Utah
Location Description
Sub-locations
669 photos
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It was a really long drive of a lot of open space.
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There were a lot of cool sandstone arches and other...
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Looked like something fun to climb. Right off the road too!
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Shot from a different angle.
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Another interesting rock formation.
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Looks like a great splitter crack! Too bad it's probably...
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We stop to fill up with gas, and also fill the jerry can...
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Joel fixing the fuel can to the roof.
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Closest we came to fourth of July: 3rd of July fireworks...
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While Joel, Turtle and I were in transit, Andy and...
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As soon as we headed out, the wind picked up...
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Juniper berries! This is what they flavor gin with. I...
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The canyon we decided to descend into. In retrospect I'm...
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Joel and Turtle, hiking under an ominous sky.
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Neat little sandstone formations.
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Joel and Turtle, hiking around some obstacles.
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I have no idea how this rock is staying here. Looks like...
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Joel and Turtle.
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Turtle. I don't know she keeps those pants so clean.
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Fun slide without water.
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Joel trying to keep his toes dry.
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Turtle on the dry water slide.
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Joel and Turtle trying to keep their feet out of the muck.
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More full body bridging.
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Joel exploring a more difficult way.
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Neat potholes. Would be pretty to see this canyon with water.
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Turtle, in a narrow section.
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I don't know what causes these "tire tread" patterns in...
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Canyon gets narrower.
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Joel.
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I think that was a mouse. I like canyons with flowing...
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Don't take a swim with Mr. Mouse!
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Turtle, as the canyon starts to slot up again.
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Red white and blue rocks. Happy Fourth Of July!
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Joel and Turtle.
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Turtle and Joel moving sideways through a narrow sandy slot.
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Big spider! (Look carefully.) I think this is a harvest...
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Just a short hike! Then back uphill to camp.
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Back in the sunshine, on Navajo slickrock.
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I feel bad I took this route. I was trying to contour to...
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Our canyon, and a tributary that joined from the left....
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Joel and Turtle hiking along. Way in the distance before...
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I lost my hat. It was really windy. I'm glad it didn't...
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Doesn't this kind of look like a man, with a tree stuck...
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Neat sedimentary rock.
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Mystery fruit. We picked a couple and kept them in the...
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Happy Fourth Of July. No USA this year. Just a star.
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And a circle. What can we say? It was a long day.
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Day two started off with a bang: a 270+ foot rappel into...
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There is no way I could get far enough away to record...
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Andy working his way down to the canyon floor 270 feet below.
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Andy, pausing on rappel to sort something out with the ropes.
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Joel used a foam pad to protect the rope from wearing on...
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Meredith, part way down.
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That's Turtle's head up there! View from the bottom.
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Turtle on rappel.
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Turtle at the bottom.
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It's important to unrig quickly and the descender gets...
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Sun flare! Joel.
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The rock quality was very poor.
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Meredith finding a way to move down canyon. Joel below.
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It was very, very hot and dry with almost no shade.
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Turtle body bridging.
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A hairy armpit spider-ball. These were all over the...
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Close-up of Harvest Man spider ball.
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Joel and Turtle marching through a wide section of canyon.
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Andy found a horse, or maybe a bull to ride.
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Andy riding his bull.
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I thought the different types of light in this section...
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Meredith (Joel in the background).
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A narrow sandy slot.
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A big, fat lizard.
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The crew hiking downstream with the Escalante drainage...
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A wide wash where we would try to find an exit, rather...
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Stopping for lunch. Not a whole lot of shade. And it was...
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Hiking back to the car.
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Almost back to the car: the crew gazes into the maw...
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So, the next morning, we set out on an overnight to see...
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Descending down the Navajo slickrock. Improbably enough,...
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Entering the Glen Canyon National Rifle Association. Oh...
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Seven in the morning and it's already really hot.
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Trying to figure out which way to go and taking note of...
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Trying to find a way to the bottom of the canyon system....
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So amazing how the scenery changes! Just an hour ago, we...
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Andy, cooling his heels in the Escalante River.
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Joel and Turtle walking in the Escalante. The trail...
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For some reason, these deer flies really liked Turtle.
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Crossing the Escalante.
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The river felt pretty nice actually. It is definitely...
