Kevin and his bike of light

Kevin and I have started doing what we call unconventional dating.   Dinner and a movie becomes less exciting when that is what you always do for dates so we have started thinking a bit out of the box (it also helps that Sam and Grace are now old enough to babysit for short periods of time.  They are happy to do this since they are basically getting paid money to watch tv and not kill each other.)

So far our unconventional dating has included getting up early and hiking to Bountiful peak to watch the sun rise (actually really cool), watching the foreign film "The Lunch Box"  via the internet after the kids are in bed (you can rent it for only 99 cents!) and then making naan bread the next day (we actually took this one on step farther and the following Monday I brought him awesome curry for lunch at work and he brought a banana to share. Watch the movie and you will appreciate how fun this was.)

This Saturday night we realized we hadn't spent time together and I hadn't gone for my run for the day yet.  So at 8:30 pm, we left Sam and Grace in charge of Jonah, I put on my slightly warmer running clothes, Kevin loaded his bike onto our car, and together we headed off for Legacy Parkway bike and running path.    When we got there Kevin turned on his bike lights and I ran next to him on the bike path.  For the next four miles he biked and I ran by his side as we discussed a book I am reading about people who live life whole heartedly.

We finished up the run/bike and I was stretching a small distance from Kevin when a woman dressed from head to toe in black approached him. It looked like she was having car problems to me and Kevin pedaled off after her.  I jogged over and realized there were 2 women dressed head to toe in black and they had a camera and were proceeding to have Kevin pose for a photo shoot.  Mind you it is well past 9:30 at night and very dark, not at all an ideal photo shoot hour.  She then took out a pocket light, pointed it at the camera and began to outline Kevin and his bike. She came back to the camera, hit the processing button, and there appeared Kevin and his bike of light! Since she was entirely in black the camera didn't see her at all even though she was moving all around in the picture.

We then had a lovely conversation with Gail and her daughter Niki.  We found out Gail was in school at SLCC studying photography, and her 27 year old daughter would accompany her and be her model for the shoots.  They showed us various photos they had taken over the last couple of nights and really were cool.  We then discussed a bit about our lives and left hoping to run into each other again.  
I had no idea there were so much potential for life after dark on a Saturday night  A beam lit run, an intellectual conversation, and meeting a mother and daughter duo who were wandering the nights as well.  It makes you wonder what you are missing when you choose to sit at home and rent another apple tv, show,  because hey it's dark out there.

July 7th - July 10th in 1,000 words or less written in 30 minutes or less

This week signifies the 2nd Annual "Mom take Me Camping" Canoe trip to Causey.  Sure we could wait for the big boys and camp on the weekend, but where's the adventure in that.

July 7th:  I pick up the canoes in the Little Mini Van that Does.  She pulls, backs, turns, and even parellel parks that trailer like a boss!

July 8th:   The D team joined by Troop Tiffany, Inez, and New Yorker Sarah arrive at Memorial Park, set up camp, and take the boats out.  The stats:  3 Moms, 11 kids, 4 canoes.

New York Sarah at Causey

Ina, oh I love her

Inez chillin in the tube

Zane Cliff Jumping

Canoe party setting up to do some cliff jumping

Me and Jamie jumping

The girls and Jonah in the girl boat (it was decided that since Jonah still uses the girl bathroom with his mom he can ride in the girl boat and play in the girl hide out back at the camp.  Way to adapt Joe.)

By the end of the day,  we had swam, cliff jumped (actual heights of cliffs depends on the kid you ask and their imagination), had a campfire hot dog dinner with dutch oven cobbler thanks to chef Jamie.

July 9th:  Rick and Montie join the crew.  He's a single dad, and had painted toe nails, so we considered him mom enough (note, he does like to girls, just to clarify.)  The stats: 3 moms, 1 dad, 12 kids!!, 4 canoes, 3 tubes

Sam, Montie, Zane

Zane, Montie, Sam and Collin exploring

We also did some tubing on the campground river.  Next year we are bringing more tubes.

Grace (what do you mean it's not my turn?!)

July 10th: We pack up and head home.  We realize New Yorker Sarah has never had fry sauce.  We stop at the Red Cliff Cafe (home of warm beers and cold burgers) to introduce her to this Utah staple.

Did Sarah like fry sauce?  Not so much... :)

Due to a slip in communication we order A LOT of fries. Yep, those are all fries.

The Cafe came with horses out back.  Excellent bonus

It is safe to say a fun time was had by all (Collin, where the heck were you when we took this picture?!)

