Adventures by Alan and Melanie
The Eastern Sierra Nevada is perhaps the most beautiful and inspiring mountain range in the whole world. The views from US-395 anywhere between Lone Pine and Mammoth Lakes are second to none. When deciding where to go for a week-long adventure in September, this was an easy choice.
Continue reading “Sierra week part 1: Eastern Sierras”
In the light of the moon, we strapped on our crampons and stepped onto the snow. Despite the fact that it was 2:30 AM, we were wide awake. Our path up the mountain was glowing in the night – a steep gully cutting steeply up the black, rocky slopes of the volcano.
Continue reading “Trip Report: Mt. Shasta West Face Gully”
The last time we were in Zion, we managed to avoid seeing anyone else for hours while navigating through Mystery canyon, even though it was the busiest day of the year. Although our initial plan of exploring slot canyons had to change due to rain, Zion is probably the best backup plan anyone can hope for.
Continue reading “Zion: we can’t get enough of this park!”
After failing to see the Grand Canyon on several trips down I-10, we finally made it happen. We drove through a pretty intense dust storm followed by rain, and finally pulled into the forested camping area outside of the park in the dark.
Continue reading “The Grand Canyon”
Having arrived to the campsite at night, the rising sun brought our first sight of the magical landscape. A giant sandstone finger pointing to the heavens glowed red with first light, and we watched it shrink into the horizon as we scraped frost from our windshield and headed into the park.
Continue reading “A magical day in Canyonlands”
We were thinking about our van life during our European summer, so we tricked out our CR-V with a bed and headed East to find the sandstone in southern Utah and Northern Arizona. The first stop on our road tip was Arches National park. It’s a place we’ve both wanted to go to for a long time, and we were excited to finally explore! We were up with the sun, and headed in.
Continue reading “March’s Arches”
Coming back to the mainland US after being abroad for so long was definitely an adjustment! Fortunately, our friends David and Rachel softened the blow by letting us land at their home while we figured things out.
Continue reading “Birthday in Death Valley”
After a few final days in Buenos Aires, we said goodbye to Argentina and flew back to the States. April was a wonderful month full of reunions, and a great reminder that we have the best friends.
About six months ago, our friend Ravi invited us to Red Rocks to do some rock climbing. He introduced us to the magical world of traditional climbing and we’ve been hooked ever since! This weekend we went with a SpaceX climbing crew and had a splendid time climbing some moderate multi pitch classics. It was one of those that makes me super grateful for the friends we’ve made in LA and for the awesome sport of rock climbing.
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.