Utah photos...

are up..

http://picasaweb.google.ca/tjkuenzli

We are leaving Zion National Park today and heading to Indian Creek.. More stories to follow.

Toby is in great shape after some important solutions today. Ya Jake. Life is good.

Utah

 
So, I have just travelled through the most beautiful scenery of my life. I have been through the Rockies and i think this is a close tie. Wow, words will not describe it, even the photos don't entirely, but check them out, they are so beautiful. (Except they're not up yet, the library won't let me upload to Picassa, so they will come soon).

After picking up our friend Jess in Salt Lake City, we quickly left the snow and headed to American Fork for some climbing and a nice supper with Jess' friends. Then, we headed South to Joe's Valley, for some beautiful, fun and accessible bouldering. We have divised using out rear bed mattress from the Westy as a crash pad which works really well, except that it is not so portable. I fell in love with bouldering there, so much for Val David. This was so much fun. And it was warm. We were finally enjoying t-shirts and shorts while bouldering. Still cold at night mindyou, but so much better.

Then, we headed to Moab, where the scenery continued to get more beautiful. We found some awesome free camping in the desert, did 2 days of mountain biking, high learning curve for me. Visited Canyonlands National Park and Dead Horse Point State Park (this is what was the most beautiful for me) and watched beautiful sunsets daily from our campsite. Everywhere you turned, it was beauty. For those of you who have never heard of this place, check it out. It's a hidden jewel.

Then Jess decided to jump out of a plane, and then for a tamer afternoon, we visited Arches National Park. Some rock climbing at Wall Street (right on the road) and more scenic drives before we headed down for Bryce Canyon. More scenic drives, you get the picture.

Bryce Canyon was also beautiful and we watched the sunset and then got up early for the infamous sunrise.

Onwards to St. George where we climbing at Chuckawala wall, (overhanging, in the hot sun) and a final relaxing day in the desert with our friend Jess. It is hot in St. George, zap your energy hot, but we are loving it.

Dropped Jess off in Las Vagas after a 9.99 all you can eat buffet at a casino (what a luxury for us, thanks Jess) and then got out of there as quickly as possible after leaving her, back to St. George and on to Zion.

Pics to come soon.

Utah - Its' snowing!

 
So, this morning we woke up in the Wal-Mart parking lot, looked outside and the ground was covered in snow. The mountains got a couple inches of snow yesterday, but it was snowing heavily, and still is. There is about 4 inches of snow on the ground and it's still coming.

It was freezing this morning, but it has managed to warm up a bit. We took showers at a truck stop (very clean actually) and came straight to the library to warm up as soon as it opened. This was after we spent the evening yesterday in the laundromat with a 5$ pizza. The things we do to keep warm.

Tonight we pick up Jess at the airport and likely head straight South to warmed climate and hopefully less snow. Though I must admit it's quite beautiful, it makes for living in Toby a bit more complicated.

Happy Thanksgiving to all you Canadians.

More wedding shots

We finally got the disposable camera pictures onto a disk and there are some fun action ones. Check them out at the usual place:

http://picasaweb.google.ca/tjkuenzli

City of Rocks, Idaho

There is no picture that can capture the image of City of Rocks. After driving from Jackson Hole, Wyoming, leaving behind images of the Tetons, we drove through the plains and the high desert. We left the main highway, drove down many country roads, the towns getting smaller and smaller, until we arrived in the town of Almo, Idaho. It consists of a General Store, a hotel, Outpost (restaurant) and Rock City (store and mechanic with pizza on occasional nights). Driving past this, the Ranger station and a couple of farms, we turned right onto a dirt road and drove up from our elevation of 5000' to about 7000'. There, we were amazed to find rocks, everywhere. Not the cliff lines we were used to seeing, but outcroppings of rocks, interspersed with desert sagebrush, a couple of trees and beautiful views.
For those who have been bouldering in Squamish, you can identify. Only, the rocks were much bigger and there was no forest.
It was breathtaking, rugged and we couldn't wait to climb. Only, it was raining, and unlike the red, you cannot climb in the rain. So we waited, for 2 days of rain and overcast, until we could finally head out and see what it was all about.
We luckily met some friends on our first day, Jazmine and Matt, who were also joined by their friend Geoff. As well, there were their dogs, McKayla and Poncho. We were quite a crew, all camped at BML land (free camping). We were the only people most of the time, others preferring to pay 12$/day to camp in "The City" (of rocks, not the town).
The climbing was.. different. Lots of trad, but also lots of adventure. Many walk-offs rather than rappels or multiple-rope rappels, lots of route finding and other challenges. LOTS of exposure. I found myself challenged on many levels.
However, by the last couple of days, I was able to relax and enjoy my climbing, more than I thought I could. Jake was my rope gun and climbed some amazing things. We challenged our dogs a lot as they did not like to see all their masters disappearing for multiple pitches or just some really long climbs.
The weather was not optimal. After our 2 first days of rain, we had some beautiful sunshine, but some very cold days and freezing nights. Jackets, hats and even mitts on some days. Then, as the week went on, there was talk of snow, below freezing temps and much wind. For our exposed climbing and camping, this was not as enjoyable.
Our last night, we all went for supper and after having been outside for 4 days straight, never fully warming up, this was heaven. Burgers and beer, warm temps and good conversation, finishing with a wonderful campfire with our friends, left us somewhat sad to leave, however, happy to be getting away from the impending snow.
Driving south, we headed to Utah and were going to go to Salt Lake City. However, a quick decision was made to spend the weekend in a town North of Salt Lake (Ogden) to avoid the crowds but have access to some conveniences (showers, laundry and internet) while we waited for weather to pass.
Last night was spent in a truck stop, warmer than we had been all week, and with flush toilets, a true luxury. Some snow and rain today and tomorrow, our friend Jess arrives and we head south, to warmer and hopefully dryer areas.
Check out our photos at
http://picasaweb.google.ca/tjkuenzli

Sick in Wyoming

Being sick, while camping, in below freezing temperatures REALLY sucks. One of the wonders of being on the road I suppose, you're going to get sick at some point.

Well, the day after my birthday, as Jake and I were going to bed, the vomitting started. The details are unimportant, but many, many trips to the bushes later, for both of us, we suffered through the night until daylight, shivering, unable to sleep and really uncomfortable. We found it wierd that we both got sick withing 30 minutes of each other, and then Whipper got sick, so our thoughts jumped to water.

At first light, we headed into town, to the hospital, thinking if it was water, we should have it checked out. The ER docs, not too impressed, figured it was a virus, and gave me IV and anti-nausea. I was still quite stoned when they sent me out the door and straight to a hotel we went, where we holed up for 2 days to recover. Though people working in the park say many travellers have been getting sick from the water recently, we were just happy for this horrible time to pass. We really wanted to be at home, with our Moms this time.

Spent last night back out camping and all seems well, our stomachs sensitive but stable.

Off to Idaho tomorrow morning, City of Rocks here we come.