The Urban Nomad

A nomad is a person with no settled home, who moves from place to place making a living.

These nomads are the types of people that have a time picturing themselves as the 60 year telling whoever it might be about how they worked for JimBobs Bean Factory since they were 13 and never looked back. These people look at life in the sense of travel, companionship of likeminded souls, and gaining the knowledge of life through hard times and good times while growing and learning from those experiences. Urban nomads have had more than a handful of jobs that have taken them all around the country or world. They chose this lifestyle on purpose in the form of being able to see new places, or just because thats what the universe had dealt them. 

Bear Peak in the city of Boulder, CO

Now this is just my philosophy on a good way to live your life. In the year 2014 I had lived in four different cities all in one year. La Crosse WI, Longmont CO, Duluth MN and back to my home town in Kenosha WI. I have gone from being a carpenter, student, welder, professional trail builder and now back to welding. And thanks to Western Technical College in La Crosse, I now have the opportunity to possibly move back to Colorado or become a Yooper through welding careers. 

(Yooper: Upper Peninsula Michigan resident)

Driving a packed sedan, leaving Colorado.
Nothings forever.

Moving into my Longmont cottage

For us Generation Y's, this is a hard lifestyle for our parents to be excited about sometimes. Many of them are or have been those JimBobs Bean Factory workers and are hard stuck on finding that one job that you stick with even if it may not be what you're passionate about. But for me, how am I going to know what I am passionate about if I am not exploring the possibilities? Is this a good way to live, I don't know? I have seen so many amazing places in the last year and that is all worth it for me. Sure I am in search of that perfect company and perfect house and perfect atmosphere and yes its degrading to be back home with Mom and Dad but in the end you gain the perspective and appreciation to know exactly what you're looking for. The Generation Y's can see the light at the end of the tunnel. They are focused, determined, and driven, they are just driving through a different tunnel as our parents and grandparents. 

Camping at Winter Park, CO

Emerald Lake- Rocky Mountain National Park, CO

To all of the new generations: 

In the mean time... enjoy where you are, if you don't... move. 

Explore, experience new things, grow, love, be happy and get lost once and a while.

Duluth Traverse: Following Dreams

July 2014

This is a pretty late post, but I felt this was a post that needed to be written. 

In April I had graduated from Western Technical College with a welding degree, my first college graduation. Yes, I was a little late but I had taken the time to grow and figure myself out (4 years after high school!), but that's another story. I had my first job offer before I had even graduated pipe welding at Blackeagle Energy Services in Berthoud, CO in between Fort Collins and Boulder. This had been a dream of mine to live in Colorado for years and it was finally happening.

Copper Harbor Trails Festival. You must go.

After a few months passed by I was getting restless. I contacted Aaron Rogers of the Copper Harbor Trails Club in Copper Harbor, MI (now under the name Rock Solid Trail Contracting, LLC) and had still had the offer to go and build trail in Duluth, MN. This was also a dream I had really wanted to see through. I had taken many courses on mountain bike trail building including a Trail Master Certification course from Mike Riter of Trail Design Specialists out of Georgia. After much pondering and weighing of pros and cons, I took the job. It was a bittersweet last night in Colorado.

My last night in Colorful Colorado.


I pulled up to a big beautiful newly renovated trail house in Duluth 16 hours later. Before I could even unpack I met the crew at Spirit Mountain, Minnesota's first mountain bike accessible ski hill just down the road from the house. The guys were half way done with Spirit's first downhill race course.

Nils Hempel dropping the rock at Spirit.

Shortly after introductions were made, the DG, also known as the Duluth Grill, was our next stop. This was our main source of nourishment at least three times a week, the place was out of this world. The DG has anything and everything organic, from the Huevos Rancheros Skillet to the Smoked Salmon Wrap to the Quinoa Curry Bowl, this place had it all. 

13402: The Trail Haus

Duluth Grill boasting its fresh grown veggies right in the lot.

The Duluth Traverse is going to be a 100+ mile mountain bike trail system that traverses through the entire 26 mile long city of Duluth, MN. We were in charge of building the ending trail sections in the Mission Creek part of the city.  

Duluth Travers Map.

Trail Building....what separates the men from the boys. Duluth is a very unique place, a place where you can lose your mind in the woods easily. Many assumptions categorize trail building as digging paths through the woods. Thats half correct. Trail building comes down to a fine balance between building a trail that is a ripping good time to ride but is also sustainable and sheds water correctly. The soil in Duluth made this task extremely challenging. Imagine raking, and shaping miles and miles of art class clay. We dubbed this soil, The GnarClay. Along with dealing with the clay, we were building boardwalks and armoring steep poor drainage areas with paver stones. All of this material had to be hauled in by hand. 

Morning misty hike into work.

Beaver pond trail on a misty morning.

Trail serenity.

Zebulan Featherly doin work.

The dreaded GnarClay eating everything in its path.

It was fall, the heat was gone and the colors and rain were here. We had been building for two months now and trails were linking together, boardwalks were connecting spliced bits of trail and we were riding bikes out of work everyday. Even though we were beat tired and struggled to open our hands from swinging tools all day, there was nothing better than gripping bars and riding what you just built all the way down to the house.

Throughout this move, I had met many great people. One of them actually got me into photography. Some of these people I will be friends with forever.
 One thing that has really stuck with me is to follow your gut feeling and heart. Do the things you love, take chances, be adventurous. You learn a lot from living in different places and meeting new people. The world is filled with so many diverse people that have a lot to offer you. 

