Oh No Michigan?

For all that do not know...I am moving to Michigan. I am really excited. I have kind of had enough of the low pay at my job. I have been training new people at my work that make a lot more than I do. I just need to move on. Desiree and I were thinking of our options and it was between either moving to a camp and teaching rock climbing, or going back to school. We both were thinking about it and decided that school was the better option, but we did not know how we were going to execute this. Desiree and I were praying and trying to think of more options on how to go back to school, and not get into too much debt. Not too long after Desiree and I heard from my parents and we talked through the option that if I help my father refinish the basement, they would put a full kitchen in, and give us free rent while we went to school. Thank you LORD. This is too good to turn down. Desiree and I prayed about it, and the LORD said yes.

We had already planned a trip out to Michigan for Thanksgiving and my Cousin Chris' wedding, and it was too expensive to change our flights. We did not have to be out for school until January 10, and Desiree wanted to be with her family for Christmas. So the plan developed into moving our stuff out before Thanksgiving on a semi truck, and flying out to meet it in Michigan for Thanksgiving, so that we could unpack our stuff. Then we would fly back to Colorado and spend the three weeks with Desiree's family through Christmas. On the 26th we would drive our car back to Michigan.

So here it is my last day of work, and our stuff has just arrived in Michigan. I am really excited about the change, but a little scared at the same time. Spite the excitement there is one thing that is making me a little depressed.................... Climbing.

I was really trying to stay positive about it, but there is only one place to climb out doors in the Lower Peninsula in Michigan. My father said that he will let me build a bouldering wall in the garage. I started to look into it, and it is going to cost me more money than I thought to create this wall. My fear is that I will try to climb when I am out in Michigan, but I won’t keep it up, and my passion for climbing will go out the window. I really don't want this to be the case.

I LOVE TO CLIMB.

Climbing with Aaron

My good old friend Scott was coming into town back when I lived in Colorado Springs. I called him a few days before he arrived to plan the trip. I asked, "So Scott is there anything that you would like to do while you are here?" Scott said, "I want to do things that people in Colorado do." So there it was. We went snowboarding, and rock climbing. Scott, and Desiree, and I have never gone climbing before, but we did decide to go to an indoor gym. We all had so much fun and loved it. One Scott left, Desiree and I still could not stop talking about our time climbing. We had a plan to start a climbing membership instead of our YMCA memberships.

Time went by and it was about a year after the day Scott had come out. Desiree and I had asked my parents to not get us anything for Christmas that year, but just give us a gift of cash. After many discussions on what to do with our Christmas money we just could not help but to buy our own pair of climbing shoes. We had our shoes for about a couple of weeks, and still had not hit the gym. I was get very anxious and needed to go climbing. Desiree and I planned it, and one Wednesday we went to a gym called Rock and Jammin 2 in Denver, CO. Desiree and I were just a little intimidated. Everyone else was a lot better than us. We did not really know the ethics of the bouldering cave, and tried to stay out of people’s way as much as possible.

The bouldering cave is a small area, and you notice the people that you are climbing with there. Some people would come and go. There was a man that came in and he had a colorful hat on. There were a few things that I noticed about him: 1: He was a great climber. This guy would more like dance up the wall than climb. He found how to use the least amount of energy while he climbed, and it was very graceful. 2: He was very friendly, and filled with joy. You could tell that he loved climbing and climbing with other people. He would give advice, and was not afraid to climb with less talented climbers. This is how we met. Aaron could see that Desiree and I really had no idea what we were doing. He often times would yell something out at us while we were working on a problem to help us through it. It was great, and we liked this guy. He sure was a strange breed.

We got talking a little, and introduced our selves. We found out that his name was Aaron. Aaron was surprised to hear that we had never been climbing outdoors. He immediately exclaimed that we needed to go. He told us that he was going the weekend coming up, and he would like us to go. We then traded numbers.

I was really excited to go climbing the coming weekend, and Desiree was too. I called my parents to share the excitement, and they made me think a little. My mother was a little concern that I have only meet this guy once, and now we were going to go into the woods, with a stranger, to let him teach us to climb. It did make me worry a little bit. My excitement had covered my logic to be careful. I thought it out and was not too nervous, so we decided to go, but I did bring a knife. [This is now a joke between Aaron and me]

Climbing was so much fun. Desiree and I could not really do that much. Are fingers still had a lot of growing. It was hard to watch climbers that were all very good, and then hardly get my but off of the ground.

Aaron and I started to climb a lot together, and even for a while were going three times a week. It was a lot of fun. Aaron helped me to improve a lot, and I am grateful for the friendship that I had. Here are a few videos that we took while climbing:

Art

For all that do not know, I am a bit of an artist. I do photography, and also paint. Here are a couple painting pieces:

Engagement Pics

My sister came to Colorado to visit Desiree and I. She brought her fiancee, Caleb, for us to meet for the very first time. I have met him before on Skype, but never in person. It was great to be with my sister once again. I love her so much.

Liz and I have always had a special relationship, and we have been very close. We used to be snuggle buddies during movies, she would let me hang out with her and her friends, and we played games with each other often. It was so refreshing to see Liz walk through my door. She was able to see where I live and a fraction of what my life was like. I love her so much.

It was great to see, and finally meet Caleb as well. Over dinner I had to ask some pretty tough questions. I needed to be a little protective of my sister. I am not as tough as I wish I was some times. I am a true softy and just want to love everyone. Caleb answered my questions well for the most part, and I let him off of the hook. It was good to start a relationship with him.

One of the reasons that Liz and Caleb came for the visit is because Desiree and I are now photographers on the side. They were very generous to let us take their engagement photos for more experience. It was a wonderful day. I learned a whole lot, and we were even able to have some fun. It was a great way for Caleb and Liz to see a lot of Denver, and we were able to wine and dine at the different locations we visited for the shoot.

Here is the album that I created with the photos we took from the photo shoot with Caleb and Liz:

Mt. Elbert

What happens in a man's soul, a man's mind that enables him to wake up and have a new stirring? A kind of stirring that comes from nowhere. The kind that does not come from the thought earlier that day and not the kind that is just a fleeing thought. This stirring is never ending, and the only way to end it is either by swallowing it up by another stronger stirring, or just conquered the goal that this stirring is telling you that you must do.

I got this same stirring one morning. I woke up and realized that I must climb a 14er. I presented the idea to Desiree and she thought I was a bit crazy, but when does she think that I am not. Through the next few days I think I started to make sense to Desiree and we set up a date to do the hike. I took a look at a few 14ers to decide which one would be the right one to climb. Then I found it. If we were going to go and climb a 14er we mine as well climb the highest mountain in Colorado, Mt. Elbert. Mt. Elbert is not only the tallest in Colorado, but, excluding Alaska, it is the second tallest mountain in the United States. So my mind was set. I was going to adventure up this mountain whether I was by myself, or accompanied by others. Desiree and I had another couple to go with us at the time, but during the week before, they bailed. So it was just Desiree and I. I was feeling pretty confident, but Desiree was a bit nervous. The day before the climb, Friday, I planned our trip and we packed. The next day, Saturday morning, Desiree and I took off at 4:30am to drive almost 3 hours to the base of Mt. Elbert.

When we arrived the parking lot was already crowded. We found a little pull off in between some trees and geared up. After both visiting the outhouse, we were on our way up the mountain side. It was fun to have the camera with us. We were taking blind photos while we were hiking. I felt pretty great and was very confident in my physical ability, and was thinking to myself that this is going to be a piece of cake. Was I wrong? Of course I was. Climbing this 14er was one of the hardest things that I have done.

When Desiree and I exited the tree line I could not believe that we were not even half way yet. It is a wired thought to think that the trees stop growing somewhere about 12,000 feet because there is not enough carbon dioxide for the tees to service since the air thins out to that extent. So this must be the same for oxygen, and yet we still had to hike another 2,500 feet above the tree line.

When I was younger I loved those inflatable games that you see at carnivals. One of my favorites was the game where you are strapped into a harness connected to a bungee cord. Two people would race and try to stick their beanbag, to the Velcro strip, the furthest. With this game the further you ran the harder that it pulled you back. This is exactly how I felt on the mountain. The further I gained in altitude the harder it was to breath, walk, and keep my balance.

There we were on the bare side of the mountain hiking up the trail and looking to the peak ahead of us. We were getting so close, but when we arrived to the top of the peak we realized that it was false. What I mean is the peak we were seeing was a steeper section, so it came out and hide the real peak from us. It appeared that we were only 2/3 of the way up when we thought we were done. On we went one foot in the front of the other to the top.

