White Pine Lake Hike

This was one of my last true weekends of the summer before going back to school, so we decided to make a long drive North of Logan to hike White Pine Lake in the Bear River Range.

The drive was almost two hours, so we woke up as early as we could. There was a minor cat attack in our household the night before, so we ended up sleeping in a little more than we wanted to; we planned to leave by 6:30am, and we were out the door about 20 minutes after that.

The drive to the trailhead wound through several canyons and was gorgeous. It was almost 9:00am by the time we started out on the trail.

We picked this hike because we read that it was filled with wildflowers this time of year. The first mile or so was just blanketed with all sorts of red, yellow, blue, white and purple flowers. The first part of the hike was mostly through meadows at about 8,000 feet. The views were incredible and the temperatures were at least 20 degrees cooler than in Ogden (this is a good thing).

About halfway to White Pine Lake, the hike dipped into a forest area on the way to the White Pine Basin. We saw two huge deer and a lot of other wildlife.

With a half a mile left to the lake, the storm clouds we had been watching all hike started to roll in. There were only a few rumbles of thunder that seemed far away and no lightening. Still, two hikers were just in the news because they took a romantic hike and one was killed by lightening, so we were pretty concerned.  We debated back and forth about what to do and decided our best bet was to take shelter in some trees and wait it out. Heading back would be almost as dangerous as continuing on since we would be exposed to lightening either way.

It poured for about 20 minutes, but we stayed dry and comfy under a few huge pine trees. After the storm things cleared right up and it was blue sky and sun for the rest of the day.

When we got to White Pine Lake, we were glad we waited out the rain. The basin and lake were breathtaking. We explored the area a lot, including the campsites for backpackers. We picked out a few campsites in case we backpack in sometime in the future.

Because the lake is in a basin, the hike back was mostly uphill. By the time we got the car, it was almost 1pm and we were starving. In the grand tradition of Utah, all the restaurants we had looked up as potential lunch spots were closed.

In a twist of luck, Dirk spotted The Beehive Grill on our way out of town. It looked brand new and was miraculously open. They had homebrewed root beer and awesome food. (Actually, they had great microbrews too…but we were too beat to drink any alcohol.) The Beehive Grill was the find of the summer and the perfect ending to a great day outside. 

Lake Blanche Hike

In honor of Pioneer Day we decided to hike Lake Blanche and explore the wonderful country Brigham Young led his people to so many years ago. Actually, we just wanted to get the hell out of Salt Lake City and the parade chaos.

Lake Blanche is in Big Cottonwood Canyon, which I’d actually never been through. We spend so much time at Snowbird in Little Cottonwood that we’ve never made it over to big brother. We wanted to get to the trailhead early because it’s a State holiday today; Unfortunately, Dirk’s car had some unexpected engine issues and we ended up making a quick stop in Kaysville to buy oil.

Even with the delays, we were on the trail by 8:30am. The parking lot was packed and overflowing onto the Canyon road on both ends. One thing about Utah, you are never the first person to any outdoor destination. Whether it’s the lift line or the trailhead, someone is more diehard than you are.

Covering 5.6 miles and three lakes, the trail gains 2580 vertical feet on it’s way to the glacial basin that holds Lake Blanche. It was one of the better trails we’ve been on in terms of signs and trail condition.

We started along a rushing stream and hiked up through some beautiful Aspen groves. It’s been so dry in Uintah that it was great to get into a lush green area; it was also about 15 degrees cooler up in the Canyon.

The trail got pretty steep at some points, but it was much easier than the Malans Basin waterfall-climb-of-doom. Just before the lake is a huge area of glacial rock formations from thousands of years ago. The lake was cool and very pretty, but a little crowded. We hiked down to the more secluded Lake Florence to have a snack before heading back.

The whole hike took 4 hours, which was pretty fast considering the distance. Then we went to REI where we spent an obscene amount of money on equipment. We were hoping to go to the state liquor store while we were in the area, but it was closed in honor of Pioneer Day. 

