Mt. Superior in the Winter

Just found this pic from last winter while looking through iPhoto. I think it's good for comparison. Pretty crazy that I just hiked it.

Mt. Superior and Monte Cristo Hike

Yesterday we were lucky enough to celebrate "Pioneer Day" (a Utah holiday in remembrance of the Mormon's journey to Salt Lake City) with a day off from work. Our good buddy Pete was in town on business, so while Audrey raced in the Pioneer Day 10k with a couple friends, Pete and I decided to hike Mt. Superior from Alta.

This is a view of Mt. Superior from the Alta parking lot (elevation 8,530 ft), the arrow is where we're headed (elevation 11,132 ft). As you can see it was a pretty nice morning for a hike.


About an hour into our journey we came across a cave, this is me spelunking.


Our first major milestone was making it to Cardiff Pass, from the top we were able to look into Big Cottonwood Canyon.


After hiking the first part of the ridge (above Cardiff Pass) there was this cool outcropping of rock with the town of Alta far below in the background. This is me being dumb.



This is an attempt at artistic photography (it won't be the last), I think that's Alta in the background.


More art, this time with Snowbird in the background (remember you can click the pics to expand them).


As our climb continued it became less of a hike and more of a scramble.


More scrambling (we're getting close to the peak).


Even more scrambling.


Here's my crappy attempt at narrating a video.

We made it (in 2.5 hours no less)! The summit was extremely rocky.


This is me at the top of the world (not really).


More views from the summit.




The town of Alta below.


Views of Alta in the summer.


Another view of Alta (that's Devil's castle in the distance).


On the way down there were wildflowers surrounding the trail.


More wildflowers.


One last attempt at art.


That's it!

Fastest Dog in the World (at least when he's chasing deer in the backyard)

Lake Blanche...but not Dorothy, Rose or Sophia

Soooooo, we hiked to Lake Blanche on Saturday and it was beautiful! Seriously! It took us about 4 hours (about a 6 mile hike). Anyway, here's what we looked like at the trail head:

(Matt's wondering if the guy that offered to take the picture is going to run off with the camera...)

So all along the first mile of the trail there are rapids/falls - so even though it was hot out...it wasn't so bad:

The trail really varied along the way. Sometimes there were a lot of leaves (almost smacking you in the face):
Other times there were clear and obvious signs to tell you where you were:
Then other times, there were flowers:
But then there would be a whole bunch of rocks you had to climb up and around to find the path:

(I'm not going to lie...it was a little scary at times!)

Anyway, during our hike, sometimes I would lead and sometimes Matt would lead. Here's what I did when Matt was leading:

(Matt had no idea :)

Other times, I took pictures of all of the flowers:

After a while, we reached a lookout point...and realized we really are very good at putting the camera on a rock and setting up the timer:

So we did it again when we finally got to the top (Lake Blanche, remember?:

The peak at the top is called Sun Dial Peak...apparently you can tell time using it. We brought our watches though, so we didn't need to:
So once we got up there, we walked around the lake, had a snack and skipped some rocks:
There was another lake too, just on the other side:

It's so ugly here, isn't it?

Finally, we took some pictures... just for good measure:

The end :)

4th of July BBQ!

Frank & Dana had a 4th of July BBQ...it was great...we had way to much food and a lot of fun. Here's what we looked like in their backyard:
So, they live in the Sugar House part of Salt Lake City...which is kinda like Ann Arbor. Lots of shops, restaurants, etc. all within walking distance. Lots of young people and perfect for dogs:
That's Copper...one of Frank & Dana's dogs :)

Anyway, Frank was our Master Chef:

And Dana ruled the kitchen...the rest of us just kinda got in her way:

After dinner, we played games in the backyard and waited for the fireworks:

And then they started: