Patagonia, via the Rio Futaleufu

There are so many places that are easier to get to, but Patagonia has always been on my bucket list and so this year, with Aaron and I working hard and saving our pennies, we made it a reality and took the four flights and endless bus ride to the Bio Bio Expeditions basecamp just outside of Futaleufu, Chile to spend seven days white water rafting and exploring Chilean Patagonia. If your journey begins in Nashville, Tennessee, your travel looks something like this: Nashville (737)>Atlanta(767)>Santiago (737)>Puerto Montt (Puddle Jumper)>Chaiten> (bus ride) Futaleufu. You will need a full 24 hours to get to this remote place and another 24 hours to get back home. That said, it has been my experience thus far that the volume of beautiful you're going to see is directly in proportion to the pain in the ass-ness of getting there. Futaleufu was no exception.


The bus pulled up to our final destination and we were greeted with big hugs by fifteen guides and staff members of Bio Bio's basecamp on the banks of the river. The camp is a melting pot of cultures - Peruvians, South Africans, Americans, Chileans, etc. and the cuisine for the week reflected the same mix of heritage. Each night we were treated to a different type of cuisine and it was all delicious. Pisco Sours were the order of the day for our welcome toast. I gazed in awe that afternoon at the turquoise river. Glacial silt is largely responsible for the Fu's color, and it is unique to any other river I've ever seen outside of Patagonia. The Rio Azul, which was the site of our duckie trip on day three, was similar in color tone. It looks like someone has dumped gallons of blue Calgon bath oil beads into the river.


On our first full day of rafting, we were introduced to just how big and powerful the river is. Aaron and I have rafted some incredible white water in the last ten years, but nothing compared to the crushing volume and intensity of the Fu's class V runs Mendaca, Mas o Menos, Casa de Piedra and Terminator. Mendaca, in particular, was menacing at the present water level and we narrowly averted a flip thanks to a few well timed strokes by our guide Alex. The guides encouraged swimming one of the milder rapids on the first day, to shake off the new feeling of being in the water in the event any of us had an unintentional swim later in the trip. The river pulled and bubbled and whirlpooled in all sorts of crazy ways. Through Alfombra Magica, our boat was pulled into a raft-sized whirlpool that swished us around end to end. Just nuts. How do you avoid a hazard that doesn't exist until you're in it?


In the mornings we enjoyed riverside yoga on what has got to be the world's most beautiful yoga platform overlooking the mountains and river. In the afternoon, we enjoyed horseback riding to a waterfall, and on the next day, duckies through the Rio Azul where Aaron and I unexpectedly flipped our little inflatable kayak and swam a good chunk of river. We even had the opportunity to fly fish, though mainly the fish just stare at you through the clear water and taunt you inches from your fly. On one morning we hiked to a tree that is said to be between 400 and 600 years old. Many of the trees in the area are new growth trees because the original settlers in the region set the forests ablaze in an effort to easily clear large swaths of land at once.


In the evenings, guests gathered around the wood-fired hot tubs by the bar and sipped on Escudo and home brewed Fu Brew (a resident's small batch IPA - delicious!). The stars came out and Aaron and I laid out a blanket to see the Southern Cross rising on the horizon. Around the fire, the guitar players in camp gathered to sing us songs.


At times, it looked like the mountains were weeping, because as many as ten or twelve waterfalls were visible on the steep hillsides around us. Vast glaciers melt as you breathe in the sweet floral aroma of Patagonia. An incredible journey, and a trip of a lifetime.

White Rim Trail, Canyonlands National Park

I can't believe I'm going to try to put this into words, but here goes...

When you round the corner and see the canyons, and the scope for the first time, it’s like nothing you’ve ever experienced before. You are small and your life is insignificant. And these canyons will be around long after you are gone. In the grand scheme of your planet, human beings are just teenagers after prom, checking into a hotel room they will inevitably trash by morning.

I have looked into the abyss of the Canyonlands in Utah and I have been humbled for life. The scale of this desert and the way the quiet settles over everything, it’s a quiet that has dimension. It’s a quiet that has volume and texture. It’s like nothing I have ever experienced.

We embarked on a 3 day tour of the White Rim Trail with a guide from Navtec. It was nice to have someone else behind the wheel of the 90's era Toyota Land Cruiser when the road disappeared or started down a cliff face. If you can get the White Crack campsite - do it! It was the best one we saw along the trail, though Candlestick Tower campsite was pretty amazing as well. 

