulting, education and advocacy work in lots of different places with different groups, and land management agencies. They'll still be traveling but based out of Hood River and not on the road as much. The travel will be longer term so they'll visit a project for a few weeks instead of a few days and each project will be bigger than what they've been doing every week for the past two years. They're working for the same organization but changing positions so that a new couple can have the experience that they did and they can settle down a little. Capiche?

Cast your vote... more WBD? 

There's no Place Like Somewhere Awesome

Our home on the road looks like this. The bags and toys are always the same but the space that holds them is different every couple nights. As long as I've got my bed, my people and know where my bag of dog food is located I'm pretty happy but if you take any of those things out of the equation I turn into "crazy twitchy nervous black dog". 

It'll be strange unpacking all these bags for the last time (well, not really but the last time for quite a while) when we get home next week. Filling the fridge with groceries for more than two days. Plugging the ipod into the home stereo. Hearing a house key jingling on my people's key chain. Buying dish soap. These are all little things that normal people who haven't been living out of a car for 2 years wouldn't even think twice about but there are many aspects of what most consider normal that have not been a part of our life for the last 719 days. 

Please Send Peanut Butter Treats To...

We've got a mailing address in Hood River so get all old school on us and send a letter. Or some peanut butter dog treats... or a steak, or a cat... I'd really like a cat. I wasn't even going to tell you about it until my people mentioned that other people can send treats via these boxes. Did I mention that I really like peanut butter treats? So, if you'd like to send me fan mail you can apparently just write.

(Recipient's Name)
(If it's for me "C/O small person or tall person")
PO Box 1315
Hood River, OR 97031

on the envelope and it will miraculously show up in this little locked box that is inside this building that I'm not allowed to go in. It's sort of strange and I don't really understand the technology but I'm a dog and I like to keep things simple.

And for your viewing pleasure here is a photo of Jason going really fast (he's the blur in the middle of the rapid).

Ah, Sigh.

Ok, I've avoided talking politics despite my secret dog passion for all things political (my people leave NPR on the radio when I'm home alone, I can't help it). I'm sure that not everyone who reads this shares the excitement and cheek cramping ear to ear smiles that have been plastered to the faces of my peeps since these four came walking out on the stage to accept the presidency but that's ok. I'm a dog and I don't care what your political views are as long as you don't vote to outlaw swimming or food. I just want to say that I hope, for the sake of the extra treats I've been getting due to extremely high amounts of happiness and jubilation in our house (that's right, I said house, I'll get to that) that we can all share in the positive forward motion that a new president brings, look past our differences and, you get the point, no cheesy cliche, lets just all get along ok? And lets all be PSYCHED! And give your dogs more treats!


So, about the house thing. We have a house! We're still traveling for a few more weeks but we had a week off and decided to get settled in so that when we do get off the road we don't have to move. Our house (it has walls AND a roof) is located in Hood River and we're excited to spend as much of the winter as we can hanging out in it after we get done playing that weird game where my peeps attach sticks to their feet and slide around in the snow so I can chase them. But, until Thanksgiving, we are still vagrant traveling dirt bags and we will be living it up, having way too much fun, and enjoying our last few weeks of the best job in the world until then.

A Funny Story From The Short One.

Once in a while we could all use a solo ride and when you live in a Subaru that solitude becomes a necessity. After we parked our 20 square foot mobile home at the Comfort Inn of Fruita CO for a few days of down time I decided to ride out to the Kokapelli Trail Head for some delicious sunset single track. Little did I know that last night the resident Troll had been up to no good in our Subaru.

You see, I’ve come to the conclusion that our Subaru came with a troll named Mingus who lives in the spare tire well. Late at night Mingus pushes all our gear aside, creeps out of the spare tire well and steals things out of my Camel Back. Mainly tubes, patch kits and pumps. The stuff you really need when you’re riding around in places like Fruita. The problem is that Mingus is tricky and he only strikes on occasion so I sometimes forget to double check my pack and make sure the stuff I rarely use is in there. It’s not often that I have to change a flat or patch a tube. In fact, until today it’s been a couple weeks.

