Thanksgiving in Dixie

No, I am not just whistling Dixie. We went to Dixie for the Thanksgiving holidays. Here is a little explanation. You see, here in Utah, they call the southern part of the state, Dixie. Go figure! Diane, Sam, and I left Thursday morning from Salt Lake City(really Sandy, our official residence). Riley, Jamie and Riley's girlfriend, Natalie left from LA. Our rendezvous point was a house just outside the east entrance to Zion National Park. It was a pretty fancy house but we got a good deal from VBRO.com. It had four bedrooms, each with its own bathroom. There was a custom kitchen and a dining room with a large table that seated 10. Next to that was the great room with a cathedral ceiling and a fireplace. We had picked up a full turkey dinner from Mimi's in Salt Lake. We heated up the meal and had a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner. That evening we played a round of Trivial Pursuit following by a fun game called the Game of Things. The next morning Diane fortified us with a gingerbread pancake breakfast with plenty of bacon for the Baconater. We drove into the town of Springdale for a look see and stayed for lunch at a Mexican place called Oscars. It was then into the Park where we drove to end of the canyon and took a hike called the Riverside Walk. It takes you to the start of the Zion Narrows hike. We encountered a little ice on the hiking trail but had no serious mishaps. We headed back to our house and prepared for a visit from the Meulemans who were having their Thanksgiving at their house in Hurricane(pronounced Her-A-Can by the folks that live there, if you can call that living). Tom and Jan brought along their daughters Lindsey(with husband, Joe) and Laura(with boyfriend, Patrick). We had turkey enchiladas and watched a little football until they departed. The next day, we split up. Diane, Riley, Natalie, and I took off to do some hiking. We stopped at the Canyon Overlook trailhead and hiked to a beautiful vista just above Pine Creek. Next, we drove into the main canyon and started up the Emerald Pools hike. Almost right away we came upon an icy trail. I was prepared. I pulled out the traction devices from my backpack. We put those things on and now we could easily walk on the icy paths. We passed some people who accused us of cheating; which I guess we were. There were 3 pools. The upper one required a fair amount of uphill hiking but it was a beautiful sight, well worth the effort. We made our way down and headed back to the homestead. I failed to mention that we saw several Rocky Mountain sheep sure-footing themselves on the steep sandstone on the way into the Park. This would now be our last night and the forecast was for snow the next day so planned an early exit. In the morning we left the house about 6:40 am in a caravan. There was about a foot of snow on the road and it had not been plowed. We made our way through the snowy, steep switchbacks that took us through the Park and into Springdale. From there the roads had less snow on them and by the time we hit Hurricane, the snow was gone. Here, our routes diverged. Riley, Jamie, and Natalie headed back to LA and we headed home to Salt Lake. It was a fun and memorable Thanksgiving.

The Salt and Snake Rivers

Diane and I went to Alpine, Wyoming to stay at the Rockin'M and fish on the Salt and Snake Rivers. It was a little cool but the fall colors were bursting and we caught fish. A great few days.

Father and Daughter in the Subway

Subway, Again. This time with Jamie. She has never hiked it so I snagged a
permit and we drove in Friday night with the intention of getting an early start.That did not happen as the alarm was set for 6pm instead of 6am. That was OK because I was wide awake at 6:32. Jamie said I "flew" out of bed. We prepared our gear the night before so we were on the road in no time. It was about a 35 minute drive to the trailhead. My goal for this hike is always to be hiking by 8am. It is a one way hike and there is a problem of retrieving the car if we leave it at the upper trailhead.
Jamie asked how we were going to get the car shuttled since it was a one way hike,
I answered, "It will be provided!". And it was. A couple of fisherman gave us a
lift... from the lower trailhead to the upper trailhead. After they dropped us
off we noticed the black clouds all around. In fact, one group of guys bailed on
the hike as they were worried about the weather, particularly, flash flooding.
We hit the trail hoping for the best. I could not belive how cool the temperature
was. August in Zion, it was supposed to be 100 degrees. We overcame a group of 3 hikers who had never done the hike before, but they had they weather forecast. More rain, they said. Jamie and I picked up the pace and they sort of shadowed us. They let us do the route finding for them.