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Some 19th century petroglyphs depicting cowboys...
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Having dropped our packs at camp, our plan was to hike...
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Joel and Turtle, hiking up in the 11am heat.
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Looking in at Neon Canyon from an overlook.
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Trudging uphill in the hot sun. No shade anywhere....
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Andy and Turtle find a stick bug. You know, one of those...
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Stick bug!
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Whoa! Crypto! Otherwise known as cryptobiotic soil, "a...
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Close up of cryptobiotic soil.
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Neon Canyon below us.
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Andy, Turtle and Joel hiking up river.
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Hey there buddy! I think he (she?) is defending her...
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Very pretty markings on this lizard - reminded me of an...
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Eying me warily before disappearing into his home. He...
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One more shot of the lizard. Maybe he was a Great Basin...
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I guess these guys are all over! Turtle spots another one.
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Same species for sure. Maybe a 1/4 mile down the trail...
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Andy, Joel and Turtle hiking in the distance.
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This next part of the hike was like walking in a solar...
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Precariously balanced rock.
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Andy, with Neon Canyon.
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Scouting possible entry points.
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It's deep! We were initially apprehensive our rope...
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On the canyon floor.
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The team pulls the rope down.
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Starting to wander downstream in Neon Canyon. Kind of...
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Looks kind of like a subway tube.
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Here you have two options: 1. Stem / body bridge and...
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Turtle, Joel and Andy in Upper Neon Canyon.
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Andy, downclimbing past an obstacle.
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Ugh. Frog soup.
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Joel handing down Andy's pack.
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It was really hot that day. Staying in the shade as best we can.
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Beautiful section of narrows.
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But then it soon got wide and sunny again.
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Andy walking through a wider section.
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Strange mud formation caused by daily evaporation...
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Andy and Joel and Turtle in upper Neon.
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Andy, staying out of the drink.
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Circumventing a cold and smelly looking pool. Joel gives...
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Success!
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Some pools were unavoidable. Joel jumps into a pool with...
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Swimming out of one of many smelly pools. It was nice to...
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Partial subway of Neon Canyon.
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Turtle and Joel staying high and in the sun to avoid the...
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Can't see it here but there's a 15-20 foot deep channel...
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Turtle on landing.
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Andy in Neon Canyon.
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We came to a branch in the canyon (it seems canyons do...
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Joel and Turtle, relaxing for a bit.
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Food and water break.
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Joel swimming with a dead bird.
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Climbing through an awkward section that was both narrow...
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Pretty red, white and blue rocks
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Joel in a section of narrows.
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Joel, again.
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Bright green moss growing directly on the sandstone canyon wall.
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Time to get wet again.
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Andy, utilizing some rock climbing skills to get up to a...
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Setting up a rappel on a fixed line to avoid the keeper pothole.
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Joel drops in below the big pothole with the dead hawk in it.
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Andy on rappel.
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Turtle on rappel.
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Looking back up canyon.
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Mr. Dead Raven.
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More puddles. So funny that a few hours ago we were on...
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Finally a little bit of sunshine!
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And then back into the shade.
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Andy does his best to warm up by lying on a sunny rock wall.
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Andy on rappel.
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Next up was a rather complicated maneuver: a guided...
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Next step was for Joel to take one end of the rope...
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While not strictly necessary, it was a bit more fun and...
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Turtle crosses the pool. It was flat enough that...
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Almost all the way across!
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Victory!
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Next up: Andy on the zip line.
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Turtle sits on Joel to provide an extra measure of...
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Andy crossing the pool.
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Uh oh. What's this? So apparently we made a mistake...
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Going the other direction is a bit harder since there is...
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Getting closer.
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And closer.
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And closer still.
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Almost there!
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I had to pass a knot, since the rigging had moved somewhat.
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Working to pass the knot. I used redundant daisy chains...
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Finding away to unweight my rigging so I could pass the...
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Basically there at this point.
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Almost able to reach with my feet.
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From here it's easy.
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Tada.
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Rigging the rope properly.
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Re-rigged, it's time to come back.
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Back on the right side.
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Pulling the rope down, the right way this time.
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Dropping through the double "bomb bay" doors into the...
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Sorting our gear, resting and snacking in the glorious...
