Enjoying the scene in the Dells with Chris M
Ah yes, the perfect day. Does it really exist?
Yup. Just had one!
First off, this morning I woke up chilled, just like the other week at the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. Temperatures were very low here last night. I’d say I got up to the 50’s. Tucked way under the blankets, reaching my hand out when the alarm went off, then pulling my arm back under the covers thinking, “Brrr.”
There’s point one for the perfect day. I would love to live somewhere that it’s 50 every night and 70 every day. Great sleeping weather, great hiking weather, great climbing……ah, you get the point.
After forcing myself out from under the covers I got ready to roll out pretty early. Today I was bringing Josh out to the cool old mining site outside of Groom Creek. The location where I did the recent photoshoot for Fillabusta? Yeah, that’s the place. Well, Josh has some ideas for shoots out there, so he wanted to check the place out.
Now, heading up into the mountains early morning with a chill in the air means one thing. It’s even chillier up higher. So, going in shorts and a short sleeved shirt leaves you a little cool. But that was fine. The winds however did add an extra chill! C’est la vie! It was fantastic up there!
Prescott was beyond windy again today. That reminded me of spring time here, and I do enjoy the Spring here. Couple the winds with big puffy clouds and you have some super interesting scenes. Clouds cooking across the sky like nobody’s business. Josh was setting up a shot and we were in harsh sun and he said he wished the sun would disappear for a minute. I told him to wait a few, and sure enough, it ducked behind a cloud. Of course, the clouds were going so fast that it popped right back out again. Ah well……
On top of checking out the old main building with the super cool girders we took a walk across the stream to check out the mine site. There was water everywhere, and as it turned out a ton of the water was coming out of the mine shaft. Hmmmmm…..weird.
Once we wrapped up at the mine Josh and I headed off to check into another old abandoned house photo location. We found it, found the no trespassing sign, and moved on. A few more locations were scouted, then I dropped him back at his house so he could start getting into his vacation. Lucky guy is off for about a week and a half. Sounds good to me!
Since I was in town I decided to pop by Pangaea Bakery. Baguette for making a tasty sandwich for lunch. Oh, I do so like having my gallery so close to Pangaea! Best bread around! Of course, can’t have too much of a good thing, right? 🙂
Getting home I whipped lunch together, sat back and listened to an audio book and contemplated my next move for the day. The final decision? A walk out into the Dells. As I was getting ready to head out Chris Marzonie called and said, “I’m going to hike Thumb Butte. Want to come?” I told him I was heading into the Dells, so he changed his plan and met me out here.
Chris got the grand tour. Thor’s Wall, The Emerald City, Time Zone, Perfect Dome, and of course the route Perfect Idiot was pointed out. I think I’ve written about the Perfect Idiot route before here. It’s the climb where you’re guaranteed to smash your left shin on one particular spot every time. You think the left foot is good, then it pops off, you bash your shin and bleed, and then repeat it 15 seconds later. It took months to work out how to not bash your leg, and many of us kept practicing, so it goes to show how dumb we all were…..especially going back time and again!
After wandering the Dells for a good bit we plopped down on the granite to look out at the expanse and enjoy the winds. 70’s for the afternoon, great wind, cool scene. Excellent way to spend an afternoon.
I finally remembered to break the camera out and get a few shots. Chris was kind enough (uh huh) to point my camera at me as I dumped water down my shirt (uh, I mean took a drink). One of the shots actually froze the water drops I was spilling on me, but we’ll leave that image off the site for now.
Chris took a look at his watch after 3 and had to head home to meet up with his wife. Awwwww. 🙂
For the rest of the day? I hung out around my place enjoying the temperatures, relaxing, and letting myself not do a thing. Sometimes I have a hard time relaxing, but today was just one of those days that worked on all levels!
So yup, a perfect day indeed. Back to work tomorrow, but maybe it’ll be another great day. Guess I’ll have to see what comes…….
Me watering my shirt....errr, I mean having a drink.