Tony Grove/White Pine Trail

So while my hunny was traveling home from the land of Standing Rocks, Slots, Rapps and Pots (a.k.a. Zion National Park) I took the girlies to Tony Grove to hike up to White Pine Lake. Due to a communication mishap between me and Shematite concerning her work schedule, we turned around before getting to White Pine Lake, but had a wonderful time enjoying the cool mountain breeze, meadows of wild flowers, delicious forest smell and a foot dip in Tony Grove Lake nonetheless.

After hiking almost an hour in brand new hiking shoes, Mayflower opted for blister free and barefoot.

Shematite threw all her goodies into one baggie. The chocolate peanut butter cups melted all over everything. She now calls it "ULTIMATE GORP" and is quite convinced that it was heaven sent. I tried some and had to agree.

Indian paintbrush.

Mayflower

The best lunch spot right by the lake. Great fun, girlies. Thanks for going with me!

Lake Powell ~ June 6-10, 2007

First of all, I just don't have the time and can't justify taking the time to write everything I would like to about this trip. So, please visit wildbound's blog,
Dreampacker's blog and/or Sayyadina's blog and get the scoop. My beautiful, awesome Mom, sis and sis-in-law tell a great story. Here is mine, totally condensed and probably not even in full sentences. My only regret is that my honey - the Rock, and my other girlies, Scout and Shematite, weren't able to come. Anyway...here is

The Best Stuff....

Snuggling up in my sleeping bag on the top deck the first night on the boat with Michex.
Waking up to a most breath-taking morning in Bull Frog Bay.

photo by Wildbound
Watching Sayyadina's face as she took off on the wave runner with Lemur!
photo by Wildbound

Totally relaxing, watching the red cliffs float by, feeling the sunshine and enjoying the absence of any schedule or time clock.
Feeling free to "let go" of unimportant stuff like bedtimes, old insecurities and new anxieties.
Taking Mayflower on the wave runner for the first time and having her scream to " go faster! Do we have to go back, Mom? This is the Best vacation ever!"
photo by Dreampacker
Camping in Willow Gulch in the PERFECT campsite (see wildbounds blog). And then camping in Iceburg Canyon at another PERFECT campsite. Kevin must have some kind of divining rod or something...


Swimming with Wildbound across Willow and bathing/breathing in Iceburg.


Rock jumping (not cliff jumping, because that would be illegal) with Sayyadina, La Crosse (a.k.a. Mark), the Captain (a.k.a. Matthew) and the Crew (a.k.a. Peter).

Exploring side canyons on the wave runners with Uncle Kevin and Michex. And running out of gas and having her tow me back to camp, with Sayyadina. You rock!
photo by Wildbound (I think)

Watching Michex (and the Captain and Crew) play with Wildbound's slingshot and finally hitting the far side of the canyon wall. My own feeble attempt only made it half way.
Michex

photo by Dreampacker (Captain, kids and Crew)

photo by Dreampacker
Playing "King of the Log" with La Crosse, Michex and Mayflower.

Letting Mayflower go fishing with La Crosse, the Captain and the Crew at night knowing she was perfectly safe and very happy.
photo by Wildbound ~"Captain's Catch"

Riding wave runners with Michex on the last morning. She's so much braver than I am!
Exploring Davis Gulch and finding a cool arch with La Crosse and Dominic.
Laughing when the Crew and Michex got lost on a wave runner ride.

Hiking Willow Gulch, finding new waterfalls, remembering seeps, narrows, ghost trees, poison ivy, velvety sand, slickrock pools, awesome alcoves and towering arches. The Captain and Crew certainly proved themselves as real men by not only keeping up with, but by basically outrunning us women. I just hope they saw some of the sights along the way. But hey, if not, there's always a picture postcard at the burger stand in Hanksville... Love you guys!


photos 1 & 3 by Wildbound



photo by Wildbound


Discovering Clear Creek's (the famous former site of Cathedral in the Desert) waterfall, sand beach, winding passage and beautiful jade green water.
Swimming with Pocketmouse and NAM in Clear Creek.
Doing cartwheels with Mayflower.
Observing geometrically disadvantaged tourists trying to climb the rope at the Clear Creek waterfall and hoping La Crosse and the Captain didn't break their necks doing the same thing!
Watching Rivulet and Sayyadina play in the water as the sun set.
Listening to Bear Stalker (so glad not Widow Maker) Bob tell stories to a new audience. Watching Dreampacker love Lake Powell without an actual act of immersion. Amazing! Thank you so much for wanting me to come and inviting me to come.



