Time to go out

Ethan was very excited once I put his shoes on and was ready to go! He
is trying as hard as possible to open the door.

Goodbye Utah

Here's the last outdoor image of Utah. I'm standing by the Salt Lake
and as you may have noticed, no more caveman look (well, at least a
more stylish caveman). We're on the way to the airport and hopefully
I can catch an earlier flight.

Thank you Brian for setting up this trip and I am sad that Danny
couldn't join us this time.

I'll be putting an album together of the best pictures (or the ones I
still have, anyway) and posting it as soon as I can.

20 miles to SLC

We are now ~20 miles from the airport. After driving for hours from
Moab, we have decided to stay at a Motel 6. Well, let me rephrase
that. We are in the car in the parking lot of a Motel 6. We are true
hobos now.

I shall name thee "Gorilla Rock"

I don't know if it has a name, but I think my name for it is perfect.
This was taken on the way out of Arches NP.

We are winding down and driving back to SLC now. It has been an
awesome week that has taken me through 3 bags of jerky, 7 Hershey
bars, 1 bag of black licorice, 3 bags of mandarins, and over 1,000
miles.

The national parks are amazing and I can't wait until Ethan is old
enough to appreciate them. I know he will love being a cavebaby with
cavedaddy!

See you all in civilization soon.

Delicate Arch

Or as I would call it, "way the fuck out of the way arch". It was 1.5
mi hike each way to get here, but it is a great sight.

Grown Man Cries

I have some very sad news. I think the camera bag, with its 2GB of
images of the first half of the trip, may have been lost to the winds!

I still have the camera and iPhone with which to take pictures, but
the bag and the first memory stick I may have lost :(

I still searching for it, but I have a nagging feeling that it might
have fallen out of the car yesterday without me noticing, and now we
are hundreds of miles away and no way of knowing where they might be.

I think I am going to go cry now.

The only consolation is that Brian still has his camera and all his
pictures. I hope I find mine before we leave.

-Sad Caveman Erich

4 Corners

How often do you get to stand at such a place? I think I am officially
cool now :)

Madonna's Nipples

Or at least that's what we called them off in the distance.

It got a bit cold

This was taken the morning we went up the snow covered mountain.

Guess which way we went?

6' drop to freedom

What an MRE looks like

La Sal Mountains

Arizona is boring

We're driving from Monument Valley (which was not that impressive) to
Four Corners on what is an extremely flat and boring drive. This leg
of the trip is through Arizona and it is not very impressive at the
moment.

Night outside of Bluff by the San Jose river

We stayed at Sand Island campground outside of Bluff on the way to
Monument Valley. It once again got down to the 20's and it "snowed"
inside the tent again.

We had some photography fun last night. Brian set his camera for
extended exposure and it created some great effects. My favorite one
is one where I am sitting by the fire and there is a lighting bolt
created by Brian's red headlamp as he walks through the shot.

Last night I had my first MRE. For those that don't know what that
is, MRE stands for "Meal-Ready-to-Eat." Most people might debate the
validity of the "meal" part, but it did its function last night. I
enjoyed my "BBQ Veggie Burger" and "brownie" that was in my MRE. I may
have it again tonight, but we should be back to Moab and we might go
out for beers depending on the time.

Right now we are taking a detour to the "Valley of the Gods." I hope
the place is as impressive as its name.

I'll send some pictures as soon as I have reception again.

-Caveman Erich

Another Day, Another 11 miles

Yesterday was a nice and easy day (after the snow, that is). We
stayed at Canyonlands Needles Outpost. Tracey and Gary are the owners
and they were very nice people. We were the only ones there and we got
to talk to them for a while. It was rather amusing, especially since
they clearly are potheads ("no worries, man" was said quite often).
It was also the first night we built a fire. It was a rather warm
night, but it ended getting down to 27 degrees at night. My headcap
had "snow" on it when I woke up.

This morning we did another 11+ miles in Canyonlands NP. It was a very
nice hike and I'll send out some pictures soon. Sadly, my feet are
starting to bruise from the boots and impact on the many rocks we have
traversed.

