Home Sweet Home!

Greetings from NYC!

So after about a week of lounging in Whitefish, Montana, Cody and I drove south towards Wyoming in hopes of peaking the Grand Teton (13,775 ft) before winter arrived. Upon arrival, we were thrilled to find that luck was on our side. Me and Cody were granted exactly two days of 75 degree weather before endless weeks of winter storms. It was too good to be true!

We hiked into Garnett Canyon and set-up base camp at The Caves. The following day, we woke up at 5am, quickly indulged in some oatmeal, and headed out at about 5:30am. Our goal was to climb the Upper Exum Ridge and return to our base camp within 8 hours or so. To our dismay, we somehow got off route, which extended our climb to the summit by nearly 6 hours. After a countless number of pitches and hours of scrambling, we summited the rugged Grand Teton. The climb to the top was exhausting and frustrating, but the view and the weather on the peak were simply uplifting.

Needless to say, neither of us wanted to head down. We were tired, our fingers were bloody and our bodies were bruised. To top it off, by the time we reached the saddle, we were quickly beginning to lose the sun's gracious light and were thus, forced to return to our caves under an unforgiving moonless sky with one headlamp. We reached camp at 9:30pm....starving. Needless to say, it was a truly epic 16 hour day.

The following morning, we slept in and somehow managed to peel our sore bodies from our sleeping bags so that we could pack up and hike out in nasty rainy conditions. Although tired, wet, and cold, Cody and I made an effort to wine and dine in Jackson Hole to celebrate our
first technical ascent up a mountain.

The next morning, we made our way towards Devils Tower, Wyoming for some more rock climbing. Devils Tower (5,112 ft) is a monolithic igneous intrusion, or in other words, it is the core of a volcano exposed from erosion that rises 1,267 feet above the surrounding terrain. Interestingly enough, Devils Tower was the first declared United States National Monument, established on September 24, 1906 by President Theodore Roosevelt. Anyway, the thing was sheer vertical rock.

After a bit of research, we decided to climb the famous Durrance Route. I was rather numb during the 6 pitches to the top and two long rapels down. Apparently the Grand Teton really did a number on me.

I began to feel somewhat more alive after a million celebratory Coronas at the base of Devils Tower. Therefore, we took this opportunity to congratulate ourselves on all of our accomplishments these past few weeks and decided that Devils Tower was the perfect finale to our adventure together.

We headed out for a long, sleepless drive to NYC the next day, only stopping to get gas, consume chicken fried steak, snap cheesy pictures of us in front of Mt. Rushmore and grab beers in Chicago with an old friend, Reid. Sleep deprived , Cody and I haggardly crawled into my
NYC apartment and slept for a few days. It took several hours to detangle the 5-week-old knots in my hair, scrub the dirt from my skin, and bandage my gruesome scars, but I am now clean, rested, and ready for my next adventure!

I am still alive! Post Park City, Utah, Cody Davis and I took a a bit of a detour. Instead of traversing directly to the Tetons, we decided to make a couple of extra stops....

Our first stop was Mt. Timpanogos (11,749 ft). Although a 14-mile round-trip hike, with almost a mile of elevation gain, the summit is suppose to be one of the most-visited and rewarding peaks in the Rocky Mountains. We just couldn't pass it up! And yes, the view from the peak was stunning. One of my favorite vistas so far.

To rest our quads a bit, we decided to avoid hiking for a couple of days and engage in some rock climbing instead. Therefore, the next morning, we drove to the City of Rocks, Idaho, to get our hands on some granite spires. One of the many reasons the park appealed to us was the fact that in the 80's, City of Rocks was home to the most difficult routes in the US. After three days of rock-climbing, I can no longer feel my fingertips and I have never had so many cuts and bruises on my arms and legs. Rock climbing does not seem to be one of my key attributes. However, despite the pain and challenge, it was all oddly exhilarating. There is something very overtly rewarding about gaining focus and problem solving your way up a massive rock face.

Anyway, on a bit of a whim, we woke up a few mornings ago and decided to make our way to Glacier National Park, Montana. We easily obtained backcountry permits and decided to "shred" the Dawson-Pitamakan route (18.8 miles, elevations gain: 2,935) in the Two Medicine area. The
mountains of the Two Medicine area are recognized as the "Backbone of the World" among the Blackfeet Indians who use the area for vision quests.To no surprise, the route was incredible. However, as we ascended towards Dawson's Pass (8,099 ft) weather conditions became worrisome. During our four hour hike through the pass, we trudged through ice, snow and 50 mph winds. It was hard to keep both feet on the ground. We were hoping to veer of the pass and peak Rising Wolf Mountain (9,513 ft) but a white-out settled in and we decided to play

it safe and make our way towards lower elevation. 10 miles later we made it back to our car and found our way towards cheeseburgers and fries.

I'm currently posted in Whitefish, Montana, where I am staying at my friend, Roberto Guterrez' winter rental. A shower and bed! Very exciting....

Hello Friends,

Life has been great since I left NYC September 2nd. For the first time in a while, the only thing I worry about is which canyon to slide into or which mountain to climb up before I make my way overseas in search of reclaimed wood for a client.

In case some of you are wondering where I've been, the story is as follows....... about 2 weeks ago, I flew out to San Francisco where I recruited my friend, Andrew, for an epic adventure down the California coast.. Our first stop was in Big Sur, where we climbed up Cone Peak (5155ft). Great peak with a great view. Our second stop was near Santa Barbara where we climbed Montecito Peak (3173ft). The drive to the trailhead was almost better than the actual climb to the top, but all in all, it is another great peak with a great view.

The following morning I met up with my friend, Cody. We drove out to Lone Pine to meet Heather and Matt in hopes of conquering Mt. Whitney (14,446 ft). We somehow made our way up the infamous mountaineer's route (3.4 miles and 6,000 ft elevation gain), which led to a burly solo vertical scramble for the last 2,000 feet up. Needless to say, it was an intense three days in the backcountry, but well-worth it.

Cody and I left Heather and Matt as we made our way to Vegas for a bit of gambling before our next climb. We eventually escaped sin city with a lot less money and drove to Zion, Utah for some spectacular
canyoneering. We may have executed twenty 50-100 ft repels and a million super dangerous down climbs by the time we left the national park. Although the scenery was out of this world and the 10 hour, "Birch Hollow/Orderville/Narrows" hike was relatively easy, it was truly exhausting. Our knees and ankles barely made it out with us.

Our next stop was Bryce Canyon. A bit sore from Zion, we decided to
stretch out our bodies by waking up before dawn to jog an undulating,
1500 ft elevation loss and gain, 5.5 mile trail in and about the
canyon. Still not sure if this was a good idea, but it was nice to
see the rock formations in light of a rising sun. Truly pooped, we
gritted through a 6 hour drive to Park City where I am currently
posted. The weather here is fantastic and I'm not really sure when we
are going to even consider leaving.......

It looks like the Grand Tetons are up next.