As I was cresting the overpass of HWY 70 on the last section of pavement before hitting the dirt road that would lead me to single track I noticed the familiar feeling of a floppy front tire. Sure enough, upon inspection I had a couple tiny thorns in my tire. “No Problem” I thought, “I’ve got a tube and two patches… plenty to get me through a ride and back home.” But as I emptied my pack I realized Mingus had struck again. My tube was gone however, he hadn’t been able to locate my hidden patch kit. I pulled the thorns out, patched the only hole I could find and was on my way. Perfect timing the sun was just getting low.

On the dirt road decent towards the trail head I noticed my rear tire was feeling a little loose, I decided to wait until I got to the trail to fix it but it was losing air faster than I thought and the wheelie drop off a little ledge wasn’t smooth enough. Ssssssssssss, pinch flat. “Damn it Mingus!” Now I had a leak in my rear tube and two holes from a pinch flat with only one patch left. As concerned riders rolled by and asked I was OK I let my pride get the best of me while forcing a smile and telling them “thanks but I’ve got it.” I cut the patch into four pieces, covered the holes, pulled out another thorn and decided I’d take the chance and keep rolling towards the trail.

Only 50 yards into the first climb I felt my rear wheel wiggling around behind me again. My tiny little quarter patches hadn’t been enough. It’s probably good Mingus didn’t hear what I said about him this time. I was a little frustrated and the Pennywise rolling from my ipod wasn’t very calming. I pulled out my last quarter of a patch and got to it realizing that there was no way I was going to make it five and a half miles back to Fruita at this rate. I finally swallowed my pride and flagged a friendly group of riders down to beg for a patch, a tube, or a ride back to town. My trail Karma paid off and thankfully they had a tube for me. After assuring them that I would be fine and promising I would not get lost alone at night they wished me luck and rolled away.

 With only a few minutes of daylight left I was determined to get a little trail riding in so I quickly rolled to the closest viewpoint and took in the last bits golden light on the cliff walls. My ride didn’t end up as planned and it wasn’t exactly one of those amazing mountain biking experiences but it was an interesting little mini adventure and as my friend Aaron always used to say when ever we found ourselves freezing in the snow on the side of a mountain, “it doesn’t have to be fun to be fun.” 

Sausage Foot

Please send treats. I like the peanut butter flavored kind. My leg has turned into a hairy black sausage because I'm just a really really hard core dog. We're hanging out on the continental divide in Colorado and yesterday and after riding a section of the Divide Trail we dropped down a rippin fun decent called Greens Creek which was apparently a little to much for this Wiggly Black Dog. Luckily I've got an overly concerned small Basque-0 to freak out when I get hurt so we went to the vet today, got an x-ray and decided it's nothing deadly. They sent me home with some good drugs and told me not to have any fun for a couple weeks. LAME. So, here are some photos of fun and people we like to have fun with to make me feel better!

Fun ride last week in Kurt Gowdy State Park WY.


My fun friend Julie at Whistler... I didn't get to go on this trip but man did I hear about if for a long time.


And Julie's fun and fun-ny looking husband Shane in Whistler.


And of course the always fun Cleary family.


And the JW killin it at Kurt Gowdy.

The drive from Bozeman MT to Jackson WY was in no way boring or unscenic. There's this quaint little park called Yellowstone between the two locations so we thought we'd check it out. The small basque one was on a photo marathon as we didn't have a ton of time but wanted to see as much as possible. There were all sorts of chase-able animals that I watched from my throne in the back seat but the peeps wouldn't let me out. The bison didn't look THAT big to me.

The Tetons and a big lake

Good Old Faithful and a big geyser.

Some really hot water.

My cousin harry munching on what we think were grasshoppers.

Some really big goats.

Cow Boys and Mountain Bikers

You know, it's funny how a bunch of people who love trails for very similar reasons so often don't get along. I'm always hearing my peeps talking about how to reduce user conflict on trails between equestrians, hikers, bikers, runners and dogs. Personally I don't see the problem because I'm a dog and I love everyone but every week the topic comes up. So, last weekend we were all really psyched to work with the most united group of trail enthusiasts we've come across. We spent the weekend camping, working, playing and eating with representatives from the Montana Wilderness Association, the Wilderness Society, the Last Chance Back Country Horseman's club, the MSU mountain bike team, the High Divide Cyclery Club, a bunch of other people and their dogs.


