Outdoor Adventure 

I’m an Outdoor Adventure enthusiast, whether it’s Peak Bagging, Hiking, Mountaineering, Climbing, or Canyoneering. I try to spend most of my weekends out and about trying to find untouched wilderness.

Zion – Englestead Hollow – Inside the Canyon

Here is the Drop In to gain access to Englestead Hollow in Zion National Park.

MonkeyFace Canyon

Near San Gorgonio, MonkeyFace is one of my favorite local canyons to run. A fairly quick approach and usually a good amount of water.

YankeeDoodle Canyon – Near Zion, UT

Englestead Hollow – Zion National Park

This might be my favorite picture I’ve ever taken (it belongs on the cover of National Geographic, in my opinion for what that’s worth). My wife is coming down the 3rd rappel inside of Englestead Hollow Canyon. This was an amazing 12 hour trip with an incredible 300ft initial drop to gain access to the slot canyon and a total 700ft vertical feet of rappeling and obstacles.

A great pic of one of the chockstones wedged in. Sam… Don’t look up…

Someone snatched this picture while I was trying to signal to the guy below me. I haven’t the faintest clue of what I was trying to say, but I think it looks funny.

What is Canyoneering?

In this video, Alden Anderson and some other guy (Jason Milligan) tell us.

Bonita Canyon

A pretty sweet 160ft waterfall. My wife gets all the good pictures.

Some Ascending practice, what goes down, must sometimes go back up. Especially when you leave a backpack at the top =)

Bailey Canyon

Boyscout Canyon – NV

My wife on a  350ft Rappel and hike to the Colorado River, everyone looks so small =)

Tahquitz – Route: The Trough – Trad Climb

Southern California’s premiere rock climbing in Idyllwild.

Stoney Point

An urban rock park near LA which has a good amount of features to practice rope skills.

The High Sierra Trail – 85 Miles in 6 Days – Summer 2015

15,531 ft up and 13,866 ft down

Starting at Sequoia and ending at Mt Whitney, this trip has been my favorite thus far. I met some of the nicest hikers here and accomplished something I’ve always wanted to do.

Precipice Lake —>

This lake was made famous by an Ansel Adams photograph in 1932. It was the first time that the public had seen it.

     Guitar Lake to the left. This was our campsite the night before our Whitney summit attempt. We were also lucky enough to only get a little bit of rain and the wind wasn’t too bad. Fortunately the morning was clear and not too cold. We packed up quickly at 1am to try and make the top by sunrise.

Havasupai – Winter 2015

Havasupai is an Indian Reservation and home of some of the most strikingly beautiful waterfalls in the country. We flew and hiked in for some engagement photos.

    

Donner Pass         

Near Lake Tahoe we did some top roping.

Mt. San Jacinto

San Jacinto in the Palm Springs area is a 10,834 Ft peak and a 14 mile round trip from the Mountain Tram station. It’s the quickest way to get some altitude and train for other peaks. This is a fun peak to bag once ice and snow roll in during the winter.

Mt. Baldy

Mt. Baldy is a great trainer with a 10.4 mile loop to an elevation of 10,068 Ft. In the summer there is practically no shade the entire hike, This is the first time I’ve ever gotten sunburned in the backcountry. Mind you, I’ve done the Grand Canyon with no sunblock several times. The elevation here really lets the UV through and the exposure is nothing to take lightly.

Here’s a map of the route. I think the most impressive portion of the hike is along Devil’s Backbone which has phenomenal views of both sides and is a straight shot view to summit.

Grand Canyon

I quickly fell in love with the Grand Canyon. 7 hours down and 9 hours up in about 110 degF heat. I love the challenges and beauty here. I’ve backpacked it several times from the south rim and next time, I plan to hike it from the North to South rim. This other picture is me and the wife having our second breakfast as the sun was coming up. The picture just doesn’t do this place justice.

Mt. Whitney in a Day and a Proposal Surprise

Mt. Whitney via the Mt Whitney Portal and main trail is a 22 mile trip that starts at an elevation of 8,360 ft and ends at 14,505ft and is the tallest mountain in the contiguous United States.

What my girlfriend didn’t know was that once at the top, I had an engagement ring waiting for her. We started the hike at 1am in the morning and reached summit by 11:30am. After the proposal and a warm toast from some new hiker friends inside the lightning shack we made the trek back down and reached the car by 6:30pm. The both of us were slightly altitude sick and completely oxygen dumb at the top, but we couldn’t have asked for a better trip.

A friend of mine, unknowingly was taking pictures of the mountain on the same day. This explains why we couldn’t see anything from the top =) and why it hailed and rained on us the entire way down. Luckily there wasn’t any lightning to kill our summit attempt.

The photo below is from the same friend and from a different day. I wish I was this good with a camera…