No Labor on Labor Day,

I decided to take a 4 day weekend this past Labor Day weekend.

It was just what I needed.

On Friday I met my sisters for lunch at "Kneaders" in Bountiful.

We had a great lunch and an even better visit.

I love my sisters and I just needed a good dose of them.

On Monday I got up early and headed for Nikki's house.

She planned a hike for us at Sherwood Hills. Much to our dismay, they won't let the public hike there any more with out a fee and since we did not come prepared, we headed for Nik's back-up plan which was to walk/run the trail around the lake at Mantua. It is just 4.1 miles which is exactly the time we had before Nik had to get back to Brooke.

Here are some pictures from our adventure:

The morning breaks over Mantua.

Emma loves horses and here are two in the bushes eating breakfast.

Emma watches the fish jump? The ducks dive? The fisherman?

It was a beautiful calm Labor Day morning...

Thanks Nik and Emma for the memories on a wonderful Labor Day morning.

I was also able to go on a drive with Doug. We had a great time driving up to Kamas and then on to Park City. Doug had been to a cafe up there years ago where the owner had a wall full of bottles of Coke from all over the world. Probably 10 years ago Robin went to Prague, Czech Republic and Doug had her bring him back a bottle of Coke Cola to take up there. We were 10 years too late as the wall of Coke does not exist anymore. I guess we need to get out more. We decided to head to Park City and the Outlet stores where Doug found a new leather coat at Wilson's Leather. Then we headed back to the Valley. We were lucky to be driving the opposite direction of the crowded highways. When we left to go home on I-80 East, the other direction, I-80 West was backed up way past the Heber exit. Everyone was going home. Made me glad I live where I do. It was a relaxing day full of "no Labor". Hope you all had a great holiday as well. Next Holiday off...Thanksgiving. Can you believe it??

I hate to see the summer go....there was so little of it.

Annual Salmon Hike 2010........

Every year I try and hike up so see the

Cocaney Salmon run at Causey reservoir.

This year on this beautiful Saturday morning

I went with Mason and Nik.

This is the canyon the trail is on.

You hike or canoe to the end.

The leaves are starting to turn and

the closer we got there were patches of this.....

....signs that Fall is just around the corner.

This is a view from up on the trail looking down.

If you look close you can see little red spots which are the salmon.

This is what the Salmom eggs look like.

The Salmon swim upstream to the place they were born

and deposit their eggs in the water.

Then they die.

The process starts all over again and every year

you can hike and see them as they finish their life cycle.

We saw some in every stage of spawning.

Some were bright orange/red.

Some were almost gray.

Some were dead.

If you look close here you can see one that is turning gray.

They have no respect for each other

as they poke and run into the weaker ones.

This is an amazing process to see.

Beautiful Cocaney Salmon.

Thanks Nik and Mason for a wonderful Hike.

Interested in seeing the Salmon?

The Hike is an hour in and an hour out.

It starts at the parking lot just outside Causey Estates.

If you don't go this week or this next weekend you will be too late to see them.

Blanche, Frances, and Lillian.....not related

Last weekend I went with my WWDI Hiking Friends.

This time we drove to Salt Lake's "Big Cottonwood Canyon" and hiked up to three lakes....

BLANCHE, FRANCES, AND LILLIAN

It was a perfect day for a hike....

We got on the trail about 7:15AM

The trail was about 2 1/2 miles to the lakes, but it was straight up.

Here are some photos of the Hike.

Sandy, Connie, and Jen having a breakfast break.

Photo break with the WWDI

View from the top.

LAKE BLANCHE

LAKE FLORENCE

These Lakes were beautiful.

The sky was over cast, so you don't appreciate just how beautiful it was up there,

but it was really beautiful.

and finally....

LAKE LILLIAN

There was all kinds of different wildflowers and fauna, and rock formations.

There were parts at the top that reminded me of the rocks at Lake Powell.

Here is a view looking down in to Little Cottonwood Canyon.

We were down off the mountain by noon.

It was the perfect hike.

I did not think after hiking the dreaded Wellsville Ridge Hike,

that I would be able to hike a steep trail again,

but I did and I felt good at the end.

And this is THE END of this post.

I should have gone to work........

Friday, I took the day off work to hike with "The Women Who Do It"

This year instead of a 3-4 day adventure, due to conflicts in schedule's etc.,

we decided to do "Day Hikes" to local trails we have not hiked.

Remind me.....Whose idea was this?

So Connie and Brenda put together what I thought was a 8-9 miles Hike.

NOT!@!!

It was 11.5.miles.

With a vertical rise of 11,000+ Elevation.

We left a car about 1/4 mile north of Sherwood Hills at the trail head.

We then drove to Mendon and left a car at the trail head there where we started to hike.

The 1st three miles were up and up and up.

This is Connie, me, Brenda, Jen, and Olive [dog]

At this point I am thinking, well, that was not too bad, I did OK.

There was two other hikers we saw, a father and a son and when the dad heard that we were hiking across the top, past three peaks and down the other side, he said " You are? Going down is really steep......and then I saw that look in his eye, and could tell what he was thinking......"Do these ladies know what they are getting into????

The next 4 miles were up up up.

Seriously, any other year I would have been in shape and strong enough to do this hike with no injuries......but with the health problems I had this last year, I had no business going on this hike. I was a whiner, complainer, and an "are we there yet-er."

The good points were the views:

This one is looking toward Honeyville and Bear River.

This one is toward Logan, Mendon, Wellsville

This is towards Brigham City.

