Sometimes I like to take the same picture with both my DSLR and my iphone. Usually it is so that I can text message the adorable picture of our daughter to my husband in that instant. It is interesting to compare them both.
DSLR photo
I am learning how to focus on an object in the foreground that is not in the center of the picture. I know it is probably basic to you photography buffs out there, but it is new and exciting for me and makes for a lot of fun when composing my shots.
iphone photo
iphone selfie
the thing i really like about my iphone photos is that I can do selfies. I've tried with the DSLR and it's nearly impossible without using the timer and tripod, which i should probably learn to use. but it is not easy or convenient during an afternoon hike.
Landon had his fall break after Woody's wedding. So I took a few days off of work and we headed into the desert.
Indian Creek is just outside of Moab, UT, and is a world-class climbing destination. We are fortunate to have the Creek just a few hours from Salt Lake City. The thought of spending 4 days in the desert was never very appealing to me. Landon went climbing at the Creek during his fall break last year and his stories and pictures convinced me that I would probably survive.
The thing that is so amazing about climbing Indian Creek is that the park is miles and miles of sandstone cliffs with huge cracks reaching up into the sky. "Crack Climbing" is a specialized type of climbing that I am very NOT accustomed to. It involves "jamming", which pretty much just means cramming your hands into the cracks until they get jammed and pulling yourself up on that jam while you cram your next hand into a jam. Because of his, every morning we taped the backs of our hands so that we wouldn't rip our skin off. Watch a bit of the video below to get an idea of what I mean.
Here's a video of Alex Honnold climbing in Indian Creek
We both left with rock-burns on our fingers and landon's entire fore-arm was raw and is still healing (although he's climbing the Wasatch as we speak). It is a more painful kind of climbing but also very fun and challenging. 4 days of climbing was too much for me - i couldn't even do easier climbs come Sunday morning - my body was absolutely fried. A lot of people spend several weeks at a time climbing at the Creek. There are hundreds and hundreds of cracks. It never ends.
We camped next to a wonderful Swiss-German man that was traveling around the U.S. for 4 weeks looking to go climbing. So we climbed with him for a few days. Here's a glimpse of some more crack.
We tried to keep Duvick in the shade as much as possible. Even though it was Autumn, it was still in the 80's during the days, which was only magnified as the heat was radiated off of the rocks. Hot.
Dooney sorting our the gear. Notice the dirt - we were in the desert after all.
Sunset from our camp site.
Dooney and Adrian. There is a river that runs through the middle of the park that is a wellspring for Cottonwoods. Kind of beautiful.
Sorry no pics of Doons climbing - he is the real rock star. But when he climbs, he is not hooked into the anchors as I am, so I don't take a chance to take a shot of him. He took one whipper on his very first climb which made both of us a little more careful for the rest of the trip.
Thumbs up on my way down. Had just sent my first 5.11, which in climbing world, is nothing. But in Hannah world, it's epic.
We found a crack in a cave. It was awesome.
Eating lunch beside the stream.
We arrived home Sunday with our beautiful car, all of our possessions, and our own bodies covered in a crust of red desert dust. Dirty and exhausted, we were happy to be home. Although, Landon was itchin to get back out there. We both a a great time and Duvick slept for 2 days straight.
Another beautiful weekend was spent in the Unitas. Truthfully, we were skiing in the Uintas all the way into June (they didn't even get to plowing the road until June), so we couldn't do any over-nighters in the local mountains until late summer because everything was still covered in snow up there until mid-July.
The mountains here are extremely accessible. We can drive for 45 minutes and be at a trail head off the Mirror Lake Highway that runs from Salt Lake to Wyoming right through the heart of the Uinta Mountains.
We have climbed/backpacked to Ruth Lake in the past and we love it - very beautiful area. So we decided to hike to one of the other many lakes that are in that similar area. Notch Lake was a very easy 1.5 mile hike slightly downhill (not kidding - more difficult to hike out than in!).
Notch Lake itself was beautiful and less crowded than Ruth Lake. And the rocks there actually are in the sun for a good amount of the day, so it's a much warmer climbing destination than Ruth Lake, which is in the shade year-around.
I took this picture immediately upon waking. I just can't believe that we have beautiful experiences like this all of the time right here near our home. I had someone message me this summer and ask about all of the "exotic" places that we are always visiting. She thought I had a gazillion vacation days (or was unemployed). I explained to her that all of these places are just weekend destinations within an hour or so from our house. She couldn't believe it.
