The Dark Side of the Moon

Have you ever mistaken what seemed to be the sunrise for the moon?

Common mistake when you abruptly wake up with a massive gust of wind blowing away your rain fly. After you fetch it you seem to be wide-awake and find yourself gazing up at the billions of stars contained in the Milky Way. When your neck stars hurting from staring up, you realize you should probably get some sleep since you will be backpacking out several miles in the morning. After you crawl back in the tent and put your toasted red sunburnt neck back on your make-shift-pillow, a rolled up hoodie, you notice that sleep is not that appealing at all and you would much rather have an adventure by backpacking out com

pletely in the dark with only headlamps; a genius way to experience the great outdoors.

Oatmeal never tasted so great in the black of night, not having a clue of what time it is. Once you pack up camp and reason with your buddy what time it could be, you hit the trail. After several miles of hiking back up through the narrow canyon walls of Devils Canyon you can see a faint light along the eastern horizon. Excited because that has to be the sunrise.

Witnessing a sunrise is a magical moment that happens all to infrequent, yet it is a great way to start any day, anywhere. Period. As you continue along the trail you bend around a corner exposing this seemingly welcoming sunrise, to your surprise the faint light on the horizon was really just a sliver of the Moon. I wish I had packed my tripod along so I could of taken a long enough exposure to capture this gorgeous eerie orange moon with such a distinct outline of the Dark Side of the Moon. We continued hiking for another hour or two while singing some Pink Floyd and arrived to Cora (my trusty Corolla) to find out that it was only 5:38 a.m.

Devils Canyon

Another efficacious adventure that helped me appreciate and love the beautiful outdoors even more.

PS: I was trying to upload some panoramic pics, but they must all be too large or something... Next post, hopefully.

Climb On.

Happy: End of the Semester, Earth Day, Easter, Birthday Mom, and Internship!

I recommend anyone looking for away to spend a reading day to travel to Indian Creek for some crack climbing. However be careful when choosing places to eat in Moab, the names of restaurants can be very deceiving.

Note to the state of Utah, they need to increase the speed limit on highway 6 near Price. Or not have highway patrolmen out at 7 a.m.

My Adobe CS5 came and I am thrilled to start playing around with it.

Halleluiah for the ending of another semester.

Observation Point-Zions National Park

Just got my first internship-and start working at Precision Concrete Cutting on Monday! This means no school for four months and this calls for a few days of backpacking in southern Utah.

I was reading the latest issue of National Geographic, while traveling to Zion, to enjoy National Park Week, and I came across a rather inspiring quote on climbing from the article on climbing in Yosemite:

“[Climbers] know that these walls are more than mountains: They’re giant mirrors that unsparingly reflect what lies inside each climber.“

Climb On.

Inspiring Paths

Ponder your own paths in life.

I believe the path’s we take in life lead us to meet exceptional individuals. There have been countless people who have greatly influenced me in my life. One particular friend, Garrett Smith, who I wish I knew longer, inspired me in photography, my love of life, and the outdoors. Garrett recently was the victim of a tragic avalanche accident .

Garrett’s photos capture nature’s distinctiveness in a fascinating way.

We may never know how big of an impact we can have on those who stumble upon our own paths. Thanks to all whose influenced me on my path-knowingly and unknowingly.

(Foot-printed Path on Grandeur Peak)