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From here it was just a pleasant half mile hike back to...
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Scenery as we walk back to camp.
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We were pretty tired, and so we all managed to cook...
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At this point, we had decided to bail on Choprock Canyon...
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Beautiful morning sunlight in Lower Neon Canyon.
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Joel, on the hike back to the car.
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We had plenty of time on the way back, so we decided to...
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Andy and Joel study some Native American petroglyphs.
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Petroglyphs between Neon and Choprock on the Escalante.
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19th century tagging. Hall 1881.
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Cowboys fighting.
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Admiring the petroglyphs.
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On our hike out through the Escalante, I spot a big...
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Turtle and Joel hike back through the Escalante River.
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Turtle and Joel - Joel helps Turtle through a murky deep...
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Andy finds some shade and stops for a break.
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Hiking back up onto the Egypt Bench at high noon. It was...
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Hiking up to the Egypt Bench. Joel and Turtle.
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More of those mystery fruit agave plants that have red...
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Cool looking burnt out tree.
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Andy. Motivated by the fact that there is a cooler with...
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Turtle and Joel.
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Turtle and Joel, walking by that same National Rifle...
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Hiking up the slickrock and moki steps onto the Egypt Bench.
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Can you spot Joel and Turtle?
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Return to vehicles.
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Turtle's melted shoe.
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That evening, we drove out to the main road, got showers...
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We left Joel's vehicle at this trailhead and drove...
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We left our car in a rather remote spot and started...
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Andy, using his GPS to figure out where we are, exactly.
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"I guess we're supposed to go down there" says Joel.
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But how?
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Eventually we found a way.
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This canyon's challenge is its narrowness. Although the...
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Joel, staying high.
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Turtle and Joel.
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Turtle watches Andy on a short rappel.
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A neat little alcove.
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Pictures of people taking pictures.
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Squeezing into a particularly tight section. It didn't...
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Andy in a section of dark, sandy narrows.
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Joel and Turtle. At least it was wide enough here to wear a pack.
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Slightly less wide now. Time to take off the pack.
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Very narrow.
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Even narrower.
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The parts that leaned over felt the most awkward and...
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Joel, staying high and in the sun.
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Definitely some fresh air below. It was far too narrow...
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Turtle.
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This part you could take the high road or the low road.
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Joel, half-body bridging.
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Turtle in one of the deep narrow sections.
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Staying out of the tiny slot.
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Stopping at a rappel station.
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Joel just having fun.
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Self portrait. My beard is getting long. The trip must...
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A lizard!
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Another self portrait.
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Andy, navigating some boulders in Boss Hog Canyon.
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Just when we thought it couldn't get more narrow... this...
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Pretty slot canyon.
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Maybe this is where I ripped my pants. The sandstone was...
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The slot starts to open up....
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Andy staying cool in the noon-day sun.
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Finally the canyon opened up, giving us the full blast...
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Leaving the narrows of Boss Hog Canyon.
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The team is looking a little overheated.
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Afternoon thunderheads starting to form in the background.
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Despite the heat, there were some toads hiding in the...
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We found a shady spot to enjoy a little rest and a snack.
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The last part of our hike ended up being in the desert heat.
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One cool thing we did see were lots of rock badger burrows.
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Hiking in a relative oasis in the sweltering heat.
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Back to the car! Bridge picture for Catherine.
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Blasphemy! What could they be talking about. The world...
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Driving back to retrieve our approach vehicle.
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Pretty lame store / gift shop inside a mountain.
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Our campsite, at a place called the Irish Canyon...
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Getting ready for an hour long romp through Lucky Charms...
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Andy in a beautiful narrows section.
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Andy climbing up a sloping section.
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Andy turns around to help Joel and Turtle.
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An Aaron Ralston stone.
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Andy and Turtle.
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Neat looking piece of tumbleweed!
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Staying high.
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Very smooth but textured rock.
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Andy climbs a 25 foot dry fall.
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Andy sitting near the top of Lucky Charms canyon.
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Turtle climbs up.
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Joel does the same.
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Joel observes the world below. The road is where our car is.
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Going back down a different canyon.
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Walking back to the car.
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Lots of little bugs here. Time to get out of dodge.
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All of Joel and Turtle's crates got plastered with bugs...
