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.
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.
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.
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!