Adam's Canyon Hike

Adams Canyon is a 3.4 mile hike along a beautiful river that ends in a 40 foot waterfall. We’ve come to the conclusion that Sunday is the day to hike because most people are at church. We got started early and were on the trail before 8:30am. We had the trail to ourselves except for a few early-morning runners.

The trail was pretty steep – it went up 500 feet in the first half mile of sandy switchbacks. The trail turned into Adam’s Canyon and followed a stream for the remaining mile and a half or so. The temperature along the shady stream was much cooler than the 80+ degree sun.

The trail got a bit strenuous along some rocks and steeps, but after the Malans Basin hike it seemed pretty tame. We were amazed how many people run and hike with dogs on such a steep trail.

The trail ended at a gorgeous waterfall that sprayed cool water over the entire area. We played around in the mist for a while before heading out. The trail is out and back, so it was just a downhill trek back the way we came. On the way back, the trail became significantly more crowded with families.

All told, the hike took about 2 hours, which was a nice because it was already 95 degrees out by the time we finished at 10:30. We headed home with pretty much the whole day ahead of us. 

Who says Utah doesn't know how to party?

The Park City Food and Wine Festival is a huge annual event spanning three days, and it was the first big thing we did together after moving to Utah. The three days have everything from large tastings, to group hikes/picnics, to mountain biking. There is also a huge variety of tasting classes on specific types of wine. No one is capable of hitting every event, so we decided to go to the Grand Tasting and a few smaller events after it.

Since it’s summer even the best hotels at the mountain resorts are very inexpensive. We got an all inclusive package at the Waldorf Astoria. The room was more like a suite and was completely amazing - not that we spent much time in the room, but it was still nice to be spoiled for a night.

We spent the afternoon hanging out at the pool and relaxing before getting ready. The Grand Tasting was from 3-6. We had to take a gondola to get there, which felt pretty strange without our equipment. The venue was amazing; it put the Grand Rapids Wine Festival to shame. There were tons of great vineyards and restaurants represented – and they were serving and pouring truly gourmet stuff. There were a ton of people there, but it was so open that we barely noticed.

The folk singer had the smoothest, James-Taylor voice. About halfway through the day he sang a version of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" by an amazing Hawiian singer named Iz. It’s one of my favorite versions of the song. We started looking around at the mountains and the people, and realizing that we really did what we’ve always wanted to do. The song was about dreams actually coming true, and ours had. We both got all choked up, but we were wearing shades so I don’t think anyone else noticed. It was a great moment to share together after spending so much time apart.

After the Grand Tasting there was a cocktail and food party at the hotel complete with a pig roast and tons of specialty cocktails. We hung out there for a few hours, but were totally spent by about 9pm.

The only downside to this wine taste was that – unlike in Michigan – you couldn’t order discounted wines during the taste. Most were available at the State Liquor stores, but at full price. 

Kitty Paradise

Yes, decorating the home is important. But what’s more important? If you have pets, then you know that finding the right home accessories and furniture for your pet just about trumps everything else.

The great thing about our new place is the open floor plan. Most of the action centers around the open kitchen and family room, which is visible from the upstairs and master bedroom. The cats spend a ton of time in this area – Breck and Shakespeare have always followed us around, but we see Kirkwood a lot more with this new layout. She prefers to spend most of her time on the stairs. 

I went to PetSmart intending to buy one cat tree for the main area. Note about cat trees: they are not cheap! If I had any engineering knowledge whatsoever, I know I could build one for about $15 with supplies from the Home Depot. Oh well.

I couldn’t decide on just one, so I went ahead and bought two. One was assembled, and one required some assembly. They both have been a huge hit with the cats - except Shakespeare who is still clearly pissed that he had to move. He pretty much just sits on the couch and/or bed in protest. 

There is just one downside to all these goodies: our living room now has almost as many pieces of kitty furniture as human furniture. We aren't just crazy, closeted cat people anymore - one look at our home and it's obvious we are the ones owned by our cats. 

