First Descents: Adventure Camp in Moab, Utah for Young Adult Cancer Survivors

 Looking over the Colorado River from a cliff above the Potash Road.

I spent last week near Moab, Utah with First Descents, a non-profit group that works to give support to young adult cancer survivors. They offer adventure camps in rock climbing, white-water kayaking, or surfing for cancer survivors age 18-40. If you know me at all, you won’t be surprised that I chose to go rock climbing in southern Utah!

With help from my belayer, “Little Bit,” I was able to make it to the top of this crazy crack, about 50-75 feet up a sheer cliff wall near Moab.

Fifteen cancer survivors from as far away as London attended this First Descents retreat, and we each received nicknames upon our arrival at the lodge. My nickname was “Eagle Eye” which I shortened to “Eagle” to make it easier. We laughed at the end when we realized we didn't know each others’ real names!

 Here I am, further up the crack.

The love, strength, and support — in such an awe-inspiring environment — that everyone shared throughout the week was so transformative. After a week of pushing my limits, both physically and emotionally, I felt like I could accomplish anything! And I left with 26 new friends who I can totally count on.
 

 I finally made it to the top — time for a break!

 Canyoneering the Medieval Chamber.

On our last day of camp, we pushed our limits even more, with a hike through the desert, and two big rappels into deep canyons. We were all beginners, so it was pretty overwhelming at first. Everyone came away intact, and we left some nice gifts for geocachers at the bottom of Morning Glory Arch.

 The view from the top of Morning Glory Arch, at the end of Negro Bill Canyon near Moab, Utah.

Watching my fellow campers rappelling down from the top of Morning Glory Arch, after coming down myself. I’m not gonna lie, dangling 100 feet in the air was a little bit freaky!

Spring Weekend in Southern Utah

 

Matt and I spent the weekend poking around one of our favorite springtime stomping grounds—Southeast Utah. Matt took this photo of the Colorado River near Lake Powell, with the Henry Mountains in the background. Check out more of his beautiful landscape photographs here.

 

This was the view of the full moon from our campsite in Lower Johns Canyon, on the edge of the Glen Canyon National Recreation Area. Lots of amazing Native American rock art was there to be admired.

I think Kokopelli might be one of the figures featured on this rock (above, center). Kokopelli is a fertility god, according to the Hopi tribe. He’s also considered to be a trickster and represents the spirit of music. He is usually pictured playing a flute.

Mojo and Kala had a blast exploring the canyon. This was Kala’s first camping trip, and I think it agreed with her! I wish I’d gotten more photos of her romping around in the creek. She loved splashing around and sprinting through the water pools even as Mojo was quite content to watch from the sidelines.

Richard Serra: Favorite Famous Artists / Part 7

My first job as a graphic designer out of Cranbrook was working at The Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles. As soon as I arrived , I was asked to design the invitation to Richard Serra’s retrospective. I’ve read stories about Mr. Serra’s temper and passion, but he was nothing but welcoming and friendly to me when I showed him the comps of the invitation. I was in awe.

I got to walk around behind the scenes as his work was being installed at MOCA at the Geffen Contemporary. If I remember correctly, they had to cut a giant hole in the side of the building in order to get the work inside.

It’s hard to talk about Richard Serra’s sculptures, because they’re better experienced first-hand. I wonder if he has ever been influenced by the slot canyons of Utah’s red rock canyon country. His leaning and twisting surfaces of steel rusting away, remind me of the red iron-stained walls of the natural rock canyons out West.

 The San Rafael Reef, Utah

Little Wild Horse Canyon

Snowy Southern Utah from the Sky

I was working in Los Angeles this week, and was lucky enough to have a window seat and beautiful weather for the flight back to Colorado today. I think you can make out the San Juan Mountains way off in the distance.

Notice the narrow fins protruding up from the desert floor on the left... And the formations on the right look like someone just came along with a razor blade and sliced into the earth in a cross-hatching pattern.

I’m always surprised to see Lake Powell from the air. Strange gnarly shapes are created when the water fills big canyons. It looks so much different from the air than it does on the ground.

The snow on the Utah landscape really accentuates the geologic forms in the earth. Amazing!

Click on the photos to see them larger...

Native American Ruins in Road Canyon on Cedar Mesa, Utah

The Citadel is out this finger in Road Cyn

Matt and I spent another weekend exploring Cedar Mesa before winter sets in. We spent the night on the rim of Road Canyon, and then hiked out to The Citadel under a royal blue sky and perfect temps. The Citadel is perfectly situated at the end of this skinny ridge in a defensive position. Residents could see 360° from their location, and would have known if any visitors were approaching.

The Citadel, exterior view

According to scholars Jonathan Till and Winston Hurst, the Anasazi (ancestral Pueblo) lived in the canyons around Cedar Mesa in southeast Utah for over 2,000 years. They finally left for good around 1200 A.D. Today, visitors can still find cliff dwellings, artifacts, rock drawings, and granaries left by the people of the past. We left everything exactly as we found it (and kept our dog away from the ruins) to protect these amazing resources for future visitors.

