People – Road and Ocean

Denver and Boulder

August 14, 2014July 22, 2018 Chris TannerLeave a comment

Wowzers. So it’s been over ten days since I managed to sit down and get some writing done. So this post and the next few are being uploaded from Zion in Utah … split into a number of separate posts since we have, again, gazillions of photos. Our buddies Jon and Helen have been with us since the 12th, and we’ve been busy.

Tuesday 12th

We descended from the hills into Denver to shop for cowboy boots and sun hats, and to get some internet time. As part of the sun hat hunt, we visited a huge outdoor store filled with not only all the hunting, fishing and camping gear that’s ever existed, but also every North American animal stuffed and put up somewhere on the walls. Four wolves chased an elk across the wall as we came in. Across the back of the store, trout, salmon and walleye eyed us up from huge tanks. In the evening we picked up Jon and Helen from the airport – I drive loops around the arrivals area while Rose waits inside. Helen has a cousin who lives in Boulder, so we are staying with them for a couple of nights – Rosie and Ben.

Wednesday 13th

Hiked up Boulder Flatirons – great big slabs of rock guarding over the town of Boulder. The Rocky Mountains here rise straight out of the prairies, so the view from the top was pretty impressive. In the evening we explored Boulder’s Pearl Street, browsed around a bookstore and had dinner out in town at a local brewery.

Thursday 14th

Jon and Helen brought their bikes over with them – Colorado has some of the best mountain biking in the world – and Ben had suggested we ride a local trail called Betasso, so we drove a few minutes out of town to do that. 8 hot and dusty miles later we were back at the van – a good ride – the altitude really makes a difference! Denver calls itself the “mile high city”, and here in the hills it’s riding at over 8000 feet. We stopped to wash off in Boulder Creek, then filled up with fuel for the drive west – over plains not far from where we were a few days ago at Eleven Mile Lake – an area called South Park. Through Buena Vista and up into Cottonwood Pass, where we found a nice camp in the National Forest by a stream. In Colorado you can just camp anywhere in a National Forest which is handy. J&H are sleeping in the tent they brought with them, so we need to find sites that work with a tent as well as the van.

Thunder Bay

August 3, 2014July 22, 2018 Chris TannerLeave a comment

Back on the road! Over the last week we’ve been based in Thunder Bay, staying with Gerry and Julie (and kids) friends of Oli and Kate, who came over from Ottawa with their two young ‘uns. Being in company with lots of people and 4 kids under 5 has been a big change from just the two of us, but it’s been a great time.

We drove up through Duluth in Minnesota, where we spent a night at a campground in town, and then caught up with the rest of the world for a short time at the library the next day. A few hours’ drive north east of Duluth brings us to the border with Canada, where (again!) we get searched, and have to abandon some firewood. I declared the mini pepper spray we got free with the big bear spray we bought a few weeks ago, which was confiscated as it could be a “concealed weapon” – the larger canister supposedly couldn’t be concealed so it’s OK…

In the ten days or so we’ve been in Canada (I’m writing from the road on our way back down to Duluth in the US), Oli and I managed to get an evening of kitesurfing, Kate gave me a long overdue hair cut, we did lots of playing with the kids, the lads went on a canoeing trip, and we all spent a couple of nights camping on the north shore of Lake Superior at Neys Provincial Park.

Our 3-day canoeing trip into Quetico park was a good bit of exercise, and a wilderness trip of a different sort from what I’m used to. Gerry and Oli took a regular canoe, which carried most of our kit, and I took one of the kayaks we bought last year. The 30 mile loop involved plenty of paddling and 9 portages – where we carry all the gear and boats overland between lakes, or around sections that are too shallow to float. The portages ranged from just lifting the boats past a small waterfall, to 1km+ hikes through the mud, forest and hordes of mosquitoes. Three days felt too short to really get into the lake country wilderness – we only just skimmed the north end of the park – someday I’d like to do a much longer trip. Gerry used to be a guide further north in Canada, taking groups into the middle of nowhere by float plane, and then spending a week or more paddling, camping, fishing and ending up on the coast at Hudson Bay.

We put in at Lerome lake, just off the Trans Canada Highway, early afternoon on Monday, having picked up fishing and park licences from Atikokan. Then paddled through Bewag, Lark and Cole, with a few small portages, to reach the longer Sue Falls portage. From the bottom of Sue Falls we paddled a short way across Cirrus Lake (not labelled on the map above), to a sweet camp spot – marked with the green star. The breeze kept the bugs away as we cooked up steaks and corn in the setting sun.

