Merciful Messenger

Jonathan and I left City of Rocks, Idaho yesterday evening. We took to a wild, unnamed, b-side, dirt road in hopes that it would lead us North to I-84 and onto Boise where we planned to hold up for the night. We have been taking mostly back roads when possible this trip and seeking the alternative alterations.

As the sun set we were blazing down this dirt road when we came upon some wild horses, most of which took no notice to us. Except for one. A giant but gentle, black as night, one-eyed horse. It stood right in the middle of this dirt road guarding our way forward. We stared at each other, eyes to eye, through a pain of glass for a several silent minutes before he mercifully moved aside. He must of stood 10 feet tall.

An omen? Never trust a one-eyed horse? A dark messenger? Something happened there and then but we were not sure. The horse rode off into the tall sage brushes and out of view. Confused about where we were, and what just happened, we finally looked on a road map and realized we had drove over an hour in the wrong direction, back into Utah, and even further from Boise.

Thank you horse for that heads up.

We turned around and headed back up that dirt road.


To hear more about the trip, and the climbing, visit Jstar's blog!

Check Point

Lately I have been, for lack of better words, lacking better words. I can't seem to transport all the amazing stories and adventures through my body, out my fingers, and onto the page. I have been living behind the lens for the last week now, non-stop, and since this road trip started, and I can't seem to get out from behind it. It has been surreal. America is an amazing place!

I will instead take pictures from the road and tell the little stories behind them. "The often and in-between."

So far our travels have taken us The Hoop>SLC>American Fork>Tradeshow>Little Cottonwood>American Fork>City of Rocks>Castle Rocks>Boise.....

I'm eating a tired ass continental breakfast right now in Boise, Idaho of frosted flakes and black coffee. Mmmmmmmm...

To read more about our trip, and hear about the climbing, visit Jstar's blog

Road Trip

Headed off in the morning with my good friend Jonathan Siegrist for a brief 3 week climbing road trip through Wyoming, Utah, Idaho, and culminating in Washington.(And back of course.) There are surely many adventures to come as we take the B roads into the Northwest's lesser known climbing areas. Stay tuned for updates and pics from the trip. Later! -A

Serving Optics

Boulder's own Greg Bilinski attempting "Wild Thing" 5.13a, Independence Pass, Colorado 7/4/09. This route is on, believe it or not, a completely free standing 70 foot boulder. For me, it is the most inspiring sport route in Colorado. Unmatchable rock, perfect line, and impeccable setting. All part of a great weekend spent in Aspen's high country for the 4th!

Serving Optics

Here are a few shots that hit the back burner and were inevitably lost to some hard drive somewhere. Every once and a while, I have to chance to go back on a rainy day and re-visit some old adventures, and share them here. Here are two similar images, one of sport climbing and one of bouldering. They are "ying yang" in many aspects.

Ben Randolf "Fire on the Mountain" 5.11c South Saint Vrain Canyon, CO.
Jonny Hork "Nuns and Donkies" V6 Hueco Tanks, TX.

Pike's Peak Rocks!

I was honored this past weekend to hike Pike's Peak (14,110 feet) with actor Kevin Bacon, along with a small group of folks, to help raise money and awareness for The Love, Hope, Strength Foundation. We all woke woke up around 3 a.m. to make the roughly six-hour climb "It's one of the hardest things I've ever done physically," Kevin said after the trek. "I'm in pretty good shape, but it still really kicked my ass." I concur.

At the mountaintop, Bacon took a puff of oxygen before The Bacon Brothers performed three songs. Cy Curnin of rock group The Fixx also hiked up with us, and played his song "Remember Me When I'm Gone" in a tribute to Farrah Fawcett.

The Love Hope Strength Foundation has held fund raising concerts at Machu Picchu in Peru and Mount Everest to raise money for cancer centers and to raise awareness about bone marrow donation. I had an amazing day and met so many incredible people. Please visit The Love Hope Strength website to learn more about future treks for cancer.

Below are a few photos I took from the event. You can check out more in the upcoming issues of Billboard Magazine, People Magazine, and US Weekly. Very cool!