Pete's Rock - October 2014

With Alene and Laurie's up-coming trip to Zion to do a little canyoneering, we decided to brush Laurie up on her rappelling skills so they were better prepared. We brought our ropes and the kids along and spent a few hours on a Sunday evening rappelling off the rock. I even took a little time to practice using a prusik knot to use as an auto block and had great success using it. Pete's rock provides a good 100' + rappel opportunity, however I think I'm going to pass on doing it at this place any more because the jagged edges of the rocks put too much wear on my rope. 

Laurie, with Salt Lake city behind her

Bailey had practiced a little rappelling on a 45 degree slab on the back face of the rock and Waylon begged to "walk down the rock backward", so we rigged him up in her harness

Laurie was there to catch him at the bottom



Alene took some cute pictures of the kids up above Pete's Rock on the Mount Olympus trail

The Living Room - September 2014

It had been a while since we had been up to this fun little place above Salt Lake City. We were looking for something to do with the family on a Sunday afternoon and opted to head back up here. It's located up above Red Butte Gardens. It's a bit of a climb, but you're there before you know it. Over the years people have been using the loose rocks in the area to create furniture. As you sit, you over-look the valley with beautiful views.

We hiked out as the sun had set pretty quickly and ended up back at our car with nothing more than a few cell phone lights and the moon light. Just as we got into our car we heard a large pack of coyotes howling not far from where we just came out of the small grove of trees near the trail head.

Hiking up the trail

At the Living Room

View from the Living Room

Donut Falls - August 2014

I had just returned from a backpacking trip to Havasupai and Alene was understandably jealous and needed desperately to get out and into nature. We opted to head up to Donut Falls located in Big Cottonwood Canyon. The kids love getting out, especially when there is a trail to follow and several "picture spots" along the way. This hike is short and quick and because of that you'll see more people than you would want if you like a little solitude, but still fun none the less. 

At the beginning of the trail

Several picture spots

Alene and Bailey hiking up closer to the falls. This place had changed a lot since the first time I hiked up here about 10 years prior. You could actually see the full falls from the bottom. Now you have to hike up to see them.

Pete's Rock - Feb. 2014

Took my brother Jeff with us to Pete's rock to brush up on some rappelling. Brought the two little ones (Bailey and Waylon) and let them play around while we took turns rappelling off the 90' rock. We had recently purchased a harness for Bailey so we gave that a little test. I think she'll come around.

Kids hanging out on the backside of the top



Baileys first "trust" test on a little slanted slab



Daddy, belaying Bailey over a short 4' wall



We got a smile out of Bailey



Jeff, rappelling the big face

Red Pine Lake - May 2012

Alene and I were able to celebrate our 7 year anniversary by doing a hike up Little Cottonwood canyon called Red Pine Lake. Neither of us had done it before so it was fun to have 6 hours to ourselves to hike without kids or anything else to slow us down.

The trail was really nice and for about 3/4 of the way up, was clear of any snow. It wasn't until the last 1/4 section of the trail that you started to hit snow, and eventually nothing but snow. It was fairy steep as you got closer to the top and challenged me a bit, mostly because of the snow (hiking in trail runners and shorts).

Beautiful Aspens along the way up

Found this avalanche control cannon off the trail a bit

Trees thicken up a bit

A hazy view looking down toward salt lake valley

The snow starts; this was covering a creek coming down the mountain

Getting close to Red Pine; All snow from here on out

We ran into these cool people hanging out up there for the day with a few snow sleds and blow up mattresses. They're friends with the owners of "Wing Coop", so they were cooking up chicken wings for people passing by and giving them out for free. I'm not a huge wing guy, but they were really good

The hill they were sledding

Red Pine lake with un-named peak (not Pfeifferhorn) in the background

Working our way back down

Loved this design on the bark; not sure if someone did it with a knife, or if it naturally happened this way.

Red Pine was a beautiful hike. I long for making time for more hikes like this with Alene. I wished I had "the bug" when we were early in our marriage and have time, but now I look forward to the times we can get away and do these things and to future days when it will be easier for us to get away. She's a great companion on a hike and often kicks my butt and inspires me to push on.

Mapleton Canyon

Caiden was working toward his year-round camper merit badge during 2011 and during the football season we had a hard time staying consistent, so we had to get in a few trips toward the end o the year.

In late October we met up with my dad in Mapleton Canyon, which is a 5-10 minute drive from their house, and set up camp. We had the place to ourselves. It was actually quite nice. The forest service had recently came through and cut down a lot of branches that will make nice fire wood the next coming season. Unfortunately that stuff wouldn't burn so we had to branch out a little further to find good burning wood.

