King's Peak and Atwine Lake

 July 4th, 2014 Henry's Fork on the way to King's Peak (Utah's high point 13,528 ft.) From left to right Ava, Cole, Tyler, Katie, Dani, and Matt.

Views from our cozy camp site on Day 1, after hiking in to the base of the peak. Thunderstorms looming in the distance.

Beautiful skies for our peak ascent on Day 2.

Summit crew.

Tyler, Katie, Cole and Ava hiked the entire 13 miles back to the car on Day 2, while Dani and I stayed for some much needed hammock time (Thanks Karen! your gift is well  used)

Pictures from the previous weekend spent backpacking with Dirk and Steph on the southern slope of the Uintas at Atwine Lake.

Thanks to the guys at Western Fly Fishing for teaching us how to tie tippets to leaders and giving us some good fly tips. All that advice was good for a 6 fish dinner.

Dirk lounging and reading at our cozy camp-site on the edge of Atwine Lake. Aside from the hike in on the main trail we saw 0 people for an entire day.

Packraft Southern Utah Pt. 1

We went packrafting with Kirsten and Zac over Memorial Day weekend.

Early into our hike.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GHH2z5SLZKo

If you have a second, check out the video that Zac put together.

We started high on this desert plateau.

Packrafts are new to us. They are awesome little inflatable rafts that pack down to the size of a rolled up sleeping bag and weigh less than 5 lbs. They are stable and easy to paddle and draw very little water, so they are good for running smaller rivers and creeks. We first heard of them this spring, and tried to rent them to use on the Green and Colorado Rivers while in Canyonlands NP back in April.

We descended an unknown canyon to the river that provided great route finding and some technical obstacles.

Zac set up the rappel and taught me how to make an ascender.

Dani and Kirsten, who along with Lindsey went mushroom hunting the previous weekend in Idaho, and found 100's of Morel mushrooms that we have been eating for the past week. Kirst even made our own dehydrated Morel mushroom dinners for our backpack.

Party rock.

Desert Flora

On our second night of the trip a massive thunderstorm rolled through while we were on the river. One rumble rolled through the river valley for at least 30 seconds, while the rain poured. After the lightening passed, we sought shelter under these cottonwoods, where we set up camp and got a small fire going for a soggy night of camping.

The view from camp in the morning with the sun back out. This dry creek bed started to run during the thunderstorm the night before, marking the first time I've seen a flash flood, where a dry river bed becomes a river in a matter of seconds.

Spring Break! @ Island in the Sky

We went to the Island in the Sky district of Canyonlands NP and Moab for Dani's spring break over the second week of April.

The timing was perfect for wildflowers in southern Utah. There were entire fields of blue, purple, red, and yellow flowers coating the red rock and sand.

After leaving early on Wednesday morning we hiked the Syncline Trail around Upheaval Dome.

And spent the second day hiking to all the must-see destinations like "Murphy's Point" which overlooks the remote "Maze" district of Canyonlands NP made famous by Edward Abbey in the "Monkey Wrench Gang". It was here at Murphy's Point that we decided to spend the upcoming Thanksgiving biking the White Rim trail. Everyone is invited, especially if you own a truck.

Island in the Sky is a unique plateau that juts out like a peninsula to the south, and is bordered  by the Green River to the west and the Colorado River on the east. You are not aware you are on the island until you reach the edge, where you are greeted by stunning vistas of the underlying canyon maze. (Above) several thousand feet below the upper plateau on the Syncline trail.

Like this one from Mesa Arch with the La Sal mountains in the distance.

Or this one...

Over the weekend we headed to Moab for some biking and the La Sals for some leisurely camping.

 We caught this shot of Castle Valley coming down out of the fog and snow on the La Sal loop road. Before stopping at the winery for a tasting and to bike some red dirt spines.