Backpacking in the Uintas

7 years ago I went on my first backpacking trip. It was to the Twin lakes in the Uinta mountains. I went with my stake for the 4th year hike for girls camp The hike was harder than I expected and most of my ward got dehydrated. Still I enjoyed it enough to go back two more times. I haven't been back since then though Brandon and I have wanted to go ever since we were married.

We decided that this summer we had to go. We picked a date and invited his family along. In the end only Bryan and Kara could come, but we were glad they could make time to come. (They are moving on Tuesday so we know it was hard to make the time)

I got off work early on Thursday and packed up the Jeep then I picked up Brandon at work. We drove from Cache Valley to Ogden Valley via the little dirt road that connects them. Then we drove to Kamas and then the Uintas themselves. The ride was longer than we expected but it was very pretty.The original plan was to hike to Notch Lake. The trail for this hike starts at Bald Mountain. We couldn't even get to the parking lot it was so snowy up there.
We were a little worried because we were supposed to meet Bryan and Kara at the lake and yet we knew they couldn't have got to the parking lat let alone the lake. Luckily we were able to get ahold of them on the walkie talkie and met up with them in a few minutes. They had gone down to look at another trail. We decided to change plans and hike from Trial Lake to Wall Lake. Now the whole time I am just trusting the boys' judgement. They know the Unitas really well. I have a limited knowledge of those mountain.
So we hiked the mile and a half from Trial Lake to Wall Lake. It was a pretty hike with some snow. There were some parts of the trail that were pretty wet. When we got to Wall Lake I instantly knew where we were. I knew this lake. We would hike to this lake via a different trail as part of the 4th year hike. Then we would continue on for another mile or so until we got to the top of the "wall." The twin lakes were on the top of the wall.
Since it was about 8 o'clock we didn't want to go on any further. We found a campsite which was pretty difficult since most of the level ground was covered in water.
After we set up our tents we started making dinner. Bryan and Kara had Hobo dinners cooked over coals in the fire. Brandon and I had pasta cooked over our little camp stove.
After dinner we roasted star bursts and talked. Just as our fire died down it started raining and we ran to our tents and went to bed.

It rained all night. I was cold most of the night. Luckily Brandon's sleeping bag zips up with mine so I was able to use his body heat to keep me warm enough to fall asleep. The view from our our tent door was amazing. You can see "the wall" and Wall Lake really well. In the morning we woke up and did the time honored Unita tradition of trying to make a fire with wet wood. Eventually (like an hour later) we had one started. In the meantime I made breakfast with the camp stove (It was totally worth carrying on my back).

After breakfast we went fishing. I have never caught a fish. Brandon told me that I would probably catch one in the Uintas. Well I didn't. I'm kind of glad though. I'm not sure I'd know what to do next.
After "fishing" we decided to hike to a waterfall that we could see on the other side of the lake.
We found the waterfall and then realised we were pretty close to the top of the wall.
I really wanted to see the Twin Lakes so we went the rest of the way up. Just as I suspected they were right up there. I had fun showing Brandon spots that have a lot of memories. Like the spot we once waited at for hours to watch the sunrise and the woods where I explained to 9 girls in my ward how to go to the bathroom in the woods. I also told him about Lindsey and Emily swimming in the lake, the mosquitoes that were so think I almost inhaled one, learning how to use a water purifying pump, and a bunch of other great memories I have from that hike.
We hiked back to our camp ground and packed up. Then we hiked to our car. The trail had turned into a river in most parts. i didn't really care because my shoes and feet had been soaking wet since the night before when I stepped in a puddle. (Luckily I had dry socks to sleep in)

We got to the car and drove to Provo falls. Then we drove on to Salt Lake. Where we are spending the rest of the weekend. As we drove away we were already starting to talk about a three day back packing trip we would like to do next summer.

This week -- the bad and the good

So this has been a happy and sad week for me.

First the bad. Father's day was kind of hard for me. For some reason I felt sad that Brandon wasn't a father yet. It was kind of hard to listen to the speakers in church, and I kept feeling like it was my fault we don't have kids. The feeling passed. And I'm working on being grateful for this time that we have and to make the best of it.

