Here we are. It was my last day in Colorado which would be followed by 13 hour drive home on Sunday. I crashed at Jenna and Payson's apartment (two rad mountain bikers), made some tacos for everyone and left on my way before they were out of bed. I actually ran away because I used some old avocado that ruined the tacos  and I was ashamed of my offering.  I'm not joking.  Later Jenna would let me know that she enjoyed them plenty and only had ONE questionable bite of two big tacos. So it ended up working out OK. 
Off to begin my adventure I have one quest on my mind. Hike Ice Lake. From the trail description and pictures it seemed like the kind of place that would be a challenge to take a bad picture. I drove past Silverton  and up toward the parking area to the trailhead. The weather seemed a bit questionable. I didn't start entirely early and left my self vulnerable to potentially early afternoon thunderstorms. Another couple, wary of the conditions, asked me if I knew the forecast. I didn't. Oh well, off I go! The trail was pleasant and steep with some long pretty waterfalls to view off the bat. I really enjoyed the view from the top of one of these main waterfalls but didn't spend too much time up there. Just enough time for a selfie of course.

Oops! I'm already at the top! I passed so many people. A trail that slows people down is really my time to shine. I have my few moments of tiny steps, but I never stop moving. There is was final very steep climb that gives way to a crest and an immediate view of the beautiful Ice Lake. Can you believe the color of that water? I was under the impression that all of the lakes up there would be the same color but it was mainly this one specific lake called Ice Lake. I decided to do the final stretch to the higher lake called Fuller Lake where I'd have my lunch and debut the cheap flannel I bought at the Dollar General in Van Horn. Arriving at Fuller Lake you're greeted by a collapsed mine shack. It's baffling to think about the process of building a thing like that in such a remote place.

I recharged on OATMEGA (I'm not even getting paid to tell you this) and my satisfying tuna on cinnamon raisin bread sandwiches. Then I heard a sole thunderous boom and took my cue to leave. Even though some parts of the sky threatened storm, others opened up offered me excellent lighting to capture the beautiful alpine landscape. So I hope you enjoy this set.

After photographing Ice Lake as I made my way down I stopped few and far between for much else. I moved quick down that mountain, and to my astonishment so did Sara. A nice girl I eventually passed but barely pulled away from. I commended her on her pace before I passed her for good. I made it to the trailhead, used the restroom, and then guess who was parked right in front of me? I asked Sara to lunch but had no luck! Damn.

Despite my relatively brief descriptions of the hike, I was completely satisfied with my journey up to Ice Lake. It was a strenuous hike and I really enjoyed the scenery and moments for reflection. I pulled off the road a few times on my way back to Durango. I checked out the overlook at Molas Pass, the Pinkerton hot spring (for a moment I thought the water went through a bathub and I'd be able to wash up!), and a little park on the Animas River once I got into Durango. Jenna got off work and we met for pizza at Home Slice which was SO DELICIOUS. I've saved their menu on a google doc so I can reference it for topping ideas. Jenna and I had the Fa-Gouda-Boutit, breaded eggplant, smoked gouda, smoked bacon, and basil. So yum. 
I had a really nice time catching up with Jenna, she told me about her 100 mile bike ride to from Durango to Silverton AND BACK! You go girl. And it's nice to know I have someone in the area to go and visit. Except not in the winter. The snow isn't my thing. Sorry.

I said goodbye to Jenna and went back to Farmington to stay the last night with my cousin Victoria. I met her at their friends house and we played Monopoly. It was my first time to play as an adult. I always thought it was stupid but it turns out I enjoyed it! You could have probably wagered that we didn't actually complete the game, and we didn't, but it sounds like that's commonplace. 
Sunday came around and with that came the end of my adventure. All that was left between me and my Sparrow was a thirteen hour drive. I split one five-hour energy drinks into thirds and it kept me fully alert the entire drive. The worst part was boredom but I managed well enough.
Another solo adventure in the books. My recent solo travels have been amazing and unforgettable experiences. A great start to my 26th year alive. I foresee more of this thing happening. I see myself growing, learning, and maturing. Realizing how short our time on Earth is and there isn't any time to waste. If you're reading this and wishing you could have an opportunity to travel, relax, and experience new things. Don't wait. Go y'all. Vitalize your life with adventure! Go somewhere you've never been. Somewhere you've always wanted to go. Even if it's brief. Even if it's not all encompassing. Everyone owes it to themselves. Ask yourself honestly if it's a reality or you're just making excuses. Then forget the excuses  and GO!!

