Yosemite

Had a biz trip to San Francisco a few weeks ago and figured since in the neighborhood it would be a good time to check out Yosemite. Called CA friend Ian to see if he could get a hall pass for the weekend and it just so happened he could. Aside from being a fellow bank dude, Ian's a jack of all trades, from bee keeping to wine making to rock climbing - and knows his way around Yosemite, so aside from having a pal along, I also had a guide.

From the top of Vernal Falls on our way to Nevada Falls - hard to describe the water, never seen anything like it. Will try and add a video that shows the speed at which is was flowing off the mountain - it sounded like a train in a tunnel. A gentleman died in the lower section of the photo above within a half hour of when it was taken - we were rerouted due to the trail being closed when we descended. He was one of two accidental deaths in the park that day.

Down the trail a bit - Vernal Falls in the background.

Yosemite Falls - they say Yosemite is best in the spring during runoff when the waterfalls are raging. It was more impressive than advertised.
This one needs no description.
The trail between Vernal and Nevada Falls.

This is what a mountain looks like when it's watersheds can't hold the water that's on it -
The famous Camp 4 or climbers camp - i.e. dirtbagger circle. Waited in line here early in the morning for over an hour to get a campsite. Demand for any place to sleep in Yosemite far outpaces supply. We had a plan B that we didn't have to resort to, wisdom passed down from veteran Yosemite friends.

The Aahwahnee Lodge - worlds apart from Camp 4, just down the road.

Last but not least - El Cap.... to provide some scale/perspective - there is a climber in that frame.

Here's a closer shot of the climber - see those vertical black streaks - look at the one (black streak feature) farthest right - then just right of the bottom of it - look close and you'll pick him out - I've added an arrow to help. Now go back to the previous shot to put it back in perspective. Yes, it's a massive, massive wall.

We got 1 climb in while there - stuck close to camp on the Swan slab which was a short walk with some quality routes. Unbelievable place, can't wait to take the family and spend more time there, just scratched the surface on this trip.

Old Stompin grounds - Moab

We spent the past weekend in Moab, the little southeastern Utah town where I grew up. It's one of our (including the kids) favorite places to go for a few days of recreation and we try to make the trip at least a couple of times a year. Brandon, Sam, Dug, Erik and I took the day off from work on Friday and headed down early that morning for some mountain biking before the wives and kids joined up with us that night. We rode slickrock which was great, I hadn't ridden it since high school! Then headed to Amasa back for a late afternoon/evening ride which was fantastic. The other guys are pretty good technical riders and there were a lot of tough sections that were fun to watch them work through. We recapped the days adventures over dinner at the Moab Brewery, plenty of laughs with this group - great guys.

The wives and kids pulled into town just as we finished dinner and we called it a night. The girls got up and rode up the Colororado River Saturday morning, putting in about 40 miles in what seemed like a really fast ride, they were back much sooner than expected much to the relief of us dad's trying to herd cats, I mean kids, while they were gone. Spent the rest of the day relaxing at the pool and playing games into the evening - the great guys also have great wives so it made for a fun evening with lots more laughs.

Capped the trip off with a little jaunt to Delicate Arch and some rolling in the sand at Sanddune Arch before heading home. The kids hiked great, and Brock caught all but the last mile back when he decided to check out for some snoozing.