It was a very weird feeling because when we were just standing on the trail you were not out of breath at all and felt great, but as soon as you started to walk again it felt like you were in the middle of a 5k. You could feel that your body was looking for more oxygen. The best way that I can describe it is to say that it felt like your legs were trying to suck air through your pores to get more oxygen.

So again there we were on the next peak that we saw, but it was another false peak. We saw another one in the distance, and were hoping that the next was the finish. I started to get light headed and was glad that we did not have to go up much further.

We finally arrived hand in hand, and it was amazing. The view was just wonderful. You could see mountains after mountains after mountains. Desiree and I had lay down, and rested. We ate some a sandwich at the top. There were a lot of people at the top, and I would say that half of them were sleeping.

Desiree and I decided to head back down. It was eye opening on the way down, and you really started to realize what you had accomplished. Every section of the mountain was steeper and longer that we had thought. Desiree and I have had problems with our hiking boots, and our toes jam into the front of the boot on down hills. This hike was way too long and steep to be having this issue. By the time that we got to tree line, Desiree had enough and changed into her sandals. I was not so lucky for I did not bring sandals up with us. I rested and took off my boots. My nails had white lines in the middle of them because they were bending back when my toes jammed up into the toe box of the boot. On top of the toes I had a head ache that was getting worse every step that I took.

Desiree and I continued, and I was trying to be a good sport about the pain. I just could not handle it anymore, and I started to jog down the mountain. My job got faster and faster. Again I was thinking in my head how much longer this hike was then I realized going up. The pain built up to be so bad that I almost started to cry. I sucked it up, and started to run even faster. Desiree was keeping up to me pretty well, and she was jogging in her sandals. We finally had reached the bottom at about 4:30pm that evening. It was time to head home. Desiree started the drive off home, and I slept for an hour. Then we traded and I drove the rest of the way. We finally got home about 7pm. What a long day.

Over all, the trip was amazing. I was not sure if I got slight altitude sickness, but it was still worth it when I look back on it. I want to do another 14er before it gets too cold. Desiree was a trooper, and I am so proud of her. When I first met Desiree she almost cried every time she was pushed physically, but now she hardly even complains and she finds that challenge fun. I love you Des.

Our Home

This is a video to show everyone, that will not have a chance to come and visit Desiree and I out in Colorado, where we live

Directing Models Research Continues

I am on my way. Yesterday I was doing some Google searches to find any tips that would help with my model directing. There were a lot of links that I found, but most of them were filled with pretty common sense stuff. I was not finding any information that came alive to me, or made me feel like I was making any headway until I found a link by Nicolas Henri. I have never heard of Nicholas Henri before, but I had come across his blog. Nicholas is a professional photographer and I could tell right away, when I started to read this blog, that I liked this photographer. It was not Nicolas' work that made me like him, even though it is fantastic work, but it was because of his obvious willingness to share with other photographers and help their growth into the best photographer we all can be. This is Nicholas' site that I had come across: http://nicolashenri.ch/blog/2008/08/directing-models/#more-115.

I started to read on about how Nicholas, as a professional, feels about models today and models he has had to work with. Nicholas said that models are having to work with some very bad photographers that teach them how to model in a very poor way. Nicholas states that it is always the photographer’s job to share what he is looking for in the model, but in a way where the model can act out an emotion. Too often we use adjectives to help get the models to look a certain way.

The night of the photo shoot at Rachael's house I was very guilty of the exact thing that Nicholas Henri was saying not to do. I would tell Desiree to look sad, angry, and emotional. What I learned from Nicholas is that I need to direct Desiree and treat her more like an actress. I need to tell her a story about herself, and put myself into the story if possible. This way, now the model can create an emotion through the story instead of trying to pull an emotion out of thin air. This is a brilliant idea, and cannot wait to try it. I almost came across this style of directing models and few times, but I would feel silly and would abort the idea. I am going to give this a few tries and will share some photos soon.

Check this link out though. It was one of the best well written blogs that I have read. I can't believe that it came from a photographer that cares about helping others grow in this craft of photography.

How do you Direct Models as a photographer?

I am really excited because today is the day that I am getting my new digital SLR. Desiree and I have ordered the Canon 7D. It is going to be so much fun, and I cannot wait to see how it will improve my shots. I have been careful though not to get stuck into the lie that just because you have a better camera mean that your photos will get better. I know this to not be true, but at the same time with a better camera your photos are crisper, and it can give you more of a “wow affect”. My friend Rachel has the 7d as well, and she had Desiree and me over for dinner on Sunday. It was such a wonderful evening. Thank you so much Rachael. After we had this wonderful meal Rachael informed to me that she had a photography lighting studio setup with a white back drop. She was kind enough to let me set up a photo shoot, and Rachael and I shared turns shooting Desiree with the Canon 7d.

I was really excited about the shoot, and had some great ideas in my head. The problem was that I was not sure how to transfer what I wanted in my head to the model to act out. In the trouble of trying this I lost all my ideas, and would just get stuck, and get discouraged. Desiree is not a professional model by any means. I do not mean to put you down Desiree, but you are a beginner when it comes to modeling. This craft is way harder than people think. The question is how do I learn to be good at directing models even if they are beginners? With this blog you will be able to follow me on my journey of researching my way to become a good model directing photographer.

The Upper Room.

For those that do not know, Desiree and I follow the IHOP [International House of prayer] in Kansas City. We believe that IHOP has a lot of strengths where most churches are week. This group is honoring God by giving him 24 7 worship and pray in a harp and bowl style, like the book of Revelation mentions. I think that it is right on to follow and learn from the upper rooms that were mentioned in the Bible. Check it out at www.ihop.org. They have a free live video cast of their 24 7 prayer room.

Desiree and I heard from IHOP that they are in relation with a pastor/missionary in Egypt. Egypt has a large Muslim community, and it is illegal to preach about Christ. This pastor was not worried and was preaching about what he loved, Christ. His people and he were being thrown into prison. This has been going on for a while, and this Christian group just thought that they were suffering for the name of Christ. One day this pastor/leader of this group had received a vision from the LORD, and the LORD told the pastor to stop doing this to his people. It is not their job to suffer for Christ's name for Christ already did the suffering. The LORD told the pastor to start an upper room, and to start praying and interceding for these people. This pastor did some research on the upper room and started harp and bowl prayer, worship, and intercession. Nothing happened for the longest time, but after a while of crying out to the LORD to have Him come and show Himself to the Muslim community, He did exactly that. The Muslims started to have dreams and visions about Christ, and God started to do things, and the LORD was given the glory for these people starting a relationship with Christ.

The questions I find myself asking, Do Christians have the wrong idea for evangelizing? Why have Christians not given the upper room much thought before? Is it not awesome that we cannot take the credit if someone comes to Christ because He came to that person in a way that we humans cannot?

My challenge to all and especially to Churches is to START AN UPPER ROOM. We need to start to intercede for people. Prayer is so powerful. We need to be crying out to the LORD for our cities, country, and the world as a whole.

First Year Together.

Desiree and I just had our first year anniversary. It was awesome to be together this weekend. We booked a bed and breakfast in Niwot, CO. This town is about a 2 block historical town. It is pretty much in the middle of nowhere. We were a little nervous about what this bed and breakfast had in store for us. This was because most bed and breakfasts are very cheesy. They have this old country style look to them with beds that creek just by looking at them. I just cannot do that kind of style of B&B. I would not be able to relax, and I would feel very out of place. Maybe I will feel different when I am 60. Because of my feelings for this, Desiree and I do a lot of research before we book a place. We really did not know what to think of this B&B in Niwot. We were a little afraid that it was going to be out dated like the rest.


When we arrived we could not believe what was in front of us. The place was beautiful, and looked like it was refurbished into cabin style lodging. We were still ready to be a little disappointed. I was thinking that they put all their money into the outside, but the inside is still going to be outdated. We parked our car in the back, and walked in, and I was shocked. The placed was still beautiful. There was an immediate peaceful feel as soon as we walked into the place. It was quiet, and they had back ground music that just made me want to fall asleep. There were about four or five different seating sections around the small, but very quant building. These seating places were awesome if you wanted to read a book, or just get out of your room for a bit.


We went to the front counter and waited for the house keeper to check us in. Lynn was doing the dishes, and then noticed that we needed help. She came and checked us in, and then gave us a tour of the place. She showed us where the lounge was. It was very nice and cozy. There was a hug fire place right in the middle of the far wall. There was all kinds of seating around the room. There were tables that fit four, a couple that fit two, a bench, a couple couches, and a couple of elegant single person chairs. Behind the one couch there were snacks. They had some roasted nuts and chex mix on the one side, and homemade cookies on the other side. Then Lynn showed us a table that had coffee and tea available for whenever we wanted. The last table that Lynn showed to us had wine, cheese, and crackers that were available all night until 10pm. This was my favorite table, and I knew that it would not be long until I came down from our room and visited this room again.