Where KeCo Productions Big and Small learn about Compromise and experience several Miracles

It is always nice when you learn from life with a positive experience.  It's so much more enjoyable!  This is from May and the story goes:

We were off on another "D team" adventure!  (Note, D team is the Delfin and Davies' families.) After much planning and effort from Teammate Jamie Delfin we were meeting friends  for a fun Southern Utah adventure.   We drove down to Torrey just outside of Capital Reef late Thursday night and stayed at the Rim Rock Hotel (I know a hotel.  We are not getting soft, but we drove down after Kevin got off work and didn't want to set up camp really late at night.  Plus, hotels are so nice sometimes!!)  The room was nice and a big surprise came when we went to the free breakfast and discovered it was a restaurant with large windows all around the dining area so you could gaze at the desert.  The free breakfast was a made to order plate of country fried potatoes, eggs, juice, fruit, and banana bread.   We ordered some extra bacon and left a big tip for the hard working waitress.  It was an excellent start to our vacation.  

Kevin and Lehi Delfin brought their road bikes and went for a ride through Capital Reef while I packed up and met up with Jamie, Beyah, and Ina Delfin, and Sarah Grace who stayed at the Thousand Oaks RV park, another location I would highly recommend.  They have a playground, large grassy area, and a pool in the summer.  So fun.  They had had not eaten breakfast so we went to a cool bookstore while they ate at the general store, which surprisingly, is a another quaint eating establishment, where I also could buy socks for Jonah, which I forgot to pack.  :)

What looks like flat shoulder here is acutally a STEEP slope edge. 

From there we took off to Calf Creek Falls down in Escalante.  To get there you drive on Highway 12 through some beautiful country.  Last time we drove this pass was several years ago in the fall so all the leaves had changed colors and it was phenomenal.  The spring is also pretty, just a little less stunning.  Highway 12 also has a stretch which is an established road which also happens to be windy, with sharp drop offs on both sides.  It makes you a bit nervous to drive on it, but in a good way, like the scary ride at Disneyland. 

And here is our first Miracle. We pulled into Calf Creek Falls campground and the sign said lot full and it looked so full!  But I went to talk to the camp host and he let us camp in the "overflow" area which was a grassy field in the middle of the camp.  It was perfect! Our whole group fit and we were able to use the large group fire pit and cooking area.  Calf Creek Falls campground is great with lots of rocky slopes for the kids to play and explore on, trees, and a stream.   Thank you Heavenly Father and angels.  Friends, happy camp hosts and amazing overflow camping for a large group is truly a gift from God.

Stream that ran through campground. Pictured from top clockwise: Sam, LA, Ina, Lindsey, Beyah, Grace, Tatum

Team Davies: Kevin, Connie, Sam, Grace, Mighty Jo

We hiked lower calf creek  trail which takes you past some amazing pictographs, and old Native American Granary, and ends in a beautiful waterfall.  We thought Jonah is too big for our baby carrier and didn't bring it, but after carrying him for 3 miles in and 3 miles out, I really missed it.  It was colder by the falls and Jamie kept trying to get me to jump in the pool with her.  But I was carrying Jonah and was worried about chapping on the three miles out, so we didn't.  Poor Jamie was disappointed.  The kids slid and played in the falls and had fun. Mighty Jo apparently thought he was above the cold and got completely soaked.

Jonah, Lehi, Heather, and Sarah Grace

Pictured Left to Right: Beyah, Grace, Tatum, Sam, LA

Grace, Lindsey, Beyah

The next day we drove on a dirt road leading to Hole in the Rock and did the slot canyons, Scary and Peekaboo.   These slot canyons required some scrambling, some of it with ropes.

 

We were a big party so it took some time, but the kids were amazing and loved the adventure.  There was one point in scary canyon where we stopped because it looked like the only way to get through was a 30 foot drop.  We were a bit down trodden because I did not want to turn around and head all the way back up the canyon, but Kevin who was bringing up the rear, and had read about this section before online, quickly found a tunnel way through the rocks where we could climb down.  When we first met this obstacle there were  two other hikers  there who were probably in their 70's and they seemed really relieved to have us there to help them down the tunnel section (Note: one of these hikers we crossed paths with in the first of the hike and he was a bit unfriendly and seemed annoyed to see all these kids in the canyon. He came up on us while we were hiking and marched right through with a few words and an annoyed glance. BUT he sure liked us after Kevin helped him down this crevice, literally lifting him down a part.  He was all friendly then and shared a bit of his adventure experiences.  HA! Life makes me laugh!)  

 

Claustrophobics Beware! Me, Heather

 

 

 

After hiking out of the canyon and back up to the road, we drove to Escalante and ate at Outfitters Cafe and Pizzeria.  An excellent find! Their pizzas were fantastic! 

PIZZA!  L to R: Me and Jo, Tadam, Spencer, Sharla, Tatum, Ben, Grace

Next morning our family learned a bit about compromise.  As often with big groups, there were varied ideas on what to do the last day before we drove out.  Kevin and I really wanted to hike the upper falls, but most of the group were too tired , and just wanted to drive through capital reef, do a quick stop in Goblin Valley, and head home.  This extra excursion would add about 2 hours to the drive home and Kevin and I felt too tired to add this excursion.  Sam and Grace really wanted to go with the group to Goblin Valley and complained they were too tired to do the upper falls hike.  After a somewhat embarrassing family discussion in the campground (I'm sure we appalled some European campers with our unruly  American children) we got in the car and were just going to head straight home.  Then I had a great idea.  We all pretended to rewind the last hour, and I pretended that I was Sam and Grace and then Kevin and I pretended to have the disagreement again.   But this time, I, as Sam and Grace spoke respectfully to our Dad and we talked about compromising.  We decided that if Sam and Grace would find enough energy to do this last hike that Dad and Mom really wanted to do, then Mom and Dad would find enough energy to add two hours to our drive home and hit Goblin Valley with everyone on the way home.  Everyone agreed and peace reigned again.

