wesleyaston.com Blog

Markai and I went to Moab for the weekend to do some hiking and 4x4ing. I love how many different things there are to do that way. Thursday morning we packed up and headed out, we were going to be the first in our group to get there for the trip. We first stopped off in Canyonlands NP to do the hike up Aztec Butte. I have seen pictures of Indian Ruins on this Butte, and figured it was time to check it out. I know that to get the best photos we really need to do it in the evening, but we had limmited time to do this and we headed up early afternoon. It was a quick and steep hike but well worth it. Once we got to the main part I wanted to see, I realized why I need to take pictures in the evening. We tried using a refector to bounce some light in, but it just didn’t look right. So to make the best of what we had, I thought we would do some fun pictures of us. Next time I go I will make sure to get there at the right time.

The following day we were off to our first off roading trip. We met up with Amber and Beau, the night before who are crazy about this stuff and the reason we get to come with. We decide to do the Behind the Rocks trail since last year we did in at night and didn’t get any pictures of it. This time it is late morning and we got plenty of time to get a run in then go do a hike later…… or so we thought! Not to far into the trail we ran into some issues, that would be that the front right tire busted through all the lugbots and then ripped a hole in the tire! The fun part was we were in the middle of a rocky spot went this happend. Changing this wheel we had to tie the truck to 2 trees since we were leaning down the hill and you can just jack a truck up.

This only 2 took trips into Moab to get the right parts and about 5 hrs. It was an adventure at least, more was to come!
Beau’s step dad Randy was on his way down for the weekend and was close to where the trail begun. He though he could find us and would meet up with us on the trail, but somewhere he took a wrong turn. Spotty cell phone service helped a little, but this is where you need to always have a GPS! Randy got so turned around he was LOST!!! We now needed to search for him. Running low on gas we headed back into town and realized now our back tire was flat, but we used the spare already. So we all piled in the Toyota and headed in to get dinner and gas. Shortly we were back out on the trail heading the way we thought Randy went. Following tracks and what he describe we still couldn’t find him. Finally after midnight we gave up since we had no contact with Randy anymore since his phone died. At least he had all his camping gear with him.
The next morning we now have more people in our group that showed up to have some fun in Moab. But now we need to find Randy. To get Beau’s Blazer up and running they got another spare tire, but when they got to the truck it now had 2 flats! 4 new tires were now on the list of purchases for this trip, and in the meantime Randy finally found his way back to meet up with us. He got lost out on the Behind the Rocks trail and did the White Knukle Hill by himself, which is a major obstacale. He had punched a hole in is front axle, not good when you need 4 wheel drive. At least he was safe!

Here are some pictures from the Trail….

Now we can do some more off roading and all of us are here. So we have decided that we will do a day trip up Cliffhanger then do a night run on Metal Masher which we did last year. Right off the bat Cliffhanger has some serious drops and climbs. And night falls on us faster then we thought. There were some crazy spots, tipping you sideways and throwing you around, but it sure was fun. After 5 hours of driving one way we knew there was not going to be a night run. Getting dark at 7pm this is now the Day/Night run.

It has been at least a week now of hacking, snorting, sniffing, head pounding, voice dissapearing, snoring, drymouth……… you get the idea. I don’t get sick that often, but when I do it hits me hard! At least the sitting around gives me time to plan ahead. Like for next year, my friend Rod, you see his link on the side, wants to come out here for 2 weeks. After seeing my Teton shots he wants to come out int he Fall to hit that spot too. But in 2 weeks we can do so much, and we are planing a loop down south first. We wan to go to Zion to do the Narrows and the Subway, then to Bryce Canyon for a day of Hiking, then over to Page Arizona to go to Upper and Lower Antelope Canyons. Those are a neat spot for sure, and I haven’t been there in 4 years. Then over to Monument Valley, to Natural Bridges, then up to Canyonlands and Arches. Sounds like a lot of driving to me, but at least we will go camping to save the $$ for the gas. Then we will head back up north to hit the Tetons hoping the Gold is in full glow. I think that will be a fun trip. Now I have a year to get ready for it. But we will see how many times we change it before we go on it!

And I have posted some more pictures of some Panoramic shots that I did in the Tetons. I really want a canoe for next time to get some new angels!

I don’t get to see some of my family very often, with the prices of gas and to many other destinations I want to go make it harder these days. I planned for us to meet while we were off on our trip this past week. The good thing about all of us together is that we can only stand each other for a weekend when all together, but when only a few of us are around I could spend much more time hanging out.
Here are a few shots I took while we were hanging out this past weeked. I do miss seeing them all and wish it was easier to visit more often.

