Week 10 - Friends & Climbing

SATURDAY

Saturday we woke up & had a nice morning at camp with coffee & apples + peanut butter. We took our time getting ready, and then headed out to do the same hike we did the Sunday last week, Professor Creek to Mary Jane Falls. Tim & Drea hadn’t done it before, and really wanted to check it out! It’s one of my favorite hikes in the area, and Kayla & I really enjoyed it last weekend.

It was just as good the second time around! We had Tim & Drea’s dog Billy (she’s a lady dog), and it was so fun to see her play in the creek & run around the trail while we hiked it. It’s a 9 mile hike out & back, and I swear Billy must have gone like, 15 miles because she was running back and forth so much 😂

We got to the waterfall & took a few quick photos before heading back. It was the perfect weather for it!

I think out of all of us Billy might have had the most fun with this hike :) On our way back from this hike we stopped at Castlecreek Winery to do a quick wine tasting. It’s pretty awesome, you can try all 6 of their wines for…. $1. Of course we picked up a couple of bottles.

After the winery we went to sit by the river on 128. Definitely had some napping going on & laying on a blanket on the beach. Ate some coconut flake covered dates, super chilled!

- SATURDAY NIGHT -

After heading back to camp from the river, we set up the campsite for a dinner & night around the campfire. Kayla & I made our specialty dish, rice with veggies & sesame oil + soy sauce. IT’S SO GOOD. Basically it’s…

  • A cup of Jasmine Rice

  • A cucumber

  • Avocado

  • Fresh mango

  • Red Onion diced

  • Sesame Oil

  • Soy Sauce

After dinner we made a fire & drank some of the wine we had picked up at the winery. We played a few fun games around the fire & talked. A very nice night

Got a lot of cool photos from our dinner!

SUNDAY

Sunday morning we hung out with Tim & Drea until they left to head back to Colorado. After they left Kayla & I went on a hike up to Hidden Valley. It’s a really nice hike, very steep at first and then levels out in the valley. There’s some really cool petroglyphs up there too!

MONDAY

On Monday I took a bit of a rest day & took the Jeep up to Long Canyon to see the climbing area that has been established up there. It’s an awesome dirt road (very simple at the beginning, gets harder) that takes you right through the canyon. The climbing area looks awesome, I’ll definitely have to get climbing up there soon!

After I got back down from Long Canyon, Kayla & I climbed at Wall St. again. Super fun! It’s awesome to be able to see my progress on the same climbs mentally. I feel a lot more comfortable and confident in my climbing compared to a month ago.

TUESDAY

Tuesday we met up with my friend Natalie (who I met at the coffee shop here last year, but lives in CA) to do some climbing. We did Bad Moki Flake (5.9) & Flakes of Wrath (5.9+). It was a super fun night of climbing. I lead Bad Moki Flake, and then top roped it. It’s a really tough climb!! Natalie lead Flakes of Wrath & Kayla & I top roped it. Super fun evening!

WEDNESDAY

I had heard there are often rattle snakes at Looking Glass Rock, about 30 minutes south of Moab. I had done the climb/rappel/swing last year, so was familiar with the area. I ended up finding a few garter snakes & a rattler! It was really fun taking photos of the rattle snake. Usually it’s really hard to compose wildlife photography, but when your subject is sitting still the whole time, it’s super easy! Loved it.

After getting back to camp from Looking Glass I felt like we needed a little pick me-up so I stopped by the co-op and picked up some steak, asparagus and a green salad with a tangy dressing. I cooked it up at camp & it was SO GOOD. Really happy with how this meal came out.

THURSDAY

On Thursday Kayla & I did the Devil's Garden Primitive Trail in Arches. It’s maybe 7 miles or so, and visits a ton of arches within the park. I had done this hike like, 5 years ago, so it was fun to do it again.

FRIDAY

Friday my laptop started freaking out and wouldn’t run unless it was plugged in, that combined with my keyboard being total shit made me want to take it to an Apple store & have it repaired. I called around to see if anyone had just a battery they could throw in it over the weekend, but no one was able to help. I ended up calling my boss to have him ship me a loaner laptop while mine was out being repaired. The nearest Apple store is in Salt Lake City… 4 hours away.

After work on Friday I changed my oil behind the auto-parts store and dropped my used oil off at the waste center. Whoop!