Upper Falls was beautiful!  It was short but steep and I felt like a super hero when I carried Jonah a bit.  At the waterfall there is a big pool that you can swim in if you want to.  It was really cold and I was the only one debating about whether to get in, when Kevin said, "Jump in and be the Woman Jamie remembers you being."  That's all it took and I dove right in.  It was cold!!!  But so refreshing and kept me cool while I carried Jonah out the canyon.  For the record, the kids LOVED this hike, had a great attitude, and were so glad we did it.

Now for the next miracle.  The other group were on the road heading to Goblin Valley and had no idea about our compromise, and we had no phone service to tell them of our change of plans.  So we said a family prayer that we would find them since the kids had held up their side of the bargain.   We drove quickly, got stuck behind a RV for a while, and then drove through Capital Reef towards Goblin Valley.  While driving through Captial Reef, I see walking on the side of the road, who else, but Don Don.  I told Kevin to stop, and turn around, and he asked me if I was sure it was Don Don, but then checked himself realizing that it was not likely to see a middle aged Filipino man walking through Capital Reef (we all laughed about that later.)  We turned around and low and behold, it was Don Don!!!  Everyone was here, in Capital Reef, eating lunch in the park, and he had left the group to take some pictures of some pictographs and was walking back.  He hopped in the car and we drove to where everyone was happily eating lunch.  How LUCKY!!!  There was only a five minute window where we would have seen Don Don on the road and we were there!  Because of this we could have lunch with all our friends, play jump rope with our big climbing rope, and head to Goblin Valley together.  The kids were so cute and happy to be together again, and I was thrilled with our luck.  Seriously, Thank you Heavenly Father for answering our prayers and for the angels who put that slow RV in front of us! Note: I can't find my pictures from lunch with jump roping and tree climbing!  I'll talk to Sharla and maybe add some later.

Goblin Valley: Left to right: Heather, Don Don carrying Lindsey, Beyah, Me, Jo?, Naomi

 

We played hide and seek in Goblin Valley had a blast.  We got home late that night but it was worth it and we had a great weekend.

Warn out kids eating watermelon and treats the whole way home.  Wahoo!!

 

Thank you Spencer, Sharla, Ben, Tadum, Vans, Heather, Tatum, Don Don, Naomi, LA, Lindsey, Lehi, Jamie, Beyah, Ina, and Davies family for the fun!  Lehi's youtube video for more fun photos:

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ICCJuoo_2Bc

My Grandpa: Outdoorsman, author, traveller, golfer, and all around awesome person

My grandpa was born 56 years before me, but I like to think that if we had been born at the same time we would have been childhood pals and we would have hung out.  Well actually, I don’t think we would have done very much actual ‘hanging out’.  I like to think the only time we would ever be just sitting around was because we were trying to decide what our next adventure would be.

Though to be honest, I am not so sure if I would have survived being childhood pals with grandpa. In his autobiography about growing up in Moab, UT he describes a secret oasis that he and some friends found on top of the large plateau south of Moab.  One day, they took a new kid up to the oasis and the kid kind of freaked out because the final approach to the oasis was climb up a steep crack near a large cliff.  So to help the new kid, Grandpa and his friends took off their shirt and pants and made a rope to pull him up the incline.

I’d always liked this story and so one time I decided I would go to Moab and find this place and take some pictures of it to give as a gift to Grandpa.  In Grandpa’s book the details about the location were pretty easy to follow and Grandpa had an old picture of the area from a distance, so I used some maps and figured out where it was.  I rode my mountain bike to the top of the plateau and after a little while exploring I found the route to the secret oasis exactly as described in Grandpa's book.    

In planning this trip to Moab, I had figured “I’ve done a fair amount of scrambling, difficult hikes, and rock climbing, any crack that some kids was scrambling up barefoot with no climbing equipment  in the 1930s will be no big deal for me.” And in the fact the first part of the route, while no cake walk, posed no real difficulty.  But then I got to the final approach, the part where grandpa and his pals made a rope for the new kid.  And I was like “What the gravy?”  The final “crack” was a shallow indent of glassy smooth sandstone going up at probably a 45-50 degree angle. It didn’t look like there were any real handholds or footholds, it was all friction climbing.  The climb itself was definitely something that looked doable with a little trial and error.  Errors in this case would results in a painful slide and a few rug burns as you slid down the crack. Now normally, I could live with a few rug burns.  But the thing that gave me pause was that if you slid down this crack, at the bottom there was not nice soft sand or even painful hard rock, but 100 vertical feet of straight down nothing. Now I understood why the new kid had freaked out. 

