White Mesa

inter forces us mountain bikers to seek out lower-elevation rides that are free of snow. Time for a trip to White Mesa, also known as the Ojitos Wilderness.



I rolled up to CDaddy's house, he was ready to go so off we went under blue skies.




One water crossing. Kinda scenic.




White Mesa is a huge gypsum deposit with some crazy geology. There are these crazy sinkholes out there. I did a pretty good web search but could not figure out the technical term for them. They are quite round, deep, and have water in them. Falling in would mean a slow death.




Here is CDaddy grinding up the hill:




And yours truly with Cabezon in the background:




There are numerous mineral springs in the area that form these really cool travertine terraces:




I tried to get a good shot of the grand-daddy sinkhole:





Here is CDaddy rolling the last steep line off of the Dragon's Back:




I guess that's it. Thanks for looking!

During....

Alright, so New Years Day has come and gone, and I have no "after" pictures of my bathroom remodel project to show the six faithful readers of my blog. Perhaps I was a bit optimistic about my projected completion date, but I might have made it if my tile saw hadn't frozen solid when the cold snap hit. As it stands now, I am 90% complete with the remodel and 100% sick of being in that bathroom.

So to tide my faithful readers over until I can post the "after" pics, here are some photos taken during a much-needed hike through Diablo Canyon today. My hiking companions were Todd Glatz and his spawn, the Master of Awesomeness, Conner.


We hiked through the slot canyon and headed down the wash towards the Rio Grande. We saw some icicles under a seep in the cliff wall:





Bored with the wash, we decided to scramble up to the top of the mesa.




It was tough going for Todd and I, but Conner scooted up like a monkey....





The summit was attained and the striking views were enjoyed....








Thanks for looking!