See "Craziness" for update on my life as of Aug 22nd.
Hello everyone! Welcome to Escape From Cubical Hell where I'm telling the tale of one man's quest to leave everything behind to live out his dreams.
I used to live in central Il where I was born and raised. Since graduating from high school I've always wanted to leave and see what's out there, but never really had the guts to do it. Last year I took off out west to explore and fell in love with the adventure, sunshine, and healthy lifestyle. After a winter of thoughts I have decided to move to Salt Lake City where I have some great friends already. Feel free to read through my post as I embark on grand adventures, rant about all the crazy stuff happening in our country, and who knows what else! Thanks for visiting.
My personal email is located in "My Complete Profile." Feel free to contact me.
Saturday, January 1, 2011
Friday, December 31, 2010
Lots of pics on my Smugmug site and Vids on Youtube
Click the link on the right hand side of this page "My Photo Site". Once there, go to the bottom of the page to "Photo Timeline." From there you can select dates of pictures added. So if you want to see all my new pics from last Friday select May 8th through May 10th and only new pics added in that time will show up and they will be on one page only.
My videos are on youtube (with the rest of the worlds) under my user name 'iambquinn'
My videos are on youtube (with the rest of the worlds) under my user name 'iambquinn'
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
Liar Liar Pants on Fire
I despise liars. Especially when it screws me over. I've been patiently waiting to go out with the experienced guides to learn the ins and outs of elk hunting. After the season has been open for almost three weeks and no trips with our guides I had to have a little sit down with the owner here. I explained that when we talked over the phone (before I accepted the position) I was told that I would be an assistant guide all of bow season and then guide on my own during rifle season. So what's going on here? I've been a certified camp bitch now for 3 weeks barely getting to leave camp to do anything "fun". I haven't heard anything about me going out with the guides and it sure doesn't sound like it's going to happen anytime soon.
I'm not going to bash anyone on my public blog, but the outcome of this talk I had is that I'm leaving this stinkin mountain as soon as I can get a ride down to my car!
It's sad, it's frustrating, but it's the best option at this point.
So, back to Peoria for some family time. Talking with old friends about some work that I hope pulls through. Thinking about going back to school full time in the spring and work part time. Anyways, that's the update for now.
I'm not going to bash anyone on my public blog, but the outcome of this talk I had is that I'm leaving this stinkin mountain as soon as I can get a ride down to my car!
It's sad, it's frustrating, but it's the best option at this point.
So, back to Peoria for some family time. Talking with old friends about some work that I hope pulls through. Thinking about going back to school full time in the spring and work part time. Anyways, that's the update for now.
Friday, September 3, 2010
Day ???
It's amazing how nice it is not knowing what day it is. To be free of civilization, traffic, cell phones, morons...it's absolutely soul cleansing. Waking up at 9,320ft every morning is something everyone needs to escape to for a week at least once in their life.
Lately I've been working my butt off. The best part about it is that my work does not include a commute, emails, phone calls, meetings, coworkers around you that make you pull your hair out...or turn it grey. Instead I'm getting to do work that makes me feel like a man, not a pawn to "The Man." I typically wake up and gather horses/mules, bring them food, brush them, throw a saddle over a few then head into the cook house for a nice warm breakfast. The rest of my day consist of packing mules, scouting, chopping wood, cleaning up around camp, washing my hands a dozen times a day, and anything Larry tells me to do. Yesterday I drove down to Eagle and picked up a few hunters at the airport, a nice break from camp life, but a trip to town is never wasted. I had to take our garbage trailer to the dump first, pick up groceries, stop at the bank, auto parts store...etc.
Today, which is somewhere between Thursday and Sunday (actually I know it's Friday but that's just because my computer told me so when I logged on) we had 6 hunters going out to drop camps, but those were three duos, which meant packing seperately for each one after the other for the first 5hrs of the day. We also had 3 guided hunters come into camp which is great news for me...I should be heading out to guide soon! I believe we have another two guided hunters coming in later today that are going to be taking video of their entire experience to be published on a hunting DVD. How cool is that! I may be lucky enough to head out with them and be "Bob, the guide" one day (unfortunately not the lead guide, but still great none-the-less).
Dream job? Almost. Take away my battered hands that I can't seem to keep clean or moist, and my new tentmate that snores, and the lack of laundry facility, and I can assure you this beats my previous jobs hands down. The money, nice house, fancy car, motorcycles..blah blah blah. What's life if you never live to experience what God put on this earth for us to enjoy? If you have never spend time out west in the mountains, I suggest you do so ASAP so you can hopefully understand my feelings.