Lathrop trail - 

What you don’t realize as you gaze from a distance upon the red stone columns in the distance is that behind each is a myriad of other red rocks, each disguised as the end of the horizon, is actually just a beginning. When we began hiking down the Lathrop trail, we began to realize that the eyes play tricks on you. The distances are impossible to gauge. Likewise, the colors of the rock from afar are so uniformly red, that you can’t see the diversity of the colors until you get up close to the rock. The deeper we got into the hike, the more colors appeared. Light yellows and browns, some deeper purple hues in places. I felt like I was in on a great secret. We didn’t pass a single other soul for the two hours we were out on the trail. It was incredible.

Night one we camped at the base of Airport Tower. In the morning I watched it turn from pale pink to bright orange in a matter of seconds. When you watch the sunset here, the rocks explode in color, almost violently, it happens so fast. If you aren’t paying attention, you could miss it. But what a spectacular sight to behold.

The drive bumps you around like a ping pong ball but it’s worth it. How else could you get to the precipice of Monument Basin without days of hiking? And to stand on that ledge and shout into the chasm only to hear your own voice reverberate five to ten times across the stones below. It’s magical kingdom spread out before you like some CG movie scene. Maybe bumping across the desert in a four wheel drive is cheating, but it sure does have its perks.

White Crack -

The road up to the campsite requires some 4WD action but there is a moment along that road when the car crests a final hill and the entirety of The Canyonlands becomes apparent and its red canyons and spires stretch out in every direction. From this vista you can see The Maze, The Needles and Island in the Sky at once. It literally brought tears to my eyes. I have never seen anything so beautiful. It defies description. It takes the breath from your lungs and squeezes your heart. Each section of this park has such unique characteristics, and its overwhelming to see them all in such stark relief. 

Crest that hill and see it all at once like that, and tell me that doesn’t change your perspective on life.

Candlestick Tower

Because after White Crack we hadn’t seen enough beauty, so we went to the candlestick tower campground and set up camp overlooking a canyon and the Green River. Aaron and I found some time to reflect on that overlook, watching giant birds of prey circle and swoop overhead. A sand bar in the middle of the river seemed to call to me - get down off that rim and get in this water! The next time I see these canyons will be in a boat. But I did have the opportunity to take a dip in the Green on the last day. It felt like a baptism.

Video below summarizes the experience as best I could.

Amethyst Basin, High Uintas Wilderness

Delight is what you feel when you get a call from your boss about flying out to Salt Lake City for a meeting in Deer Valley that starts on a Monday night. What that means is you're going to book a flight for Friday afternoon so you can get to those mountains a few days early and explore. It was easy enough to get out there after a 12 hour weather delay in Dallas that put our arrival into Salt Lake at 2am on Saturday morning, but we were not to be deterred! Visions of the beautiful Amethyst Basin had been swimming in our minds for several weeks and so when the alarm sounded at 7am on Saturday morning, we packed up at the Salt Lake Hilton and hit the road.

One of my very favorite moments of the trip was rounding a corner on highway 150 and seeing nothing but gorgeous coniferous trees as far as the eye can see like a carpet between two ridges. It's breath taking. The drive alone is worth it, but I think you'd regret not getting out to poke around.

For us, the "poke around" part involved a 6.5 mile hike in and a 6.5 mile hike out. Easy breezy right? Silly east coaster, you forgot about the elevation! I thought we did pretty damn good considering, though "I think the meadow where we're supposed to camp is just right up here," was the recurring theme/joke as we trudged up the worst stretch of rocks and steeps. One day I will master the art of the 20 lb pack, but somehow even for one night I end up with extra stuff I don't use. Ah well, all the more reason to continue to practice!

Highlights of this hike included a 3am wake up call Sunday to catch the milky way and Perseids shower after the moon set. Aaron got some incredible photographs, his first successful shots of the night sky:

Check out these meteor shots (look for the straight lines in the center of the photo on the top and in the top right of center in the photo on the bottom):

Sunday morning we finished hiking up to Amethyst lake. What an incredible meadow and scenery!

