to Zion

In a pretty spur of the moment decision, I decided to take off this weekend on a little solo adventure to California. The plan was to arrive in Cali via Death Valley, make my way up to Mount Whitney, then up to Yosemite, and hit up Great Basin on the way back through Nevada to Park City… in four days. But well, for reasons I will divulge later, it has become a three-day excursion in southern Utah. I spent Saturday night camped on some sandy BLM land outside Zion. Did you know you have to take a bus through Zion from April through October? I didn’t. Anyway, after realizing it was kind of stupid to bother camping in Zion for a few more days, I cruised this sandy BLM land for a nice, secluded campsite. I went too far though and ended up in an area so sandy I knew I had to turn around. But well, in turning around, I got stuck… bad. Take my advice, don’t try to get out of the sand like you would the snow. Anyway, luck was on my side and help was not far. Thanks to some kind strangers named Austin and Mick, my car was free in about an hour. We scrounged for rocks, dug Sarah Jr. out of the sand, jacked up my car, and neatly paved my way out of there. I found out later we could have just let some air out of the tires, but oh well. Completely covered head to toe in sand, mud, and dirt, I made my way back through the sandy roads that weren’t nearly as deep as where I got stuck. I found a nice little campsite along the river and set up camp where I stayed until this morning when I headed further south. As always, photos…

Filed under: misc, the great outdoors

fine Italian footwear

I wasn’t lying when I said I won $1,100 worth of free shoes. They were delivered the other day. Here’s what the big box contained…

I wasn’t told which models of shoes I would receive, only that I would get one pair climbing shoes, one pair approach shoes, one pair sandals, one pair mountaineering boots, two pairs trail running shoes, and two pairs hiking boots. I did get to request the sizes though. Unfortunately, that didn’t mean much. Two pairs are for Chris’s size 10 feet… but they sent 10.5s. I ordered one 5.5 and got a 4.5 instead. Luckily, they fit well, so I’m not sure if they knew that that model ran big or not (in which case Chris’s feet might be in luck if his pairs run small). I got what I ordered on the rest of them, but a few pairs are ridiculously large. But well, free shoes are free shoes. I can’t complain.If Chris’s don’t fit, or if he never gets his butt down here, I’m selling them on Ebay. I might also sell the top pair in the photo, seeing as they ring in at $285. But as ugly and expensive as they are, I haven’t decided yet. It would be nice to make a little money off my winnings though. I’m going to get taxed to hell.

The yellow running shoes are my favorite. They are a little big, but not bigger than my old pair of trail runners. I’ve worn them every day since I got them and already seem to be breaking them in well… I stepped in dog poo this morning.

Filed under: misc

say hello to sexy pumpkin

Sometimes my ridiculousness amazes me.

Filed under: misc

because kids in beaver dams = awesome

Filed under: the great outdoors, work

back to work

I’ve just realized that I have not posted work photos on here in an obscenely long time (perhaps you’ve noticed the demise of the ‘week in photos’ ever since the ‘non-week in photos‘… which by the way, I’m still feeling pretty strongly about). So anyway, here’s a cute one from last week…

Filed under: work

24 Hours of Moab

Headed down to Moab this weekend with Whit and the Team Sugar folks to join 5,000 other crazy people for the annual 24 Hours of Moab bike race. Yes, 24 straight hours of mountain bike racing, breathing dirt, and no sleep. All was well until somewhere around hour 12 when Whit crashed, hit her head, and ended up in the hospital. Whit is no stranger to concussions though, and if she keeps up with them, will likely be brain dead by 30… if she isn’t already. Anyway, here are a few favorites from the weekend, sans Whit’s mutant face.

Filed under: the great outdoors

I’m a winner!

Don’t believe in sweepstakes? Do! I just won eight pairs ($1,100 worth) of free shoes from LaSportiva… simply by subscribing to a magazine. Can you say AWESOME?

And yes, it’s legit.

Filed under: misc

the archives

In going through my archives from the Deseret Morning News today, I came across these two photos right next to each other… and it made me laugh.

And I also realized that maybe I should get a little more creative in my picture taking…

Filed under: misc, work

’tis the season

Might be a little early yet, but that didn’t stop me, Paige, and Tracie from carving pumpkins today. And for some ridiculous reason, I decided the last pumpkin needed to be a helmet. And when it was not large enough to fit my head entirely inside it, I vowed to soon make another that would. I’ll keep you posted.

Paige’s, Tracie’s, mine

Remy, our mascot

initial fitting

Tracie’s all laughs

alien

pumpkinhead

Remy again (because he’s so darn cute)

Paige

me and my pumpkin

Filed under: misc

on the rocks

I really wanted to sleep all day yesterday (and I had planned to), but I wanted to go climbing even more. Gotta take advantage of the weather while you can (and then head south when you can’t). It’s October 1st and it’s already snowed twice.

Filed under: the great outdoors