Lynn took us up to our room. Right in the middle of the building there was a hug stair case that brought us to the upstairs. The whole building was open. The second floor was a circular walk way along the walls, but the middle was all open to the lower floor. This gave a very nice atmosphere to the place. We were staying in the room in the far North East corner, room number 9. Okay, so at the point I really am not expecting the rooms to be quality since the rest of the place was so amazing and beautiful. As Lynn opened up our door, I really was in awe. The furniture all had this matching log cabin look. The bed was a raised bed that was about 3.5 feet off of the ground. There was a fireplace in the room, and a flat screen TV. It was awesome, but the best part of the room was the bathroom. The toilet seat was heated, and there were about 10 lights that you could adjust the dimming on. There also was a heater just for the bath room that you could adjust. There was a wood counter, and a handmade forged sink. Now let’s talk about the shower. The shower was defiantly the high light of the room. There was the biggest rain shower head that I have ever seen. There also was a separate detachable shower head that was bigger than any of the shower heads that I have ever owned. The best part was the steam. The shower was also its own steam room. You could adjust the temp to whatever you wanted. The wall of the shower that you entered was all made of a modern style of glass, and the other walls of the shower were made of river bed rock. It was the coolest shower that I have ever been in. The place as a whole was absolutely beautiful inside-out. It had such a relaxing homey feel to it. I was so happy that Desiree and I could share the night at such a place as this bed and breakfast. At this point I forgot that I had gotten Desiree a dozen of roses and had them delivered to the room. Desiree saw them and said, "Hu, what are these flowers for?" She walked up to them, and read the note that said, "I love you Desiree, from your bud." She was so happy, and it was a great feeling to be able to surprise my wife with something nice.

The room.

The roses I had given to Desiree.

Desiree and I got our stuff out of the car and got all set up in the room. Desiree and I like to relax with a drink once in a while, but we don't like to spend the money at a restaurant because it adds up real fast. We brought some of our own, and started to relax as soon as our room was organized. We went back down stairs and had some wine, cheese, and crackers. Lynn informed us that there was an Italian restaurant right next door, and people say that it is very good. Desiree and I went back upstairs and got ready for dinner. We walked to the restaraut and decided to eat on the front patio. It was not that hard to decide what we were going to get because on our honeymoon we had calamari, and clams. We have now started a tradition, because that is exactly what we had this time around too. Although this time I had the calamari where the whole squid was on the plate, and was surprised at how much I liked it. It was a very nice restaurant and the food was great.

My beautiful wife at the restaurant

An indian carved into what was once a tree.

This town of Niwot was very cute and funny at the same time. What makes up this historical town is about a whole four blocks, but it was still very nice. The best part about it was that we were really getting away from the craziness of Denver, and life for the two days that we were there felt like it had almost stopped. Desiree and I had a great night, and the next morning we woke up and had breakfast in the morning. They had a pretty good variety, and they even made us a homemade waffle. After breakfast we got ready for the day, and left the B&B for home.

I will finish this post with: I LOVE YOU DESIREE.

Desiree's first multi-pitch

I, Adam, can ponder about a dream or a goal a lot until it happens. I actually like completing my goals because it puts my mind to rest. One of my goals was to guide Desiree up her first multi-pitch. I did some research and found a perfect 370 foot, 4 pitch, sport climb in Clear Creek Canyon on the Creek Side wall called Playing Hooky. For those that do not know what a multi-pitch is here is my explanation.
When rock climbing, the most common lengths of rope used is 50, 60, and 70 meters of rope. Out of those three the 60 meter is the most popular. [The 60 meters is the length of rope that I have as well.] Almost every climb can be done with a 60 meter rope unless the climb is over 100 feet and is only a 1 pitch climb. 60 meters is just shy of 200 feet. This means that you can climb a max of 100 feet. The reason why you cannot climb the whole 200 meters, if you don't have two ropes, is because you need a way down. If I were to climb a 100 feet, there would be 100 feet from the belayer up to me, and then I would need another 100 feet to go from the top back down to the ground. To understand this best let me explain the different types of climbing as well. The three that I will describe are top rope, sport, and trad.
Trad is the type of climbing that takes the most work out of the three. This type of climbing requires you to use cams, or nuts. Nuts are a piece of meddle on the end of a small cable loop. If I were to use the nut, I would find a crack that has an opening big enough for the nut to slide in. Then I would pull it down to a tapered part of the crack where the crack gets small enough that the nut cannot pull out. If I fall on the nut most likely it will not fall out, but it is not always certain. Cams are devises that you put in cracks. They push against the rock in opposite directions, and they are made so that the harder that you pull on them the harder they push against the rock. In trad climbing this is your real main protection. You don't need to try as hard with cams as you do with nuts. This is because cams don't need to find that tapered part of the crack. Learning how to place nuts can help your skill with cams, and it can decrease the chance that the cam pops out when a fall happens. Don't be fooled though because people still fall on this equipment all of the time. Sometimes they pop out, and sometimes they don't. If a cam pops out it is not that big of a deal, but it is scary. If you place gear well your next placed piece should hold you. When trad climbing not only are you on rock that is very hard to climb, but you are also caring a lot of gear with you which adds a lot of weight. One of the climbers starts the climb out by staying on the ground with a belay device. The other climber is tied into the very end of the rope. The distance from the belay device from the climber starts at a very close distance. As the climber climbs further away from the ground, the belayer gives more rope. The climber, as he gains height, continues to look and find places in the crack to set his gear. Falling is always a part of climbing. It you are not falling then you are not pushing yourself. When the climber falls the distance above the last placed gear is the distance bellow that gear that you fall to. If the climber is 8 feet above the bolt then he will fall a total of 16 feet, 8 feet below the last placed gear. At the moment of the fall the belayer needs to lock off the rope with his belay device, so the climber does not fall any further.
Sport climbing is very similar to trad climbing, but it is not as technical. With sport climbing you do not have cams or nuts. Instead climbers see what looks to be a beautiful line, and they see it in such a way as a painter sees a great piece of art. To share a beautiful line with other climbers, someone spends the money, time, and hard work to drill holds and put bolts in the rock. The rule is that you normally do not bolt a crack. Why scar the rock and puts bolts in it, if you can climb it with trad. Most lines that are bolted are those that are not able to climb with trad because a crack is not available to place gear. Sport climbing works very similar to trad, but the pro is fixed, and you know where it is. When you reach the bolt you take your quick draw, which are two carabineers with webbing between the two. You clip the one side to hanger that is bolted to the wall, and the other side you clip your rope to. Like with trad, falling is very likely if you are pushing yourself. However high you are above your bolt you fall double. The belaying works the same.
Top roping can be use in all three types of climbing. The key to top roping is that you need to get to the top of the climb up to the 100 feet. You set the rope up, and throw the two ends down. Just like trad and sport, the climber is tied into the end of the rope. Instead of the belayer letting out rope to allow the climber to get higher, the belayer takes in the slack. The rope goes from the climber already to the top of the climb, or part of the climb if it is over 100 feet. Then the rope goes back down to the belayer. In this type of climbing falling is not a part of it. I mean you still can be too tired to get to the top and slip off of the rock, but when you let go you only drop the distance that the rope stretches which is no further than 6 inches.
Now a multi-pitch is where the climber stays at the top and hooks into the two anchors. Anchors are normally two extra long bolts that are drilled into the rock. Anchors are always on the top of a sport route, or pitch. Some times trad will have anchors set, and other times you have to create your own anchors with your gear. To use the anchors a climber would attach from his harness a locking carbineer. From the carbineer he would attach a sling, which is a loop of skinny webbing. From the sling the climber would attach another locking carbineer. Each climber would have two of these set-ups to attach to each of the bolts. Now the climber attaches a type of locking belay device to one of the anchors, and he would back it up with another quick draw or sling to the other anchor. The climber will back his rope up now to his harness, or the anchors with a clove hitch knot. This step is important because if you lose your rope, you are either up there until your partner can run and get someone to belay him up to you, or you solo without a rope back down, and hope that you don't fall. Once the rope is backed up, the climber would until the rope from himself and run it through the belay device. Now the climber on the wall is going to belay the climber on the ground. This is where top roping comes into play with sport climbing, and in the same way for trad. The climber has the rope going from him to the top and to the belay device. Now there is not any falling possibility besides the stretch of the rope. As the second climber makes his way up, he unclips the quick draws from the wall, and clips the draws onto his harness. This is how it works with trad as well, and how you get your gear back. When the 2nd climber gets to the anchors he will clip into the anchors in the same way as the first climber. Now if this was a single pitch the climbers could put the rope through the anchors and lower the two ends to the ground. Then the climbers could repel down with their belay devices, but if this is a multi-pitch then there is more climbing to be done. The climbers at this point could keep the same man leading, or they can switch it up. I think that it is much easier to switch it up because the belayer is already set to belay, and the 2nd climber has all the gear, so he mind as well keep climbing.