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Sorting the cars for the trip(s) home. Joel and Turtle...
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Joel trying to pour the extra fuel he bought into his tank.
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Oops.
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Lots of bugs.
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Old washing machine at a cafe in Hanksville turned into...
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Lots of big domestic trucks here.
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Driving through Capital Reef National Park on the way home.
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A better shot of one of the features in Capital Reef NP.
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First view of amphitheatre at Bryce
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Close-up of a grotto which will probably develop into a...
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Some more grotto area
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Another view of the first amphitheatre
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It really was chilly that morning. We had left...
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Looking down into some of the rock formations
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Colors are supposedly most spectacular at sunrise and...
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There are trails under the rim, and also from the valleys below.
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View into the same valley and the farm land below.
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We decided this sort of looked like the Sphinx.
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Tall growing manzanita at the top of the road which goes...
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View from the top. Ebeneezer Bryce, who farmed just...
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I suppose this should have preceded the photo taken from...
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Annie soaking up the southwestern sunshine with a...
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Now we have his attention. These ravens were plentiful,...
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One of the many natural arches in Bryce. Supposedly you...
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A more impressive view.
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Looking back toward Bryce from the area just East of it.
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The 1950 era convertibles parked in the lot of the...
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All set for tonight's show. If you rent a trailer for...
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Some other tourists had stopped to gawk. This spot is...
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More cars and the refreshment stand being photographed.
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Dad really liked this place. Who can identify the year...
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One of the typical Airstreams for rent for the night. ...
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The owner finds them, restores them, and then rents them out.
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Off the beaten path (Route 12) and heading south on...
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More of the HooDoo's which were just scattered around...
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More of the same
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Anie and Peter exploring the area
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A pair
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A close up of four friends.
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And a fellow all by himself
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And another fellow off by himself
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Close up .... what does he look like?
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Meg and her friends.
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More of the same
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Maybe they were all connected at one time?
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Still exploring
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More of the structures that were once attached.
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View off to the west
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Dirt road into Capitol Reef NP on one of the view...
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If you lived here, you just have to study geology. Why...
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... And over here something different
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.. and exactly how did all these holes happen?
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And did a big circular chunk slide off?
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I found Capitol Reef NP a little known gem. Dirt road...
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Annie taking a closer look at the formations
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This was down on a side road (also dirt), off the main dirt road
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Lots of hiking opportunities
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Including some on flat land, which is what we did
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Heading down the path
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Heading down the path vertically
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At one point there was an auto road through here, so we were told
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Early traveler grafitti ... something from 1883 if it is...
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South of Capitol Reef, having passed through Hanksville...
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Very barren land
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Detour to Natural Bridges National Monument. One is...
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Also at Natural Bridges, showing the path down to the...
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South of Natural Bridges, a road called the Moki Dugway
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Great sign of Highway Bingo .... paved road ends, dirt ahead
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The beginning of the Moki Dugway .... it drops off a...
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To the left is the road we are coming down; below is...
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Looking back on our path
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Seeing the switch packs cut into the side of the cliff
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We started on the top of this thing
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Almost at the bottom, and on to Mexican Hat
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The next morning (Mexican Hat was not recorded), as we...
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Some of the typical "mitten" formations
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Why oh why didn't I study geology!
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Monica at the base of Tube Steaks Tomorrow (5.10+) on...
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April on belay. It was so hot on Friday we did anything...
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Monica climbing Tube Steaks Tomorrow.
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Monica climbing an unnamed 5.10 next to Tube Steaks Tomorrow.
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Looking up at several hundred feet of Wingate sandstone.
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View from our perch at the base of Second Meat Wall.
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Monica on an unnamed 5.10 next to Tube Steaks Tomorrow.
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Lying back.
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The route involved jamming hands and fists into a...
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Monica, grabbing for a rare jug in Indian Creek.
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Reaching high for the next hold.
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At the crux move.
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Jay and Monica hiking the trail back to the car...
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A desert cactus flower in bloom.
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With April's feet for scale.
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Another desert flower.
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Second Meat Wall and April, on the hike back to the car.
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The next morning: South Six Shooter Peak, taken from the...
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Monica climbing the climb that started it all. The aptly...
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"Luxury Liner" is a splitter 3" fissure that drops like...
