happy new year

the last ride of 2012.

Happy New Year everyone!

May 2013 find you following your bliss, be it on the trail or in the river.   Or both!  ;-)

local stash

fat tires 2012

From Fat Tires Stoke 2012

to hand

dry flies 2012

From Dry Flies Stoke 2012

white mesa

fat tires 2012

From Fat Tires Stoke 2012

colorado native

dry flies 2012

From Dry Flies Stoke 2012

day's end

fat tires 2012

From Fat Tires Stoke 2012

la junta

dry flies 2012

From Dry Flies Stoke 2012

merry christmas!

wishing you tight lines this season~

Merry Christmas everyone, from all of us here at la casa de Heitman

downhill daze

fat tires 2012

From Fat Tires Stoke 2012

sunset

dry flies 2012

From Dry Flies Stoke 2012

blue

fat tires 2012

From Fat Tires Stoke 2012

wrangler

dry flies 2012

From Dry Flies Stoke 2012

slate river trail

fat tires 2012

From Fat Tires Stoke 2012

backcountry cutthroat

dry flies 2012

From Dry Flies Stoke 2012

south boundary aspen

fat tires 2012

From Fat Tires Stoke 2012

2012 in pixels

2012.  Another good year by most accounts, a hearty thanks to you all out there for riding along!  

Here's hoping all the best for you and your loved ones this Christmas, and in the coming year~  mjh

From Dry Flies Stoke 2012

the great christmas tree hunt 2012

 

We have made the pilgrimage into our nearby mountain ranges to find our past Christmas trees more often than not.  

Not 2011 though, to our great regret.  

redrock

Christmas tree hunting in the Jemez range would not be the same without a stop for biscochitos homemade by everyone's favorite roadside Abuelita.

Friday night lights

My current client Los Lunas High School Tigers in fierce battle for State Championship.

Tied 7-7 at the half. Go Tigers!

14-7 mid 4th Q. Goddard driving....

Dangit. 14-14 5.53

4.4 secs to go, Goddard kicking from the 4~

Here we go!

Tiger down. Darnit

Great game boys!

daytrippin

Our daytrip up to the Juan proved most excellent.

In terms of company kept and fishing both.

 

We met several of those Sixteen....Thousand stockers recently planted by NM Game and Fish.  Never in my 15 years fishing the Juan have I seen so many pods of fish snarking the midge hatch up river and down.

Quite fun for the lad.  And for the father in witness.

Quantity scratched off the list, I led the boy back down the braids in search of Quality.

Head hunting the bigger alphas amongst the beta chatter.

The fish never stood a chance. ;-)

Weather has been simply incredible and looking to stay that way- get on out there and follow your bliss my friends!

boy v fish

On the Juan.

The fish never stood a chance.

Area 51: Redington Sonic Pro Pants

Just in time for Christmas shopping for your favorite anglers, this installment of Area 51 features the Redington Sonic Pro Pant(s).

small stream choice

This here Blogger-Angler-All Around Fly Fishing Expert was given the opportunity to review these fine wading pants at the start of the high-country season.  I jumped at the chance, figuring they'd be a perfect fit (see what I did there?) for my typical small stream adventures.  

I was right on all accounts, the Redingtons quickly replaced both my chest-hi waders and hippers in this regard, filling the high-country niche quite nicely.

Segue into the start of the season, runoff just coming down.  My favorite streams push enough water to convert a set of hippers into Sea Anchors of Death.  In the past, mitigating this risk meant packing my chest-hi's, even where streams were no more than 20' wide. On the flipside, late season's low waters previously made my venerable hippers the no-brainer, but seems I'd still manage to suffer the predictable over-topping on every other trip- brrrrr.  Enter the Sonic Pros, the veritable jack of all trades for mountain water.

Tech-wise, Redington will espouse the sonic welding technology that bonds their seams without stitching.  No big deal you might think, but I can remember back a few years to a failed wader experiment of my own, where the stitched seams proved the very point of abrasion and premature failure.  Looks like someone's done their homework here.

There is more attention to detail:

• The fit is spot-on.  The pants have a wide waist to ease gearing up over layers, and adjustable neoprene waist straps at each hip.  Cinched up, the straps remove any bagginess in the seat, inseam that may otherwise catch on deadfall, snags, barbed wire.  Not surprisingly, the fit seems designed to facilitate the boulder hopping, billy-goat scrambling I manage to get myself into.  Nice work, that.
• The pants come with optional suspenders, however I found they proved a necessity to keep the fit comfortably right at your waist.
• Integral gravel guards keep sand and gravel debris at bay, natch.  However, they feature a rather innovative curved lace hook that is the best I've come across in terms of staying locked-in for the day- truly fire and forget here.

totally unscripted moment

What about improvements you ask?  The Sonic Pros sport a couple of pockets with water resistant zippers bracketing each hip.  On the face of it, a positive, amirite? However, I found their capacity somewhat limited before they begin to impact your ability to make those bigger steps up onto boulders or over deadfall.  It is also important to remember they are designed to resist water, not guarantee waterproofing, so consider your storage needs carefully before jumping in.

My favorite mtb shorts have me wondering if the Redington design engineers would ever consider cargo pockets for this application- outside the thigh, a taller pocket might be just the thing to increase volume without impacting your ability to scramble around.  Hmmm we may have something here, I hereby claim patent rights Redington Product Engineers!  Just kidding Redington Attorneys!  ;-)

Durability- no question here.  At all.  A solid season's abuse use with zero leaks due to design.  I preface that statement only in that I did pinprick the shin executing a midstream face-plant of epic proportions.  A 60 second streamside UV wader repair had me back in business in, well, 60 seconds.  

mtb shin guards put to good use

So while the Redingtons perform admirably on the water, unfortunately for this here Blogger-Angler-All Around Fly Fishing Expert, there still is no cure for in-stream knuckleheadedness.  Hmmm...I smell future marketing opportunities Redington PR Reps!  Fingers crossed you get that solved for me before next season.  ;-)

Long story, short- these Redington Sonic Pro Pants prove just the ticket for high-country angling, earning a rightful place in DFFT's Area 51 vaults, and every angler's gear bag.

oh yeah, they catch fish too

moment of zen

10mi spin around our foothills this morning.

Four kids enraptured by one my favorite movies- The Natural.

Four pies needing attention in the kitchen.

Triptofan kickin in.

My moment of Zen has lasted all day.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Added to the list if things to be thankful for: fruity turkeys.

Being harassed by pack of wild dogs.

From our demented family to yours.

Tech

Inspired by our recent discussion about the role of technology in architectural practice.

These days it's (almost) all about the Revit.

good morning!

In a profession fueled by coffee, you know you've reached the pinnacle of your avocation when you finally churn your own espresso at the office.

Aahhhhh.

Rank doth hath its privileges.

pinning tunnero

wheels up

Will's new bike has him now able to keep pace with his older sis.

girl's got skilz

No small feat, that.
 

into every ride a little suffering must fall

roughriders

They are a joy to behold alright, for this proud dad.

blur

Man those kids can pin it!