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.