Then on Tuesday Brandon went on his instrument stage two check ride and didn't pass it. Now the fact that he was even able to take the test should have made me happy. He has been working on getting ready to take this test since before he met me. It has been a long hard road. We've pushed through it together and I have always been able to cheer him up and tell him to keep trying. But he didn't pass the test and we both got discouraged. I was mainly upset at the USU flight school. I'm so fed up with the mismanagement and inefficiencies of that flight school. I have a lot of fears that it will take them a long time to feel that Brandon is ready to do the check ride again.

But Brandon has assured me he wont let that happen. We had a long talk about it on Wednesday night and I am fully confident in my husband again. (The flight school I still have my doubts about.)

But I have not been gloomy all week. Here are the happy things that we have been able to do.

Last Friday we went to our ward Camp out at Cinnamon Creek Camp ground. It is a Church owned camp ground and our site was named Eden. We are on the activities committee and were able to be in charge of some of the organisation. We really enjoyed hanging out with our ward. This is our third ward camp out with the 61st ward and it was one of the best.
We set up the tent in about 8 minutes flat. Another couple was watching us and they said that they watched another couple put up the same tent in about 45 minutes. Well we have had it the whole two years we've been married. The other couple was setting theirs up for the first time.
On Father's day my Dad, Mom and younger brother and sister came to eat. They'd spent the weekend in Rexburg with my other sister. We served them a salad with barbecue chicken.
For dessert we had an Angel food cake that Brandon made from scratch. It was heavenly.
For Family home Evening on Monday we went to the Wellsville mountains with our friend Trevor.
He took us on some jeep trails.
And a little hike.
The view of Cache Valley was amazing! Later this summer we want to hike all the way to the top of the Wellsvilles.
My garden has also had a great week. Everything has really enjoyed the rain.
The real stars of the show right now are the sweet peas that I have on my balcony. They smell sooooo good.

One more thing . . . .

. . . . they finally figured out what to do with me at work.

I'm now at the level of seniority at work (year and a half) that I felt comfortable applying for positions with more responsibility. But since Brandon is graduating in December (yes it really might happen) or May at the latest they haven't wanted to give me a higher job. I understand that they want somebody who will be there for a while and not leave, but I was getting ready for a change. Not to mention I really couldn't handle many more customer service phone calls.

Any way last Tuesday the VP of Billing asked it I was interested in being the Billing Department Internal Auditor. It is a job that they want to rotate out every 12 months to get new eyes so I could do the job until Brandon graduates. I had never even considered being the auditor, but as soon as I figured out that I wouldn't be in the customer service phone queue anymore I took the job.

The last few days have been spent saying good bye to over half my portfolio. (A heart wrenching experience for some properties that I really like and a celebration for the other ones that I NEVER thought I would EVER get rid of) I've also been trying to figure out what this new job really is all about. (Basically I check every one's properties to make sure billing is going correctly)

I've also been trying to arrange my desk. I had to move away from my team. Actually out of the original team it was only my supervisor and me left-- everyone else had already been promoted and/or moved away. Now at my new spot I have to deal with a slightly different desk layout and a HUGE scanner. I'm thinking about putting the scanner under my desk, but I have to be certain I can do it without the IT department noticing.

I like the new job, but it is hard to adapt. I had my properties down to a science so it is kind of disconcerting to be doing something new. Still they told me that they want me to contribute my ideas and work to take the auditing department (I'm my own department) to the next level. I'm a sucker for doing that kind of work so I'm pretty excited for the change overall.

Blogging Binge

So thanks to my work's Internet filter I have now been off blogging for about 3 weeks. Now it's time to binge!!! Here are some of the things I have done the past three weeks.

Here is my family the Sunday after we got back from California. This picture was taken the last 5 minutes we were all together. Lindsey and John had to leave right after the picture. Since they are moving to Houston we probably wont all be together until Christmas at the soonest.

The last day of our vacation was spent helping my brother with his Eagle Project. We helped tie fleece blankets for Primary Children's Hospital. It was really fun.

I helped cut out the blankets (yes my hair is crimped in this picture . . . all I can say is everyone else was doing it)

Brandon and my cousin Melissa actually did good job at cutting out the blankets. They are both perfectionists so they made sure the lines were straight. I'm more of a close enoughist on these types of things.

Then that night we saw No Doubt at the E- Center. I love this band and so this was a great night. They played every single one of my favorite songs.

