Joe's Valley

It always amazes me how easy it is to find somewhere you have never been. Exploration can be the easiest or hardest thing in the world. A few Saturday's back we took an easy adventure. Parker and I are both new to ice climbing and we have been looking at ice routes all over Utah. He threw out the idea to take a drive down to Joe's Valley to see how the ice was forming. We got down there and decided to follow a short ice flow up to a bigger waterfall we could barely see from the road. Conditions didn't permit us to climb up the waterfall, but we had a good time exploring the area. 

An Evening On The River

Soaking it all in while throwing around a fly. Catching fish is a perk, but being outside is the reason.

Dawn Patrol- Mountain Bike

My long time cycling buddy Eric hit me up about shooting some photos for a project he has been working on. I love getting up and getting out whenever possible, so I made the most of my Saturday morning. We headed up the Alpine Loop and waited for golden hour. I had to be back to get some work done at 10 am so we squeezed all we could in while the light was good. Here are a few shots from the morning. 

Sasquatch

I had an itch to get out and shoot some photos while the colors were still good in Little Cottonwood Canyon. Thankfully I have some great friends and they were more than willing. We climbed Pentapitch and shot the awesome variation on the route named Sasquatch. This little crack is one of the most fun lines I have done in Little Cottonwood. 

Bike Moab

We packed five guys into a van with bikes and headed south for a weekend of mountain biking. The drive down is alway surprisingly short. After arriving we grabbed some lunch and then cruised over to our scheduled shuttle. We spent the rest of the day on the trail. We took plenty of breaks and chatted about every subject under the sun.

We woke up in the Archway Inn. Five guys packed into a room with the previous days mexican food brewing made for an interesting morning aroma. We took advantage of the continental breakfast and then headed for the next trailhead. We rode the Amasa Back trail. It is a fairly technical trail over some fun terrain. By the end of the ride we had our fill. My front shocks had blown and my hands were raw. A trip to Moab never disappoints.

Walking To Pink Pine

 I slept in. I woke up and laid on the couch. I stared at the ceiling trying to figure out what to do with my Saturday. I went through my contact list and decided to hit up my friend Brody Leven. I have had the opportunity to work with him a bit more recently because of my new job. I am the new Social Engagement Specialist for Goal Zero. A company that makes solar panels and power packs for outdoor use. Brody is an adventurer that I get to work with to develop content.

Brody and I parked at the White Pine Trailhead and then started our way toward Pink Pine. We chatted about my upcoming transition into fatherhood, travel plans, careers, and how awesome the mountains are. We finally reached where we planned on dropping in. I made my way down through some trees and found a good position to snap some photos of Brody coming down. He dunked hard and I snapped the above photo. Brody is definitely a good guy to have as a partner in the mountains. We made a couple laps and were all smiles as we rode our way out to the car.

Big Cottonwood

Greg gave me a call mentioning that he had a project in Big Cottonwood canyon. I ended up hiking up the wrong trail and as I came around a corner I happened upon him working through some of the moves on this route. The light was perfect.

Ice

I hit the ice with Matt Park not too long ago. Snapped this one as he made his way up. 

Moses

The silence was complete. I sat on a large boulder looking up at my friends through a lens as they made their way up the famed Moses. They were nearly a quarter mile away, but I could still hear them as if they were next to me. There were no bugs humming, no rush of wind, the silence wasn't even interrupted by planes passing by. My eardrums didn't quite know how to react to the stillness. 

We were there on a three day weekend. Chase, Greg, and I snuck off for a day in Canyonlands. They were there to climb Moses, and I was there to shoot. Shifting to different locations every so often seemed to make the time go by. Sitting in the desert with a camera was a unique experience. This was the first time I have been out to shoot a day of climbing without climbing anything. 

It was a fulfilling day, even more so as I got home and went through the images. It was a stunning landscape. I hope to make it back to climb the route in the future. It was amazing.