Backpacking in the Uintas

One of the differences between the mountains in Utah and the mountains in Alaska is that you can drive up and into the mountains in Utah. We went on a 14-mile backpacking trip in the Uinta mountains with some friends (and 4 dogs). What an amazing place! On the first day, we only hiked in about 2 miles and camped next to Scudder Lake. The next morning, we packed up our tents, sleeping bags, sleeping pads, and gathered our food from a far away tree, and headed off on the dusty trail. About a mile later, we hid our packs in the bushes and went on a 3-mile hike around some lakes. Beautiful! The dogs absolutely loved it. Cooper didn't want to get out of the water. After a quick lunch, we picked up our packs and hiked another 3 miles to our campsite for the night. We heard thunder and it rained on and off so we wanted to set up our tents as soon as we could. We got there just in time because 20 minutes after setting up tents, the rain came. Then, the grape-sized hail came. We didn't think it would last more than 15-20 minutes so we waited it out in the trees. Sooner or later, we all retreated to our tents until the storm passed. About 30 minutes later, we emerged to cloudy skies (but no rain). We cooked our dinner right away, just in case it started to rain again. I was really tired so I went to bed pretty early that night. Hiking at the 10,000 feet elevation level can really take a toll on you. I was sleeping well when we awoke to some strange noise off in the distance. I can't even explain the noise but it was like a screeching/howling/fighting for your life animal sound. The echo made it just that much louder. The next morning, we all agreed that it must have been a coyote. What it was doing and why it was making such a weird noise, we don't know. We thought that maybe it was just the sound coyotes made but it just sounded louder from the echo. The sun was out but so were the mosquitoes. They must have multiplied during the storm! After a quick breakfast of oatmeal and coffee (while fighting off the mosquitoes), we started off on our 6-mile trek back to the parking lot. It was a great trip...these photos just can't do it justice. Enjoy!

Cooper carries his own food, treats and bowls. He even carried our garbage. A dog that size should carry something!


The dogs loved all of the lakes we hiked around. They couldn't get enough of the water.


What a view! It was a bit scary if you got too close to the edge. That's a long way down.


11 more days and we'll be a married couple!!


We had to filter our water along the way.

Mid-Mountain Madness

So Andy picked up a trail map of some bike trails around Park City, and I think he's worn a hole through it from looking at it every night. :) (Needless to say, he's pretty excited about getting out on his bike each day.) We've been on two pretty big bike rides this week. With 325 miles of bike trails in Park City alone, we've got a lot of options for riding. Yesterday was a crazy ride! We started at Deer Valley Resort and rode the Mid-Mountain trail (you're basically midway up the mountain--about the 8000 ft. elevation level) to the Park City Mountain Resort. It was a 13-mile ride on a single track dirt trail, meaning you were pretty close to the trees and bushes on either side of you. It was hard to look around at the scenery because you really had to watch where you were going. Some parts of the trails crossed over ski runs, so that was nice to get a sneak peek at those for the upcoming winter. We didn't see any wildlife on this particular ride, but on Monday's ride we saw a dead snake and a mama moose with her calf. Enjoy!

This was a view from Monday's bike ride.


This was a view from Tuesday's ride.


We are standing in front of an old mining building.

Wined and Dined

Andy and I went to the Feist concert last Thursday at the Deer Valley Resort. It was like no other experience we've had at a concert. We went with Andy's aunt and uncle, who are members of The Sky Lodge in Park City. The Sky Lodge had their own VIP section, and we got to be a part of it! They transported us to the concert, where we were escorted to our seats. We had (free) yummy, delicious appetizers and all the wine you could have possibly wanted. They also served some yummy desserts, but I can't remember the name. They wouldn't even let us throw away our own garbage and they were constantly coming around to fill up our wine glasses. After the concert, we got to go to an after party where they served us more food and wine. We are not used to that kind of treatment but we loved it!


The concert was outdoors at the Deer Valley amphitheater. It was a beautiful night.

Just a preview

Once we got into SLC, one of our first trips was up to the Park City Mountain Resort. Not only did we meet with our banquet coordinator, but we finally got to see the meadow where the wedding will take place. That means we also got to take a ride on the alpine slide!

This photo was taken while riding the chair lift up to the meadow. It's looking down on the resort. Those white tracks are for the alpine slide.


This is the meadow where the wedding will take place. What a view from the top!