Google Earth 3-D view of path to Grandpa's Secret Hideout

At this moment I thought of a saying grandpa had taught me  which apparently he didn’t always follow "There are bold climbers and there are old climbers, but there are no old, bold climbers." So then I decided to turn around.  I was disappointed I didn't get any pictures of grandpa's secret oasis, but I returned home with a new respect for the boldness of grandpa as a youth and for the guardian angels that had watched over him.  This story and many other stories of adventure I have heard from Grandpa’s youth about hiking, hunting, trapping and exploring have inspired me to go on many adventures of my own and have always made me feel a special connection to him.

But, It isn’t just the adventures of Grandpa’s youth that inspire me and make me feel a connection with him.  I know a lot of people who once they get out of their teens or twenties decide that they are too old to have adventures and try new things.  But that was not my grandpa. He never stopped trying new things.  He worked as an airplane inspector during WWII.  He followed his childhood dream to become a fur breeder and won many national and international awards.  He traveled all over the country and world.  After he retired he wrote five different books.  Several of these books had to do with the early river runners of the Colorado River.  As part of his research, a year or two before he turned 70 he decided to go on a river trip down the Grand Canyon with his brother Blake.  And because he was Grandpa, this river trip was not a boring river trip.

I would like to read a small excerpt from his writings about his trip:

“We had lunch in the shade of a ledge on the left side at mile 76.  After lunch we dropped down and started through Hance Rapid, the worst one we had come to so far.  The stage of water was low (only 5,000 cubic feet per second) and the channel was full of submerged and protruding boulders. Midway through the rapid the motor scraped on a rock, so our river guide Whale cut the motor and raised it a little to avoid damage to the propeller.  Ahead and to the left a sharp rock protruded four or five feet above the water.

When Whale raised the motor the current and momentum of the raft took it to the left and it slammed broadside against the protruding rock. The force of the current drove the right-hand side of the raft up the face of the rock and partially draped it around that obstacle.  The left side was tilted downward into the waves, the nose of the raft pointed downward toward the left shore, the left rear side of the raft was trying to come apart, and the back end of the left side tube was bent upward at an awkward angle.  One white grub box labeled “Whale’s Lunch” was loose in the water and being banged around by the fierce waves, but its ties held it to the raft.  The motor compartment was bent downward into the rapid.  Whale came bounding out of there with great speed. Surveying the situation, he exclaimed, “This is the worse thing that has ever happened to me”.

They were unable to dislodge the raft from the rock and because they were in the middle of some large rocky rapids there was no safe way to get to shore.

After several hours with the help of some other rafters and some park rangers, they were able to set up a rope and pulley system across the river and one by one each rafter put on a harness and was dragged through the water to the shore.

After Grandpa got home from this trip, one of Grandpa’s friends made a wood etching from a picture of grandpa as he was being pulled across the water on the pulley system.  Whenever I would see that wood etching at Grandpa’s house, it would make me smile and make me think:

“I hope that when I am nearing my 70s I will still be unafraid to go on adventures like grandpa did”

Unfortunately, eventually age caught up to grandpa and he became mostly homebound.  As Grandpa always said, “This growing old ain’t for sissies”

But even in the last decade or so when Grandpa mostly got around by wheelchair, once in a while I still saw the spark of adventure in Grandpa’s eyes.

When I introduced my then girlfriend/now wife Connie to Grandpa and told him that she had once been a river guide,an instance friendship developed. Whenever we would visit Grandpa, Connie would always make a point to share any adventures we had been on recently and Grandpa’s eyes would light up and he would say “Oh boy!”.  Then he would start recollecting one of his many stories. .

Then there was one time  when my oldest son Sam was three and we bought him a little bike with training wheels.  He wanted to show Grandpa, so we had Sam ride it by Grandpa’s back sliding door so Grandpa could watch him from inside the house.  After watching Sam for a minute we noticed that Grandpa had disappeared.  Then all of a sudden he appeared outside by Sam.  He had driven his motorized wheelchair out the front door and  into the backyard.  He and Sam then proceeded to chase each other around the backyard for twenty minutes. The photograph I have of Grandpa in his wheelchair and sam on his little bike is one of my most cherished memories.

At the start of my talk I told a story about trying to find grandpa’s childhood secret oasis in Moab.  Last wednesday, the last time I talked to Grandpa in his last few hours of lucidness, I retold him that story.  Half way through he interrupted me and said  “Oh I remember that,  when you tried to take a picture of my secret hideout”. Then he grinned at the thought of it.  

Brigham Young once said:

“When you lay down this tabernacle, where are you going? Into the spiritual world…Where is the spirit world? It is right here... Suppose the Lord should touch your eyes that you might see, could you then see the spirits? Yes, as plainly as you now see bodies”

Joseph Smith said:

“The spirits of the just… are blessed in their departure to the world of spirits. ...they are not far from us, and know and understand our thoughts, feelings, and motions”

I like to think this is true.  I like to think our departed love ones are not far from us. I usually end up going to Moab once or twice a year to go mountain biking or hiking.  And I like to think that the next time I go there for some adventure or other, Grandpa will be right there beside me, grinning his big grin and loving every minute of it.

