Parting Shots
So long for now, Utah!
So long for now, Utah!
It was the last day of Sol’s Zion National Park Backpacking Trip (technically just outside of official park boundaries). The only thing worse than setting up camp in a rainstorm is breaking camp in a rainstorm. Don’t get me wrong, I was grateful to have made it through the night, but waking up to heavy …
Today was Saturday on our Zion National Park backpacking trip, and predictions of Sunday afternoon thunderstorms were weighing heavily on my mind. I decided to stage our last night of camping as close to the exit route as possible; if the rains came in early, at least we could make it off the river and …
The cameras were out like paparazzi today as we encountered one mind boggling overhang after another. We got lucky, ran into fewer patches of quicksand, and settled into a nice rhythm and flow of river walking. We rolled in to our sleeping quarters around 5 pm, hungry and getting tired. It wasn’t the Ritz Carlton …
Technically speaking, the first several miles of Sol’s Redrock Backpacker, Southwestern, Utah trip are not too challenging. What does exist of the Virgin River is underground at this point, creating a compact and flat dry river bed. Occasionally we would opt to follow the 4-wheel drive road instead, which would take us up small sand …
In 1872 John Wesley Powell, one of the great early explorers and cartographers of the west, explored Sol’s Redrock Backpacker: Southwestern Utah trip with a mule train. It’s hard to imagine how he did it, afterall, this is “roaring water canyon.” Enjoy a journal excerpt of one of Sol’s Zion canyoneering guides, Aaron Ogden. ” …
The kids of the DC 3rd Ward gave new meaning to the phrase “herding cats” on our recent tubing trip down the Potomac River near Harper’s Ferry. But what did we expect with 5 adults and 15 kids between the ages of 8 and 17? We might have fared better had we been sent down …
I spent a perfect summer day hiking in the Shenandoah’s and thought the only place I’d rather be was Beijing. That was until I heard the news from South America. Not only am I not in Beijing, apparently I’m missing one of the most EPIC storms of the year in Portillo, Chile. Meanwhile, Freeskier Magazine …
Hiking Training Time I’m officially six weeks from guiding Sol’s Redrock Backpacker: Southwestern, Utah trip (out of official park boundaries Zion canyoneering trip), and it’s time to get this booty in shape! I had LASIK surgery 4 weeks ago today and patiently, diligently, obediently, painstakingly (do you get the picture?) followed doctors orders and laid …