Where ever you go, there you are...the life and times of Zach Mortimer
Friday, December 31, 2010
if the last few days are any sign of what 2011 holds I CANT WAIT OMG
so since we left del rio we have been having some great fun, we headed to austin immediately after leaving del rio just so knancy could see it, admittedly this prly wasnt the best idea as we drove directly back the opposite direction the next day heading to carlsbad, NM. Austin was uneventful for us, we got there late and left from there early. We arrived at carlsbad relatively late so we just stayed in a hotel again that night. Eager to get back to the forest we headed up near cloudcroft ski resort in NM for some back country camping. After many hours of driving around forestry roads and spur roads we finally found a spot that looked outstanding. It was right on the edge of this ridge, with trees all around and a great view of this valley with a couple large ranches in it. The valley stretched on for miles either direction. We went to sleep that night with it being a bit cold outside (30-35 degrees) but the sky looking clear as can be. Several hours later i awoke to snow hitting the tent and got out to be greeted by about 3 fresh inches of snow and a near whiteout blizzard all around me. I was overwhelmed with joy and had trouble going back to sleep haha. Eventually i made it back to sleep though and the next day we had a large fire going all day and had a good time hanging out in the snow. We had planned upon leaving carlsbad to come back on Dec. 31st to see carlsbad caverns and eat food at this place ive heard serves fantastic mexican food named Lucy's in carlsbad. Since this will end up being late we've decided to just crash in a hotel again tonight so im back at what is seemingly now my home away from home....the Motel 6 haha
Monday, December 27, 2010
welp that went by fast
so i figured 1 week in del rio would be a good amount of time to see my dad. It definitely seems like it is now the right time to leave however i really wish i could spend more time with him. Oh well though i suppose you cant have everything you want in life and i am pretty fortunate otherwise :) I have no idea where im going from here but ill be sure to post once i figure it out and get there. im packing my shit in the car and heading back out on the road. I can only imagine what this next year has in store for me haha
Saturday, December 25, 2010
Thursday, December 23, 2010
Long day at work
so i basically spent all day yesterday and all morning today either taking photos or processing them. Yesterday we headed out to this little ranch type area about an hour away from Del Rio that my dad had spotted a while back. This place had a couple really large cypress tree's and a really cool small creek running through it that someone had spent what i imagine was countless hours of time putting rocks in to create odd flows in the water. One area they had even created a question mark/ spiral kind of formation that i climbed out onto and got a bunch of cool shots from. The weather was pretty warm but there was a totally overcast sky and it was kind of misting at times. I wish it had been a perfect weather day with neat little puffy clouds all over because this creek provided extremely good reflections and getting some cloud/sky differentiation in them would have really increased the quality of the shots i think. That being said i still think they came out quite good especially a group portrait i took of my dad, my girlfriend, and myself on a rock in the middle of the spiral formation i mentioned earlier. The drive to and from this place was quite fun as well. It was definitely not your stereotypical Texas country side. There was lots of rolling hills and trees everywhere. Oddly enough, Knancy and I have kind of a running joke about how fall is her favorite season so we just keep moving from place to place to follow fall. We were sure we had ran out of places to go see fall at but this area had lots of orange and red trees inter mixed in a see of evergreen trees. It was quite nice to see and Knancy seemed happen to have found fall again. At any rate, I'm really looking forward to taking a break from messing with photos for a bit now since ive been doing it for the 16 or so hours ive been awake haha. Adding some photos beneath this post from the area we were at yesterday including the portrait of the three of us on a rock. Hope you like them!
Click the smaller images for a larger size
Click the smaller images for a larger size
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
First Blog at my new e-home
Wherever you go...there you are. Thats what my dad says and currently i find
myself in Del Rio, TX. Its surely nice to see my dad. However , i must say the
drive to get here was one i could do without haha. we left St George Utah like
6 days ago now and from what i hear that was one of the best weather calls
ive ever made. Contacts in Utah tell me that its been raining since we left and
its muddy everywhere. At any rate, we headed south through Arizona and
stopped for the night in Prescott AZ. Their town square has some amazing
christmas lights including a 75 or so foot living pine tree that they have enough
flashing lights on to send an epileptic in to a fit. Had i not been driving for like 8
hours i might have had the motivation to take pictures of it but i thought id get
another chance the next day. No such luck....we woke up in the morning to quite a
bit of rain and decided to cut out of prescott to head south to Cochise Stronghold
The drive to Cochise was again long and we got there some time after dark . I had
really no idea what to expect from this place so it was pretty awesome waking
up in the morning to see tons of exposed granite all around me. Unfortunately ,
my knee was hurting quite bad so climbing was out of the forecast for that day.
