First months in Colorado

I moved to Colorado at the end of August 2008, and since my car was stolen a few weeks before, it wasn't easy to get to many trailheads for the first couple months. Still, I hiked several of the 14ers close to Vail: Holy Cross, Grays/Torreys, Elbert, Democrat/Lincoln/Cameron/Bross. I had my bike, so I was able to ride to several of the popular trailheads in East Vail: Deluge Lake, Booth Lake, and Gore Lake. This was a nice introduction to hiking in Colorado.

Photos: Holy Cross and Booth Lake - Decalibron and Mt Elbert - Grays and Torreys

AZ/UT Trip

In June 2008 my parents and I set out from Phoenix towards the Grand Canyon. On the first day of the trip, I hiked from the south rim to the north rim, while they drove around and picked me up on the other side. From there we spent a week making our way across southern Utah: Zion, Bryce, Capitol Reef, Canyonlands, Arches. We camped and hiked and had a pretty damn good time. After this trip, which came right after my first trip to Colorado, I was simply blown away with the SCALE of everything out west. I sensed that perhaps this was the part of the country that I was meant to live in.

Photos: Grand Canyon - Zion 1 - Zion 2 -Bryce - Arches - Canyonlands

First trip to Colorado

In May 2008 I headed out to Colorado for the first time in my life to visit my friend Rachel. Other than California (where I was born), I had never even been to ANY state west of the Mississippi River. Needless to say, this trip was the beginning of a big transformation in my life. Little did I know that when I arrived in Vail at the beginning of that trip, I'd be moving there a few months later. Rachel also took me skiing during this trip... I was TERRIBLE (it was the first time I had ever been skiing in my life). Its funny to think about how it wasn't too long before skiing became an incredibly important part of my life.

Costa Rica

In spring 2008 I ventured down to Costa Rica during spring break. I ended up getting robbed and losing all of my belongings, but it was still a pretty amazing trip!

Photo Galleries from the trip:
Day 1 - Day 2 - Day 3 - Day 4 - Day 5 - Day 6 - Day 7 - Day 8-10