I've been posting pictures on my smugmug site. The gallery is not "featured" on the first page so it's easy to find.
Well, a crew just pulled in with 3 horses and 4 mules that need attention. Gotta run!
Lately I've been working my butt off. The best part about it is that my work does not include a commute, emails, phone calls, meetings, coworkers around you that make you pull your hair out...or turn it grey. Instead I'm getting to do work that makes me feel like a man, not a pawn to "The Man." I typically wake up and gather horses/mules, bring them food, brush them, throw a saddle over a few then head into the cook house for a nice warm breakfast. The rest of my day consist of packing mules, scouting, chopping wood, cleaning up around camp, washing my hands a dozen times a day, and anything Larry tells me to do. Yesterday I drove down to Eagle and picked up a few hunters at the airport, a nice break from camp life, but a trip to town is never wasted. I had to take our garbage trailer to the dump first, pick up groceries, stop at the bank, auto parts store...etc.
Today, which is somewhere between Thursday and Sunday (actually I know it's Friday but that's just because my computer told me so when I logged on) we had 6 hunters going out to drop camps, but those were three duos, which meant packing seperately for each one after the other for the first 5hrs of the day. We also had 3 guided hunters come into camp which is great news for me...I should be heading out to guide soon! I believe we have another two guided hunters coming in later today that are going to be taking video of their entire experience to be published on a hunting DVD. How cool is that! I may be lucky enough to head out with them and be "Bob, the guide" one day (unfortunately not the lead guide, but still great none-the-less).
Dream job? Almost. Take away my battered hands that I can't seem to keep clean or moist, and my new tentmate that snores, and the lack of laundry facility, and I can assure you this beats my previous jobs hands down. The money, nice house, fancy car, motorcycles..blah blah blah. What's life if you never live to experience what God put on this earth for us to enjoy? If you have never spend time out west in the mountains, I suggest you do so ASAP so you can hopefully understand my feelings.
I've been posting pictures on my smugmug site. The gallery is not "featured" on the first page so it's easy to find.
Well, a crew just pulled in with 3 horses and 4 mules that need attention. Gotta run!
Saturday, August 28, 2010
Day 3, Winter Hawk Outfitters
Yesterday I went scouting with 4 others for the first time, and first time riding a horse in over 10 years. Good day, nice weather, sore butt...about 7hrs in the saddle.
Today the crew was packing in a camp (taking supplies and tent to set up in remote location). I asked if I could go scouting instead and Larry allowed. Another 7hrs or so on saddle today and lots of ground covered. Saw 3 bull elk, one shooter, got rained on a few times, temps dropped quite a bit today. Was up above 10,000ft all day while scouting closer to the tree line where the elk tend to be this time of year. They will soon come down more and start bugling which will be great.
Anyways, hitting the sack, need to rest so I can do it all over again tomorrow!
Pics are on my photo site, look in "Travel" then "Winterhawk Elk Guiding"
Today the crew was packing in a camp (taking supplies and tent to set up in remote location). I asked if I could go scouting instead and Larry allowed. Another 7hrs or so on saddle today and lots of ground covered. Saw 3 bull elk, one shooter, got rained on a few times, temps dropped quite a bit today. Was up above 10,000ft all day while scouting closer to the tree line where the elk tend to be this time of year. They will soon come down more and start bugling which will be great.
Anyways, hitting the sack, need to rest so I can do it all over again tomorrow!
Pics are on my photo site, look in "Travel" then "Winterhawk Elk Guiding"
Thursday, August 26, 2010
Update from 9320ft
At base camp, internet connection is weak on the satellite. Had troubles uploading pics and couldn't do the web cam with Carrie :(
Looks like writing in the blog will be by best option.
Not sure how I'm going to keep the updates coming, so for now I'll just post interesting stuff.
Today I went back down the mountain with Larry (owner) and went grocery/suppy shopping. Needless to say it was a bit more than a typical shopping trip. It took us 15 minutes to load the truck up with the groceries there were so many!
Tomorrow I head out on horse back to scout some areas with a few other guys. Should be great.
I'm the only one here that doesn't wear cowboy boots and wrangler jeans and chew tobacco :)
Will keep ya posted.
Looks like writing in the blog will be by best option.
Not sure how I'm going to keep the updates coming, so for now I'll just post interesting stuff.
Today I went back down the mountain with Larry (owner) and went grocery/suppy shopping. Needless to say it was a bit more than a typical shopping trip. It took us 15 minutes to load the truck up with the groceries there were so many!
Tomorrow I head out on horse back to scout some areas with a few other guys. Should be great.