Today was also the first time I got to shower. Those were some very
glorious 10 minutes.

We are now on the road to Monument Valley while listening to some
Mitch Hedberg. This is the place were the intro scene for MI-2 was
filmed were the guy is hanging and climbing on the plateaus.

-Caveman Erich

Morning After

I've gotten into a nice routine regarding my sleeping bag that has
really paid off:
I stuff my mummy bag inside a fleece bag, and then I stuff a fleece
bag inside that combo.
Triple-Layer Enchilada Bag = warm happy Erich :)

I do wish I had some mats as both hips are bruised from my chunky self
sleeping on my side. I basically have to sleep either on my back or
stomach.

Also, I've been having the weirdest dreams. From being chased through
a hotel, to being a QB that bases his plays on the squirrels he sees,
to making trading predictions based on baby diapers, to many other
things. There must be something in the water.

Ok. Time to get out of the tent and eat some breakfast.

3rd night summary

The third night is upon us and I would like reflect on the things I
have learned so far:

1) DO NOT buy low sugar *anything* (including jelly) made with
sorbitol. I thought I knew that, but I forgot how much gas that gives
you. Poor Brian can attest to it. I guess lesson 1a would be to bring
your own tent in case your tent-mate tries to gas you to death.

2) Guided tours are ok, but only good if you want a slow day. We did
meet some nice people, though. This group had just done a half
marathon at Canyonlands two days before, for example.

3) As much as it may seem, it may not be a good idea to follow Brian
on his hikes. Tonight's climb was crazy! At least I burned a few
calories where the 45 degree weather felt like it was 80.

Anyways... I am warm and mostly cozy in my triple layer bag. Time for
bed. This has actually been the latest I've gone to bed (9:50 pm). The
last few nights I was out around 8 pm and slept until 8 am. You might
be thinking: "damn, 12 hours of sleep?!?" Well, yes, but the cold
(which constricts your bladder btw) and the rocks you sleep on wake
you up a few times through the night.

I think I will schedule a massage for when I get back :)

Live, from Moab, Caveman Erich signing out!

Colorado River

We're planning on camping next to the Colorado River tonight. There is
no reception out there, so I'll post about it now. We got to the site
but had no singles for the fee. We are returning to Moab to get
change. We might even cook and get some warm food tonight. I think I
have a can of pork and beans :)

Off the Grid

We are about to head off the beaten path a bit more than we have so
far. I dont expect to have web access on the iphone for much longer.
I'll keep writing these entries and they'll post whenever we head back
to the civilized world.

I think we might be up in the snow soon and I do wish I had ear muffs :(

Arches National Park

We have finished our tour of the park and it is beautiful. I am not
sure why my other picture posts haven't shown up on the blog, but I
have been writing them, so it is frustrating to see nothing for my
efforts. Oh well, maybe it will update soon enough.

Changed mind about campsite

So after trying to find a place that was not full of cow shit and not
being able to, we moved sites. We setup the tent and I am currently
enjoying the warmth of my mummy bag. I bet you all are jealous of my
caceman existence :)

btw, dinner consisted of a cheese stick, some beef jerky, chips and
salsa, black licorice sticks, and a Hershey chocolate bar. Rather
healthy and well rounded :)

More to come when I get cell phone coverage. I am typing this as I
huddle inside my bag with no reception, waiting until tomorrow to be
able to post it to the blog.

2nd stop - ice cave

This was a little scary since those huge blocks of ice were melting
and crashing down yards away from us. Thank you Brian for trying to
get me killed 4 hours into the trip :)

First shot of the outdoors

Landed in Utah

We flew faster than expected and so the vacation starts 30 minutes
earlier!

Since we got in so early, our gate was still occupied. Thankfully,
they found another gate for us.

I'll post more soon.

Zero sleep and ready for Utah

Finally got on the plane. Due to some recent travel, I did not get
much sleep. I hope that I am able to drift into slumberland very soon :)