Tiny Desert Home

So we came across this rock structure on our hike today...I don't know if it was made by water, wind, rodent, desert gnome, or man, but i'm hoping desert gnome:) What it may lack in square footage it makes up for with view, don't you think?

P.S. That's Sunset Arch in the background.

Hickman Bridge

So, for the book revisions we are writing, we have been asked to include a few new hikes of our choosing. We selected the Hickman Natural Bridge hike in Capitol Reef National Park as one of them. It is a 2 mile round trip hike to this massive natural bridge that you hike under.

Do you think this looks like a good addition?

Hickman Natural Bridge

The Adventures of Arnie Continue

As Arnie continues to travel throughout Southern Utah, he wanted to take a few minutes of your time to show you some proper travel technique in the backcountry.

#1 - Climbing ladders that may have been placed on trails by land managers.

#2 - Crossing icy rivers in the backcountry

Stay tuned as Arnie continues to report on his amazing adventures.

Happy New Year!!!

I love New Year's Day and I always make a long list of resolutions for the upcoming year. This year one of my resolutions is to learn how to use my camera, so I made myself get out of my warm bed this morning so I could try to capture one quality picture of last night's blue moon.

I discovered that when you are tinkering with apertures, shutter speeds, and ISO levels the moon moves really fast. Anyway, this was my best shot - which doesn't really do it justice, but I got to see a lovely moonset and a gorgeous sunrise on the first day of 2010.

Hope you all have a wonderful 2010! Cheers!

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.