Mrs. Maadjurguer needs a new camera

Saying no to skiing is perhaps the toughest call I ever make. I have been planning a trip up to Flag to ski some of the Cinder Cones with tRoy on Thursday, however I was eying the road conditions approaching Flag and it was not looking good. Raising snow level to 7000 means rain and icing conditions from just north of Camp Verde all the way to town. I've done it plenty of times, but never enjoy it. I'd rather drive a 2 wheel drive vehicle up Wolf Creek Pass in a whiteout than drive I-17 with half an inch on the ground with a 4x4....AZ crews can't clear roads worth a sh!t. Still, with a few feet over the past couple of days to include another 10-14 inches tonight...I was feeling the strong pull of the snow. This is a feeling which won't abate until the first 100 degree day of 09' smacks me in the face. Wanting to delay the inevitable decision I had to make and hoping something would shake lose in my brain, I headed out for a sundown run of the Hawes loop before calling tRoy to discuss tomorrows plans.
















Something about that warm glow makes my bike look like it belongs here.

















The recent rains perked up the most stubborn bushes and cleared the air for a beautiful sunset.
















Shadows loom over the bajada while Four Peaks basks in the glow of sunset and......Snow.....damn, I'm here to clear the snow off my brain....not have it rubbed in my face!

Coming down to earth, both literally and figuratively; I head back down the hill to complete the loop. Along the way, I decided to shoot some moving video for some B-roll on just about the most benign section of trail out there....and proceeded to drop my wife's camera. Just do me a favor: as you watch it here, imagine Samuel Barbers, Adagio for Strings playing in the background. Doesn't ring a bell, then this will....it was the Adagio playing in the movie Platoon when Willim Defoe's character was being riddled by bullets as Tom Berringer's character left him to die. The video here is especially poignant when after the camera goes down, it continues to record for a period of time, looking up with it's last bit of life, hearing me roll to a stop, dismount my bike and crouch over it's terminally wounded body....apologizing.

I suck....I know it. Did I not just post a while back that I need a POV cam for this crap....now it looks like Mrs. Maad will be getting a new camera. This was the final nail in the coffin for skiing with tRoy tomorrow. I'll go to work and steal away on my lunch break to buy another camera...hopefully before she reads this post. Early Christmas present honey!