So, if you're up on trail politics you probably understand how unique this situation is. It would be similar to getting a group of hunters, animal rights activists, and wildlife conservationalists together for a weekend of fun. And everyone had a great time!


We did a ton of trail work, enjoyed some good home cookin done right by the horsemen & women, shared a little whiskey, talked about hunting, biking and hiking adventures, walked on a slackline, and enjoyed the Back Country Horsemen's luxurious wall tents with wood stoves during the cold evenings. The coolest thing was seeing everyone realize how much they had in common despite their difference in recreational mode, political views, and backgrounds.


I took it upon myself to make sure none of these tasty sticks of meat were wasted. The locals took pity on my sad sad story of nomadic traveling and days without food and I left camp bloated and happy like a Lab should be.


We also helped the local wilderness advocates and mountain bikers find a new mountain bike route that will circumnavigate the new proposed wilderness area south of Helena MT.

Now we're kickin it in Bozeman with our friends Chad and Devri from Bend who we haven't seen in about 4 years. It's amazing how time doesn't really count anymore. It feels like maybe we haven't caught up with them in a few months... not a few years!

Excuses Excuses

A cat got my tongue, a dog ate my key board, I got hit really hard in the head by a tennis ball and had to relearn how to type, I was chasing cats when a tripped over an open lap top leaving me with two broken toes and a fear of computers that it has taken many hours of therapy to fix... These are all very legitimate and possibly true reasons as to why I have not been updating this blog. I'm pretty sure the real reason is that I have just not had anything painfully exciting to blog about. We have certainly been having a great time, life is fantastic and everyone is so happy that we have to do face yoga to keep our smile muscles from cramping, it's just that our last few months of work have not been the usual bouncing from place to place adventure. Instead of moving every 4 days we've been in town for 3 weeks at a time and in all honesty, it's a bit monotonous after living the life of a nomad. It's amazing how much adjustment we need in order to deal with one area for a long period of time. One might think it's probably nice to relax, which is true. But you know that feeling you get when you run as fast as you can on one of those moving walk ways in the airport and then hit the floor that isn't moving (my people sneak me into airports all the time just so we can do that)? That's sort of how it feels to switch from constantly moving to plopping down in a strange place for 3 weeks.

So, that said, we're excited to finish our last few months as the Trail Care Crew in true TCC style with lots of visits to lots of different places mostly in the North West. We're also excited to have been able to enjoy the last few weeks at home with friends, friend's people, and our families. It's been awesome being home, we'll take 3 weeks here anytime! My people seem to be morphing into a strange new domesticated way of living with hopes of buying a house in Hood River this fall so that we have a place in the beginning December when we get off the road. They have spent a lot of time looking at houses, scrunching up their faces in funny ways and talking on the phone about numbers way bigger than my dog brain can comprehend (it only goes to 11).

If you'd like to see some great photos from our vacation adventures check out the IMBA blog at: www.onthetrail.imbatools.com
And I'll do my best to keep you updated on the coming months of Wiggly Black Dog action.

Happy Fall!

The small Basque one gave Jason a helmet camera for his birthday which he got all sorts of semi exciting video with in Winter Park CO. Here is a video recorded by Jason and edited by Anna. It's their first try at this so it's not too fancy and the trail's not too exciting but there's a little spice in the middle to keep you entertained. My apology in advance for any cringes this may cause the parents.

TORNADO!!!

Ok, there's really no need to panic. That's just what our life on the road has felt like for the past month! It's been a tornado full of bikes, dirt, kayaking, friends, work, AWESOME rides, delicious rawhide and great places. Unfortunatley it has been lacking a little in the internet access as I do my best blogging around 1am after my people have gone to bed and I can have some peace yet our recent accommodations have not offered such hi-tech services.


So, way back in the beginning of July we were in McCall ID for a few weeks while my people were working with the Forest Service on a few trail projects, helping out with a big bike race, swimming in a big lake, and riding their bikes on big mountains. It was awesome.