Back Country Mom

 It's always fun when I get an unanticipated adventure and such was the case when I got to participate in Utah Avalanche Center's Avalanche/Backcountry skiing class for women.  The making of this event actually started last year when I, Kevin, and our friend Jamie Delfin went snowshoeing up to Lower Dog lake in Big Cottonwood Canyon.  We strapped on our shoes,and while hiking up to the lake met some people who told us of a spectacular view if we ventured to the left of the lake (South East, I think) and climbed another hill.  We climbed and climbed and ran out climbing time just short of the peak.We were disappointed but we had babysitters waiting and had to account for the long time to climb back down.   While we walked along the ridge line descending down the mountain we watched a backcountry skier reach the peak and swoosh down the mountain reaching the bottom in less than twenty minutes.   Not only did it look fun, but it dawned on me that I had several hours of snow shoeing ahead of me and this guy was already there.  With skiing down as an option we could have reached the summit with time to spare!  I know it sounds pretty lame that my first reaction to backcountry skiing had first to do with time efficiency and less to skiing pleasure, but I've got three kids so time is really a huge factor in my life.  In any case, all three of us were excited by the prospects.


Fast forward one year and Jamie and I are sitting around New Years morning after a lovely night of junk food, kid's movies, fireworks, and letting the little people stay up way late.  We are discussing New Years resolutions and it dawns on both of us that we have yet to look into back country skiing.  We hop on her computer and begin researching.    There are several classes, but, oh yeah, things like this cost money.  Not a huge amount, but coming off of Christmas, the price does put a slight damper on spirits.

A few weeks later,  I'm looking around on the internet and see that an all women backcountry ski course is coming up and ,Whoopie, they offer scholarships!  Then my hopes fall again when I see the date to apply is past.  Dang it, dang it, dang it.  I fill out the online application anyway, because it's still up on the website and send an email to the scholarship committee head apologizing for missing the due date and letting her know I filled out an scholarship application just in case they had extra funding that did not get used.  Scholarship chair, Meeghan shortly emails me back saying the deadline was printed incorrectly and I still had weeks to apply!  Wahoo!  My application is in and now I just wait and rethink all of  my answers to the application.

Fast forward 2 weeks and the Monday before the class I get a congratulations email that I received the class scholarship.  Wahoo!!!  I spend the rest of the week telling my kids often, "Your Mom just got a scholarship to learn about skiing and snow."  I said it a lot.  They were really excited until I explained that a scholarship meant I didn't have to pay for the class and NOT that they were PAYING ME to take the class.  Grace was a little less excited at this point.  I think she thought she would get a shopping trip out of it or something.

The class was in two parts and had two recommended reads.  I dashed to REI, purchased the books, and made sure I could rent all the gear I needed.  I read  most of the first book  in time for the first class which was in a classroom on Thursday night.   Driving up to the class at Red Butte I was a bit nervous.  Jamie (who missed the sign up time and wasn't going to make the class, boo)  and I had gone resort skiing a few weeks  prior to my registering for the class with the intent that she would look at my skiing and tell me if she thought I was ready for a backcountry ski class.  She took me up a lift I had never done before, and down my first black diamond run.  She swooshed and turned in front of me, gliding down the hill and I followed and thought, "hey, this is going okay.  I'm not the prettiest skier to watch, but I'm keeping up."  We get to the bottom, I'm feeling  good, and Jamie says, "Yeah, I think you could use a bit more practice." Dang.   The backcountry class application stated  they accepted medium level skiers and I decided to assume that meant my level.  But now as I'm driving to the class, I'm wondering if I wasn't perhaps too over confident.

Lisa (she is in my Saturday group-yeah)

I kind of comfort myself by reminding myself  if I only did the things I was certain I could kick trash in, I would rarely do anything, and I would have missed out on some super fun experiences.  It's a good practice and can take the edge off a bit.  And I did actually luck out on the Thursday night class.  I arrived on time, and sat down next to a nice young girl named Lisa.  We chatted a bit, and then she reveals,  "I'm a bit nervous. I'm really not that great of a skier."  Bless you, Lisa!!!   I, myself, have never been overly anxious to share with anyone my insecurities about an upcoming athletic event, so I am grateful to my new friend for her honesty. Together we decide when they split us up in groups on Saturday we will try to be together so we know there is at least one other person on our skiing level.

