UT Adventure + Gear Fest
Whenever possible, work trips become excuses to explore new places or revisit special places. My trip last week over to Utah for the Adventure + Gear Fest was one of these opportunities. I broke up a brutal drive with an extra night on each end in the wild. Since I was traveling solo (no dogs allowed in Little Cottonwood Canyon), I skipped the expedition trailer and RTT and opted for my backpacking gear.
Night one was a quick overnight on the Alvord Playa. I hadn’t been through SE Oregon in a few months and I was looking forward to a dip in the hot springs and a night under the stars on the playa.
As I pulled onto the playa, I met a friendly stranger who invited me to join his friends around a fire. He had a truckload of firewood. I was rolling with a fridge full of beer. A plan came together quickly.
After a few hours making new friends, I crawled into my bag and drifted off looking at the stars above me. It was a warm, still night so I skipped the tent and slept cowboy style on the top of my truck.
Morning comes early when you’ve got no cover. I was up and back on the road by 6:30 am.
Rather than rolling in with numerous clients and a large crew of staff, I was solo on a research junket this trip. The event celebrated it’s fifth year this summer, but it was the move up to the Snowbird Resort from a bland indoor expo environment that got our attention. I invested time at the new venue to be able to speak intelligently about the event to our clients (crucial when we’re spending other people’s money). I was immediately impressed by the activities beyond the gear expo itself. We work for brands that sell gear and that component is important, but adding in the excitement of racing (running and MTB), live music and film festivals on top of the various alpine activities offered at the resort itself created a buzz of excitement in the air.
After spending the morning and most of the day on site, I was satisfied that I had achieved the goals of the trip. I took off early thinking I would make time. My goal was to make City of Rocks National Reserve in Idaho before sunrise. I received a incoming call from a client almost as soon as left the resort, so I quickly pulled into the parking lot at the White Pine Trailhead. I knew the creek was close by from a previous hike here so I got out of the truck to wander down the trail a bit while on the call. As I stepped around the restrooms and into the trail, I abruptly came to a halt. A small knot of people (including a couple of young hikers, a bride-to-be in a wedding dress, her MIL, and a photographer) were all staring into the trees just off the trail. Not 30 feet away flanking either side of the trail were two huge moose. This was the second time I’d seen moose in person in my life. Well, at least I think it was. The first was on Mt Washington in NH just before dawn in the middle of a 24 Hours of Great Glen MTB race and I quite possibly could have been hallucinating. They were amazing to see up close and relatively unfazed by us.
The parting shots are from camp just above City of Rocks National Preserve in Idaho. I haven’t explored much here yet. Maybe on the next trip
mangai.rollin is an experiential and content marketing agency. We work more than three dozen interesting events around the western half of North America each year. We also shoot content on multiple trips each year. If your brand is in need of experiential and content services, or is looking for a young brand to collaborate with, drop us a line.
