Cabezon Peak

March 6, 2021July 4, 2021Leave a comment

Rising 7,785 feet above sea level, Cabezon Peak towers nearly 2,000 feet above the surrounding valley. My first trip down highway 550 left me staring at this small Devil’s Tower wannabe. For two years I’ve dreamed of chasing down this peak – today I planned to make that dream a reality.

While I set out bright & early one morning with my goal in sight, my day would end in missed opportunities and even a few tears.

Like aspects of my life, my trip began long before I hit the steep slopes. I’d been researching not only how to reach this peak but how to possibly ascend it as well. Delving deep into the WWW I’d found a few (really) old threads indicating there might be a way to summit the peak w/out climbing ropes.

I began trekking the trail leading straight up to the base of the volcanic plug. Once at the base I circumnavigated the entire neck searching for a way to scramble the basalt behemoth. While never found a safe route to the summit, I did find snow!

My second set of tears came while descending back down the trail when a wild cactus jumped out of nowhere and bit me straight on the ankle.

All the photos in this post are straight off my iPhone 11. Why not my D4 you may ask? Well, she made it into my pack, but never out of the truck. She’s been giving me some issues lately that came to a head today before we even made it to the trailhead. Hopefully this isn’t the end of our adventures.

To be continued…

Goodbye 2020

December 31, 2020July 4, 2021Leave a comment

2020 was an interesting year, to say the least. While it wasn’t the worst year in the history of ever it most certainly won’t rank as one of the top ten. Here’s a little collage of the end of the year. Goodbye, 2020. I’m really looking to you for some new adventures 2021.

Don’t let the door hit you on the way out.

Oryx Hunt

October 29, 2020March 13, 20211 Comment

Growing up in the Appalachian Mountains there are few people in my childhood who didn’t hunt. As a small child, when angry at my father, would threaten to joint PETA when I grew up just to piss him off. I clearly was the only non-hunter in a long line of hunters.

So when I married Brian, and my life combined with his, I promised that I’d at least give one of his favorite past times a try. Not long after moving to Alaska I took my hunter safety course. That was as far as I was able to get mentally.

Six years later, Brian won a veteran Oryx tag on the White Sands Missile Range. As a once in a lifetime opportunity, I didn’t want to miss the chance so I started mentally preparing myself. My plan was to shoot the way I’d come so comfortable with, Nikon in hand. However, as a secured military and missile range, cameras were not allowed, so my D4 stayed home while we scouted the range. Only a single photo, under strict guidelines was allowed by a point and shoot (or smartphone).

The hunt itself was over in less than two hours. I thoroughly enjoyed scouting & driving the dirt roads of a scenic place with such restricted access.

Most importantly, I am so thankful for all of the delicious meat that now sits in my freezer. I’ve never understood trophy hunting, but there are plenty of meals that may have passed by in my childhood were it not for the ability of my father to set the table with the food the land provided. Delicious, nutritious, and another happy memory.

Chicken Corners

July 31, 2020August 1, 20202 Comments

Down the Reddit rabbit hole I fell. The longer I lay awake, the further, and harder I fell.

It started with an image of a dust covered Jeep. Although it was the beautiful red rocks that surrounded it that really captured my attention. It only took me a few days to track down all the information I needed to know I could pull this off. Anything else was up in the air, but that’s all I needed at that time. Once I knew it was doable with what I already had on hand, I knew it was only a matter of time.

Moab is exactly a 6 hour and 4 minute drive from my house. After packing the truck and kissing my critters goodbye, Brian & I took off for the New Mexico border. Now while we’re fully aware that there is a global pandemic going on, we packed in such a way that required no human contact for the duration of our trip – extra gas, all the food (and them some) for all meals in the Yeti cooler, Tepui tent sleeping quarters, and all the other ammenities to make travel comfortable and devoid of all human contact.

We arrived with plenty of time to scope out our camp for the night. It was a balmy 107 at the peak of the afternoon when we arrived. Brian stayed in the air conditioned truck, while I basked in the heat after freezing my butt off in Alaska for 4 years.

I will say when the sun finally set it was the perfect temperature for sleeping. We were up with the sun and it was a beautiful time for photos while breakfast cooked on the grill.

After packing up, we hit the trail for the off-road adventure we had come here for: Chicken Corners OHV Trail. There’s not much I can say about my experience of climbing over 4,500 feet of rocky trail in one of the most beautiful places I have had the priveledge of exploring, so I’m just going to let my pictures doing the talking for me. Enjoy.

Potash Mines from the top of Hurrah Pass

I’m supposed to be back on the East coast visiting my family for the first time in over two years, but thanks to Covid, that trip will have to wait until another time. I’d take time with my family over just about any adventure any time, but as a consolation prize, this was about as good as they get.

https://www.instagram.com/tv/CDSRn1JJHLx/?igshid=b3u0quo5563l

TheyCallMeHolly

(This is) the story of a girl

Category: Off Roading

Cabezon Peak

Goodbye 2020

Oryx Hunt

Chicken Corners