The Pacific Northwest

To finish off summer on the right note I took a trip up to the Pacific Northwest; specifically Portland, the Oregon Coast and then on to Seattle before a train ride back to Portland. It was a fun trip and the weather couldn't have been better. Here are a few snapshots of the trip.

Meet Blanche

This is Lake Blanche high in Big Cottonwood Canyon. Rising above Blanche, and reflecting in her, is Sundial Peak. This was the destination of our final Saturday Summer Hikes, which is fitting as summer officially ends on Wednesday. Blanche was a great hike to end the summer on and at 8,900 feet above sea level she was a cool one as well. The Lake Blanche trail was by far the toughest of the hikes this summer but well worth the effort. The trail is uphill all the way to the lake but it is a gradual increase, if 2,580 feet in 2.8 miles can be gradual, and you really don't notice how high you've gone until you go back down. I suggest starting early in the morning, we started a little after 7am, to avoid the crowds and the heat of the day. Thanks to everyone who made the Saturday Summer Hikes so much fun. I am so glad we started our little hiking group/club this summer and am amazed at all the places that I have gotten to experience so close to home. I look forward to our Fall & Winter hikes.

Going Wild!

Here are a few glimpses of the variety of wildlife as seen on some of The Saturday Hikes:

Take a Hike

This summer a group of us attempted a Saturday Hiking Club and I think it was a complete success. Why? Because I got to explore parts of the state that I had never really explored before. The worst part of this crime is that most of these hikes were within 20 minutes of my house. I am glad that I got to find and enjoy these new places of wonder in nature. I have picked one picture from each hike that best captures what were the many highlights and attributes of each. I hope you enjoy. The name of the hike where the picture was taken follows each picture, so you can go see them for yourself.

Donut Falls Hike
Bell Canyon Hike
Mill B North Fork Hike

Timpanogos Cave Hike

Albion Meadows Hike

Cecret Lake Hike

Lake Solitude Hike

Silver Lake Hike

Catherine's Pass Hike

Lake Mary Hike

Lake Martha Hike

Do You Swing?

Right or Wrong: You are never to old to enjoy swinging?

My Backyard

I can't imagine my backyard without the Wasatch Mountains.

Last Day in Vancouver

Our last day in Vancouver and Canada turned into more of an adventure then we thought, Becky claimed that it was because we were living in a sitcom. After checking out of the hotel we stopped by Costco to stock up on some Canadian candies. We (or probably more me then anyone else) may have purchased $100 dollars worth of chocolate, if Cadbury would just sell the Wunderbar here I wouldn't have to stockpile them! And don't even get me started on Canadian Kit Kat bars, come on Hershey's just ask Nestle for the recipe already! Then we had one last battle with traffic, this time waiting to cross the border, I kid you not when I say we were in line for more then 2 hours. Then when we finally got to the actual border crossing things got really interesting. The US Border agents made the Canadian ones look like fuzzy stuffed animals. After handing over all our passports the agent then asks what we are bringing back, now at this point I had already had my fill of traffic and wasn't thinking clearly and I respond other then souvenirs? To which the agent retorts souvenirs are things Rainman. Nice. Welcome back to your country with a well placed insult, it's good to be home! Now I am watching him scan and read all the passports after scanning them all and taking his time reading each one he tells us that they are having computer problems and we need to park and go inside, which we do. After getting inside we find it odd that those so called computer problems seem to be affecting more types of people then others, lets just say non-English speaking, and leave it at that. While waiting in yet another line we see a sign that informs us that we should be offered a friendly welcome to the USA and that the goal of the agents is to make sure we get through the crossing as quickly and comfortably as possible. Failed on both counts and we never got that welcome either. I understand that it is their job to protect the border and really I am grateful for it but at this point in time I just kept telling myself that it is our tax dollars that are currently paying to delay, harass and just make for an overall lousy experience and really who wouldn't want to pay for that. As we make our way through what can only be described as the worst Disneyland-type line ever we are approached from and agent and asked if we are the folks from Utah. I wonder how he could spot us so easily in this line....nope not going there. He asks us if we cross the border often, seeing as Utah is land locked by many states on all sides and the nearest border is 1000 miles away we say no. We are then informed that the Washington apples that we bought the day before could not in fact be brought back into Washington as the origin sticker had been removed. Fine keep the apples it's no big deal to us. Sorry apples I guess you really can't go home again. We are then told that we still have to wait in line but it should only be a few more minutes before we are back on the road. A brief slimmer of hope can now been seen on our faces, it is soon quickly erased. When we get to the counter we are asked the same questions that we were asked outside. Our newest agent friend then tells us that he needs to speak to one of our travel companions separately. Turns out she had been to Algeria a year ago and this raises all sorts of red flags, don't ask me why, and that they have to search our car again. So we are sent to the back of the line to wait yet again. We have now been within 500 feet of the border for about 5 hours. After they check the car and don't find anything to detain us any longer we are allowed to come back in the USA. We quickly make our way into Washington and don't stop for 50 miles just to make sure they don't change their minds and demand that we turn over any more fruit! The lesson I learned from all of this is next time I am flying. Overall the trip was a blast and now we all have a great story to tell about trying to get home and how apples and Algeria should never mix.

Day 3 Part 2: Stanley Park

For the second part of our 3rd day in Vancouver we explored Stanley Park. At 1000 acres there is a lot to explore. We visited the Vancouver Aquarium, took a walk around the seawall, learned about the totem poles of the First Nations, watched the ships and plans from the Port Vancouver lookout. You have seen Stanley Park in some of my other pictures from our trip, it is the large wooded area in the oasis of skyscrapers. Now take a look inside the park.

Okay this last one isn't of Stanley Park but I like it and it was taken on our 3rd night so that is why its here!