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This was genuinely one of the coolest things I have done. Sure it wasn't easy and it didn't help that I was vastly underprepared and my first solo backpack trip in a long while but this was just not an easy trip. I will say it was absolutely worth it because once you get to the falls and the creek it is gorgeous. Getting to the trailhead took a while too, it was a good 8 hour drive from home, through southern Utah, Vegas and then into no where land in Arizona. I stayed in a small hotel about an hour from the trailhead the night before. One of the many things that I did to make this hike as hard as possible on myself was getting a late start. I had some work to do before I left so I didnt get on the trail until almost noon, most people start at 6 in the morning to avoid the heat but I couldn't. The trail down is about 11 Miles in Depending where you camp once in the campground, I flew down the trail, I was making really great time except for at about mile 3 I started getting blisters and by mile 6 I was very very sore. By the time I got down to the campground my feet were a disaster and I could barely walk, but overall wasn't bad at all getting down to the campground. The good part about this all was that this canyon, the hundreds of feet high sheer walls, the green trees and the absolutely stunning clear blue water of Havasu Creek was worth way more than the wait, cost and effort to get it. I have seen some amazing places but this is easily on the short list of things people need to see if they get the chance. I wish I was down there for longer but I only spent 2 nights and was there for only 1 full day, the hike in and out and that was it. During my day down past the village I hiked another 10 ish miles to walk around to a few other waterfalls that werent along the trail to hike in. Had to hike down Mooney Falls, the decent down into there was pretty crazy, one of the sketchier things I have done but it went well. I plan to make a video of that part of the trip so look in the action camera section of my portfolio for it. The mist from the falls made it slippery and it was a straight up and down hike with worn ladders and rock climbing. I was worried about the hike out, my legs had recovered fine and I wasn't worried about that but my feet were so bad that it was hard enough hiking the 2 miles back into the village on my day out. It ended up taking weeks for my feet to heal through the layered blisters in 15+ different places, needless to say I need some new boots. I decided to pay the fee and take the helicopter out, I had never ridden in one before and it was really cool.

