I went up to Jackson, WY for the 4th of July (didn’t take a lot of photos really) and ended up taking a short day trip up to Yellowstone. First time I put my 1 year Natl. Park Pass to good use since …November! Enjoy the photos of Yellowstone and of the beautiful Tetons on my way back south.
Things of Note:
Almost peed on a moose.
Fireworks are best when viewed on the 3rd AND the 4th.
With every National Park I visit I realize that Sequoia National Park is by far the best.
I took a week off work to meet Becca and Nate in Oakland, CA as they returned from their 7 month trip abroad. We stayed with Leah, Nate’s sister, and had a grande time lounging around, drinking wine, eating cheese and playing Yahtzee. We took a day trip up to Dry Creek Road in Sonoma County for an all day Wine Tasting Event wherein we visited Wilson Winery, Quivira Winery, & Bella Winery and another one that I can’t recall the name of… (I wonder why I don’t remember the name of the last Winery we stopped at…)
We also took a day trip down to Santa Cruz where we enjoyed beautiful weather and watched the surfers enjoying themselves in the water around the Santa Cruz Surfers Museum. Both trips gave us lots of time to enjoy the beauty that is Highway 1 as it winds up and down the California Coast. It was a great week; great food, great city, great wine, great weather, mediocre company.
Couldn’t ask for more. Enjoy the photos.
And for even more fun, enjoy all the writing and photos that Becca and Nate have contributed to this wonderful week:
So last weekend (or so), The Hankeys and I drove down past Hanksville, UT to do some Slot Canyon’s in the San Rafael Swell in southern Utah. What is the Swell? I will tell you:
The San Rafael Swell is a large geologic feature located in south-central Utah, USA about 30 miles (50 km) west of Green River, Utah. The San Rafael Swell, approximately 75 miles (121 km) by 40 miles (64 km), consists of a giant dome-shaped anticline of sandstone, shale, and limestone that was pushed up millions of years ago. Since that time, infrequent but powerful flash floods have eroded the sedimentary rocks into numerous valleys, canyons, gorges, mesas and buttes. The Swell is part of the Colorado Plateau physiographic region.
.from wikipedia
I know…wow.
I did a trip to Utah last May and did some canyoneering with Corey Hankey (of the previously mentioned Hankeys) and was excited to get back into the desert. While hiking in the swell, we all decided that canyoneering is so fun because you can look around and enjoy the view the entire time instead of hiking to a destination and enjoying the view once you get there. The way the wind and water erodes these canyons is beyond amazing. The 3 Canyon’s we did (Little Wild Horse, Ding, & Dang) were all pretty tame as far as Slot Canyons go. I would recommend buying this book if you end up in Utah and find yourself wanting to hike into some canyons. Some canyons involve repelling, and swimming through pools of water and only have one way out (some you can turn around and go out how you came in). I am hoping to do some more technical canyons this summer once I buy some repelling gear, etc.
The San Rafael Swell has a lot more than just its canyons. You can visit Goblin Valley State Park (which we also visited), camp out in the BLM land, go canyoneering, or do some desert hikes. No matter what your taste, the area has a lot to offer. Utah – you continue to amaze me…1 week I was skiing in 30″of fresh powder, and the next I was in the middle of the desert… Win.
I decided to go up to Jackson, WY for my birthday to visit my good friend Nick, his brother, and our friend Alex. It was a great short little trip. I got to ski Jackson, eat @ Bubba’s (which I would recommend to anyone going through Jackson…especially the Blueb Pancakes), saw a concert at the Jackson Hole Mountain Festival, made hot, hot fires, and spent some quality time with some really fine people.
Nick and I took a trip back up to a frozen Jackson Lake to see the mountain, and lake, still covered in snow and ice. I can’t say whether the Jetty we made back in November is still in tact, but my guess is that it is ‘most definitely in prime condition, frozen under the ice.’ I will have to give everyone a more in depth update the next time I drive up to Jackson once the ice melts. Despite the lack of Jetty inspection, we walked out onto the frozen lake and enjoyed the splendor that is the Tetons.
