Moab / Arches National Park - April 9-11, 2010

We LOVE, LOVE, LOVE that Kathleen and Brian are going to BYU-Idaho. We love it EVEN MORE that they make an event out of the beginning or end of a semester and go adventuring with us. This time, we went to Moab and Arches National Park to mountain bike and hike.

(Moab/Arches tip #1 - Charge all your batteries before leaving
home. **A few of these photos are mine, but most are Kathleens**)

James checked out a four-man tent from the gear closet at backcountry.com. Because it is early April, we were concerned that the weather might be chilly (last year, it snowed down in Bryce Canyon!). So he checked out an expedition-weight super tent that looks like half of a soccer ball. We got into Moab at 10:30 pm and finally found a campsite at midnight.

(Moab/Arches tip #2 - no matter how early-season you think it is,
reserve a campsite. Otherwise you may have to spend $40 for the last site in a
campground in the middle of Moab - the one without a picnic table)

We had to set up the tent for the first time in the dark. And discovered that this gear-closet version DID NOT HAVE A FOOTPRINT or even a floor!

The rainfly made a good make-shift floor and protected the gear from dirt. But ASAP on Saturday morning, we relocated to a cheaper, prettier, quieter campsite on the Colorado River.

James has a mountain bike that we brought along and we had already reserved a second mountain bike from Poison Spider.

(Moab/Arches tip #3 - if you don't have a mountain bike with the
serious shocks, rent one. And of course, RESERVE it ahead of time!
Oh, and riding gloves are a great idea.)

Kathleen and I were up first for a quick 6-mile ride from inside Arches National Park on the Willow Flats Road out to the trailhead of the Sovereign Single Track that James & Brian were going to ride. It was a perfect day for riding. 70-ish degrees, a few clouds and a good breeze.

We had to turn the fancy rental bike back in at 5 pm, so we stopped by the grocery store and picked up supplies for a hamburger dinner. We drove back into Arches and grilled up some burgers!

(Moab/Arches Tip #4 - It may be a good idea NOT to unload everything
at the campsite. When we were ready to cook dinner, we had the grill and
all the foodstuffs with us in the car and could make dinner anywhere!)

Well, Kathleen rode around the picnic area a bit.

And so did Brian.

James actually did all the grilling - I just set out condiments and tried to keep the napkins and light-stuff from blowing away.

After dinner, we decided to take an evening hike to Delicate Arch. We passed most of the people hiking their way out from the arch. It is 1.5 miles one-way and we made it to the arch just as it began to be really dark. We almost had the arch to ourselves!

We had flashlights and head lamps, but I was the only one to use one. Once we got past the section where I was worried about sprained ankles, I turned it off again. It was so nice to walk in the dark and watch the stars come out.

On Sunday, our only plan was to sleep in as long as we could. Then hike the Devils Garden Trail at the end of the road in Arches. Then get on the road back to SLC before too late.

(Moab/Arches tip #5 - HAVE FUN!)

Early along the trail, James found this unusual rock laying in the dirt. So he picked it up and settled it into the ground like a fence post.

This is what we found on our hike back out!

Brian - flying along!

This picture is here as proof - I WAS NOT ALWAYS the slowest, last hiker on the uphills!

The snowy mountains in the background are the La Sal Mountains and they were such a beautiful backdrop for the red sandstone.
James testing out the stability of this crazy looking boulder.

Hiking along the top of the sandstone 'fin'. Aren't those snowy mountains wonderful!

(Moab/Arches tip #6 - watch closely for wildlife!)

We saw a few lizards:

A few chipmunks:

And Brian:

(Moab/Arches tip #7 - Arches are everywhere!)

The Windows Arches and Turret Arch:

Kathleen at Turret Arch:

Double Arch:

Brian and Kathleen at Delicate Arch:

Brian, Jessi, James & Kathleen at Tunnel Arch:

Pine Tree Arch:

James and Jessi at Landscape Arch:

Part of what used to be Wall Arch: The trail goes right by the gigantic debris. Wall Arch fell in 2008.

