Epic 11 Part Deux Begins

Rolling through Nevada on the way to Zion.

Perfectly groomed

5th chair

This morning was magical. Nobody on the mountain, the wind was light, the sky was blue and the corduroy was perfect. We were in the 5th chair of the day.

Ski-in Ski-out

Another bluebird powder day at Mammoth.

Moon over mammoth. Ready for first chair.

Powder day

Saturday was a powder day. Mammoth had 18" overnight and nearly 5 feet this week. Even with the President's Day weekend crowd there were fresh tracks being laid down late in the afternoon.

Today we woke to blue skies and corduroy. Just polished off some bacon and eggs in the parking lot and now off to carve some tracks. Epic 11 continues...

The elusive ice unicorn.

Bob Cooney
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Sent from my handheld. Please excuse brevity.

Clearing the snow

Bob Cooney
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The family that plays together...

Call of Duty fragfest in the camper.

The family that plays together...

Bob Cooney
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Sent from my handheld. Please excuse brevity.Call of Duty fragfest in the camper.

2 feet already and another foot+ on the way.

Bob Cooney
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Sent from my handheld. Please excuse brevity.

Snickers warming up In Devin's chicken hat.

Dog is my co-pilot

Snickers catching snowflakes on his tongue

Brendon and Wooly

Bob Cooney
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Sent from my handheld. Please excuse brevity.

Wooly the mammoth

Bob Cooney
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Arrival

Bob Cooney
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My. Whitney

Bob Cooney
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Sent from my handheld. Please excuse brevity.

Bob Cooney
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Sent from my handheld. Please excuse brevity.

Walmart camping.

Bob Cooney
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Sent from my handheld. Please excuse brevity.

Epic 11 Part A Begins

Our epic trip to Mammoth begins with an overnight at the WalMart parking lot in Ridgecrest CA. Apparently Wallymart encourages RV'ers to camp out in their lots. Weird marketing strategy but what the heck.

Spring Mountain Bike Adventure - Camping outside Moab

Klan Cooney will be heading back to Moab, the site of our 2008 Epic Summer Adventure, for some spring break slickrock biking, camping and overall epicity.  We'll start off with 4 days on the Virgin River in Zion National Park

After Zion, we'll west to the mountain biking mecca of the US.  Hopefully we can get a campground at Dead Horse; on the rim of the Colorado River, 14 miles from Moab, one of the most scenic campgrounds I've ever seen.

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Sharon swims with the fishes

OK, so they're not fish.  They're highly intelligent, sentient creatures that should not be in captivity. But this is a childhood dream for her, and it does raise awareness,  as once you've been in the water with them, there's no way to deny their superiority to other animals.  I must admit I was disappointed that DolphinQuest does not do a better job of using this as a platform to educate people to the plight of marine mammals; maybe they have not figured out how to do it without seeming hypocritical.  They are missing a tremendous opportunity.

Manta Ray Night Dive

We went with Big Island Divers out to the Manta Ray night dive site.  It's an amazing experience.  Dozens of boats cooperating to attract these giant graceful creatures.  Mantas feed on plankton, and plankton are attracted to light.  The dive companies set up high powered lamps at the bottom of the bay, and the divers all carry lights.  The more light the more rays.  We saw three rays this night.  The video below is from a professional who dives this site ever night.  Way better than what I could film.  Enjoy.

Yosemite next summer

Just booked 5 days at the Housekeeping Camp in Yosemite for next summer.  They have full day climbing lessons. I think the boys and I will take on Half Dome.