Monty on March 18, 2010.
Playing Hooky, www.mountainproject.com 

This is exactly the type of climbing that we planned on doing. We did about a 370 ft 4 pitch, sport, multi pitch. Desiree, which I did not find out until later, only had a 10% desire to really want to get up and do this climb. She informed that I pushed the rest of the 90% to get her out of the door. I did not know that I had this much influence over her. We gathered all our gear, and were on our way to Golden to meet up with Danny. Danny had some of my gear from the Devil's Head trip, and I needed as much as I could get to do this climb. The free guide online, called Mountain Project, stated that you needed about 14 quick draws for the entire climb. I only had 10, but then could make another 4 with my locking carabineers and slings. This only left us with two more slings to use to hook into the anchors, and we needed four. Danny was going to take us to a climbing store where we could buy a little more gear, but it ended up being closed. Danny had a concert he was going to so he was not going to come, but he is a crazy, laid back man. Danny just shrugged his shoulders and said lets go and climb this thing, all three of us. We threw Danny's bike into our car and we were off to the wall. We did not really know how to cross the river to get to the wall. The water was high, and we had to sit and look around a little, but found a way across if we walked back toward the bridge. There was an AKA path that did lead you to the start of the route, but it was rough. I think that all of us lost our balance at one time, and I know that I fell a few times.
There we were looking that this large piece of rock and the route "Playing Hook" in front of us. We got all set up, and Danny started off leading the first pitch. Danny had two ropes attached to him, so that he would belay both Desiree and I from the top. It was so funny because tourist would stop and watch us. They would even take pictures. Desiree started to climb next, and I started closely behind her. I was amazed at my wife. This was a 5.9 pitch, and it was one of the hardest 5.9s that I have climbed. Desiree was kicking butt even though she did pull on a draw once, and fell three times on the first pitch. The rest of the pitches she on-sited, and flashed. It was after the 2nd pitch that Desiree's mind realized that we cannot just turn around and be on the ground in no time, but that we would have to do a little bit of work to get there. Her mind started to wig out, and she was getting just a bit nervous, but continued on.

I love my wife. She is so awesome. She had to pee and she did not have much of a problem at all with squatting on the ledge 200 feet up and letting it run. We were up the second half of the third pitch, and we came to a little bit of a difficult part for Desiree. You could tell that the height was messing with her mind a bit, and she was starting to get a little sloppy in her climb. Once again she got through, and she reached the belay ledge for the last pitch. I soon reached the ledge after her.

Desiree was still tied into the rope, and Danny gave her a quick safety line by clove hitching the rope to the anchors just off of her knot about three feet. Danny had his safety lines already set up. I got carried away in the excitement of the climb and getting so high that I forgot about my responsibilities as a climber, and did not give myself a safety line. I did not know it at the time. When I looked at the anchors I saw a clove hitch with the same color rope that I was tied in to, and thought that Danny had given me one. Danny took everyone off of belay and started to set up for me to lead the last pitch. At that moment I noticed that my heals were hanging off of the ledge that we were standing on, and I thought that it was amazing. A year ago there was no way that I would have been standing over this edge even tied in. I would have been shaking out of control in fear. When I stand on a ledge and hooked into the anchors, I have been leaning back and putting wait on my slings. I started to rock back slightly, but realized that my line was not loosing slack and rising like it normally would. At that moment I stopped to double check that I was tied to the anchors. I then realized that the knot that was tied in was not for me at all, but for Danny. I said out loud, "Am I tied in right now?" When I said this Desiree's hand reached out and grabbed my pocket so I could not fall back. I then gave myself a clove hitch. At the moment I laughed it off, but it could have been a fatal fall. All that I was tied in to was a 200 foot rope, and my friend Danny was tied in on the other end. It would have most likely been a fall to the death. If I would have fallen, I would have started to tumbling down the slab. Most likely I would have hit my on a rock before I even finished falling the 200 feet, and could have died from the blow. I was not going to let my mind take over, and freak out about the situation because there was more climbing to be done ahead.

It was my turn to lead, and I was a little nervous for the climbing looked to thin out ahead. I started up the wall with much control, but I did indeed hit some thinned out parts. I had reached the bottom of the last 20 feet, and this was the most vertical part of the whole climb. At that moment it started to rain on me. It was not just a little rain either, but it was really coming down. I was trying to clip my last bolt before the anchors, and I had a possible 20 foot fall if I fell before I clipped in. It sure was wet, and I was trying to chalk up my hands as much as possible, but I still was having a hard time griping the rock. I did not feel confident with any of the holds that I grabbed, but had to pick one. I was nervous. I transferred my weight over my legs as much as I could, and I reached way right to clip the draw. I missed it the first time, and the second attempt was golden. I climbed my next 4 feet, and was at the summit. I set up my belay station, and had Danny and Desiree up the rock before long. It is just a very neat feeling when you are on top of a climb with more than yourself, and you are all looking over the beautiful view. When climbing single pitches, climbing is a single person game. When you change it to a multi pitch the game changes. The climb is no longer a one person game because you need at least two people to finish the route. It was awesome to know that we all made it to the top as a team.

Rich F. on Aug 15, 2010. Playing Hooky, www.mountainproject.com

It was time to get down now, and the work was not over. Danny and I tied the two ropes together, and fed the rope through the anchors. Danny was on his way down the first 200 feet. I looked at Desiree, and she sure was looking a bit nervous. When Danny was off of the rope, I set Desiree up, but she did not want to go. She looked at me like she was asking do I really have to. She slowly started to let herself over the edge, but she caught herself and walked back to me. Desiree started to cry with anxiety. "It is okay and you have done this several times. You have this." I tried to convince her. Don't think that this is easy though. When you are 370 feet off of the ground your mind is in a different place than it normally is. It is a very different feeling. It feels like your mind can physically take over your thoughts and emotions, and you really need to fight it to tell it that the rope, gear, and my own physical ability can be safely trusted to lower me to the ground. Desiree did great. She fought her mind and slowly lowered herself to the 2nd belay station. It did not help that she did not put her hair up, and the wind was blowing it into the belay device. She had to stop and pull her hair out of the device twice on the way down, and that was not keeping her calm or relaxed.

When there was slack on the line and I heard a faint OFF BELAY being yelled, I hooked into the rope, unhooked my safety line from the anchors, and I was on the 2nd belay station in no time. We all repelled the last 200 feet, and we on the ground at last. We were all proud of ourselves, even though Danny was thinking ok there was the warm up, where is the real climb? What a good day of climbing.

That night Desiree and I were having a difficult time sleeping a little because we were thinking about the terrible situation that could have happened if I would have fallen. I think that it is good though that I did not get terrified while I was on the wall. I could just picture myself freaking out, and wanting to be on the ground right at that moment. This was not possible though because we were a whole 300 feet off of the ground. I could just picture myself making another mistake if I would have let my mind get a hold of me. Instead I kept it cool, and kept to the route. Desiree and I were talking about it and she asked if I thought it is good that we were making a big deal about it. I think it is very good. The respect for the danger and the heights needs to be there. I now am going to use this situation, and since I am letting it get to me a little it will motivate me to double check everything while I am on the wall. In my book the safety needs to be first, and the fun comes second.

4th of July Camping and Climbing with Danny

Can I say that I have the best wife in the world. Desiree asked me what I wanted to do for the weekend of the 4th. I told Desiree that ever since we started rock climbing I wanted to camp and climb. Desiree was not sure if she was up for it, but she always tries to please me. I could tell that she was trying to rap her head around it for me during that week before.

When Thursday came along we were all packed up, and immediatly after work we headed down to Castle Rock to meet our friend Danny. We finnished getting some random things from Wallmart including: bug spray, drinking water, and two multi spoon, fork, and knife tools. We were on our way up into the mountains. The plan was to Drive up into Rampart Rd, find a place to camp out, and then go climbing in the morning. As we were climing in altitude up the windy road, I got this amazing feeling over me. I have not had such a feeling as this since I was in school. It was the same feeling when the day of school was over on a beautiful day, or the feeling the last day of school gave me. I felt so free, and alive. I think that my life right now has made me feel stuck in so many ways. Don't get me wrong, I love my life, but I do miss the freedom I had in high school and college. I was not tied down, and I did what I wanted to. I miss that. It was so refreshing to feel free.

