Hualapai Succulents

The Hualapai Mountains are a spectacular "Sky Island" range above the surrounding deserts of northeastern Arizona. Situated just southeast of Kingman, Arizona, they sit at the crossroads of 3 distinct desert regions - the northernmost extension of the Sonoran Desert (and the saguaro cactus), the eastern edge of the Mojave Desert, and just south of the Great Basin Desert. So, the flora from all those regions converge there, and for plant nerds like us, that means exceptional plant variety and more inspiration for our garden in Durango.

Hualapai Peak, at 8,417 feet

Strawberry Hedgehog Cactus 

Echinocereus engelmannii

*This cactus grows well in our Durango yard.

Strawberry Hedgehog Cactus

Barrel Cactus 

Echinocactus wislizenii

Barrel Cacti

Utah Agave

Agave utahensis

*This agave, and a number of it's subspecies, grows well (and so far, have survived for 4-5 years) in our Durango yard.

Photography by Lisa Bourey

Leafy Evergreens

The Hualapai Mountains, and much of the Desert Southwest, feature a wonderful array of leafy evergreens. Though equally fond of the Ponderosa Pine, Single Needle Pinyons, and Firs we found in this area, we get more than our fair share of conifers Durango and the Rocky Mountains, so find them slightly less intriguing. Below are some of the more interesting specimens we found. 

Pointleaf Manzanita Grove

Arctostaphylos pungens

*This manzanita is hardy in Durango and many are flourishing in our yard.

Pointleaf Manzanita

Close-up of the beautiful Manzanita Bark

Canyon Live Oak or Golden Cup Oak

Quercus chrysolepis

*While we have Shrub Live Oak growing in the Durango area and in our yard, sadly they don't keep their leaves through winter like they do in slightly warmer climates.

Canyon Live Oak with orange undersides of the leaves

Canyon Live Oak

California Buckthorn

Rhamnus californica

Aspen Peak In the Hualapai Mountains, at 8167 feet

Photography by Lisa Bourey

La Flâneur

Velo Flâneur is all about cycling culture, cycling history and the cult of hardcore road cycling. And we are now offering Tee Shirts from their Summit Collection. Find them now on the Bouré website!

The Alpe d'Huez

The Coal Bank-Molas

From Wikipedia:

The term flâneur comes from the French masculine noun flâneur—which has the basic meanings of "stroller", "lounger", "saunterer", "loafer"—which itself comes from the French verb flâner, which means "to stroll". Charles Baudelaire developed a derived meaning of flâneur—that of "a person who walks the city in order to experience it". Because of the term's usage and theorization by Baudelaire and numerous thinkers in economic, cultural, literary and historical fields, the idea of the flâneur has accumulated significant meaning as a referent for understanding urban phenomena and modernity.

The Ultimate Flâneur, Salvador Dali

Tailwind Nutrition

We will be putting samples of Tailwind Nutrition in as many Bouré orders as possible in the coming months. If you like it, you can use an enclosed Coupon for 20% Off your first order. We hope you like it!

Tailwind Nutrition was created by Durango athletes, Jeff and Jennifer Vierling, who've ridden Paris-Brest-Paris, RAAM Qualifiers, Leadville 100s and other endurance events. Having tried everything on the market to deal with stomach problems, cramping, and that sickly sweet taste from ingesting artificial ingredients and chemicals found in other drinks, they created their own drink, Tailwind. In a nutshell, Tailwind Nutrition is formulated to deliver everything you need in one simple, powerful drink.

• Potent energy and electrolytes: no need to eat or drink anything else. Just pour, shake, and go.
• Easy on your gut: push yourself and feel great
• Tastes great hour after hour: Not sickly sweet so you can keep on drinking
• Hydration pack friendly! Dissolves easily and rinses clean

Yabba Dabba Doo

We recently visited Hualapai Mountain Park near Kingman, Arizona - built by the CCC in the 1930s. I can't remember how we found this park on a previous trip some 5-6 years ago, though it made it good midway stopping point while headed towards a camping trip in the Mojave, and I can only assume it was simply a camping area designated on an Arizona Road Map in our glove box. Arriving late at night, we had no idea until the next morning that we had arrived in the town of Bedrock. We've been continuously amazed and intrigued by the work done by the crews of the CCC, so back we went to take a second, longer look. Astounding and lasting work left behind by those CCC crews, and all of it essentially done by hand. 

Cabin #1 - Boulder Run, upon arrival

Copper counter tops and back splash

Cabin #1 - Boulder Run, upon departure.

Ahh... Springtime in the West

Hualapai Mountain Park near Kingman, Arizona, which was built by the CCC camp, SP8A, who arrived in the Hualapai Mountains in 1935. Enrollees began to reconstruct Hualapai Mountain Road, widening it, straightening curves, and improving drainage. In 1937 the enrollees began to develop the park itself. They built retaining walls, trails, roadways, and stone bridges. They also built 17 rustic cabins; some are constructed with large-sized, rubble stone. Each has a stone fireplace and chimney and is set off in its own portion of the park, complete with picnic table and grill. These beautiful cabins are still in fine shape and available for rental today. For more information on this park, go the Hualapai Mountain Park website.

Follow Ned on Strava

Our personal favorite mountain bike legend, Ned Overend, has recently become a member of the Strava community, and you can follow every ride he does. Just go to the Strava website, Sign up (if you haven't already), search to follow Ned by his Strava name, "ned o", and start learning how the legend trains. And then when you come to Durango, you can compare your times to Ned's times on his favorite training rides. So, what are you waiting for?

Strava allows you to track your rides & runs via your iPhone, Android or GPS device so you can analyze your performance, set new PRs, and compare and compete with friends.

Mmmm...

Lately, in select Durango gardens.

Pasque Flower

Pulsatilla vulgaris 'Elegans'

Plants & Photography by Lisa Bourey