Double O Arches:

(Moab/Arches tip #8 - Start planning the next trip - you've got batteries to charge, campsites and mountain bikes to reserve and trails to research! P.S. Sunscreen is MANDATORY)

Hanging out with Prices - April 7, 2010

Jordan is home from his Chicago Mission! WELCOME HOME!!!

The Price's came to Utah to meet him at the airport, attend General Conference and SKI! and SKI! and SKI! James & Michael night skiied on April 1st in a blizzard. Then we met up at Aunt Lynnette's on Easter Sunday for a really yummy dinner, lots of visiting and some 4-wheeler and dirtbike fun.

Today, James took a day off of work so he could ski at Brighton with the Prices - and the snow was wonderful. Couple feet of new that was light and fluffy in the morning and a little bit heavy by afternoon. Nobody got hurt, nobody got lost, SOMEBODY tried to do a front-flip and everybody had a good time!

They stayed at a condo up at Solitude - complete with an outdoor pool and hot tubs - which were very fun, but can't have been as hot as usual with all the snowballs being put into the water!

We had dinner - THANK YOU! - and played Ticket To Ride. I was so clever and so certain that I was going to complete six routes and win by a landslide. The very last turn, Uncle Doug put his train where I needed to go and then Aunt Suzie put her train to completely block that spot, and without even trying they blocked 5 of my 6 routes and my trains crashed and burned! It was so fun. Thanks for the invite!

Sundial Peak - April 4, 2010

Sometimes I have to find pictures of adventures on Facebook.  This is some of the crew at Backcountry.com doing an early hike up to Lake Blanche.  The post is tagged with Dave Granado, Al Johnson, Jason LaTour, James McCalvy and one without a name.  Looks like they had a good time - but it is still SKI season and not HIKING season fellas.

April Fool's Day - April 1, 2010

My favorite April Fool's joke! New snow on April 1st!

James got to ski today! Night skiing ends this week, so this is the first and last after-work skiing adventure. Uncle Doug & family are in town for the week, so they all met up at Brighton. This is the picture message I got.... "It is snowing!"

Elk Meadows - March 27, 2010

My very first absolutely real hiking-for-turns adventure. Of course I've hiked a bit before, but this was:
Get up early.
Drive to pick up Dan.
Drive, drive, drive to get to the defunct ski resort of Elk Meadows - 18 miles from Beaver, UT.
Gear up.
Hike a little!
Ski!
Hike a lot!
Ski!
Hike a lot again!
(If you're not a slow hiker like me - Ski and Hike a lot, yet again!)
Drive, drive, drive back to civilization.
Unpack the car and fall into bed.

Jessi, James & Dan ready to hike.

Smooch!



Pose for the camera.



Oh, what a glorious day to play in the snowy mountains!



"Stairway to Heaven" - the name of the cat track that we hiked / skinned to get back up to ski more runs and to get back to the car. Very appropriate.



Testing the snow and preparing the jump.

Video - James off the jump

Video - Dan off the jump

Joy at the conclusion of the first run! It was like having our own private ski resort - except without lift service.

Dan chilling at the top of the mountain - even though the ski resort has been closed for several years, all the lift towers, chairs and even chair pads were all in place. (After this picture, I discovered that the camera has a SNOW mode.)


One of those mountains in the background is Mt. Holly. I just thought it was a cool picture.




Standing at the lift top, prepping for a powder run. Which one of these untracked runs shall we take? We could each have our own run to put our single line of turns upon!


Watching James & Dan skin away. I was going to enjoy my second hike out because I was so, so slow! But it was a beautiful day and the sun was shining and sometimes I heard birds. And after a long while, I heard some serious whooping and hollering and laughter.








The guys were putting some very pretty turns down this run: (Dan's are the super-tight zipper line down the center. James' are the bigger s-turns just to looker's left of Dan's turns.)



I'm (almost) embarressed to admit that the guys then took over my skis. So all I had to do was hike myself and my poles back to the top. THANK YOU!

The aftermath of a short, but agressive snow fight:

Then a very, very short ski back to the car (we had parked almost all the way to the top - the set up of the resort is such that there is not a way to park at the bottom. Not very condusive to making car-supported laps). A very, very fun Saturday.

P.S. Happy Birthday Mom McCalvy!