Lima, day 2

After a long flight, I slept in at a hotel in Mira Flores. The rest of the crew, Miguel Glenn Kevin and Kim, arrived in the morning and needed to rest as well. Early afternoon we hooked up and went for a walk in Lima and ended up at a quaint restaurant. Super cheap food, and it included beer as part of the lunch order! Gotta love that.

Later, we went to the DoubleTree El Pardo hotel and tapped into my rum. Everybody in a happy mood.

Still early, we went for a walk down to the seafront in Lima. Cool area, we went to a bluff overlooking some surfers.

Lima, Peru!

I arrived in Lima Peru late at nite. Miguel and friends were supposed to have met me at the airport, supposedly arriving an hour before me. After waiting an hour and a half, it was evident they were not there. So I called customer service, paged Miguel. Some asshole taxi driver pretended to know Miguel and said they were at the hotel and had already paid for my taxi to the hotel. One helluva expensive taxi ride, but I arrived at the Hotel El Ejecutivo in Mira Flores, which actually was a nice part of Lima. Got a good nites rest and breakfast at the hotel was nice, but simple. People at the hotel were really nice, and there was free internet. I was able to email Miguel who confirmed that they were stuck in Miami and so we will meet up the next day.

At least I was clever enough to buy a really good bottle of Rum, that was essential for the festivities the next day...

Crystal Mt Loop 3600 ft elevation gain

Crystal Mt Loop

3600 ft elevation gain. Paul Smith, Glenn Rogers, and myself rode the Crystal Mt loop, counterclockwise. Reference: http://www.nwsource.com/outdoors/scr/of_detail.cfm?category=Biking&rt=41219 except in reverse of his directions. No snow on the climb. Lots of snow on the descent. Recommendation: do it clockwise to the top, then return the same way. I would wait at least 2 weeks before sending anybody down the way we did. The descent had lots of snow and navigation challenges just finding the trail, and even then it may be iffy.

The hikers we ran into were very friendly and spent time with us discussing routes and showing us a map. I'm sure we would have found our way out, but it was nice of them.

Currently, Crystal CCW to top and back would be fun. Doing CW or doing as a loop is strongly discouraged until the snow melts.

Mission Ridge and Chikamin

I met up with Clancy, Deb, and Brian at a campsite in Leavenworth. Two nights of camping under the stars, no tent, just open sky and a beautiful starry night.

Saturday we shuttled Mission Ridge. Very fun singletrack, a few climbs, just enough to keep us somewhat honest. After doing Mission Ridge, I don't know if I'll ever go back to the neighboring trail, Devils Gulch, this is much better. A swim in the river in Cashmere was all we needed to get clean and cool off. Later, dinner at Visconti's Italian Ristorante in Leavenworth was very good, I'll never go back to Gustav's.

Sunday, we shuttled again! At the top of the road to Chikamin Ridge, midway up Chikamin Tie, I realized I locked my bike to Brian's car and left the key in my car at the bottom of the trail. Doh! So, I gave everybody almost an hour head start as I drove down to retrieve my keys. I went into hyperdrive to catch them, which made for a thrill ride, as Chikamin Tie is very fast to begin with. Halfway down Minnow Ridge I caught up with the group. Still pumped, I cruised along and passed two other groups before doubling back up Minnow Ridge to ride with my friends. We continued down Lower Chiwawa. There was a creek crossing almost up to our knees, rather unavoidable as the bridge seems to have washed out years ago. Finished at Alder Creek Trailhead. The day was perfect to hit Lake Wenatchee for a swim afterwards and drink some hard Lime.