We made it down Russell Gulch and up past the sandstone "boob" before it started raining. We hustled toward the cleft chute where I knew we could find shelter but it started pouring before that and out came the raingear. We went down the chute and into the canyon of the Left Fork. We cleared the first obstacle in the usual fashion,
"that sure could have gone better". We no longer worried about the rain for we
would be swimming soon. At the first water obstacle we changed socks to neoprene
booties. Our dry bag kept our water out of food and dry clothes--pretty well. It
was actually a little chilly so we kept moving, rock hopping, wading, and
swimming. At Keyhole Falls, I went first and then Jamie I saw something shiny on
the bottom as we were standing in waist deep water. My camera. Jamie dove down
and retrieved it. It is waterproof, thank goodness. After our last rope descent
I put the rope away(laden with water by now) and we did the hike out staying
mostly in the watercourse. We saw beautiful cascading waterfalls and ever walked through them. The exit was pretty well marked and we began a long
climb up out of the canyon. Thank goodness for the cool weather and no flash
floods.

Hike of the Week: My Sisters Hike

Life if full of coincidences. Today Diane and I decided to take our "hike of the week" to the Brighton Lakes. The names of the lakes just happen to coincide with(almost) the names of my sisters. We visited Lake Mary, Lake Martha, and Lake Katherine. Well, the last one is pretty close since my sister's name is Kathleen. Anyway, I am calling the hike, My Three Sisters Hike. Since it has been getting hot here lately, we left early and started up the trail by 7:30. It was actually cold when we started out but we knew it would warm up quickly as the sun was starting to peak over the ridges. The wildflowers were just starting to show themselves. I would say that in a week or so they will be in full bloom. We encountered mosquitoes and quickly donned the DEET to keep them off of us. The trail starts out paralleling a ski lift and then enters the woods and was pretty steep. The benefit of our early start was the lack of people. This is a pretty popular hike, especially to the first lake. I remember taking my brother, Mike on this hike years ago. We tried our luck fishing at Lake Mary but had no luck. Lake Mary was the first lake we came to. It had flat, glistening water. We climbed along side it and then on to the next lake, Lake Martha. That is when it hit me, The Three Sisters Hike. From Lake Mary to Lake Katherine was another mile. We passed it by and head steeply up to the Katherine Pass where we could look over into the next canyon, Little Cottonwood Canyon where Snowbird and Alta Ski Resorts reside. It was a steep hike up to the pass but it was a nice place to take in the views. I decided to leave my backpack with Diane and I took off up the ridge line to get an even better view. It was worth the climb. I got even better views of Little Cottonwood Canyon and could see Mount Timpanogas in the distance. I encountered a marmot sunning himself on a rock. It was then back down to where Diane was waiting for me and we headed down the trail, this time taking a route that took us right next to Lake Katherine. We saw some white columbines on the way down. As we got further down the trail we started to come upon the throngs of people coming up and it make us glad we got an early start. It was about two and a half miles to the pass so we put down a good 5 miles. We rewarded ourselves by stopping at the Silver Fork Lodge to have breakfast. After a hearty breakfast of buckwheat pancakes(me) and oatmeal(Diane) we drove back down the canyon. We were home before noon. It was a magnificent way to spend a Sunday morning.

It's Here! Bocce Time!

It's Coming!