Feeling so welcomed by Kevin, Carol, Elaine, Stan, La Crosse, Dominic and the Captain and the Crew. It may be "old hat" to you, but it will be a cherished memory for me. Captain, thank you so much for your friendship to Mayflower. She had the time of her life because of you.

Wildbound ~ After the near miss last year, I'm so happy to have spent this time with you being so ALIVE.

Buckskin Gulch

Looking straight up at the sliver of sky.











Wow! Thanks to JT and Taun (above left)for making this hike possible. I've always wanted to do it! That's me, Desertbound, and my honey The Rock at the Wirepass/Buckskin Trailhead June 2, 2007. The Rock - (below left) at the rockjam.



























I think this is my sis, RitaB(hard to tell in the picture). Awesome canyon ~ for miles and miles. JT and RitaB contemplating the necessary moves.


Looking down canyon from camp, toward the confluence. Ladies (Kit, Taun & RitaB)..... and Gents (Tris, JT,Brandon, the Rock & Kaboodle).



The Rock @ Camp.
Desertbound & The Rock









After preparing for the worst (lots of wading and mud, too hot, too cold, etc.) I was surprised that most of the hiking was in sand. My pack weighed the lightest it has ever (about 28 lbs. with water) and the 13 or so miles to the camp just above the confluence of Buckskin Gulch and the Paria River was only marred by the fact that at about mile 2 I stumbled and kicked my own leg creating a pretty nice contusion (picture below). 2 weeks later now and the bruise from my knee to my ankle is fading slowly. We waded a few stretches in upper Buckskin and the rest of the canyon was dry until just above camp. Day 2 was spent exploring the Paria a little bit and Day 3 we hiked out the Paria to the White House trailhead. 6:15 - 9:00 am - not a bad pace.


photo by Wildbound

Favorite Things:




Being with my honey, my family and meeting new friends (Andy ~ APD, and Kit-n-Kaboodle).




Sleeping under the stars.




Wondering what kind of joke it was to make miles and miles of fudge and chocolate stacked hundreds of feet high and none of it is edible. Sigh.




Taking pictures.




Laughing til I cried.




Singing with RitaB, Tris and The Rock.




Playing in the Paria Pudding(pictures below).




Enjoying the absolute silence of the desert and canyon (atleast until 6 am when the ravens started squawking like a perfectly set alarm clock).




And finally, just being.

Stay tuned

Pictures of Buckskin and Lake Powell are coming soon...gotta go march with the rest of the slaves to the quarry.

My 3 Things

So here goes my first post on my first blog ~

3 people who make me laugh...

The Rock
my girlies
my family

3 things I love...

clean crisp sheets (because it's so inviting)
dark chocolate (duh!)
a full tank of gas (for all the possibilities)

3 things I don't understand...

hypocrisy
quantum physics
people who carry a grudge

3 things I am afraid of...

people mis-judging me
showing what I think are my weaknesses
losing control (of what? you may ask. My emotions when I'm angry, my mind and my bladder when I'm old or jumping on the trampoline - darn kids)

3 people who have passed on that I would like to talk with...

Mary ~ the mother of Jesus (She was the mother of a teenager that actually did know it all!)
Anne Frank
Everett Ruess


3 things on my desk (home)...

nail polish
hymn book
Stickers from Wahoo's Fish Tacos

3 things I'm doing right now...

blogging
listening to Sportscenter
Giving The Rock a backrub

3 things I want to do before I die...

raft the Grand Canyon with The Rock
serve a mission with The Rock
vacation on a private tropical beach with The Rock

3 things I can do...

sew
listen
create beautiful children

3 things I can't do...

change a flat tire
throw a frisbee
give up chocolate

3 things I would like to learn...

how to change a flat tire
how to throw a frisbee
how to never have to give up chocolate

3 things I regret...

Laying out and baking my skin as a teenager
Fighting with my siblings
Not practicing the piano more

3 smells I love...

rain storms
fresh cut wood
campfires
leather (ok, ok)
lilacs, too

3 foods I love...

Dreampacker's fresh peach pie
Cowboy Smokehouse's smoked Turkey
Grandma Fizz's fresh baked potato rolls
Wanderful's Seviche
Bajio's shrimp tacos
Alright, already! 3 is just not enough for food and smells

Peer Pressure

Yes, I have finally succumbed. I have laughed, smiled, cried and giggled at my family's blogs, so I have decided to jump in the puddle of muck and start slinging, too!