On day two we continued south over Cirrus Lake to the longest portage of the trip, over the hill to Kaskokwog Lake. Carrying boats and kit through the wet foliage sets the swarms of biting bugs in flight, and if you’ve got both hands full you just have to grit your teeth and watch them suck your blood out as you charge on as fast as possible to the other side. Once in Kaskokwog Lake, we drifted slowly downwind for a couple of hours, fishing and watching the world go by. We all caught pike, which went straight back in the water – not nice to eat.

Thunder clouds marched over the sky in the afternoon, and as they approached the wind strengthened and changed to dead ahead, so we pulled into the side of the lake while the storms passed over. Heavy rain fell in front and behind us, but we got away with just a light shower, while Oli read the history of the park to us from the back of a map we’d found on the side of the trail. I hope the previous owners of that map had a spare … this is not a place to get lost! We carried on down McAlpine Lake and squeezed in a couple more portages before the end of the day (marked as “33” on the map). Emerging onto the water at the other end, we could see that all the obvious camp spots were taken, so we paddled around in the dusk, and then decided on a small island with what looked like a clear spot on the summit. Turned out to be a great site, with lots of wild blueberries to enjoy with breakfast.

The third morning involved a paddle, a short portage onto Batchewaung Lake, and then a longer, but very well trodden, portage onto Nym Lake, and then a paddle into the wind across to the take-out (marked on the map above by the short black road at the very north east of the map). Gerry hitched to get the truck, we packed up and drove the 2 1/2 hours back to Thunder Bay to arrive in time to put the kids to bed.

Camping at Neys gave us a further couple of days all together, though it was chilly and overcast, and last night we had some rain which set off the biting bugs in full force. Fun times with kids and friends, but we gotta get moving again. Should be about five or six days to Denver, back across the prairies.

England

May 31, 2014July 22, 2018 Chris TannerLeave a comment

Wow, what a trip! We’ve been bouncing around seeing friends and family for three weeks, staying somewhere different pretty much every night apart from just a couple of places. It’s been a real treat, getting to see everyone again. But it’s also made us both aware that we’ve already changed a bit, in just the 6 months we’ve been away. It’s also confirmed that we made the right choice by taking the leap and moving overseas to see new places. Not much has changed back home. Things will be much the same back here in the future if or when we return.

Warm spring weather welcomed us home, which was really nice.

The trip kicked off with Rich and Sam’s wedding in the Cotswolds, everyone looking rather dapper in tweed and flat caps. One of the older gents remarked on how he’d never before been at a wedding where there were more beards on the young chaps than on the olds.

Dad managed to fly over for a few weeks to be here at the same time as us which was awesome. We spent some good time catching up and sharing plans for the future.

Rose at the RWA exhibition of the sea in Bristol. It’s inspired me to start doing some more arty stuff!

Stayed a couple of night’s with Dan and Mel in their house project. It’s coming on bit by bit. Really interesting seeing what people are choosing to do with their lives as we go off on our own tangent. Dan and Mel bought a place just around the corner from ours in Totterdown, at a great price, that needed a fair bit of work. Right in the city, close to work, close to friends, but very urban. They are going to transform it into a really nice place, but it’ taking time. They want to get it done with and then go travelling.

Had a super fun ride around the usual trails with some of the regular Bristol bike crew; Mikey, Dan, Jason, Mark.

Jon and Helen have bought a big(ish) house in Exmoor with a small bit of land – quiet, remote and peaceful. On the way down to Exmoor to see them at their new place we stopped off to see Ben’s new field. He’s just bought 19-odd acres just south of Bristol – with a stream and waterfall at the bottom. A beautiful place, but there’s no planning permission and the ground had been abused by horse grazing for years, so he’s not quite sure what to do with it. At the moment he’s shacked up in a caravan parked in the trees at the top of the field. I’m looking forward to seeing what he does next with it.

The drive down to Exmoor was stunning. It’s still early enough in the year for the leaves to still be a little yellow – they’ve not yet filled up with chlorophyll, which gives a beautiful light. All the spring flowers are still out – with amazing bluebells in the woods.