<3 Stephen

I asked photographer Taylor Reilly if he knew any great day hikes I could check out in the Durango area. He told me to hike up Cascade Canyon/Falls and that the views were more than impressive. I took his word and scheduled it for my first adventure of the day. I didn't know exactly what it was going to be like except from my internet sleuthing (and finding there wasn't much info on this trail) I gleaned it was  a trail that followed the creek as it worked up towards what seemed like a cliff of some magnitude. That's what I infer from a bunch of lines really close together on a topo map anyways. I also planned to take my mountain unicycle along on the adventure...just in case. I drove halfway up the county jeep road, loaded my bag, strapped on my pads, and began my trek upstream. 
I didn't know how steep the trail was but the route upstream had enough dips and valleys to log some decent time on the wheel.  The trail weaved through a mix of meadows and piney woods with handfuls of tiny stream crossings. It was very pretty! There were a few small groups of hikers and a fly fishing group.

About 4 miles up the trail I casually wandered to the nearby sound of rushing water and I came out on top of a really narrow but relatively tall waterfall (relative to what I'd seen at this point). Cool! I backtracked a hair to get on top of a cliff and snap some shots. Then I precariously made it down a steep slope to get below the waterfall. It was beautiful.  A nice sheer cliff, slot waterfall, and some pretty mountains in the background. I felt satisfied with my find. I kept moving along, knowing I was nearing my assumed end of line at said "cliff of some magnitude". The trail got steep and then plateaued. I knew I just climbed the bluff of the cliff but it was important to follow the ridge to find what the creek looked like descending it. Well. It was badass. A nice overhang and 60-80ft waterfall. I uncomfortably tried to scramble down some of the scree and realized I was in the mist of the waterfall. ABORT! It was just a hair to sketchy messing around up there alone. Partially because I know where all of the scree came from (it falls off the overhang!)

I wrapped up at the waterfall and then headed back downstream to find a nice lunch spot. Cinnamon and raisin bread with tuna never tasted and looked so good! I enjoyed everything about that lunch. I packed up and got back on the trail for a stellar 4.5 mile ride back through the valley. All of the hiking/riding up hill paid off immensely. It was a ton of fun and I rode probably more than 90% of it. Once I got through the trailhead I was FLYING through the jeep road as some 4x4s were on their way up and I squeezed by the little room they left me without slowing down. I was dominating that road, and no one could get in my way! I made it all the way back to my car some 10 miles later and felt mighty.

My cousin Victoria mentioned some cliff jumping at Cascade Creek (and advised not to do it after their friend shattered an ankle) that was on the opposite side of the highway. I came down the jeep road I had gone up and literally just crossed the highway into a parking lot and discovered a sweet area. I dropped down to a nice view of the creek that looked like it led to a slot canyon/hallway. I asked a group of three if they swim here and they told me about the series of 8 waterfalls that everyone jumps and that there is a trail to get back up (or down). He told me how to find the trail and I went. I made it to the last waterfall where everyone exits the creek and I jumped in the water because I always tell myself and everyone how much I love swimming. GAH!! It was colder than the ocean in Maine. I don't know how the locals do it. Its gotta be around 50F? I guess? Who knows. It's so cold. I have a feeling this is where the name Cascade Creek comes from, and this must be the Cascade Falls. It's hard to know for sure because I felt like I saw a lot of cascading water. Perhaps THAT'S where the name comes from.

