restless

Mountaineers are crazy. In high school I went through an obsession of reading true stories of adventure. Like many I was captivated by Krakauer's Into Thin Air and Into the Wild. What makes someone go into a stratosphere deprived of oxygen, where vision deterioriates, and you face the 80% chance of death? I'm not sure why one needs to take adventure to that extreme.

Years ago, my family took a trip a out west, flew into Salt Lake City and then drove 4 hours into the desert to Brian Head, in Utah's Southwest. After spending a week there, exploring the nearby Cedar Breaks NM, Arches NP, Bryce Canyon NP, Grand Canyon NP, Mesa Verde NP, and Zion NP, we drove our rented Isuzu Rodeo up to Idaho, to stay 20 miles away from the Yellowstone Park entrance, and Grand Teton. While there I made a promise to do the following things:

• Canyoneer in Zion's Virgin river
• Backpack Arches NP
• Hike to the bottom of Grand Canyon, raft down the Colorado, and then take a donkey back up
• Backpack in Yellowstone
• Climb Grand Teton's Cathedral mountains

Anyone up for adventure next fall?