The Western Road Pt 2

So it has been raining here for a month straight - something very unusual indeed. And of course, slightly hinders my hiking routes and abilities. A hike in a gentle rain to a mild rain is a beautiful thing. Some of my favourite hikes have been this way. But in a downpour, that is a different story.

So i have been pretty limited so far to sticking to the car.

Until today!

I started off with a 12 mile hike today. Not a bad intro hike. This first hike began at Taggert Lake and wandered about from there. I love this hike because whatever bushes grow there are the most fantastically pleasant fragrant bushes! If they could bottle it, i'd buy a case!

The wildflowers are just starting to bloom. These arrow leaf balsomroot are fairly prevalent thus far, and frequently turn whole fields and hillside yellow.

A few of the trails had to be shut down due to lots of bear activity.

I love the wildlife here. Not only are there squirrels and marmots, but otters, badgers, big horn sheep, moose, elk, coyotes, wolves, eagles, bears, mountain lions, bobcats, and more. Ah! There is no place better!


The clouds let up today. (for the most part). But there is new snow on the mountains. This is going to make it hard to do the several high mountain and canyon hikes I was hoping for...

There is still snow in the mountains. This is fairly low. I have never seen snow this far down this path before. Though with the rain and upper 60's this week, there will be very very high waters everywhere here.

This gorgeous moose came out of the willows and swam across a shallow lake to the other side, where I came upon him again later in the hike. Watching a large animal swim is so fantastic. The water was up to his chin/shoulders at the deepest. And he is a tall creature! This was the 2nd of 2 moose i saw today. Both bulls.

Also spotted: herd of elk, 2 bald eagles in flight, several marmots, several antelope, some pelicans, and

a very large lovely healthy black bear!

I get to hit the trails again tomorrow am, and will have some more pics up soon. There is little to nothing like being in the mountains - these mountains. Some kind of connection lives here, some kind of divine presence calls this home. At least for me. Every time I am here, i feel i am home - home in the rightness of the universe and my soul. Home where God is ever-present and frolicking with the bears, flying with the eagles, meandering with the moose, and fluorescent in the flowering hills.

"I just wanna melt away into your grace/ I just wanna drift away into that sacred place/ where there's no more you and me/ no more they and we/ just unity/ unity." - Trevor Hall

This Friday at Firestone high School!

Brother's

Brother's Lounge is possibly the best venue in Cleveland for music. They have a nice stage, atmosphere, lights, and sound. And they are cool to work with - at least they have been with us. We were asked to perform there as part of an unsigned music series.

Bruce Hicks - http://www.brucehicks.com/ - came out again and got these wonderful and candid shots of us! Thanks Bruce!


We got there and loaded in. They have a patio section good for loading. But i have to say a major downside is the lack of parking. There is a lot across the street behind my friends restaurant. However this lot is apparently only for my friends customers. The entire lot holding a good 100 spaces. I parked there to unload as it was the easiest option at the moment. I got 1 load across the street and into the club.
The second one however, prompted the owner of the My Friends (of manager) to come actually running out into the street to tell me that she's gonna tow my car cuz it's only her customers who can park there (and there was actually only one sign in one small section of the lot - not where i was parked - that mentioned anything about parking only for her place). I politely told her i would move my van as soon as i unloaded my gear. I had my last load in my hands, and my hands were full.
To this, she said you cant park there. I'm gonna tow you, shrugged, and made to go back inside. I raised my voice and said i will move as soon as i put this stuff down. To which she shrugged - which was from her body language the same as flicking me off. There happened to be a space opening up in the club parking lot, so i dumped my gear there, and Jen sat in the spot while i moved my van.

So i would advise not dealing with that establishment. I dont think they have much in terms of vegan dining anyway, but she was harshly over-dramatic for no reason whatever. It quite upset me. Silliness.
But all that went away when we set up to rock. We were the middle band. We plowed through a pretty upbeat set, bringing it down a little for one of our best versions of Some Love, and then took it back off ending with a romping Ever After.

Which included a nice dancing section, and some dance-off head butting between Cameron and I!

Our now famous TV. People love watching TV. So now they can. At our shows.

Dominic rocking out a groove.

After our set, we roamed around and made our way to the outdoor patio for a few band shots. We have never had a full band picture taken. So, we thought we'd give it a try.

Backstage. Shenanigans... And you know we'll probably end up using this one...