I'm the only one here that doesn't wear cowboy boots and wrangler jeans and chew tobacco :)
Will keep ya posted.
Sunday, August 22, 2010
Craziness!
So it's 4am and I can't sleep worth a darn. Why you ask? Well yesterday I got a call from Larry Amos at Winterhawk Outfitters saying he needs me this fall guiding elk hunts in the Flattops Wilderness area of Colorado!!! First off, check out his website to see the great business they run(www.winterhawk.com). Total world class operation. That craziness??? Well the season starts next Sat, one week from when he called me. So in the next few days I need to pack up all my belongings, my bro and Mom are going to raid my storage unit back home for my hunting gear and ship it out to me which means it'll get there either Thursday or Friday. Larry wanted me over there ASAP but the soonest I'll be able to leave is Tuesday morning (basically giving me 2 full days to prepare).
So a few details of my 3 month adventure:
- Sept will be my break-in period learning the area, how to hunt/call, packing in hunters on horses to small camps, and following along on hunts with experienced guides.
- early Oct there is a break between archery season and rifle season where I'll have to cut trees, chop wood for fires in the cold months to come, restock base camps..etc. If I prove myself worthy in Sept (which I will) then I might be guiding rifle hunters on my own when the season opens. Rifle season is 5 weeks long and is the end of the adventure. There will be a few days of tearing down and halling everything out of the area then I can go. Might make it home for Thanksgiving.
Lots of cool details like having a few pros coming to hunt on video for tv series, outdoor writers, and crossing my fingers I might be doing some video work for the business for marketing. They are thinking hard about buying a new semi-pro level HD camera and will need a video guy.
Basically this is a dream come true. I came across the job by thinking only a few days ago "what would be a dream job of mine" and it was guiding elk/mule deer hunters in the mountains. I responded to a few adds for guides and even sent a few random emails to outfitters and what do ya know, I get the call!!!! Craziness I tell ya. God works wonders and this is definitely one of those times.
Base camp is going to be 9200ft and most hunts in Sept should be closer to tree line which is around 11,000ft in that area or higher (12,000max). Needless to say I'm so glad I have become acclimated to the altitude and in good shape! No cell phone service. Yes, life can be mantained without them! There is a satelite internet connection in base camp which is the primary source of communication. I will have a few days off during season where I can come down the mountain and go to town for a day (Eagle CO). Sleeping on cots with sleeping bags, hot water, good food, what more can a man ask for?
Anyways, if I can get online during the season I'll try and post up something quick, but I'm not sure if that will be possible. Check out their website and keep watching the blog. I'll try and take lots of pics and vids for everyone to see.
Craziness!!! I'm so excited :)
So a few details of my 3 month adventure:
- Sept will be my break-in period learning the area, how to hunt/call, packing in hunters on horses to small camps, and following along on hunts with experienced guides.
- early Oct there is a break between archery season and rifle season where I'll have to cut trees, chop wood for fires in the cold months to come, restock base camps..etc. If I prove myself worthy in Sept (which I will) then I might be guiding rifle hunters on my own when the season opens. Rifle season is 5 weeks long and is the end of the adventure. There will be a few days of tearing down and halling everything out of the area then I can go. Might make it home for Thanksgiving.
Lots of cool details like having a few pros coming to hunt on video for tv series, outdoor writers, and crossing my fingers I might be doing some video work for the business for marketing. They are thinking hard about buying a new semi-pro level HD camera and will need a video guy.
Basically this is a dream come true. I came across the job by thinking only a few days ago "what would be a dream job of mine" and it was guiding elk/mule deer hunters in the mountains. I responded to a few adds for guides and even sent a few random emails to outfitters and what do ya know, I get the call!!!! Craziness I tell ya. God works wonders and this is definitely one of those times.
Base camp is going to be 9200ft and most hunts in Sept should be closer to tree line which is around 11,000ft in that area or higher (12,000max). Needless to say I'm so glad I have become acclimated to the altitude and in good shape! No cell phone service. Yes, life can be mantained without them! There is a satelite internet connection in base camp which is the primary source of communication. I will have a few days off during season where I can come down the mountain and go to town for a day (Eagle CO). Sleeping on cots with sleeping bags, hot water, good food, what more can a man ask for?
Anyways, if I can get online during the season I'll try and post up something quick, but I'm not sure if that will be possible. Check out their website and keep watching the blog. I'll try and take lots of pics and vids for everyone to see.
