We got up early after a decent night of sleep and were the first ones to the Gunnison park. It ruled. We both felt better right away and were doing tricks we had to work up to last time as warm ups. I had a line of kickflip over the b/s hip a kickturn and then a b/s flip that felt great. That alone made my day. Skated the big bowl for a tiny bit. Failed at back smiths in the little bowl. Watched Ollie back 50 in the older bowl (photo above). Front 50’d the old ledge and crook’d it. Did a ton of ollies over the hips, some of which might have left the ground. Front smith the 3 foot section. Ollie did a first try fakie shove into the mellow bank in the old section as well as f/s halfcab. We skated for quite awhile. Doesn’t seem like it from this entry, but we skated for almost 5 hours and it was hot. We ended with Ollie front 180’ing the flattened cone and then trying back 180 and giving up mad. First time I’ve seen him actually frustrated. Then we did the 4 hour drive back to Boulder and it was done. What an amazingly fun trip.

Had a long drive to Montrose and an almost longer driver around Montrose to find their stupid park. Worst directions/signs ever. It was super hot when we got there and neither of us slept that well camping the night before. Ollie was over it immediately and almost didn’t skate at all. I did Donut Duty a couple times, did a couple back 50s, lost speed and was over it. That park has gone to crap. There are chunks below the coping, there were firework debris everywhere, huge piles of cotton/weeds, and water running through the park. I had high hopes for it since this park was such a formidable park when we did our Indecisive trips in the mid/late 90s. Oh well, it doesn’t always work out. We went camping again and had a blast.

We drove from Buena Vista to Gunnison. First stop was the park. And there we stayed for quite a awhile. My legs were still not feeling so good. Ollie did the bunny hop right away. So rad. He loved that park. Rolled in on the 3 foot section, did front and back 180s all over the place. The front 180 from the deck into the bank was my favorite. Lots of little half cabs over the hips too. Some other dudes were at the park. Some of the nicest locals I’ve encountered. It was cool talking to them. Ollie and I skated the spin thing and rockride for awhile. I got quite a few spine transfers. Roll over, front 50 to back 50, front feeble to back smith, front feeble to back smith to fakie. Got a tiny f/s flip over the hip and a bad b/s flip where Ollie said “Over 40 it’s a make” that really cheered me up. We skated for a long time. Ollie out lasted me. Oh yeah I got a grind over the little 3 foot love seat thing. Off to camp ..

Ollie and I embarked on our first father/son skate and camping trip. We left Boulder pretty early and traffic really wasn’t too bad. We went to Silverthorne and Ollie started ripping right away. The little fly out above, 180s up and down the little banks, dude was having fun. My legs were not well. Something about the altitude and arthritis doesn’t mix well. I fell pushing at one point and got upset. That’s how my trip was starting. I think I was way too excited about it ahead of time. I failed at rolling in, but did a few things I was ok with. Front slashes in lines, back 50s in taller spots easy, b/s flip on the new bank, front rock and had fun pumping.

Then we went to Leadville to meet Rob and Fuzz. We were there way before them. Neither of us were skating great. In fact after awhile we decided to stop skating until Rob and Fuzz arrived. They finally did and things felt better pretty quick. Rob had skated there before and had some really long lines. Long manuals, fast back 50s, poppy ollies on b/s hips, standard rob steez. Fuzz killed it with lots of lofty f/s ollies, a gnarly kickflip to fakie, more lofty ollies, high speed front 50s. Ollie got into gear and had a bunch of front 180s into a little kicker, mongo pushes, rolled into the little qp, manual up the a frame, and a rock fakie in the bowl. Leadville is at 10,000 feet. Rob says it’s a good excuse to use for feeling exhausted the whole time. Good, because I needed it. I had a funish line of front d on the little qp, kickflip up the curb, back 180 off. A b/s flip on the round hip, not much else. The bowl was my favorite part and Ollie and I only briefly skated it at the end of the session. I had a fun little roll in and some little grinds. Then we went to my mom’s to watch fireworks in Buena Vista.