The rest of the Thursday night class went well.   The first 10 minutes the instructors showed real life avalanche footage with real life people in them, and it is enough to make me wonder why the heck I am there and why anyone would ever choose to leave resort skiing.  But then they followed up with some great information and avalanche science.  The instructors were great.  They looked like women who had spent many hours in the great outdoors and knew their stuff.  I did struggle a bit to understand the one from New Zealand, though.  Later I told Kevin, it took me a whole 2 minutes to figure out that when she said "chicklet" she was not referring to gum,  but a "Checklist" one should review every time you traveled into the backcountry.  I am also happy to report that at one point in the class the teacher showed a picture of some mountain terrain and asked someone to choose a route through it and I volunteered and got a "nicely done" from the instructor for my route choice.  She said that to everyone who tried, but I chose to take it personally.

Upper Room,  Albion Lodge

Saturday Morning I meet several girls from the class (namely Nicole, Rachel, Lisa, and Rebeca) and we carpool up to Brighton's Albion Lodge for the 8:30 am class.  It is snowing at Brighton's base and we are all wondering if we brought enough warm clothes.    We divide into groups, and my group consists of me, Rebeca, Lisa, and our instructor, Pat Lambrose.   Pat begins by pulling out a map and telling us we will be traveling to Dog Lake (not the lower Dog Lake by Donut Falls, but another one close to the resort) and there we will practice beacon tracking and then we will ski up a small mountain, do some pit digging and looking at snow layers, and then be back to the lodge by 3 pm. 

Pat and Rebeca looking at the Map

After looking things over, we head out.  I struggle a bit with my rented gear, even though I did practice a bit the night before, but it goes okay.  We take the Brighton Express lift and then follow Pat as she leads us to the back country.  First we do a beacon check.  Pat stops about five feet in from of us and has each of us ski past her so she can make sure our beacons are working.  Rebeca and Lisa ski past and we hear the beeps of the beacons indicating they are working.When I ski past, no beep.  It's just the start of my annoyance with my beacon.  We look at it and it is showing the data but no sound.  We don't want to turn around so we just decide I will have to use only the visuals and not go by the sound.




We ski on until we reach a ski boundry sign and Pat skis right past the sign into the back country.  Wahoo!!! I have always wanted to ski past these signs!!   It feels rebellious and exciting already.  Not too far from the sign we stop and we are on the frozen Dog Lake.  It is amazing how in just a few feet from the resort how suddenly quiet and pristine everything looks and feels.  There was a miles of  untracked white snow, cliffs ridges, trees, and silence.  It was a bit surreal.  Kind of like  discovering Disneyland  has a hidden park no one knows about (granted, a park that could easily kill you if you are not paying attention, but the right idea.)

Here we learn how to locate with our beacons and then dig out victims.  We do this by burying one beacon and then putting our beacons on search mode and using the signal to find the location of buried beacon.   You then use your probe stick to poke around and find the item buried.  Once you knick it with your probe you go a meter or so downhill and begin to shovel out the victim.  The meter distance downhill is supposed to be beneficial in opening the air path to the victim quickly, or at least that is how I understood it.  My beacon sometimes made noise and sometimes did not.   But other than that hang up, it really was pretty straight forward and simple.  You follow the beacon arrow as it counts down the meters between you and the victim until you get to less than .5 meters or so. It's quite a bit like geocaching.   The one thing I learned though was to go "Slow and Low"  (Pat's terminology not mine.)   When I rushed or turned the beacon too much I would lose the signal or have a delay.  When Kevin and I get our own beacons I can see us practicing in the park and hiding it in different places.  It'll be fun and useful.

After beacon practice, we climbed a small mountain and began to transverse the ridge.  Pat had each of us practice breaking the trail for the rest of the group.  It's just like pace lining in bicycling, so I was in my element.  :)  We climbed the hill and I discovered these amazing heel lifts on the back of my skis. They are part of your binding and you put then down when you are climbing uphill.  They raise your heel so your foot is not at such a steep angle when you climb.  They are brilliant!!! Besides the obvious reasons,  why the heck do they not make them for running shoes?!  It was joyful to climb! And one slight plug for myself here.  It was a steep climb but I kicked it's trash and barely broke a sweat.  Why? Because of getting up at 5 or 5:30 every weekday to get my trash kicked in the spin classes, body attack classes,  weight training, etc..  I hate to brag, but it makes me feel good when I shock people by how strong I am.  I don't know why it is so surprising for people to see me kick it on the bike or out on a hike, but I chose to take it as a compliment, AND I am grateful for my body's strength.  While we were climbing Pat kept reaching down and dipping down into the snow, analyzing as we went.  She said this is the best way to test snow when climbing because you can constantly check and analyze conditions.

Pat and her Snow Pit

When we reached a somewhat high elevation, Pat then dug a snow pit and showed us the levels of snow and how slabs can form on weak layers and cause avalanches. We did various strength tests and learned how to recognize the signs of an unstable snow slab.  We also trekked and looked at a mountain ridge to the south (I think) of us and looked for signs of avalanche.  We measured slope angles, identified cornices, analyzed mountain terrains and discussed  best travel routes.  It was a great eye opener to all you should think about and analyze before you ski.