This song comes to mind, when I think of Jackson and the Tetons in general. Enjoy at will.
A big thanks to my co-worker Geof for letting me know about this small town about an hour and a half southwest of Salt Lake. I drove out to Ophir hoping to find a deserted Ghost Town, but to my surprise there were quite a few people who lived out here. I noticed a lot of No Trespassing signs as I drove through town, but finally parked my car and hiked up a hill that appeared to have been carved out for mining purposes. I did some research on Ophir before heading out and thought I’d share what I discovered:
Soldiers of the U.S. Army discovered that which created Ophir in 1865. They noticed that Indians in the territory were using bullets made from silver. The soldiers soon found the source and proceeded to dispatch the Indians. They named the location St. Louis. When the find became public, the site quickly became a town with no official name. In 1870, it was officially named Ophir after the rich mines of King Solomon. During its heyday, a number of ornamental homes and buildings were constructed which, after the silver was exhausted and the town died, became mute testimony that good times do not last forever.
The town itself is a mixture of new/ old houses, old buildings (most of which have been preserved and heavily lacquered), and old mining equipment scattered next to the roads. A lot of these pieces of equipment have been put on display for the strangers who drive through this small town. Despite these ornaments of a time now passed, the residents seem to be rather protective of their town and the NO TRESPASSING signs are just as prominent as the old mining carts. (After a little research on the internet, I realized that I wasn’t the only one who seemed to notice all the ‘No’ signs).
I was really fascinated by this town. It seemed to have two sides to it. There was the small center of town which was ‘cutesified’ and preserved to maintain the status quo of what a ‘western town’ should be, and then there was this authentic side of town that was hidden up in the hills. The old rusty railroad tracks and railroad ties nestled high up on the hills surrounding this town is what really got my attention. I couldn’t help but imagine all the activity that must have been going on up on these forgotten hills during the late 1800’s. The only evidence of anyone being here now are large rusty cables dangling from rock faces and the occasional footprints of other like minded explorers. There were also a couple mine shaft entrances that I found that were covered by bars or sealed completely.
This side of the American West is something I had always read about in textbooks as a child or seen in movies about gold pandering. It wasn’t until I was actually in the presence of one of these places that I really ‘got it.’ What a life it must have been to have actually lived here in the 1870’s! Even more fascinating is that people have actually built new houses in this deserted place in the last 5 – 10 years.
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The more time I spend in the West, the more I appreciate the duality between the stereotypical depiction of how things are out here, and the way things really are. I’m not sure if they could exist without one another, and yet they don’t seem to be aware of each other. You would think that the rusty carts from the 1800’s proudly displayed next to the road would be a complete contradiction of the lacquered up ‘Town Hall’ that seems to be trying to hard to capture what this place was all about….and yet no one seems to notice how ridiculous it is that both of these things are trying to show you what is more ‘Western’. I think its a fascinating aspect of western culture and Ophir seemed to encapsulate it perfectly.
While picking up some beer at a gas station (to proudly support the American Hockey Team during the Olympics) I passed this man, who was waiting for a bus. I laughed to myself and took a picture with my phone but realized he was too amazing not to document properly. I usually avoid asking people like this for their photo, for fear of offending them, but finally gathered the courage to go back to the bus station with my G10 (with the support of a friend of course). I walked back to the bus station and he was happy to let me take pictures and immediately stood up and blew on his bugle when I got my camera out. He was a very happy man and introduced himself as Conde Teargon and promptly mentioned that he was on the front page of the Deseret Newspaper in 2001. While waiting for a bus to visit his father he was playing music loudly on his radio and intermittently blasting on his bugle (at what seemed to be no set interval).
My friend who accompanied me, who also happens to be a photographer, asked him if he might set up a time to do a proper photo shoot with Conde. He agreed and gave him his number. He said that he answers the phone, ‘KOOKAMUNGA! Thats how you’ll know it’s me!” with a slight laugh. We thanked him for his time and went back to watch the USA kick the living piss out of Canada. Overall, not a bad Sunday.
