Escalante Natural Bridge

Check out the Escalante Natural Bridge behind me that we came across near Escalante. It totally looks like someone came along and carved it out.

Did you know that the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument is larger than the state of Delaware?

Howling with Wolves - Starring Aspen

Earlier today I was over at the Nat Geo website and I stumbled across a recording of some gray wolves howling. Now, I've never thought that Aspen resembled the wolf (fox-maybe, dingo-certainly) but I'm starting to think she might have a shot at joining a pack if she gets the opportunity. Anyway, call your dog(s) into the room and enjoy her audition tape:)

The Boulder Mail Trail

We attempted a hike on the Boulder Mail Trail the other day.  However, when you can't even see where the trail begins it tends to slow you down quite a bit.

Supposedly, the trail starts where I am standing.

We did get to cross over the Boulder, Utah airport?  Yes, it does say "Boulder Airport and UFO Landing Site.

Merry Christmas!

Snowball fight in Utah!

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Adventures of Arnie

This post is for all the Arnie fans out there.  For those of you who haven't had the fortunate experience to meet Arnold, he is our distinguished (and generously proportioned) beagle mix.  He's had a bit of a rough year...first he hurt his doggie ACL, then the vet had the nerve to tell him he needed to lose 15lbs (which is particularly hard when you're 12 years old and built fairly low to the ground).  Anyway, he's been hitting the trails for just over a week and is progressing nicely.  Here are a few photos for anyone needing their Arnie fix!

Arnie has been trying to make better dietary choices.  Lately he's been snacking on snow instead of fattening doggie treats.

He's a big fan of the slickrock routes!

He has no problem letting us know when he needs a rest.

The Box

We checked out The Box hike just outside of Escalante today.  An amazing 8 mile hike through a canyon in the Dixie National Forest.  Used the new Leki Makalu Thermolite trekking poles today. They are SWEET!

The view coming out of the canyon.

JD entering The Box.

Presidential Traverse - Video

We obviously did not run out to New Hampshire and then back to Utah in a day.  We just put this little video together from our Presidential Traverse earlier this year.

Click on the image to view the video.

The Devil's Garden

We spent part of the day exploring the Devil's Garden, which is located down the Hole-in-the-Rock Road near Escalante, UT. The dogs, especially Aspen, had a great time running around the rock garden.  The garden has a rock arch, a natural bridge, and plenty of rock goblins.  Check out some pics.

The entrance to the Garden

Emily, standing with the goblins.

A rock arch.

The Gulch

Today we checked out a few hikes down the Burr Trail road just outside of Boulder, UT.  The Gulch Trail is a 19.4 mile hike through some beautiful scenery.  I know, I know.  You are thinking that we are so hard core to hike 19.4 miles in a day.  Well, we are hard core but we didn't hike the whole trail.

Entrance into the Gulch

Did you know?  -  The Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument is actually managed by the Bureau of Land Management instead of the National Park Service.

Lower Calf Creek Falls

A short 6.4 mile hike (6 miles from the trailhead, 6.4 from the parking area) to the falls at Lower Calf Creek today. The hike was great and it wore the dogs out which makes for a quiet evening.

Lower Calf Creek Falls

We are gonna hit up the 6.6 mile Escalante River Trail tomorrow. I think Arnie is gonna take the day off. He is a bit tuckered.

We have arrived in Escalante, Utah!

So, we arrived in Escalante late Friday night and were welcomed by about 8 inches of snow. We also received another 6 inches on Sunday morning. If you know anything about the Grand Staircase-Escalante, it gets about 16 inches of snow all year on average.

Hopefully the sun will come out and melt it all so we can get to hiking and write revisions for a couple of Falcon Guide books!


The car after a morning snow.


Our little cabin for the next month.

The End and the Beginning

Capitol Reef National Park

We have officially wrapped up our careers as Traveling Trainers for Leave No Trace. We spent three years on the road and didn't spend any time in southern Utah until the last two weeks of our final year. Two weeks is not a lot of time when you consider how much there is to do in southern Utah. Lucky for us, we have been hired to spend six more weeks in Grand Staircase-Escalante and Glen Canyon revising two hiking guide books for Falcon Guides.

