Since Adam and I have both started working we haven't had much time off together. We've been putting up with opposing schedules and, as a result, have had to find other friends to adventure with. In the past couple of weeks Adam has summited the Grand twice - first soloing Complete Exum and then climbing the OS with Matt (his co-worker/friend). They also took a run up Disappointment Peak before work one day. As for me - I've been doing a fair amount of hiking.

Last Saturday I hiked the Paintbrush Divide (in Paintbrush Canyon and out Cascade Canyon) with a couple of friends. I woke up to a beautiful web of clouds hovering at the base of the mountains. We hit the trail at about 8:00 AM, making our way back toward the canyon. As we hiked higher through the trees, we saw a fleeting moose pushing it's way through the thick vegetation. The canyon was exploding with red, pink, white, and purple - Indian's Paintbrush, Sticky Geranium, Columbine, and Showy Fleabane scattered the sides of the trail. Most of the snow had melted out, except for a few patches here and there and one steep slope along the divide. I brought an ice axe just incase, but didn't end up using it since we could scramble easily up the right side of the divide. Once we made it to the top of the divide (10,720 ft) we had amazing panoramic views of the surrounding mountains.

At the top of Paintbrush Divide. (Photo by: Jake)

From the divide, the trail switchbacks past glowing bundles of glacier lilies, until it descends to Lake Solitude, the perfect spot to stop for a quick nap and a snack, which is exactly what we did. However, as time passed, the clouds started to thicken and we decided it was best to start making our way out of Cascade Canyon. We stumbled upon two more moose on our way out - one was happily munching on some vegetation alongside the trail and the other was running fiercely down river from some pesky flies. At 4:00 PM we made it back to our cars, and just in time too - as we pulled out of the parking lot the skies opened up and we were bombarded with hail and pouring rain.  

Lake Solitude

Last night, Em and I decided we wanted to hike Granite Canyon to Teton Canyon, so we packed up and set our alarms for 4:00 AM. The skies were clear when we began the hike at 5:00 AM - and Adam decided to come along for a little while before he had to be at work. It was a gorgeous walk, and we made steady progress, but as we approached Marion Lake we noticed dark, ominous clouds spilling over the sides of the rock cliffs. The first rumble of thunder was soon followed by a second and third. Just as we skirted the edge of the lake, large raindrops began to fall and we started to consider our options: pushing on up the Death Canyon Shelf into exposed territory or turning back. Adam started his run back to the parking lot so he could make it to work on time. Em and I crouched under some large trees for shelter as it began to hail and as lightening lit up the sky. We decided it didn't make sense to continue on with the storm, so we made our very soggy descent back to the parking lot. 

Adam and I at Marion Lake, just as the rain started to fall. (Photo by: Em Meier)

An entire year has passed since Adam and I first made the drive out to Jackson, Wyoming. We have been through a lot since then - traveling all over the country, meeting new people, and climbing new rock, but have once again found ourselves back in Jackson and it sure feels good! We haven't wasted any time getting started on our "to-climb" list either (hence the lack of posts lately)...so let me fill you in!

The Grand Teton Climber's Ranch is a collection of rustic cabins run by the American Alpine Club, located in the park right at the base of the mountains. It is open during the summer season for climbers and their families to stay while adventuring in the park. Every year, the week before they open for the season, a group of volunteers help fix up the ranch and get it ready for the public (Work Week). Last year Adam had a great experience volunteering for Work Week, so this year we both decided to do it together. Many of the volunteers have been coming for years to help out and are well seasoned climbers. (One man celebrated his 80th birthday during Work Week this year!) In exchange for our work, they provide us with a large lunch everyday that week and we are invited to stay at the ranch for the entire month of June for free.

2013 Work Week volunteers 

This year there were so many volunteers (and we were such efficient workers) that they started running out of work for us to do, so they gave us Wednesday morning off. Of course, at the climber's ranch, time off doesn't mean rest and relaxation - it means climbing mountains! So Adam, myself, and Sean - a fellow volunteer - decided we were going to climb Teewinot (12,325 ft) via the East Face, Wednesday morning before we had to work that afternoon. We woke up at 2:00 AM, ate breakfast, and drove to the Lupine Meadows trailhead, where we began hiking at 3:00 AM.

We followed the trail upward, only stopping just below tree-line to put on crampons and get out our ice axes. From this point on it would be entirely snow to the summit and a straight shot upward (5,600 ft elevation gain), making the terrain we would travel over extremely steep.