The Brighton Cabin

Andy's uncle designed an 18-hole frisbee golf course around the cabin and Brighton ski area. I've played the course many times and I still can't remember which hole is which. By "holes" we're talking telephone poles, fire hydrants, road signs, large trees and large rocks. These couple of photos are from our first trip to the cabin this summer.



Sometimes, frisbees end up in some not so friendly places.

Take me out to the ballgame...

Two days after we pulled into Salt Lake City, we went to a SLC Bees baseball game with some friends. I guess it would be their minor league baseball team. We had pretty good seats--right next to the bull pen and 6 seats up from right field. Andy even caught a ball one of the players threw into the stands, but he gave it to a little girl behind us. What a guy!

Day Six--Grand Teton and Beyond...

We woke up to something really crazy-- snow! I thought I heard something in the middle of the night, and it sure didn't sound like rain. Crazy! There wasn't too much accumulation due to the altitude and dryness but, still, it snowed!! The snow and clouds continued with us as we explored Grand Teton National Park. It's a good thing we saw the mountains yesterday because we didn't anything today--wildlife included. That didn't stop us from enjoying our time, though. We went on a 4-mile hike (in the snow). Then, we continued our drive through the Grand Teton National Park (it's not a big park so it didn't take us too long) and ended up in Jackson Hold, Wyoming. What a fun place! Unfortunately, the temperature was 30 degrees below normal (it was about 45 degrees), so we ditched our tent for the night and stayed at a cabin at a local KOA campground.

This is what we woke up to in the Grand Tetons


Taking a hike in the snow


A giant arch made out of antlers


Our last home

Day Five--Wyoming Cont'd.

We woke up to rain and wind this morning. Thank goodness for rain gear. After a visit to some hot springs, the rain stopped and we continued our drive through Yellowstone National Park. There were a few times we had to stop to let some bison cross the road. It wasn't unusual to see bison walking down the middle of the road. Our last stop in Yellowstone was Old Faithful. After viewing this spectacular sight, we continued our drive out of Yellowstone National Park to Grand Teton National Park. The mountains were incredible. It turned out to be a beautiful day so the mountains were in full view. A fox ran right through our campsite!

Even dogs get exhausted on road trips.


Mammoth Hot Springs


Caution--wildlife crossing!


Now that's a big fella!


Old Faithful


So tired!


Leaving Yellowstone National Park


Relaxing with a nice, cold beverage

Day Four--Wyoming

We drove for about 6 hours today, getting into the north entrance of Yellowstone National Park around 4:00 p.m. That night, we stayed at the Mammoth campground. As we approached our campsite, we witnessed an elk wandering through the neighboring campsite. It stayed around the area for quite some time and even trapped a mother and daughter by the bathrooms. We fell asleep to wolves howling in the distance. It's a good thing Cooper didn't hear them!

Molesting animals?!?!


Our resident elk at the Mammoth campground


The elk would not let this mother and daughter leave. They ended up hiding out in the men's restroom for a few minutes before her husband came and distracted the elk.


We took a little hike before cooking our delicious dinner over the campfire.

Day Three--Montana

The drive from Lewiston to Montana was absolutely beautiful. The entire drive up to Lolo Pass is along a river. We were told to be careful when driving next to the river because its beauty can hypnotize you, which is how many of the accidents are caused. We crossed historic Lolo Pass and descended into Montana. This was a long day of traveling. We didn't reach a campsite until 7:00 p.m. that night. We stayed at the Angler's Roost and even got to hear/see a bonfire-chainsawing-shootin' party across the river.

Cooper got to play in more snow at Lolo Pass.


Our campsite at Angler's Roost was very quiet, which made it even more relaxing after a long day of driving.

Day Two--Idaho

Day 2 started off with a little wine tasting in Yakima, WA, and then we were headed for Idaho. That night, we stayed right next to the Snake River in Hellsgate State Park.

Our campsite in Lewiston, Idaho


Just a random photo while on the road. We traveled along Highway 12, the trail of Lewis and Clark's expedition.


Stopping for lunch in Kamiah, Idaho, after visiting their local Harvest Foods.

Day One--Washington

On June 6th, 2008, we flew to Seattle, dog and all.  Our truck was waiting for us at the airport and, after refueling the tank, getting our directions straight, and remembering how to read a map, we were off!  Rainier National Park was first on our list.  The following photos are from our first day of road tripin':

We just got off the airplane and were waiting for the shuttle to take us to get our truck. The "pills" had worn off and Cooper was ready to go.


This is what we encountered at Chinook Pass in Rainier National Park. Cooper loved it!!


Just playing around at the KOA in Yakima, WA