every other orange

My mom and sisters visit was absolutely great! We had so much fun, even though we didn't get a chance to see much of Utah... work however is so stressful now! I am pissed now and have been for ages. At least that is how it seems :(

My Mom and sister got into town on Tuesday and we have been having a great time together. So far we have checked out the library, Sam Wellers (the best bookstore ever), Sugarhouse and a bunch of good restaurants. Yesterday Cynthia accompanied Josh and I on a interesting little climb in Little Cottonwood - her first trad experience - and did a wonderful job getting up the awkward thing... I think it was called Chicken Head. Right now we are heading to Antelope Island for some Bison viewing fun... more pictures will follow.

After Zion my Dad and I stopped in Bryce National Park - just under an hour away from Zion. It was an incredibly strange place and I had certainly never seen a landscape like that before, but after our experience in Zion it wasn't all that stunning :) We took a quick walk around and an even quicker one down into the amphitheater and then decided to move on home. It was a glorious morning though - perfect temps for walking around.

While in Zion Dad and I did a couple awesome hikes. First we hiked Angels Landing (view from part way up the hike above) and then we did a Bottom-Up hike of the Narrows. They were both amazing, but I had never done anything like the Narrows before. Hiking 2 miles upstream and crossing fast rapids many times all the while being completely surrounded by unimaginably high walls of gorgeous red rock... it was incredible!
The View from the top of the Canyon Overlook Hike - a short little one that we did at the end of the first day just after arriving.
I was so antsy to get some climbing in while surrounded by the great walls at Zion that I had to stop when we saw this gorgeous boulder. The crack the the line up the face were both great fun and stopped the itch for a little while... :)

One of the first things that my Dad and I did was drive out to Antelope Island. The island is massive! I was expecting some small little, petting farm-ish island and I was certainly surprised to see just how big it was. There were tons of bison and Dad and I probably would have stayed for awhile and hiked around if it hadn't been for the extremely aggressive gnats! I think I might give the park another try next week with my Mom and sister... we will see.

In other news, Josh and I did Crescent Crack yesterday. An awesome little 2 pitch 5.7 with an incredibly fun chimney at the start of pitch two. I am really enjoying getting back into trad - especially since I have not yet led anything and frayed nerves are not yet a factor :) I promise to bring a camera up next time, at least I promise that I will try.

The Warmth is back! After some surprisingly cold days the sun is finally back out and things are heating up again. I can't help but celebrate warm weather, even if it makes climbing more difficult. I hope to soon be able to change out my studded tires for something a little less noisy :)

It has been awhile, I know! I had an awesome time with my dad while he was in town - going to Antelope Island, Zion, Bryce and just hanging out together. But... I didn't post anything the whole time. Now that I am back the amount of catching up seems way too daunting and I haven't been able to get myself around to posting. So in order to start I am just leaving you with this picture and saying that there will be more to come :)
In other news - I went trad climbing today for the first time in just over a year. I now remember why I loved it so much, I had the most wonderful time! Can't wait until I get out some more.