Soon our surroundings were lighting up with alpenglow and we watched a flaming orange sunrise reflected in Jenny Lake. We could finally put away our headlamps and started to warm up in the presence of the sun (did I mention it was 30 degrees out when we started?).

Adam and myself on the way up the steep East Face of Teewinot at sunrise. (Photo by: Sean)

We had gotten lucky with weather - it was nothing but blue skies as far as the eye could see and no wind. It wasn't until we reached the top of the summit shoulder that the wind came whipping from the west, and we were forced to bundle back up for our time on the summit. 

At around 7:00 AM we topped out on Teewinot. The summit is so small and pointed, only one person can actually stand on it at a time. After taking a picture of each person on the summit we retreated down out of the wind and started our descent. By this time the sun had been beating on the snow and it had gone from firm to complete snow cone consistency (which does not make descending easy). Some of the ice we had climbed up had melted out by the time we were trying to get back down, so we had to find alternate ways around (scrambling down exposed rock). Due to the poor conditions it was slow going and getting down actually took longer than getting up the mountain (which is rare). 

We made it back to the ranch around 12:30 PM and they had veggie burgers, salad, mac & cheese, and cookies waiting for us! (Yes, they rock!) We stuffed ourselves with food. Everyone wanted to hear about our adventure and congratulated us on our successful summit. There wasn't much work to be done so they told us to rest up from our long climb, which is exactly what we did - we fell asleep in the back of the van within minutes.  

Since Work Week has ended we have climbed a 6 pitch trad route called Guide's Wall in Cascade Canyon twice - the first time Adam lead the route and the second time I am proud to say I lead the route. We also made a trip up to the Lower Saddle, where Adam attempted to ski down (the snow conditions were awful) and I glissaded. 

Now that work has started up for us we will have to limit our adventures to days off, but we have big plans in store for the rest of the summer!

Moonlight Buttress

When I first started climbing indoors, I said I would never get into rock climbing on real rock - it seemed hard and a little scary and I was weak. Within a few months I was on my way to Acadia with Adam to rock climb outdoors for my first time. Next, I said sport climbing is great, but I will never be a trad climber - this year Adam taught me to trad climb and I led all eight pitches of a trad climb called Solar Slab in Red Rocks. Finally, I said I would never be a big wall climber - it seemed too arduous  and I wasn't sure if I was even capable of such a feat. In the past month and a half Adam and I have successfully climbed two well known big walls - one of them in a single day... which leads me to our most recent adventure: Moonlight Buttress.

The route Moonlight Buttress follows to the top.

Moonlight Buttress is a well known big wall in Zion National Park, Utah. It is described by Super Topo as "one of the most aesthetic sandstone crack systems in the world". When we first talked about Moonlight Buttress, we weren't too serious about climbing it - it was mostly this iconic climb we had always heard about (especially after Alex Honnold free soloed it) that would be really awesome to climb one day. It wasn't until after we climbed Rainbow Wall that Adam suggested we look up the difficulty of Moonlight Buttress and we started seriously talking about climbing it. So we woke up early the next day and finally said goodbye to Red Rocks as we headed 3 hours north to Zion with the goal of climbing Moonlight Buttress.

Often times, even on climbs I anticipate to be very difficult, I feel fairly confident everything will go smoothly - this was not one of those times. From the beginning I felt some reservations toward this climb. First of all, most of this climb is comprised of a clean crack system that shoots all the way to the top. Adam and I have had minimal experience actually crack climbing. Secondly, we were going to try and climb it in a single day (unlike Rainbow Wall we wouldn't fix any ropes the day before or bivy at the base of the wall). Thirdly, the walls in Zion are just plain intimidating! Everything in the canyon cowers under the towering walls, which rise up like giant gargoyles. You feel as if you're in a cathedral, looking up at the high ceilings, delicately painted with vibrant blues and swirling whitecaps.

Looking down canyon with Angel's Landing on the right.

All of these were problems we had faced before and I knew they wouldn't keep us from climbing this route, but there was one much bigger problem that did stand in our way - not enough gear. This route, like most routes in Zion and other places with splitter cracks, requires a TON of gear. Since the crack is consistently sized for long stretches of a pitch, you need repeats of the same size cam - so, instead of having one cam of every size (which is what we have, with the exception of a couple doubles), you need 4 or 5 of many sizes. As a result, we spent the first few days hiking in the park, since we couldn't find any climbs we had enough gear for. We debated about whether we could pull off Moonlight Buttress with the gear we had or if we should just call it quits and leave Zion. We definitely couldn't afford to buy the extra gear we needed (a single cam can cost anywhere from $50 to over $100) so it seemed like this climb wasn't going to happen - but, as you probably know, Adam and I are both very stubborn people, so despite not knowing how we were going to get the extra gear we needed to do the climb, we went to the park rangers on Friday, May 3rd and signed up for a permit to climb Moonlight Buttress on Monday.

