Coincidences and Miracles

Like I previously mentioned once or twice we hiked Kings Peak--the highest peak in Utah at 13,528 feet--this last weekend.

To say it was awesome would be an understatement.

Now is a Time I Wish My Thighs Didn't Rub Together


We left Thursday morning, dropping the kids off at Wade's parents on our way out of town.  The quickest and easiest route to the top started about 3.5 hours from Salt Lake, into Wyoming and on dirt road.  When we got to the trailhead we were all surprised by the number of cars that were there.  I knew this was a popular hike, but I didn't think it would be that popular.  There were a TON of people.

Hillary and me at the trailhead

We got suited up with our bags.  Wade topped off with the heaviest bag and Hillary had the lightest.  However, Hillary, her husband, Jeremy, and I were packing in close to 1/4 of our body weight while Wade was closer to 1/5 his body weight.  Which explains why he was so fast.

Hillary is a running machine.  She's pretty fast, but she's also pretty short--5'1.  The backpack shortened her stride and she made this comment as we started out: "Now is the time I wish my thighs didn't rub together."  Classic.

What I failed to mention to Hillary and Jeremy was that Wade is a freakin' backpacking machine.  He doesn't stop to take breaks or anything, just plowing through the miles like they are city blocks.  We made it to camp 7.2 miles away in just under three and a half hours maintaining a slightly faster pace than 2 miles per hour which was how fast we thought we could hike in.  It had rained a little bit, but the storm passed quickly and we didn't get that wet.  The skies were cloudless for the rest of the day and night.

Wade and me after the rainstorm

You Don't Even Know What a Brothel Is.  It's a Hostel You're Thinking Of.


About a mile and a half before we set up camp, we had to walk through this marshy area that got our shoes and our socks wet and muddy. We were wading through it with a boy scout troop.  As we came up to the troop I could hear the boys complaining about how far it was and then I heard a leader say "you don't even know what a brothel is.  It's a hostel you're thinking of."  This made me laugh out loud.  Apparently, the boys were saying the next trip they wanted to stay at a "brothel".  I'm sure they would!

 By the time we reached Dollar Lake, where we were setting up camp, my feet had almost dried.  But then Wade took us up through a spot that was wet and immediately,  they were wet again.  I wasn't really expecting to be walking through water so I didn't pack any extra socks.  I changed my socks once we got camp set up, but then those socks got immediately wet from my shoes.  So I was in a position where on day one my shoes looked like this:

And I was down to one pair of dry socks.  I camped out in the tent for a little while, reading:

hoping my shoes, socks, and feet would dry.  Finally I had to come up with a new plan.  I hobbled outside and convinced Wade and Jeremy to start a fire.  Then we spent the next 5 hours trying to dry our socks and shoes:

I almost had my socks dry and then I forgot about them and they burned. :(  So I was down to one pair of good socks and another pair of running socks that were still sopping wet.  This was not how to start a 13 mile trek to the top of a mountain.

Sidenote:  check out my sexy fleece pants.  Wade tried to get me to keep them home because they were just added weight, but I put my foot down.  I'm really glad I did, considering my pants were wet as well from the hike in and they're comfy.

That night I slept relatively well.  I had packed toe warmers that adhered to my socks in the sleeping bag and those kept me nice and warm.

You're the Second Girl I've Seen Up Here.  The First One Said She Was Kicking Her Husband's Butt.  Are You Here With Your Husband?


The next morning started out pretty innocuous.  We had wanted to get a start by about 8 am to the peak, but Wade and I slept in a little bit and it was 8:40 before we headed out.  The skies were perfect:

We hiked out and got to the first "shortcut":

None of us were interested in scrambling up the rocks so we kept to the switchback.  It probably added a lot of time and mileage, but considering what we would have to scale later, I think we made the right decision.

The next shortcut I didn't get a picture of, but you come up to a pass--Gunsight Pass--at about 12,000 feet.  The main trail has you drop down 1000 feet or so and then climb back up.  However, when you get there, the last thing you want to do is go down, so a lot of people scramble up a ridge.  We watched a group do it, then sit down at the top, obviously winded.  They stayed there for about a half an hour as we hiked down and back up on the main trail.

We made our way to the pass --Anderson Pass--about .6 miles below the summit in about 2 hours and 45 minutes. Not bad.  I really thought we'd summit fairly soon.  But that's where our trip turned.

And that's for tomorrow.

Ouch.  I know.

#58--Hike Kings Peak

I can almost count on one hand the number of times I went camping growing up--including the annual girls camp with the church.  So, imagine my surprise when I got married and Wade took me down to the local recreational outlet store to get fitted with a backpack.

You know, so we could pack all our stuff in our bags, walk for long periods of time to the middle of nowhere and fend off bears.

Being newly married and trying to impress, I feigned excitement.

Then we went on our first backpacking trip.  It was a short--3 miles maybe--hike in and we hiked back out in time to make it to church on time the next day.  Not bad.

