Buckskin Gulch/ Paria Canyon

Another great weekend backpacking, (i am exhausted, am i getting old or just realizing my limitations?) The plan: backpacking though Buckskin Gulch- a 13 mile slot canyon in Southern Utah, camping where the Gulch meets up with Paria Canyon, hike out. The weekend: make a few stops on the way down- Bryce Canyon, Zion National Park, camp in the dessert, RAIN, no backpacking through the gulch. The rain changed our plans a little, we did a little hiking through the first part of the gulch, the decided to grab our packs and start at the end (in Paria canyon) hike up a few miles and camp, hike into the gulch a few miles (no more rain!). It was spectacular!

Bryce Canyon. My first visit.

Zion National Park, always a favorite! We hiked Angel's Landing, scarier than I remember, and I got stuck behind a really slow woman on the chains, I ended up being her motivational coach. yeah.

The Gulch.

Paria Canyon

It was so pretty, I couldn't stop taking pictures even when they don't capture the beauty.

Backpacking- Mt. Sneffels

I did a little backpacking trip the last weekend in August with my friends Laura and Bryan (you'll have to see their post to see what they look like, apparently I only took pictures of myself.) We had a great weekend exploring southwest Colorado and the Rockies, it was beautiful! We hiked up to the Blue Lakes and camped 2 nights, drove through Ouray and Silverton ("The Switzerland of America"), and stay a night in a hotel full of bed bugs!! It was disgusting (see Laura's blog for the hideous details).

The beginning of the trip shot- clean and happy! This was really the first hiking I have done all season- weird, I've been biking most of my free days. I was quickly reminded that I am a very slow hiker, wonder why I do this, and quickly reminded that I love where it takes me. (there are a lot of photos, it was just so beautiful I had to share).

My new tent.

The first blue lake from above- can you see our tents?

Blue lake #3
Blue Lake #3 again
From the Blue Lakes Pass (Blue Lake #2 & #3)
Mt. Sneffels is up there somewhere- I took the lazy way out and just made it to the pass (~13,000 ft.) and hung out while Laura and Byran climbed it- it wasn't such a bad place to sit for a while.

The other side.

The flowers were so pretty, the trail zig zagged through them up the mountain.
This little guy was just hanging out near the trail- he sat and posed for me, cute little guy, and he was kind enough not to shoot any quills at me!
Post-hike picture- yes, that is Laura and Bryan.
After the hike out we did a little drive through "the Switzerland of America." It was one of the prettiest drives I have been on. We drove through Ouray (apparently the ice climbing capital) and had lunch in Silverton.

pretty

The Silverton-Durango train. You can ride it, it's supposed to be a beautiful trip.

We also took a little drive through The Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park. We hit almost all of the view points (at least the ones we could see from the car, our legs were too tired from the hike to walk any further than 400 ft. to see anything). It was pretty, definitely worth driving through if your in the area.

L.A.

I made a little trip back to LA in August. It was so great to see friends and get a little dose of LA goodness. An that's about all I did, hung out with friends, ate a lot of donuts and other LA treats I've been craving! I even had a star sighting (Seth Rogen) while sneaking around the Sony lot- ah LA...

The weekend started out right with Mormon Dodger Night! Dodger dogs and more socializing than game watching.

I love being near the mountains, but I miss the beach more than I thought I would. I forgot how great it was to spend a saturday afternoon riding the cruiser down to the beach and reading a book. No cruisers this weekend, but the afternoon was great, a perfect beach day... this is Kim's daughter, Sarah, waiting for Miriam to bring more water (more, more, more).