Moab, Utah

We knew we would be traveling through the desert at a time when the daytime temps would be hitting nearly 100+ degrees. … So, we plan accordingly. Climb early in the shade. Run and bike in the morning. Escape to a coffee shop with the dogs in the afternoon. Our first day in the area consisted of exploring the Long Canyon crags. 

Lake  Powell (between Utah and Arizona)

Las Vegas

Following Zion, we drove to Las Vegas for our first hotel stay of the trip. … I am sure we were quite the sight when we pulled up to our hotel. Red, van. Out jump two even dirtier humans, hair unwashed for almost two weeks. Open the van door, out jump two dogs and out with them, climbing gear and gallon water jugs  tumbling down to the ground.

Mount Whitney/High Sierras (California)

Our next destination was California, specifically the High Sierras. … Upper Boy Scout Lake was a mile and another 1,000-plus feet from the base of Mount Whitney and our climb. We hiked up Tuesday, late afternoon, set up camp, made dinner, and settled in for a WINDY night of little sleep.

Mount Whitney/High Sierras (California)

… (After the climb up Mount Whitney) ice axes in hand, we started our way down the Mountaineer’s Route, an 1,800-foot steep snow gully. … It was a brutal, knee aching hour of constant downhill. … Fast forward that hour to our campsite … and our tent that was no longer there. … Luckily, though, we found it sitting 300 feet below us in a brush patch. More importantly, our sleeping bags and pads were still in the tent. The tent was not functional, forcing us to an open-air bivy (sleeping outside) for the night.

Bishop, Calif.

We stretched our tired bodies, looked at each other, and silently agreed, “rest day.” At this point, we had climbed nearly 20 days with only four days off. 

Yosemite National Park (California)

We entered (Yosemite) late on a Sunday afternoon after climbing Cardinal Pinnacle and luckily scored a perfect campsite in the Tuolumne Meadows campground. … Our first climb was West Crack … considered a meadows classic, must-do climb. … And, so began a cycle of magnificent climbing, running, and rest days in our new home.

 We have led a peaceful life up to this point, slowed down and felt far away from the hurry of modern day life. That is what the Yosemite Valley felt like that day. Hurried. Busy. Overwhelmed with visitors … trying to squeeze every last drop out of their vacation. I do not blame them. It causes me to pause and wonder when we lost the battle in balancing our work, family, friends, recreation, health, and well-being. Vacations, or the activities we enjoy doing, should never feel stressful, hurried, or tick-list crammed.

Cirque de Towers (Wyoming)

We could not help but sing the song ‘On the Road Again’ as we drove miles and miles of road on our way to the Cirque. The open road once again felt free as we cruised endless highway, windows down.

The alarm was set for 5 a.m. We hoped for an early start with the goal of climbing a four pitch 5.9 high on Pingora Peak. However, as the alarm sounded, its tone was drowned out by the sound of rain on the tent. … We spent the day napping and playing cards. Tomorrow we would try again.

The third day granted us a blue-bird day. We got another early start and arrived at the base of the climb once again (Pingora Peak, Southwest Face) at about 7:30 a.m. It was a four pitch climb that proved each pitch to be truly on classic level.

Bugaboo Provincial Park, British Columbia

Eric and I originally booked this week to the Bugaboos well before we knew the campervan life was even an option. Snowpatch Spire sat on my desktop background at work for months. But the picture did not do justice as we crept closer to the base of the park.

Last day, last chance—we wanted to make this work badly before our psych completely ran out. We were out the door by 5:45 a.m. Once again, there was a chance of storms that day, so we played it safe by hopping on a route called Wildflowers (5.9) on the west face of Snowpatch.