Little Van. Big Country: Missing Utah...But Loving My New Nephew Hudson!

It's official! I'm an aunt to the most adorable, sweetest little muffin in the world--Hudson Alexander Mann, born September 21, 2013!

Hudson Alexander Mann, born September 21, 2013.

The Mann Family!

How cute are his little hands!

Marco and I have been in San Diego since Thursday, September 19. Little Hudson decided to grace the world with his presence just a bit early, so we had to jet from Utah to San Diego to make sure we were around to greet his adorable little face! And, while my brother and Diann spent a few days in the hospital, Marco and I dog-sat for them (yay puppies!) and spent a few nights in a real house with a real bed and running water! Such a nice luxury! And, best of all, we got to sprawl out on the couch and spend a lazy Sunday watching football! I can't tell you how completely necessary that was...football season has had me very homesick for the east coast and a television that plays the Patriots games. Fall is by far my favorite season...and football Sundays are a huge reason why. There is nothing better than to spend an entire Sunday lounging on the couch, watching football, and eating delicious food. Fortunately, my brother has the NFL package, so we crammed ourselves full of football! Four weeks into the season and I've already managed to catch three Pats games!

Ridley.

Kali.

Football!

Such a big puppy!

Passed out!

HUGE, playful puppies!

San Diego has been great...which is helping to ease the major Utah withdrawal which I am currently going through. Utah was phenomenal--the climbing, the people, the landscape, the sightseeing. I'd say just about everything about Utah, except for their beer (which is only 3.2% alcohol by law and expensive to boot!) is phenomenal. We spent the majority of our time in Orangeville, UT--a small town just outside Joe's Valley. Holy nice and friendly people. I can't even begin to describe how great all of the people are that we met. Such nice folks, every last one of them. As you'll read below, we got flooded out of our campsite after a couple days of non-stop rain. We spent one evening at the only bar in town and had pizza delivered, and the pizza delivery woman asked us what we were doing in Utah (she started off the conversation by saying "Where are you all from? I don't recognize any of you. I know you're not from around here."...the town is that small). When she heard about the flooding situation, she offered to let us all sleep at her mom's place! Just like that...no questions asked. We didn't take her up on it, but it just goes to show how nice the people are in Utah. Every single person we ran into was talkative and friendly and attempted to help out in any way they could. But now, let me start at the beginning of our time in Utah.

We arrived to Joe's in late August. The drive along Interstate 70 from Colorado to Utah is mindblowing! We did the drive during sunset, which completely added to the beauty of it. I've never driven along such a picturesque and beautiful interstate highway--gorgeous red rock rising up everywhere! The climbing scene in Joe's Valley is perfect for life in a van--there's free camping a stone's throw from the boulders and a lovely river to jump in when you're hot; free internet in Orangeville (either at the Food Ranch or the town park); town spigots to refill water; and a really nice aquatic center in Castle Dale, just a two minute drive from Orangeville, with a huge pool and clean showers...only $4/person! This is the type of easy livin' we were looking for after leaving Colorado, where we found it a bit harder to camp/climb/clean than we would have preferred. Life in Joe's was great!

And the climbing was even better! We spent the majority of our time climbing at the Right Fork and New Joe's (which, unfortunately, was due to the fact that we couldn't access the Left Fork after the crazy mudslides/thunderstorms we experienced...more details below). Overall, I thought the grades at Joe's were a bit inconsistent...some grades were soft, while others felt accurate. Unlike at Squamish, Marco and I initially had a tough time finding projects that really challenged us at Joe's. But, after we got to know the area a bit better, we were able to appreciate the boulder problems and find some excellent climbs! During our first week, our friend Emily visited us. She was only around for a couple days, so we made sure to cram in as much climbing as possible during her visit. By the time she left, Marco and I needed two full rest days to recover. Check out the pictures from Emily's visit!

Emily on Runt, V7.

Emily on Kelly's Arete, V5. Such a great V5! Unfortunately, none of us were able to send it that day. Marco and I attempted to go back, but the rain/mudslides shut down the entire Left Fork. Sad! It's worth another trip back to Joe's.

Marco getting to the top of Kelly's Arete, V5.

Marco on The Angler, V2. Such a classic, hard boulder problem! Unfortunately, after the rain came in, the bottom foot of this boulder was entirely under water. The river swelled up and there was no way to approach the boulder.

Mid-day dip in Joe's Reservoir to cool down.

Emily checking out the Reservoir.

Marco on Eurosize, V6. Solid send!

S'mores by the campfire!

After Emily left, we took two very much needed rest days. They were soooo relaxing. Marco cooked some stew on the fire pit! He made a little stove top out of the stones and used hot coals from the fire to cook the stew. It was delicious!

