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Backcountry Explorer

Embedded into the backcountry areas of Zion National Park, the Sierra Nevada, Death Valley National Park, and the Mojave Desert, Courtney Purcell's ramblings have also taken him all across the country and the world. From hiking, climbing and peakbagging in the Rockies, the Andes, the high volcanoes of Washington and Mexico, into the depths explored in spelunking, and the canyoneering of the Colorado Plateau, here you'll find trip reports, route beta and "stuff" relevant to the world of...

Dante's Paradiso

Where: Bullfrog, Utah
When: November 2009
Who: Ram, Steve Levin, Roger Briggs, Sarah & Dominic Meiser, and Aron Ralston

Steve, Dominic, Sarah and Roger near the Dante system

Endless exploration...

Getting closer...

And across the silos we go!

Dominic at the start of the 2nd half of Paradiso

Roger doesn't need any stinkin' help!

Steve working through the final tough stem in Paradiso

Funky downclimb near the end

View from the summit of a small peak I climbed in the late afternoon

More photos:
At the big pothole


At the giant keeper

"Lake" Powell

Ram at the final stem in Paradiso

Ah, Inferno!

Paradise from Dantes Hill

Returning to the rim

Sarah taking on the first silo


Looking down on the mouth of Paradiso

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Topics

  • Alps
  • Andes
  • Canadian Rockies
  • Capitol Reef Nat'l Park
  • Cascades (California)
  • Cascades (Central WA)
  • Cascades (Enchantments)
  • Cascades (North Cascades)
  • Cascades (Oregon)
  • Central America
  • City of Rocks
  • CO Plateau (Bullfrog)
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  • CO Plateau (North Wash)
  • CO Plateau (Robbers Roost)
  • CO Plateau (Silver Reef)
  • Coastal California
  • Colorado Rockies (Elk Range)
  • Colorado Rockies (Front)
  • Colorado Rockies (Mosquito)
  • Colorado Rockies (San Juans)
  • Colorado Rockies (Sawatch)
  • Colorado Rockies (Tenmile)
  • Crater Lake National Park
  • Death Valley National Park
  • East Coast
  • Glacier National Park (MT)
  • Grand Canyon National Park
  • Grand Teton National Park
  • Lake Powell / Glen Canyon
  • Lassen Volcanic Nat'l Park
  • Mexican Volcanoes
  • Moab
  • Mojave Desert
  • Mount Rainier National Park
  • Red Rock Canyon
  • Rocky Mountain National Park
  • San Rafael Swell
  • Sedona
  • Selkirks
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  • Sierra Nevada (Bishop)
  • Sierra Nevada (Convict Lake)
  • Sierra Nevada (George Crk)
  • Sierra Nevada (Lake Tahoe)
  • Sierra Nevada (Lone Pine)
  • Sierra Nevada (Mammoth)
  • Sierra Nevada (North Lake)
  • Sierra Nevada (Onion Valley)
  • Sierra Nevada (Palisades)
  • Sierra Nevada (Rock Creek)
  • Sierra Nevada (Shep. Pass)
  • Sierra Nevada (South Lake)
  • SoCal High Peaks
  • Spelunking
  • The Great Basin
  • Wasatch
  • White Water Rafting
  • Yellowstone National Park
  • Yosemite National Park
  • Zion National Park

About Me

My photo
Courtney Purcell
Mountain climber, canyoneer, spelunker, writer, contemplator, opinionist and Zen Buddhist
View my complete profile

Courtney Purcell in the Media

  • BBC 'Planet Earth' - Interview in Death Valley (2005)
  • Las Vegas Sun (March 19, 2002)
  • Pinnacle Cave Extreme Sports Interview (2003)
  • Yucca Mountain - Las Vegas Sun (October 1, 2004)

Links

  • 13er Girl
  • 14ers.com
  • Adventure Internet
  • AllZion.com
  • American Alpine Journal
  • Bogley Canyon TRs
  • Canyoneering USA
  • Cascade Climbers
  • Cheap RV Living
  • Climb-Utah
  • Climbwild.net
  • Dow Climbing
  • Globalize This
  • Harlan's Haven
  • Highpointers
  • Hiking 4 Health
  • Hribi.net - Hiking
  • Joe Braun Photography
  • Lists of John
  • Outdoor Gear
  • Outdoor Sporting Gear
  • Rick's Pics
  • Summitpost
  • The Mountaineering Blog
  • The Pristine Zone
  • WWWright
  • Zion National Park
 
...those moments when time stands still. The catalysts are as varied as the individuals who pursue this path: a meteor shower; a night sky so star-filled that it snatches your breath; another rise of the sun over distant mountains vast and untouchable; dodging a rock careening crazily down a gully; a desperate icy struggle through whiteout and ground blizzard down to the safety of camp after an unsuccessful summit attempt; standing atop a mountain with a friend, the whole world at your feet, a blinding sun blazing out of a flawless sky, taking the time to watch that sun dip below the horizon even though camp is still many miles and many thousands of feet distant; stumbling over boulders and through brush in the darkness; watching the starlight and the storm wrest for possession of the night sky, seated on a narrow ledge beside your rope-mate with only the clothes on your back for shelter, shivering the night away, knowing that, sometime in a distant place you cannot now touch, the world will once again grow bright, the sun will rise, and you will look out on the infant day with new eyes.

-Bruce Binder


One final paragraph of advice: do not burn yourselves out. Be as I am - a reluctant enthusiast....a part-time crusader, a half-hearted fanatic. Save the other half of yourselves and your lives for pleasure and adventure. It is not enough to fight for the land; it is even more important to enjoy it. While you can. While it’s still here. So get out there and hunt and fish and mess around with your friends, ramble out yonder and explore the forests, climb the mountains, bag the peaks, run the rivers, breathe deep of that yet sweet and lucid air, sit quietly for a while and contemplate the precious stillness, the lovely, mysterious, and awesome space. Enjoy yourselves, keep your brain in your head and your head firmly attached to the body, the body active and alive, and I promise you this much; I promise you this one sweet victory over our enemies, over those desk-bound men and women with their hearts in a safe deposit box, and their eyes hypnotized by desk calculators. I promise you this; You will outlive the bastards.

-Edward Abbey
Future plans? I used to think about it. Now I don’t. Another year—two—three in the canyons? Every new canyon, every summit, every day down here is just too valuable. -Steve Allen
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