We were worn the heck out by Sunday at the end of the hike, but there was one last surprise in store for us. As we rounded a corner during the final mile of the hike, the hikers in front of us stopped us to let us know there was a moose about 10 yards off the trail. Sure enough, a nice sized bull moose was just hanging out munching on some leaves and let us snap a pic:

Amethyst basin did not disappoint, but it is a very crowded trail so I would not recommend it if you're looking for solitude. For us, who had never camped at 10k feet, it was perfect to have some more experienced folks around in the event of an emergency. So, a great hike for someone wanting to take on the western mountains without the isolation!

Here's some video footage from the trail:

Dry Tortugas National Park

I was going to post a lengthy description regarding this trip, but I sort of feel like for this one, the video and pictures say all that need be said about it. I do have to mention the salt water crocodile though, because it's the first time we've camped in a place where croc attack was the biggest threat. See if you can spot him in a few of the photos below...

View from the campground

The fort

Rock, the Croc

Lots of mooring buoys and lots of fancy boats

Magnificent frigate birds

Can you see him out for a night swim in the snorkeling area?

Lower Salt River Kayaking

We found ourselves in Scottsdale, AZ by surprise. An unexpected work event pulled me out there for a three day shindig at a nice resort in the desert. As part of said shindig, we had an option to participate in a number of activities, the most appealing of which for me was kayaking the lower Salt River, approximately 45 minutes away from the resort.

A few observations:

1) There is nothing quite like being in a river in the desert
2) Time of year was perfect - late May, so not yet too brutally hot, but everything in full bloom. The smells and sounds of the desert are remarkable, and we enjoyed seeing all kinds of birds and plants you can't see on the east coast.
3) The lower Salt is a favorite location for college kids in the summer - we passed a number of aromatic flotillas, coolers attached and laughter spilling out over the rapids
4) The lower Salt needs some work - tons of garbage in the river, lots of empty beer cans or "silver fish" as the guides referred to them.
5) Wild ponies were the climax of the trip - video below to document just how close we got to one of them who decided to wade out into the river to see what we were up to

Naked Ground Hangover Trail, Nantahala National Forest

Embarked on another doozy of a hike this weekend in the Joyce Kilmer area - one we attempted two years ago, Cortney and I, to no avail. On the first attempt, we made it to the Naked Ground campsite where I immediately spiked a fever that would not relent, and we hiked out the following day in a massive thunderstorm. Not ideal. This go round it was raining when we arrived at Horse Cove campground for night 1, so we figured we just might get lucky with the forecast. And we did!

The hike up the Naked Ground trail is a brutal uphill battle the entire way - not for the faint of heart. But the views at the top are soooo worth it. Last time we were in the area we startled a black bear at the last available water fill-up on the trail. He was just sort of hanging out, but when we made some noise he went running into the woods.

We hiked on further this time, past the first campsite to the Hangover. Prior to arriving at the Hangover there are several campsites, able to accommodate four or five single tent set ups. We picked the most palatial one and enjoyed views of both sunrise and sunset.

We hiked down via the Jenkins Meadow trail, which could be a more sensible way to the top with less dramatic elevation change, but I'm not 100% sure of that. It's certainly longer from a mileage standpoint. As usual the surroundings dazzled with giant virgin growth poplar on display. One note regarding the hangover spot that could help future campers: there is a PVC pipe which drains a small spring for water access if you need it. Just look for the chopped in half tree with exposed ax marks to the left of the central fire pit and follow it down the hill. This came in handy as the alternative is hiking nearly 1000 feet of vertical downhill via Naked Ground trail to water.

Here's video from the journey:

SCarUBA!

Aaron's been on me to try SCUBA diving since we met, so I finally took him up on it during a recent trip to Aruba. Some observations about Aruba: definitely more of a melting pot than other parts of the Carribbean I have visited - you've got Dutch, Columbians, Guatemalans, Mexicans, Americans, local Arubans, and each influence is distinct. Friendly place, friendlier than Nassau for sure. Beautiful beach, beautiful water, but that's what you come to expect in that area. The breeze is constant, so you never feel too hot which was awesome.

As for SCUBA, I did the first part of my PADI open water certification here in Nashville with Nashville SCUBA and then did my 4 check out dives in Aruba with Aruba Watersports. Melwin, our instructor, took us to several dive sites, most notably the Pedernalis and Antilla, both ship wrecks that featured incredible sea life. Coolest part was cruising along next to a sea turtle. See for yourself! SCUBA is awesome!