The Citadel, interior view 

(I didn’t go inside, just stuck my arm inside the door with my camera.)

Mojo taking a drink from a slick rock puddle.

San Rafael Reef, Utah

After having a gaggle of people over for Thanksgiving, we decided to spend the weekend with a couple friends in the San Rafael Reef in Utah. Over two days we hiked about 22 miles in Chute & Crack Canyons and Bell & Little Wild Horse Canyons.


Little Wild Horse Canyon & Bell Canyon Loop is considered the “classic” hike in the San Rafael Reef, and it didn’t disappoint! The canyons reminded me of the sculptures of Richard Serra, walking through tall, skinny passages that tower overhead, leaning this way and that. Another part of the canyon felt like walking down a water slide in the middle of a carnival fun house.

Richard Serra Sculptures

This was perhaps one of my top 20 weekends of all time... I love the desert, and can’t wait to spend more time exploring the slot canyons in the reef. Amazing stuff only about 3 hours from our house!

Yet More Utah Wildflowers

Delphinium, I think.

What an amazing year for wildflowers in the desert. All the unseasonal rains have given the wildflowers something to sing about! I can’t wait to get up to the San Juan Mountains here in Colorado to see the blooms up there.

We actually found the delphinium and these irises blooming in the La Sal Mountains, so I guess it isn’t technically the desert... but we literally must’ve seen 10,000 of these pretty lavender guys.

I think this is a kind of penstemon.

The cactuses were blooming by the hundreds in two shocking colors of hot pink and a sort-of mango color. I’ve never seen such prolific cactuses in all my life!

Late Spring / Southern Utah

Last weekend Matt and I went back to Southeast Utah for one last desert adventure before it gets too hot. We camped on Cedar Mesa and looked around the Anasazi ruins at Moonhouse. The next day we drove up Butler Wash and hiked to the top of Comb Ridge.

View of the San Juan River canyons south to Monument Valley from our campsite at Muley Point (in the Glen Canyon National Recreation Area).

View to the west from Comb Ridge, looking over Comb Wash. The desert is really green this year because of the unusual rains and cool weather we’ve had this spring. Notice the dirt road running along the valley floor.

Check out this crazy overhang where the Anasazi built their homes over 800 years ago! This area is called “Moonhouse”.

A bunch of yokels from Blanding, Utah were arrested last week for pillaging through similar sacred Native American sites and stealing artifacts off public lands and then illegally trafficking them for a profit of about $350,000. One of the thieves, the local Morman physician, had been caught for this kind of activity before... and yet he continued to disregard the law. After he was released on bail, he committed suicide. Now many locals are blaming the government for his death.

I find it ironic and completely hypocritical of these Mormans whose ansestors came to Utah to escape religious persecution, to then turn around and desecrate and disrespect the religious artifacts of another marginalized group. I’m so disappointed that there are still people in this country who feel and act as if Native Americans don’t belong on the land their people have occupied for millennia. . . Especially in a place as beautiful and spiritually inspiring as Utah.

More Surprises / Southern Utah

A Native American grain storage building under a rock overhang in a cliff side.

The Southern Utah deserts are bursting with surprises — large and small, from wildflowers to thousand-year old native rock art to natural arches and springs. Matt and I have come across quite a few Native American drawings as we’ve explored our local region this spring.

This natural arch is called “Paul Bunyan’s Potty” and is located near the granary pictured above. You can get a sense of the scale of things by noticing Matt standing at the base of the rock at the bottom of the picture.

Native American rock art at the base of a cliff just outside Canyonlands National Park.

More Utah Desert Wildflowers

Claret Cup Cactus

Silvery Lupine

Milkvetch

Globemallow

Cliffrose

Heartbreaking Beauty of the Utah Desert

We were surprised to find a little patch of Manzanita at the higher elevations. This plant is really common in the Angeles National Forest north of Los Angeles.

I can’t find a name for this one. Looks like a lily, perhaps, but it’s not in any of my books.

Matt and I went (once again) to the southeast corner of Utah for a weekend of camping and outdoor enjoyment. We finally got our new truck completely situated the way we want it for going waaaay out into the sticks on bumpy 4x4 roads. I think we saw a total of five or six other people the entire weekend.

Dwarf Evening Primrose — This is by far the largest flower I saw. Each bloom is about 2" in diameter. The entire plant is a mound about 12" around.

The first week of May is, as far as I can guess, the prime time for desert wildflower spotting. The weather is just getting warm, about 75° during the day, and there are still a few patches of old snow in the shadiest spots.

Scarlet Gilia

The thing I love most about desert wildflowers is their tiny size relative to the vast expanse of landscape. If you don't keep your eyes open, it's easy to just glance right over them. They grow close to the ground, typically not very close to one another, and the blooms are rarely over a half-inch in diameter.

Our campsite (and our new truck!). The higherelevations are really green at the moment — big thunderstorms passed through last week. Everything will be brown again shortly.