Canyonlands UT

After moving here in late November and vising twice, January and August, I have finally had a chance to get out and explore more of the area. We did go down to Bryce Canyon in August last year, but it was quite hot. Not really the right time to go to the desert. We went hiking in January but it was too much snow to get up in the canyons, so again not really the right time. This time it was a bit early for backpacking in Canyonlands, but that meant the chances of finding water would be better. Mostly this translated into cooler nights while the days were still more then tolerable. Our trip was supposed to be 4 days and 3 nights but after arriving at the park and discovering that not only was the park camping filled but most of the backcountry sites were filled as well, we had to change our trip on the fly. So we camped out at another spot the first night (outside the park) then we grabbed two spots that seemed reasonable to hike to and spend 3 days and 2 night backpacking. We definitely had some slim pickin's on the campsites. We ended up doing about 8 miles the first 2 days and about 3 to get back to the car. Still it was lots of fun in spite of the blisters. That rock is hard on the body and the gear. I had blisters and some wear on the lid of my pack after dragging it past a really tight spot in the rocks.

Canyonlands is quite amazing. The entire park is centered where the Green and Colorado Rivers meet. This meeting point divides the park up into three very distinct regions. Island in the Sky to the north, the Maze district to the west, and Needles district to the east. We explored the Needles district on this trip. The needles are spires of rock that wind, water and time have eroded around leaving spires, and lots of them. We did see some Puebloan ruins across from the trail, as well as some pictographs on the wall. Mostly we way mother nature's sculptures. It was quite interesting and amazing to walk round buttes, across mesa, and through keyholes and slots. Okay, amazing and a little scary too. I know some of these have been up for more thousands then I can think of, but a few still looked like they were about to give way at any moment. still this is an amazing place and I can't wait to explore the other districts in the park.

Moving

This was a long week. I just got back from my last business trip with my old lab, had to finish packing up the apartment and move. It didn't happen as planned. A friend, leaving on a trip, was having a going away party. She will be touring the Antarctic so this was one of the last chances to say bye. Plus my fiance arrived today about the same time I did but at a different airport. We met up near the party location which thanks to some construction was an interesting challenge. We arrived back late at the apartment and fell asleep right away. The next morning was an early morning as we rushed out to get the moving truck then rushed back to get the truck parked and start loading.

I had 5 people total to help with the load, including myself. I didn't help too much as I was trying to frantically finish packing the kitchen which I never really started. Once finished we actually had time to run up to Rockville and do a pool session. What a day. We crashed at a friend's place then left early the next morning. The apartment was mostly clean as I had cleaned it just before we left. So we cleaned out the fridge and freezer then were on the road. Three days later we arrived late in the night to Utah. What a drive. Nebraska and Wyoming are really flat, and really windy. We had a horrible head wind.

We arrived on the Tuesday night, then started to unload Wednesday morning. Some friends came over to help and we had about 5 people. The unloading was more challenging as we were moving my stuff into an already filled apartment. The unpacking will be fun to say the least. But that is for another day. We went over to his parents for Thanksgiving supper and are trying to sleep off the effects of the driving and moving.

I have no idea where anything is right now. Hopefully I can find all the important stuff. Guess I need to figure out what is important now.

New Job

I just received some positive news from a job interview. They want to hire me which is great. I was out for the interview arriving on the Thursday then interviewing from 9 in the morning until almost 1 in the afternoon. It was a long interview but since I was not local, they couldn't exactly call me back in. The job sounds somewhat similar to what I am currently doing only with more bench work and experiments. This will be nice as I think I have fallen into a paperwork rut. It was also nice to come out to visit with my fiance. Living so far apart has been hard on both of us and I will be happy when we are closer together. This job is the step that will get us closer physically.

The interview was last week but since the Investigator was leaving for a long trip the next day I wasn't going to hear anything until today. That was one of the longest waits ever. We are so happy, but now comes the fun part of figuring out moving logistics and timing everything. I had hoped to be able to leave before the last New York business trip but I think it would be for the best of the lab if I did the trip and ensure the project doesn't fall apart before I leave. I so can't wait to get out there.

Bryce Canyon and Calf Creek falls

We managed to get out of the OR show fairly early and we packed up and hit the road. We ended up going down to the dessert in an effort to see if I could be warmed up. I haven't been really cold but I do find I am cool enough that I carry long sleeves with me just in case. Zip apart pants are my best friend right now. We made it down to Bryce a little late but we found a nice site, set up then walked out to the rim to watch the sunset. Too bad it was cloudy and there was smoke from a forest fire, but it was still beautiful. We prepared and ate supper on the rim enjoying the cooling evening. We again planned really well by leaving the headlamps back at the camp site.

