ANNIVERSARY

Father - just a little dream/fantasy I thought I'd pass along. Click on the picture for a blown up view.

Black path is the trail. Triangle is where we camp. We could camp for one night. Hike up in the morning - get up to Ridge lake and set up camp. Maybe hit a summit in the late afternoon. 

The orange trail is up for debate but is the part that makes the anniversary : ) Circles are hazards we probably want to avoid and didn't last time...    We would hit the orange trail early in the morning and then make it back up to our camp in the early afternoon - and come down to the trail head in the evening.

click on picture and after you click, you can then magnify for detail

If we properly plan and do compass coordinates, etc - we can probably avoid any cliffs or anything else on our way down. We could bring accessory rope, webbing or anything else just to be safe. We could also bring large plastic strips and leave them at key junctions so we could easily navigate our way back through any tricky parts. I would vote against actually re-creating our same trail, as fine as that would be : P. The difference would be that this time we would be prepared and would not go pass any points that we could not go back up easily. 

We would always have the option to bale out and come back early. And we would have a turn around time and come back early if we needed to. If there was too much bush wacking, no big deal - we would come back. 

We could also reserve a camera just for navigational pictures (turning around every 10 minutes and snapping a picture of the landscape so that we could virtually re-trace our footsteps on the way back).

I think the actual hike to Ridge lake is something like 6-7 miles (good uphill). and then judge for yourself how many miles it is Goldmyer. I would say not more than 3.5 miles - but it would be bush wacking - but if stuck to the ridge line (in orange) then it would take a fraction of the time it took us last time. On the ridge you typically have big trees that have big roots - since no water stays there - and less bushes than the valleys. 

If we decided not to do the orange trail - then going back to Ridge lake and hiking around, climbing a few peaks - would be well worth it too..... but it would be nostalgically fun to re-visit our old trail much more prepared.

I would elect to bring a sleeping bag with us - even our tent if we needed to. I have a water filter. We would have cell phones - we would leave a detailed map with mother-dear on our chosen path. The trail is pretty steep - Ridge lake is 5200 feet, Goldmyer is 2000. So it would be a heck of a hike coming back up!!

Anyway - just a little dream I'd pass along if you want to go when we come and visit next May/June. And again - down to Goldmyer is only if we're feeling like it - it'd be pretty hard.

Love you father dear. 

Happy Father's day

Toad Head

TOAD HEAD: Toad Head is an intermediate peak half-way between the top of the peak (south of Maple top - at about 1860 S in Provo) and the valley floor. It is pretty impressive when viewed from the north - the north side of the peak looks like its about a 600-1000 foot cliff.

So, my first adventure came a lot quicker than I had anticipated. I took advantage of Havalah's test she had to take on Saturday to do a little bit of good, old-fashioned bush wacking. It satisfied my desire for the outdoors this week - Havalah said we could go hiking this next Saturday - so we'll see.

I have been eye-ing this little craggy-like peak on my way to work almost everyday. So, on Saturday, I decided to head off and try to summit it. (That's a goat above). There was no trail, so I parked in some neighborhood and just started up it.

I almost immediatley felt like I was in the movie Bambi! It was sort of funny because I could see the top of the peak and my car at the same time, almost for the entire time. I could hear trains and cars, and yet I saw more wild-life than I probably ever have on a hike this short before.

In this picture you can see a mule deer. There were a few but they ran off pretty quick - you can still see one on the ridge.

When I reached the ridge, I could see way down into Slate Canyon. As you can see, there are these sweet cliffs that run sort of the whole length of the ridge to the peak.

Spring Time

I currently live in Utah. It has been snowing very hard for a very long time. During the last couple of days, the sun has been shinning!!! Ever since the sun popped out I started to itch. I got into my storage closet and started looking for all of my gear. My boots are so worn out and needing love and attention!

I'm from Washington State and have been really used to hiking around in the snow- but I just haven't had time to do any winter hiking this year. I really need to get my priorities straight.

So, I have determined that I will start hiking on a regular basis.

We recently decided to re-locate to Pennsylvania and so I will be left without any mountains - so I need to get all of the climbing in as possible before we leave.

I'll keep you updated on all of my past and present adventures!