Horseshoe Canyon Pictographs in Canyonlands Natl Park (Spring 2005)

Horseshoe Canyon has world-class pictographs painted thousands of years ago in the 'Barrier Style.' I spent a couple of nights camping out in this area and enjoyed seeing many of these mysterious shapes and figures painted on the wall of a remote, silent canyon that had a small stream trickling through the bottom of it.



















Sunrise coming up over the LaSal Mountains the morning I began my hike.














The "Holy Ghost" pictograph.
























Notice the little figures on the shoulder of this figure. Whispering in his ear?

Winter cross country skiing (winter 2005)

With hundreds of inches of record snowfall in the mountains, it was fun and sometimes challenging to cross-country ski to some neat places.




Cedar Breaks overlook.













Bryce Canyon.

Spring 2005 flooding

They said it was a 500 year flood. Here is a picture of Highway 91 in Santa Clara. Look at the condos that are like an island--saved by a strong rock wall.
















This is the Gunlock spillway. It's like Niagara Falls.

Flooding and wet weather of Winter 2005

Here are some of my favorite photos during and after heavy rains and snows that caused the floods in winter and spring of 2005:


A thousand foot waterfall coming down in Kayenta's Hell Hole canyon.























Kim and I hiked up high above the sand dunes in Snow Canyon on this foggy day. The valley was choked in fog, but once we got up high we were in the sun. That is the bike path below.









The Three Patriarchs in Zion after a snow storm.













This poor cottonwood tree is fighting for its life during massive flooding that spilled over Gunlock Reservoir. A couple of people drowned in these waters near here, as it peaked at around 8000 cfs.



















Water spilling down below Gunlock.

Zion Narrows with Brooke and Sasha (Aug 2004)

Before school started, I took Brooke and Sasha several miles up the Narrows in Zion, well past the Orderville Canyon turnoff. They did very well, being ages 11 and 7 respectively.






























Some hanging ferns over the river.












Sasha entering the light from a dark section of the Narrows.

Glacier National Park (July 2004)

Photos from our summer trip to Glacier National Park.















I think I fell asleep on the trail along the cliff.


















Our camper fit through this small tunnel.

North Rim Grand Canyon Campout with the family (July 2004)

Days after being initially diagnosed with testicular cancer, and the weekend before my surgery, I asked the family if we could spend the weekend at the North Rim. This was an emotional time, but we still enjoyed the scenery.




Kim with Cleo during sunrise.



















Stephanie and I at Bright Angel Point.














The San Francisco Peaks near Flagstaff can be seen in the distance.












A new dawn.















Me and Cleo.

Black Hills South Dakota Trip with Family (June 2004)

In the middle of this trip, while we were in Rapid City, I found out that I needed to return home quickly due to possible cancer. We spent a day at Mt Rushmore and Bear Country before driving home.







Me with my girls.















Sasha and a cute bear totem pole.















The four women in my life at Bear Country entrance.













This is about how I felt too!

Grand Canyon River Rafting with Stephanie (June 2004)

Stephanie had just finished 7th grade, and was looking forward to a week on the Grand Canyon with me!



The first evening on the river at around mile 20. Stephanie thought this was really calm and pretty.

















Me near the end of the trip with Red Slide behind me.

















Bev, our guide, showing Steph how to fish for trout near Saddle Canyon.



























Moonset near Tuweap!















Stephanie doing the dishes on our last night, around mile 220.

Thunder River/Deer Creek in Grand Canyon (April 2004)

Mike Burkley and I backpacked down to upper Tapeats Creek (Thunder River area) for two nights. On our layover day, we dayhiked back up to Surprise Valley and across to Deer Creek area and back.



The patio area in Deer Creek narrows.
























A view of the Colorado River from the end of the narrows. The top of Deer Creek Falls is directly below me.













A view of Steamboat Mountain and my backpack from the Thunder River area.
















Mike in front of Thunder River falls.

Lone Pine Arch Canyon (Mar 2004)

West of Gunlock Reservoir about 10 miles is a redrock area just to the south of Squaretop Mountain. This little canyon contains many petroglyphs and signs of ancient inhabitants. Our friends, Bill and MaryAnn, took us all out there to experience this area.



Sasha observing mysterious rock art.

















Stephanie stemming over a slot that runs through this canyon.




















Bill up above the three girls, next to numerous petroglyphs.

Toroweap (Mar 2004)

When our world traveler and trader friends, John and Janet Anderson, came to visit us, I thought I would take them to one of the most spectacular overlooks in the world--Grand Canyon's Toroweap Point. We drove the 90 miles of dirt roads south of St George and camped out for one night. We all enjoyed taking pictures and doing a 6 mile hike the next day.




Looking west towards Lava Rapids--North America's fastest and most difficult rapids. The water cruises near 50 mph through the rapids!
















Janet and John with their camera.


















An incredible sunrise with the river below!

Red Mountain (Spring 2004)

Kim and I love hiking the Red Mountain trail from Hwy 18 10 miles across the top of the mountain down to our house.



Kim doing a sun salutation at the West Canyon overlook.














Lots of interesting slickrock on top of the Red Mountain.

Above Gifford Wash in Zion (Spring 2004)

Mike and I scrambled from the Canyon Overlook up into Gifford Wash and then across slickrock and canyons to see an isolated part of Zion. Mike here with the West Temple behind him.











There's a big arch on the other side of that peak. We will hike out to it another day.

Havasupai (Nov 2003)

For my birthday, Kim surprised me and kidnapped me to Havasu Canyon. We drove nearly 7 hours to the trailhead, started hiking down the 9 miles to the village. We didn't arrive until 5:30 PM and everything was closed and starting to get dark. We barely found someone who could give us our hotel key and another place where we could buy a microwave dinner and breakfast snacks!




















The next morning we got up early and hiked to Havasu Falls.















Further down is Mooney Falls. To get to the bottom requires careful negotiation on slippery ladders and use of chains.