Practicing technologo

This is an attempt to learn Adobe Premier Pro for one of my classes. The version I had wouldn't let me edit downloaded youtube videos for some reason, so I was forced to use some personal footage from last year. Here comes winter and this year I will actually take the camera with me more than once. So here is some crappy footage of us messing around one day in the backcountry mixed in there with one clip at park city.

Learning to edit from Andy Earl on Vimeo.

NatGeo Adventure

I can't wait for this show.

Brett attempts...

This is when Brett tried to knock some rocks down on my head to get rid of me. I am pretty sure that is what was going on.

Maple November

I think when God decided to make conglomerate rock he just must of had a bunch of leftovers laying around so he just glued them all together in the coolest way possible. Eric, Jeff, Brett, and I took a day trip down to Maple Canyon which is just outside of Fountain Green, UT. It is just far enough away to feel like you got out of town.

We stopped at the general store in town to grab some snacks and ended up talking to the cashier for a little while about the BYU vs. New Mexico girls soccer game (to see what I am talking about click HERE) and the lady commented that it reminded her of the Olympics a while back with the figure skaters. She stopped in thought, "what was that girls name again?" and Eric came back, as sure as a person ever could be of his answer, "Monica Lewinsky." Conversation stopped as we all looked at Eric... Then we all burst out laughing. I think it took him a second to realize he was wrong and who Lewinsky actually was.



Brett and Jeff on top of the climb. Although the climb isn't to challenging the view makes it worth the venture.



A cave which houses a crap load of pigeons and their poop, but also some climbs. (We have no idea what they are rated but they look really difficult)


Its a big cave.











On our way in we were caught in a stampede. It was pretty terrifying having heaps of white fluffy sheep running at our car. I punched one. It died.

Does it hurt?

Yes. Today I was able to help out a friend of mine who is doing a study for cycling and I got to put myself through an intense hour on the bike followed up a few hours later with a 20 minute all out effort. Riding on a trainer indoors is a real mind game. You constantly have to be thinking about continuing to pedal in the same spot... without going anywhere.

During the twenty minute time trial, I found myself pretending the chair in front of me was another cyclist from France. I couldn't let the french guy win. It was a matter of national pride... I did an all out puke your face off sprint at the end, but he still came in ahead of me. I really hate that guy. It is funny what you find yourself doing to stay motivated. Round two is next week and it will be interesting to find out how I did.

Where I Get to Live

Sometimes I find myself in utter amazement of the great fortune I have to live here. Today I was out on a team ride and as we descended South Fork up Provo Canyon I had to stop and pull out my phone to snap some pictures. They really don't do it justice but it was a gorgeous evening to be out riding. I even happened upon a moose and her calf, I know they are super dangerous but I couldn't help but stop and snap a picture... I think I could win in a sprint though... Maybe...




A moose and her calf. The light was low so the camera was having a hard time. They were a lot closer than they look here.

Good Morning

Do you ever have those morning where you wake up frustrated for no real reason? This morning I awoke this way and headed down stairs to try to make sense of a messy kitchen. After throwing all I could fit into the dishwasher I realized I needed to get out on my bike. I snapped a couple pictures with my phone and after a short ride came back feeling ready and focused for the day. I love my bike.

Fall Colors

A Day on the Wall

Squaw Struck is a new climb that is in the process of being finished. So far it is 8 pitches and this photo is above the second. I somehow managed to delete the photos we took from my memory card so this is all I have.

The climb was amazing and, being new, had a large amount of loose rock. After finishing our ascent we started the rappel back down. We linked a couple pitches together by tying two 70 meter ropes together. I was the first to go down and about three quarters of the way down when I felt the rope shift slightly. As I casually looked up to check it out I saw a rock slightly larger than my head plummeting toward my face. I lunged into the wall narrowly missing the rock as it continued it's free fall. I am pretty glad I decided to look up.

CAPRI!

Breaking from my normal subject of outdoors and adventures I would like to introduce everyone to Capri Jolley. Paul and Alicia just had her last night at around 2 a.m. and she is the closest I am going to get to a niece for a long time so I am super pumped to welcome this little human to the world. Congratulations Paul and Alicia!

Where Misery and Fun Meet

There is a place within everything where fun and misery meet each other. On occasion they will stick together and hang out, other times it is more like a high five when they run past each other in opposite directions. Today I was able to hang out with each of them on my ride in a cold pouring rain.

It is an interesting phenomenon being able to be around them both at the same time because they seem to compliment one another, but as soon as one of them leaves the whole situation has a different feel. When ever you can get these two together they bring a sense of adventure to whatever you are doing. As the rain pelted my face and dripped off my nose they were right there with me. It seems as though every time I ride my bike they show up.

Final Rappel

Well This was my attempt at filming the last rappel in Pine Creek.... It didn't exactly work out so well but I figured I would throw it up anyway. Doing a rappel one handed is harder than I thought, and this one was fast.