I realize it has been a while. Please forgive me. I just decided that I am going keep exploring throughout the winter months (despite the cold) and take some more photos while I’m at it. This particular installment involved driving to the Salt Flats about 2 hours west of Salt Lake. It was a spontaneous little trip, but quite worth it.
Let me just put it this way: The open road, Radiolab, & Red Vine.
If you don’t understand the sublimity of those three things, and the amalgamation of joy they produce, then I feel bad for you in the worst way.
I arrived in Oregon at around 35 mph due to the fact that I had a flat in Northern California and a spare tire on my car. I got some new tires and headed to Crater Lake. After a chilly night of camping, I headed up to Crater Lake to take in the view only to be hindered by heavy fog and rain. No big deal…I was able to see the amazingly blue water through the fog anyways. From Crater Lake I headed to Eugene where I drank delicious beer. After Eugene, I drove to Portland without knowing where I would stay…but ended up finding a place through a friend. Being unprepared turned out to be one of the better decisions I’ve made because Portland ended up being one of the most fun places I’ve visited.
My time in Portland involved a lot of exploring, delicious Voodoo donuts, rain, bike riding, a trip to Vanilla Bicycles, way too much time in REI, A secret show in a $2 million house party, carving pumpkins (not shown), and a lot of delicious beer. Special thanks to Nate for letting me stay with him and all his friends for accepting me as a friend for my short time in Portland.
From San Francisco I headed north towards the Redwoods. After a long drive I stopped in Eureka for the night before hiking around in Redwood National Park. It was a foggy damp place. I didn’t see sunshine until around 4 when I headed out to Crescent City for the night. In the morning I said, ‘peace out Humboldt’ and made my way towards Oregon.
I was of course twarted by more car troubles. I got a flat tire in the middle of nowhere Route 199 on a windy road without cell phone coverage. Luckily, I am very good at changing tires and got it back up and running before making it to Oregon where I was faced with the difficult decision of buying new tires. No big deal, as they say. I was just happy to be in Oregon. Pictures from Oregon to come soon!
I finally made my way to Yosemite after visiting beautiful San Francisco. I hurt my shoulder in Austin and haven’t been able to climb much, but was able to do a nice long 21 mile hike by myself into the wilderness. I started at Happy Isles which is in Yosemite Valley, and made my way up to Clouds Rest by way of Little Yosemite Valley Campground. It was a beautiful place. My hike to Clouds Rest was everything and more I dreamed of when I first set out on my trip wanting to get out into the wilderness.
Clouds Rest was around 9500 feet and Yosemite Valley is at around 4,000 feet. This made for quite the uphill climb, but was well worth the view of Half Dome and all of Yosemite Valley. Clouds Rest, I just found out, is the highest peak near Yosemite Valley. w00t!
I met some great people at the communal fire pit at Little Yosemite Valley and made good use of my Steripen water purifier provided to me by the always gracious Jason Prohaska. Thanks Jason! So far I am parasite free! As long as I don’t get Diarrhea in the next 3 days I’d say I’m set!
Yellowstone Natl. Park, WY Jackson, WY Oakland, CA Santa Cruz, CA Sonoma Co, CA Jackson, WY Destin, FL Houston, TX Salt Lake City, UT Pittsburgh, PA Harrisburg, PA Brooklyn, NY Harrisburg, PA Pittsburgh, PA Salt Lake City, UT Jackson Hole, WY Pasco, WA Seattle, WA Tacoma, WA Portland, OR Eugene, OR Crescent City, CA Eureka, CA San Francisco, CA Yosemite Natl. Park, CA San Francisco, CA Santa Monica, CA Avondale, AZ Tucson, AZ Roswell, NM Guadalupe Mtns, TX Austin, TX Houston, TX New Orleans, LA Baton Rouge, LA Savannah, GA Brunswick, GA Hostel in the Forest, GA Charleston, SC Aiken, SC Black Mountain, NC Boone, NC Abingdon, VA Red River Gorge, KY New River Gorge, WV Vandalia, WV Morgantown, WV Pittsburgh, PA Harrisburg, PA Brooklyn, NY -- August 09
