Summer

First off, apologies for the lack of updates here. Between accepting a new job, moving up to Summit County, getting settled in, and my old PC taking a dump, I let this blog fall to the wayside. Things are starting to calm down now so hopefully I’ll have more time to dedicate to keeping things fresh over here.

The Painted Wall at Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park

Anyway, holy cow where did Summer go??? I turned around and here it is almost August! Yikes! Time to kick the adventure spirit into high gear, am I right?

That’s not to say that I’ve just been sitting on my butt this whole time. Since I last updated, we’ve made trips to Arches NP, Canyonlands NP, Black Canyon of the Gunnison NP, Great Sand Dunes NP & Preserve, Tent Rocks National Monument, Eagle’s Nest Wilderness, Cruces Basin Wilderness, Holy Cross Wilderness, as well as plenty of national forests and hiking trails. Trust me, my hard drive is hurting from all the photos I still have to edit.

Bighorn Creek in the Eagle’s Nest Wilderness

I hope everyone out there is enjoying your summer. By my count, here in Colorado we have about 8 more weeks of great camping weather, after which we start getting into the colder Autumn months (who’s to say that’s gonna stop me???). But I plan on taking full advantage of the time I have left of these warm summer days. Between a music festival in beautiful Buena Vista, my old man’s annual camping and fishing trip, an annual fall foliage camping trip with the college roommates, and some extended camping and backpacking trips sprinkled in, there’s still plenty to do.

White River National Forest (Peak One in the distance)

But it’s hard not to feel like summer is flying right on by. I guess all we can do is appreciate the time we have and try to soak it in as much as possible. That’s the one piece of advice I leave to you, don’t let time slip idly by, take advantage of it. There will be plenty of days to sit on the couch or catch up on TV, and trust me, you’ll feel so much better knowing you got out and saw something beautiful or got away from all the distractions of the modern world.

Anyway, that’s all for now. I decided to make it a pretty short post tonight, but stay tuned for more updates in the future.

Hiking in Mount Falcon Park

If there’s one thing I like about the winter its that there’s more holiday time involved, which means more time to get out and do things! This year I decided to use my holiday time off to get outside and enjoy the crisp winter air.

Mount Falcon Park is managed by Jefferson County and has some great trails for being so close to Denver. I usually hit up this park in the transitional months when getting up to the high country is a little more difficult. I’ve hiked the main loop that takes you from the west parking lot past the old lookout towers, but I never made the hike up to check out the Summer White House.

My Father’s Footsteps: Hiking Devil’s Biscuit to Goverment Corrals

My dad has stories for days. If encouraged, he could tell you stories until your ears fell off and the mountains turned to dust. He grew up in an era where life was simple and work was hard. Every time I go home to visit my folks, I learn something new about my dad. Ranch life in Southern Colorado consisted of sheering sheep and tromping wool for 12 hours and then going out and bowling a 250. That was my dad in the prime of his youth.

You’d think after 30 years of calling him Pops, I’d know everything there is to know about my dad, but fact of the matter is he has countless experiences to share. Some of my favorite stories of his involve his time on the sheep trail.

Hello world!

Today’s assignment: write and publish a “who I am and why I’m here” post.

Well, here it is, my very own blog. I’ve never actually owned a blog before, so this is new territory for me. But, I’ve been receiving quite a bit of requests for a place where I can share my adventures and my photography. So here it is!

I’m still learning how to work this site and customize my blog, but I’ll get there eventually. Currently my adventures have been dominating my time, but I’m hoping to devote enough time to make this site somewhat respectable.

Anyway… who am I and why am I here?

Well I already kinda told you about the second part to that question, I’m here to share my photography. But there’s more to that, because anyone can buy a camera and go out and take pictures and simply post them to Facebook, and I’ve gone that route, believe me. But I want to share more than just a picture. I want to share my adventure, give you a glimpse into the places I’m going, share with you awesome places in the great outdoors, maybe occasionally post some history nuggets, and hopefully leave you with a greater appreciation for this earth we call home.

I grew up in very rural area, on a farm to be exact. Growing up we didn’t have internet, we didn’t have cell phones, or Nintendos, or computers, and we had a grand total of five TV channels! But we did have wide open spaces and plenty of countryside to explore. That’s where I got my start as such an adventurer, it all began with hopping on my bike and pedaling wherever the dirt road took me. My parents were firm believers that children should spent most of their time outdoors and that it was a day wasted if we didn’t come home with grass stains on our pants and mud on our shoes (even if my mom yelled at us for tracking it in the house. Sorry Ma!)

I’ve held onto that attitude as I grew older, I traded my Huffy for a tent and some hiking boots and off I went. The great outdoors is our greatest resource, and I plan to explore it as much as I possibly can. So stick around, I hope to be able to show you just how kick-ass this world really is.

-Johnathan