Victoria also told me about a mountain bike ride she did where they hiked/biked up to Engineer Mountain and then took a longer alternate down. She said I should definitely check it out. I didn't have a shuttle to do the long way down so I just planned to do an out and back hike/ride.  It was epic. One of the best rides I've ever done. It took over an hour or so to hike up 1368ft in 2.5 miles. It put me above the tree line and surrounded by amazing views of the nearby mountains. I didn't summit Engineer Mountain itself but went up its spur-trail to add an extra quarter-mile to my ride and get some better views. I called my dad, ate an apple, and then descended the amazing trail. I made it down in 26 minutes. 26 minutes of perfect and pure downhill mountain unicycling. I couldn't have been happier. Unless my brother was with me. One day, brother. One day.

I can't believe how much adventure I jam packed into one day. It was unforgettable and the pinnacle of my vacation. It's hard to say that considering everything I had done up to this point and go on to do the next day, but man. Just epic. And breathtakingly beautiful.
I had some time to kill before I met up with Jenna, a very dear friend from Texas, so I ate a huge dinner at Grass Burger. Everything was so right in the world. Eating as much food as I can handle after a long and exhausting day is one of my favorite feelings. It's something about knowing I can eat as much as I want without any consequence or worry of becoming overweight. Earning every single bite, that's what makes it feel so good.

I woke up after a comfortable night of sleep. I was worried it was going to get frigid overnight but it was perfect! I was never too cold. I had considered waking up very early to hike up to Hunter Peak to photograph the sunrise but I decided to sleep as long as I was naturally able. I actually ended up with one of my favorite pictures so far, snapping the late sunrise just past our campsite.
I ate a light breakfast and quickly packed all my gear. I was separating from Romey and Lee to make a quick escape out of Texas. Before I descended the trail from the way I came I made a 2-mile (round trip) detour to the summit of Hunter Peak. It was pleasantly birdy with a modestly rewarding view. On the way back from this detour I did get a chance to see some beautiful Stellar's Jays.

I ditched my heavy pack for the detour and picked it back up at the junction to head back down to the Pine Springs campground where I was parked. It took my an hour and twenty minutes to hike down. Blazin'. I stopped here and there for mostly repeat shots of the mountains and canyons.

Romey and Lee put me on a great little swimming hole in this small Black River recreation/wilderness area just outside of Carlsbad. It was nearby Rattlesnake Springs which I didn't stop to see. The dip in the draw was satisfying and refreshing as expected.  Just before I left I saw a nice Vermilion Flycatcher, a striking red bird that I hadn't seen in a long time.
Now freshly rejuvenated it was time to drive from one corner of New Mexico to the other. There were some stretches of rangeland that, as pretty as they were, were awfully boring to stare at for two hours at a time. One of the most entertaining things I saw on that stretch was the birds perched almost exclusively in the shade of the utility poles.  There were few and far between so the birds have really taken advantage of the narrow bands of shade from the poles along the fence line. The pattern went on for miles, and I started to correlate presence to denser vegetated clumps. Such as a patch of sunflowers that would provide better food sources (insects).

My destination for the night was Farmington, NM to stay with my cousin Victoria. She lined up a nice dinner pit stop for me with her parents, Rick and Sheila who are also my brother's god parents, in Albuquerque. We went to their favorite Mexican restaurant, Garcia's, where the waiters don't even bring them menus anymore.
Heading out from Albuquerque I was very surprised by the beautiful landscape that I drove through during sunset, I know New Mexico is pretty but I just didn't expect this particular series of mountains and canyons.  I don't think I've ever seen a bad New Mexico sunset either. Its gotta be the most consistently amazing place for sunsets. I'd put money on it.
I made it to Farmington around 10 PM and had a wonderful place to stay and catch some rest for my next big day around Durango Colorado.