The "Moderate" Hike of Doom

Today was our first hike as Utahans. After combing through two different hiking books for weeks, we picked a hike that was close to our house with what seemed like an appropriate length and degree of difficulty. The hike was listed as “moderate” by the hiking guide, which means it’s for “adults with an average level of fitness” – sounded perfect.

We started off on the Malans Peak Loop a little shaky. It's a 5.5 mile loop that goes up 2300 feet from trailhead to highest peak. Although there was a well-marked trail head at the beginning, it soon became clear that this was the type of hike that did not have signs and trail markings. At times we were not sure which trail was ours (or if we were on a trail at all). Luckily, we had detailed directions and a map to help us navigate through the hike.

The first section up to the hike was uphill along a stream to a 400-foot waterfall. The waterfall looked like something out of the movie Avatar – it was truly unbelievable.

After the waterfall, the guidebook described the following “look for the canyon continuing east up the gulch to the right of the falls. A few ledges warrant caution, but they are not dangerous, and no technical equipment is required”(13).

Now, it was pretty clear that there was only one way up the gulch – the rocky path to the right of the waterfall just as the book described. Unfortunately, I’d describe the “ledges” as mini-rock climbing walls a normal person would only attempt with at least a helmet on. We climbed a big group of boulders and up the first ledge, thinking a trail would magically appear. It did not.

At this point, Dirk was clearly nervous. From what I could see, there was one more tough climb and then things would level out a bit. We stood before the second ledge as he went back and forth about turning around. The problem was that it would be very difficult to get down the area we just climbed. I was 99% sure that we were on the right path, even if it was a treacherous one, but I didn’t want to say that because I didn’t want to be wrong and lose all my credibility on every future hike. 

Finally, I used all my former-camp-counselor skills and told Dirk to “try and push himself” and get up the ledge. Dirk is normally the one pushing me when we snowboard, so this hit a nerve and he climbed the “ledge” with no further complaints.

After the two death ledges, it was still a hand over hand, crawl/scramble for over 600 feet. I don't think you could even consider this hiking because we were not upright. By that time, I was convinced we were in fact on the trail, but Dirk thought there was no way this was a trail labeled as moderate in a hiking book. (Ultimately, I was right – we were on the trail and ended up exactly where we were supposed to be.)

After we reached the top of the gulch, things got much better. We dropped into lush Malans Basin and hiked a few miles of beautiful forest. After that, we made our way up to Malans Peak, which offered breathtaking views of Salt Lake City, Salt Lake and the entire Wasatch front.

By the end of the hike, we were both glad that we didn't turn around at the waterfall, and agreed that we's hike it again now that we knew what to expect. The hike was a great way to see a huge variety of land, water and foliage over a short 3.5 hours. 

A Room of One's Own

All the unpacking and moving and shifting has finally begun to turn an empty McMansion into our home. One of the first things I tackled was the guest bedroom. Although we’ve invited people left and right, we don’t have any plans for visitors in the near future. Still, it’s always good to be prepared in case Jake Burton needs a place to stay. (Shakespeare is actually under the impression that this is his room, so hopefully Jake likes cats.)

The guest room is one of three bedrooms upstairs that share a bathroom. By far the best part of the room is the Wanderlust Bookshelf that I put together. It has all sorts of random books that represent travel, nature and an overall sense of The Great Perhaps. There's also an area of my very old, collectible books. 

Lazy Sundays

Living in God’s country, we’ve found Sundays especially peculiar. It’s the one day of the week when we feel like a clear minority. For people in our neighborhood, Sunday appears to be a day devoted to worship, rest and family. They don’t work, nor do they do anything that defines our Sundays (working out, running errands, gardening or grocery shopping).

Starting early in the morning, cars line the streets surrounding the temple, and many families of eight or more can be seen walking in the temple’s direction. These cars are there all day: church does not last the 55 minutes I remember back at Northbrook Presbyterians – it’s more like 5.5 hours. When church finally does get out, people sit on their porches and read – I’m assuming the bible. It’s a very quiet day.

It’s become clear to us that a person’s behavior Sundays is an important signal to curious neighbors. We’ve never been asked outright if we are Mormon, or anything about our faith. But it’s clear we are being monitored.

