Hiking Mount Nebo

Saturday Nate and I hiked Mount Nebo with my brother Ben, Ben's friend, and and his friend's wife. It was a really wonderful hike, and it brought back a lot of memories of doing the same hike almost exactly nine years ago together with some of our good friends at BYU. The only downside was that Nate's knees got pretty sore.

I had forgotten just how scenic this trail is, and we hit it at just the right time to see all the wildflowers in full bloom.

Nate on Saturday's hike

Nate nine years ago

 

As evident from the pictures, the weather conditions during Saturday's hike were pretty different than they were for us nine years ago. Our hike nine years ago was sunny and hot, but Saturday, the sky was overcast while the mountain tops were cold. The clouds whipped by us and the wind chilled our limbs. My figures got very numb as we climbed up the final ascents.

From nine years ago

From Saturday

In fact, the top of Mount Nebo was covered with clouds, which obscured our view some from the top. From Saturday's hike:

From nine years ago:

When you are on top of Mount Nebo, you sort of feel like you are on top of the world. Everything else around you seems small in comparison.

According to our GPS, the trail took us nine miles in total with an overall climb of 4,178 feet. Unlike many other peak trails I have been on, this trail goes up and down, so you still do a fair amount of climbing even on your way back to the trailhead.

Independence Day Week

Nate had the entire week before July 4th off from work. We didn't travel anywhere during most of the week. Instead we tried to spend some time together doing fun things nearby during that time. On Monday, June 29th, we went swimming. On Tuesday we took Austin to the Treehouse Museum in Ogden. Austin really enjoyed this, although it wasn't too exciting for Nate and I. Perhaps it would have been more exciting for us if Austin had been interested in something other than playing with the train tables the majority of the time, but it was difficult to get him to leave those toys to explore other things. At least he had fun with the trains.

That evening we also had a surprise birthday party for my Dad, who turned  60 the following week. Luckily, the surprise part worked out. My dad had no idea there was going to be a party for him that night. I was in charge of the decorations, and unfortunately in my effort to remember all the decorations and related supplies, I forgot our camera.

Wednesday was particularly fun. We took Austin hiking four miles total up the Farmington Creek/Sunset Trail. He did very well! I thought this trail was perfect for him since there were a number of points of interest along the way for him (and the rest of us) to enjoy, including some old cars for the 1940s, 50s, and 60s that crashed down the canyon from Skyline Rd. above. There was also a shallow cave and a couple of waterfalls.

Unfortunately, the large waterfall toward the end of the trail was mostly blocked by some trees. There wasn't a good way for us to get down to the bottom of it where it would have been more visible, but by climbing nearby rocks we could look down on it better.

Thursday afternoon Nate and I were able to go to the temple, and Friday we left and drove down to Parowan for a Wilcken family reunion. We stayed at Nate's Uncle Jay and Aunt Louise's house hanging out with family, eating good food, and playing games. Friday evening we went swimming at the city pool.

It was fun to watch a couple of Austin's younger cousins going off the diving board. They are definitely a lot different than Austin, who would be far too terrified to try such a thing at this point.

Camden (about 18 months) would just walk off

Friday evening we also did a few fireworks.

Saturday morning we got up early and went on a short hike along the first park of the Valentine Peak Trail. Sleeping in is hard on Independence Day in Parowan in any case since they shoot off canons at 6:00 in the morning.

After lunch on Saturday we drove back up north. We ate dinner at Nate's aunt and uncle's place, but we were too exhausted to stay for fireworks. We left after dinner, drove home, and went to bed.

Vernal Trip Part 2

Friday morning (June 19th) we headed out to the Dinosaur National Monument. We started out by heading to the visitor's center and catching a ride on the shuttle to the Dinosaur Quarry. We had fun looking at all the dinosaur bones there and learning about them. Visitors were even permitted to touch the partially uncovered fossilized bones in the rock at the bottom.

 

The most complete sauropod skeleton ever found

Chicken Coop

After visiting the quarry it was time for lunch, and after lunch we went hiking. First we hiked Hog Canyon, which got its name from the fact that Josie Basset Morris used the canyon as a natural corral for her pigs. Josie is known for her love affairs with Butch Cassidy and his Wild Gang, and she had five different husbands - four of which she divorced and one of which died. She moved to cub creek in 1913 at age 40 and built a cabin there herself. Later she built a new cabin with help from her son. We saw her cabin and chicken coop near the trailhead. She lived there homesteading for 50 years, chopping wood, cooking, caring for livestock, tending an orchard, hunting, sewing her own clothing, bootlegging, making her own soap, growing a vegetable garden, and entertaining guests at her cabin (which was really nice by homesteading standards). She remained living on her ranch until she passed away at the age of 90.

Here we are in front of Josie's Cabin

 

Heading into Hog Canyon

After the trail in the canyon ended, some of us continued climbing up the rocks further into the canyon.

After returning from Hog Canyon, we went up the Box Canyon Trial, which was an especially short hike.

Once again, some of us kept climbing up past where the trail stopped.

After hiking, we returned to our hotel for a swim. We were surprised to find the indoor pool was extremely cold. It didn't feel a great deal warmer than the river we rafted the day before, so we didn't last long in the pool. Furthermore, the tile surrounding the pool was extremely slick. It was slick even when it was not wet, and it was crazy slippery when it was wet. Even while being careful, both Austin and my aunt slipped and fell on the tile, and my dad almost fell. We still had some fun though, and the hot tub felt nice.

After our swim, we went to dinner and got some ice cream for dessert. Then we played some games before going to bed. Saturday morning we stopped by one of Vernal's large funny dinosaurs sculptures for a picture.

And the hotel even gave Austin a Dinosaur Hunting Permit before we left.

Then we concluded our vacation with a trip out to Fantasy Canyon.

Aunt Rosanne and Austin next to the Coyote

This little canyon was full of really crazy intricate rock forms that were perfect exercising one's imagination to find all sorts of shapes and objects hidden among them. Some of the rocks had been given names. We couldn't find a lot of them, but there were other forms we found pretty readily.

The Witch

The Gargoyle (that looked to us like a triceratops)

While interesting, I don't think this is a place we will be going back to since it was also out in the middle of nowhere. It was a short .6 mile hike that took nearly an hour to get to.