We'll have more on those adventures soon as we begin hiking in four days.

Highlights!

Here are some highlights from a three year road trip we are about to wrap up...

Bryce Canyon!

Getting close to wrapping up our traveling trainer careers. What a better way to end three years on the road than with a trip through southern Utah. Zion was mentioned earlier, here are some pics from Bryce Canyon. Capitol Reef is still to come.

Rocky Road

We facilitated a Leave No Trace Trainer Course in Acadia National Park earlier this year. It was a great course with lots of discussions about outdoor ethics! One conversation that came up during the principle of "Leave What You Find" was the practice of rock stacking. It was the first time that this issue had ever been brought up during one of our courses and opinions ranged from finding rock stacks beautiful to offensive. At the time, we had not given much thought to the carefully balanced rocks we had occasionally seen along trails.

So, why months later are we still contemplating the question of rock stacking? Well, we recently had the opportunity to hike in Bryce Canyon National Park and came across a portion of trail that was covered with thousands of rocks balancing upon each other. The sight immediately brought to mind the "Leave What You Find" conversation we had back in Acadia National Park and we could see why there had been such varied feelings towards the activity. While one artfully balanced rock stack can be quite beautiful, the impact of seeing these stacks in such a large quantity was somewhat disconcerting.

Have you seen rock stacks on your local trails? If so, what are your feelings about the practice of rock stacking?

Zion National Park

The drop off is the same on the other side.

A stroll through southern Utah means National Parks. Our first stop was in Zion National Park. We arrived the day after they stopped running shuttles through the park so we were able to drive ourselves into the canyon. We headed for the Angels Landing hike.

The Angels Landing Trail is one of the most famous hikes in the national park system. The trail runs along a narrow rock fin with dizzying drop-offs on both sides. The trail culminates at a lofty perch, boasting magnificent views in every direction. One would think that this narrow ridge with deep chasms on each of its flanks would allure only the most intrepid of hikers. Climbers scale its big wall; hikers pull themselves up by chains and sightseers stand in awe at its stunning nobility.

The towering monolith is one of the most recognizable landmarks in the Southwest.

Half Dome

Coming down the "Cable Route".

A view from the top. Emily is so brave.

The backside of Half Dome.

Earlier this fall we hiked Half Dome in Yosemite National Park, National Geographic Adventure's #20 Best American Adventure (we have also completed #2, #25, and #38). We hiked it in early October. What a great time of the year to visit! Smaller crowds, cooler weather, and fall foliage made for a great hike. It took us about 9 hours for the round trip hike, which included a lot of picture breaks. Above are a couple.

Goblins!!!!!!

It's almost Halloween, our favorite holiday, so we had to visit Goblin Valley State Park in southern Utah. On just the right day, as the sun is setting, the shadows that are cast look a lot like like goblins. What a great place! We will definitely be back.

JD hiding in the goblins.

Peek-a-boo.

Holy Volcanic National Parks!

While in the pacific northwest, we hit up a few of the volcanic National Parks. In northern California it was Lassen Volcanic National Park followed by Crater Lake National Park in southern Oregon. Check out some pics in the slideshow below. After Crater Lake we headed to one of our favorite cities, Bend.

Olympic National Park and Sausage Fests?

We hit up Olympic National Park not long ago. If you have never been, it is a must see! Glacier covered mountains, lush rain forests, and rocky beaches all in one place. It is truly amazing! You should totally skip out on Panama City for this one.

Emily at the beach.

JD with Mount Olympus in the background.

Anyway, after a little time in Olympic we hit the Sausage Festival in Vancouver, WA. I know, sounds pretty wild, right? It was pretty tame actually. A lot of locals getting together for beer, carni rides, and sausages. It was pretty fun.

JD, waiting for some sausage.

Burning Man!

A little trip to the Black Rock Desert in Nevada for a little somethin called Burning Man. We didn't spend the entire week there like everyone else, but we were there long enough for JD to get a mohawk and to take in some of the sites.

Arizona Highpoint

Today we hiked to the top of highpoint number 40. We climbed Humphrey's Peak in AZ, 12,633 feet above sea level. It was probably one of the easier high altitude hikes for us, other than the gale force winds that tried to blow us off the top. Three guys before us turned around, about 50 vertical feet away from the top, because they were afraid of being blown off.

