Deschutes River July 16 2009

Last week`s trip was really good. I took my friend from work and his nine year old on their first ever white water rafting trip. I used my 13 foot Momentum raft with the white water frame and loaded it up with our gear for a 3 day trip down the lower Deschutes River in north central Oregon. This is one of my main hangouts in the summer and it is a fun river with fun class 2,3 and 4 rapids that are fun, but not difficult to run. The desert scenery and wildlife is also a big plus on this river....

Snowolf

Epic Southern Utah Trip: Day Eight

All good things must end or so they say. This was it. After a great breakfast at the Denny's in Flagstaff, we headed for Phoenix. While it was cool and beautiful in Flagstaff, it was expected to hit 102 F in phoenix. We decided to drive down through Oak Creek Canyon and Sedona rather than just drive the I 17 all the way. Stopped for a nice lunch under the trees along the creek and I arranged the packs in order to get them on the airline.

Around 3:00 Pm we hit Phoenix and it was indeed...

Snowolf

Epic Southern Utah Trip: Day Seven

We awoke early to the cool, brilliant sun and the sound of the wind in the pines. After a good breakfast, we took a little hike out to Sunrise Point and hiked down the Queen`s Garden trail below the rim amongst the fantastic hoodoos of Bryce Canyon. My buddy decided to hike out to Sunset point so we climbed back to the rim. He went back to the truck and I decided to hike the entire below rim trail in this section of the park. It was a spectacular walk amongst towering hoodoos of red, gold and white....

Snowolf

Epic Southern Utah Trip: Day Six

The day began with a good breakfast and breaking down camp for the hike back out. The dry desert air had one negative effect on me and after a short series of sneezes, I developed a real gusher of a nose bleed that lasted for about a half hour. I finally got the damn thing stopped and we began our hike out. I tried my hand at cross country compass navigation to shorten several bends in the canyon and took about a mile off the hike out this way. We had a light lunch under the shade of the sandstone...

Snowolf

Epic Southern Utah Trip: Day Five

This day was the real heart of the trip and what I was looking forward to. My buddy was not up to any more hiking, so he elected to hang around camp and relax all day. So, I loaded up the pack with lunch, the water filter, gun and PLB along with camera, maps and compass and began my 17 mile round trip hike to the Escalante River. I plugged in the Ipod and began the day`s journey.

Needless to say, the scenery was mind blowing and every bend in the canyon was a new and wonderful scenic...

Snowolf