We have been home from our trip 5 days and I have spent many hours going through trip pictures to make sure I don’t forget any good ones. I forget how long it takes to do this sometimes, but the neat thing is that it is a summary of the trip for me. Makes it seem like I am still on vacation so it will break you back into normal live slowly. I hate going back to work after a fun photo trip cause I just want to be out somewhere taking some pictures. However I did get sick after this trip so I have missed some work, I guess work then is getting broken in slowly. I hate being sick though, and at least today I feel much better. I got some sleep last night, to bad I kept Markai up most the night snoring cause of my congestion. Sorry about that babe.

Today the cold weather has hit being in the 40′s, it was nice being in the Tetons with it in the 70′s wearing t-shirt and shorts. Time now for some gloves and a coat. We are going to Moab again in 2 weeks for some Jeeping so I hope it isn’t to cold then! Last year was my first time going Jeeping there, even though I have been to Moab tons of times. It gives you a different look of the area and makes it seem like a new vacation spot. Plus the crazy rides you go on in these vehicles!
Check out last years shots.

Jeeping Moab

Well our trip is now over and we are at home. It was a great 10 days! So many pictures to go through now that I have the “good” computer, now I just need more time. We were planning to come home last night but some other plans we had were shut out due to others being sick. So we sayed an extra night to hang with my brothers family and play Wii bowling. I will be adding many pictures the next few days as I get time to do it between my real job that I have to go back to tomorrow.

I wish it wasn’t over but also glad to be done living out of a suitcase. The Tetons were excellent this year, but I would have to say I am disapointed in the lack of action I saw in Yellowstone. I think maybe the warm weather had to play a role in that and all the animals weren’t in winter mode yet. Not every year will be the same, and I can’t wait for another great one.

here is were I will be posting my pictures of the Tetons.

and of Yellowstone

Ah Yellowstone. Always a favorite of ours. But when we got there the tables seemed to have turned. Usually it goes that we are bored with the Tetons and love Yellowstone, but this year the Tetons had so much going on that it was crazy, so it raised the bar for Yellowstone. But to our suprise Yellowstone was very slow going. We did not get to see anything for about two or three hours once we even entered the park! So we headed over to Mammoth where the elk reside in the town there which can make it interesting and nerve racking at the same time (especially in mating season!). When we got there the elk were there without fail laying on front lawns, hanging in front of the clinic, drinking out of sprinklers, eating grass, etc. A very hard life for an elk I must say! While there we had lunch and then set out to see if we could find the top bull. Of course we found him surrounded by at least twenty cows. We parked where we could get a good picture and then he saw us! With his eyes locked on our car he started coming for us! I’m sure Wes had the same thoughts as me…OMG he is going to take out the car!! Just then a truck pulled up in a space beween the bull and us and the rangers stated on the intercom that ‘the elk have been attacking cars so to park at your own risk’. Needless to say the guy that pulled up next to us left in a hurry and thanks to him he distracted the bull, saving our car. After that we headed out to West Yellowstone to get to our Hotel. On the way we spotted four other herds of elk that we decided to go back and see in the morning.
The next day we spent our time jumping from herd to herd getting awesome pictures of the elk. We even saw some fighting, and while we watched we couldn’t help but laugh at the Asian people standing maybe 50 or 60 feet from the battling duo. Even thier kids were up close to the action. All I can say every time I see people do things like that is STUPID! STUPID! That animal can run WAY faster than you! But hey what can you do? Some people are just dumb i guess.
Yesterday was our last day in Yellowstone and we were bummed because there were NO animals to be seen, not even elk. So we decided to just do the lower loop by Old Faithful and head to Alans to see the family. Not expecting to see anything but stinky water we went on our way. At one of our stops Wes’s car had been adopted by two ravens. One of which was very upset that Wes wanted in the car and told him so then flew away. The other stayed as long as he could watching our every move and posing for the cameras. Wes probably could have touched him if he tried. After Old Faithful and what not we went to finish the loop. We did not get very far before we were stopped by quite the traffic jam. Good thing though because there was a grizzly on the move off to the side of the road. Ignoring the huge crowd watching she was on the go only stopping to dig around here and there for something possibly good to eat. She made a hard picture to get quickly weaving in and out of trees, but we stayed a bit to watch anyways. On our way again, thinking we had seen everything we had to see, we drove along the edge of the lake. All of a sudden a coyote popped out and started to trot down the side of the road. Wes flipped the car around and parked it just a head of the coyote. Then, as if it were someones pet, it came over and sat just three feet out our window on a hill so it was eye level. It sat for a while totally relaxed (enough for a yawn) and just let us talk to it and take its picture. Then he decided he was done and went to leave. I then tapped on the side of the car and called him back (out of habit for owning dogs i guess) and he turned and came back to sit by me even closer than last time. I think Wes got nervous then because he told me to keep my hand in the car and told me that I could not give him a treat I love that man. After about fourty plus pictures he left on his way again for good. More excited about our day we continued on our way. When we made it back into town after seeing four eagles and zero elk, we decided that Yellowstone was not as bad as we at first thought it would be. Back at the hotel we cleaned up our mess looked through some amazing pictures and headed out once again for one more adventure.