The next day we hiked down into the canyon among the hoodoos. It was really surreal. I have never seen anything like them before. It was also pretty warm out. I was finally warm for a change. We had an afternoon sprinkle of rain but nothing too big. We had to change campsites twice because the camp ranger didn't tell us that loop C was reservation only. We got lucky and found an open spot on C the first night but didn't know we couldn't just move to another site. We found a site later in the day on D. Imagine how upset we were when we left the next morning to find no one had stayed on the site they had kicked us out of. Oh well.

We drove over to hike in to see Calf Creek Falls. It was amazing and although a very hot and dry hike in, well worth it. There were few people because of the heat. The sun beats down into the canyon and there is very little shade. We made it to the falls and have time to enjoy it alone before a few others joined us. We hiked back in a gentle rain which cooled the area down and made the hike out more pleasant. I am not looking forward to going back to DC tomorrow. I really don't want to go back to work either.

Summer OR show

I thought the winter show was pretty big and crazy but the summer show while about the same size had more area being covered, like paddle sports. There were just as many parties and seemed to be just as many people crowding the aisles. I was running from appointment to appointment and when I didn't have scheduled appointments I was trying to meet with retailers to set up appointments or to pitch the new watersports section of the site. It was a crazy week and I think I will be feeling the effects of it for a little while. I will have to email tons of people and try to set up gear to be tested on the site.

It turned out to be a really great show in more ways then one. Not only was I pitching my own site, but I won a few nice items while I was there. I won a very nice messenger bag from KEEN. I also won a wool top from Icebreaker. I won several pairs of shows. And the big win was a kayaking trip for two to Baja, Mexico to kayak with the whales. I was really surprised to hear them call my name as it was really a last minute addition to the drawing. I was there to talk to the retailer and he entered my name in the drawing. So I was understandably surprised that I had actually won. Who wins these things? Apparently people do win them. So we are now all psyched up to go on this amazing trip. I really can't wait.

Tomorrow is the last day of the show and I don't really expect to have too much to do. Mostly I have a few little things to do and we might even be able to get out before lunch and hit the road early for more trail time.

Over 10,000 ft

We did the Brighton Lakes loop hike this weekend. We didn't have a ton of time left on Saturday after driving back up from Eureka and getting everything packed up for backpacking. We did make about 5 miles up to the last lake and found a nice place to camp. It was really nice except for the droves of mosquitos. I thought I was going to go crazy with the humming and the biting. Of course we planned really well by leaving the DEET in the truck. I only had Badger Balm bug off and it didn't work so well against the droves. We pitched the tent and got water in a hurry then rested behind the netting until dusk slowed them down.

We have been playing around with different meals on our trips as I am not a huge fan of Mountain House meals. I had a bad experience with them at the beginning of my thru-hike and have avoided them almost ever since. I was eating a lasagna and the vegetables tasted moldy, what a turn off. I have tasted some since and haven't had this issue come up so it might have just been a bad batch. My boyfriend doesn't care for the Lipton Noodle or Rice sides that I eat so we are trying to find common ground. It might just be that we each eat what we can and enjoy each other's company instead. We ate asian noodles this trip and while we both thought they were okay, they weren't okay enough for us to keep going back to them. We will have to keep looking, but I am starting to think that dehydrating our own meals might be the way to go.

The first day we had a fair amount of elevation gain and I was really feeling it towards the end, but we pushed on to the top lake and had a great evening with great views as seen through bug netting. The following morning left the option of making a run for one summit then heading back down the way we had come or pushing for the summit and finishing the loop. I decided I was up for the loop so onward and upward we went. It was my first time hiking up over 6,000 ft. Mt. Washington was the highest I had ever hiked. Sad but true.

It was absolutely breath taking, and the views were stunning too. I wasn't so bad off, but we did have to take frequent breaks. There were still some patches of snow and we ended up having a snow ball fight started by me. I was surprised it was perfect snow ball snow, sticky enough to hold together. I ended up on the lower ground and got some snow kicked at me. But it was fun none the less. I'm glad I decided to push for the summit. It was a hard climb up but well worth it.

Seeing Eureka

I really didn't do anything yesterday other then try to get all the little computer things done. They have been slowly piling up until I had time to work on it. Yesterday was my first real chance to get it done. I fixed up the website and worked on some of the little tweaks I wanted to do. I think everything is set for that for now. I even had an afternoon nap to try to get over the jet lag. I have been drinking tons of water to stay hydrated but I feel like I have to clear my throat much more then my usual annoying amount.

After supper, we had time to go out and hike to the top of the mountain overlooking Eureka. It isn't very high and the road was graded, but again the elevation is higher then I am used to so it took a while to get up to the top. The views were great, although there wasn't much town to see. It is a small town. But it was cool to see it from above. I think the one day of rest helped me to acclimate a little as I didn't get a big headache, just the hints of one.

I notice the area has an austere beauty. It is different from the east coast. Not as many trees covering the mountains down here. There is a lot of shrubbery though. Sage brush and stuff. I can't wait to see more of the area.

