FOREVER OUTSIDE ADVENTURE JOURNAL

Forever Outside

THE GRAND TETON

THE GRAND TETON

Standing 13,775' above sea level the Grand Teton is an iconic mountain steeped in history. With a long approach, unpredictable weather patterns, high altitude and only accessible through technical rock climbing, achieving it's summit is never guaranteed.

The Marsupials Traverse

The Marsupials Traverse

1000' of alpine style ridge line in Oregon's premier climbing destination. The Marsupials Traverse is the longest climb in Smith Rock State Park. Runout and with dangerous falls, fortunately the climbing is pretty "easy," though some of this is on loose rock.

Solar Slab Gully

Solar Slab Gully

Just 10 minutes away from the Las Vegas strip and just miles away from the smoke filled casinos sits Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area.  With a few thousand climbing routes and generally warm winter weather, it's our perfect destination.  This trip to climb 540' of sandstone on the Solar Slab Gully!

Holcomb Valley Pinnacles

Holcomb Valley Pinnacles

It was the "official last weekend of Summer," and Friday rolled around I knew I had to get out of the city. Holcomb has over 400 climbable routes and is considered a mecca for routes of moderate difficulty.

Mount Islip

Mount Islip

The Sierra Nevada mountains are ubiquitous when we think of backpacking in California but Southern California still holds a few aces up it's sleeve. The itinerary was to summit Mount Islip via the Big Cienega Trail to Islip Ridge Trail, camp at Little Jimmy, then descend via the Windy Gap trail.

Little Sarasota Bay

Little Sarasota Bay

The trip was low key, about 4 hours, with all the equipment provided. Billed as: Quiet Water Kayak Trip: Enjoy leisurely paddling and observation at a variety of sites difficult to visit by any other means, sounds perfect to me!

Caspersen Beach: Hunting for Shark Teeth

Caspersen Beach: Hunting for Shark Teeth

I always heard about "The Shark Tooth Beach" as a kid, but oddly never made it out.  Now is the time, next stop Caspersen Beach. We had poker faces not telling each other what we found. It was hilarious, the longer we looked, the less we found.  The less we found the more we WANTED to find them, and the hunt was on!

Fingertip Traverse

Fingertip Traverse

The objective today was a route called "Fingertip Traverse" (5.3 YDS) which is a 4 pitch trad climb, 500' (152m) tall. It's a bit of a mission from Los Angeles, it's a 2-2.5 hours drive, a very steep approach, sandbagged climbing, a heavy descent, and the tough drive home after a long day.  However, it's worth all the effort.

Little Santa Anita Canyon

Little Santa Anita Canyon

Little Santa Anita is a brief beginner canyon with many short rappels.
The canyon sits in the southern San Gabriel Mountains and Angeles National Forest, within Los Angeles County.
Getting to what we thought was the end of a mild trip, quickly escalated to a dangerous escape!

Eaton Canyon

Eaton Canyon

Canyoneering is often regarded as more dangerous than rock climbing. You could be rappelling off very questionable anchors in highly secluded locations.  How exciting!  This specific adventure was on my bucket list and I proudly crossed it off last weekend.  Find out what out what it takes to descend the Class 3BIV Eaton Canyon upper and lower falls and why it took 14 hours!

Red Rock Rendezvous: Day 1

Red Rock Rendezvous: Day 1

We left Los Angeles on Thursday night and arrived to the campground at 11pm.  Many tents were already pitched with some scattered dirt baggers just sleeping near or in their vehicle, as expected.  2015 marked the 10th annual Red Rock Rendezvous and my first, what will be, annual attendance.  What is RRR? It's only the country's largest rock climbing festival...

Texas Canyon

Texas Canyon

Just 40 minutes off the beaten path of Los Angeles sits Texas Canyon. This beautiful part of the high desert consists of a collection of large sandstone conglomerate domes, isolated rock formations, and boulders. We set out for some friendly climbs and doubled it up with some time to photograph new products for the Forever Outside store.