Lake Blanche

"Just how early do you want to leave", Diane asked. I said,"Lets sleep in and leave the house at 7:30". Thus started our day on Sunday. We left on time and stopped by Einstein's for bagels and coffee. We headed up Big Cottonwood Canyon. From the time we left our home and traveled to the trailhead, we had covered about 13 miles. What a difference 13 miles can make. The canyon is beautiful from mile one. The stream is still in runoff, but starting to settle down a little bit. I hope to be fishing it soon. As we continued our drive up the canyon, it is difficult to keep your eyes on the road. We arrived at the trailhead with gathering, dark clouds. No worry, we had rain gear. The trail begins gently, enticing us upward. We walked along the stream for a half a mile until we came to a bridge that crossed the stream. From here, the trail climbs, and climbs, and climbs. It has been a few years since we have taken this hike before but we both remembered it being long. We settled in for a slow and steady trek. "Are those raindrops?" asked Diane. Yeah, but not heavy enough to pull out the rain gear. At one point I looked up and saw a friend of mine coming down. Serena(her name fits) is a nurse I know. In fact, I worked with her all last week at a surgical center where I fill in sometimes. It was about 8:30 and I was curious as to what time she had started her hike. Six thirty! She, Diane and I talked for awhile. Serena is going to Rocky Mountain NP at the end of the month and I had just given her all my trip reports from the time I lived in Fort Collins. Earlier, she had to huddle under a tree waiting for some heavy rain to pass. "Where is your rain jacket", I asked. Sheepishly, she said she had forgotten it. Her hike was almost done and ours was just beginning. I was envious. We said our goodbyes and continued up. The trail varied quite a bit. Parts of it were long sections of mild elevation and then we would encounter a rocky, uneven, steep trail. Then the switchbacks began. That is when you know the going is steep. The last half mile is really steep. Finally we got to the top and saw Lake Blanche at the base of Sundial Peak. The wind forced us to put on our rain jackets and I looked at my thermometer and it read 45 degrees. Hot in the valley, cool in the mountains. We had a snack and some water and then took a few pictures and started back down. Amazingly, we saw several more hikers coming up without rain gear. We were now treated to views looking down the canyon. At one point we could see the waters of the Great Salt Lake. We got a lot of questions from the people coming up, mostly, "Is it much further?". Afraid so. I felt sorry the the kids who looked like they had reached the end of their abilities. This is usually a very popular hike but with the threatening weather and being Sunday, it was not very crowded. We both had pretty sore feet when we got back but we got back in time to watch the World Cup finals. It is always nice to start your day off with a beautiful hike in the mountains. Right, Diane? Diane..... Take my word for it, she loved it.

Pilot Butte

There is a formation is Southwestern Wyoming called Pilot Butte. I have asked around to try and find out how it got its name. Most of the answers are that it led the early pioneers on their westward journey. Like a pilot leading someone somewhere. I think it is more reasonable to say that it looks like the pilot house of a a ship. See what you think. Take me to the pilot!

Long ago and far away(well, not that far)

Tomorrow is June 24, 2010. It will mark the first day I reported for my internship at LA County-USC Medical Center. It was a mere 37 years ago. I showed up for my first assignment or rotation on vascular surgery. I must admit, I was a little nervous. I would have to trust my education and experiences in medical school. I was doing a straight surgical internship so all my rotations would be in general surgery or a surgery subspecialty. The experiences I would have and the knowledge I would get during that one year would be more than the entire four years of medical school. Just thinking back.

La Jolla

Wedding bells were ringing in La Jolla last weekend. Tom Meuleman's daughter Lindsey was married to Joe Murray at the La Valencia Hotel in La Jolla. Diane and I went down on Friday and on Saturday, Jamie rode down with Riley and Natalie. They were not there for the wedding; just to visit us since we were so close to their stomping grounds. We ate Mexican food at Alfonso's. Diane made me order in Spanish. The next day we took a tour of the aircraft carrier, Midway. We all had a go at the flight simulator. Riley and Natalie bagged 14 bogies. It was a beautiful day(aren't they all in San Diego) and the tour was fascinating. This was Diane's third time and my second. We bid farewell to the kids and then went to the wedding. The ceremony was perfect, i.e., short. We had a beautiful sunset to view over the Pacific. The next day Diane and I drove to Point Loma before we headed to the airport for the flight home.