After Emily left, we felt like we were the only ones in the entire canyon! Hardly anyone else was around...it was eerie and a bit lonesome. That is, until we met Tyler, Holly and their adorable, sweet pup Lola! They setup camp next to us and we immediately went over to say hi...we were so excited at the prospect of making friends! And it turned out to be a perfect climbing match made in heaven--Tyler and Marco were crushing the same problems, and Holly and I were getting psyched on the same problems! The only unfortunate part of the whole situation was the weather...it was pretty dreary and the rain inevitably showed up every day in the afternoon. But we got in a few mornings of solid climbing during our first week together!

Cave Man, V4.

Cave Club, V5.

Tyler and Holly!

Kill By Numbers, V5.

Dyno Time, V5.

Based on what we heard from the locals, August provided the most rain they'd seen in a long, long time. So, when Marco and I awoke one morning to the nonstop pitter-patter of rain on our van, we decided to take a rest day and check out Arches National Park. Located in Moab, two and a half hours from Joe's Valley, Arches was sunny, hot and stunningly beautiful. We drove through the park and hiked to the Delicate Arch. It was a wonderful rest day from the rain!

Balanced Rock.

Garden of Eden.

Hike to Delicate Arch.

Delicate Arch.

Upon our return to Joe's Valley late that evening, we discovered that the rain had not let up all day. In fact, when we tried to get to our campsite, which was located in the Mansize area of the Right Fork, we encountered a road block. Captain Ecker of the Emery County Sheriff's department informed us they had been looking for us all day (they saw our camp gear and were nervous we had been swept away in the mudslide) and were glad to see we were okay. Unfortunately, however, the roads up the Right and Left Fork were not in such great condition. From what we were told, there were mudslides galore and boulders the size of our van littering the road. Given the state of the roads, they recommended we camp elsewhere. Our friends, Tyler and Holly, had actually got stuck between two mudslides on the Right Fork! They had to wait it out in their van while the amazing Sheriff's department and other county workers cleared the road enough for them to get out of the area. Check out our campsite before the flooding/rain/mudslides.

And now for the pictures of the area AFTER the colossal rains! The Sheriff's department escorted us up to our campsite the day after the mudslides so we could gather all of our belongings. The department was incredibly nice and very helpful! Ultimately we had to move our campsite and the Right Fork area was shut down for a couple days, while the Left Fork area was shut down for the rest of our time in Joe's. Here are the pictures we got.

Right Fork.

There was once a road under all that mud and boulders.

The river in town was incredibly high and extremely muddy...like chocolate milk!

But, as always, every crazy storm brings beautiful rainbows!

Despite all the rain, we had a great time climbing. In addition to Holly and Tyler, we met two other great couples, John and Amanda, who we shared our campsite with, and Hugo and Sandra. If I wasn't convinced before, I am fully convinced now that the best part of climbing is definitely the people you meet. John and Amanda, a Canadian couple enjoying the amazing maternity leave that Canadians receive, were accompanied by their adorable four month old, Liam, and their lovable dog Stella. Hugo and Sandra, also a Canadian couple enjoying maternity leave, were accompanied by their three month old, Eli. All in all, it was a very fun climbing crew and I couldn't have asked for a better mix of people to share such an amazing place with.

Nerve Damage, V6. Both of the guys played around on this high ball...which was so scary I didn't even enjoy watching them attempt it.

Holly and I tackling Self Service, V4. Definitely one of my favorite problem in Joe's!

Such a tricky top-out!

The following sequence of pictures is just too funny not to post. Some boulder problems just don't put up with any of that Tall-Man-Bull-Shit! I told you the top-out of Self Service was tricky...Tyler's face says it all.

And now for more pictures of our fabulous climbing crew!

Delicious group breakfast! French toast stuffed with cream cheese & berries, courtesy of Amanda & John!

Lola loved Liam!

And Liam loved Lola!

It does not get more precious than this!

Lola.

Stella.

The dogs lounging.

Lola enjoying her dirt bed.

Marco on Electric Fence, V7. Unfortunately, he couldn't nail the top out, even though he had the rest dialed! Just another reason to go back to Joe's!

Little Eli asleep on our mini crash pad behind his mama Sandra, on the left.

Holly crushing Contact, V5. Such a solid send!

Sheep crossing...nbd.

And that concludes our time in Utah! As mentioned above, since Utah, we've spent a week relaxing in San Diego with my brother, Diann, and their new baby Hudson. It's been pretty great to spend so much time with my brother and his family--we've been on opposite coasts for so long, it's really nice to spend some time together...especially since he's a new dad! Here are some more pictures from our time in San Diego.