Instead we decided to just walk some easy/moderate trails and scramble around
on some easier boulders with my dogs. The next morning I had the pleasure of
waking up to an asshole ranger on a power trip who preceeded to give me a ticket
for failure to pay fee as per posted instructions while he was holding my payment
in his other hand. In reality i got a 50$ ticket for not keeping my mouth shut.
Sad day. ealing with this ranger made me decide cochise was not the place for me so while
he was writing my ticket i packed up my camp and left promptly after him with
really no idea where i was heading. Somewhere along the way we decided we'd
tough it out and just drive all the way to Big Bend National Park since we were
headed to Del Rio by the 21st regardless (like the only actual plan ive had in
months). So after about 12 or so shared hours of driving between my girlfriend
and i we pulled in to the chisos basin campground at the heart of big bend NP
shortly after 9 pm, threw a tent down and went to sleep. I woke in the morning
to the light hitting the cliffs all around me and several hundred feet of exposed
vertical rock on basically all sides of me. it was a very pretty sight and a nice
place to wake up for sure. After having some breakfast and breaking camp we
headed out to see the rest of the park. Our first stop upon leaving was the Santa
Elana canyon. This canyon is pure limestone walls rising 1500~ feet on either side
majestically carved out by the rio grande river on the border of the US and mexico.
This was by far the best site in big bend NP in my opinion, the water in the canyon
was very still and made for a fantastic reflection, the only thing i could have asked
for besides what i got was some clouds in the sky but it was fantastic never the
less. After a couple hours of driving around on dirt roads seeing what there was
to see we decided on a backcountry camp (Camp de Leon) and pitched our tent
there for the night. Upon waking we started heading to del rio TX and stopped at
the Pecos river on the way due to their 300~ foot 12 million year old limestone
cliffs. Ill be exploring this area more over the coming days .
myself in Del Rio, TX. Its surely nice to see my dad. However , i must say the
drive to get here was one i could do without haha. we left St George Utah like
6 days ago now and from what i hear that was one of the best weather calls
ive ever made. Contacts in Utah tell me that its been raining since we left and
its muddy everywhere. At any rate, we headed south through Arizona and
stopped for the night in Prescott AZ. Their town square has some amazing
christmas lights including a 75 or so foot living pine tree that they have enough
flashing lights on to send an epileptic in to a fit. Had i not been driving for like 8
hours i might have had the motivation to take pictures of it but i thought id get
another chance the next day. No such luck....we woke up in the morning to quite a
bit of rain and decided to cut out of prescott to head south to Cochise Stronghold
The drive to Cochise was again long and we got there some time after dark . I had
really no idea what to expect from this place so it was pretty awesome waking
up in the morning to see tons of exposed granite all around me. Unfortunately ,
my knee was hurting quite bad so climbing was out of the forecast for that day.
Instead we decided to just walk some easy/moderate trails and scramble around
on some easier boulders with my dogs. The next morning I had the pleasure of
waking up to an asshole ranger on a power trip who preceeded to give me a ticket
for failure to pay fee as per posted instructions while he was holding my payment
in his other hand. In reality i got a 50$ ticket for not keeping my mouth shut.
Sad day. ealing with this ranger made me decide cochise was not the place for me so while
he was writing my ticket i packed up my camp and left promptly after him with
really no idea where i was heading. Somewhere along the way we decided we'd
tough it out and just drive all the way to Big Bend National Park since we were
headed to Del Rio by the 21st regardless (like the only actual plan ive had in
months). So after about 12 or so shared hours of driving between my girlfriend
and i we pulled in to the chisos basin campground at the heart of big bend NP
shortly after 9 pm, threw a tent down and went to sleep. I woke in the morning
to the light hitting the cliffs all around me and several hundred feet of exposed
vertical rock on basically all sides of me. it was a very pretty sight and a nice
place to wake up for sure. After having some breakfast and breaking camp we
headed out to see the rest of the park. Our first stop upon leaving was the Santa
Elana canyon. This canyon is pure limestone walls rising 1500~ feet on either side
majestically carved out by the rio grande river on the border of the US and mexico.
