Over the 4th of July weekend, my wife Courtney and I, with our dog Gregor in tow, headed up to Jackson, Wyoming for the weekend to do a little rafting on the Snake River. We set out to run the 13 mile stretch of Class I/Flat Water river from the Wilson Boat Ramp down to the South Park Boat Ramp. The views were incredible as we floated down stream, leaving views of the Tetons in our wake. This was the second trip out on our raft BB, and we are slowly getting the hang of this rafting thing. Zachary KenneyMy …
Author: Zachary Kenney
The Eden Epic | A Truly INSANE Mountain Bike Race
7 Hours in the saddle. 8,000 vertical feet of climbing. 3 miles of hike-a-bike. Oh, and of course a rain-storm that came in just as the racers were on the 9,500′ ridgeline dropping the temps to a finger-numbing 40 degrees. That’s just a part of the sufferfest that is known as the Eden Epic mountain bike race. Mixed in, during the 45 mile perpetual slog, was actually a stunning landscape that wrapped around high above the Eden valley. Check the course out on Trailforks.com. The race course was a mix of forest roads that were rocky, muddy, and steep, as …
Is Bend, Oregon the Best Mountain Town?
I honestly cannot believe after going to Bend, Oregon every summer for the past three years, that I haven’t written more about it. The reason I say this, is because, quite literally, Bend is my wife and I’s favorite mountain town we’ve ever been to. Which makes more sense why we’ve made the 12 hour drive here every year, without ever being disappointed. Quite frankly, the mountain town vibe, the endless River activities, the incredible breweries scene, and of course the amazing mountain biking are just the tip of the iceberg of reasons why Bend is the best mountain town …
Cabin Life: Year in Tollgate Canyon
One whole year, 365 days in the books living up on the mountain. My wife and I have experienced and grown so much since moving into our dream log cabin in August 2021. But now is a time to recap on all the highs and lows that we’ve gone though living in Tollgate Canyon just outside of Park City, UT. The Wildlife First thing that comes to mind is the wildlife! Before moving up here, I’d seen maybe 3 Moose in total in Utah. Within our first month, we had seen a moose on our property 4-5 times a week! And …
Trail Running With Your Dog and Developing a Bond
My adventure dog Gregor and I head out most mornings from the house in the dark, cold, quiet, mountain air. Headlamps and light-up collars sending us off into the dark on the dirt roads, up and down along the contours of the mountainside we live on. My dog, living his best life, runs ahead by about 10 feet smelling all the scents along the way. As cars come, I call him back, waiting for the neighbor to pass by. Deer scramble from the open areas, into the wooded sections, upon the first sight of us. Sometimes my dog will try …
Exploring The Florida Keys on Vacation and Why This Should Be Your Next Beach Destination
When the destination of Florida was tossed around for our family trip this year, admittedly, I had some serious hesitations. Normally, we try to go to some place that’s more of a “destination” or out of the country. But with the pandemic making international travel a bit more hectic and chaotic than what we were willing to risk, we decided on making the trip to the Florida Keys. As it turns out, the Florida Keys are so far from what I could have ever imagined being attached to our Sunshine State. The Florida Keys contain over 800 islands, but are …
First Time Rafting the Snake River in Jackson, Wyoming
Fourth of July in Jackson, Wyoming, finally getting to raft the Snake River for the first time, could it get much better than that? Well I’ll spoil the rest of the story for you, minus getting our campsite stolen by another couple, no, it doesn’t get much better than floating down a glacial fed river through the Teton Valley in the peak of summer. And with three days off work, we were able to get on two different sections of the river, each having incredible experiences tied to them. The plan was to float the mellow sections of river from …
First Experience Rafting the Moab Daily (Without a Guide)
We’ve been living in the West for almost 5 years now, seeing people going on incredible adventures in the big mountains, through the vast deserts, and of course down the stunning rivers. And though we’ve been on a river trip here and there, my wife and I wouldn’t consider ourselves river folk, which is a totally different breed of mountain living. That is, until, we finally dipped our toe into the rafting life, when we bought our first big whitewater raft, a STAR Outlaw! And with little to no whitewater experience, we decided to just go for it, and headed …
Backpacking the Escalante River Trail with Dogs
First off, I had no idea a backpacking route like this could ever exist here in the Utah desert! A trail that snakes below the steep walls of the desert plateau along a winding river. And over the Memorial Day weekend, a group of us decided to do an overnight backpacking trip down the Escalante River trail, and it couldn’t have been a more adventurous trip! We experienced everything from high energy to exhaustion, and dried river beds to wading through waist deep water! The Escalante river originates in the town of Escalante, UT, flows nearly a 100 miles through …
SCUBA Diving Key West, Florida
Despite the sweltering heat of a Florida summer, we chose to take a dive trip to the Florida Keys this July and I couldn’t have been more excited. The day after we landed and drove the four hours from Miami to the last Key in the Florida Keys, Key West. Once we got settled into our place, the next day we headed down to Front Street to Southpoint Divers Dive shop to get checked in and head to the dive boat which was parked in the nearby harbor. From there, we hopped on and headed onto the boat and headed …