Pat pointing out terrain with Lisa

Rebeca looking on a mountain range, if you look closely you can see the evidence of a small avalanche in the bowl area

After all the analysis was done, we pulled off our ski skins and headed down the mountain.   I was nervous but nerves gradually gave way to pure joy.  I have never in my life skied deep fresh powder snow like what I was now skiing.  It was so smooth and soft, like skiing on a cloud.  Each turn was soft and quiet, totally different from the sharp icy turns I'm used to at resorts.  Granted, I don't go too high in the resorts when I ski, so maybe I should be able to experience this skiing bliss while within their enclosures, but to this date I can't remember ever having skied through this much snow.  It was a whole new sensation and I loved it!

We skied back to the lodge, did some debriefing where we discussed what we learned and Pat showed us where to start  as we begin forming our own touring groups.  The class was over, and I was thrilled.  I returned home ecstatic to have a found a new sport in which to participate and learn, and pleased with the bit of luck and courage I found that enabled me to have this fun adventure.  I'll be sure to post more back country tours in the future.

Timpanogos Terror

To celebrate my 34th birthday, Kevin's mom said for my present she would watch the kids so Kevin and I could hike Mt. Timpanogos.  I have been wanting to hike Timp for years, and somehow it had never made it high enough on our list.  It almost didn't make it this year again, when I realized it was the same weekend as our ward BBQ and a Stake Young Women's activity, and was worried that they were understaffed for these activities and I should be there to help.  Thankfully, I voiced these concerns to my wonderful hiking, adventure seeking friend Jamie Delfin.   Her friendship and insight is one of God's greatest blessings in my life.  She honestly lacks any martyrdom tendencies and the ego that goes along with saving other people.  Not that she isn't giving, she is just balanced and I have seen how it blesses her and her family.  I am so grateful for her in my life.  Anyway, she reminded me that their are lots of people there to help that had not planned babysitters and invited friends to hiking birthday celebration.

So yesterday morning, September 7th, we all met at the trailhead at 8 am to start our ascent up Mt. Timpanogos, which is the second highest peak in the Wasatch Mountain Range.  Our party included me, Kevin, Jamie Delfin, Lehi Delfin, and Chandra (crap Chandra what is your last name now?!).  We were all so giddy to see each other.  This was the first time I had seen Chandra since her imfamous trip to Europe trip where she pretty much impromptu married her Peruvian boyfriend (whom she just met in April)  in Sweden.  Who does that?!!   Chandra, does that's who.   They actually met in Salt Lake City, and both are travelors,  met up in Europe, and then destiny took it's course.    Needless to say, we were all so excited to be together and all kept talking at once and topic tangenting all over the place because there was so much to catch  up on and so many ideas we wanted to discuss.   

I have only hiked Mt. Timp once and that was when we hit the trail head at 4 am so we could see the sun rise at the peak.  So it was very dark and I couldn't see the landscape too well.  And then on the way down I was so tired, I barely remember the landscape coming down, so basically it was all new to me.  Timpanooke trail to the peak is beautiful.  It is a mix of grey Granite cut mountain, with Quaking Aspens that lead into pine and then into open tundra.  The air was fresh and the views of the valley were breathtaking.   Our pace wasn't too quick but steady, and we reached the saddle after about 6 hours of climbing.  I was pleasantly surprised that the trail never really got too steep before then.

We all ate snacks as we sat on the saddle and while we looked at the Provo valley and Chandra pointed out the big fluffy clouds in the distance.  I noticed they were beautiful and looked like they might have rain, but were moving slow and very far off.  None of us thought much of it and there was no debate on danger in the clouds, because really there were no menacing signs.  Chandra hung out on the saddle while the four of us scrambled to the peak.  This took an hour of rock scrambling, and is a bit scary when you realize the heights at which you climb.   On the scramble we met a triathlete mother who just had twins three months ago (inspiring for me),  a mother and daughter who were dressed in tanks and shorts and a bit nervous about the climb, but pushing through, and an older couple with hiking sticks and full hiking gears (again inspiring for me  :)  .)

We celebrated the peak by writing in the log book, taking lots of pictures, and enjoying the view.  From start to finish it was about an hour until we were at the saddle again.  We noticed the clouds on the Provo side of the mountain were a little closer but not much, and then for first time I noticed the clouds on the Heber Valley side of the mountain that were heading North.  These looked heavy and were moving much more quickly.  Still no sign of lightening and we aren't made of sugar, so a little rain wouldn't hurt us.  We descended at a good clip and after about 45 minutes the rain started to drop.  No big deal.  Sure it was a little cold, and a bit slippery, but nothing that we hadn't experienced before and our spirits were high.  We made jokes about how happy we were for body fat,  and strong thick calves to get us down the mountain (this is a group joke, but I'll spare you the details here.) 

That was when the wind picked up and it began to hail.   The hail started out kind of small and not too painful.  A little prick every few seconds, and sure it was cold, but again, nothing we couldn't handle. But then the clouds began to dump all they had in buckets and buckets of icy sharp, freezing pellets of hail which reached us at high amazing high speeds of velocity.   It was like the clouds were made of millions of ice BB guns and they were hammering the mountain in all their fury.  They pummeled our bare arms and legs with a vengeance.  The pain was searing and bitterly cold, made all the worse knowing we had at least 3 hours of hiking ahead of us.