I woke up in my car after a quick 5 hours of sleep. My plans were to get an early start to meet an old friend at Guadalupe Mountains National Park to begin a one night backpacking trek up the mountains. I thought it was extremely strange the floodlight was still on at the neighbors picnic site. When I drove away I got a better look at what was going on and they had a sheet set up and catching hundreds of moths and other incontinent insects. I've heard of black-lighting but I've never seen anyone just pull in hoards of moths to sift through the next day. That's what I assume their plan was anyways. 
I began my drive out of the Davis Mountains and my draw dropped as soon as I noticed the must stunning  dawn moon rise I've ever seen. I stopped my car on the small highway (there definitely wasn't anyone else on the road at this time) and took a few pictures that came out amazing. You might hear a lot of photographers (or amateurs) say they're not doing any justice but I'd say these do a pretty damn nice job. 
Right at the Interstate 10 intersection I saw an old gas station that was tagged with "NO NUCLEAR WASTE AQUI" and it reminded me very much of the book I had just begun at Balmorhea. Edward Abbey's the Monkey Wrench Gang.

I stopped in Van Horn to buy emergency warm clothes (socks and a flannel shirt) after I realized I might be dealing with some actual cold weather and the whole world wasn't stuck in Hill Country hell (this was one of the major reasons for my trip, mind you.). I made it to the park and found Romey at his campsite. I met Romey when I first started bird watching in college. I looked up the Wildlife Society group on campus and found he was president. We slowly became friends and I ended up learning a lot from him about wildlife and biology and having some very memorable experiences volunteering with his field work at Palmetto State Park. Since we've both been long gone from school we haven't seen each other much but always commented on each others adventures and noted it'd be fun to do some West Texas hiking together. The stars just happened to align this week and we ended up having a really nice time catching up on our lives and Romey did a lot of catching up on the trail ;) Romey's friend, Lee, also joined us.
I hopped back and forth between the ranger station and their campsite gathering details to obtain our back country permit while the other two finished packing their bags and closing camp. Eventually we got on the trail and on our way to the Pine Top camp area of the Bowl.

I don't backpack very much, I'm usually very fond of lightweight day hikes, I mean, I think I've only ever really done it maybe 4 times now. This go around I tried some very minimal packing and had a nice single-person tent and even with 6 liters of water my pack only weighed 40 lbs. I was very happy with my setup and this was the first time I ever felt backpacking was a reasonable thing to do. Halfway up I switched to my wide angle lens because I was tired of not capturing the entire vistas in one frame. That night I would be very happy I brought that second lens!
Our hike speed for the group was a pretty slow. Moving at that speed kept my fatigue to an absolute minimum.  I would stop at the few shade trees to let everyone catch up. After one last particularly long break (30 minutes) I put the burners on. I blazed the rest of the climb and finally got a nice burn and workout. When Romey finally reached the end he made a comment about it being "amazing to watch me speed walk up that entire stretch." It was flattering of course. I hiked at my hyper speed for the rest of my vacation.

To avoid bringing a stove with fuel I tried bringing "slow perishables" and just had bland veggie tacos for dinner. I didn't bring a plate, I only had a pocket knife on my key chain, but those things are luxuries anyways right? I was reasonably satisfied with my choice. Shout out to Rebekkah on the tacos, but she doesn't know they were inspired by her when we ate similar tacos at the Barton Creek Preserve.
After dinner wrapped up we were all considerably worn out but Lee and I strapped our lights on and went to the nearby overlook to take some pictures and look at the stars. There was definitely more light pollution and air traffic here in the Guads versus the Davis Mountains the night before, but it was breathtaking nonetheless. For the portraits we did 25 seconds exposures with about a second of headlamp shined on us at the beginning. I was very pleased when Lee's shot of me came out even better than the one I took of him (he aimed the light better). I got to rehash everything I learned from the Star Party and saw some more Perseid meteors. It felt great to be up there. I also had a funny scare when I lost my balance posing in the dark on the edge of that overlook. I threw all of my weight immediately forward and down to the ground and just started laughing. It wasn't a sheer cliff hundreds of feet down, but it would have definitely been a bad time going over the edge.