This was by far the best site in big bend NP in my opinion, the water in the canyon
was very still and made for a fantastic reflection, the only thing i could have asked
for besides what i got was some clouds in the sky but it was fantastic never the
less. After a couple hours of driving around on dirt roads seeing what there was
to see we decided on a backcountry camp (Camp de Leon) and pitched our tent
there for the night. Upon waking we started heading to del rio TX and stopped at
the Pecos river on the way due to their 300~ foot 12 million year old limestone
cliffs. Ill be exploring this area more over the coming days .
 |
| Cochise Stronghold form Sunsites |
 |
| Woodpecker at Cochise Stronghold |
 |
| Santa Elana Canyon narrows at Big Bend National Park |
 |
| Mouth of the Santa Elana Canyon at Big Bend National Park |
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
OLD BLOGS FROM WEBSITE
8/26/10
Preperation
Where does one start something like this. Im Zach Mortimer.
Climber, Photographer, Naturalist, Free Thinker, Confident,
Smart, determined. These are words I use to describe myself.
I live my life with my fantastic girlfriend Nancy and our two
great dogs Sasha, and Red. The point of this blog is to recount
the adventures I go on in my life and to share stories of the
places I've been.
Why should you read this blog? Well, unlike most people ive chosen
to abandon "normal" living and go on the road to see all there is
to see, and do all there is to do. Many people have told me about
a lot of great places and now im going to see them for myself
and hopefully capture their beauty to share with others.
I titled this section preperation because I'm unfortunately not on
the road yet. Most of the particulars are taken care of and the
rest will be finished throughout this month. I will be updating this
blog from the road via the use of laptops, solar energy, and wifi.
All of the things needed to do this have already been purchased
and now its just a matter of packing up my stuff and getting it
in storage in case i ever want it again. Till next time....
Zach
09/01/10
Everything Going to Plan
Everything is going exactly as planned...Things honestly
couldnt be working out better atm. Everything seems to
be falling in to place at the right time, on sale, and
gets delivered faster than it was supposed to. Now,
I'm just waiting on my laptop, battery pack, and my
charge controller to arrive and ill have everything I
need to go.
In 2 days or so I leave for a short trip to the
Washington Coast and I am super excited for this
opportunity to see that area as I have yet to make it
over there in my 17 or so years of living in WA.
Should be able to get a ton of fantastic shots and
have a great time with my girlfriend and her mother.
Here's hoping the rest of my stuff gets here before
I need to leave for that so I can play with it all at the
coast :))
09/10/10
OLYMPICS...and the plan
Man so much stuff to post about haha. Lets start where we
left off. I got the majority of my stuff i was waiting on before
leaving to the Olympics. So i got to test most of my new gear
on that trip and it all worked very well. I did decide i will need
a larger batter unit though so I ordered a new one of those
today. The Olympics were amazing and its definitely a place
I could see myself living sometime. I feel like I ran through all
the things I did while i was there and still didnt see even half
of the stuff i wanted to. However, the half I did see was
absolutely amazing. The rainforest on the peninsula is like
being on another planet. I keep waiting for an ewok to poke
his head out of the bushes or something. We basically made a
round trip around the peninsula of Washington with some little
side trips to see things in the forest or at the beach. All in all
it was a very very good time and I am very eager to go back...
10/15/10
SO...that took longer than expected
So its the middle of october and im still in the tri-cities. Bummer i know but its not
all bad, i am moving the last of my stuff to storage on the 24th and should be out
of here by the 25th or 26th, next stop the oregon coast and freedom!!!
im so unbelievably excited for this next chapter of my life icouldnt possibly put it in
to words. We've decided to basically slowly make our way down the coast until north
of LA where we will head to joshua tree then on through vegas to the grand canyon
and continuing east ending up in Texas for christmas/new years with some family
and friends. After the holidays we will start heading back west increasing our
elevation as the weather allows! I am really looking forward to getting to be in the
desert again, for those who dont know i was born in tucson , AZ and spent
countless hours wandering around the desert with my mom.
At any rate, all the logistics are set in place now and dates are set for it all.
so the time is finally upon us all be it several months later than i thought it was
going to be in the first place. so check back the end of this monthfor more updates
from the road
-Zach
10/25/10
Living in a van..DOWN BY THE RIVER
ok so its not a van and its not down by the river...yet..but it might as well be.
I've moved all my stuff except for my computer equipment to my storage shed and
im now living in a nearly completely empty house with no appliances except a
dishwasher, which would be great if all the dishes werent in storage XD.
Anyway, just waiting on some sleeping bags i ordered now . They will be here by the
29th (friday) and then its off i ride in to the sunset.
Each day that goes by i get more and more excited for this next chapter of my
life. I've now mapped out more places that i want to go than ill probably be able to
actually make it to in the time frame that i set out initially and ill most likely
want to spend more time than expected at a lot of the places. That being said,
I think ill be pinching pennies a little more than i expected to as far as my own
personal wants/needs go to try and prolong the trip more (or indefinitely lol).
