Saturday, July 25, 2009

An Alpine 4th



I went skiing on the 4th of July this year, which was a first for me. Me and my friend Mark drove up into the Uintas and skied Baldy Mtn (elev. approximately 12,000ft). The chute we intended to ski down wasn't visible from the side we approached from, so we weren't really sure what we would find in the way of snow. After summiting, we found that the majority of the snow in the chute had melted, so we found an alternate route and then hiked back around the base of the peak to the truck.



While there wasn't a ton of snow, we were able to make some good turns and the snow conditions were surprisingly nice.



Mark hauled a couple of fountain fireworks up in his pack, so we lit them off at the top to pay tribute to Uncle Sam. It was kind of windy so it took awhile to get them lit, but it was a pretty good show.

Saturday, June 20, 2009

Havasupai




I was recently able to spend a few days in Havasupai. Havasupai is a beautiful area in the Southwest desert with some pretty spectacular waterfalls, cliffs, and pools. I've heard great things about it for years, but have never made it down there until now.

Havasupai is only a few miles from the Grand Canyon. It is a little over an hour from Peach City, Arizona and is located on reservation land. To reach the falls and camping area, you pass through the little indian village of Supai.

Our crew consisted of friends Paul and Amy Bankhead, John and Kara Bankhead, Dave Jenkins, and myself. We spent a night in St. George, UT on the trip down and rode a fun bike trail called Stucki Springs the following morning. We then proceeded to drive to the trailhead, and hiked the approx. ten miles in to Havasupai that evening.



Last fall, there was a huge flash flood that altered some of the landscape pretty dramatically. The rest of our group had been numerous times before, and were quite anxious to see what had and hadn't been affected. It was interesting to listen to their insights over the course of the trip regarding the differences between the area in it's pre-flood state, and it's current state. There have been some significant changes (including the loss of Navajo falls and the creation of two entirely new falls), but the area is still incredible and should continue to clean up over the coming years.



We hiked in Wednesday night, and hiked out Saturday morning. We explored the effected flood area, and followed the river all the way down to Beaver Falls where we did some cliff jumping. It is possible to continue for a few more miles to the Colorado River, however, we turned around at Beaver Falls.

It was a fun trip, and a great opportunity to see a very unique and beautiful environment.

Thursday, May 28, 2009

The Galaxy



There's been a significant amount of new route development up Rock Canyon the last couple of years. A few weeks ago, I went on a recon mission to scope out a new area known collectively as The Galaxy. Two of the walls in particular looked really nice.



The Galaxy is situated fairly high up in the canyon, so the views are great and the crowds are currently non-existent.



This Monday was Memorial Day and I had the opportunity to head back up. Me and my friend Jeremy climbed some really nice routes at the Milky Way. I look forward to returning over the course of the summer to check out the rest.

Saturday, May 2, 2009

BT2- Ten Words

A video clip of one of my favorite musicians, Joe Satriani, from the DVD Satriani: Live! (2006, Anaheim).

Thursday, January 15, 2009