Hoop Trek Travel

In honor of my 10-year Utah anniversary today I decided to share this piece I wrote a while back as part of an assignment for Matador U. My hands, weary from the 24-hour drive, fumbled with the keys as I tried to unlock the door to my new home. The AmeriCorps director hooked me up [...]

A few weeks ago I was on a 10-day road trip through the Southern Utah desert and on the sixth day I headed to a coffee shop to catch up on some work. To my horror, I couldn’t find my laptop charger anywhere. After frantically tearing apart my car I called home to hear, “You [...]

I love natural hot springs. I love their obscure locations, the peculiar geological formations they create, and the eccentric characters they attract. There’s something about hot effervescent water bubbling up from somewhere deep within the Earth’s core that fosters a sense of wonder and respect towards our natural world. My search for strange and wonderful [...]

This video has haunted my thoughts ever since viewing it yesterday.  I am anxiously awaiting the appearance of my Moab iPhone App on iTunes and now I am wondering what Ed would have thought… I’ve devoured all of Edward Abbey’s books, but never once heard his voice until now.  Funny, his voice sounds exactly like [...]

I have felt a little out of sorts lately.  The leaves are changing and early bird ski passes are available and I feel like I never had a summer. I didn’t grow basil on my windowsill, I didn’t get to see the series of wildflowers bloom on the running trails behind my house, and I [...]

Being the petroglyph aficionado that I am, a brochure for the Legend Rock State Petroglyph Area caught my eye outside the Thermopolis State Bath House.  I asked the bathhouse attendant how far away the petroglyph site was and he blatantly ignored me and just kept going about his business. I browsed the brochure a little [...]

I woke early this morning in my tent in Canyonlands National Park to watch the sun rise through Mesa Arch.  As I watched the sun slowly creep over the rock and turn the sandstone blood red simultaneous feelings of grief and bliss washed over me and I spiraled into a state of internal reflection.  Exactly [...]

When my life was uber boring and I was confined to four walls, no windows, and a desk during the majority of my waking hours I sought solace in these books. They inspired me, encouraged me, and motivated me into action. Funny how now after an entire summer of traveling I have barely finished a [...]

Like most western states, Idaho has a ton of non-commercial, rustic hot springs on public lands.  According to the folks at Hot Springs Enthusiast, Idaho has some 232 hot springs, which is more than any other state in the US.  Many of these hot springs are concentrated along the Salmon River in the central part [...]

I wouldn’t necessarily say that I have a fear of heights – more like a height sensitivity.  Sure I rock climb but I tend to keep things pretty mellow.  The idea of eventually doing a multi-pitch route was on my life list, but that doesn’t mean I ever really thought I would do it. I’ve [...]