We saw a hot dog stand once we got onto of the top of the front range, so we stopped for a dog. I have not ever done that before. I have never spontanusley stopped for a random food stand. Awesome. We arived to Rampart Rd. and were going about 30 mph up and down the dirt road, but watching out for the wash boards at the terns. We were getting closer and closer to Devils Head and found a beautiful campsite in the middle of a bunch of boulders. It was so much fun just relaxing around a fire outside with my wonderful wife and good friend Danny. For Dinner we had some pb and j sandwitches, baked beans, rice, dried friut, and trail mix. It started to rain that night, so we hurried up and put everything away. We got in our tents and called it a night. The ground was not very soft, and we do not have sleeping pads yet. Desiree and I both did not get very good sleep, but were still up a little after 7 and started getting ready for the day. We had some oat meal, bacon, and dried fruit for breakfast.

We packet up the camp, and headed for Devil's Head. The night before Danny, being the people person that he is, befriended this family and the father happened to be a guide back in the day for climbing. We got some tips on a 5.7 rated trad climb that went up this chimmny on the Devil's Head Campground Crag. Once we hit the parking lot we grabed our gear, and headed up the short trail to the head of the climb. Danny sended the whole 200 feet with both of the ropes for Desiree, and I. We saw him on the last part up the chimmny, and we were nervouse because it looked hard. Desiree just was not feeling it. She started the climb, and just did not have her eyes open. She was climbing very sloppy, and I new that she was way better than she was climbing. I helped her through it, and we got into the start of the chimmny. This is where she fell apart. Let me take a side note and remind everyone that Desiree is a very good climber. She normally is having fun on the wall, but today she was just not feeling it for some reason. We both think that it was the poor night of sleep, and climbing so early in the morning that could have caused it. I was trying to help Desiree through it and we did make it up the whole 200 feet, but it was a rough one. Some times going camping/climbing is a form of marrage counseling for us.

Devil's Head Campground Crag; We climbed the furthest left crack.

It was time to get down, and Danny informed that the guy the night before said there was a way off the back side, but we were not finding it at all. We tied our two ropes together and repelled off of the top. This was the first time that Desiree has repelled, and it freaked her out a bit, but she did an awesome job. Desiree and I were pooped and ready to be done, but Danny had other plains. I just could not say no to Danny, plus deep inside I wanted to climb more.

I asked Danny, "How far is the hike to the Crag Ranch?" Danny answered, "about a mile." I thought, no big deal. If Desiree wanted to be done with climbing and just do the hike then she could go that route. We started out on the hike, and just a little ways into it I saw a sign that said that the hike was 1.5 miles. I thought, Danny was close, it is not that much longer than he said. The hike was switch backs up this side of this mountain, and it was tiering. Desiree was struggling a bit, and we had to wait for her several of times. I felt bad for her, and felt like a terrible husband to make her follow us men and do all that we were doing. She looked sick, but I kept encouraging her on. "Good job Des. You are almost there," I would hope. So we finally got to the top. To the left was a fire look out station, and all round there were rocks. I did not see any bolts in the wall though, and Danny had said that we would be climbing sport. We kept hiking, and kept hiking. We had to have hiked another three fourths of a mile before we arrived at the wall. Desiree's toes were killing her from now hiking back down hill. Every step and our toes would jam into the front of our boots.

We did finally arrive after what seemed like an entire day already. We all laid down in exhaustion, and started to fall asleep. Danny and I did not not rest for too long until he pointed out a beautiful 5.9 line to me. It was a straight vertical 100 feet of climbing. It sure did look hard, and I was doubting my ability as a climber to on-sight this one. This means that I would climb the route first try, no falls, or beta given. We got set up, and there I was on the wall. It was very difficult in parts, and other parts was very easy. I felt different on this route though. Most routes are very awkward to climb and you fell like a mess sending them, but I felt different this time. In the cruxes, the hardest part of that route, it was a little awkward, but then it would pull out to very smooth climbing again. I felt like a dancer sending up every move of this route. Then there I was at the top. I sure enough lead and on-sighted this 5.9. I was stoked and felt great, even with the lack of energy that I had.

I went over to where Desiree was, and she was knocked out. Desiree sure was tiered, for she laid down for a few minutes and she was out cold. I had to wake her up though. "Desiree, Desiree. I know that you are tiered, but you have to climb this. It was amazing." I exclaimed to her in the quietest voice that I could. I was surprised by her willingness, and almost joy to get back up and climb. Desiree taped her toes, and was about to take this climb like a champ. She jumped on this wall and did about three moves and hit the first crux and fell. I wanted her to get this climb so bad, but it made me nervous. I could not help but to think that she was going to quit before she gave it a chance. Desiree took a look at the holds, and gave it another go. She struggled a little, but in no time passed the first crux up. She was on her way up to the next crux. Desiree was looking great, and I was so excited for her. "Yeah. Way to go." I shouted up at her. Where she was at this point of the climb there was a double intermittent crack system that was slightly leaning to the left. It was about three big moves from the left crack, to the right crack, and back to the left. Desiree took about 12 falls. I was getting nervous again that she was going to give up.

Working the crux by the intermittent double crack system

Desiree kicking butt

I was on the ground with our baby. I mean... our Cannon Rebel, and taking photos of Desiree. Danny was belaying Desiree from the ground. Really though. Danny was lying on the ground. I turned from Desiree's climbing for just a second to take a picture of Danny.

Danny belaying Desiree with his grigri lying on the ground.

"Adam did you see that." I heard being yelled above me. Aw, I missed it. Desiree gave another hard try for the moves, and got pass the 2nd crux. She was on her way with ease here on out. She was taking her time and puzzle piecing it together to get up this 100 foot climb. I was so proud of her. Desiree sent her first 5.9.

Danny wanted to climb something a little harder for he is a great climber. He picked the route just right of the one that we climbed, rated a 5.11d. Taking pictures of climbing is not fun a lot of times. This is because you are stuck on the ground and do not have many other options for angles to shoot besides the angle of butt. I have mentioned to Danny that I would love to start taking pictures like the pro climbing photographers. Danny and I planed on Desiree belaying Danny, and I would do exactly what I was hoping for. Danny has a belay device called a grigri. It is a very nice piece of equipment because when you are using it to belay a climber and the climber takes a fall, it auto locks. With this piece of equipment and others like it, climbers started to do what is called top rope soloing. This is where one end of the rope is tied to the climber. Then the rope goes up to the anchors at the top of the climb and back down to the climber. The grigri is attached to the climbers harness, and the rope feed through it. There I was set up to top rope solo with my camera on my back. I would climb up the rock, pull the rope's slack through the grigri, and continue to climb. I climbed about a 3rd of the way up the same 5.9 route that we climbed before. It was awesome. I fell on purpose and the grigri auto locked, so I could just hang on the rope.

Danny started to climb, and he was doing awesome. He came to this point of the climb where he had to dyno. A dyno is a climbing term which means that he had to jump, completely leaving the rock of the wall, and flying in the air to grab his next hold. Danny, just by a very little bit, did not make it and fell about a good 10 feet. Desiree locked the end of the rope to stop Danny from falling, but Danny's weight and momentum caused Desiree to shoot up into the air, and she slammed against the wall. She did great, and did not get hurt too bad. She did get a little bruise on her butt. Danny got back up, and finished the climb.

I felt legit up on the wall taking good angle shots. I was able to capture the face, the emotion, and something other than a butt. I can not wait to do it again. I would even love to go out and give climbers a photo shoot.

Danny taking off for the Dyno

Danny establishing the side pull

Just hanging out

Danny relaxing before he takes on the rest of the route

We relaxed for a bit more, and then packed all our gear. The hike back we were not looking forward to, but we were trying to keep good attitudes We got back to the top, and decided that since we were up there, we had to hike up to the fire watch station. The view was beautiful and you could see in every direction. There is a man that works up there. It is crazy. He lives in a house up on this mountain and he walks the stairs every day. He just sits up there and looks for fires. In a way he is also a tourist guide. He has to deal with all the tourist and people that ask him questions after questions. We walked back down after some good pictures, and were on our way to the car.

From the top

Some more

We three before we hiked back to the car

It was so good to be sitting in the drivers seat. I was tierd and so was Desiree. The water sitting in the back of the car never tasted better. It was a good 4th of July weekend so far.

The Rest of the Trip

Once the Tennessee trip was ending it was hard to say goodbye to the family, but not as bad as it could have been. Desiree and I still had a couple more days of vacation. We headed to Wisconsin with Aaron and Krissy to see where they lived?