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Clearly visible from the road, it beckons and begs to be...
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Closeup of Monica. The challenge of this crack is its...
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Monica belaying while John wrestles with the awkward and...
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Then the fun begins.
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The crack starts as narrow hands but soon widens to very...
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Pulling the small roof on Luxury Liner.
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Wide hands forever. I could sink my arms up to the elbow...
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Esteban climbing Luxury Liner for the second time... it...
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Throwing a leg out for balance.
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A petroglyph and somebody's tag.
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One of our cams got stuck and Estaban wrestled with it...
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Monica taking photos while I'm taking photos.
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Mutual photography.
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There seems to be a tradition of finding a loose piece...
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Coyne Crack, which looked like a lot of fun but we were...
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Monica posing at the base of Coyne Crack... perfect 5.11...
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Coyne Crack.
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April, ready to lead a 5.9+ unnamed route in Donnelly Canyon.
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April, placing gear.
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A cute caterpillar crawled onto April's rope.
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The drive back to camp.
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Group shot. North and South Six Shooter Peaks visible in...
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Colors kept getting better and better.
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North and South Six Shooter.
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Cryptobiotic soil!
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More desert flowers. The desert was really in full bloom!
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Hiking back to Second Meat Wall on our last day. We had...
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Monica at the base of Second Meat Wall.
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And here we ran into Jay belaying David on a horrific...
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Jay belaying David.
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Jay with his spiffy new windbreaker.
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North and South Six Shooters from up high.
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John, about to bite into Top Sirloin, 5.11.
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1" crack in a striking crimson corner for 110 feet, non-stop.
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Scenery shot taken by Jay.
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Oops.
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Another scenery shot.
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Slow but steady progress. What a workout!
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Self portrait by Jay.
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Indian Creek climbing still life.
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John, about 3/4 the way up. It got a little easier...
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Getting lowered.
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Exhausted.
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Jay, with much bigger hands than I have was up for a...
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Cracks are often referred to by the size cam that can...
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Monica comes wandering in from climbing the aptly named...
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Jay chewing the fat on Top Sirloin.
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Monica and her pile of cams.
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John and Monica with the pile of gear we needed to...
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Monica, on her first outdoor 5.11.
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Monica showing the boys how it's done.
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Monica finds an easy-to-miss foot chip to stem on and...
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Past the bulge. Still not easy but past the worst of it.
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Jay at the base of Top Sirloin. I think this is the...
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April shows off her battle wound with Low Cholesterol,...
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Monica putting the Top in Top Sirloin.
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Finding another unique opportunity to rest.
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Done at last... Monica on the way down.
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First outdoor 5.11!
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Showing off the hands. Monica climbed sans-athletic tape...
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David the machine eats up Top Sirloin.
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Monicas hands closer up. Not too bad!
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Jay belaying David on Top Sirloin.
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April climbing Low Cholesterol.
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Monica, Jay, April and John back at the parking lot....
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On the road to Bryce, you go through an area called Red...
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Just a view along Route 12 in Utah on the way to Bryce
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Also still along the road
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Now we are in Bryce, looking into one of the amphitheatres.
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And again
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Not sure of why the different colors ... do understand...
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Grottoes which will continue to erode to form hoodoos.
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As Ebeneezer Bryce was quoted as saying: Hell of a...
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Happy lady
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Trouble with any of the hiking paths: they had down...
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Enjoying Bryce
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Have moved on to Capitol Reef. Like being at the bottom...
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These holes, or at least similar ones in Monument...
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This looked to be like a giant geode
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Ah ... Paul starts the hike down the Grand Wash in...
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Beats the hike up to the top of Cassidy Peak ... where...
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One of the denizens in Capitol Reef
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Moving on to Canyonlands. This is the north most...
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The White Rim trail is mainly for mountain bikes. ...
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Still at Island in the Sky
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Must say it doesn't look very hospitable down there.
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About to set off to see the Upheaval Dome, advertised as...
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There it is behind me ... a collapsed dome ... and that...
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Various theories as to what caused the collapse of the...
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So here it is ... impressive. (Not)
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A better view? Still not impressive
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But at least I guess we can say we saw it
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Another outlook point on the upper plateau
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More of the White Rim trail
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Pretty sure this is Shaffer Canyon overlook in Island in...