I don't know whether it was fate or just dumb luck, but that same evening, as we ate dinner in the library park downtown, we met two other climbers eating dinner as well - Ari and Jason. Ari lives in Salt Lake City with his wife, who is expecting their first baby this July. We got to talking and told them about our hopes of doing Moonlight Buttress, but our concerns regarding gear. Ari has climbed the route many times and said it was a phenomenal climb. He was so excited for us to experience the route, however, he confirmed our fear, saying we definitely would not be able to do it with a single rack of gear. Then, without hesitation he offered us some of his gear to use for the climb on Monday. He explained that he has been in our shoes before and others were kind enough to share with him, so he would like to return the favor. We were both dumbfounded and ecstatic - he would be trusting complete strangers with hundreds of dollars worth of gear. The average person probably wouldn't be willing to do this, which goes to show the kind of people involved in the climbing community. So that was it - we exchanged numbers and met back up on Sunday afternoon to grab the gear from Ari and Jason (who, lent us a combined total of 18 cams!). That evening we organized and packed our gear, then went to bed early to prepare for a 4 AM wake up call.

Me with all our gear to climb Moonlight Buttress. (Photo by Adam)

Me seconding the pitch. (Photo by Adam)

We woke up and drove into the park while it was still dark, parking at The Grotto. We had a quick breakfast and were hiking by 5:40 AM. The sun started creeping over the horizon as we made the shockingly cold crossing down a section of the Virgin River. Nothing wakes you up quite like 45 degree water at 6:30 in the morning. We were at the base of the wall and climbing by a little after 7:00 - the morning butterflies in my stomach subsiding as we made good time up the first few pitches. We were extremely thankful for all the extra gear we had as we saw how runout and scary it would be without it. About halfway up the climb the clouds started to collect overhead and I felt the first few raindrops spill onto my helmet. Uh oh - the butterflies were back in my stomach. The temperature had dropped since the sun had disappeared and I felt chilled as I hung off the anchor belaying Adam up the next pitch, but, I felt confident that the clouds would pass, taking the rain with them. Before long the blue skies were back and I smiled at our luck once again. The hours flew by quickly as we kept on working our way up the crack system. It was a difficult route for leading and seconding and incredibly sustained. We were only three pitches from the top when I saw dark clouds starting to spill over the top on the far side of the canyon. They were fierce looking - angry - and I could see the line of rain they were spewing, slowly creeping down the canyon closer and closer. And then we heard it. The first roll of thunder, a second - a flash of lightning. When I made it to the top of the pitch Adam and I were both worried. The question was, should we rappel down or would it be faster to finish the last 3 pitches? If we could make it to the top, there was a short trail that leads to a paved path from Angel's Landing, which leads all the way back down to our car. It would be a straight forward hike down in the dark and there were bathrooms we could seek shelter in if the storm got really bad. If we rappelled down we would definitely get caught in the dark and finding the anchors in the dark could be a huge challenge. So we decided to keep moving up. The first wave of the storm had passed, but we could see more dark clouds brewing on the horizon so we didn't waste any time in our efforts to top out. As I belayed Adam up the final pitch, I was ready to be off the rock. I was completely exhausted - both mentally and physically - hungry, and still worried about the storm. I was damp from the rain, which was now starting to turn into hail. I topped out at 8:20 PM, after 13 straight hours of climbing, with only 25 minutes of daylight to spare. As I walked over to Adam the skies let loose and huge amounts of hail starting beating down on us - we had topped out just in time.

Me - as thoroughly spent as I look - just after topping out. 

The rock was thoroughly soaked now, making it super slick. We packed up our gear and carefully made our way across the rock and down to the paved trail. A few bright flashes of lightning lit up the sky once we made it down into the canyon. We were glad to have successfully climbed Moonlight Buttress, but were also very glad to be done. We made it back to the car by 9:30 PM, where we changed into dry clothes, had a quick bite to eat, and drove out of the park so we could go to bed.





(Thanks again to Ari and Jason - we couldn't have done it without the use of your gear!)

