Anniversary Tradition

Several  years ago I packed a picnic lunch and a white table cloth.
We climbed a hill in the Solitude area and marked our anniversary (We've been married 31 years).
Every year since, we head for the exact same table.


Up the hill:

Our table:

At least my hair is longer than last year:

We drove over Gaurdsman pass to Midway:

In Midway we got Ice cream cones and ate them in the park.
Then we drove to Park City. We found a new place to explore:
First we walked on a dirt road. We found a mine that was in operation in 1920.
Further up the road we found a trail that went above the mine:

This is the bridge we had to cross, to and from the road:

On the way home we stopped one more time. We finished our sandwiches at George Washington park, by Mountain Dell just off Parleys.
We used up the day with just a packed lunch and some gas in the car.

Grandeur Peak

Joe and I hiked up to Grandeur Peak, In the Millcreek Canyon area today.
We should have started earlier this morning when it was cooler, but we survived.

The Fall colors were amazing:

It was colorful, but we worked for it.

No shade:

Ridge line:

To stop, rest and eat a bit of lunch, we had to sit right down on the side of the trail.
That was here:

We are on our way back down, but we have a long way to go.

I was so glad to get back down where the trees were big and shady. I was also very happy to see the stream and little waterfalls again.

Together 31 Years (almost)

We've been together for 31 years. Our wedding anniversary is Sept. 28th.
That's in another week and a half, but we wanted to use our coupon while we could.
We ate at Kimi's Restaurant in Solitude Village.


We sat outside in the Sun.
It was getting cool in the canyon:

I had Salmon:

Joe had Steak:

By the end of dinner it was getting a little cold.
We walked a bit anyway.
We went through the trees and looked at the river:

The weekend after next we will do our traditional anniversary picnic.

Brads Birthday Party

Olive Garden for my brothers birthday (Bradly)
Dad bought dinner for everybody!

Mom and Dad (and me):

Happy Birthday Brad!:

My son and his girlfriend:

Brian.

Happy Birthday, again, to Brad!
Dad, Thanks so much for dinner. You're amazing.

Home Canning

I've been canning for two days.
On Tuesday I canned 12 quarts of peaches.
Today I canned 19 pints of Salsa.

As I was cleaning up after the Salsa project, I noticed a couple of very ripe bananas. Rather than let those go to waste, I made up three mini loaves of banana bread.

Hopefully, I will get to can some other things before winter.
Everything tastes fresher this way.

County Fair

Last night we went to the County Fair.
Some in our group had already had a busy day.
Joe completed half of his concrete pouring project for under his grill.
Others had to go to work.
Even so, we all perked up at the fair.

We saw a lot and ate a lot!
.

Scudder Lake On Labor Day

It's Labor Day (Monday) and we headed back to the Uintas.
We walked to Scudder Lake, which is about 5 miles round trip.
This trail connects to the Naturalist Basin area which is a loop with about 7 lakes.



We took a break by this meadow.

Scudder Lake.

We ate lunch here:

Bald Mountain:

Driving out of the area we made a stop at Mirror Lake.

Tomorrow it's back to work and reality.

Bald Mountain

We made the two hour drive to Bald Mountain in the Uintas.

When we stepped on the trail (around noon), it was very warm and sunny with no need for a sweater:

The base of the mountain:

Starting to climb:

The weather changed so fast. Somewhere along here it started to sleet and hail. It lasted about 10 minutes. We kept going:

Blue sky off in the distance:

The sky cleared. We are about halfway up the mountain.

Starting to get some views:

The switchbacks were narrow and frequently ran along the edge:

The trail goes along the top of this rocky ridge:

We are going out to that point:

Clouds:

Freaky trail:

On top:

We were above the clouds:

The top was a spacious but very rocky area:

Joe:

Don't look down:

The clouds were rising like a geyser:

Me:

Keep in mind I have walked through a hail storm and the wind is blowing:

High up!:

The summit elevation is 11,943 feet. Other Uinta peaks to the east are higher- including the highest point in Utah, 13,528-foot Kings Peak-but none are good day hikes.
I think Bald Mtn is high enough for me!"

This is our way back down:

It was like walking in the clouds.
There was a place that looked like giant stair steps, but I was too busy to get a picture of them.

Half way down the mountain a slow but steady drizzle of rain started and stayed with us until we reached the bottom. We also went across a zone that had high freezing wind. It was an adventure.

We made it to the car safely and ate lunch inside the car.

The drizzle stopped and we drove a bit to scope out a trail for our next hike.

We found a place that mom suggested, called Highline Trail. We walked for about 30 minutes one way, just to get a feel for it.

We could see Bald Mtn from Highline. We were up there!:

10 minutes into this trail we saw a large Marten (very cool).  It climbed down a tree and ran away.