It never rained on us
They love each other
Duvick didn't sleep a wink the entire time.
We put our tent right on the edge of the lake.
I even went for a quick (and extremely cold) swim after an afternoon of rock climbing.
The tent was also right on the edge of the climbing cliffs. We could walk up and do a few climbs, swim in the lake, climb some more, eat lunch, climb, etc.... Can you imagine anything better? (besides, maybe, skiing?)
A lot of the climbing was steep and juggy so I had a more difficult time with it since i am a weakling, but i just love to watch dooney send these climbs - he's a really incredible climber.
With this being the first time (ever - not kidding - EVER) that either of us have had a 40/week 9-5 job during the summer, we didn't make it to Georgia or Colorado for weeks like we usually hope to. Instead, we made some weekend escapes to some fun places nearer Salt Lake City.
We took a 3 day weekend to City of Rocks State Park, Idaho (3hr drive) for some amazing rock climbing. The rock there was beautiful. It was nice and cool. The climbing was extremely accessible (read - not much hiking) and the camping was spread out and secluded but in designated spots (read - not much hiking). Which made for a fun trip full of relaxation and enjoying being together.
Looks like a climbers paradise, eh? it was!
Seeing the snow up there made me wonder if we could bring our skis next time. Probably not. Very pretty though, huh?
As a novice birder, I do get excited to see birds that I am familiar with in the wild. We saw plenty of Turkey Vultures. They were lovely.
Doons setting up a rappel. Isn't the rock beautiful?
Of course, I had to get one of my boys being "loving", as we call it. Duvick LOOOOOVES being outside: camping, hiking, skiing, and rock climbing are his favorites. He's in the right family.
We woke this morning to "heaps" of snow (as my sis LeeAnn would say).
Did you see my post yesterday (i NEVER post on Sundays) - it was noteworthy.
And amazingly, Mr. McBrayer and I weren't shredding down the mountain. Nope. We didn't want to put up with the high winds and masses of people on the two open lifts at Snowbird. Instead, we liberated Duvick and cross country skied a few miles up the canyon.
And it was glorious:
Doons blazing the trail into the trees. East Fork, Millcreek Canyon
Winds and snow-dumpage. We were definitely experiencing the elements.
Doons tolerating my picture taking.
Duvick in the distance.
He was in heaven.
I forgot my hat. By the time i got back to the car, my hair was literally frozen in little dreadlock-icicles all over my head. oops
And it's only November! I'm looking forward to a long winter full of beautiful days like today!
Sunday we paid our $6 bucks to drive the winding Mirror Lake Highway through the beautiful National Forest. We decided to hike Ruth Lake again. It's a great place for us to hike: We don't have to bring water because there is so much water in the area, we can pack whatever we want because the hike is so short, there are unique limestone cliffs to enjoy rock climbing, and it is absolutely beautiful.
Although it was Labor Day and the day hikers/fisher-people were everywhere, Doons and I were able to find a spot off the trail beyond a few little ponds that looked perfect for our little tent. This are had been pretty untouched. There was no trail that led through the woods - don't worry we tread lightly. And there was no evidence of a fire pit there in years. So despite the gazillions of cars parked at the trail head, we were relatively secluded and completely undisturbed - we didn't see anyone else the entire time we were camping.
putting up the tent
While we were putting our camp together, I accidentally tipped our beers over and this one got a hole in it, we decided to down the beers while the weather was still warm.
Mr. McBrayer is the ultimate mountain man. He did everything - I felt like i was staying at a 5 star hotel. He gathered the water, cooked the dinner, made our morning breakfast, did the dishes, and woke me up with a cup of fresh coffee.
cooking dinner
gathering water
Here are some pictures of the hidden beauties in the woods:
Duvick was the ultimate guard dog. He ran around smelling everything the entire time, and if he was sitting, which was rare, he was alert and growling. Ha! He ran around all night, growling, barking, chasing squirrels up trees, digging a bee's nest out from under the ground, and having the time of his life.
guard dog duvi
once we got home, duvick slept for about 20 hours. not kidding.
we are our dinner on these rock slabs behind our tent. it's amazing what glaciers have done to the landscape here. just amazing that there are these rock fields all through the woods, glacial debris. it was beautiful to watch the alpine glow on the cliffs.