Being late in the fall it got pretty cold at night, but we lived through it. The next day Caiden and I did a little bike ride to the end of the paved road in the canyon, then hiked up the trail a while before turning around and coming back.

Waterfall along the rail



The fall colors heading up the trail



Caiden and I



We skipped November because the first three weekends we had football games (out of town on the last weekend for a game), then it was Thanksgiving, then we had other things going on, so December was upon us and we had to get a trip in this month in order for him to get his badge. Before we knew it, it was mid-December and we had to get out. We opted again to head back to Mapleton Canyon, this time we used my dad's tent trailer, hoping it would keep us warmer. I'm sure it helped, but we still froze our butts off. The campground had a lot of snow, but we had lots of wood to burn, so we stayed warm around the fire, but COLD in the trailer once it was time to sleep.

The tent trailer (is it cheating?? It had the word "tent" in it)



Caiden and his friend Alma around the fire



Caiden earned his year-round camper. I'm proud of him. Some of the trips were ones he picked out, some were ones we were already going on, and some were things he did with his own scout troop.

Broads Fork - Big Cottonwood Canyon June 2011

After work I met up with Alene at the Big Cottonwood Canyon parking lot and we drove up canyon with the intention of doing a short hike with Bailey. Alene was 5.5 months pregnant so we weren't going to do anything hardcore (plus bailey was with us, so we had to go at her pace). We decided to stop at the Mill B North trailhead and do the Broads Fork trail, which eventually will take you up to the Twin Peaks area.

We did about 1.5-2 miles up the trail, had some snacks, then headed back down. Didn't see a single person up there and it was beautiful.

Bailey working her way up the trail






Bailey showing off her alphabet skills. She'll turn 3 in August



Bailey and Alene taking a break and playing together



When we got back to the trail I took this video of the creek coming down the canyon. I'm thinking instant death to anyone that slips and falls in

Stewart Falls Birthday Hike

Sometimes I'm a nature snob. I'll start thinking that popular places to hike are overrated or only for those not willing to venture out further into lesser known areas. Or maybe I start underrating them because I think they are too crowded. But sometimes I am reminded that there's a reason they are popular and crowded and it's okay. Stewart Falls is exactly in that category. It's a fairly easy 2 miles each way, easy even for young families, the trail from Aspen Grove is shaded most of the way so it can even be done on a hot day, and the falls are beautiful.

I had talked with Tyler about doing a number of outdoor things for my birthday together, but we decided to do this hike with our whole family and I don't regret it. Bailey was an angel riding in the backpack, maybe that was her gift to me. Usually after about 10 minutes she is squealing to get out, but this time she seemed content. I did take some precautionary measures--I gave her a sucker, we took the canopy off of the backpack because it wasn't too sunny and she likes it better off, and I cruised along at a good rate, not stopping long for distractions at all. Lucky for her there were lots of wildflowers to point out, and we saw a bluebird and a snake. She still hasn't forgotten the snake we saw at Capitol Reef so that was a big hit. She seemed happy and even was singing for a bit of the way.

At the falls she had fun getting her feet wet and throwing little rocks into the stream. Then we had Bailey making different faces.



I love how Bailey is reaching out to touch Caiden's head in this picture.

Here I am trying to get Bailey to touch the falls, it doesn't look like we are close enough, but believe me, it was closer than Bailey wanted to get, and we were getting wet.


It was again, a perfect hike, not too hot, not too long, great scenery. I loved it.

Mt. Timpanogos Loop

Two weeks ago April and I and her sister-in-law Whitney hiked Mt. Timpanogos. This was my 3rd time doing the summit, but my first time doing it as a loop hike.

My first time hiking Timp was in college I went with a group to the summit, departing around 12:30 am so we could be on top to see the sunrise. We hiked via the Timpooneke trail, the side that starts in American Fork Canyon, known for being a little longer, but less steep than the other side. My second time I backpacked it with April and Bill via the Aspen Grove, or Provo Canyon, side. We spent the night at the lake and I did the summit in the morning.

This time we wanted to see both sides of the mountain in one trip. April had never hiked up Timpooneke so we decided to go up that way, since we all acknowledge that you pay more attention to scenery on the way up, and on the way down, just want to get down. However, this meant that the return trip down Aspen Grove was the steeper one, which was much harder on our knees. But it was cool to see both sides and I prefer loop trails in general if given the choice or possibility. Loop trails feel like more of a complete trip than reaching a destination and turning around the same way I just came.

