Hiking Goal for 2010 - History

I set a hiking goal every year to keep motivated and stay in shape. This year's goal was 650 miles. It fell today after an eight mile hike I did from my house to the Lesner Bridge and back. That walk brought my total to 651 miles. Any miles I add between now and the end of the year will be pure gravy. I think I'll up my goal in 2011 to 700 miles. All the local miles add up to a more pleasant experience when I finally do find myself out in the woods or on the side of a mountain.

I'm always looking for new hikes, new adventures, new challenges. This year I pushed myself on a three day, high altitude trek in the Maroon Bells region of Colorado on a trail called the "Four Passes Loop". My Uncle Gunnard set the trip up, and he and I put the packs on and stomp down those fantastic, sometimes difficult 28 miles. Here are the photos.

So what does 2011 and beyond hold? Here's my current wish list of hikes (it is ever evolving):

10)- Ben Nevis, Scotland- Highest mountain in the UK. I've walked right by this mountain when I've hiked The West Highland Way. It's time to take it.

9)- The Wicklow Way, Ireland - 127 kilometer trail through some of the most beautiful scenery in Ireland or anywhere.

8)- Camino de Santiago, Spain - 460 miles across Spain.

7)- Hadrian's Wall, Britain - This trail follows the wall built by the Romans around A.D. 122. The 84 mile route runs coast-to-coast.

6)- The Great Glen Way, Scotland - 79 miles of walking from Fort William to Inverness along the shores of Loch Ness. What's not to like?

5)- Vienna to Prague - 250 miles of newly established trails through the old country.

4)- Grand Canyon, USA - 25 tough, but amazing miles.

3)- Catalan Pyrenees, Spain/France - There are a number of routes, all of them great.

2)- Atlas Mountains, Morocco - This would be some high adventure and a good reason to put some boots down on African soil.

1)- Mt. Fuji, Japan - The ultimate dream.

The order of this list is not particularly meant to represent any importance, other then Fuji, which is number one. I hope to take a couple of these off the list in the coming year.

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It's been a long time...

...and so, I finally got my holiday-themed piece, "Santa Dali" done for Dan Taylor's mini-comix "Pork Chop". I can't recall the last time I put ink to bristol board and crafted a little comix nugget, must be close, too damn close, to twenty years. It felt good to make marks like that, to play with ideas and words. The final piece is closer to an illustrated ramble than a true, traditional panel and speech balloon comic, but still laid down nicely. One thing I enjoyed was re-engaging with the physical act of art making. It is a renewal of spirit for me and connects me to the world in ways this old laptop and the intertubes never will. Is this the beginning of a new chapter in my life as a underground comix artist? We shall see. In the meantime, there's a little taste of my efforts. I'll post the final three-page story as soon as the printed edition hits the streets.

Zahdah.

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Dali Doodle

Another surrealist, this time the godfather of them all, Salvador Dali. I've always appreciated Dali's style, his ability to extend his brand through the decades. He was doing the personality as pop-art cultural icon thing a long time before Andy W. was even thinking about art. Dali was way-out there, but had the power of weirdness and high, natural talent on his side, so laid his particular flavor of gravity down and the world flowed around him.

I did this drawing as he needed to be part of my little sketchbook of surrealist, but also because I'm working on a short holiday-themed comix piece for a pub out of Austin, Texas called "Pork Chop". Let's just say that Mr. Dali figures prominently in the storyline...

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Another view of Oscar

Here's a better shot of the sketch of Oscar Dominguez sketch. I used a better camera with a bigger lens, so a lot more detail is there.

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