Lone Peak 2010

The weekend after our trip up Y mountain was our annual (and highly anticipated) Lone Peak adventure. This is the third year that Christi, Taylor, Parker and I have backpacked and camped up in the Lone Peak wilderness. I was introduced to this hike about 18 years ago by a college roommate. It is quite a challenging hike, especially with all of your gear (and a portion of your sons' gear!) strapped to your back. We ascend close to 3000 feet over the course of 2-3 miles.

Last year when we went to China, I bought backpacks for all four of us. Previously, Christi and I had borrowed packs from my aunt and uncle and the boys had just used school packs. The boys new packs have waist straps, so they are much better for this type of trip. I was the one who loaded all the packs. My pack weighed about 32 pounds, Christi’s was about 24. Taylor’s was 14 and Parker’s was 12.




The trailhead is in Alpine, Utah and is called Dry Creek Trailhead. Half way up the trail there is a small meadow which makes a great resting point. It is also a good point to eat a snack, although we had snacks with us to keep us going the entire way. We have three snacks we take every year: jerky, dried mango, and starbursts. Sounds like an odd combination, but it’s a delicious way to get some energy. We found some company in the meadow this year...




About 2/3 of the way up you get a view of a spectacular waterfall. On the way back down on Saturday, we cut off the main trail and go over to get a close-up look. It’s gorgeous. Pretty cold, too☺.






At the top of our hike is a huge outcropping of rock. It’s a great place to sit and view the valley below. The views are spectacular, and usually we are the only people in the vicinity.






The spot we camp is pretty difficult to find unless you know it’s there. It’s a small, perfect campsite. We have a fire pit and cook right over the flames. The easiest and lightest way to cook is to bring freeze-dried food. That way, all we have to do is boil water from the river that runs right by our campsite. We sleep under the stars. This year we took a little more time to flatten out the ground where we were going to sleep, and it made a big difference. In the morning, Christi was served breakfast in bed! (A bowl of oatmeal:)





As Christi and I were setting up camp, Parker built and lit the fire all by himself. He was extremely proud☺.


Lone Peak has become a tradition that we love to share. Every year, the boys ask me how many more years I will be able to make the hike. I tell them my goal is to do it until I turn 70! Wish me luck☺.

Jer

PS. When we got home, Parker was absolutely exhausted. It was about 5pm on Saturday. 45 minutes after we got back, I went into his room and found him sound asleep and curled up under his blanket. Poor kid:)

Hike the Y!

I can’t tell you how grateful I am that our boys don’t play football!

I am a sports nut. In particular I am a college football nut. We love to watch our BYU cougars (don’t mention last weekend!) each Saturday through the fall. We follow the Tennessee Volunteers, the MTSU Blue Raiders, Oregon, Oregon State, Boise State and Utah (in hopes that the Utes lose!) on a weekly basis. Taylor, Parker and I can turn on a game and instantly become rabid fans of the underdog, pinning our happiness over the next 3 hours to the fortunes of some college kids we’ve never met. Indeed, we LOVE college football around here.

We also love sports in general around here. I have coached the boys in basketball since they were 5 and 6 and in baseball for the last three years. I love it! They love it! But when baseball season ends in July, oh how grateful I am that our boys don’t play football☺ We need the break. So from July through November, we have no sports. Our family schedules all kinds of vacations, hikes, camping, cruises (ok…cruise…singular…once), reunions, you get the idea, during these months. I have at least four of these activities to blog about. I’ll start today with a family hike 3 weekends ago…

As I mentioned above, we are big BYU fans. As some of you may know, BYU is nestled in beautiful Utah Valley in Provo, UT. It sits at the base of Y mountain, which has a huge, white block “Y” half way to the summit. This Y is visible for miles around. (In fact, you can see it from Herriman, where we live, about 40 miles away.) It is 380 feet high and 130 feet wide. It is the biggest college symbol in the US and is bigger than the letters in the Hollywood sign in California. You can get a feel for the size of the Y from this picture. You can see several people hiking on it.


At the base of Y mountain is a trailhead which leads to the Y. It is a steep 1.25 mile hike up. I’ve been wanting to take the boys to the Y for quite some time. In fact, I’d eventually like to hike with them to the top of the mountain. But since I already do a couple of big camping activities each year with just Taylor and Parker, I thought this could be a family activity. Elli obviously couldn’t go, but I thought the other kids could at least give it a shot. Christi was originally going to come, but didn’t feel up to it that day, so she stayed with Elli.

Taylor, Parker, Jesi, Graci, Xander and I attacked the mountain on August 28th. Here’s a picture of the kids before setting off. If you look carefully, you can see the Y on the mountainside way above them. It is just a flat white spot close to the base of the rock outcroppings towards the top of the mountain and is centered in the picture. It helps to double click the picture to enlarge it.


The trail has about 11 switchbacks. Each switchback has a place to rest and look out over Utah Valley and Utah lake below. The kids loved stopping at the resting points and taking pictures. They also loved taking turns being the leader on each switchback. Everyone else had to stay behind the leader, who would announce as soon as they saw the sign indicating the end of the switchback we were on and the beginning of the next one. It was really cute.











On the second to last switchback, we had a great view of the Y from below.



As I mentioned before, this is a really steep hike that never really lets up. It’s not very long, but there are virtually no flat areas, so you’re climbing the entire time. I was really impressed with all of the kids, but especially with Graci. She paced herself and was able to hike almost the entire way. I piggy-backed her for a short spell, but other than that, she made the entire climb herself. (This hike did convince her that she did not, in fact, want to accompany us on our annual Lone Peak hike the next weekend☺.) Jesi also did very well, although I must say I don’t think she would have made it if Taylor hadn’t carried her for about ¼ of a mile. Go Taylor!!! Parker was a complete wimp and was actually in tears at one point, saying he couldn’t go on.




OK, I just made that up about Parker because I know it will mortify him when he reads it tomorrow. Love you, Park☺. As you can see above, Parker actually carried Xander part of the way up!

Here are a few shots at the top:




It was a great family experience. I feel so blessed to have kids who love each other so much. Taylor carried both Xander and Jesi at different times on the way up. Parker carried Xander. Everyone supported and encouraged Graci when she struggled. They are truly amazing. I hope that activities like this will cement the bonds they are forging and help them stay close throughout their lives.

At one point in my life, I wanted to be the President of the United States. Now, I just want to be a dad. There is no better calling☺.

Jer

School pics

All the kids are now in school. It's always sad to me when the summer is over and I have to give up time with them. I think I had a tougher time with Jessica starting full-day than with Xander and Elli starting kindergarten. Though I'd rather have my kids home, I will readily admit that I have enjoyed my first week of having 2 1/2 hours by myself each afternoon! I hardly know what to do with myself... HA! Just kidding. I have a thousand and one things to do, and what did I do on my first day alone? I spent an hour or so browsing the internet while eating my lunch, took a long bath with my magazine and folded ONE measly load of laundry. What happened to all those things on my list????

This week I'm going to be better and be super wise with my time-- that's the goal, at least!

All the kids except Elli go to the same school. It's a wonderful charter school and we feel so blessed to have them there. Elli just started a new school for kids with special needs. It is a brand new, state-of-the-art school. It has different sensory rooms and even has a swimming pool that they keep very warm. Kindergartners go swimming once a week, and older grades go even more often. Such great therapy for these kiddos. So glad this year for great teachers and fabulous schools!

Here are some pictures of the kids on their first and second days of school (again, my strap was in the way and cast a shadow--oops.) Oh, and I should point out that X always does his own hair-- he's very independent about it-- and does a great job!

-Christianne