Mystery Canyon Zion's National Park

Fall is an amazing season! Whether it is in Little or Big Cottonwood, Rock or Provo Canyon; the colors in all of our favorite retreats are full of incredible yellow, red, and orange shades. If you have been locked up in the office, or even at home, I recommend taking advantage of this beautiful season as winter is approaching fast.

Two weeks ago, a went with a few Out 'N Back employees to one of our favorite playgrounds, Zion's National Park. I was amazed by the beauty in late October, I'm from Colorado and I thought nothing could beat Glenwood Canyon's fall colors, but Zion's is serious competition for any other park!

On Friday afternoon we set out to take on Mystery Canyon, a prize that isn't so easy to pull permits for during more crowded times of year. The canyon is 6-8 hours long, depending on speeds and experience. We took our time as we went through almost half the canyon in the dark, also because the water is VERY cold this time of year.

I have posted a few pictures, in effort to inspire us all to take advantage of this season and the great national parks we enjoy in Utah County. Don't forget to make sure you know where you are going and what you are doing, and be careful. We saw the park rangers heading up the narrows on a rescue in Orderville Canyon the same night we dropped out of Mystery into the Narrows, you can never be too careful. Please get out there and have some fun!

Mike Clark- Employee of the Month

Turket Tri

My wife and I both raced in the Telos Turkey Triathlon this past Saturday. It was a chilly 34 degrees when the race started. I guess that is not too bad considering it is November. Thanks to our Mountain Hardwear Transition jackets, we were nice and warm to start the run. The only thing that would have made it better would have been is we had the tights to go along with the jacket, lol. We both finished with PR's: I finished in 1:10:17 and my wife finished in 1:17:23. Yet another sport we found our Mountain Hardwear clothing useful for.

Scott & Tammy Taylor

CamelBak Baby

So this wasn't an outdoor adventure, but my purchase at Out-N-Back a few weeks ago definitely made this little experience possible.

I have an older CamelBak (before the days when you could actually fit your hand through the opening) - and while the reservoir was fine, the tube had turned a very nasty brown color. I finally went into Out-N-Back a couple of weeks ago and purchased an extender tube because it was the same length as the regular replacement tube. The very helpful sales associate (can't remember his name, sorry) told me that I could take off the white extender attachment and then put it on the bladder like a regular tube. I did it when I got home and it has been great to use it!

About a week after I got the tube replacement, my 5 month son got a cold and wasn't nursing or taking a bottle very much. I had a crazy idea to get my CamelBak out and just see if he would suck on that so I could get some liquid in him. That crazy idea worked! My 5 month old baby would drink more water from my CamelBak then he would from a bottle! Of course my husband had to hold it up to let gravity help him pull it down when he sucked it, but it worked! I think he liked chewing on the mouthpiece and getting a drink of water when he did.

I guess we'll have to get him his own CamelBak now.

Yvonne Russel- Proud Mom of a CamelBak user

Point Reyes

Backpacking in Point Reyes National Seashore has always been one of our favorite activities when visiting northern California. This was our youngest sons (1yo) first backpacking trip ever! With this in mind we chose the shortest option of the back country campsites in Point Reyes.

Here we are at the trail head ready to hike the two miles out to Coast Camp.



Two miles is nothing for the Ken-Dawg, so he carried a small cooler and skimboard.


Our 1 year old hiked almost half way while our four year old carried all of his own gear except his sleeping bag.


The best thing about Point Reyes is that all the campgrounds are Backpack in only. So if you pack out on a weekday you get your own private beach.






We spent the evening enjoying the sunset and watching what we assumed was a Grey Whale spouting just of the shore. Unfortunately the photos did not turn out too well.







This was our fourth trip out to Point Reyes this Trip Report and more from the area can be found here.

Mountain Biking Ghost Canyon

The scenery was amazing! In Draper up Ghost Canyon there is a small water fall at the end of a sweet little bike ride. This is okay for a beginner who has a little courage. At first the singletrack winds up and down the inside of the canyon meandering through trees and brush. After a quick downhill and a short but steep uphill the single track widens into double. Try not to stop because the loose dirt can be difficult to get started especially if it is steep.

Trails break off every now and then, so you need to know where you're going....I didn't! When the trail becomes super steep and rocky beginners beware! The rest of the way to falls is not only steep but very narrow, so narrow it is difficult to even walk your bike down. This is super beautiful and so close!

ONB Adventure Expert Angela

Dr Dale finds an eagle's nest

While Camping out in the west desert, I came across this old Eagle nest. Just
had to rappel down and have a closer look. The nest has been there for a very
long time and is inactive because there is no "white wash" from the birds. The
nest is about 7-8 feet tall.

Do not attempt this with an active nest or you will pay the price of an angry
mother eagle!!!

Dale Heath

Arches National Park

Early this year we made a trip out to Arches National Park to get in a bit of hiking and enjoy the solitude of the park during the off season. We started our trip off at the Courthouse Wash trail head and hiked up stream towards the The Tunnel.
After an hour or so of hiking at a four year olds pace up the wash we reached The tunnel. Our Kids had great time, our four year old just loved hiking into the Tunnel with his headlamp.



After the Tunnel we hiked Double Arch and The Windows.

Snow at 8,500 ft

This past weekend we went down to Pine Valley Wilderness west of Cedar City.
The hike started at a little over 6900 feet and went all the up to around
9400 feet. It was amazing. We hit snow around 8500 feet. The first night
we went to bed in 3" of snow and woke up to about 5" of fresh snow. I have
a nice pic of the tent after I cleaned it off twice. The snow did not stop
coming down. It was a nice long weekend trip. I would recommend this trip
for anyone. Don't forget the gaiters if you plan to go before the middle of
June.

Scott Taylor- ONB Adventure Expert

Tibble Fork Exhiliration

As the experiential staff of Cirque Lodge, we went to enjoy a day in the new snow up by Tibble Fork, We spent the day snowshoeing and this is how it ended. Talk about instant Brain Freeze! Most Equipment provided by ONB, we love the snowshoes. You guys ROCK!

ONB Adventure Guy- Jared Passey

Another dandy from.... Dandy

David has privileged us with another of his adventures... enjoy.