Over the next few years, we went out a couple of times a year--looking back, definitely not as much as we should have gone out considering we didn't have weekend jobs or children.  But we had a lot of fun.  And then Wade told me about Kings Peak.  I had never heard of it, but I was intrigued.  We had planned to go over Labor Day one year, but a series of job changes and school kept us from actually doing it.  By the next year I was pregnant and the trip was put on a permanent back burner.

Fast forward to 2007 when I was compiling my list.  Hike King's Peak made it's entry and I kind of laughed at how improbable it was.  But then last summer I was talking about it with a friend and we decided that 2010 was the year we were going to do it.  The original plan had 10-12 couples from the ward, but over the course of the year, everyone backed out except for the four of us.

Friday, July 30, 2010, I crossed this off my list when I summited the peak at about 1:30 pm.  There were a lot of things that happened and we met some fantastic people.  To keep this post short, I'm going to post about the actual trip--with pictures--in another post.

12 down, 88 more to go.

Bleh

Feeling kinda Bleh lately.  Two weeks of swimming lessons is about 1 week and 3 days too long.  Good thing we're almost done.

And then this weekend we're crossing off one of the things off my list (specifically #58) which will be a much cooler story than I can even fathom right now.

And there's only about 8 weeks left until I'm running another marathon.  And I'm a little scared about what's next after that.  In 2007, the pathway was pretty clear.  In 2010, not so much.

I ran 14 miles (!) on Saturday only to discover that by Monday I had gained 2 pounds.  Seriously?  I burned 2500 calories in the course of 2 hours and managed to eat that PLUS an extra 6400 calories PLUS whatever I burn by just existing.  And it wasn't even on anything worth mentioning.  We're talking like 10,000 calories.  Who's efficient design is this anyways?

Muscle.  It must be all muscle.

Speaking of worthwhile, I wish I had something worthwhile to talk about.

You probably wish I had something worthwhile to mention as well.

Next week, I will.  Because I'll be able to show pictures and describe #58 to you.  So, pray that lightning will be kept at bay and that we'll be able to summit, because we will probably exhaust our babysitting opportunities with this one adventure and I'm sure we won't be able to try again until our children have moved out.

I mean, my children are angels and grandma and grandpa are going to have an awesome time with them.  Maybe you should pray for Wade's parents too.

Hmmmm

So, considering it's been two weeks since  I've written an entry and only one person has questioned me about this, I'm thinking maybe my fan base has dwindled from 12 to 1.

:(

The truth is that nothing noteworthy has happened.

Well, I did go up to Downey to see my grandma for a couple of days, and that had the potential of being kind of a good story, but I want to polish it up and enter it into a writing contest first, so, maybe sometime later you'll hear about my misadventures to Downey.

And I've had to revamp my house rules to include no turning on the hose, ever, but especially when we're not home and no taking the mattresses off the bed.  Plus no leaving opened chip bags in the food storage. Which is an addendum to the also-new entry of no taking food from the food storage without asking first.

And why have I slacked on Spiritual Thoughts Sunday?  Because I'm having a hard time finding spiritual things  every Sunday when I feel like an underpaid babysitter for 2 hours.

And my What's For Dinner Wednesdays have been slacking too.  There's no real reason for that either.  Just slacking on the whole new recipe thing because I'm lazy.

Though I did make a kick-butt  key lime pie--from scratch--the other day.

I don't think I've ever mentioned that key lime pie is my FAVORITE pie of all time.  Nevermind it's an insanely amount of calories per slice.

Have I mentioned I'm training for a marathon?  I'm not really counting calories. But it also explains why I'm so slow in writing on this thing.

I am taxed beyond belief.

But, for my one die hard fan, I will soldier on and try to be more consistent.

You know, in between those 18 mile runs and 25 mile bike rides.

Oh and that thing called motherhood.

Fourth of July Weekend

Wade called from work this morning:

"We spent a lot of time together this weekend."

"Yeah, yeah, we did."  I replied.

So, Friday night, we went out to the the Great Salt Lake.  Why?  Well, why not?  Because it stinks, that's why.  But we trekked out there nonetheless.  And got some good shots of a sunset.

The pictures make it look so...pretty and serene, doesn't it?

Saturday was the parade with the Parade Gestapo and the awesome 5k.

Then we headed to Grantsville and went "hiking".  We didn't pack the backpack so we could only go as far as little A.'s legs would carry her.  But she did pretty good.  And she was so excited to be out there.

And J. was excited to be out there.

And then we tried to get a picture with all four of us:

YAY!  Success!

Then it was time to get a picture of Josh and Aunika:

Whew!  Finally.  Both kids looking at the camera!

And look, I came too:

Here was the view of the Tooele Valley as we drove back home:

Sunday, we went to Wade's parents house for dinner.  Nothing noteworthy happened.  We ate.  We laughed and then we came home.

