View from the top of the South Kaibab. I took this photo on my way up to the South Rim after spending a night on the Canyon floor.

Signs like these are all over the place at the park as a warning. To give a little perspective I carried 4 liters of water and enough food for a full day on the same hike.

One night when I was sleeping in my tent I heard all sorts of creepy noises outside. The next morning I found this little guy a few steps away from my campsite. I thought it was a wild pig or boar, but later learned it was in fact a Collard Peccary. From wikipedia:

“Peccaries, indeed, are aggressive enough in temperament that, unlike Eurasian pigs, they cannot be domesticated as they are likely to injure humans. Indeed in recent years in North-western Bolivia near Madidi National Park there have been reports of people being seriously injured and killed by large groups of peccaries”

Hello Everyone! – I haven’t posted anything in quite awhile so I thought I’d just throw up a whole bunch of photos up.

First off was XXX Racing-Athletico’s cyclocross race in Jackson Park.

Dana showed up to cheer me & the rest of Team Pegasus on. She also took a bunch of pictures.

The next week we went to Kathryn & Chris’ amazing wedding. Here’s a picture of us at the wedding from the photographer.

Soon after I found myself with a little bit of a extra time which I used to go on a short trip. I decided to go to see the Grand Canyon and then visit my sister & her husband.
As part of preparations I got myself a new point & shoot camera that I could conveniently carry on my trip without the bulk & weight of my digital SLR. Here’s the first picture from my new Canon Powershot SD970 IS.

Here’s all the gear I brought on my trip.

Next time I’ll start posting photos from my actual trip. Thanks for reading!

I will be backpacking in the Grand Canyon for a few days and then hanging out with my sister in LA. My next ‘cross race will be the Halloween race in Washington Park, WI.

Chicago lost in the first round of voting

In 3 days the IOC will announce whether Chicago will be the host of the 2016 Olympic Games and man oh man do I really want us to get the bid.

To all of you people who don’t want the games: I understand how you feel. It’ll be a giant hassle not only during the Games, but also before & after. It may bankrupt the city. And yes I get that the money could be used for better things.

But still I want us to get the Olympics.

Update: According to this article in the NYTimes Chicago is the odds on favorite for the bid. However, don’t read past the 1st paragraph. Really. It just get’s depressing

and if you haven’t already check out Aleem’s blog from the Beijing Games

As a kid whenever my family would go on road trips we would only listen to a handful of artists. Simon & Garfunkel, Billy Joel, and Peter, Paul, & Mary were the ones that I really remember. It wasn’t until years later that I realized that quite a few of their songs like “Blowin in the Wind” were written by Bob Dylan and that “Leavin’ on a Jet Plane” was written by John Denver. Still so many of their songs are pretty much engraved into my brain and in fact Peter, Paul, & Mary were my first concert. Anyways, Mary Travers passed away today which is sad news.

This is my favorite song of theirs. I, literally, jumped out of my seat when I heard Colin Hanks play it on Mad Men last season.

Hey look its Emily & Charlie!