Rainbow Wall

The Rainbow Wall is one of the most prominent walls of Red Rocks and the Original Route was not only the first route up this wall, but was also the first big wall route ever climbed in Red Rocks. Set back in Juniper Canyon, this impressively steep route follows up 1200' to the summit and can be distinguished from a distance. From the moment I set eyes on it, I felt a gravitational pull towards this rock. Every time Adam and I passed the canyon, our eyes remained glued to it - re-processing the already memorized features of the wall. Only once our view became obstructed by other walls did we avert our eyes.

We needed to climb it!

But I wasn't sure if we were actually ready to. The Original Route is a 5.12a (or 5.12d if you climb a variation for one of the pitches), but we aren't talking 5.12a sport climbing. Both Adam and I have climbed 5.12a sport routes before, which usually consist of about 50' of clipping somewhere from 3 to 5 bolts. The Original Route is 15 pitches of sustained, hard trad climbing; It would easily be the hardest and longest route we had ever climbed. So naturally we decided to take on the challenge...

The blue line follows the path of the Original Route straight up the center of the Rainbow Wall.

The Rainbow Wall is known for its longer approach compared to the other walls of Red Rocks. Instead of the usual 25-40 minute hike in, it is about a 3 hour hike in to the base of Rainbow Wall (with packs full of climbing gear). We decided we would hike in on Wednesday and bivy at the base of the wall so that we could wake up early Thursday morning and start climbing right away. In the mean time (on Monday), we hiked in so that we could scope out the climb, check out the bivy options, and make sure we had the hike dialed. We ended up bringing all our climbing gear as well and stashed it near the base of the climb so that we wouldn't have to hike it in again when we also had water and food in our packs. 

Hiking the slabs, which lead to the wall. (Photo by Adam)

Standing at the base of the wall, looking up the route was a little nerve racking, but got us even more adrenalized for the climb we had ahead of us! As we hiked out, we were even more excited than when we had hiked in. 

Racked up and ready to climb.

On Wednesday morning we slept in a bit and had a big breakfast at the trailhead, before starting out at around 8 AM. We made the hike in to Rainbow Wall again, this time with packs full of food, water, and a sleeping bag. When we got to the ledge directly under the route (also our bivy spot for that night), we set up our tent, had a quick snack, and began racking up. We climbed the first 5 pitches and fixed our two ropes that afternoon. This would allow us to save time the following morning by ascending the pitches we had already climbed on our fixed ropes and continuing the climb from there. After finishing, we rappelled back down to the base of the wall where we ate dinner, organized gear for the following morning, and turned in for the night before the sun had even set.

Rappelling down the last two pitches after climbing and fixing the ropes.

4 AM and ready to climb!

As we crawled out of our tent at 4 AM the town of Las Vegas was still glowing from the night before. As we pulled on our harnesses in the dark, I couldn't help but think of all the people just falling asleep down in Vegas. I forced some dried cranberries down for breakfast - it's hard to eat that early in the morning and I was anxious to get started. I went first, ascending the pitches we had climbed the day before, and Adam followed below. As we gained height so did the sun, slowing rising above the horizon, and I watched as the lights of Vegas slowly snuffed out like burnt out stars. By the time the sun was fully up, we had reached the top of the fixed ropes and I was belaying Adam up the next pitch.  The climbing went smoothly and efficiently from this point - only pausing briefly at Rainbow Ledge to have a quick snack and take in the views. The second to last pitch was easily the hardest pitch for both Adam and I. It was a 5.12d variation, which follows a leftward leaning roof along a clean crack, which made for some difficult climbing. Adam took his time and did an amazing job leading this pitch! After he made it to the anchor, he fixed the rope so I could jug up. Due to the traversing nature of this pitch it was a challenge for me to clean the gear without swinging out (which you should always try to avoid doing on ascenders). In order to avoid swinging without having to leave behind gear, I successfully used a technique called "lowering out" for the first time, which involves clipping into a bolt, cleaning the gear, then easing yourself over by lowering your rope on a girth hitched piece of cord. I think both Adam and I were extremely proud of each other and of ourselves at the end of this pitch, especially when looking down at what we had just overcome. From this point it was just one more easy pitch to the summit of the wall.

On the summit of Rainbow Wall!

We topped out at 2:30 in the afternoon.

On the summit of Rainbow Wall!

Me rappelling down the steep walls of the Original Route. (Photo by Adam).

We enjoyed the summit for about an hour before we packed up and got organized for the descent.








