The week after high school graduation sixteen years ago, some friends and I hiked Death Hollow from Hell’s backbone to the Highway 12 bridge over the Escalante River. For me, it was my first extended backpacking trip without adults.
Last week, the same group met together to hike Death Hollow. We shortened the trip, going in on the Boulder Mail Trail, but had just as much fun. It was a bit surreal in that although 16 years have passed, it felt like it was only yesterday that we were all together doing the trip for the first time.
Here are a few pictures from the trip. I’ve posted a couple taken by Mike Hawkins first. The others are mine, taken on my little point-and-shoot.
If you want to see more photos from the trip, you can see them here.
Taken by Michael Hawkins
Yours Truly. Photo taken by Michael Hawkins.
Descending into Death Hollow.
Cass trying to keep his boots dry.
Mike and Cass hugging the wall to keep from swimming.
This morning a neighbor and I took a quick trip up Payson Canyon to Maple Lake. It was a fun little climb, but it was still big enough to remind me that I’m in horrible shape. Here’s a quick pick of Zoe and me.
Here are a few pics from yesterday’s afternoon outing to Manly beach. I caught a ferry ride over to the beach, then spent the afternoon walking around, eating dinner (a kabob), and soaking my feet in the ocean. Here are a few pics from the outing.
Here are a few pics from yesterday’s afternoon outing to Manly beach. I caught a ferry ride over to the beach, then spent the afternoon walking around, eating dinner (a kabob), and soaking my feet in the ocean. Here are a few pics from the outing.
Yesterday I took a tour of the Blue Mountains with OzTrek. I don’t have time to tell any of the stories, but here are a few of the pics from the day. (I even got one in there of me, for Julie.)
The Three Sisters
Overlooking the Jamison Valley from the Eastern Blue Mountains
World’s Steepest Train at Scenic World
Video from the train ride to come later. It’s taking far to long to upload and I have to go.
Last night I took the train out of Sydney and headed South about 100 Kilometers. In Wollongong my friend and I met up with a contact he had who drove us out to Jamberoo. Jamberoo is a cool little “village” in the Minnemurra valley. We went to document grave sites for some genealogical work my friend is doing. It was great to get out of Sydney and see something a little more rural.
In the video below, I’ve put together some rough clips taken from my window in the train on the way out. The scenery was a beautiful overlook of the ocean.
Tomorrow it’s off to the blue mountains. Hopefully I’ll be able to post some pictures of that when I get back.
In my last post I gave a quick description of my rib fest at Bondi Beach. Here is a coarse clip from the beach. (You may want to turn your sound down, the wind made a fair bit of noise.)
Tonight we went over to Bondi Beach for some dinner. A coworker has had an image of the ribs from Hurricanes on his computer since we booked the trip. I’m not a connoisseur of ribs, but the were very tastey. After dinner we came back and walked down to Circular Quay to get a picture of the Opera House at night. My pic turned out pretty good considering I didn’t have a tripod.
This afternoon I took one of the ferries over to Darling Harbor and back. It took about an hour for the loop. It was nice to get out and enjoy the sun and the fresh air. I even got to enjoy a little ocean water. (See the first picture)
I made it to Sydney today after a 24-hour trip. Being on a plan across the Pacific was a drag. But I’m told the best way to get the body clock on schedule is to stay up the first day. So, I went to lunch and walked around the Rocks and figured out the train system for tomorrow’s commute. I snapped this picture from the Circular Quay station. I’ll be heading back over to the opera house for better pictures later today.
