Memorial Day Hike

Today is Memorial Day. Joe and I went for a hike. The trail is simply called Mill B North (not a very inspiring name). It started at the S curve in Big Cottonwood Canyon.

We got on the trail at 8:30 a.m. We climbed from 6000 feet to 8000 feet in just 2 1/2 miles. Yes, that is steep, but I've been on worse. We got off the trail at about 1:30 p.m.

We then drove to Little Cottonwood Canyon for a quick picnic at Temple Quarry park.

A sign near the beginning:

The following are just some mountain vistas that I was able to photograph. These are looking across the canyon. As you can see, those mountains still have snow. That's why we hiked on the north side of the canyon instead.

This was our chosen turn around point. We could see some waterfalls across this very deep gully.

On the way down I caught this great shot of Joe. I don't know if you can get a sense of how very high up we are here.

This is about the same picture, but I'm zoomed out so you can see more of the mountains.

See the Salt Lake Valley out there in the distance. This isn't even as high as we went.

Way near the top, the trail edged along the side of a scary slope. The motto along that thing was don't look down. We walked very slowly and carefully there. Good grief; what we will do for a little adventure.

Farmington Pond

This has turned into a fairly interesting Saturday. Our day started out with a walk on the horse trails down in the Dimple Dell area near house. After that we spent the afternoon at home and I did some cooking. At about 4:30 we spontaneously decided to make the 40 minute drive up to Farmington Pond.

We did some fishing for about an hour. We had no luck, plus the sun was blinding us.

We put our fishing poles away and went for a walk. This is the waterfall that comes out of the pond.

From the pond we got right on the Lagoon Trail. Most of it was very green and lush and it's all paved:

The trail wrapped around the back of the Lagoon amusement park. It went right by some large animal pens.

Here's a big Elk:

A Buffalo:

The trail was about 2 miles or so and it ended at my Grandpa Clarks monument. That's where we turned around and went back.

Monday is Memorial day and will hopefully include a good hike to a lake we haven't seen before. Look for a new post on Monday night.

Aaron is 25

Aaron officially turned 25 on Monday, May 10th, but we waited until this weekend to celebrate. He was generous and gave last weekend to me for Mothers day.

These first three pictures were taken by Joe with his Droid. Sarah is making dinner for her brother. He requested Pannini sandwiches.

Apparently, a Pannini requires taking a perfectly good sandwich and then squishing it between hot bricks (seriously).

Sandwiches are being simultaneously squished and toasted.

Sarah was only too happy to make what Aaron wanted. She even bought her own bricks from home depot.

I made the dessert. It's chocolate cake smothered in caramel and sweetened condensed milk. Then it is sprinkled with crushed toffee bars and chocolate chips. The final layer is whipped cream and more toffee bits.

The complete dinner that Sarah made, included; Pannini, Parmesan cheese potatoes, and a salad made from Spinach and strawberries in an oil and sugar dressing.

Burning down the house with 25 candles:

Aaron received three envelopes full of money, a gift certificate to Amazon.com, a shirt that was ordered on line but hasn't gotten here yet and some Droid accessories.

After kitchen cleanup, we played a round of Qwirkle cubes. The birthday boy won (the mom got second place).

I'll just throw this in here for posterity. Joe took this last picture (also with his Droid) when we went for a walk this morning. If you don't know by now, we try to walk every weekend.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY AARON.

Mothers day and other stuff

Saturday morning Joe and I went out for some needed exercise. First we made a return climb to our close-by reservoir. I took a picture of some water birds for my grand-daughters. They've led me to believe that they like ducks.

Later we went further into the canyon and got on our 'regular' trail. We walked until the snow patches got in our way too much.

The trails are slowly but surely opening up.

When we got home, our youngest daughter was already home from work and soon her brother arrived from Provo.

While I was left to my own devises, they left the house with their dad to do secret stuff.

By the end of the day I had accumulated 4 tomato plants, a flat of pansies and a couple of other flowering plants.

My den, temporarily, looks like a garden store:

We ended Saturday with Sarah's latest net flix movie. We watched Sherlock Holmes. It was a very good movie, but I wouldn't recommend it for young children.

This morning is Mothers day. I woke to a bowl of strawberries and raspberries covered in fresh whipped cream, chocolate pieces and a sprig of mint.

Soon after that treat, my husband disappeared for a couple of hours. He returned with a plate of hand dipped, chocolate covered strawberries. He and 4 other church guys, spent two hours making tons of them for all the church ladies.

For dinner, my son and daughter did a lot of work.

I was instructed a couple of days ago to make a dinner request and so I asked for Hawaiian Haystacks. Basically, it's a bed of white rice covered in chicken and sauce, which is then buried in toppings, such as nuts, pineapple, chow-mein noodles, tomatoes, celery, cheese, coconut, lettuce shreds and just about anything else you like.

I was also required to make a pie request, so I chose chocolate cream. My son had the great idea of using Oreo cookies for the crust.

Those two worked hard and turned out a fantastic meal.

I thought the food and flowers were more than enough, but I also got some little gifts.

Joe gave me earrings. Aaron gave me lotion, and Sarah worked super hard in the kitchen. My oldest daughter sent me a nice letter and my grand-daughters colored pictures for me.

Last but not least I got 'Quirkle Cubes' which we played with for awhile.

Now, I believe everyone has given into their food comas and have flaked out in the basement.

HAPPY MOTHERS DAY. I hope everyone has enjoyed a good day.

Bells Canyon

This morning I baked two loaves of bread, a pan of chocolate chip bars and a pan of chicken and rice. I did some other household tasks and went to the bank. The day started out quite cold. We couldn't even see the mountains because the clouds were so low. Eventually we noticed that the clouds had lifted, so Joe and I dashed out for a little walk.

This trail wraps around the front of the mountain and stays well below the snow line this time of year. It leads to a reservoir.

The starting point:

Bells Canyon reservoir; which is quickly reached:

In a hidden area on the back side of reservoir we found a huge patch of snake grass. We picked a bunch and filled two vases with it when we got home:

We made our way across the stream which feeds the reservoir:

I look a bit tired here because we ended up bushwhacking our way out and we also went through some squishy mud:

Going back down the hill:

We were almost down the hill when it started to lightly snow again. Fortunately it only lasted a few minutes:

I hadn't taken my camera because of the weather. Joe was carrying his Droid and snapped these pictures with it.