four corners

cassie & i giving the grand canyon the grandest view of all

bushwick buyer, emma, and three of her friends hit the road on a monumental journey through the southwest.

destination: sedona az, the grand canyon, lake powell az, moab/arches nat’l park ut, ending at my fam’s condo in dillon, co

purpose of journey: to fulfill a shared dream of road-tripping through the southwest, and to celebrate my 28th birthday w/ some ladies i love at my family condo in the rocky mountains.

never travel without: for this trip, our essentials were rosewater spray, face sunscreen, nalgene water bottles, sunglasses, rosehip seed oil, spf chapstick & cheez-its

favorite outfit you packed: we all had to dress for utility (lots of hiking) & temps between 107 and 45, so all of us ended up looking like 70’s camp counselors...my favorite of these looks being my guess jeans, jansport fanny pack, nike sbs (bday gift from my bf), and vintage 70’s tee that says “us female” in the style of the us postal service, because it was so comfortable & easy.

how many pairs of shoes: 3. tevas, danner hiking boots, and nike sb’s..the only shoes i own not found at beacons

what were you listening to: lots of early 00’s hip hop, canned heat, the band, bob dylan, wu-tang, fleetwood mac, steely dan...basically classic road trip tunes. and the podcast spooked when we were driving late at night through the desert.

favorite meal: we cooked a lot of really excellent meals together, but the best might have been cassie’s loaded grilled cheese. she was like an even more manic mario batali while she was cooking for us, cracking all of us up

highlight of the trip: for me, it was spending the entire day among orange sandstone formations, swimming in the crystal clear lake powell on the utah/arizona state line. for shiloh, it was climbing out onto the crazy cliffs in the grand canyon, something she didn’t think she was capable of before. for cassie, it was running around our super 70’s condo in colorado, high on altitude. & for laura it was spending quality time with girlfriends--- laughing, cooking, staying up all night, climbing mountains, de-stressing--- being able to be present with each other left us all inspired by one another.

(l) me and my loving wife, wilma
(r) shiloh about to make her descent down the metal (and very hot) dino slide

cassie and i backdropped by the dino slide at the flinstones park. this see-saw was a death trap in the best way

shiloh serving daenerys targaryen realness on her dinosaur skeleton

shiloh, cassie, & me at the grand canyon’s south rim! it was so expansive it almost looked fake!

sunset at the grand canyon

our first day, on the side of the road in sedona. shiloh, me, & cassie 

shiloh at lake powell

(l) the terrain we hiked through to get to lake powell, it felt like we were on mars
(r) shiloh & i in the crystal blue waters of lake powell

horseshoe bend in page, az

horseshoe bend was so hot my face turned purple right after this photo

cassie in moab, ut at a junkyard for old volkswagons

shiloh and i inside the north window arch at arches national park

shiloh & i in arches national park -- repping my vintage aaliyah shirt

cassie on the dock at my family condo in dillon, co. the elevation is about 9,000ft & she is backdropped by the tenmile range, whos highest peak is 14,000

cassie and shiloh on the dock in dillon

cassie & i having our camp counselor moment in frisco, co

(l) shiloh and i on the tenmile trail in frisco, co
(r) my prized lays shirt from 1992, in the woods around blue river in summit county, co.

laura’s arrival!!! on the way back from picking her up in denver, i drove us through loveland pass. loveland used to be the only way you could get into the mountains back when my father’s parents bought our condo in 1969. there is no guardrail, and it winds around the sides of the rockies the entire way. a fun drive, but not for the faint of heart.

the summit of loveland pass, in the famous continental divide. taken by a brave dude who was riding his bicycle through the pass, which sounded like our collective nightmare.

laura looking like a total betty on the dock in dillon

(r) laura and i in front of the manhattan bar in leadville, co on my 28th birthday. leadville sits at 10,000ft elevation and is home to my favorite rock/crystal shop, the rock hut.

 
the whole gang on the porch swing at the condo. beauty, grace, and elegance.

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photos by shiloh zielke & cassie paras