After over four months of working over fourteen hours a day, seven days a week, we set off on the adventure of my dreams: The Tiny Home Adventure.
It started off with a quick trip to Zion National Park to tackle my first big wall, Spaceshot, an eight-hundred-fifty foot, five star aid route. I have done quite a bit of trad and sport leading, but this was something entirely different. Stepping up on marginally placed gear in soft sandstone hundreds of feet off the ground with no relief. There were no ledges to re-rack, eat food, drink water, or collect yourself. Primarily hanging belays until “Earth’s Orbit Ledge”, a three foot deep ledge just before the last and most exposed pitch of my life. You step over a missing dihedral which lends a nice view of the 800 feet of air below. We arrived at the top just as the sun set behind the magnificent canyon wall, packed up and rappelled in the dark; we got to the ground at around 11:00 PM. This was one of the most mentally difficult and draining days of my life; I was incredibly thankful to be back on solid ground. I took this photo immediately after we made it down.
We landed two and a half hours after the last shuttle, so our plan was to jog the ten miles back to our vehicle. We could see another climbing party across the canyon that was on the same time frame as us. We both touched ground around the same time and thankfully they had a car close by and offered us a ride to our vehicle. Apple and Erin were both living in Vegas and after a few minutes of conversation I asked if they knew the one of the two people I know in Vegas. Apparently Apple was currently roommates with the person I knew and it was possible that we had met briefly in the past. Further conversation with Erin exposed that she had gone to Singapore with one of my good friends from middle and high school; what a small world it is. Once we got to the parking lot we celebrated our accomplishments for the day as well as Josh’s birthday.
The next morning we ran through the slot canyons keyhole. A super fun, easy, short and technical slot canyon with a few rappels, quite a bit of swimming, and some really cool views of tight sandstone walls. Josh had to be back in Salt Lake by 4:30 to pick up his kids so we literally ran through keyhole in about twenty minutes and hit the road back to Salt Lake City.
I spent the next few days tying up loose ends and moving out of the four bedroom house I had been renting for the last two years. I had entirely furnished the common spaces and acquired a massive amount of stuff over the last eight years living in Park City, so I purged. I sold, donated, and gave away everything that wouldn't fit into the Tiny Home aside from one tote of keepsakes and important documents. This was incredibly difficult but satisfying at the same time.
After getting everything squared away, I did a final pack on the Tiny Home Adventure Mobile (THAM) and hit the road. With rainy weather forecasted everywhere I figured I would head north in hopes to find wind and snow for some snow kiting. With it being such a warm, low snow year I was unsure if there would be any rideable terrain. After driving the 5 hours from Park City, UT to Togewotee Pass, WY, just northeast of Jackson,WY, the rain turned to snow. With whiteout conditions and it being 1:00 AM I had no idea exactly where we were or if there was any rideable terrain. Morning came and lent a wonderful view of stormy weather, high winds, and kiteable snowpack. There was about eight inches of fresh, heavy snow and sketchy storm wind; I was stoked! I put up my smallest kite as the wind was dangerously gusty and went for it. Having only been here once before, I explored some new zones. With low snow it exposed a beautiful winding river that I never knew existed.
Once the storm broke we headed down the road to Jackson, WY and stopped into Rendezvous River sports. Every time I had been in there the employees had been super friendly and knowledgeable, always inviting me to go paddle with them. They pointed me in the direction of Lunch Counter: a standing wave that you can surf on a surf board.
Lunch Counter looked pretty amazing. To get to the proper side of the river you had to paddle across the waterway and through the wave train to eddy out below the wave. Garbed in a light wetsuit I went for it; I crossed the river, swam through the wave train, and then eddied out, which was quite a bit more strenuous than I had expected. After watching a few other guys ride it I sent my first drop in. I caught the wave on my belly and then punched in at the bottom, tossing me ass over tea kettle. I tried a few more times but the freezing cold water and my lack of paddling shape got the best of me. I never stood up, but I plan to go back to get this!!!
After Jackson we headed to Bozeman, MT. We drove through the west side of Yellowstone National Park. Unsure of where we were, I pulled over to sleep. Not five minutes later a park ranger very politely let me know I was still within park limits and it was illegal to camp here. However, it was so late he gave us the OK to spend the night as long as we moved on before sun-up. He was extremely informative, polite, and compassionate. It was a very positive experience.
he next morning we caught up with my good friend, Mike, in Bozeman. Mike had just invested in a whitewater boat and wanted to take us on a paddle on a three and a half hour, five mile section of the lower Madison River. We had a fantastic day, saw a great amount of diverse wildlife, and somehow missed the pullout. We finally reached an obscure pullout after floating almost thirty miles and eleven hours. It had just gotten dark and we were hoping to be able to hitch hike back to the cars. Thankfully an officer pulled up just minutes after we landed. I asked if he would be able to shuttle me back to our vehicles, which he had no problem with. I had a very insightful conversation with the officer and he had a few great ideas for the adventure: first was to enter a rodeo and second was to go on a ride-along with him.
So far this trip has been full of amazing adventures, small world experience and outstanding luck; I am hoping to maintain this pace. I am already a few days into filming episode two and I can tell you this is going to be another epic journey.
Thank you so much for reading/watching!!! Next Episode drops June 1st.
If you or anyone you know has some royal-free music they would want featured on the Tiny Home Adventure please email me at andrewmuse88@gmail.com
Special thanks to,
Josh Heiner
Rendevous River Sports
William taggart
Michael Stief
John O’connel
Dave Ward
Hannah Haeberle
Taylor Maag
Ally Dax
John Duda
Huge thanks to my sponsors
Also follow me in on instagram!
4 Comments
bemery \ 5.7 years ago
nice work andrew!
Josh \ 5.7 years ago
Awesome post! I want to see more of the inside of your tiny home and your setup.
Andrew Muse \ 5.6 years ago
Thanks, Check out the remodel edit. It has some pretty good after shots! http://www.outsideonline.com/1983901/ultimate-adventure-vehicle-remodel?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=facebookpost
Luu Kee \ 5.7 years ago
That time-lapse is surreal !
Andrew Muse \ 5.6 years ago
Here is my latest Time Lapse. You can also find it on instagram @SkiUtah or @Andrew__Muse (Two Underscores) https://www.facebook.com/andrew.muse.71/videos/10153211599425861/?l=2702595275149927656
Wes Warren \ 5.7 years ago
Great work, looks well done.
Andrew Muse \ 5.7 years ago
Thanks man! Working hard for it!!!