Live life to the fullest, open your eyes, stop to smell the flowers and don't look back.

Getting muddy in the fall rainforest

First downhill race at Spirit Mountain

Paver stone berms for days

Nils Hempel whippin it out

My buddy Sam and his dog Pluto

Boardwalk installation 

Chips from the saw

Haul out day. Cleaning the machinery

The Closest of Them All: Family

Dec. 25, 2014

Merry Christmas to everyone. 

I just quickly want to share a few Christmas memories with you. 

No matter what you celebrate, I hope you were surrounded by the people that matter the most and the best food and the jolliest laughs were shared by all. 

Christmas Eve is celebrated on my Moms side of the family at my Grandpa Doug's house. You can bet that there will be a good rum and coke or rum and nog waiting for you when you get there. This is tradition people, my Uncle Rick is always there with his partner Rich, my Grandpa and step-grandmother Martia, my Dad, Mom and Brother are all together. This time of the year is truly magical. You may say that there is a good, warming, full vibe that seems to come around this time of the year. No matter the amount of presents, the time spent with the family is forever priceless.

Christmas Day was always about waking up to the smokey smell and crackling of the fireplace, fresh almond/cherry kringle and the Charley Brown Christmas album resinating throughout the house. After presents, a good scrambled egg and bacon breakfast cooked by Dad was eaten to settle the grumbling from all the sweets previously. This was the one day of the year that I remembered eating sugar first thing in the morning! This was also the one day of the year that there were no worries. No worries to be had, anywhere. We didn't have something to do or places to go, we just enjoyed being home by a warm fire and good food. 

My brother Max is working for Oakcliff Sailing School in Oyster Bay, NY on Long Island for at least the next year and flew home for Christmas. He is also a snowboarder and my Dad is a ski patroller at Wilmot Mountain so naturally I had to switch mental gears. Biking season is over even though the weather is quite balmy, so it was time to dust off the ole one plank. We headed for the hills on a beautiful 40° sunny Christmas day and slush surfed for the rest of the day. Having a Dad and Brother that ski and snowboard is absolutely the coolest thing ever. Theres no one more that I would rather hit the slopes with than these two guys. Needless to say we had an awesome but wet day. Couldn't have spent this day any better.

My brother Max shralping

Max grabbin wood

Pickin some nose

Missed the grab!

Tweakin hard

Duo dude jump.

Slush surfin'.

I love my entire family and am so thankful for everyones good health, I don't know what I would do without you guys.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Winter Camping With The Boys

Dec. 21, 2014

People have a hard time sleeping in the woods to begin with but when I got the call from my buddy Ryan McCarthy to go camp for the weekend up near Tomahawk, WI, it was an offer that was hard to resist.

 It was a familiar drive that I have taken many times before, and as soon as I got to the snowy covered boat launch drive, I got stuck. We quickly got her unstuck and down to the camp spot...silence. The snow was softly falling as I got my ENO hammock out and strapped up. The boys were already set up for the evening fishing and drinking. 

Ryan Wilhelme setting the tip up.

As the night progressed, the beers became our bait on a hook. Good old PBR's and High Lifes were circling throughout the night. 

Living the dream.

Wilhelme stoking the stoke.

15° calls for a fire to warm the soul.

The fire was hard to keep going, we all drunkenly brainstormed the ways to get her goin' but could only keep it for about two hours. Not even the Eagle Scouts could keep it up. I realized looking around at this group of guys that truly the simplest things in life reset your brain and soul. The silence of the brisk winter air, crunch of the fresh snow, tingle of an almost frozen beer and the smell of the smoldering wood send your senses reeling. In this silence we realize that life is about the small things.....and we were freezing, out comes the shanty.

Fisheye

On Right: Tom lighting the lantern in the Shanty Shack

Base camp midnight thaw out

The next morning brought a whole new perspective on our location. I had arrived the previous night not really knowing where we were exactly. First things first..."waterrrrrrrrrr" in a raspy hungover voice, and then food. Tom was in the Shanty Shack prepping up some hash browns and checking the morning fish conditions. 

Island base camp 8:00

Between the Trees. Looking down the island.

Bearded Tom on the grill.

Morning Mist

That afternoon was filled with exploring the lake on 9" thick ice, a little frolfing and some shredding. Wilhelme hiked his way too small, 147cm board up this sweet little wooded hill on the island and ripped down it with one beer in his hand and chew in his lip. 

Wilhelme shredding the gnar and smacking the lip.

This lake was magical. McCarthy pointed out to me the green pine line that surrounded the lake edge and behind that was the brown dead oaks and spruce dense woods. This place was untouched in the winter. We had it all to ourselves. As we adventured out, we discovered an open inlet that connected the lake we were on (Seven Island Lake) to another. We walked through the snow covered pines getting snow down our backs as we bumped into branches covered in snow. It was something out of a fairy tale. We finally made it to the other lake to find two other fisherman with the whole lake to themselves. Bastards. They were only catching small perch in 4' of water though. We headed back to check on our tips. Success. Finally.

McCarthy lost in a gaze.

Inlet to the neighboring lake.

Finally some Walters (walleyes).

We couldn't have asked for more beautiful weather and better company these past two days. 

Needless to say, we will be back Seven Island Lake, we will be back.

Seven Island Lake, WI.