BOUNTIFUL, UTAH

SESSIONS MOUNTAIN RANGE

SUMMER 2016

Ever hear of real estate porn? This is hiking porn. Or mountain porn. Or...okay, maybe I'd better stop with the porn comparisons because if we're going by Rule 34, there is most definitely some kind of outdoorsy mountain folk backpacker porn (in the literal sense) in existence and I don't want to know about it. 

But whatever. Here are some cool pictures from my latest hike at Sessions Mountain/Holbrook Canyon.

Going up--my favorite part--because I've discovered how tricky it is to descend steep mountain trails

"Up, up, up, can only go up from here..."

(Yes I'm quoting Shania Twain)

This is my second favorite shot

This is my favorite-favorite shot

Getting there....

"On the top of the world, looking down on creation...."

Getting over a lifelong fear of heights

Back at the bottom and rock hunting at the stream that winds through the canyon

There are quite a few log bridges that cross the stream at various points. It reminded me of that scene in Dirty Dancing with Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey. I resisted the urge to break into dance. 

I was too busy trying to stay upright. 

Yes, there are bears on and around the mountain, one of many reasons I'm joining a local hiking club. Traveling in a pack, it's less likely I'll end up bear chow when I'm but one of many options in the bear buffet to choose from (as opposed to traipsing along solo and becoming a potential ursine appetizer).

I'm a big fan of Wild (the book and the film) but it wasn't until moving to Utah that I really "got it," the whole rugged mountain hiking camping fever. My Dad was a big backpacker and hiker in his younger years, so maybe it's in my genes after all. 

PRESENTED WITHOUT COMMENT

Okay, I lied. 

I have to comment because I kind of love this video and I watch it at least once a month. It has a strange hold over me. 

Maybe it's because I've attended and/or run booths at countless New Age festivals, art fairs, psychic fairs, yoga festivals, and various organized gatherings centered around one or more of the following: Eastern philosophy, massage, Reiki, healing, Tarot, crystals, African dancing, drum circles....you know. All that feel good hippie stuff. Maybe it's because I spent a large part of my childhood surrounded by my mom and stepdad's friends; hanging at our house, coming in and out of town for their Hakomi classes and new-thought-type therapy workshops that they were all either teaching or attending. 

Like it or not, these are my people. They must be, because I feel comfortable and at home around them. The weirder the better. 

That said, this video is fucking hilarious. I don't know what it is. But I know I've seen this stuff up close many, many, many times. Hell, I've participated in it. I've walked among these people. 

And it doesn't make it any less funny.

I don't get it, but at the same time I totally get it. It's sort of in my DNA at this point. But that doesn't mean I understand it.