In May, Desiree and I headed out to Nebraska to visit Ethan [my youngest brother] to see where he went to school. It was so awesome to see Ethan in his own element. Most of the time Ethan is my younger brother, he does what I do, he tries to act like I act, and he never likes to leave my side. I have been away from Ethan for a little while now, and he sure has grown up. He has a girl friend now, and is his own man. He does things that I normally would not do. For example he joined the improve group at his college. I saw a show that they put on, and it was awesome. My brother was really funny. It was a side of him that I have not seen before. It was a very neat and awesome trip. I had so much fun. My little brother became a big friend. I love that brother of mine.

The trip to Wrightstown Wisconsin had a lot of the same feelings that I could compare to the trip to Nebraska, but they were all very different at the same time. I really did not see Aaron or Krissy in a different way as I did Ethan, but it was amazing seeing Aaron and Krissy in their own elements. Aaron is a pastor of the Church, and Krissy is Aaron's secretary. I got to see Aaron preach to the Church on the Sunday that we were there. You could tell that people love Aaron, and respect him as a man of God. I am so glad that others see my brother the same way that I see him. After the church service we went shopping for some food. We made sandwiches, and left their adorable house to go for a picnic.

Aaron and Krissy live in Wrightstown. Wrightstown is this little farm town that is about 30 minutes away from Green Bay. It is the cutest little town with the cutest barns, and farms. My favorite part of the town is that it gives the most peaceful feeling. Small little farm towns just seem to be like that. I felt so calm the whole time that we were there.

After the picnic, we played 18 holes of disc golf. The course was the best disc golf course that I have played on yet. It was a lot of fun. Aaron and Kissy drove us down a road that had very expensive houses on it. They were incredible. Some of them looked like castles in a Dutch country or somewhere. We were driving a long and Aaron pointed out an eagle that was fishing. I have not seen many eagles in my life and since I am a photographer, I have this desire to capture a shot of one. Aaron told me about this big nest across the town. We drove to the house to get the camera, and they took us to see an eagle. We did happen to see one, but it was just sitting on the nest. It was too far away to get a good shot even with the telephoto. We did continue down a path to see if we could catch any eagles flying in the air, but after a little while we gave up and headed home. We made some drinks, and played some cards. We climbed some trees, and sat and talked. [Of course I had to try to keep up my climbing somehow]. It was the most relaxing night that I have had in a while. Aaron and Krissy made asparagus, sweet potatoes, and stakes. Umm, it was an amazing dinner. We had fun around a little fire, and then watched a movie.

In the morning we headed for Milwaukee. Desiree and I flew out that afternoon from the Milwaukee airport. We hung out for a little in the town. We went out to eat on a restaurant by the river side, and went to this food market place. We had such a great time with Aaron and Krissy, but it was time that was taking Desiree and I back to Colorado. It was hard to leave all of my family.

Aaron and Krissy,

I think that you two are amazing people, and I am so grateful to call you my family. Thank you for ministering in that part of the world. I love you, miss you, and cannot wait until next time we are together.

2010 Hutton Vacation

It was June 12th and Desiree and I woke up at 4:00am mountain time to leave for the Airport. Our wonderful friends Brandon and Ashley escorted us, and drove us to DIA. We are very grateful for them. The process at the port went pretty smooth. There was a pretty long line to get your tickets, and people's hair on their backs started to stand up. For some reason airports are the absolute worst place to try to relax. As soon as you walk in to one of these ports stress starts downloading into you. Desiree and I are very aware of this... so we fight it. One of our best weapons since we are singers is to sing, "Don’t worry, about a thing, every little thing is gonna be all-right." Being aware of the people around me, I started thinking that people were taking our song as if we were condemning them. We were not. I can promise you that. We were just trying to lighten the mood for our own benefit.

So we were on the plane and off to Milwaukee Wisconsin. The plan was to fly to Milwaukee so that Aaron and Krissy, my older brother and sister in-law, could pick us up on their way down past Chicago to meet up with the rest of the family. From there we were driving, all together, crammed into a suburban all the way down to Tennessee. Why, you may ask, would we fly to Milwaukee to be crammed in a suburban so we could make the all day drive when you could have just flown to Tennessee? That would be a good question if only the family bonding time with sweat mixing, song sharing, teasing, and just all the craziness was not involved. It was so good to see everyone again. We were all together like old times, but it was even crazier. You could tell that everyone had been carrying burdens from their jobs, and now we were cutting loose, and relaxing. When this happens in the Hutton family you better watch out. It was like a party in the suburban the whole way down.

Picture of the family eating lunch at a rest stop along the road

My family is very excited for my older sister because after a long journey of trying to find a man for herself, she thinks that she has found the one. Caleb might be the lucky man, but I hope he knows how amazing this woman really is. My brother Aaron and I would steel Eliz's phone and we would send funny text to Caleb. Liz is not gentle some times. She is a fighter, and it got a little rough in that tight of a space. Liz you are awesome. By the time we were arriving at our destination, it had calmed down. Eliz and Desiree were sleeping, and I believe all of our eyes to be a little heavy when we finally arrived. We pulled up to the Blue Green Mountain Loft Resort, and there was a ranger that met us at the front. The ranger checked us in at the resort, and then warned us very seriously that the last few days a 500 pound black bear has been trying to break into the dumpsters that were right in front of our cabin. People have been seen taking flash photography and throwing things at the bear causing it to get very upset. This bear, the night before we arrived, even chased off a security guard in his truck. We were excited to see a bear, but some of us were very worried at the same time. In the excitement of possibly seeing the bear and searching for him the whole week, Desiree named him Ted.

The resort was amazing and beautiful. We were located up in the mountains from the town of Gatlinburg, and the resort over looks some of the mountains, and the smoke that arose from them because of the humidity. [Hense the name The Great Smokey Mountains] Our cabin was split in two for two different groups to rent it out. We rented both side and opened the doors up in between. It was so awesome because we had three decks/balconies, two kitchens, two washer/dryers, two dinner tables, and three bed rooms. The cabin was small enough where we felt close, but it was large enough where if you wanted your own space you could find it.

The Cabin

The main half. View from the Kitchen/hallway

The other half. Desiree and I slept on that couch

Sunday, 12/2010: The first day.

We woke up after sleeping in since we did not get in until 2am. We all hung out at the cabin for a little while, and had some breakfast. My mother and father started the breakfasts off with biscuits and gravy.

The Fam. had previously talked about having our own worship service together. That way we would start the vacation off with focusing on the LORD, and giving him the glory. This was on my top 3 moments of the trip. We sang some worship songs, read some scripture, and also prayed for each other. It was amazing. I think that this was the first time that my family has laid hands on each other ever as a whole. Everyone was involved and was bring things up to pray for each other. My favorite part was when we started to pray for my father. My dad is a very humble and wonderful man. Us kids have not told my father enough what we think about him. We all started to pray for Dad and told him how wonderful he is. Tears were in our eyes, and this was just one in a few times that I have told my father what I really think of him.

My Dad at Laurel Falls

That afternoon we left to hike the short easy trail to Laurel Falls. It was a nice Hike reaching just over 2 miles. The path was paved which made it a pretty easy hike, but it was still beautiful. I found a few boulders that I tried climbing, but I was a little disappointed in myself for I just could not get up this type of rock. This is no excuse, but the rock was smooth, and it was sweating from the humidity which did make it hard. We arrived to the falls and it was awesome. The trail came in right at the middle of the falls where the rock levels off and the water pools up just enough to wade in. It was so nice there and beautiful. It was very hot in Tennessee not really because of the temp, but because of the humidity which is really a mind game. When I consciously thought about how I felt, I was not hot, but just sticky and a little sweatier which made my brain think that I was hotter. Even if it did feel hotter, when you approached the water fall the humidity that was in the air came from the cool water of the falls. It felt about 20 degrees cooler by the falls. Also since there is a lot more moisture in the air right next to the falls it gave a rain forest feel. Everything was very green, and it attracted really neat butterflies, and other really neat insects like millipedes.

The Family

Silliness

Laurel Falls


Butterfly near the falls


The bridge right before the falls

Camera Fun

After the hike we headed back to the cabin and had dinner. My parents made some brats with sides. After dinner we played some games. My family members are big game, and card players. Growing up, we didn't watch much TV, instead we played games. I love it. The card games that we normally play are Peanut/Nerds, Euchre, Hands and Feet, and Tick. We had a big day ahead of us, so we went to bed early.

