Tuesday, June 22, 2010

Camping Trip 6/18/10

Last Friday night I meet up with an old friend from back home in Missouri to take his 6 and 4 year daugther on their first camping trip. Their original plan was to camp up in Little Cottonwood but due to his son being sick they didn't do so, they ended up deciding to go with me.

We meet up around 5:45pm to head up to Skyline Drive here in Bountiful with the hope of finding an open camping spot at the top. I kind of already knew where we were going to camp and hoped the spot wouldn't be taken.

Fortunately, for us the spot was still open and just in time. About 10 minutes later a few vehicles passed by us looking for a camping spot, which would be the case for the next few hours.



My friend and his two daughters (they remind me of my nephews with the way they act).



Dinner that was nothing more than chilly dogs and chips. The later which would haunt us though out the night and into the morning if you know what I mean.



The weather was perfect. It wasn't too cold where you needed a jacket and it wasn't too hot, with just a slight breeze. Clear sky and a starlite night awaited us.

One of the reasons why I picked the spot I did was that it provided some great views of the sunset and of the sunrise.



Unfortunately, for us and the rest of those around us around midnight a small group of cars made their way up looking for a place to camp. All the while honking their horns and using some foul lanuage. I got a kick out of it when the last driver got out of his vehicle said a few foul words towards the car leading him, all the while complaining that he kept bottoming out and dragging his car.

All I could think of was "what did you expect coming up here at midnight on a rutted dirt road".

I ended up staying up till about 1am just kind of watching over the site just to make sure those yahoo's weren't going to try anything funny. I found out later that the group camped next to us and some words with them about 3am.

The following morning provided us with a nice sunrise but some very tried campers.







After a nice breakfast of blue berry pancakes and bacon we packed up camp and headed on a little hike that would take us to just about 9000' too an overlook that would give us an excellent view of the surrounding areas.

Morning fire




This was one of the snow packs we had to cross, with me being the dork that I am.



We got a little side tracked trying to follow the trail as it split off into two different directions. The path we took ended taking us though some brush and onto another snow pack, which wasn't a total lost as it did provide some fun. We ended finding the trail again about 50 yards down from where we were.







My friend and his oldest daughter are making their way up the trail. You can see to the left of the photo the trail and the snow pack we ended up crossing.













At this point the trail became harder too see but there is a trail here. It just doesn't show up very well in the photo.




Just some random fungi growing on the rocks at the top, thought it looked kind of cool.




My friend daughters up top. The wind up there was kind of nuts. I can only imagion what it would be like during a storm.



The easiest way down the snow pack that we crossed (shown up in another photo)was to kind of dig your heels in and side down the pack. My friend decided towards the end to slide the pack instead.


Overall, the trip was great and you couldn't have asked for better weather. It did however wore us all out. On the way back down the mountain I get a call from my friend saying that his girls are out cold (meaning the feel asleep very quick once getting back in the car). As for me I was pretty drained for the rest of the day due to the lack of sleep and the hike. Lets just say the next day in church I feel asleep more times than I could count.

Would I do it all over again. Heck ya!

Monday, June 21, 2010

Storm Photos 2

These photo's were taken a few days after the Storm Photo's post. The previous day I was in the same area and you couldn't see more than 20 ft in front of you. Due to the low lying clouds and blowing snow.













Saturday, June 12, 2010

Storm Photos

These are just some random photo's I took during a rain storm here in Utah.













Old Wards Canyon 6/5/10

Last Saturday the 5th of June I meet up with a few member of the Wasatch Cruisers and a member from the Utah-TTORA Chapter to Old Wards Canyon Road. The plan was to leave the meeting spot around 830 am to head up to the parking area at the 'B' with the hope that we'd miss the crowd. Since this is a popular ATV and Dirt Bike trail as well. Unfortunately, for this trip my 4runner was out of service (well kind of)with a bump steering rack. So I ended up hitching a ride with one of the people that came along.

The route would take us up Old Wards Canyon Road and then up to the top of Skyline Drive to the snow line and then back OWCR. The driver of the newer Landcruiser was more or less his first run out with his cruiser and did an excellent job navigating though the trail.

Overall, the trip was great. The weather couldn't have been better even when we reached the snow line at the top of the road. Well, that is until the wind blew.

This was definitly, a great way to spend a Saturday morning.

Photos:









Nearing the top/snowline: