A cup of wild

Nobody in their right mind climbs for 24 hours straight. When Melanie told me that she and her best friend Joanna were going to register for 24 Hours of Horseshoe Hell, I thought - have fun! But the more I thought about it, the more I wondered what it would feel like to push at the boundaries of physical activity (and consciousness), soI recruited a buddy and the four of us entered the lottery ...

On August 12th, 2017, we agreed to be adventure buddies for life! Wedding day was awesome. Surrounded by friends and family, we said "I do" among the trees near Twin Lakes, and giddily arrived at The Mill (a ski lodge transformed into our reception spot) to celebrate. We ate, drank, and danced under the stars - thrilled to be spending forever together, and also a bit shocked that we managed to pull the wedding off! The days and weeks leading up to the wedding were tough - planning a wedding is no joke! But the hard work was completely worth it, and has helped us to appreciate what wonderful friends we have. Without their help, the wedding wouldn't have been possible! ...

July 30th, 2017 From the moment I first saw a photo of the massive granite formation overlooking gorgeous glacial lakes, I have wanted to climb Temple Crag. Alan and I had already requested Monday off to take our engagement photos in the evening, so it was the perfect time to head into the eastern Sierras to conquer the climb over the weekend. We drove to Lone Pine on Friday night to camp under the Milky Way and wake up early to snag overnight permits ...

Per the modified plan, this post should have been called "Hike to Little Yosemite Valley". With a shorter distance to cover (or so we thought), we got a later start, following a footpath in the snow through a beautiful valley. At one point we stopped to listen to a symphony of frogs cheering us on as we hiked ...

After an incredible night's sleep, we awoke in Lyell Canyon ready for a more mellow day of hiking. We began by walking through the lush river valley, stopping often to admire the wildlife and scenery. Eager to see what the trail had in store for us, I took the lead and nearly walked into a deer casually grazing feet from the trail. One of us was startled, and it wasn't the deer! ...