Park City 2010

Park City 2010

Thanks to the Filas family for letting us crash at the time share once again this year. After a year without skiing in the Utah desert, it was good to get back there. This year, we managed to miss not only the Sundace Film Festival by a couple of days, but we also managed to miss the majority of the snow. Ariving on a balmy Saturday night, the sky was clear and the lack of snow was apparent. I believe it may have been the first time any of us had seen the pavement on the streets in Park City, but before we left that would change. As always, skiing Park City reminds you of what the town once was and what it very well may be agian someday. Along the way the remains of the mining that took place here (top right) are a spectacle to be seen. However, its not just the mining equipment left behind that sparks the imagination. Skiing two days at the Park City Resort provided plenty of opportunity to take in the rest of the beautiful sights includign Jupiter Peak (top left), with its strictly hike to terrain, and the back areas serviced by the old two man Jupiter lift (right). Skiing the difficult terrain however proved to be even more of a challenge than in years past my the lack of good snow. With the base total in the range of 40"-50", and no new snow in previous memory, the ice and the rocks made even some of the more tame terrain challenging, but after two days of beautiful weather, the sun set and the wind picked up. By the time we ate dinner downtown, the storm had moved in and begun to deliver the good stuff that Utah is know for. Light and fluffy and it continued all night. Leaving the Irish bar, we truged back to the condo. Our third day on the slopes and it was set to be the last for a number of us. We woke early to a snow report of 13" new at Snowbasin Resort (left), which luckily was our destination. Although Park City is know round the world, along with Alta and Snowbird, the Snowbasin rivals them all for terrain and luxury. As a Sunvalley resort and a host to the winter games in 2002, the resort boasts a number of highspeed lifts and gondolas accessing some of the most fun big mountain terrain. Part way through the morning the clouds began to lift, which provided an awe inspiring view of the valley floor from atop one of the many ridgelines loaded with new snow(right). The five of us made lap after lap on the big slopes trying to get our fix of the fresh snow. As the hour approached to head back to Colorado for three os us, we decided on one last run,
and unluckily, this last run would prove to be too much for me and my exhausted legs, resulting in a full on face plant into the tip of my own ski causign the carnage pictured to the left. Atleast I got to return to work the next day with a good story.

Puerto Rico Trip

A fun family trip to Puerto Rico. 10 days of sun, sand and a few Medallas. The photos are a selection of pictures from the trip, but there were just too many to upload.

Backwoods of Southern Puerto Rico

Old Lighthouse - North Shore

Headstone in the Cemetary - Central Puerto Rico

Park on the Beach - San Juan

Rainforest Palm

Lizard - Rainforest

Sunset - SW Puerto Rico

City Square - Ponce

Lions Head Fountain - Ponce

Rincon Beach

Old San Juan from one of the forts

Palm Tree - Old San Juan

Square in Old San Juan

Looking back at the fort protecting the harbor - Old San Juan




Fort protecting the harbor - Old San Juan




Waterfront - Old San Juan




Wall surrounding Old San Juan

Houses on the hill

Capitol building from the fort - Old San Juan

Thanksgiving in Needles (TR)

Finally a long weekend away from work, and ski season still only just begining, what better place to hang out the the Utah desert. Permits in hand for the Chesler Park #2 site in the Needles District of Canyonlands National Park, the three of us gathered mid day Wednesday (the day before Thanksgiving), for a last minute run down of gear we would need. The intent was to drive to Moab on Wed, get an early start Thurs into the park and spend the next couple of days backpacking and hiking around. With only one previous trip into the Needles, the main focus was to see as much as possible, and given the short duration of our trip and the short days this time of year we opted to set up camp in one location and explore from there.

Day 1 - Thanksgiving Day

Waking to the sun just a couple miles up Potash Road from UT 191, we managed to get the tent and bags put away fairly quickly and hit the road. A quick stop for breakfast and then just over an hour into the Needles from downtown Moab. Checking in at the visitor center as quick and painless, with the exception of finding a working faucet to fill water (lucky we had 5 gal in the car). After ditching the car at the Elephant hill parking lot, we finally hit the trail. Just over 4 miles to the Chesler Park camp site and the weather couldn't have been better for the hike in. Nothing but clear skies and nice 50 degree weather. Just over halfway there and the views back to the North gave us our first shots of the prominent rock formations. We made camp in just a few hours even with the three of us stopping to shoot photos every few min (Well over 1000 photos in all), and got everything set up and put away with plenty of daylight to burn. Knowing we had limited daylight left, we took off along the Joint Trail to the Southwest to explore the area a little before dark and before the cold set in. Finding our way back in the last of the light, we quickly made dinner as the temperature started to fall. We called it an early night and retired to the tent for a little reading around 7:30 and were asleep around 8:00.

Day 2 - Black Friday

We woke on Friday to bitter temperatures as the sun began to light the sky. The overnight lows were in the low 20's and ice had formed on the inside of the tent. Quickly getting breakfast ready (nothing like instant oatmeal), so we could get on the trail, we decided to venture to the Southeast and vist Druid Arch. Only a 6 mile round trip hike, but 6 miles of up, and down, slots and sandy washes. The trail took us back to the upper portion of Elephant Canyon where we found the reminants of the snow two weeks before in a standing pool. From up here on the slick rock, we droped into the canyon and headed up the wash. While packing at the car, we made the decision to carry enough water for the entire trip (6 liters each) and not go looking for water along the wash to Druid Arch. In the bottom of the dry stream bed is supposed to be the most reliable source of water in the Needles, the only problem is it was frozen over. The final push up to the arch includes a short steel ladder and a steep incline over a talus field, but the strenuous final climb is well worth the view. Druid Arch and a shot looking back down the canyon from below the arch.

The head wall was showered in light as the sun began to move to the West and cast a shadows on the viewing area of the arch.

Day 3 - Heading Home

With the idea of seeing more of the park, we decided on Sat morning to take a different route out from the way we came in. This route would take us back along the first mile we took to Druid Arch and then down the canyon instead ofo up, eventually meeting up with the trail we came in on. As the sun came high into the sky we could see the weather that was moving in, an indication that we had timed our trip for perfect weather. And as the we headed out we were treated with great views looking back into the park.

Some Old Favorites

Island In The Sky, Canyonlands National Park, UT - 2007

Cannon Beach, OR - 2007

Grizzly Falls, Kings Canyon National Park, CA - 2008

First attempt at this blogging thing

Testing, Testing.... Looks like I might be able to figure this out.

Photos and all.

Canyonlands National Park, UT - 2007