Is there something in nature that inspires you? Something that excites you? Something that you could gaze at for hours on end? Something that you want to revisit over and over? For me, something in nature that inspires me is slot canyons (narrow canyons formed by water). There are three aspects I experienced in Zebra Slot Canyon that inspired me and can also inspire you.

Visual

A few things that make nature visually inspiring are the colors, patterns, and designs. You can spend a lot of time studying the visual appearance of nature. The sandstone that makes up Zebra Canyon is a variety of dusty, neutral colors that paint the rest of the desert southwest. What makes the colors unique in Zebra Canyon is the combination of colors in a zebra pattern and the curvature of the rocks making the pattern and colors pop.

Unusual

Another thing that is inspiring is seeing something unusual, such as when you’re driving through the woods and the setting sun looks like a fire blazing in the trees. Zebra Canyon was full of its own surprises. Most of the slot canyons we have been to were dry. This one, however, was not. In fact, it had 4-5 feet of standing water. Another thing that was unusual was the Moqui Marbles protruding from the sandstone. Moqui Marbles are harder than the sandstone so the water erodes the sandstone first, leaving them to eventually fall out.

Physical

It’s hard to be inspired from just a photograph of something. It’s best if you are physically walking through the cold water and feeling the chills go all the way up through your body, wedging yourself against the walls as you shimmy up and over obstacles, and using the Moqui Marbles as handholds so that you can make it farther into the canyon. Physically experiencing nature is the ultimate inspiration.

What is it that inspires you? Let us know what it is—we would be glad to hear from you!

So last week we left off with Randi and I’s second visit to Bull Valley Gorge and a promise to return and explore deeper and find out just where the gorge ends. This time we came prepared and planned to spend the night miles down canyon from anything we had experienced thus far. We headed into Bull Valley Gorge with packs on our backs and adventure on our minds. Keep reading

Growing up hearing all of the stories of my father’s adventures in Utah made it sound like a mystical land full of untold secrets. Story after story made me wonder if it could all be true! When we made our family trip to Utah in 2012, I could see the wonders come vividly to life… the stories rang true! Well, all but one. The legend of “Mike’s Crack.” It’s not like it sounds (or maybe it is), so let me explain. My Dad made a trip to Utah many years ago to visit his brother and hike in the southern part of the state. One of the many things they did that trip was hike in the Needles District of Canyonlands National Park. The Needles consists of rows of ginormous fins of rock jutting from the earth. My father and uncle did some exploring and stumbled upon a chimney in the rock between the fins. My dad then climbed up the chimney to the top of the fin to see the amazing view. My uncle wanted to do the same thing so he tried and tried to get up the chimney but just couldn’t. From all of the stories told again and again my uncle finally gave up with these words: “I can’t get up Mike’s Crack!” Keep reading

On our trip to Utah we saw tons of amazing scenery. From Delicate Arch to remote places of the Needles to random slot canyons, we saw as much as we could get to. However, while everyone else was looking up at the scenery I was looking down. So, I probably couldn’t tell you what a lot of what the scenery was even like lol. The truth was that I wanted to find a rattlesnake. The sad part was that I didn’t ever actually find one. This fact seemed to be pleasing to my mom for some reason, but honestly I was kinda disappointed. If you are like my mom it is a good thing if you do not see any wildlife that is even remotely dangerous; however, it is important to be knowledgeable about the wildlife that could potentially be harmful in case you do see them. For example, if you are setting up a tent and there is a spider web, you might want to know what kind of spider it is before you decide to destroy its web to make room for your tent. It could also be important to know that scorpions sometimes like to crawl inside shoes during the night. It is always better to be prepared than to simply pretend they don’t exist. For those of you like me, it is important to have a healthy fear of dangerous wildlife. If you find a rattlesnake, first, you are luckier than me, but second, don’t pick it up. Living is always better than being dead. In short, just be smart. Pay attention to wildlife warning signs that are usually located at the beginning of trailheads so that you know what to look out for. Keep reading

Well…we’re back. We went, we saw, and we conquered. You know that your vacation has been long enough when you don’t dread the fact that you have to go back to work. It was a lot of fun while it lasted. We were rejuvenated, motivated, and just ready to get back to life. That’s what vacation is for anyhow. So, in other words, it fulfilled its purpose. Plus, we got a lot of material to share with you. This week we wanted to share with you each of our top takeaways from the trip while it is still fresh in our minds. Keep reading