Monday, we decided to go camping.  It's how we roll.  So we packed up the car and headed to Payson Lakes.  J. was so excited.  A. didn't know what was happening, but it was outside so she was happy.

It was really nice.  Everyone had gone home from the weekend, so we basically had the entire campground to ourselves.  Wade has two days off for the 4th of July holiday, so it was nice to beat the crowds.  We walked around one of the lakes:

J. tripped and got a boo-boo and then insisted I take a picture of it.

We had a great time and it was perfect weather.  So our roomy tent--fits 10--was plenty warm for just the four of us all huddled in the center.

Why do we have a tent that big?  There's a story there.  Maybe tomorrow.

On the way home, we stopped off to see a waterfall.  A. was a daredevil, but we managed to get her to the waterfall and back without any serious injury minus the broken toe I now have thanks to an bad decision of wearing flip flops to hike in.

Aren't they adorable?

4th of July Message

The Fourth of July is probably one of my most favorite holidays of the year.  I love the summer and bbq's and sitting outside late at night and watching fireworks.  But I also love that we're celebrating a great cause--America's Independence--as well as paying homage to those who have died for our freedoms.

And I think this country is awesome!

This last week at Toastmasters, we heard from a former Yugoslavian refugee.  His story was equally as horrowing as it was inspiring.  And here's the kicker:

He's my age.  30.

It was such an eye-opening moment to meet someone face to face that escaped their country because they were going to be killed.  I have only read about it in books, but to listen to someone's first person account of how they escaped death was an incredible thing.  Especially this weekend, when we celebrate our freedoms as Americans.

We take a lot of things for granted in America.  Like how we can disagree with the government--in public--and not run the risk of being murdered by officials.  Or how we can be all ethnicities and religions and backgrounds and never have to worry about an ethnic cleansing wiping out our villages. 

And clean drinking water and copious amounts of food and shelter over our heads--the list is endless. 

My message--take a moment and remember those who have sacrificed for the good of our nation.  We may be young (234 years is NOT old as far as established countries are concerned), and there may be some serious pitfalls in how the country has been ran/is being run, but we still are a pretty cool country.  And I'm glad I'm a citizen.  Take some time and read some books on what life is like outside the United States.  You'll be amazed at what freedoms you have you never knew weren't granted to all people.

Have a safe and happy holiday! 

A Nerdy Math Chic Public Service Announcement

It has come to my attention that we, as a society, are in a desperate need for a refresher course in parade etiquette.

Allow me to demonstrate.

When at a parade--such as a Fourth of July parade--where floats will be driving by and throwing candy, please do not stand with the little children, collecting candy, unless you are a little child.  THIS is not cool:

There is a sub-group of moms who feel that their children are being unfairly picked on in every event they go to.  And so, thus, by running interference themselves, they can save their child the heartache of not getting 20 pieces of candy like Johnny did, but getting only 5 pieces of candy because when you stand and pick your nose, you're not going to get the candy before Johnny (who cleaned his nose out this morning before the parade in anticipation of bagging the most candy) snatches it up.

Also there is a subset of moms who will do ANYTHING for free stuff. Note: Not all free things are created equally.  

Meet the parade Gestapo, who belongs to a combination of these two subsets.  She was intent on getting enough candy to feed the 5 or 10 kids she had surrounding her as well as snatch anything free that was (or wasn't)  being given away.  She almost got ran over to net a t-shirt that had fallen underneath the tires of a moving vehicle.

When your candy bag looks like this, you've taken the sport of parade watching to a whole new level.

I know that we all want our children to be treated equally and to be given the same opportunities as other children.  I get that.  But when you steal candy from underneath someone's shoe (particularly my son's shoe) you start to piss me off.  

And then I blog about you.

So there.

On a happier note, I did the annual 4th of July run.  Remember last year?  Well, I'm happy (maybe a little sad because it was such a great story) to report that nothing of this sort happened.  But I ran the race in...

24:38!!!!!!!  That's the best time I've EVER had.  And not only the best, but the best after having run 7 miles yesterday.  And the best after having ridden my bike up a steep hill 7 times on Tuesday (I topped out at 30 mph without trying on the way down if that's any indication to how steep the hill was).  And the best after having been awake and out of the house before 6 am every. single. day. this. week.  

In short, imagine how fast I could've gone had I been preparing to do only this run.

And the best part is that I came in third for my age group, and 26th overall for the women.  By the way, this isn't some small town podunky affair (well, maybe it is).  There were over 200 women registered for the race.  I'm ecstatic and will probably wear my ribbon to church tomorrow.  

The second best part was that my two running buddies came in third in their age categories too.  

And Wade was so happy for me.  He even waited around for an hour after the parade so I could have the glory of getting my ribbon.

Now, I've won a few ribbons this last year but mostly in those races where there are only four or five people in my age category.  This is the biggest award I've won for my running thus far and I've almost forgotten how hard it is to get out and exercise at 5:30 every morning.