The easiest way down the wall is to rappel directly back down the route - so, 15 rappels later we were back on the ground where we had started. We were exhausted and ravenous, but we had prepared for this and had delicious sandwiches waiting to be devoured at our bivy site. Let me tell you...no sandwich has ever tasted as good as those sandwiches did!

Sandwiches - YUM!! (Photo by Adam)

We still had daylight to spare, and debated about making the 3 hour hike out, however, we decided to spend one more night at the base of the wall. We woke up early the next morning, packed up all our gear, and hiked out (with the motivation of pizza propelling us forward)! I'd say our first big wall experience was a huge success!

So what now?? Hmm, perhaps Moonlight Buttress...




Here is a time-lapse video of the first three pitches of the climb...

Mojave Desert Wildlife

Most people in the rock climbing community probably know what you are taking about if you say you are climbing in Red Rocks - but, most of our family aren't rock climbers, so maybe I should tell you a bit more about where we actually are. 

Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area is 195,819 acres of conserved land, which is all apart of the Mojave Desert, and is located only 17 miles west of the Las Vegas "Strip" in Nevada. Once you enter the conservation area there is a 13 mile scenic drive loop, which gives us access to all the different trailheads and climbing routes.

Las Vegas (the tall buildings in the center is the Strip)

The desert landscape of this area is vastly different from what we are used to on the east coast, but we have slowly been learning about the local plants and wildlife. There are a few herds of wild burros that live around the conservation area, as well as wild horses - although we have yet to see any wild horses, as they are much fewer in numbers.   The Black-tailed jackrabbit and desert cottontail are a couple of animals we see on a regular basis while driving at night or early morning - those, along with the  Kangaroo rat and pocket mouse. One night we were lucky enough to see a coyote as well. During the day, the most common animal you will notice are all the lizards, which dart about at your feet and over rocks - to name a few are the Chuckwalla, zebra-tailed lizard, Whiptailed lizard, and desert iguana. Unlike the lizards, the Desert Tortoise are the more atypical reptile of the Mojave - as they spend 98% of their lives underground in their burrows. The Desert Tortoise is a federally threatened animals, as its populations have been dramatically declining due to human encroachment, competition with grazing livestock, and invasive species. 

A Gopher Snake passing through our climbing rope.

Wild Burro itching near a Joshua Tree.

                                                (More climbing talk and photos to come...)

Epinephrine

I don't know where to begin - do I try to describe the sheer size of this climb or how I am perfectly sized to shimmy my way up the chimney pitches? Or perhaps I should start with the kindred sense of camaraderie among the four of us climbing together. I still don't know, but speechless seems like an appropriate beginning, as this was our initial reaction after climbing this route. 

First light on the rock. (Photo by Adam)

Our alarm sounded at 3:45 AM, the noise barely penetrating the thick night sky, which still hung low in the canyon. I was already awake - excitement coursing through me like caffeine. We were getting ready to climb Epinephrine, a 2240' climb up Black Velvet Peak. Having a hard time picturing exactly how big this looks? You know Half Dome in Yosemite? It's taller than that! We have had our eye on this climb for quite some time now, so when we ran into a couple of my friends from the Adirondacks and they asked us to climb it with them, it was easy to say yes! So, there we were, hiking into the canyon by headlamp - ready to start the climb at first light. 

Me in the chimney. (Photo by Adam)

 After a first short pitch of sporty face climbing you start up three glorious pitches of chimney climbing - something we had never done before! And let me tell you, as I watched Dustin, Jack, and then Adam slowly and awkwardly fight their way up the rock, my hands started to sweat. (Props to Adam for leading all the pitches except the first!) Cursing and yelling could be heard the whole way up. 

Dustin in the chimney. (Photo by Adam)

But to everyone's surprise, I am perfectly sized for those chimneys, and quietly scooted right through them. After you top out on the last chimney pitch you are standing on top of a large tower. From here we continued up on some high quality face climbing until we were just below the summit. At this point it was a couple 4th class pitches and scrambling until the summit of Black Velvet Peak.

Jack, Dustin, myself, and Adam standing on the summit of Black Velvet Peak after climbing Epinephrine.

We reached the summit at 5:40 PM - just under 7 hours of continuous climbing - and couldn't be more psyched! We hung around the summit just long enough to snap a few pictures and switch from climbing shoes to hiking shoes, at which point we started the 2 hour hike down the side of the Peak and back to the car. Despite being tired and hungry, everyone wore grin to grin smiles the whole way down. As we reached the car (just before 8:00 PM) the sun was just setting - we couldn't have asked for better timing. The whole day was a huge success and easily the most epic climb any of us have done thus far. 

