Red Mtn. Mtn. Bike - Nate and Cody

Red Mtn. Mtn. Bike - Nate and Cody, originally uploaded by Towickgnar.

Towickgnar indeed!

Some ups, some downs, and some fairly serious "no fall zones." The skull and crossbones on the map (serious rough stuff) was pretty serious and rough, to say the least. I wish I had the cohonees to shred that gnar, but there was a bit of pussy-footing going on for the very worst parts. Yeah I was wearing a helmet, but mashing down a 50 degree slope to a boulder-jump across five feet of un-ridable, bigger boulders with a hairpin turn and a cholla cactus on the other side... that just looked painful. Not to say that we didn't each end up with cholla sticking out of us by the end anyway. And Cody's leg got in a fight with his gear sprockets - the sprockets won.

But as an alternative to the typical city rides around Phoenix, this was well worth the trek. A must-do ride for Phoenix bikers.

Mountain Dew Christmas Tree - Reft

This post has been removed for non-towickgnar content.

Giraffes - Reft

This has also been removed for non-towickngar content. You can do better, man! Go do something awesome. If you'd punched the giraffe in the face, that would be towickgnar.

Post removals are voted on by the founding fathers.

The Gates of Hell - Nate S.

Yeah, seriously. Trail 37, southwest of Payson, AZ. The "Hell's Gate" trail. And while this lizard certainly met his master on his way to Hell's Gate, we were more fortunate.

After recouperating from the Friday night massive campfire and Wild Turkey at the car camping spot, Cody and I packed up our bags and hit the trail around 11:00. A bit of rain was a welcome change to the AZ heat, and we worked our way up and down the foothills of the Arizona Transition Zone until we hit Hell's Gate. This is a nice canyon, deep enough in the wilderness that we didn't see anyone while we were there, and Trout and Bass in scores.

We met up with Nick down in the canyon, flied up our rods and hit the creek. Each pulling in a plethora of mini-fish, we decided to stick to the freeze-dried meals and let our finned-friends live another day. We'll be back when they're all grown up to feast.

Sunday, hiked out and hit up Alice's Restaurant. No, not the one from the song, and in my opinion not a particularly good one either. The heartburn and food poisening hit while I was driving home. Not a good combination, and it made for one of the most hideous / towickgnar drives in recent memory. It was all I could manage to do to write Adam the "I'm alive" text. That's probably my last trip to Alices Restaurant, at least the one in Young, AZ.

Taking a sick day now, so not all is bad.

More pics from the hike here.

towickgnar for sure (or maybe not) - Adam S.

so today (and probably the next few days as well), i am going to something that i havent done since turning 30. and yes i turned 30 in the middle of march.



what does this monumental event consist of you ask? well ask and you shall see.

thats right, i am doing laundry for the first time since the middle of march. it was pretty fun going through the pile of clothes and remembering all the towickgnar events that i ve been upto. there was the grand canyon hike, kick ball, mcdowell mountain music fest, NM rafting, browns peak, moe., making beer, lake havasu, and some strange things i am not to sure about.

pretty damn towickgnar if you ask me.

moe. - Adam S.

so i just got back from moe. the show was pretty awesome and not too crowded. we are actually 3rd row and had plenty of room. i ran into billy, moe (not the band; billy's friend), and ray, sunny, and skye (a family i camped next to in moab last year). after the show i bought a copy of the show on a jump drive, with these photos. i told a girl that i would send her a copy, so maybe that means good karma for me. then we went to another campsite and partied there for a little while. it was someone's birthday and they had a keg of double esb, very tasty.

Seattle Trip - Nate

Went up to Seattle this weekend to see the fam. Bro just got back from a towickgnar trip to S. America. I'm sure his posts will come.

Saturday, did some sweet sea kayaking. Saw some good wildlife and such. Bald eagles, hawks, coyotes and sea lions to name a few.

Sunday, did a hike up in the North Cascades, just outside of Seattle. I had to remind myself how green that place is. And it is green. More pictures here if you're interested.

Nate's Seattle Trip, originally uploaded by Towickgnar.

Fly Fishing Canyon Creek (near Payson, AZ) - Adam L.

I just finished a great fly fishing trip near Payson on a stream called Canyon Creek. So often in Arizona you end up at a creek with rocks everywhere, narrow banks, excess foliage, and few good fishing holes. This location put the stereotype to rest. I spent two days fishing every hole possible (enter Michael Scott - "That's what she said") on this creek. I drove up from Scottsdale early on Monday morning (left at 5am) and was on the river with my frist cast by 7:45. Day one was more getting back in the groove of things. This was my first time out since last year. It felt good to be on the water though. There is something very ToWickGnar about being out fly fishing on your own...know what I mean?

Anyways - day one was a strike out. Probably for a multitude of reasons: 1)on the river a little late 2)shitty casting early on 3)I was fishing with no pants. BUT, there were great areas to fish with some good deep sections in the stream where the fish were looking at my bait and laughing at me. With little to no foliage, you can really get some good long casts out and find your groove. After the morning, set up camp and got ready for the evening session where I would take the stream by storm and have my picture in the weekend paper for the catch of the summer...but, it started raining like hell and I was stuck in my tent playing solitaire and reading Pillars of the Earth all night (bummer!).

Tuesday morning I was up by 4:30 getting my things ready and on the water by 5:15. Another Arizona stereotype: "Arizona is hot in the summer time." Correction: "Phoenix is hot in the summer time." Where I was, it was as cold as a microwave dinner pre-microwaving. I spent the morning fishing in my hoodie and stocking cap. But, luck at last. Three fish in the morning session - all rainbows. I was using a hopper-dropper set up with a stimulator on top. Caught all three on a Pheasant Tail nymph. Man, what a good feeling when a fish hits! Rain hit again that afternoon so I decided to head back home.

WHERE TO FISH HERE:There are two entry points to this river. When driving towards the river you come to a Y in the road and can take FR33 to the hatchery (top portion of the creek) or FR34 to the lower section of the river. If you take FR33, you will drive until you have to cross the creek. Parking is just on the other side. I fished below this crossing to little luck but spoke with a father/son who said it was much better above the crossing. I'd try there.
If you take the FR34 route to the bottom of the creek, there are a few places you can try. First of all, there is an old ranch out there called OW Ranch. There is a bridge that crosses the creek to get to it. Anything you catch above the bridge you can keep (up to 4) anything below the bridge is catch-and-release. I found the better fishing to be below the bridge. When driving on FR34, you will come down a hill and then see the creek and follow the creek for some time. I would recommend pulling off the side of the road (there are a few designate spots) and hopping on the creek. Fish it upstream until you hit the OW Ranch bridge and then walk it back to the car.

This is Towickgnar

This is Towickgnar, originally uploaded by Towickgnar.

Wow. Just towickgnar...