Getting the Team Back Together: Moonlight Ski

Last year in March a group went up to view the Pan-STARRS comet from the top of Patsy Marley. We caught a glimpse of the comet just as it set below the horizon in a notch outline by Mount Superior. It was a really special experience, and skiing down in the dark was great fun. It inspired us to spend more time this winter night skiing. a

Shooting long exposures at night will get better with a little more experience........

December 16th 2013. "The team gets back together". It was our first outing, an incredible night without a cloud in the sky and mild temperatures. We hiked past the mining structures into upper Cardiff Fork and skied Cardiac. No lights were needed, only the full moon. For our second lap we topped out on the ridge separating Cardiff and Mineral. We studied the Room of Doom in the moonlight, and the rivers of fog that were advancing over the valley.

A picture from Tuesday December 10. First tour of the season! Snow was quite good.

Sunday Funday: Antelope Island

White Rock Bay on the west side of the island. Stansbury Mtn's in the background. The trail starts here.

Home: MTs awesome 5 bike + 5 person tout terrain transporter (TTT)

Blue Skies and Fresh Air

Terry and Lauren

Resting, lungs burning after cleaning the hill up to the elephant head turnoff. 

 Beautiful cliff side views with the Stansbury's in the background. Is this Utah?

(Above): Tyler returning from the Elephant Head (Lower): Dani superstylin in her red jacket and purple helmet

Say goodbye to biking season. Bring on the snow!

The Life of Periwinkle

In Memory of Periwinkle
June 2013 - November 2013

Left: Periwinkle as a chick.

Periwinkle as a rooster, so we shortened his name to Peri. It is difficult to sex chicks so sometimes you end up with a rooster.

Peri was a very gentle and mellow fellow. In fact, he never really displayed any rooster tendencies like crowing or being overly aggressive. Nonetheless, we decided that Peri had to go. It is illegal to keep roosters in the city and sooner or later he would begin to crow and make unhappy neighbors.

We decided the best way to truly honor Peri was to eat him.

So we had a dinner party in his honor.  No expense was spared. Fresh herbs. The finest wines. Garden fresh vegetables. We even referenced a Julia Childs cookbook.

Cal mincing garlic. Cal was the man behind the scenes. He was responsible for all aspects of bringing Peri from the yard to the table, even those not pictured in this blog.

J and Dani checking Peri's temperature.

Bon Apetit.

Eating your own rooster is a unique food experience in the current era of grocery stores and processed food. Most of our parents have probably had the experience of raising their own food from farm to table, but for our generation it is a novelty.

An Adventure of a Different Kind

I proposed to the love of my life and lifelong adventure partner on November 17, 2013 while snowshoeing in Big Cottonwood Canyon. The plan was for Cole and Brian to arrange a romantic picnic in Spruces Campground, and then disappear just minutes before Dani and I stumbled upon it "unexpectedly".

It was quite the day with upwards of 2' of snow and beautiful clear blue skies. Overall, there were a few glitches in the master plan, but everything worked out in the end.

A big problem was Dani wondering why we were bushwhacking through the woods with no real destination. A bigger problem was that I was lost. I knew that I needed to keep heading east to intersect the campground, but it was difficult to keep Dani going in such non-technical terrain. She is a mountain climber at heart, so I blamed my bum foot.

Dani smiling for the camera, but inside upset because we are wandering aimlessly through the woods.

The last picture taken of Dani and Matt as unhitched people. Minutes before the moment. I can now smile because I know we are close.

What a beautiful arrangement. Thanks Cole and Brian!

The Hardware.

Look forward to seeing everyone for Christmas

Zion Narrows Backpack

Late October Zion Narrows Backpack.

Back in August we were able to snag a permit to do an overnight backpack through the Zion Narrows in Zion NP over the last weekend in October. Needless to say we were a little worried about being comfortable on a trip that late in the year that required much time spent in the water. The permit was for six people and we were able to enlist Cole, Tyler, Caitlin, and our new friend Keith.

The hike starts up in the high desert plateau country about 1500' above the floor of the Zion Canyon NP.

Chamberlain Ranch TH 

(L to R): Cole, Keith, Caitlin, Dave Grohl, Dani, and Tyler

Fall Colors like this made for great contrast with the red rock.

 Day one consisted of following the Zion river as it started to carve its way into the plateau and down into the depths of Zion Canyon. Our camp was about halfway through the 16 total miles of our hike, and just after the convergence of the Zion River with the Deep Creek river, where the volume of the river more than doubles.

Baton twirl.

River crossings were frequent. We wore neoprene socks to keep our feet warm. Water temps were in the upper 40s.

Enjoy the fall color montage:

A couple miles before camp the walls closed in and we learned why it was called the Narrows.

Narrows.

Into the canyon.

 Day II after a great camp the river was deeper due to the addition of the Deep Creek flow. We put on our wet suits to help keep warm. A couple of river crossings required wading up to chest level.

Warm water springs would empty right out of the rock into the river.

In the heart of the narrows. Close to where Orderville Canyon empties into Zion Canyon. The walls are easily 1500' above the canyon floor.

Overall a great trip. An incredible hike. Great people. And a great way to spend one of the last weekends before the snow starts flying. Thanks to everyone that went and helped organize.

Great Basin NP

September 13-14 Dani and I headed to Great Basin NP for the weekend, after being turned away by torrential rains in early September. The park showed the signs of  the torrential rains that had been falling for most of the past month, and we were treated to some afternoon thunderstorms the first day that flooded our tent.

So we moved to this camp site where it was a little drier.

We arrived on a Saturday and did the "Lodgepole Room" cave tour. Highly recommend the cave tour. It was not Guatemala cave tour, but the formations were incredible.

Stella lake looking south @ Wheeler

On Sunday we planned to hike Wheeler Peak. The highest point in Nevada? @ just over 13k. I had never been over 13k in my life. Fortunately the rains cleared as expected and we had beautiful conditions.

Dani walking into the clouds.

Summit Pic

We have to come back here and do a traverse.

We were in the clouds and there was no wind.

Great Basin is a "Dark Sky" NP, meaning they have very little light pollution. We attended a nightly astronomy show, but unfortunately it was a full moon weekend.

We were just up there.

Overall a great trip. One of the best NPs in my opinion and very under the radar.  The parks landscape is representative of Utah's desert mountain ranges, and its nice to see that recognized by NP designation. The park reminded me a lot of the Stansbury's but larger and more expansive alpine terrain.