Lake Solitude

Well, the trip to Arizona was a slight detour from a route that would take us to Washington, but it put us in position to go through some familiar spots in Utah. First of all was our old home in Springdale to spend the evening chilling with friends while Tom babysat. We did not get to spend much time in Zion. Just enough to stop by to see a few people and take a picture with Zyla at her parents old home. We were off to Salt Lake to spend some time hanging with Jacqueline's bro Paul. The driving had been interesting. Getting to Zion, we hit 113 degrees in Marble Canyon. We had to plan feeding stops around elevation and places for Tom and I to hang out while Jacqueline fed. It took longer than it needed to, but by the evening we were hanging out in Salt Lake. The next day we just so happened to go for a hike. I did not even encourage it or push for it, but everyone was up for it. We went to Silver Lake up at the Solitude ski area. The plan was to do a short hike up to Lake Solitude. I got to carry the little one. This was the first instance of using the Baby Bjorn. It worked well, though Zyla still could not hold her head up so she faced inward toward my chest. That is a bit nerve racking when hiking and I continued to check to make sure the little gremlin was still breathing. She just slept as she enjoyed the bouncing of the hike. We were not hiking incredibly quickly because of the baby and we did not have much of an agenda. The lake was as far as we really wanted to go and it was just a mile and a half. The trail went first around Silver Lake which was all boardwalk. There were a bunch of families with a million little kids. Then it split off and climbed uphill past ski runs that in the summer time were turned into frisbee golf courses. The trail did become steep in places, but we all handled it fine. I felt pretty in shape by this point in the summer with all the running, lifting, and hiking that I was trying to do. Eventually we popped out at the lake. The weather looked iffy and I could only imagine what it would be like to get caught in a t-storm with a little one. Still we wandered around the lake to see if there was another trail to make a loop out of it. When I took a look at it, I thought that there was no way and from the map I saw before I did not think that there was one. Paul and Tom thought so and Jacqueline did not care. Finally I made the executive decision that we should just go back the way that we came because I did not want to take any risks with the baby. By myself, I would have just picked a route over the mountains and gone for it. Everyone was fine with going back down the same way and low and behold it did begin to sprinkle a little bit. It was not enough to concern me, though. We made it back fine, making a loop out of the hike going all the way around Silver Lake to finish it off. We plopped the baby back in her car seat and then we drove down Big Cottonwood Canyon to go to dinner. I think each and every one of us was hungry, except Zyla who fed every few hours. We ended up going out to dinner at an Asian restaurant near where Paul lives. They had outdoor space that we could all sit in. We were worried because it was a nice place, but the baby was great. She spent some of the time in the car seat and some of the time sleeping on my lap. We had good food and a good environment to propel us into our next couple days which would be a bit of driving before getting into Washington state.

Humphreys

We finally hit the road for our month long summer road trip. Our first stop was to go to Arizona for Brad and Sharon's wedding. The wedding gave us a chance to stay with Aunt Kris and see some other family and friends. Kris was so excited to meet Zyla and took to her right away. Their personalities fit because they are both rather laid back. We got in later in the evening but Zyla did so well in the car, but was so tired and fell asleep. We were ready for some sleep too. The next day there was a lot of people coming by to meet Zyla. The first to show up were Steven and his girlfriend Amanda. Steve was good with babies since he was already an uncle. The problem was that Zyla would cry every time he would hold her. It was not his fault, though, she was just hungry often. We went for a walk around the neighborhood and played some euchre before Bob, Bobbi, and Tom showed up. Uncle Bob and Aunt Bobbi had picked up Grandpa Tom in Phoenix and drove up to see the baby. They were a lot of fun. Jacqueline was happy to ask Bobbie some questions about the baby since she used to be a nurse for many years. She gave Jacqueline a lot of good answers and I was glad that Jacqueline was smart enough to think of some questions. The boys came to, meaning the dogs Bailey and Jasper. They loved babies and went nuts whenever they saw Zyla. Zyla seemed pretty comfortable with Bob too. We all went out to dinner together in Cottonwood. It was a big table because we had to fit nine people at it for dinner. We had a good time and the food was good. Afterward it was back to Kris's house and everyone went their seperate ways. Bob and Bobbi went back to Phoenix, while Steve and Amanda also left. Tom stayed with us as he was going to travel with us up to Washington State to see where my parents live as they had invited him to come see Washington. We still had one more engagement, though, before we could accomplish that. We drove up to Flagstaff where the wedding was being held. Brad and Sharon met at college at NAU, so this was a perfect spot for them to chose to tie the knot. The wedding was in a big old church, but was short and sweet with a clergyman with a sense of humor. We were excited to see a bunch of our old friends from Zion there including Annette and Greg, Eric and Izzy, and Eric Richmond, along with Brad and Sharon. After the wedding we drove up to Snowbowl. We were able to stay out for a while because we had a couple of good babysitters back at Aunt Kris's place. The reception was fun, we did a little dancing and mainly just enjoying ourselves. Eric, Izzy, and I made plans to go up Mt. Humphreys the next day. Having to drive up from Cornville where Kris lived, I did not get there incredibly early in the morning, but was able to meet Eric and Izzy on the southern end of Flagstaff. They were both pretty tired because the place they were staying was not exactly well ventilated. Eric drove us up the rest of the way and we hit the trail a little after eight. It had been a long time for me since I had hiked the trail, probably about a dozen years. Still I had probably been up Mt. Humphreys a half dozen times, usually during winter or when it has snow on it to make it fun. The trail switchbacked quite a bit, but it was a gradual climb for a mountain. We were all equally in pretty decent shape, so we moved well being able to talk while hiking and not having to take a lot of breaks. It was fun to have some friends to hike with and it made all the uphill a lot easier. Before long, we were popping out above the trees and on to the ridge. There were so many people on the trail. I guess that is what happens when you have the one cool hike near a larger city. The views were awesome once we got on the ridge. It was fun to see all the places that I had hiked Mt. Humphreys from so many different sides and ridges. False summit after false summit finally led us to the top. There were a bunch of people and dogs on top so we found our own quiet little niche. There were all sorts of weird shells on top and I wondered if they were natural or if someone had planted them there. Either way, we stayed long enough to take some pictures and then were heading back down. Going down the trail took longer than necessary because of all the switchbacks. I proposed a law that if you saw a dog off of a leash on a trail, you could shoot it because it was a wild animal. I get so sick of people leaving their dogs off of a leash. I also saw someone with a baby just one month older than Zyla hiking with his baby. I asked him about it and knew she was on her way to doing interesting hikes soon. Well, we parted ways, but I hoped to do some hikes with Eric again soon. Tomorow it was north as our destination was Washington State on this trip.