That's where things sit right now, basically just playing the waiting game then its
off to the oregon coast first unless some where else sounds better on the way
there!
-Zach
11/14/10
time sure flies when you're having fun!
wow i expexted to update this so much more, and for not doing that i apologize.
however, if its any consolation i've been having an amazing time enjoying my
completely unhindered freedom. in the last two weeks ive abandoned my home, met
some of the strangest people imaginable (in a good way), almost hit a black bear,
slept in several rest stops, backed in to a tree, ran in to Tommy Caldwell in the
Yosemite village store and got to wish him luck on the 2 week attempt he and
Kevin Jorgenson started yesterday on tommy's project on the dawn wall of el cap,
once finished this will be the hardest big wall line in the world with a french rating
of 8b/8b+. Many other crazy shenanigans have also taken place in this short
time from getting lost on backwoods dirt roads, to almost being ran off the road
by psychotic logging truckers driving 85 mph down windy mountain roads. All in all
this has been the funnest two weeks of my life and at this point i wouldnt want to
be living my life any other way than by the seat of my pants with all my stuff
packed in to my car. I must say if anyone has e ven a slight inkling of wanting to
just get out there and do whatever you want regardless of the risks it willl
require, i say do it, from my experience so far this will be the best decision you've
ever made.
LIFE IS SO AMAZING ON THE ROAD!!!!!!!!!
12/13/10
Ahh..the good life!
Everytime I come to update my blog i realize that its been far to long since the
last update. However, this doesnt really suprise me with the outrageous amount
of fun i have each and every day. It makes it quite easy to not find time to blog.
That being said I managed to find some time today. For the last 3 weeks ive
been bouldering nearly every day climbing 3 days on 1 day off and my day off
generally includes a long hike. I feel stronger than ever at the moment and it is
fantastic. Im easily accomplishing problems and moves now on rock that when i
came to utah i first looked at and said "yeah right". Thus far i am very happy
with my progression and the opportunity to climb so much with no injuries. heres
hoping i can keep that streak up atleast for the rest of this week.. On friday or
Saturday i plan to start leisurely making my way south to Del Rio to see my dad
for christmas. I am really looking forward to it and Nancy is looking forward to
meeting my dad. Hopefully i can find some fun things to do along the way.
That being said, I plan to climb as much as i possibly can until we leave. St George
will definitely be missed while im gone but i reckon our seperation wont last that
long.
-Zach-
Preperation
Where does one start something like this. Im Zach Mortimer.
Climber, Photographer, Naturalist, Free Thinker, Confident,
Smart, determined. These are words I use to describe myself.
I live my life with my fantastic girlfriend Nancy and our two
great dogs Sasha, and Red. The point of this blog is to recount
the adventures I go on in my life and to share stories of the
places I've been.
Why should you read this blog? Well, unlike most people ive chosen
to abandon "normal" living and go on the road to see all there is
to see, and do all there is to do. Many people have told me about
a lot of great places and now im going to see them for myself
and hopefully capture their beauty to share with others.
I titled this section preperation because I'm unfortunately not on
the road yet. Most of the particulars are taken care of and the
rest will be finished throughout this month. I will be updating this
blog from the road via the use of laptops, solar energy, and wifi.
All of the things needed to do this have already been purchased
and now its just a matter of packing up my stuff and getting it
in storage in case i ever want it again. Till next time....
Zach
09/01/10
Everything Going to Plan
Everything is going exactly as planned...Things honestly
couldnt be working out better atm. Everything seems to
be falling in to place at the right time, on sale, and
gets delivered faster than it was supposed to. Now,
I'm just waiting on my laptop, battery pack, and my
charge controller to arrive and ill have everything I
need to go.
In 2 days or so I leave for a short trip to the
Washington Coast and I am super excited for this
opportunity to see that area as I have yet to make it
over there in my 17 or so years of living in WA.
Should be able to get a ton of fantastic shots and
have a great time with my girlfriend and her mother.
Here's hoping the rest of my stuff gets here before
I need to leave for that so I can play with it all at the
coast :))
09/10/10
OLYMPICS...and the plan
Man so much stuff to post about haha. Lets start where we
left off. I got the majority of my stuff i was waiting on before
leaving to the Olympics. So i got to test most of my new gear
on that trip and it all worked very well. I did decide i will need
a larger batter unit though so I ordered a new one of those
today. The Olympics were amazing and its definitely a place
I could see myself living sometime. I feel like I ran through all
the things I did while i was there and still didnt see even half
of the stuff i wanted to. However, the half I did see was
absolutely amazing. The rainforest on the peninsula is like
being on another planet. I keep waiting for an ewok to poke
his head out of the bushes or something. We basically made a
round trip around the peninsula of Washington with some little
side trips to see things in the forest or at the beach. All in all
it was a very very good time and I am very eager to go back...
