3.5.14 : rafting westwater canyon.

Last week, I was lucky enough to get to accompany my boyfriend and three of his buddies on a two-day rafting trip on the Colorado River through Westwater Canyon in Moab, Utah. Being very early in the season, we couldn't have asked for better conditions. The sun was shining brightly during the 60º day we ran the rapids and despite there still being snow on the banks of the river, the water wasn't nearly as cold as we'd feared it would be.

We all work together on the mountain, so we hit the road as soon as we could on Tuesday evening  after we were off to go set up camp at the put-in site and prepare to hit the water on Wednesday morning. We had the place to ourselves and enjoyed a nice fire before hitting the sack with intentions of getting an early start.

The next morning, two of us set shuttle (took one vehicle to the take-out location so we'd have transportation when we finished) while the others got the boats inflated and began loading and packing things up.

Christian and I R2'd a 10.5 foot raft while our friend Wolk went in a kayak and our other two buddies, Bjorn and Dan decided to see how effective two grown men would be in a one-man inflatable ducky.

It was an absolute blast spending two days on the water and camping in the canyon. Being my first rafting experience, I got very lucky and Christian and I managed to keep our boat upright and avoid swimming. The other guys were not as lucky, but it would've been no small task to avoid it given the circumstances.

It'd be hard to really sum up the trip in writing without making this the longest post ever, so I'll leave it up to the massive amount of photos below to give you a better idea of the experience. It was absolutely beautiful in the canyon and I can't wait to go back and experience it again.

10.10.13 : hug beach.

I'm still stuck on the same day's worth of photos. There was a lot to see, what can I say?

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8.29/30.13 : morrow bay & big sur.

After the sunrise in Malibu, I swiftly made my way up to the Big Sur area after stopping for a beachside breakfast in Santa Barbara.

The California coast is something to be seen in person, but I tried my darndest to somehow capture with my camera. This post covers Morrow Bay up to just below the Monterey Bay/Santa Cruz area and spans my first and second day.

My first night camping was nearly a disaster. Armed with only a hammock and hoping against hope to find a place to hang it the night before Labor Day weekend, I lucked upon a packed campground with only three spots left and was able to rig it up using one decent tree and my car. It wasn't ideal, but being my first night camping alone, I wasn't too bothered by the fact that I was surrounded by fellow campers in their much more sophisticated setup. I had the place to myself in the morning when I woke up with the sun (one of the many joys of hammock camping) and was able to make and enjoy my breakfast and coffee before the other folks even began to stir.

The coastal drive that morning was beautiful and the landscape varied incredibly from one curve to the next. Each stop seemed to be better than the last and I wondered how I'd ever make it to my planned destination. My last stop in the Big Sur area was a pull-off that was absolutely packed with cars. I saw the direction everyone was walking in and went the other way, up a hill to a path that was a bit less trodden. Following the path towards the ocean, I didn't come across a single person as I ventured further from the road. Eventually, I was led to a tiny hidden cove and beach with not a soul in sight. Cliche as it may sound, taking the road less travelled really did prove fruitful.

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