I feel like I typically take one or two "big" trips a year that line up with breaks available from work after we complete big events. My Maine trip may have been the fluke but nevertheless, here I am just a month later taking another week adventure. But this time  it's a more familiar direction. West Texas and beyond. My heart is scattered across this region with countless trips and memories ranging from Big Bend through the Davis Mountains, up to the Guads, Carlsbad, Ruidoso, and the Santa Fe/Taos area. Desert, cactus, mountains, pine trees, and the blaring sun. These places, if done right, can be havens from the blistering heat we find every year in most parts of the south. I was reaching my limit, I was hot, and I wanted to get away. Absolute first priority? Balmorhea. The stunning crystal clear spring fed pool in the middle of the Chihuahuan Desert. The San Marcos River will always be my #1 but you can never pass up such an oasis.
I drove straight to Balmorhea Tuesday morning and arrived midday equipped with my goggles, swim cap, and a book. My objective was to completely relax and soak in the water and the atmosphere. I'd give myself an A+ on doing so. One of favorite parts in the water was sucking in a chest full of air and then going motionless. The air in my chest creates a perfect buoyancy that dips my head only inches below the surface. I'd just hover with my feet dangling six feet below me and I gaze for 10-20 seconds at a time in the 25 feet of spectacularly clear water. Being underwater is an escape for me. It's a way to block out any distractions or noises and be completely with yourself or with the beauty of the underwater world. Time stops underwater.

It had been a while since I actually drove into Ft. Davis. I heard it was green this year so I had high hopes but I can never quite remember how spectacular it is. Every time I make the drive into the Davis Mountains I'm overcome by its beauty. I only snapped a couple pictures of the drive, while I drove (sorry!) but I'm glad I got at least a couple of those shots. I went straight to the Davis Mountains State Park and up to the Skyline drive area that overlooks the whole park. I snapped some typical photos and then sought a place to read. There is an old CCC hut on the other end of Skyline drive so I went that direction to find shade. I found a reading rock in the shade. I laid on the rock. And then after 10 minutes I realized maybe I should preserve my body for a whole week of adventuring instead of straining my back trying to read and lay on awkward rocks.

After my little reading session I went back to the main overlook to catch the sunset. It wasn't an epic and exciting showing but I'm happy enough with getting the mountains in some different light. I also saw an awesome giant snake! It's a gopher snake and was insanely cooperative when I drove up to it in my car. Once it moved off the road I could see how much length it was hiding in its curves and I was shocked. That thing could have been 6 feet!

I found some WiFi in the Indian Lodge bathroom. I was hoping to find a place to grab some grub (now around 9pm) but of course there was nothing to be found. I went to the McDonald Observatory website and SWEET!! STAR PARTY!!!! TONIGHT!!! 9:30 PM!!! I knew I'd be a little late but I headed straight there. It was an unforgettable experience. I think the only other time I tried to go to a Star Party it was clouded out. 
I arrived, saw a TON of cars in the parking lot but the place seemed empty otherwise! No one in the cafe or gift shop, just one staff in the ticket booth. I got my ticket and asked where everyone was. She directed up to the amphitheater where I wandered up to and was blown away by how many people were up there. I think the count was close to 400. I was late but didn't miss anything significant and got to learn and see tons of great stuff during the short presentation. Satellites, meteors, constellations, former pole stars, giant stars, galaxies. They have a laser pointer that is incredibly effective at...pointing. After the short-ish presentation there were 8-10 different scopes being manned and pointed at different objects. I saw the Whirlpool and Andromeda Galaxies, Saturn, Wild Duck cluster,  a nebula (not as cool as Orion's), and one or two other objects I can't remember. We had a bunch of really nice "burners", some impressive meteors from the Perseid meteor shower. 
It was such a perfect night for photographing the Milky Way but I didn't end up with much opportunity to do any in great locations. I did a few at the observatory and a few at the Madera Canyon roadside park (formerly Lawrence E. Woods Picnic area?) where I slept in my car. There ended up being a insect collection/capturing thing happening at the roadside park so there was a floodlight on all night. Fortunately it lit up the foreground nicely for a couple of the shots of the Milky Way above the tree-lined canyon wall. It was a fantastic day.