Aaron and I playing the game that we created called sliders

Monday 13/2010: The second day:

The Great Smokey Mountain sun rise

Codes Cove here we come. We woke up at 4:45am central time so we could get a great start on our visit to Cades Cove. It was really too bad because Krissy is still getting a little morning sickness from her pregnancy. Aaron and Krissy stayed back at the cabin, while the rest of us left for the Cove. Cades Cove is a historical village that is snuggled down in a valley between the mountains. We drove around their 11 mile loop that tours you through these old houses, churches, and barns that were built and lived in during the time of 1819 and thereafter. It was very neat to see how people in that day lived. Just craziness. We saw a lot of wild life in the Cove, witch was my favorite part. Since this is protected land, animals are often found there. We saw horses, deer, turkeys, other birds, squires, and of course bears. I have never seen a bear in the wild before and it was all of our hopes to see one on this trip, especially Aaron's. We were really sad because he was not even with us. We were hiking back to one of the old houses, and there were raspberry bushes in a marshy field. My mom and Desiree where the first to see these two bears that were eating off of the berries. They were just old enough were their mother had abandon them to start fending for themselves. It was so cute, for they would be hunting for berries, but then would pop their heads out of the bushes to make sure that we were not getting to close to them.

One of the first views driving into Cade's Cove

Grazing Horses

One of the many deer that we saw.

Turkeys struttin' their stuff

One of the old cabins

The first bear that we saw

We continued on our trip in Cades Cove to hike the trail to Abrams falls from the park. I was excited to see another beautiful water fall. I also was excited because the trail was harder, and the length was just over 5 miles. Right before we had arrived to the falls I saw a slimy slab of rock in a small stream that we needed to pass to get to the falls. I was so excited because I wanted to slide down it. I grabbed my sister, Liz, for I knew that she would do it with me. So there we went down the small slimy rock into the pool of unknown water. Liz screamed, for she felt something slimy, like a fish, at the bottom. It was a lot of fun. It was a good hike, but the trail was a little more used than I had hoped for. We saw a lot of people on our way there, and back. I was excited to see a water fall that was kind of secrete, and not a lot of people knew about. This was not it. It was a cool waterfall, but not my favorite. It was a larger river, and the falls just rushed over the edge. I really like the more romantic waterfalls where the water trickles over the edge instead of rushes. It was still fun, and an awesome hike. We continued on the drive and saw a few more old buildings.

Sliding down the slimy rock

Abrams Falls

Family by the falls

The second bear that we saw was sleeping up in the woods, and all that you could see was his head sticking out from behind a tree. Every tourist knew about this bear for they were lined up taking pictures. The rangers were out to make sure that no one was getting to close and being stupid. Our focus now was to get to a certain dirt road. On our first hike coming back from Laurel Falls we met this older gentleman that told us about this back road that would take us out of Cades Cove over the mountains. This man said that we should take it because he saw a lot of wild life and bears. Of course we wanted to take the road. We were on our way on the less travelled road up the mountains. We had our eyes open as big and silver dollars, and our faces plastered against the window, so we could spot one of these wild animals. Then sure enough Ethan screams, "BEAR." There it was a big black bear about 20 feet away from our suburban. It was hiding behind some bushes. The bear did not like us and it ventured lethargically back into the woods. We continued on the road and arose in elevation. The woods that we were driving through were beautiful. There were a lot of wild Rhoda Dendron that filled the space in-between the trees. We finished ascending and started to descend. Then right after a bank and turn, I spotted a bear though the trees a little ways. I would say that the bear was a couple hundred feet away. We got out of the car and we positioned ourselves so we could see the bear through the trees. It was really neat to see because the bear was looking for food. He was digging at the ground, put his nose in a tree stump, and pulled on the tree branches. Then we saw little cubs rolling around just following their mother while they played and wrestled. It was amazing how fast bears can move, but how lethargic they are at the same time. In about 5 minutes, and what seemed to be just a few steps the bear was only 30ft from us. We had gotten out to get a closer look and when we realized how close she was getting we found ourselves running to the Suburban to get inside. The next moment the bear was about 15 feet away from our window. She came to warn us that we better get moving. We did not want any trouble so we left but not without a few attempted pictures and closer looks.

The only good pic. that was usable

When we got back to the cabin Aaron and Krissy were at the pool. We all got on our bathing suits and joined them. The pool was very nice. We found the water to be pretty warm since it was just over 85 degrees. The air and water were too hot, so we headed back to the cabin to start dinner. We had a plan for dinners. My parents took care of the first day’s food plus all of the lunches for the week. For the rest of the breakfasts and dinners we split them as couples. [Ethan and Liz being a couple that is] Aaron and Krissy started it off with a big bang. They made baked chicken with asparagus and corn on the cob for sides. It was so delicious. We told Aaron our story of seeing the bears, and he was jealous. We all decided that if we had time we would make another trip there for Aaron and Krissy. The rest of the night we played some more games, and we hit the hay. It was a pretty awesome day.

6/14/2010 The third day:

Yes, the third day. We did not have much planned and I was going to rest, and lay by the pool. I woke up and Eliz and Ethan, my older sister and younger brother, made breakfast. They made wonderful French Toast. It was good. Good job you two. Aaron and Krissy, soon after breakfast, headed down by the pool and we were all going to follow them down, or so I thought. Eliz came out of her room dressed in workout cloths and says, "Hey Ethan, Desiree and I are going to go and do some cross fit excercises, and I expect you to come." At least it went something like that. So there we were and Liz was making us run a quarter of a mile and then push ups, run another quarter of a mile and squats, run another quarter of a mile and sit ups, another quarter of a mile and beach whales, run another quarter of a mile and tri presses, and run another quarter of a mile and squat thrusts. On top of this it started to down poor about a quarter of the way through. People must have thought that we were crazy. I can just hear them say,"These people are crazy going on vacation and working out like that." What started to be a relaxing day turned around really fast. It took me 15 minutes just to walk to the pool. I just am not used to my sister kicking my butt like that. I always have kicked hers. I got to say though, that I gave her a run for her money.

So down to the pool we went, and they had kicked everyone out of the pool because of the thunder. We played some games, but then headed back to the cabin for some lunch. We all got ready for the evening. The first part of the evening was to go out to a nice restaurant. One of the prior days us guys had run around the town of Pigon Forge and grabbed as many menues from restaurants as we could in a short amount of time. After doing some research, the people from this area voted on Alamo over the other restaurants. This was the restaurant that we desided to go to. We had a wonderful time, and the food was great. We all splurged and got stakes that were over 20 dollars a plate. I have never had that great of a stake before in my life. Just being with my family siting around a table makes me filled with joy. I love them all.

The second part of the evening was to go to a show. Before the trip we all agreed on going to the Temptations show. Most people know the Temptations. If they do not know the band, they know at least one of their songs. I feel like their number one know song is My Girl. It was a very neat show. Just the harmonies and the awesome older style of singing is moving to me. I wish that sometimes we would go back to just simply played songs. After the show we of course played some more games, and we went to bed.

Wednesday 15/2010 The Fourth Day:

My mother heard about a great ma and pa breakfast food place that all the locals that live in Gatlinburg go to. It was a nice little cute place and it had pretty good food. I always love going out to breakfast. There is something about starting your day off with being served that is so wonderful and refreshing. We really wanted to give ourselves a day in down town Gatlinburg for it seemed like a neat little town. After breakfast we headed down to the town. We checked out some cowboy leather stores, and also biker leather stores, we went to a tea store and the lady's got loose leaf tea. I think that Aaron picked up a couple of books at a book store, and liz bought a belt. It was an alright little town, but I feel like we just were not going to the correct places. The main stretch right down the main road was very touristy, and I really do not like touristy places too much. Touristy places are very fake to the culture that is present in the area. What I mean is that you see Ripplys Believe It Or Not Museums or mire mazes everywhere, but this is not authentic to Gatlinburg, TN. Some of the little branch off streets looked a lot neater, but I never ventured to one before us guys got tired and went back to the cabin to watch some world cup. The women stayed to shop some more. Aaron and Ethan were really getting into the games, and my dad would too at times. For some reason I can not get really excited about sports on TV. It makes me want to get up and play a game of my own, and takes me away from wanting to sit and watch the game further. It was fun though. We did end up grabbing some drinks and heading out to play our own game of bocce ball. I love the game of botchy. It is such a laid back and easy game, yet so fun, entertaining, and competitive at the same time. I call it a drinking game because I love to have a drink in my hand while playing it.

The girls were done shopping and Aaron and I went and picked them up. We came back to the cabin, and got ready to head down to the pool area. We grabbed some drinks and were on our way. There was a really neat area by the pool that had a pagoda over a picnic table and a grill to the side. Liz and Ethan teamed up and made some of the best shish kabobs that I have ever had. For a little while Aaron and I ganged up on Ethan and threw him into the pool, and then we got Dad...3 times. Aw man my father is a very funny man. Desiree was funny too. Desiree would pretend that she was not involved with throwing people in the pool, but every time that I turned around she some how was apart of it. She either had a arm, checked for phones and wallets, or just cheered on the sistuation. Awe my wonderful wife. You could start to sense some annoyance in some guests glances. We just are a fun wild group, and some people just can not handle how much fun we have. Most of the family cleaned up and headed back to the cabin, but Aaron, Ethan, Desiree, and myself were having too much fun. We played some chicken wars just to lock in the fact that we were the coolest and rowdiest family at the vacation club. After the pool party we ventured back to the air conditioning of our very comfortable cabin. We played some games and got shut eye.

