Solo Hike

People that don't care for rivers and trails, may as well skip over my blogs in the summer. That's a lot of what we do in the summer. Our children are grown. We have mountains in our backyard and we're not afraid to use them.
Today I went out alone. It's wasn't as much fun, but my husband already had a physically active day and didn't need anymore.
He had already 1) Weeded in the church garden, (2) Helped a neighbor move and (3) worked on the sprinklers.
My list for the day wasn't nearly as ambitious, but it did include getting out for a walk.
This trail is a 15 minute drive from the house. It's easy, familiar and it's a busy one.
My only fears are: (1) Seeing a rattlesnake (2) being run down by a mountain bike or (3) being approached by a large unleashed dog.
The unleashed dog thing has happened a couple of times. So far I haven't had to see a rattlesnake.
Things that I like to see on the trail are (1) friendly couples (2) Scrawny dudes in B.Y.U. T-shirts; actually the nerdier the better. (3) Boy scouts (4) girl scouts.
This blog has both pictures and video. I hope you enjoy the virtual stroll in the woods.
The first picture is one of our favorite places to start on this trail. It goes right into shady woods and it's a fairly smooth trail that follows the river pretty closely.

The river:
A Mountain:
The trail:
Video:

More Blanche Lake Pictures

I was looking through the pictures that I took on our Blanche Lake hike and found so many more that may be of interest to people. I also have a video of the lake itself, but for some reason that particular video won't upload to my blog. I don't know why, it makes no sense to me either.
So, at the risk of boring you all to death; here are some more pictures. Be sure to view the Blogs before this one. THOSE HAVE VIDEO.
This first picture is looking back down from where we came. It's the back side of the lake basin.

Looking into the lake.


The last few steps before you see the lake. No it wasn't cold up there: it was very very hot.


Again, I must comment: these boulders are part of the trail.


This is not to far below the lake. You can see the water falls that come out of the lake here.


I hope you liked the pictures. It's our modern version of the old family slide show.

Blanche Lake

Saturday my hubby and I hiked up a beastly trail. This hike was not for the weak or faint of heart. It was a relentless uphill trudge and we climbed over many rocks and boulders. It turned into a very hot day and we both wished we had worn shorts. As usual, we were frequently passed up by young and physically fit people. We may be slow but we reached our goal and it was totally worth every painful step. Isn't this a beautiful sight?

It was a very hot day, so this small field of snow was a pleasant surprise. It covered a piece of our trail, so we had to carefully walk through it without slipping.

I had to show this boulder field. Our trail cuts through it! This is the view going back down. See the dirt path that seems to run into the rocks? Hikers are forced to navigate their way over these huge things by climbing down to where the trail does a switchback down below. When I first started climbing over this area, on the way up, I said kind of loud: "I'm a grandma!". The hikers behind us (young and fit of course) said "No excuses".

We got on the trail around 11:00 a.m and didn't get off the trail until about 7:00 p.m. We rested at the top for just about a half hour. I admit we're slow, but we're not slackers. It was hard work and today we are so sore!

Birthday Party

Tonight was a birthday celebration for my mom. It was a lot of fun to see so much family and to visit with everyone. Boy, we're a noisy and crazy bunch of people when we get together. I love it.
Below is a picture taken on the back patio of my parents home. We enjoyed their pretty yard until it got to chilly for us. Then we went inside and sat in their large living room with the big windows. It's got a neat view at night of the city lights.

Here's a nice group picture of a few that were there. From left to right. In the white shirt is my sister; Laurie. Back row: My brother Bradley and his baby, Aunt Linda and Aunt Karen (Moms sisters) and my sister Debera. Front row: My brother Brian, Samantha (Brad and Stacey's girl) and last but not least ; Stacey, my sister in law.

This picture is practically the same, except I'm in this one; there, standing on the left.

Here are my wonderful mom and dad. I found out tonight that mom had a hand in the writing of three books about her amazing native American ancestors. She is listed in the acknowledgments.
Way to go Mom!


I don't want to leave anyone out. Here is Brenda on the left and Stephanie on the right. They are Debera's girls. The baby belongs to my youngest brother; Bradly. His wife is Stacey; I think she deserves a lot of credit.

I don't think we've ever gotten the entire family together. We were still missing a large number of people. If we ever manage to do that, I'm taking a lot of pictures.