One of my favorite things in McCall was this squirrel named Yogi Flash. He lived in the back yard of our cabin in his own little cabin and spent hours every morning doing squirrel yoga on this beam. We had a special way of communicating. I would chew on my squeeky toy and he would squeek back at me. I hope he didn't think I was chewing on one of his buddies!


Another highlight was the access we had to this specially designed dog diving board. With it's added length I was able to gain a lot of speed in order to launch myself off the end so that I could plane into the water without getting my hair wet. Someone was really thinking when they made this!


I also helped build this trail by running up and down it to compact the soil. My people designed and helped build this for the Forest Service. They taught a Trail Building School just like they do every week and had a bunch of volunteers come out and help them dig. It was a good time and now McCall has a nice beginner friendly trail for people to learn on! I heard my grandogma was getting a bike in a couple weeks so maybe she'll go ride it with me?


YAY! We b-lined it for Boulder after working in Idaho so we could spend some much needed time with our friends from the IMBA office. We stayed with my best friends Zoe the cat and Beaudrou the dog. Their people Kristin and Ryan are pretty rad too and my peeps were really stoked to hang out with them. Ryan is also an excellent griller, check out that spread!


Now we're in Winter Park CO enjoying some awesome lightening storms. My peeps have lots of projects that they are working on here so we're running around a lot but we've gotten out on some great rides and I get to swim a lot and eat treats so I'm psyched. This picture was up on Doe Creek trail. Anna took me on a ride up there but a thunderstorm rolled in while we were up on the ridge and I had a pretty hard time keeping up on they way down. She was in a pretty big hurry!


This is at Sol Vista Bike Park which you may have read about in Decline. It's a pretty sweet place with a really cool pump track at the base lodge so we've been making it our regular after work stop for a quick work out. I'm pretty sure everyone should have one of these in their back yard because it seems to make my peeps very happy and it's fun to chase them on it.

So, that's a brief update but the best news I've got is that we're coming home in a week and we can't wait to see you all! We're really missing you guys and we're psyched to get to spend a whole five weeks in Hood River! See you soon!

The Stache Off

AnnaLaxague_2192.JPG
Originally uploaded by sixvlt.

My people work with some pretty strange but fantastic folks (they fit right in). They decided that just before they all got together for a week of conferencing that they would have a Stache off. All the guys grew as much facial hair as possible and then mowed it into very odd shapes in order to compete in said stache off. These were some of the winning folacular works of art.

We're in Durango Colorado kickin it with some cow boys eatin beans by the campfire and riding horses... ok, that's all a big lie except for the Durango part. I really dig this town as it is quite dog friendly and has a large river flowing through the middle. Not only is the town dog friendly but the B&B we're staying in has this HUGE fluffy dog bed with fresh sheets and delicious home made peanut butter dog treats. It's about time the hospitality industry starts catering to those of us who really matter!

Enough about me. I figured that I should fill you in on some of the work my peeps have been doing since we're always telling you stories about our days off. The best part is that the days on are a little more exhausting but just as exciting! Last year when we were in Durango we spent a lot of time trudging through dense brush laying out trails in the Durango Mountain Park. It was hard work and we weren't sure if the trails would be approved but this year we found out that they were approved and we got to build them! After teaching a class on trail building (I can take no credit for that) we headed out to the project that we had flagged with 25 trail enthusiasts. Here are a few photos of what we do every Saturday afternoon!


Cutting a trail through shale can be pretty hard work but it pays off.


This was the only patch of dirt we found all day amongst the shale. It was so soft and fluffy and diggable...



Here's our group of participants from the Durango trail advocacy club "Trails 2000". They are an awesome crew and we are once again blown away by the great personalities we've met here and the incredible hospitality of our host Mary.


Mary and I were working really hard on this section. I'm super helpful with the trail work supervision and finding of soft, cool, freshly dug patches of trail. I also really enjoy pulling all the sticks off the trail and eating them since my people don't really feed me.

BOWOWOWOWWOOOOO BARK

That's how I sound when my people are doing this...


I don't know what it is but I just freak out and sound as though I am being attacked by a swarm of killer bees.


And then once in a while I get loose and try to chase down whoever is in the water which usually ends badly.


This was on Brush Creek just outside of Kernville, CA.


Not so bad eh?