Sneffels High Line

I wanted to get out for a hike, but the weather did not look so hot. There was a 60% chance of thunderstorms after noon, so I decided as long as I was not hiking after noon, I would be okay. So I got up at 4:30am and left home by 5am. I got to the trailhead which was in the town of Telluride by 5:45am. I wanted to do the Sneffels High Line trail which was a 14 mile loop that would lead me back to my vehicle. When I got out of the Xterra I was immediately shivering. It was 39 degrees in the middle of summer and my thin blood was not used to it. I was a little confused by the signage for the trail, but eventually I found my way according to the GPS. Moving helped me to warm up. Then the trail split again and it took me a while, but by 6:30 I hit my only cut-off with a sign that said I was going the right way with a single track leading me up the mountain. From there, I climbed steeply up into the mountains through the trees. Occasionally the trees would lighten up and I would get an excellent view looking back toward the ski area in Telluride and the mountains beyond it. I spent time following a stream, then broke away to go switchbacking up a ridge until I popped out in a wide open cirque.

 I was finally above the trees and this was a beautiful green area with a large mine right at the top of the cirque. The trail lead me past this and up until I reached the high point of the day. I was above 12000 ft and it was still only 8:30am. I looked over the saddle and the view was amazing. From the way I came, I could see back to the Wilson Range and all the peaks around Telluride. But looking to my new vista I could see Mill Basin and over to Dallas Peak. It was really quite a spectacle of peaks. Dark rock with patchy snow still left in some of the crevices. The valley below was so green with a meandering stream running through it. As I started down the steep rocky switchbacks, I looked a little closer at the brown dots I saw below me. Amazingly, it was a massive herd of elk. There had to be close to 200 head in this group.

 I could hear them making noise below in a way that you usually only hear around the rut. They noticed me too and were maneuvering away from me. I was just impressed and continued to watch them just move so gracefully in this beautiful valley. The valley was amazing and the trail lead me right through it. Eventually it started to drop down and I was thinking I was making some great time. It lead me to a waterfall and I was thinking wow look at how quick I am. Just then, I was shocked to see someone running behind me. Wow, you gotta be in good shape to run a trail like this. The trail continued past the waterfall and I assumed it would start leading me down, but instead it kept me at high elevation traversing around and below these mountain peaks. I got a good view of Dallas Peak, one that looked impressive from Dallas Divide and I figured this side would be the one to climb it from. I was wrong, though, because this side seemed just as impossible as the other.

 There was probably some way to get up it from this side, but I did not see a way to do it myself. I eventually got in the mood to be a clock watcher while I constantly was a cloud watcher. I made goals to be at certain elevations by certain times to keep myself out of danger. The way the trail was going though, I was still far too high by my goal of being below 10000 by 10:00am. But it was not soon after that I was hiking down through the aspens and to the junction with the Deep Creek trail that would lead me back to Telluride. 

From here on, the scenery was not too impressive, just kind of a mountain biking trail through the trees. I was impressed when I got back to the car before noon and had my whole hiking day done so I could go back home, stay out of the afternoon thunderstorms, and enjoy the time with my brand new daughter. I loved the hike and would do it again. The scenery was comparable to any trail in this region and I was able to soak it all in on this day.