This will be my longest post yet because there is so much to cover, none of which really fits into any other sections like food reviews or photography. This was simply an adventurous hunting trip to the Limpopo province in South Africa. I am going to breaks this down into sections rather than days. I am going to skip over most of the travel because it was long and grueling both there and back. Lots of hours in a plane and just as many in airports. We flew into Polokwane, the nearest city to the lodge and hunting properties and from there we drove the 2 hours got settled and got some rest. The lodge was pretty nice. The first few days were the slowest as far as the hunting goes, first day we went out and sighted in all the rifles and then headed out for a hunt. That first day it was pouring rain for much of the morning. Saw some massive Baobab trees and just enjoyed driving around in the truck. I had some success that morning as well, shot my first impala. It was a pretty simple kill, spotted it on the road, stopped, got the sticks out and found a nice shooting lane. He stopped about 85 yards out quartered towards me so I shot at the chest. It was a good shot but he took off and died 15 yards away after smacking into a tree that actually broke its neck. Got some good photos with it and that was the last animal I shot for a few days. If you zoom in a bit on this video you can see the impala run after I tagged it. We didn't hunt on Sunday but instead we hung around the Limpopo River and did some things there. It actually turned out to be one of my favorite days while there. When we first rolled up to the river we spotted a big crocodile on the other sides banks and a hippo hanging out in the water. We had some lunch and sat on some catfish rods for a bit. I only caught a really small catfish but it was fun, we lost some big ones because of our line breaking and even lost a rod. We used birds and squirrels for bait. That was fun too, I went out and shot a bird with a 17 HMR and hooked it up as bait. After a few days of getting skunked I started getting a little doubtful that I was going to get all of my animals. It was already day 5 and I only had 1 of my 4 downed. The other guys all had some luck but I couldn't get any shots off. That all changed starting with a day 5 evening hunt. We were out driving along the river and we spotted a big ol sow warthog and I had a good shot on her but they discouraged it because she had some young with her and they prefer not to kill the factories for more animals so I passed. After seeing another handful of pigs including some big males I was getting frustrated because they all ran off far before I had a decent shot. So when the chance came I took it. We saw a boar cross the road in front of us and the truck sped up to get to where it crossed and I spotted it. I am not even sure if the truck had stopped yet and I slammed the bolt closed and threw the safety off as I stood up and swung the gun to my right. Within a second or two of me spotting the warthog I had already squeezed off a shot. The truck had just stopped, it was a freehand and rushed shot and the pig was in some brush and trotting but I placed that .308 right where it needed to be. It ran a few yards and thats it. Really cool hunt, the pig had a huge body but the tusks arent huge but it is still a cool trophy and great story. My fortune started to change from there, could also be slightly because of the weather and the moon turning. A gemsbuck was the main reason I wanted to go hunting so that was on top of my list. Days 6,7 and 8 we were targeting them specifically. Once or twice we saw and stalked a few young males but I passed on them because they weren't big enough. One of these stalks we crawled through thorns and bramble for quite a ways just to not shoot but it was a fun stalk. On that same ranch there were 3 or 4 lions but it was a huge ranch so we didn't expect to encounter them. One late evening we spotted a nice mature male gemsbuck but the truck spooked it. It was a nice one so we decided to pursue and try and track it down for a shot. This was in an area where we had seen lion tracks the day before but we went for it. Unfortunately the gemsbuck pulled a fast one on us and walked us in a circle and then its tracks disappeared so we went back to where we started, only to find fresh lion tracks on top of our tracks we just made. We decided for we should try a different place where there was a waterhole that we found and knew gemsbuck would be if there were any in the area. We got to the water at about 9 am on the first day and saw some tracks. When we snuck up into this water hole there was a herd of about 25 cape buffalo and that was super cool to see, once we spooked them off it sounded like a thunder storm crashing through the brush, so cool. We sat there until dark, no sight of any gemsbuck but they don't need to drink every day like most animals. We saw a bunch of cool animals come to the water though, from elephants to tsessebe. Then an absolute monster of an impala came in and I couldn't resist shooting it too. I used a 416, which most people would know as an elephant gun. Its all I had but it did the trick, it was an easy 30 yards and I dropped it in a heartbeat. At this point we were in a blind with dirt floors and again, this rifle was massive and the second I pulled the trigger my ears blew up and the dirt on the floor was thrown in the air and it left a layer of dirt on everyone, my pants were covered, it was a cool experience. That was the end of that day. Got a nice video of the shot DJI Action 2 view The next morning we came long before the sun came up so we wouldn't miss them we hoped that the gemsbuck didn't drink at night or they wouldn't be back for a while. When we got there we looked for tracks and saw no fresh tracks and at that moment I knew we were going to get one because they were going to need water sometime during day. After a very slow day with no action at the water hole a heard of at least 40 Impala came to drink, it was fun to watch the male chase them all around and they were in every direction of the blind of us making all kinds of noise and running around. After a few more animals came in out stepped a massive gemsbuck and my heart instantly started to pound, it was a monster. She came in right to the water and started to drink but she spooked when she heard the dirt move as I moved into position and she started walking away. We waited a minute hoping she would come back but I saw her from another angle going back into the bush so our guide said we should go outside the blind to see if we could get a shot. Once I stepped out we saw her, about 65 yards away almost broad side walking into the bush. I didnt have much time and I knew it so I took the safety off, pulled that .416 to my shoulder and with iron sights and freehanding took the shot. She instantly turned and ran but as she took off I could already see heavy bleeding. The adrenaline made my legs shake, I'd been waiting for that shot the whole trip and was in overdrive once the chance came. We gave her a half hour and then started to track her, it was a pretty easy trail to follow, her tracks were apparent and there was an awful lot of blood to follow, she made it about 100 yards before she dropped. We found her, brought it back to the road and the hunt for the gemsbuck was over. It ended up measuring 41 inches which is a very nice trophy. Here is what it looked like from inside the blind The last animal on my list, duiker. A rather small and pretty cute animal. We actually were at another waterhole waiting on a warthog for someone else in our group when a duiker came in. He wasnt sticking around and he barely gave me a shot, he didnt even look like he was going to drink but kept on walking, luckily I had the gun ready and shot right as he entered my shooting lane, he went down instantly as a .30-06 was more than enough for the little guy. I used 5 or 6 different guns on this trip to get all my animals, so much fun and I got some amazing trophies, stories and experiences under my belt. Even just being in my hunting gear and driving around looking in the binoculars was so much fun in and of itself. I made a list of some of the animals we saw throughout the trip that I didnt mention already: Bat eared fox Mongoose Golden variants of the gemsbuck and Wildebeest Franklin Ginea fowl Rock python and Black mamba Ostrich Hippo Black impala Monitor Lizard Egyptian goose African wild cat Civet Cape Buffalo Sable There were also a pile of other birds like the yellow billed horn bill, kori bustard, white backed vulture, sand grouse and a bunch of other pretty ones Lots of our animals that we hunted we ate for lunch and dinner: Impala curry Impala breakfast sausage Nyala pot pie Kudu pasta Gemsbuck tenderloin steak Wildebeest steak Here are some random photos and videos that I took that didn't fit into the main stories Our blind for the gemsbuck hunt Impala + Tsessebe Sable