After that we got back to Logan at about 1:30 in the morning on Tuesday. We went to work that day and spent the rest of the week trying to get back into the swing of things.

Here are some highlights from boring old regular life.

Brandon made me this herb garden for our anniversary. We painted it, put it together, and planted the herbs. Here they are just starting to bloom.

I worked more on the rest of my garden. Here are the sweet peas. (this picture is about 2 weeks old. They are now twice this big and getting ready to bloom)

Brandon finished fixing up an old barbecue that he acquired last year. Our neighbors were evicted and the landlords gave the hunk of junk to Brandon. He cleaned it out and spray painted it. Then he ran out of money and summertime. It's been sitting by our back door all winter. A few weeks ago we bought the burner and other stuff and were able to finally use it. It works great and the food is to die for!

We spent last weekend at Brandon's family's cabin. The cabin is in Sanpete county where I spent a couple summers. We were able to find the ropes course I helped build up Mt Pleasant Canyon. Three years ago Snow College was working on this ropes course to supplement the one up Ephraim canyon. It was supposed to take all the business that Snow Fun had to turn away for lack of time and space. However, I don't think it has ever been used by Snow Fun. Still it was fun to see things that I helped do. For instance. I dug one of the holes for the posts that hold this wall up. I also helped put up this string for an "Iron Rod" course. This is how I know they aren't using this site for Youth Conference. If they were, this string would be new and not the old stuff I put up three years ago.
I also helped clear this line for the zip line that went in. I have some really great memories of chopping up trees with a little bow saw.

Well that is it for now. Stay tuned . . . I have an exciting summer planned.

Calico Ghost Town and the Ride home

Saturday we scraped together our last 12 dollars in cash and went to the Calico Ghost town near Barstow. We had fun walking around the ruins and the old historic buildings. There were old mine shafts every where. This town had once been the center of a silver mining operation.


Then it was time to head home. We were done sight seeing so we just drove straight from the Ghost town to Saint George Utah where we got gas. Then we stopped in Cedar to pick up my brother in law, Jon. Lindsey was already in Salt Lake so he came up with us so that our whole family could be together for the weekend.
About 8:00 PM we pulled into Kearns. Emily and David had come down from Rexburg so we were all there. We had a great dinner and had fun talking. It was a wonderful way to end our week on the road.

Our big road trip may be over -- but that doesn't mean the vacation is. We still have Memorial day left.

San Diego and ideas for next time

Friday we said goodbye to the ocean and headed into San Diego. Originally we had planned to go to the temple there. But that was when we thought that the showers at the campsite were free. The showers actually cost money. We realized that we were covered in sand that probably wouldn't come off easily. We didn't want to get sand all over the temple so we decided just to walk around the temple.

The temple was stunning. A missionary showed us pictures of the inside that he shows to non members. We vowed that we would come back to San Diego and definitely go to the temple. I'm glad that even though we were physically unclean to enter the temple we are still spiritually clean enough to enter worthily.
After the temple we kept driving south. We were trying to get to Balboa Park in San Diego. But we missed our exit. We were only 15 minutes from the Mexican border so we decided to go see that before turning around to go find our exit. We drove to the border and almost went over. But at the last minute we decided not to go. We really weren't prepared. We had no idea what papers we would need to get back in the the good old USA. As we drove back towards San Diego I told Brandon, "If we wanted to go to Mexico we would have thought of it a whole lot sooner."We found our way to Balboa Park and went to the Air and Space Museum. Brandon, of course, was in heaven. We had fun looking at everything, and he told me lots of things about airplanes. Here is the actual Command Module for the Apollo 9.
And here is a replica of the Spirit of Saint Lewis. (And a replica of Charles Lindbergh)
Probably the coolest part about the museum is its location under the final approach for the San Diego Airport. About every 3 minute and airplane would fly over the museum.
We took a tram around the park and looked at the outsides of some of the 30 odd museums. One day we will come back and look at the insides of them. But this day were were just too tired. We got back in the car and drove to Barstow. For some reason this was the longest drive yet. Probably because we were both sore and worn out from all our fun. We made it to Barstow and put up our tent in the dark. The pool was still open so we swam in it for a while. Then we came back to our camp site and made noodles over our camp stove. They were so good especially after all the sugary junk food we had been eating.