This morning, Dirk decided to wash and wax his car (keep in mind this tells people that he is not attending any church and that he works on Sundays). He looked down the driveway to see an adult man and small boy dressed in church clothes staring at him and talking quietly. When Dirk waved, they turned away and kept walking without anything as basic as a head nod.

On the other end of the spectrum, Dirk’s first weekend here revealed a non-Mormon neighbor smoking cigars and drinking Bud Light in his front yard all day. Later, he revealed these actions to be some kind of white flag to signify to Dirk that this particular neighbor was not Mormon.

There are upsides for us amidst this apparent Sunday chess match. For one thing, there is no traffic on the roads. Similarly, no one goes to the gym. Most gyms are actually closed; we belong to the only one in the area that is actually open on Sundays. (For the record, most restaurants and independent businesses are closed too; only chains like Target and Olive Garden stay open for business.) So we have the town to ourselves at least one day of each week.

There’s also the joy of trying to figure out what the neighbors think of us. We like to watch them on their porches and construct elaborate stories about how they are plotting to come and have “the talk” with us. We monologue their thoughts while sipping pale ale or cabernet. When one man answered his cell phone, we hypothesized our neighbor was calling his friends and preparing to come over to us with literature and the Book of Mormon. Or, maybe it was the man who wouldn’t wave back to Dirk calling to find out about us. We decided the child was probably named Malachi.  

How to torture cats

For months, we dreaded moving the kitties from Michigan to Utah. Using Dirk’s dog gate, we set up an area in the back of the Subaru Outback complete with a litter box, food and blankets. We had two main concerns: the heat (not much air conditioning gets back there) and Shakespeare attacking the other cats. The only way to explain Shakespeare is that he’s the crazy old guy living out of a shopping cart near QD – he’s unpredictable and scary, but you tend to learn to ignore his eccentricities over time.

I had the distinct pleasure of following Dirk for the beginning of the ride. This allowed me to watch the cats try to climb up the gate, hop from window to window and generally freak out. For the first two hours, they stayed back there with less whining than we predicted. We started to get concerned because the sun was beating down on them; soon Breck and Kirkwood were visibly panting. Shakespeare found a perch and seemed fairly calm, but Dirk said he was crying quite a bit.

About three hours into the ride, I witnessed Shakespeare escape between the car wall and the gate through some miracle of kitty contortionism. We pulled over and put him into the crate in the passenger seat, which made him surprisingly happy because he could at least look at Dirk to calm himself.

A few hours later, Breck and Kirkwood looked miserable. We decided to let them all wander around the car instead of keeping them in the back. Amazingly, they each found their own spot to curl up and did great for the rest of the trip. They went into the back to use the litter box and eat, but slept otherwise. It was so much better than we feared.

When we got to the hotel, we had to wrangle them into cat carriers to take them into the hotel. They all immediately hid under the bed in the hotel room, but came out for food without much persuasion. By evening, Breck was bounding around the room at spastic speed. In the grand tradition of Breck, he’s always just happy to be here. Even Shakespeare and Kirkwood curled up on the bed for the night. 

The next day went well with the kitties. Shakespeare insisted on sitting on Dirk’s lap for the entire ride, but apparently purred and slept when allowed to sit there. The other kitties were happy to sprawl out on boxes. 

The adjusted right away to the new place and all is (amazingly) back to normal - at least with the kitties.

The Great Perhaps playlist

1,000 songs on my iPod and I made my way through most of them on the trip. Here is the definitive playlist for those moving west.

Cat Stevens “Father and Son”

Indigo Girls “Closer to Fine”

John Denver “I Guess He’s Rather be in Colorado”

Clay Aiken “Moon River”

Rise Against “Audience of One”

Tracy Chapman “Fast Car”

Frank Sinatra "My Way"

Dixie Chicks "Wide Open Spaces"

Michael Buble "Feelin' Good"
Miley Cyrus "It's the Climb"
Janis Joplin "Me and Bobby McGee"

Conner Oberst "Moab"