Business trips mostly mean business, especially on this trip. It was 2 full days of training and not much time for anything else but whenever I am in a different city, I always find time for some poking around and trying of new food. My hotel was really cool, because I usually stay at Marriott hotels I don't often experience local one offs. This hotel called the CatBird was really unique and neat, from the decorations and platform bed to the awesome lobby and projector TVs. The training happened in another cool hotel right across the street from the Rockies stadium so that was pretty neat too. As most cities I visit, the food was the main thing I went out of my way for. Because the company was doing shared ubers, I had to walk anywhere I wanted to go on my own which meant 5+ Miles of walking to get to some good food. It was worth it though because I got to stop into a Bib Gourmand and that is always worth it. Though maybe not my favorite place it had one of my favorite dishes, the green curry fish tacos. Fun atmosphere too and it was a great stop. As a company we also went to the puttshack which was awesome, got to meet some new people that turned out to be really cool and then got a couple strokes away from a course record.

It was that time of the year again, anyone that is tough or dumb enough heads out to the desert for a winter campout and wildlife drive or 2. It was a good time this year, we headed out early Saturday and had ample time to set up a real camp this time and the shelter was great. Between that., the fact that I was overpacked for sleep and the temperature being a bit warmer, I think we all kept warm through the night. We had a pretty good camp set up and spent a lot of time moving rocks for the firepit and our nice rock tile floor. The highlight of the trip for me was what it usually is, spotting all the wildlife. We went on a few morning drives and a couple evening drives too and it was completely worth it. We saw every animal on what we call the Bookcliff Big 5, mule deer, antelope, bison, big horned sheep and elk. We had to have seen almost 50 bucks and a handful of really nice ones. A pile of elk with a handful of bulls, a herd of 5 bison, another herd of sheep and then a small herd of pronghorn on the way in. I was able to get a few nice pictures with the camera but not many, between shooting in really low light and not being able to get very close, it was hard to get a good clear shot. Here are a couple that turned out though.

Got the Jensen side of the family together again this year for Pioneer Day weekend. Though most people were in and out for the weekend Allie, Pepsi and I were there for 3 full days and nights. This is for sure one of my favorite things that happens every year, spend time sleeping in a tent, sitting around the fire and eating meals and snacks. With the Uinta River running down the canyon and right past the creek we spend a lot of time playing in the water. I swam and did a cold plunge every day. One of the visits down there I just sat in the snow melt water for 15 minutes up to my mouth. On Sunday morning we all did a hike as well up to Sheep Bridge up the canyon, it was great. 8 Miles out and back along the river in some very pretty country.

Took a business trip over to Texas. Most of my time was spend working but I had some time to poke around a bit, check out the Alamo and Riverwalk and got to eat at a few cool places for dinners. The City itself is not going to make my top 10 Cities in the US list, in fact it'll be quite a ways down on the all time list, so much so that I don't think I'll ever be visiting again. There were some cool parts like the Riverwalk itself and the Alamo but overall was kindof a mess. It was cool to walk around the Alamo and learn a little bit more of the history there. The highlight of the city was for sure the food I experienced. The Texas BBQ style of dry rubs and smoke flavor was evident. I tried a place called Pinkertons BBQ, it was a great great place. The vibes were awesome, it was clean, the building was cool and the meat was perfection. Really great stop and I would recommend to anyone who is in downtown San Antonio area. Another really good place I went to was a place called Dough Pizzeria Napoletana. This is on my food review page as well. Really really good food, the best part was by far the home made burrata. I would recommend this to anyone i the area too, its actually a DDD joint too which I always think is cool.

Finally got the crew to Kenya. After hearing about Kenya for a few years now, I finally had the chance to go myself with the whole family. Getting there and back is an experience all to itself, and not in such a good way. It takes forever to get over there as it is almost exactly half way around the world. But there were a few small mentionable things in the travel itself: The Doha Qatar airport was awesome Got to see Mt Kilimanjaro from the window of our last flight to Mombasa Heard a prayer in Arabic while in Doha Barely made our last connection from Nairobi to Mombasa I will say though, once we got there, it was all worth it and I would 100% recommend anyone from any developed country in the world to visit a place like Kenya. When we finally landed in Mombasa we jumped in a pro box and headed to our resort, but there was so much to see on the drive there. Seeing the way some of these people lived was extremely eye opening and also a little entertaining in some ways. The painted took-tooks and matatus were hilarious, seeing how many people and bags of things people piled on motorbikes was also a spectacle. The city itself was crazy, the trash piles, crumbling buildings and general quality of life made it very easy for me to be grateful for what we have back here at home. The food was either one of two things, fresh fruit or toxic anything else. The fruit was incredible and there were for sure safe places to eat but you had to be careful and even so I got a pretty bad bout of food poisoning. I will say though that the fresh mangos, pineapple, Kenyan oranges, passionfruit etc were incredible. It was cool to learn and use a few words in Swahili while we were there. Jambo, Asante, Karibu, Mzungu. Always enjoy hearing a different language. Even their English over there sounds different and is fun to hear.