Thursday 16/2010 The fifth day:

White water rafting. I have never gone white water rafting before. No one in the family has except for Liz and Krissy. Krissy could not go though because she is pregers. Aaron and Krissy made some amazing egg sandwiches to start us on our way. We drove up to this hillbilly looking camp and we started to get pumped. We all had a half of an egg salad sandwich and headed in the shack to get signed in. I was a little nerves. Some of the guides did look like they had been drinking a little. That or they were just an odd group which is very likely. There we were on a bus driving down a dirt road crammed into seats with the rowdiest church group I have ever seen. I will admit that they were even rowdier than the Hutton clan. We were assigned a tour guide named Brad. Brad was a very nice guy. He had dread locks, gauged ears, and some pretty worn out Choco sandals. He was very good at rafting and steering the raft. Another thing about Brad is that he was very chatty. He talked our ear off the whole way down the river. I was surprised a little on the simplicity of rafting. There was not too much to it other than floating, paddling, and steering your raft through a bunch of rapids in just the correct manner so that your raft did not flip over. I am thankful for a guide though. The class fours that we took on were cake. I know that it was not because we were good rafters, but because Brad was such a good guide. Brad would direct us through the rapids like it was a dance. It was so much fun. I can not wait to try a class five rapid. I also would love to go sometime on my own and with out a guide. This would make it a lot more challenging, and it would make me feel like I had something to do with our success of getting through the rapids. After white water rafting the family ate another half of an egg salad sandwich, and we headed home.

Back to the cabin we went. Krissy had a pretty bord day all by her self. We all headed down to the pool, swam, eat some pop corn, and hung out. we were pretty drained from the rafting, so we ended up ordering out some pizza. It was nice to just relax that night and be together.

Friday 17/2010: The sixth day:

It was the last full day of the trip. We wanted to make sure that we got everyones wishes covered so we did not leave with disapointment. We found out that Aaron would still love to see a bear before we left, and Krissy wanted to go to an art community in the area of Gatlinburg. I wanted to go to the Tremont Waterfall that a man told us about on the first hike to Laurel Falls. So we had our day planed out. Desiree and I started it out with feeding the family with granolla, yogert, and strawberries. Yummm. One of our favorites. The family got all packed up for the day and we headed out on our way to the back road of Cade's Cove for the second time. We had to find a bear for Aaron to see. We drove just a little ways into the park, and there was a bear feeding on bushes. We were too far away and it was not that great of an experience, and we were excited to get to the dirt road. Once we got there, Aaron and I had an awesome idea to get on top of the suburban that way we could see everything, and could get really great pictures. We drove and drove looking for a bear, but there was none to be found. It started to get really boring and irretating that we drove all the way out there to have Aaron see a bear up close, but we were not sure if it was going to happen. Aaron and I gave up, and let Eliz and Ethan to lay on top, so they could get the experience. After a few turns there was a bear just off of the road. It was a big bear over 300 pounds. We just watched in awe. They are such beautiful creatures. They seem so lathargic, but they are powerful when they want to be. A car ended up coming up the road the wrong way, and started to scare the bear down the hill side. We were not too happy with the car for the whole reason that we were there was to see the bear. It was funny because once the car left, the bear made his way back up to the road, and started walking our way. He was walking staight toward us in such a way as to tell us that it was not scared, and we better get on our way. After getting his message a crossed, he started to head back down the hill once again. My father drove up closer and whisled at it. The bear turned only his head back at us in anouance. I felt like I could hear him saying through his body language, "really? Are you really going to make me do this right now?" Then we heard the noice of littles. This bear was not a he at all, but the same mother bear that we saw before. This made sense to why the bear was acting so territorial. The little bears are amazing. They are the cutest little things. I feel like my teddy bear came alive and was jumping up on tree trunks. These little guys were not scared of us. They would just jump up on the trees, and look at us to see what was going on. My dad started to back up the suburband again to get a better look at the mother. Liz and Ethan were still on top of the suburban, and I was hanging out of the window looking over the top. The momma bear had enough and it started to charge us. We started to yell, "Dad go." I was thinking in my head that I am the one that is closest to the ground. If the bear is going to go for anyone it is going to be me. I jumped back into the suburband so quickly that I kicked my wife in the back on the way in. The momma bear stopped. I think that we all started to screem so loud, that it scared the bear and she stopped. Our mother was trying to protect her babies too. She was ready to leave and was getting riled up inside. "Go Bill Go," she yelled followed by a slug to my fathers back. We eased out of there and left the bears so we did not cause too many problems. I took a look at the top and saw Liz shaking with the camera. She was still shaking from the adrenaline. Ah good times with my family. We are just crazy some times.

The momma bear

more mamma

One of the cubs

So it was time for the last hike to the falls. We pulled into the parking lot, and got ready for the hike. It was a nice hike, and the trail was not too used for busy. We had good feelings about this one because the other two trails, and falls were busy, and we passed a lot of people. When hiking to these falls we only passed one couple that was on their way back. We saw some really cool trees, spiders, and lizards on the way. We got there and we all were awed at the beauty. These falls were perfect. They were so pretty. We took some family pictures using my timer on the camera. The first place that my family had picked out felt like it was 100 meters away from the camera. I only had 10 seconds to run from rock to rock to get into the picture. I never made it. The picture was really funny because you can see a blurred Adam running across the rocks by the falls to get into the picture. Then we got a little smarter, and the family moved to the closer side of the stream from the camera. We got a great picture of all of us. Aaron and Ethan took a trial to the side and entered onto a shelf that stuck out of the cliff about half way up. They saw a lot of really cool flowers and bugs up there. I tried to get some pictures, but I only got one of the millipede before my camera died. While this was happening Desiree, Eliz, Krissy and my folks were on the other side, and letting the falls give them a shower. It was a good time. My mom was thinking about wadding in the water, but then was saw a copper snake in a crevasse of the rock. A couple of locals came up to the falls while we were enjoying ourselves. They kind of ended our fun. They started smoking, and polluting the beautiful air. They also were just doing stupid stuff like spitting on the snake, and soloing the falls cliffs. [soloing is where you rock climb without any ropes or protection.] I love climbing, and I understand the desire to solo just enough to respect it, but there is a point when you are just being stupid. Climbing up rocks that are wet, slimy of algae, moss, and in hunting boots is crossing that stupid line in my opinion.

Tremont Falls

Family at Tremont Falls

Tremont Tree

Krissy's wish was next, we still needed to see what this Art community was all about. We found out that out and away from the town of Gatlinburg there was this circle drive, and there were all these really cool homemade craft shops. I am so glad that Krissy made us go. We only made one stop, but it is the best stop that we could have made. The store was a pottery store. The pottery was really neat. They had this leaf pattern theme, where it looked like they carved a pattern of a leaf into most of their pottery. This store would have been just another pottery store besides that fact that you can go into the back and watch the workers make the pottery. It was amazing how fast and precise they were. We met the owner, and he was the coolest guy ever. He acted like he already knew me. At the end of our visit this owner looked me into my eyes, patted me on my shoulder, and said it was so good to see you. I wish that I could have taken this guy out for dinner, and got to know him some more. Outside of the store there was a woman that was playing the banjo with her husband that played the up-right base. She had an amazing voice. Desiree made me get up and dance with her in the back. It was so much fun. Some times those hillbilly country tunes are just so foot loose and free. The family sat for a little bit and eat some free kettle corn while listening to the music.

What a day it was, and an amazing vacation. We got back to the cabin, and eat the left-overs from the week. We started to pack, and finished the trip with some pictures and more games.

Giving Pregers a hard time

Us Kids

Saturday 6/18/2010

We woke up early and headed out. The ride back was just not the same as the ride there, and it was depressing. We all slept for a while, and we were really quite most of the time. I think that we all knew what was to come and we were avoiding thinking about it. This family of ours is so close, and a side of all of us comes alive when we are together. We did stop to have some white castle burgers because my parents remembered going there when us kids were littles. A lot of us do not recall ever having white castle before. If I can tell you anything about the trip that I have learned, it is to never ever eat white castle. It was the worst thing that I have ever put into my mouth. I would have rather eat bugs than one of those terrible burgers. The family played a few more games in the car ride back, but then the trip was over and we said our good-byes.

I love you all, and already miss all of you. God bless you in your lives, and lets all meet up again soon.