First trip since the move to Utah

Tomorrow I embark on a trip that a buddy and I planned ironically months before my wife and I decided to move here. As many may know, there are 5 National Parks in Utah, and many more that are located within a 6 hour drive from where we live in Salt Lake City.

Due to work and life, I haven't been able to get out much at all since we moved here in August. Other than shooting my cousins' wedding earlier this month, I hadn't been out on a trip since July at Mt. Rainier.

So tomorrow is finally the day I get to explore. I have never been to Zion, and secured permits to the Subway - although the weather might interfere with these said plans. A storm is once again moving in through southern Utah, and with it snow might fall, although at the higher elevations. But still; snow!

I finally get to use a bunch of new gear! My Marmot Force 2P tent, my Exped sleeping pad, my Mountain Hardwear Hyper Lamino 0 degree bag (bought it last winter - never used), a Goal Zero Yeti and a Garmin Rino 655t all will get put to the test! When I get back, i will disclose how they performed.

Also get to use my Nikon F65 I bought for my last trip down south, but was too rushed to really use it. Not this time. I have 2 rolls of my very cherished and discontinued Fuji Reala RVP 100 film to use.

In December I am heading back to REI headquarters to sell my 2016 calendars, greeting cards and prints; which I am excited for that. I partook in that last year and it was really fun, and I know what to expect (for the most part) this year.

Until sometime in November, here is an image I processed recently, which I took in May of this year.

settled in..kind of

13 days ago, we left Oregon for an new adventure. Up to then, everything had gone better than expected. Both my wife and i got transfers pretty quickly, found an apartment (harder than one thinks sight unseen), found movers and got a good deal on a moving truck.

I had only driven through Salt Lake City twice, and hadn't technically ever stepped foot on solid ground here. I did fly into Salt lake City last October for an hour layover. Don't think that counts though. My wife hadn't ever been to Utah, so I was more excited for her to see Utah - which we still haven't had time to do that. In due time though.

It has now been almost two weeks since we moved in, and the apartment is really nice (albeit quite a bit smaller than from our last apartment, which was twice as big), as is the area. We got lucky and found a Subaru Outback at the second dealership we tried. We were after a specific year/model, and found a 2006 Outback with 94K miles (with a 2 year warranty) for a good price - and it is in great shape!

In anycase, I am heading out on a trip next week. I unexpectedly found out I have 5 days off in a row, so I won't argue with that - unless it is a recurring thing..and even then, maybe :). Life is faaaar to short to work the grind 40 hours a week. But that rant is for another time.

So until I decide where to go, and there is FAR more places to get to within 3-5 hours of driving than I could have ever dreamed of, I decided to edit a photo. It is of the ocean, one place I cannot get to within the aforementioned time frame. Ruby Beach, along the Olympic National Park to be more specific.

I should have some stories to tell in the next two weeks, as adventure always finds me.

prepping to move

A week ago, I put in my transfer at work. It was a bittersweet moment, but won't feel "real" until i get confirmation that the transfer went through and is official. This could take several weeks, but hopefully not as we need to put in notice to our apartments and start looking at ones in Salt lake City.

I have made a list of places I wanted to go visit, and in many cases, revisit before we hit the road for SLC. Naturally that list is much longer than what is realistic, however there are places here that i never got to visit in my 20 years here (technically 20 years last week).

In my planning of hitting these places in the next 4-7 weeks, I started to look towards the future and what beautiful, exciting and stunning places Utah holds for us! I started to go through my images, and immediately this place is high on my list for Utah, once we get settled in and the cold weather also settles in. You see, the "high season" for southern Utah (Southwest in general) is Spring and Fall. Winter and Summer are the off season with low crowds. So I will most likely be here when the temps are low :)

So while I will be moving from the PNW and not being able to get to most places on a whim (3 day random weekends), I will still visit here several times a year. It is only an 11 hour drive from SLC to PDX.

come back story

so yeah, i haven't been keeping up on this. it hasn't been for lack of shooting, just life gets in the way sometimes. speaking of life, my wife and i will be relocating to Utah in the near future. this will be bittersweet, as i have lived here for almost 20 years, but am super excited to be moving. life is too short to be stuck in one spot for ever. also i am not really a people person, and this place is getting too crowded for my liking. seems like everyone is moving up here.

in any case, last weekend i made a trip to some spots I have been meaning to get to; and since we will be moving soon, i wanted to visit them one last time. of course the weather was warm and cloudless, so i had some obstacles to overcome as most i was focusing on waterfalls.

the first photo is from panther creek falls. when i first got here, i was in awe of how destroyed this place has gotten over the last 2 years. all the beautiful and lush moss that draped this place is now mostly gone. even on the logs. people just don't realize how delicate it is. i don't think it will ever recover. that is too bad for those that never got to experience before.

so the next time you are out in nature, please be careful. it is the most minute details that make the biggest impact.