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Definitely Shafer...
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Don't know the name of this one. I believe it is in...
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Will include it in the Canyonland series since it abuts it.
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Either the Green or the Colorado River viewed from Dead...
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Still at Dead Horse Point
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We've seen this before
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This place is huge ... and desloate
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The three gossips, along the road in Arches Natl Park
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I believe this was either the Organ or the Court House. ...
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So then this is? I believe it's part of "Park Avenue"...
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This must have had a name, but it escapes me. Any guesses?
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These are the gossips again
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Part of Park Avenue. Sorry about those campers
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At the top, just right of center is what looked like the...
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See it climbing out of the canyon?
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Big pull off for "Balanced Rock". "Balanced Rock is one...
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Now we see why it's called "arches"
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A lot of the rocks in Arches were highly defined and led...
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This is North Window Arch. You can see the stairs...
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And now you're at the top
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Can't figure out how we took this, as I'm pretty sure...
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With Peter and me sitting in the shadow of the Arch
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Now this one is South Window Arch ... so maybe this is...
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Closing in on Afrida
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Peter following Paul towards the south Window Arch
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From certain view points you can see both.
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More of the elephant herd. Front view on left; hind...
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Looking back at south window arch
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Get both of them
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Different part of Arches, approaching Double Arch
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There's a prairie dog guarding the entrance
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And a mean looking guy with a turban on his head and a...
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Getting closer to Double Arch
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... and to the mean guy
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Am I really getting closer? This sand is deep / hot /...
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Some side points of interest
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This is as close as I am getting. Is that South America...
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Stuff in Arches was really spread out. Quite the...
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How's that for an elephant??!! He even has a...
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This is Inspiration Arch ... at quite a distance. The...
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Inspiration Arch from a distance
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Unnamed arch on the road south of Moab
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Ditto
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This is Newspaper Rock on the road into the Needles...
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I see Santa in the middle right, riding one of the...
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Lots of flat footed people? With six toes? I think it...
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A bison or two, a skeleton, a snake or three
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A pair of six-shooters. Should look familiar to those...
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Some interesting formations in the Needles section ......
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Found these forms fascinating
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So took a lot of pictures of them
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Left the Needles section via a Forest Service road up...
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Love this shot. On the road from Monticello, somewhere...
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We are on the road that will curve and take us down to...
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Which will lead us down to Monument Valley
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Brilliant flowers growing on the shady side of the cliff
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This one is Sacred Datura. Poisonous and beautiful
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The iconic shot of the buttes outside of Monument Valley.
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On Monday morning we drove into Arches National Park....
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View from the top of Owl Rock.
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Monica sitting on the top of Owl Rock.
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View of the parking/viewing area for Owl Rock from the...
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Strange formations looking similar to Owl Rock to the Southeast.
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Monica again.
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Looking down, another climbing party had arrived and is...
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Monica.
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Monica again.
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Monica on Rappel from Owl Rock -- sort of looks like is...
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Owl Rock from the parking lot. The climbing route goes...
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After that, we decided to take a short 1-2 hour hike...
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Me during our hike.
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Another big arch.
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Hiking around the desert. More small towers.
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After our hike, we drove over to Balanced Rock for a...
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Balanced Rock and Off Balanced Rock.
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After lunch, Monica and I drove back to the hairpin...
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John and the 3 Penguins (far left). To access the climb...
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3 Penguins viewed from the side: looking like 1 Penguin.
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The route felt incredibly exposed right from the get-go:...
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View from the base of the climb. I think we are in a lot...
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Monica past the crux on pitch 1 of Right Chimney, Three Penguins.
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Standing on top of the middle Penguin's head.
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Fun summit.
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One more.
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One last one.
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Monica on the head of the middle Penguin with the right...
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View of the road from the top. Also the Lasal Mountains...
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Hey look, you can see the silhouette of the Three...
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Monica stacking the rope back at the feet of the...
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Monica and Penguin The Right, fluffing its breast feathers.
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On the hike back to the car across the narrow shelf.
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John, posing with a fistful of large cams (for the off...
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After Three Penguins, Monica and I decided we had had...