For the 3rd year in a row we went out to Uinta Canyon for a campout on the Jensen side. It was a bit shorter this year and we only stayed for 2 nights over the weekend. Had some great time just hanging around the fire and chilling like usual. We spent far more time out fishing this time around. I went out 3 different times for a few hours each and caught quite a bit of trout and a couple pretty nice ones. I caught around 10 fish, a pile of smaller and beautiful brook trout, a couple rainbows and a pretty nice looking brown trout too. A few of them were pretty good fish and I even kept a rainbow and cooked him up. Its a really pretty river and it was a lot of fun to throw some line in the water. We also had the chance to drive up to the Pole Creek Cave and do some caving through there. I could have spent a long time going through all the small crevices and exploring further but it was fun nonetheless to look at the cave and do some exploring.

One of the highlights of the trip was our time in Ungatni. First off it was crazy how different Kenya can be, from the amazing beaches to the African savannah Kenya is quite diverse. The lodge itself is located right off the Tsavo East National Park and is situated right by a watering hole that constantly draws in wildlife. It was really cool to see all the classic Africa animals you see while listening to David Attenborough. Elephants, Zebras, Giraffes and everything in between. Our room had a balcony overlooking the whole thing too and it made for a wild experience. We did a couple game drives everyday as well and had the chance to drive around in a safari jeep and see even more animals and get really close to a bunch of them. Such an unforgettable experience that I would hope everyone gets a change to do once in their life. I got a tonne of great pictures as well and I'll have those on my portfolio page right away. Even got to see a bunch of baby animals and see some really cool things.

On one of our days on the coast we took a day trip to an underwater national park. Around Wasini Island is a park with shallow sand bars that are uncovered at low tide as well as piles of coral reefs and thousands of fish. It was a crazy experience getting out there, the boat looked like it barley floated and I'm pretty sure it was 300 years old. When you mix that with a motor that needed its spark plugs replaces on the water and the fact that there were some pretty good waves, it made for a crazy 90 minutes. Once we were at our destination though it was quite worth it. The water was a brilliant blue and warm. There were a bunch of really cool fish and our new snorkels were awesome to have, I was able to dive pretty deep and get some good footy with my camera too that you can see on my portfolios page. There was a lunch included too which in hindsight was not worth the money, 3 of us got food poisoning from it and I would be lying if I said I didn't see it coming. For sure took an L on that aspect but the rest was great, after some classic Kenyan pole pole we finally headed back to shore and back to the beach house.

Once we made our way through the cities and villages we finally made it to our place of refuge, The Monkey Beach House on Diani Beach. I can honestly say, this was one of the coolest and nicest places I have ever stayed and one of the coolest vacation villas anyone could ask for. Huge beach house, our own pool and all on a beach that might be one of the nicest beaches in the world (and I have seen some sweet beaches). The Indian Ocean was really warm and the tide changes were cool too. The water was shallow and made for a great place to swim and play in the waves that got pretty big. There were palm trees, camels on the beach and lots of monkeys at our building which was pretty fun when they weren't stealing our food. We tried a pile of restaurants along the beach, all of which were good. My favorites being Ali Barbours Cave Restaurant and the classic Sundowner that was off the beach. My favorite as I mentioned before however was absolutely all the fresh fruit we got every morning.

This was the first where we spent the first day of our big trip to Greece. We got into Athens and immediately hit the streets after checking into our hotel. After a quick lunch of classic greek salad and pita with tzatziki we started walking around downtown Athens. The Plaka was a cool section of town with restaurants and shops all over the place, with ruins and churches sprinkled in here and there. On the outskirts of this section was a tiny neighborhood right at the foot of the Acropolis called Anafiotika. These housed have tiny unnamed streets and are built right into the rock, it was a cool spot just to walk around in. After Anafiotika we walked over to the Panathenaic Stadium of Athens, where the first modern olympics were held. That was a really cool spot with a lot of history and a massive stadium. After all our adventures were done for the day, we went to our favorite dining experience yet. We were on a rooftop terrace looking up at the Acropolis. This Michelin star restaurant gave us the most wonderful experience and the food was exquisite. So many new flavors and great combinations with all kinds of fresh ingredients. Absolutely our favorite place we have ever eaten. 10/10 would recommend The Zillers if you are in Athens.