10/15/10
SO...that took longer than expected
So its the middle of october and im still in the tri-cities. Bummer i know but its not
all bad, i am moving the last of my stuff to storage on the 24th and should be out
of here by the 25th or 26th, next stop the oregon coast and freedom!!!
im so unbelievably excited for this next chapter of my life icouldnt possibly put it in
to words. We've decided to basically slowly make our way down the coast until north
of LA where we will head to joshua tree then on through vegas to the grand canyon
and continuing east ending up in Texas for christmas/new years with some family
and friends. After the holidays we will start heading back west increasing our
elevation as the weather allows! I am really looking forward to getting to be in the
desert again, for those who dont know i was born in tucson , AZ and spent
countless hours wandering around the desert with my mom.
At any rate, all the logistics are set in place now and dates are set for it all.
so the time is finally upon us all be it several months later than i thought it was
going to be in the first place. so check back the end of this monthfor more updates
from the road
-Zach
10/25/10
Living in a van..DOWN BY THE RIVER
ok so its not a van and its not down by the river...yet..but it might as well be.
I've moved all my stuff except for my computer equipment to my storage shed and
im now living in a nearly completely empty house with no appliances except a
dishwasher, which would be great if all the dishes werent in storage XD.
Anyway, just waiting on some sleeping bags i ordered now . They will be here by the
29th (friday) and then its off i ride in to the sunset.
Each day that goes by i get more and more excited for this next chapter of my
life. I've now mapped out more places that i want to go than ill probably be able to
actually make it to in the time frame that i set out initially and ill most likely
want to spend more time than expected at a lot of the places. That being said,
I think ill be pinching pennies a little more than i expected to as far as my own
personal wants/needs go to try and prolong the trip more (or indefinitely lol).
That's where things sit right now, basically just playing the waiting game then its
off to the oregon coast first unless some where else sounds better on the way
there!
-Zach
11/14/10
time sure flies when you're having fun!
wow i expexted to update this so much more, and for not doing that i apologize.
however, if its any consolation i've been having an amazing time enjoying my
completely unhindered freedom. in the last two weeks ive abandoned my home, met
some of the strangest people imaginable (in a good way), almost hit a black bear,
slept in several rest stops, backed in to a tree, ran in to Tommy Caldwell in the
Yosemite village store and got to wish him luck on the 2 week attempt he and
Kevin Jorgenson started yesterday on tommy's project on the dawn wall of el cap,
once finished this will be the hardest big wall line in the world with a french rating
of 8b/8b+. Many other crazy shenanigans have also taken place in this short
time from getting lost on backwoods dirt roads, to almost being ran off the road
by psychotic logging truckers driving 85 mph down windy mountain roads. All in all
this has been the funnest two weeks of my life and at this point i wouldnt want to
be living my life any other way than by the seat of my pants with all my stuff
packed in to my car. I must say if anyone has e ven a slight inkling of wanting to
just get out there and do whatever you want regardless of the risks it willl
require, i say do it, from my experience so far this will be the best decision you've
ever made.
LIFE IS SO AMAZING ON THE ROAD!!!!!!!!!
12/13/10
Ahh..the good life!
Everytime I come to update my blog i realize that its been far to long since the
last update. However, this doesnt really suprise me with the outrageous amount
of fun i have each and every day. It makes it quite easy to not find time to blog.
That being said I managed to find some time today. For the last 3 weeks ive
been bouldering nearly every day climbing 3 days on 1 day off and my day off
generally includes a long hike. I feel stronger than ever at the moment and it is
fantastic. Im easily accomplishing problems and moves now on rock that when i
came to utah i first looked at and said "yeah right". Thus far i am very happy
with my progression and the opportunity to climb so much with no injuries. heres
hoping i can keep that streak up atleast for the rest of this week.. On friday or
Saturday i plan to start leisurely making my way south to Del Rio to see my dad
for christmas. I am really looking forward to it and Nancy is looking forward to
meeting my dad. Hopefully i can find some fun things to do along the way.
That being said, I plan to climb as much as i possibly can until we leave. St George
will definitely be missed while im gone but i reckon our seperation wont last that
long.
-Zach-
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