Eureka

I arrived safely in Utah. The taxi driver had my cell number wrong but luckily I saw him waiting. I can't believe there is now a surcharge for putting bags in the trunk, that is ridiculous. Oh well. I arrived at lunch time so it was off to lunch for us. It was so nice to finally see my boyfriend in person and get a real hug. Skype is nice but it can only go so far.

We ate some Mexican for lunch then decided to hit the hills. I am not used to the higher elevation and so I was soon huffing and puffing like crazy. We were trying to get up to Cecret Lake, but I wasn't able to make it. I had no problems going downhill it was the uphill that was killing me. It wasn't so bad until I started to get the accompanying headache. I am trying to drink water like crazy too as I am not used to the dry heat. I actually found that while the temperatures are about comparable, the lack of humidity makes me feel cooler. We met family for supper then it was packing, a food run then down to Eureka for a few days.

I woke up as we arrived. Not much to see late at night. Boy is it dark here. The bed and breakfast is nice, what little I saw of it. I am very tired from the very long day.

About to leave

I did my last minute laundry yesterday and am trying to finish up the last minute packing today. I have to pack not only the stuff I need to the OR show, but I also need to pack some stuff to go backpacking while I am out there. It seems like I have so much to do and I just can't wrap my head around it. I do know that I will be coming back with a lot more stuff then I went out with. I was able to pack everything I needed in the large green duffel with my clothes in a carryon that fits inside the duffel. This way I can either expand the duffel or remove the carryon and have more space. I am really looking forward to this trip. I haven't seen my boyfriend in too long. While this will be a short trip, it will be nice to see him again. I really can't wait. I'm off to bed as I fly out extremely early in the morning.

One week

One week until I get to take time off of work, fly out to Utah and enjoy catching up with people I met the first time I was out there. And more trail time. And a backpacking partner I actually like to backpack with. I am leaving it up to his Utah experienced hands to pick out some nice places to show off. I fear that he has too many to chose from and will be wracked with indecision. Guess it really depends on how I take to the altitude when I am out there. But I have two weekends out in Utah and hopefully will be able to hit some nice trails. I am looking forward to a change of view and change of pace. I have been doing so much kayaking that I fear I might be out of backpacking shape.

I also can't wait to get out there for the big gear show that is happening. I went out to the winter version of the show and it was awesome. I am ready to be wow'ed again with what I hear is the bigger summer show. I also can't wait to check out all the kayaking stuff. I have been reading that they have class III rapids below the reservoir to play in with the white water boats. I am just barely comfortable with the Class III on the Potomac here so I am not sure I will hit the white water out there, but I am definitely going to be hitting the water on the reservoir and have fun playing on the flat water.

Outdoor Review show

I had a chance to go to an outdoor gear trade show, where manufacturers had new gear on display for the media and distributors to see. I went as working media for the site I do gear testing for and had an absolute blast. I wish I had known about these sooner. I felt like a kid in a candy store, a really big candy store full of really cool things. As I had never gone to one of these shows before, I was shadowing one of the veteran show goers so learn how things are done. I followed one guy in particular as he was going to many of the vendors that I was really interested in hearing about their new product lines. The show is pretty overwhelming and huge. I can't believe how big the venue was. I got sore feet just walking around trying to see everything. I wasn't sure what to bring clothing wise so I packed hiking stuff and wasn't that comfortable with the hiking pants I had brought. The only bonus to having them was that they had side vents so when I got hot legs later in the day, I could vent some. I learned a lot at this show and had a really good time. I am really looking forward to going back for the Summer show, especially since I hear they have kayaks to play with.

The venue for the shows is out in Salt Lake City over the course of 5 days with the first day as a demo day to try things. I happened to fly in during a big temperature inversion which had the city socked in with fog. I was staying at a fellow gear tester's home and little did I know he had a 2 year old kid that liked to wake up at 4:00 in the morning and bang around. It was almost a good thing for the time difference as I was up before the kid, but that meant I got very little sleep. In fact, I was lucky if I got about 3-4 hours per night while I was there. Between going to bed pretty late, then waking up early, I was wired from lack of sleep. The show also made for somewhat long days with all the waking around and trying to see everything. Someone had a pedometer and one day we walked almost 8 miles. The problem is that the building has concrete flooring and not much padding on top of it. It was hard on the feet and back. Next time I am bringing my crocs, I think my feet will be happier.

The nice part of the show and being working media was the stuff that the vendors gave us. Since I was piggybacking along with people who knew what they were doing, I got all kinds of really nice stuff. I got a Kleen Kanteen bottle, a pair of Patagonia shoes, and lots of really nice socks. I realized that is a way to ask for stuff and I need to learn how to do that. I can get some stuff but apparently I could have gotten more from some vendors. Oh well. It was lots of fun and I look forward to another show.