Here are some more pictures from the day...

Me seconding as Adam belays. (Photo by Adam)

Great exposure as Dustin second's up the pitch. (Photo by Jack)

More exposure! (Photo by Adam)

Red Rocks, Nevada

We made it to Red Rock Canyon Conservation Area - our home for the next few weeks and one of the top climbing destinations in the U.S.!!

On the outskirts of Las Vegas, it is quite the interesting spread of people here. On one end of the spectrum you have the super wealthy people that drive through for the day and take pictures from their car window. (I saw this man sit in his car combing his hair for at least 5 minutes, only to get out and take a picture of his car instead of the view behind him.) Then you have the community of rock climbers who live out of their cars and cook dinner in the parking lot of the visitor's center - people like Adam and I. We are slowly getting used to the area though and getting our systems dialed - we found showers, the best places to sleep, and the best location with free WiFi.

As for the climbing...it has been awesome! The first afternoon we got here we climbed "Hop Route" a three pitch 5.7 trad route in Icebox Canyon.

Icebox Canyon as seen from Calico Hills.

The following day we climbed "Man's Best Friend" - a two pitch 5.7 sport climb in Calico Hills. It was another super fun, easy climb, which was great for getting used to the rock and getting some great views of the surrounding canyons. 

Me leading the first pitch of "Man's Best Friend" (photo by Adam).

View from "Man's Best Friend".

Yesterday, we hiked in to Pine Creek Canyon to climb Mescalito via the 5 pitch trad route, "Cat in the Hat". When we got to the base of the climb there was another couple getting ready to climb the route. They were super friendly, however, they were much slower climbers than us so we ended up spending a significant amount of time waiting for them to finish a pitch before we could continue on behind them. As a result, we didn't end up getting off the wall until 7:45 (we shared ropes to rappel, which saved some time) and we didn't get back to our car until 8:30. We were exhausted - we drove to the campground, cooked dinner, and instantly went to sleep. It was another really fun climb - a combination of crack climbing and juggy face climbing. We gained about 650' of elevation and could see all the way into downtown Las Vegas from the top.

Adam belaying me from the first pitch anchor.

Organizing the rack for the next pitch. (photo by Adam)

Me cleaning gear as I climb up the first pitch.

The only problem we have run into so far is the sun. It's been so sunny everyday (between 70-80 degrees) and there really isn't much shade in the desert - especially not while climbing. But if that's our only problem, I think we are doing pretty well. Besides, Adam came up with a great way to keep the sun off his neck and ears while climbing - he taped a bandana to the back of his climbing helmet. It's not only extremely functional in preventing sunburn, but it is also extremely fashionable.

“Not all those who wander are lost.” ~J.R.R. Tolkien

Our whole life was boxed up and jammed into the back of my Ford Explorer and Adam's van. Packed to capacity, we pulled out of the driveway and started the 34 hour drive across the country to Bozeman, Montana - the first stop in our 2 1/2 month trip. The driving was slower going than last summer but we still made great time. We left Connecticut on Saturday, March 16th and made it to Bozeman late Tuesday night, March 19th. Our third night on the road we found a little trucker stop (Coffee Cup Fuel Stop), where we took a hot shower, cooked up some hot soup, and spent the night.

We saw hundreds of birds migrating over us - you can see the "V"s they formed in the sky.

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Since we made it to Bozeman, we have been staying with Adam's family. They have a gorgeous log home nestled in the mountains, with a stunning view of the Bridger Mountains. After the cold nights spent in the van on the way out here, it has been a treat to spend the evening curled up on their couch in front of the wood stove before retreating to a warm bed to sleep in.



Despite the comforts of their home we have been busy exploring the area. We spent a couple days running up some of the surrounding hills and mountains, trying to get used to the elevation and back into shape. I was finally able to break in my mountaineering boots when we hiked part of Baldy Mountain, which gave us some great views of Bozeman.



On Saturday, we went skiing at Bridger Bowl with Adam's father and sister. It was hands down the best conditions I have ever skiied! It had just snowed that night so we were able to make fresh tracks in the softest blanket of powder! We also got the chance to go cross-country skiing in the national forest down the road with Adam's parents. It was a gorgeous day - in the 50's - which melted much of the snow by the end of the day and left us all a little sun burnt.

Skiing into the North Bowl of Bridger Mt. (Photo by Adam Freund)

Today we are packing up the van and hitting the open road - ready for our next adventure!  Where to? Red Rocks, Nevada! Time to start rock climbing...



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