Biking Weather

Diane and I did some yardwork in the morning. We planted 8 laurels, 2 roses, 1 daphne, 5 hydrangeas and one columnar beech. Compared to the work we did last year, this was a breeze. Sam then called and wanted to go on a bike ride so we met him at The Legacy Parkway bike trail and did an out and back of about 20 miles. I have a question. How can the wind blow into your body both going out and back? Did the earth reverse its spin on its axis. We topped the day off by eating a late lunch at the Red Iguana.

Tulip Festival

After our workout at the gym, Diane and I drove down to Lehi, Utah where the Tulip Festival was being held at Thanksgiving Point. They state, "Enjoy a quarter of a million tulip bulbs nestled amongst thousands of beautiful spring flowers" . This 55 acre Garden was a wonderful sight to behold. We lucked out with the weather. We were prepared for the worst but it was partly sunny for our entire time there. The tulips were magnificent. We are already planning a return trip when the roses are in full bloom.

No, I have never been rock climbing before. What difference would that make. I saw a movie once where they were rock climbing. Does that count? Well, no, I found out. I did do some rapelling once but that is going down. This time would be going up. Or trying to go up. Heck, I thought we were rock climbing when we were just hiking to route. Seemed like climbing to me. Well, it got steeper, way steeper. My friend Chris is instructing some folks from Rock Springs. They are trying to get ready to climb Devil's Tower in May. This route was a 5.7. I think I needed a 1.7. As they say, any climb you can walk away from is a good climb.

Vancouver/Victoria

Synopsis of the trip to Canada. We flew into Seattle on Tuesday and went to my brother Tom's house and then went to dinner. The next morning we drove to Vancouver headed right for Granville Island and spent a couple of hours there. Then we checked in and found we had a pretty luxurious hotel. We set out on a walking tour of downtown and hit Canada Place, Robson Street, Chinatown, and Gas Town. We ate great sushi at a little out of the way place that night. The next day we took the ferry to Victoria and went all around the Inner Harbor and had lunch downtown. Then it was off to Buchart Garden. It was a real highlight. The next day was Stanley Park and the Aquarium. We rented bikes and rode around the park. The weather was great . Saturday we went to the Anthropology Museum and toured Kits on foot. We had a great meal at the Boathouse on my birthday. Sunday we made our way back. We stopped in Fairhaven next to Bellingham and had lunch and then headed on to the airport. Great trip.To see some pictures click on Flickr photos.

I give up: It's still winter!

I put the bike away. For awhile, anyway. I have accepted winter and found it is not so bad. Especially now that I have passed the three month mark on my hip surgery. I am free as a bird. I can become one with the wilderness. Diane and I drove up Millcreek Canyon on Saturday to where they stop plowing the road. We upgraded our snowshoes to near Top of the Line. We put them on at the Terraces picnic area and head up the hill. It was a pretty good grunt and we soon warmed up and began shedding clothes. There was a good amount of snow and we went uphill for about an hour and then stopped for some lunch. The trip down was faster(imagine that). We had a good workout and a great start to the weekend.

Just when you thought...

Just when you thought winter might be fading! Yesterday it almost hit 50 degrees. Sam called and said we should go for a bike ride. I took my bike off my trainer in the basement and changed the flat back tire and put on the water bottle cage I bought and pronounced myself ready to ride. I picked up Sam and we went to the Legacy Parkway bike path. It seemed a little colder that when Diane and I did this ride last Memorial Day. The clouds set in and it was foggy and misting in the mid 30's. It was cold so we went about 5 miles and turned around and headed back. By the time I got to the car, I could not feel my ears. We stopped for hot chocolate to get our body temperatures back up to normal. Maybe we should have gone snow shoeing.

2010(Twenty ten)

That is how I am going to say it, "Twenty Ten" Christmas is come and gone and today is New Years Day. Jamie, Diane and I took the walk to Sunrise Point at Dimple Dell Park. It was overcast but not as cold as it has been in the last few days. We took Cub and Chloe and they were happy to get out. My hip felt pretty good after this 3 miler.