Craziness!!! I'm so excited :)
Sunday, July 11, 2010
Nice ride in PC today
Won't bore you with the details. Basically I wanted to try a new route up the mountain for preperation of my big b-day ride I'm planning. For those who don't know, Park City (PC) is just up and over a narrow mountain range from SLC. Once you get to the top of the ridge you can easily drop into canyon roads or trails and head down to either side. The tough part though, is climbing to the top!
So today I went up the PC side which is about 1,500ft less climbing and quite a bit shorter. Overall it was around 3,100ft in app 6.5 miles that took about 1hr 20min. The route didn't pan out as it was too straight up and therefore way to steep. I never really have to walk any trails and today I did!
At the summit I was right at 10,000ft with a great view. I took a quick vid and some pics, even stitched together some pics but it didn't turn out so good.
Here are the pics:
From the top the view is pretty great:
So today I went up the PC side which is about 1,500ft less climbing and quite a bit shorter. Overall it was around 3,100ft in app 6.5 miles that took about 1hr 20min. The route didn't pan out as it was too straight up and therefore way to steep. I never really have to walk any trails and today I did!
At the summit I was right at 10,000ft with a great view. I took a quick vid and some pics, even stitched together some pics but it didn't turn out so good.
Here are the pics:
From the top the view is pretty great:
This was a section of trail that was rather steep! I was riding down it, but this section was just too steep for me. Loose rock and ultra steep trail is a bad combo!
Looking down this steep section. Remember it's always steeper than the pic can show.
So my big b-day ride will be leaving from my house, riding up Millcreek Canyon (12 miles/3,100ft), up to the Wasatch Crest trail (not sure mileage but around 2,000ft), down to PC (3,000ft descent), lunch/break, back up to the ridge and down to my house. Total mileage should be around 42miles with a total elevation gain of app 8,500ft. That my friends is Superman territory!
Here is a link to a short vid of the summit today showing the entire view:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nQHPNRudD8g
Thursday, June 24, 2010
Lots of riding lately
Been riding like crazy lately. My endurance is certainly at an all time high. I've been able to ride the last 6 days, today being my first day off. Tuesday I rode my longest trail ride so far, just a tad over 22 miles with roughly 8 miles of climbing. Yesterday rode in Park City to escape the heat in the valley, it's so nice having that option of almost 10deg cooler with only 20min of driving. Been doing lots of exercising at home in the evenings and I must say for little time I spend working out it's so worth it. I spend anywhere from 20-30min doing simple exercises for my upper body and the results are showing after just two weeks. I really wish I could encourage more people to take the time in the evening while watching tv to do a simple workout. After one week you'll feel so much better everything becomes easier and more enjoyable. Finish up with some good stretching and have a small protein drink (8oz of water is plenty with whatever you take, I use some yummy strawberry flavored protein mix from the grocery store).
Here is a pic from a hillside on my ride two days ago:
Here is a pic from a hillside on my ride two days ago:
Sunday, June 13, 2010
Moab 2010
If you don't want to read about it here are the pics:
http://quinnphoto.smugmug.com/MTB-Pics/Moab-2010/12545712_reG7z
Vids are on youtube under my username: iambquinn
I believe they will come up as latest first.
I'll try not to get into too much detail here.
Arrived Friday around 5pm. Rode Posion Spider Mesa to Portal. PSM pretty much sucked. The Portal on the other hand, WOW, what fun. I forgot my camera, but you can watch this vid: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=erk4BR2GNPo of the trail from another rider. This is considered an Expert Only trail and they mean it. Three riders have died on this trail, yes I said DIED on this trail because for a good amount you are riding on a narrow ledge that is about 600ft up a straight vertical rock wall. No joke here people, this is serious. If you fall to the left you will die guarenteed! Unfortunately videos never do a trail justice. When you see a small drop those are typically more than just a little drop, more like 1.5ft to flat, and plenty of those lined up in a row which is harder then it sounds when crawling through them slowly. Anyways, the Portal trail was by far right up there as one of the most fun technical trails EVER!
Next day we were supposed to ride the Porcupine Rim shuttle but rain cancelled it out so we head over to Amasa Back trail. What can I say other than 100% pure FUN. This trail has so many options to hit off to the side and we hit them all! Probably took up twice as long as normal to ride this trails because of all the times we stopped to play. Rollers (steep rock declines you go down that take a good amount of technical ability so that you don't flipped over the handlebars) and drops were the name of the game and we took it into overtime! At the top we went over to Rockstacker which is another very technical trail with two descents that were surely +5 rated (meaning it can't get much harder or it wouldn't be rideable). Very tricky stuff but really fun too. Shortly after Rockstacker we got poured on, BAD! Blowing, cold, hail mixture, lightning, thunder (all around us and super close) and nowhere to take cover. Finally we made it to some rock where we could get under a ledge and it quit raining. 5min later and the sun came out, but by then we were soaked to the bone and really cold. The rest of the ride in was fun but also a little miserable with cold hands and feet that stung on every bump. Did I mention we were riding super bumpy rock trails and were about 7 miles from the trail head? Yeah!
