Tag: Travel
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¡Qué Escalada! – Climbing El Potrero Chico
Winter of 25/26 was abysmal in New Mexico, at least in terms of snow fall. However, as I like to say, when the skiing is bad, the climbing is great here. This was the first winter where I got out climbing more days than I went skiing. This culminated in a three day trip to…
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Creeksgiving Part 1 – Explorin’ the Needles
As fall of 2025 was creeping in, some friends extended an invite to go on a group climbing trip to Indian Creek. For the uninitiated, Indian Creek is a premier climbing destination in South East Utah just outside of Canyonlands National Park. The area is known for its endless supply of crack climbing in the…
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I’m a Hoodoo Child – Bryce Canyon National Park
Working for the National Park Service seems to be a bit of a tradition for Maggie and her mom, Heidi. While Maggie was working on the archeology team at Colorado National Monument summer of 2025, Heidi landed an Interpretation Ranger position at Bryce Canyon National Park. Everything aligned for us to visit Heidi in the…
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A Taste of Van Life: Climbing, Hiking, and a Desert Wedding
July kicked off with a bang! Three commitments lined up for an adventurous and fun filled week: a pair of friends were celebrating birthdays with a local climbing trip, our PCT friends were coming to Colorado to backpack, and a couple was getting married in the New Mexico desert. There was quite a bit of…
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Mexican Wedding? Maya’s Well Explore the Yucatan – Izamal, Chichen Itza, and Playa del Carmen
A dear friend of mine invited Maggie and me to his wedding, which would be held in Playa del Carmen, Mexico. The destination wedding was a bit of a surprise, but we were excited to finally visit “old” Mexico and check out some Mayan sites across the Yucatan. After some research and putting together a…
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Semana de España Part 3: Málaga, Atequera, & Nerja
2 March 2025 The whole reason Maggie and I made the trip to Spain was to visit her relatives, Kristen, Jake and their three kids, living in Malaga. They had a beach side apartment with an extra room. We found our way there after a short train ride from El Chorro and long walk through…
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Semana de España Part 2: Climbing in El Chorro
I got the bug. Not an ailment, but an obsession with rock climbing. When Maggie and I first started looking at this trip to Spain, we were trying to decide what to do. Suddenly I remembered that Spain is a world renowned destination for rock climbing. A quick internet search yielded a solid climbing area…
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Semana de España – A Week in Spain Part 1: Madrid
Maggie and I spent Christmas ’24 in Connecticut with her family. Over dinner, her cousin, Kristen, and husband, Jake, shared with us they would be moving to Malaga, Spain for 6 months. They would be renting an ocean side apartment which had an extra room. They extended an invite for us to come visit! After…
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From the PCT to NM – The Pecos Wilderness and Beyond
On our first day of the Pacific Crest Trail, Maggie and I briefly met another couple, Bennett and Gina. We ended up leap-frogging each other all the way to Crater Lake, hanging out together in a handful of trail towns, and building a budding friendship. They even hosted us in Chicago when Maggie and I…
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Rim to Rim to Rim – The Grand Canyon
UPDATE SEPTEMBER 2026: Significant flash flooding in Bright Angel Canyon destroyed bridges which make R2R2R possible. See this NPS news release. Also, the Dragon Bravo fire of 2025 destroyed much of the forest and infrastructure on the North Rim. Check the NPS Grand Canyon website for the current status of closures before making plans to…