August 2008
You are browsing the archive for August 2008.
Day 4: Zion Canyoneering Guides
In 1872 John Wesley Powell, one of the great early explorers and cartographers of the west, explored Sol’s Redrock Backpacker: Southwestern Utah trip with a mule train. It’s hard to imagine how he did it, afterall, this is “roaring water canyon.” Enjoy a journal excerpt of one of Sol’s Zion canyoneering guides, Aaron Ogden. ” ...read more
Day 3: Zion Canyoneering Guides
David Bassett is an endurance athlete who moonlights as a Sol Zion canyoneering guide and amateur photographer. Enjoy this journal excertp from his 2007 Redrock Backpacker: Soutwestern, Utah trip. “On our second evening, we head up off the canyon floor in search of a bivouac. We find a flat patch of red earth and I ...read more
Day 2: Zion Canyoneering Guides
Aaron Ogden is one of Sol’s favorite Zion canyoneering guides. He’s busy hiking the slot canyon at the moment, but you can enjoy this journal excerpt from his last trip. “Hiking terrain is beautiful. This is truly one of God’s wonders, such diverse terrain: steep sandy hills, scorching red rock vistas…towering plateaus, and water eroded ...read more
Day 1: Zion Canyoneering Guides
Greetings from Zion National Park, Utah! One of the most visited parks in America, Zion is the gateway to Sol’s Redrock Backpacker: Zion Outskirts multi-day trip down the Virgin River. Our adventurers, not content with the Zion National Park Tour from crowded shuttles, are about to leave the pavement, exit park boundaries, and embark on ...read more
Zion National Park Backpacking Trip
It’s another day in the life of three wild western women, and we’re gearing up for a Zion National Park backpacking trip. I teamed up with my sister, Lindy, and Jeep guide guru Cathy Church in Kanab, Utah, to scout an exit route for Sol’s Redrock Backpacker: Zion Outskirts trip and ended up with one ...read more
Old Rag Virginia Hike
She’s a good old mountain, Old Rag. At just over 3,200 ft, Old Rag is the highest elevation within a 2 hour drive of D.C. and well worth the trip. With spectacular views of the Blue Ridge Mountains and open fields below, the hike was great training for my upcoming Utah backpacking trip. Sol Sistah ...read more
Herding Cats
The kids of the DC 3rd Ward gave new meaning to the phrase “herding cats” on our recent tubing trip down the Potomac River near Harper’s Ferry. But what did we expect with 5 adults and 15 kids between the ages of 8 and 17? We might have fared better had we been sent down ...read more
David’s EPIC Day on Pike’s Peak
I’ve talked about competition before. An athlete has to be able to dig deep in order to succeed at any event, whether it’s purely recreational or if they’re going for the win. But add an unexpected variable, like inclement weather, and suddenly the competition goes not necessarily to the fittest, but to those with the ...read more
I’d Rather be Snowboarding
I spent a perfect summer day hiking in the Shenandoah’s and thought the only place I’d rather be was Beijing. That was until I heard the news from South America. Not only am I not in Beijing, apparently I’m missing one of the most EPIC storms of the year in Portillo, Chile. Meanwhile, Freeskier Magazine ...read more
Fallen Arches
So long, Wall Arch. Don’t worry if you never saw this one. There are 1,999 more of these natural wonders in Arches National Park, Utah.