And finally.....this is Sardine Canyon.

We also enjoyed the wild flowers......

and many different rocks, some with orange moss/lichen...

and we even saw rocks with fossils on them....

[but I was way too wasted to care about taking pictures at that point]...

so if you want to see them, you will just have to hike there.

It was beautiful on top. and the weather was perfect....but the mosquitoes..

and fly's and horsefly's were like the plagues of the last days.

I would say that 2/3 of the way was uphill with very little reprieve from the up or down. It really did not flatten up on top at all. We hiked three peaks [Box Elder Peak was one and I don't know the others because I did not plan this hike, remember?], and 2 mounds.

The last 4 miles were STRAIGHT DOWN DOWN DOWN.

At sometime during the the hike we lost the trail and bushwhacked a little. I twisted my knee and that was it for me. The pain was excruciating in my left knee and in my toes. Those last 4 miles were pure hell. I literally hiked down sideways. Any time I came to anything that was flat at all, I had some reprieve from the pain, ....but there was very little of that. I think I will lose both of my big toe toe nails as the downhill was so steep and my boots were so hard. At one point Jen traded me shoes and that gave me some hope. Enough hope to finish. I could not have done it with out my TWWDI hiking friends. Jen literally got me down that mountain by breaking my falls and holding me back so I would not fall. A hike that should have taken us about 6 hours, took us a little over 11 because of the decent and my knee. My friends were so patient. When I got home, I was so fatigued, and in so much pain, I thought for sure I had torn my meniscus. I soaked in a hot bath, and then iced my knee and went straight to bed. And then the miracle happened.... I woke up the next morning and I could walk normal. It still hurts to go down stairs ...but no one would believe how much pain I was in the day before.

PROLOGUE: At sometime during the hike, I looked at Brenda and said "I'm done". She looked at me and said "You are not done".

At that moment, I remembered being in the bottom of the Grand Canyon with a hiker we will call "Laura" that was so "done". It was about midnight at the "Phantom Ranch" in the bottom of the Grand Canyon and we were leaving about 3AM to hike back out. Laura was throwing up from heat stoke, and said she was "done" and Brenda just looked at her and said "You are not done". There is a sign in the bunk house that says something like "There is only one way to leave the Phantom Ranch, and that is the way you got here." Yesterday I had my "done" moment. But I knew what Brenda meant when she said I was not done. We have been through a lot, and this was nothing compared to everything we have been through.....and I wasn't "done' because I hiked out of that trail the way I started..... on my own two feet.[minus my left knee and two toe nails.

Hey, anybody want to go hiking?

Day 3 Part 1....Did I sign up for this???

Day 3 Part 1…..Orderville Canyon
WWDI

I decided to add this picture of us and the men who helped us...

just in case we don't make it back.....

Thanks Jim and Marc....

Jen’s husband Jim and Marc [family friend] came to help us rappel and also because they had never hiked this canyon. [Thanks guys!!]

According to Joe: [Internet expert about the Canyon.]
Orderville Canyon:
Orderville canyon is an amazing little sister to the main Virgin River Narrows.
It is narrower and darker than the main narrow, but that beauty comes at a cost. You will be in the water almost all of the time and depending on conditions, there may be several deep pools, some that require swimming. [the part I did not read] You will also encounter many boulders and rock formations that you must carefully scramble over, including two major obstacles that require a rappel or handline.
All this adds up to an incredible canyon hiking experience.
8.5 miles from North Fork Road to confluence with the Virgin River, 1.5 miles from there in the “Narrows’, and 1 mile on the Riverside Walk trail.

Joe sure made this hike seem shorter than it was!!

We caught the shuttle just outside Zion’s in Springdale at the “Outfitters” there. After some confusion about our reservation we headed out for a “wild” ride up the canyon to the trail head.
Sally prepped the driver who told her he and his wife had just done this hike 2 days ago and that there were 2- 40 feet swims…and oh by the way, did we bring dry clothes? NOT!!
Sally shared this information as we were getting off the Shuttle….
My stomach was in knots….but hey….it was a good day to die….beautiful surroundings, doing what I love…….with friends that I love….and I made a heck of a good lunch.
As we are hiking down a dirt trail/road 2.5 miles approx,
we encountered some “columbine” flowers and a few rocks in our water shoes.

Next is a 120 ft dry fall that marks the beginning of the Canyon.

Here we are eating breakfast. Little did we know what we were getting in to. This was a “thinker” hike….meaning you had to pay attention to your steps so you did not twist an ankle or bump a knee.

But "quiet" Marc, I think he knew and he was already "thinking".

Joe [you know the guy from the Internet] says you begin to build “character” here or “fear” as the case would be.
Since we had done the “Narrow’s” ten years ago to celebrate all of our “50th” birthdays, I expected to be in water way before we were.
I kept asking “Where is the water….where is the water?”
[Be careful what you wish for]
Here are some pictures of this part of the trail.
Slot Canyons….in the sun…out of the sun.
Beautiful rock formations.
Most of these pictures were taken by Marc who has a wonderful eye for the beauty of the canyon. Thanks, Marc

Now the canyon starts to get crowed and we encounter our first obstacles.

Here is our first rappel 15-20 feet….

I will do anything ONCE…remember?

What we didn't know was that at the bottom of this first rappel was....

MUD!!!

Here is a close up.

How did Brenda do that/no mud?

Just like always....she did it her way.........

Stay tuned for Day 3 Part 2......

We find the water......who said where's the water????