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Impressive fin of Dewey Bridge (I think) sandstone layer.
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Closer to it. Really liked the contrasting colors at...
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More formations. Spotted a few anchor bolts on this...
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Lightning bolt crack.
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Monica and I agreed this sort of reminded us of a ship,...
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Aid line straight up the center of this face.
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Courthouse Rock.
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Monica and the Three Gossips.
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Courthouse Rock up close.
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Looking back up Park Avenue.
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Chockstone and the (almost) full moon.
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Toward the end of our hike.
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On the drive out from the park, we stopped below the...
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On Tuesday morning, we woke up early in Moab, grabbed...
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The hike in was amazing: the air was crisp and quite...
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The approach was an impossibly steep and winding...
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The views on the approach just got better and better....
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Castleton Tower and Castle Valley to the right.
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Top of Pitch 3 of Jah Man (5.10c) looking down to the...
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Monica, having passed the crux 5.10+ traverse on Pitch...
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Monica at the top of the 4th pitch of Jah Man, with...
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View to the south from the summit of Sister Superior.
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Monica, just a few feet below the rounded off summit of...
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At the summit, looking north with the Colorado River...
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Sort of couldn't take enough pictures up here.
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We had run into another climbing party on the approach...
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Not a bad place to ponder the yonder.
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Looking east toward Professor Valley. See the small...
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Lift-off!
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View down over the edge, yikes! Our approach trail can...
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Stefan and Brendan join us on top.
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Enjoying the view.
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Monica on rappel from the top of the tower. Check out...
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Better shot of the calcite.
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Back on (relatively) level ground: Sister Superior's...
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Monica at the base of the climb ready to hike back down....
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Looking at the path back down to where we had parked the car.
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Monica and Sister Superior. We climbed up the face on...
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Sister Superior again. Note the calcite varnish.
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Wish I hadn't taken this one slightly crooked.
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Monica leading the way.
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Steep trail!
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Colorado River.
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Sister Superior Group with the Sister on the right.
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Better view of where we climbed... you can kind of see a...
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Monica.
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Lots of cryptobiotic soil.
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Checking out a cliff edge.
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Monica.
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Monica and Castleton Tower. Castleton Tower has several...
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Sister Superior Group.
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Some idiot driving a dune buggy through crypto.
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Interesting mesa / formation near Castle Valley.
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We made it back to the car! Sister Superior group is the...
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John back at the car.
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On the recommendation of our climber acquaintances from...
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Fisher Towers and the almost full moon. Monica has much...
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One more somewhat blurry shot right before sunset.
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We were planning to just check out the towers before...
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View of some of the more unbelievable formations at...
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Moonrise over the the Towers
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Well, here's Monica at 7am on what I promised her would...
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Guess which one is Ancient Art.
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Corkscrew summit!
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Coming into slightly better view.
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Monica heads up the approach trail.
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Somehow I always take crooked pictures on hillsides.
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Monica working through the 5.10d crux (or 5.6 A0) on pitch 1.
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At the top of pitch 3: Monica sits at the belay looking...
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Shot from higher up.
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Monica gets ready to climb the corkscrew.
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What a ridiculous rock!
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Making the 5.9 move.
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Making the 5.9 move again.
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Cleaning some gear.
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Victory!
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Woo hoo!
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Ok, what next?
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Back at the base of the corkscrew, under the Eagle's Head.
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After climbing Stolen Chimney, we stashed our climbing...
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View of Castleton and Sister Superior in the distance.
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Self portrait with Ancient Art in the background.
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Monica with the Titan in the background. Apparently this...
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Monica hiking among the Fisher Towers.
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Castleton Tower in the distance.
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John hiking at Fisher Towers.
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One more shot.
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Clearly the fossilized remains of an ancient alien...
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The Titan?
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Colorado River in the distance.
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Monica, toward the end (turning around point) of our hike.
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Colorado River in the distance.
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Looking down a canyon near Fisher Towers.
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Tree clinging to a few rocks to survive.
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The spiral summit of Ancient Art.
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Parting Shot of Fisher Towers
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Diagram of sandstone layers northwest of Moab, UT.
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Monica in front of the Monitor and the Merrimack, two...
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The Lasal Mountains on the way to Dead Horse Point.
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Fracking!