I would agree that Timpooneke is easier as I hardly felt the need to rest at all. We made it to the summit in 4 hours even after a long rest at the saddle.

All pictures are courtesy of April as I forgot to even bring my camera

Here is a beautiful meadow we saw.


Here we are at the saddle, cold and windy.


Here we are at the summit, and even though the clouds sort of blocked the view, I thought it was just perfectly beautiful and they added that whole mystical element to being on a mountain peak.


Looking out from the summit.


Looking down on the lake on the Aspen Grove side from the summit.


A mountain goat family that we followed down from the peak and then the whole herd at the lake.



We hung out at the lake for a long time to eat and take pictures. I like how the Aspen Grove trail has more waterfalls, but it's true I didn't notice as much on my way down. I was glad to be done when we were, all in all it was 10 hours for the hike, which I consider pretty good time. My calves were sore for a few days afterwards, but it was awesome to do that hike. I strongly recommend doing it on a Sunday if you want to avoid crowds. It's a hard hike, but it is really popular.

Lake Blanche and Sundial Peak

April and I have been trying to get some good hiking in this summer and I'm behind on some of the trip reports. We did this hike in early July.

Lake Blanche is up Big Cottonwood Canyon. It's an absolutely beautiful hike, tough because it's so up hill (gain 2700 feet over 3 miles), but super rewarding because the lake and Sundial Peak greet you at the end and the whole scenery along the way is beautiful too, with trees all along the trail and the creek beside it most of the way too.

The last time I hiked Lake Blanche it was mid-June and there was lots of snow at the top so I was a bit weary even in early July because of the long winter we had this year. Plus I had cut my knee open at the top last time, hiked down bleeding, and ended up getting stitches the next day--be careful of that rock field just before the lake!

Anyway, we started after 5 and made excellent time to the top. Here are some pictures of the route on the way.






Then this is what you see as you are just about to drop down to the lake, that's Sundial Peak in the background. I was surprised to see no snow at all in or around the lake. I love the red rocks right around the lake and the big gray peak behind it and how suddenly the trees have become pine instead of aspen and cottonwoods.




This is the little waterway to some smaller lakes just below Lake Blanche.


It was a perfect early evening hike.

Farmington Canyon

Alene and I were hoping for a big hike on Labor day, but we failed to plan on finding a baby sitter (which would have been hard anyway) and since Alene is taking this weekend to do a backpacking trip with her sister April, we decided to do a smaller hike with Bailey (Caiden was at his mom's).

Alene found a nice little hike up Farmington Canyon at the Sunset campground. I had no idea this canyon existed and went back as far as it did. The road that takes you up the canyon actually goes up into some beautiful country and you can take it all the way into Bountiful. I was a little disturbed by all the OHV's, but they have the right to be up here too I guess. The campground (Sunset Campground) was about 5 miles up the canyon and it had a small, almost un-noticible trail leading down into the canyon bottom.

The trail didn't look very heavily traveled as the brush around it was very narrow in some spots. The campground also had about 10-15 spots, but only one person still set up for camp that day.

We hiked down about 5-10 minutes to the canyon floor. On our way down we passed a father/daughter that had been doing some geocaching and found an old abandoned gold mine. We tried to find it when we got down there, but had no luck. The creek that runs along the bottom is beautiful. As we worked our way down stream we came across a family that had backpacked down there and set up camp along the creek. We also worked our way down to a small area that bailey could play in the water. Just below that was a nice little water fall. Getting to the bottom of the waterfall was doable, but not with a baby (too steep). Bailey had a blast getting wet and soaking her face in the peach we brought for her to eat.

It was a nice little hike. Someday I'd like to go back and explore the rest of this area. I'm told there are some beautiful lakes along the way as the road brings you back to Bountiful.

Here are some pictures and video:

Mommy and Bailey all ready to go



The skinny trail



Awesome view of the Great Salt Lake



Our first sign of water



An old wrecked car. It must have been rolled down to this spot. Pretty amazing how far it must have gone



The waterfall from a distance



The only way down to the base of the waterfall



Bailey loved dipping her feet in the water





She also loved finding rocks at the bottom of the creek



Looking down from the top of the waterfall





Bailey enjoying her peach



A pool in the creek



Another picture of the Great Salt Lake from Farmington Canyon



Bailey rode home with only her diaper on as she soaked her clothes with creek water and Peach juice



She also got tickeld a lot