I borrowed a bike from Jon and we had a great (short) ride on the moors which ended up in Porlock where we met the girls for a cream tea in a classic Devon tea-room garden with a thatched roof, next to a church, old chaps walking by and striking up conversation. This part of the world really is brilliant (in the sunshine…) – I could see myself getting a place here at some point. It’s easy to forget the grey, damp, windy months though…

It was also striking how we were the only young ones out and about. All the other yoof would have been at work.

Back in Bath we had a leisurely weekend hanging out with loads of relatives; I didn’t get any pics unfortunately. Iain and Helen were over from Canada, Bee came across from Sussex, Nick and Pip came over, and Dad was around too. It was sunny and warm so we spent pretty much the whole weekend outside. It’s great to see Mum and David so relaxed and at home in their new house.

Had some time with Pat, Mags and their girls, Rose’s buddy Liza, and with Box and Naomi. Little Billy being much more grown up than before. Here are a couple of pics from a day out at Warley weir near bath. The idea was to go swimming, but Box’s back is in a right state so he’s been out of action, and the girls didn’t fancy it. I just about managed to dunk myself under fully and splash back and forth so yeah, I think that qualified as swimming.

We then headed over to Winchester to see Rose’s Dad and his wife Jenny. I went off for a bike ride with Jen while Rose and her dad caught up. Again, we were blessed with a tranquil English spring day, cycling through quiet, flower filled villages and stopping for a picnic by the side of the road.

From Winchester we headed down to Weymouth to see Rose’s Mum and grandparents. We had another walk, this time along the Dorset cliffs near Ringstead. But we got soaked! As a birthday treat, Rose wanted to eat fish and chips out on the docks, so that’s what we did. Except Rose ended up choosing a battered sausage.

From Weymouth we dropped back into Bath to leave the car with Mum (thanks for lending it to us!), and then caught the train over to spend our last night with Nick and Pip before they took us to the airport. Again it felt strange leaving, having said so many hellos and goodbyes in just a few weeks – especially as this time it’s a one way ticket and we don’t know when we’ll be coming back.

So long, buddies and family. Hope to see you again soon!

Thanks Ted

April 20, 2014 Chris TannerLeave a comment

I sat on the bus on the way home from my last day at work, looking out at more windsurfers and kite surfers than I’d ever seen on the bay. It was really cranking. It was sunny. I had my kite gear ready to go in the van. I had to go out. So I rushed to the marina from the bus stop, jumped in the van and hit the highway back to the city, buzzing with anticipation.

Ugh, traffic. Loads and loads of traffic. Going IN to the city at the end of the day. What was going on?! Eventually arrived at Crissy fields launch site and started to pump up my 13m on the beach. It was really too windy for this kite, but I’ve held it down in some pretty gnarly winds before and I figured I could always just turn round and come back to the beach. A guy rocks up and quizzes me about my experience and whether I’d kited there before; giving me some good words of caution against going out for the first time in a “double diamond” kite spot with a kite that’s too large … I’m so fired up, wetsuit on and ready to go, I test it out anyway and discover that my lines are the wrong length and it’s not gonna happen. The kite won’t go up and I’m not going to be able to control it. Bummer. I was so looking forward to a session.

A guy comes in toward the beach with his kite down low ready for someone to catch, so I run over and grab it for him. He comes over to take his kite and we have the usual chit-chat;

“How was it?”

“Bit gusty. You going out?”

“Nah, my 9 has a puncture and my 13 is too big”

He pauses for a second.

“Hey, borrow mine for a bit.”

Hell yes I will! I hooked up, jumped on my board and had a short but awesome session while he took his dog for a walk. I couldn’t believe this generosity. After, we got chatting, and I offered to take Ted and his lady out for a sail. They came along Sunday afternoon for a couple of hours and we had a good time getting to know each other.

I was both disappointed at myself for not having been out kiting once since we moved here, and also inspired by a complete stranger lending me expensive, dangerous kit. It feels strange, finishing full time work and moving on from San Francisco at the same time. This place is a tech hub, sure, but I’m just not inspired to get into the startup and tech scene. I suspect for me the bay area provides more in the way of biking, kiting and adventuring – that I haven’t quite managed to tap into as much as I should have done.

Maybe sometime in the future. But, for now, onward travel beckons. When I’m back, I’ll definitely be giving Ted a shout.