Sunday we finally got to do the Porcupine Rim shuttle although not the full Enchilada due to rain up high in the mountains. Got to ride from UPS down (still about 15miles). I had 2 specific challenges in mind that I wanted to try, one being the "Notch". For those who don't know about the "Notch", it's a short, steep, slippery, basically extremely difficult section that not many people make it down. I would guess of all the riders on this trail, only 10% try the Notch, and of those maybe 10% succeed. If fact it's so difficult there is another trail option that completely bipasses the Notch. It took me 5 tries, but finally I made it through clean and very happy. Here is the link to that video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_dowgTYVfcY
The rest of the trail was fun. The 2nd section I was looking to tackle was down at the bottom and I was able to clean it up on the 2nd try. First try was really just a stupid mistake at the top, should've never happened, oh well. Here is that vid: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yd22J2MXYzA
Believe me when I say these are SO MUCH harder than they look! Trust me!
Here are a couple of my favorite pics of the trip. Still waiting on the pics from my riding buddy Andrew. Once I get those might post some up.
http://quinnphoto.smugmug.com/MTB-Pics/Moab-2010/12545712_reG7z
Vids are on youtube under my username: iambquinn
I believe they will come up as latest first.
I'll try not to get into too much detail here.
Arrived Friday around 5pm. Rode Posion Spider Mesa to Portal. PSM pretty much sucked. The Portal on the other hand, WOW, what fun. I forgot my camera, but you can watch this vid: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=erk4BR2GNPo of the trail from another rider. This is considered an Expert Only trail and they mean it. Three riders have died on this trail, yes I said DIED on this trail because for a good amount you are riding on a narrow ledge that is about 600ft up a straight vertical rock wall. No joke here people, this is serious. If you fall to the left you will die guarenteed! Unfortunately videos never do a trail justice. When you see a small drop those are typically more than just a little drop, more like 1.5ft to flat, and plenty of those lined up in a row which is harder then it sounds when crawling through them slowly. Anyways, the Portal trail was by far right up there as one of the most fun technical trails EVER!
Next day we were supposed to ride the Porcupine Rim shuttle but rain cancelled it out so we head over to Amasa Back trail. What can I say other than 100% pure FUN. This trail has so many options to hit off to the side and we hit them all! Probably took up twice as long as normal to ride this trails because of all the times we stopped to play. Rollers (steep rock declines you go down that take a good amount of technical ability so that you don't flipped over the handlebars) and drops were the name of the game and we took it into overtime! At the top we went over to Rockstacker which is another very technical trail with two descents that were surely +5 rated (meaning it can't get much harder or it wouldn't be rideable). Very tricky stuff but really fun too. Shortly after Rockstacker we got poured on, BAD! Blowing, cold, hail mixture, lightning, thunder (all around us and super close) and nowhere to take cover. Finally we made it to some rock where we could get under a ledge and it quit raining. 5min later and the sun came out, but by then we were soaked to the bone and really cold. The rest of the ride in was fun but also a little miserable with cold hands and feet that stung on every bump. Did I mention we were riding super bumpy rock trails and were about 7 miles from the trail head? Yeah!
Sunday we finally got to do the Porcupine Rim shuttle although not the full Enchilada due to rain up high in the mountains. Got to ride from UPS down (still about 15miles). I had 2 specific challenges in mind that I wanted to try, one being the "Notch". For those who don't know about the "Notch", it's a short, steep, slippery, basically extremely difficult section that not many people make it down. I would guess of all the riders on this trail, only 10% try the Notch, and of those maybe 10% succeed. If fact it's so difficult there is another trail option that completely bipasses the Notch. It took me 5 tries, but finally I made it through clean and very happy. Here is the link to that video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_dowgTYVfcY
The rest of the trail was fun. The 2nd section I was looking to tackle was down at the bottom and I was able to clean it up on the 2nd try. First try was really just a stupid mistake at the top, should've never happened, oh well. Here is that vid: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yd22J2MXYzA
Believe me when I say these are SO MUCH harder than they look! Trust me!
Here are a couple of my favorite pics of the trip. Still waiting on the pics from my riding buddy Andrew. Once I get those might post some up.
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