Pine Creek Round 2

It is amazing how hard it actually is to get people to come out to do this sort of thing. Excuses not to do things like this never seem adequate after the fact but I seem to have the intrinsic problem of making excuses to go do things like this instead of being "responsible" and getting other things done. Sometimes life's metronome gets set by the tasks and worries we put in our own path, when we are the only ones that can set the tempo. On occasion we make choices and let others decide where our time goes and how fast we march from task to task. In an effort to keep my tempo from getting to out of control I searched out a party to accompany me in an escape to Zion. One day starting at 4:30 a.m. with no set agenda, other than to do a slot canyon named Pine Creek.

I started off the day with a Red Bull mixed with orange juice which I now feel is a bad combination. Eric Montandon, TJ, and I met up with Eric Ellis and Brooklyn down in Cedar City where we made our way into Zion. After grabbing the permit and heading up to the trail head we squeezed into our circa 1992 wet suits and geared up for a cold few hours deep inside the slot canyons. I don't think I will ever tire of taking people places and helping them to experience something like this.

Feeling as though you have descended into another world you walk through cold sand and look hundreds of feet up where the walls almost meet over your head. Driftwood is lodged 50-60 feet overhead having been deposited there by flash floods. Slinking into a pool of frigid stagnant water that was left there by the last flood that came through you loose your breath and swim to meet your friends on the bank. Tourists from all over the world come to admire the beauty of this place but few venture deep into the more amazing parts.

The trip was fun. One day there and back. Some may say spending hours in a car and spending the money on gas isn't worth it. "If you go, stay longer" they might say. It's closer than you think so just go.

The final rappel.

One giant boulder hanging overhead.

God's carvings.

The Crew; Eric, Brooklyn, Eric, and Tj

5 a.m...... yeah it felt pretty early.

"Sand People... They will be back in greater numbers"

Deep within Zion's underbelly I came across some strange beings. Yeah.... I didn't know they were around the corner. They got me good eh?

Sand, Blisters, Bikes, Ropes, and Fun

Whenever I get a call from Bob Bills it always means something fun is going to happen. This time it was a weekend in Zion National Park and Moab. My week was complicated by my procrastination, mixed with school work, so lack of sleep and lack of time made me crave a weekend away.

The body's internal clock is really an amazing thing. How do I know what time it is when I am asleep but in the day I have no real grasp on time? Really... I wake up within a minute before my alarm goes off. How? I don't know. 4 a.m. rolled around and I grabbed my pack and rode out to the freeway to meet Bob and his friend Frederico from Chile. We stopped at McDonalds and grabbed some grub. The stuff is amazing... how is it that a breakfast burrito can not really taste like a breakfast burrito and seem totally fake but still taste good? I hopped in the driver seat and let Bob attempt to work as Frederico slept in the back seat. We eventually pulled into Zion and grabbed our permit for Pine Creek.

We met up with Steven Nyman and his fiance Robbin making a group of five. Starting into the canyon we hoped it wouldn't be too cold because we didn't bring wet suits. In a 90 degree day those canyons can be fairly cold thanks to the lack of sun. The flash floods that roll through leave some big amounts of water that require some swimming. The first time you drop into one of the pools it can be surprising.

Before the last two rappels out of the canyon we caught up with a group made up of all 60+ individuals. As we sat enjoying the view we talked with them about how they got into canyoneering. They all took a class together last year and have been taking trips every couple months since. You really have to admire people that still have the drive to try new things continuing the exploration of life at that age. Many fall into a rhythm of monotony doing only that which is expected of an older person.

At certain points in the canyon you just had to stop in awe of the power of time and of the sheer force of nature. Canyon walls towering hundreds of feet high only separated by a few feet, looking like they could only have been hewn by the hand of God. Massive logs pinned high over head between walls during flash floods look to hold the walls apart so they don't close in on you. All of this is missed by those on the highway near by. They drive by not knowing what amazing sights lay within reach.

Finishing the canyon we headed to a little pond with a waterfall for some swimming. We spent a little bit of time washing off and then it was off to Moab where another early morning awaited us. I ended up sleeping almost the whole drive over.

We grabbed the 7:30 a.m. shuttle from Poison Spider bike shop up high into the La Sal mountains. The trail drops over 7000 vertical feet in about 33 miles. Starting in the cold mountain air at 11,200 ft. in the fall aspens and ending down in the red rocks of Moab. The trail was amazing and brutal. My hands fell apart during the ride and were raw by the trail's end. It was an amazing journey through a variety of climates. At one point on the ride I unknowingly came within a few yards of a massive black bear. I didn't see him until he took off running, but when he took off I was a little surprised.


Hanging out after a long ride out side of the Poison Spider Bike Shop

view.

This is where I saw the bear. He was just hanging out right in this area then he took off running.

Up top at 11,200 ft after climbing up 1.000 vertical in a mile, ready for a long decent.

Swimming at the frog ponds.

Pine Creek's last rappel.