This picture is about 5 minutes before the heavens unleashed their fiery

Now we are experienced hikers but none of us (but Kevin) had thought to bring a jacket or wind protection.  So we all started scampering trying to find shelter.  There were some low plants by the trails, but their bare twiggy branches offered little cover and trying to crawl under them did nothing to stop the icy pellets from piercing your arms, legs, neck, back, and head.  

We were scampering down the mountain trying to find cover and of course I am praying in my heart the whole time.  My mind was thinking of the people we had met on the peak and who were up higher behind us on the mountain in the storm.  I thought of the mother and daughter in tanks and shorts, and the older couple who at least had clothing, but were older and skinny.  I thought with gratitude that my kids were safe and warm with their Grandma at her home, and I prayed they would not be too worried. 

At one point I had scampered a little off the path looking for some shelter and found I was alone and I began to pray in earnest.  I felt utterly helpless.  There was nothing I could think of to end the suffering. I thought, "Lord, I know you calmed the storm on the seas and I know you can calm this storm.  I have faith in your son Jesus Christ, could you please stop this hail and bone chilling wind?"  I immediately had the thought enter my mind, "This storm is not going to stop.  You need to RUN."  I knew it was true and I yelled to my fellow hikers who were crouched above me on the trail and told them we needed to get out of here and run.  And off we went running down the muddy trail.

It was so painful.  I could feel the welts already forming on my arms and legs.  The wind was awful and the rain and snow was already forming on the ground and filling the trail path.  The path became a rushing stream filled with snow, and ice filled water.  Rocks in the path became small standing waves and still we ran.  The water level reached our calves. That was when the lightening began.  We would see a flash and then quickly followed by a loud boom.  There was nothing taller than us in those fields and we cowered as we ran.  The lightening got closer and became blinding lights and deafening "BOOM"s.  I kept thinking about my 6 foot four husband running in front of me and the lack of trees.  But in hindsight the lightening increased our pace.  After every flash and boom, I know I picked up the pace even more. 

I knew my spirits were dropping and so I did the only thing I knew that I could do.  I began praising God and Jesus out loud for every step that got me closer to being off the mountain.  I'm sure I sounded like a baptist revival to Kevin with my "Thank you God, Thank you Jesus, Thank you God, Thank you Jesus." I sounded somewhat silly to myself but I kept thanking Them.  Then I looked for anything to be grateful for.  I could smell a slight scent of pine probably carried down from the wind from below us.  I thought of how none of us had fallen and how Kevin was doing amazingly well with his bad knee.  I thought of how we were runners Again, I thought of my kids, safe and warm with their Grandma. 

Then I thought of the friends I was with and felt a huge pouring of gratitude fill my whole soul.  I could not think of a better group of friends to have to go through this with.  There was no whining, no yelling at each other, just concern and a determination to do what needed to be done.  I was grateful that we all were out door enthusiasts who had strong bodies and experience in the wild.  

We ran in the hail for about an hour until  blessedly the hail turned rain, and the lightening began to cease.  We continued down and began to see the destruction.  There were trees that had fallen across the trail and it looked like one tree might have been struck by lightening, but it was hard to tell if that had been recent.  We reached the parking lot and realized we had run down the mountain in 2 hours.  My heart sank as I saw the other cars in the parking lot and knew how many groups were on the mountain.  We debated about going back, but what could we do?  We were bruised, soaked to the bone, and our limbs were swollen.  The debate ended quickly when I saw the park service was there with radios and rescuers going up the mountain.

With the heater on we began our drive down the mountain only to be stopped by the park service.  There were mudslides down the mountain on the Alpine side and we would have to turn and go down through Provo canyon instead.  This added 45 minutes to our drive, but we were so happy to be warm and heading to our kids.  We reached the valley and saw it was a flooded mess.  Homes in Alpine had been evacuated and the community was filling sand bags to keep the houses from being harmed.

Later I was in a hot shower, and a relieved Grandma Beth was making us soup.  As I was in the shower I thought about why God didn't stop the hail on us.  I know in my heart he doesn't stop the storm all the time, but I also am a believer in miracles and I know enough stories of Jesus Christ to know He can do something like that when it is his will.  And I wasn't asking for the whole storm to stop, just the razor sharp hail that was exfoliating every inch of me and my friends.   But then I thought about how I had willed my body to run in the hail even when it just wanted to lay down and curse.    I was stronger than I had given myself credit and this was one more experience where i exercised my mind over my body and now I was even stronger than before.  

So now I am sitting in my warm kitchen, in fuzzy pajamas having just eaten warm pancakes and having a visit with family.  I'm stiff as a board and have the sniffles, but I am so grateful and ready for a new day and feel good about myself and life in general.  I'm already looking forward to the next adventure.