Memories with my brother in the Outdoors

Myke was such the outdoor guy and loved being in the woods, on top of the mtns and fishing on the water.  There are so many great memories but here are a few with pics.

Skiing-4

Image 2 of 22

CLIMBING  and BIKING – For Myke’s Bachelor party he wanted to get outdoors and had an idea to head down to Zion National Park where we hiked up 6-7 miles to the upper rim and then canyoneered (hiking/Rappelling/swimming)  down to the bottom of the canyon with a couple of his buddies Shawn and Ben. It was full on Batman and Robin stuff with ropes to belay down vertical faces and then once we got to the bottom we had to hike/swim thru the river to get out. It was an all-day endeavor and the beers and food tasted so good back at our campground. We camped out for days and went mountain biking on nearby Gooseberry Mesa as well. After that we drove into Vegas but that’s another story. No vegas pics or story, sorry.
   

When he lived in Boulder just out of school we took a roadtrip down into Moab where we rode the Slickrock. I took him on some tough trails that really tested him. So then the next day he says let’s go climb what he called an “easy” route up this sandstone rock. Well it was called Ancient Art and it was vertical,  steep and treacherous that required us to be roped in. He totally ambushed me and scared the crap out of me taking me up that climb. He was real happy with himself about that.  Even got a chance early on to urban mtn bike thru NY City with Li-Ming and Myke when they lived there. 

SNOWBOARDING – Myke rocked on the snowboard and could pretty much ride anything with grace and style while just ripping it up. In 2017, Shawn, Myke and I hit the North Cascades for a heli trip out of Mazama, WA in just perfect blue sky, no wind, and great snow conditions.  We ended up doing 8 bumps (that’s a heli ride to the top) and on the final trip the guide and Shawn headed down and Myke and I looked at a killer line of untouched POW that started on a rocky ridgeline and then dropped into a perfectly gladed tree line. He said “you go first since its your birthday” and I said “no its okay you go first.”  Then we looked at each other and said lets rip it together and we blasted down that run side by side whopping and hollering the whole way down to da choppa. When the girls were ready to ski Myke traded in his board for skis so he could join them and they are little mountain rippers now and they hoot and holler down the mountain just like their Dad.  We also had many unforgettable Bro Powder trips where we would watch the weather and all 4 brothers would meet in either Colorado, Utah or Washington for a heli or cat skiing trip and good times with the brothers. 

FISHING – So many good times fishing with my brother. Great times with his girls along with their excitement yelling “FISHON” bringing huge smiles to our faces. Trolling around our Not So Secret Lake for trout with three girls focused on their rods and whatever snacks they could find in the boat was great joy.  One salmon fishing story is we met at my boat in Edmonds at 6 AM and he tells me, “I have to be in Seattle for a 2 PM meeting to close a deal at F5 so we better not go to far and catch ’em quick.”  I laugh and blast north 20 miles to Port Townsend where we fish deep on Mid- Channel Bank. I tell him to make sure he sets the hook good and sure enough he grabs the rod and sets the hook not once but three times, violently slamming  that hook into a nice King Salmon. Between fish battles he worked on his laptop and he made the meeting and the deal at F5. Lots of fun visiting our sister in Alaska too and laying a smack down on Silvers too especially on his 40th Birthday which was supposed to be a surprise but I blew the surprise with Myke which is another story.  

Myke had such a passion for the outdoors and made it a point to get his three girls out there at an early age and he has passed that passion onto them and I wish that he was here now to make more of his own memories with them. I love you Brother and hold dear so many great memories of you.

Submitted by Kurt