We actually crawled on hands and knees for the last 50 vertical feet, but we made it! Check out some pics.

Hunckered down at the top.

Humphrey's Peak is to the far left.

The trees were in full Fall effect.

We called it the yellow brick road.

A Walk on the Moon

We made a stop at Idaho's National Park Service pride, The Craters of the Moon National Monument. The Park Service claims that it is the closest thing to walking on the moon on earth (minus the gravity thing). If you get the chance to go we would highly recommend it. It is totally worth the trip.

Check out some pics.

This is in a place called the "Devil's Orchard".

The "Inferno Cone".

Some of the rugged landscape.

Almost made it into a magazine!

So it isn't the actual magazine, but it is a big time magazine's blog that we made it on. Check it out.

The picture above is Mt. Moran in the Tetons where we worked with Subaru and several journalists, including Bethany from Fitness Magazine.

North Dakota Highpoint

After working in Montana for a few days we had some spare time and ran over to hike the North Dakota highpoint. It was a great hike up White Butte, once we got past all the mosquitos. Here are a few pics.

Glacier National Park

A trip to Glacier National Park in Montana can mean only two things, bring on the wildlife and the scenery. We saw this guy (above) as soon as we entered the park. Check out the slideshow for more.

Getting Caught up!

We've been a bit distracted with a busy summer schedule and are gonna try and get caught up. So, here goes.

After leaving the northeast we headed out west to the Outdoor Retailer Summer Market, JD's favorite event. At the show we host the Great Gear Giveaway that is sponsored by Subaru and Backpacker. In the picture above JD is reading off lists of gear that are given away everyday. We are pretty popular at the show, to say the least.

Acadia NP

Our little beaver friend eating leaves.

Wildflowers.

We just got finished with a visit to Acadia National Park in Maine.  One of our favorite places to visit is Jordan Pond.  There is a great trail that loops around the pond.  The beavers that live there never let us down, neither do the wildflowers.  After a hike you need to stop in the Jordan Pond House Restaurant for some popovers. YUM!

Cape Cod National Seashore

This last week we made a stop in Cape Cod to see friends and visited the National Seashore.  We stopped in near the Salt Pond Visitor Center. We heard that there are plenty of whale sightings out near the Province Lands Visitor Center if you make a visit. Take a close look at the picture and you can see a seal riding the wave behind Emily.

L.L. Bean

We recently visited the L.L. Bean Flagship store in Freeport Maine. If you've never been to Freeport and don't mind outlet malls then we highly recommend a visit.

Presidential Traverse, NH 2009

This last week we completed the 'Presidential Traverse' in New Hampshire's White Mountains. The adventure was ranked the 25th in National Geographic Adventure's "50 Best American Adventures". We completed #2, Kayaking Lake Yellowstone, in 2005 and hope to conquer #15, Hike Buckskin Gulch, this fall.

Anyway, here is the lowdown on the Presi Traverse.

1. At the Appalachian Mountain Club (AMC) in Pinkham Notch we arranged for a shuttle from the AMC Highland Center to the Airline trailhead. We also reserved a one night stay at the Madison Spring Hut (a bit pricy, but nice to not have to carry the extra gear).

2. We grabbed our shuttle on Wednesday afternoon (1 pm) and started our hike to Madison Spring Hut at 2 pm.

3. We arrived at the hut at 5 pm.  The hike was about 3.4 miles with over 3000 feet of elevation gain.

4. Got up on Thursday morning and hiked the Gulf Side Trail to Crawford Path to our car at the AMC Highland Center.  The hike (15.8 miles) took us 12.5 hours.

Most of the hike was above treeline and the entire hike was pretty rocky and well worth the scenery. 

Check out some pics.

A Few Photos from the Road

ENJOY!

Devil's Kitchen Lake

I (JD) recently spent four days backpacking and canoeing in the Devil's Kitchen area in Southern Illinois.  I took part in a Leave No Trace Master Educator course that was being taught through the Wilderness Education Association and Southern Illinois University.  For those of you that don't know, Southern Illinois offers great hiking, backpacking, rock climbing, and canoeing opportunities.