Ogden Hike

Early Saturday morning, when most people were still sleeping, some friends picked us up to go hiking above Ogden. (Maybe we should get new hiking friends.)

We parked at the bottom of 29th Street then headed up Waterfall Canyon. It's not a very long hike and it wasn't too hard going through the snow.

There's still no vegetation in the canyon, but the cliffs are always spectacular.

Very little water is coming down yet; we are definitely going to hike back up when the spring thaw arrives.

Trying to get pictures of everyone below the waterfall.

Glenn and Lance sitting just below the fall.

The ice formations are beautiful, too bad they don't show up very well in the pictures.

When we got back to the bottom of the canyon we got a little surprise, our friends said Waterfall Canyon was just the starter hike, now we were going to go up Taylor Canyon to Malan's Peak!

Here's everyone laying in the snow, trying to get the best angle for taking pictures of the cliffs in Taylor Canyon.

We hiked up....

...and up...

...and up...

...and up...

The trail in Taylor Canyon is MUCH longer and steeper than in Waterfall Canyon but the scenery is also much better with all the pines and firs framing the canyon cliffs.

Lance soaking up some of the first sunshine along the trail.

Glenn, quite often lagging far behind the others. He deserved to be the last - he's the oldest!

This guy never out of energy. What do you expect from someone named Hunter Wolfe?

Almost to the top.

Mt. Ogden and Ben Lomand in the distance.
Lance and Glenn looking over Ogden.

Us again.

Lance and Glenn with the Promontory Mountains way off in the distance.

(Mom said that when she was a girl she and her friends would walk all the way from the house on Riverdale Road and do the same hike we did - up Waterfall Canyon and then up Taylor Canyon to Malan's Peak. That's what I call real stamina and endurance!)

When we got home we weighed ourselves - we had both gained three pounds. We decided it was because we had converted so much fat into muscle and muscle weighs more. It could also have been the carmel apple pie and chocolate cake we ate at Rainbow Gardens after the hike.

Hiking

It's still officially winter, but hiking season has definitely begun. Two Saturdays ago we went hiking with some friends on Stansbury Island (it really hasn't been an island for about twenty years because the lake keeps dropping.) It was a beautiful day, no wind at all and the lake was almost a perfect mirror.


Looking across the lake towards Mount Ogden.


At a balmy 23 degrees, we felt like we were in the Caribbean!

Right in the middle of the island, about 900 feet above the lake with the "Capital Dome" behind us.

On Wednesday, Lance and I decided that after living in the city for fifteen years, it was time to climb Ensign Peak. Two days after Brigham Young entered the valley he climbed the peak to get a general survey of the valley.

Usually it would have been a spectacular view but the wind filled the valley with dust from the desert. This is looking right towards downtown.


Since there was such a strong wind to help us, we continued up to the next peak. The Ensign Peak monument is right below us.

Lance on top of the next peak with the Sessions Mountain behind him.

This Saturday we decided to just hop in the car and head west. We drove through Skull Valley, between the Stansbury and Cedar Mountains. Our first stop was at Horse Shoe Springs. The native American Indians, primarily the Goshutes, used to camp a lot in this area. (There used to be 20,000 Goshutes, now there are only around 500.)

Welcome to Iosepa! Iosepa was established by Joseph F. Smith for Hawaiian immigrants. They lived here from 1887 until 1917 when the Hawaiian Temple was built and they all went home. I think I would have gone back in 1888. All that is left is the cemetery.

While going through the desert we saw antelope, wild horses, fox, and thousands of sheep.

The Pony Express stop at Simpson Springs. We followed the route except for where it crosses the Dugway Proving Grounds; the second largest chemical and biological weapons dump in the world. Heck, with all of this already in our backyard, why not go ahead and add nuclear waste?

We really love the solitude and beauty of the desert. We were there for ten hours and saw only four other vehicles.

We found this old bus about half a mile off the road. Tourism in Salt Lake City has been about the same this winter. (Our friend, Lee, is the passenger.)

We also found some incredible hot springs. We aren't sure if they are geothermal or heated by nuclear waste.

Lance was the only one who got in the water. We didn't get here until sunset and with the sun gone it quickly became bitterly cold.

From the hot springs we continued west until we hit a paved road in Nevada, then we drove up to Wendover where we each played $1.00 in the slot machines. (We hope we didn't track too much mud through the casino, if we did our $3.00 donation should help clean it up.)

My tattoos are better than Kelly's

Don't ya think?

Happy Birthday, Lily-Belle!

We hope you have a very Happy Birthday, Lily!

Today in History

Happy Birthday, Denice! We hope it's a great day for you! You've definitely made life more interesting for all of us (and we wonder if Sam really knew what he was getting into when he married you)






On the back of this card Mom wrote, "From Dad's co-workers at Adams Elem. in Logan. They gave us a beautiful white dress for Denice. It was so stiff and scratchy I never put it on her."


I also found a letter written to Mom by her Seattle stake missionary companion, Hattie Woodard:

"14 Mar 1956

Dear LaJean:

Your notice of Baby Denice just came, your family is growing, and if you are well you manage just as well as you did with the first two.

I believe this is the first girl. My granddaughter had four girls, then the boy. He is a rather spoiled boy which is apt to be the case, so look out that one little fairy doesn't get all the petting, though naturally she will get the most care while she is so young and helpless....

....Well, I am thinking of you and knowing you are very busy. I love you and hope all is well with all of you. Don't worry about writing back, I have raised a family myself.

Love to all, Hattie

(young and helpless...kind of makes you chuckle, doesn't it?)

Little Denice with her dear older brothers and sister.

Denice in 1966.

Lisa, Denice, Glenn and Brandy in front of the house.

Denice all excited about going to the dance.

Denice all excited again.

Auntie Denice with little baby David.

Auntie Denice, again with little baby David.

A note from Denice to Mom and Dad.

Denice sharing her fashion sense.

Measuring for what?

Denice with her sweet, darling children, Misty, Casey and Kelly.

A little more sweet and darling.

Auntie Denice with little baby Erin and Mom.

Denice before putting on her make-up.


Denice and Mom, what a great picture!

Once again, Happy Birthday!