Emerald Pools

Day 4, the last day of camping.

So this was still in Zion, we decided to do one more hike before we headed back to Orem.
The name of the pools my make it sound like some magnificent pools, and they were really nice but not cause they we a pretty green and all sparkly and what not. They were actually given the name because of the fungus that grows in them makes the pools look green, and more like a brown-green. But they are still really cool cause they are filled by a waterfall.







So thats the end of our Utah adventure. We had a really awesome time, and the best tour guide ever, with like infinite patience. He even drove our whole camping trip.

After camping we spent a couple days in central Utah area, went out to Park city and did some outlet shopping. Hopefully it wont be so long before we can go on another awesome adventure, although it might not be as crazy once we have this kid out I'm sure.

Zion

Day 3....

Oh my where to begin, first of all if you ever go to Zion (especially for the first time) go in through the East entrance! It is totally worth it even if it takes longer to drive there, just do it!

I always wondered how someone could go to a place, and knowing what the word "Zion" could mean to a person and then name a place that, how someone could compare the beauty of something to Zion. But when we got there, I totally understood, it was magnificent. The pictures just do not do it justice.



So we did this hike called "Angels Landing" it was pretty intense. It took us 3 hours round trip to hike (which was pretty quick, it said on the sign it takes the average person 4 hours). The 1.9-mile trail to Scout Lookout is paved, though steep - it climbs 1,000 feet. The route to Angels Landing is more rugged, adding .5 mile and another 500 feet in elevation to the hike. Both trails are popular. (Some of the info I did copy and paste from a web site, so I can't take credit).


This was a bit of what the beginning looked like.


Once you were close to the top, this is what you still had to ascend.


With this as your only grip on safety. This is what one of the signs read:
Caution: The route to Angels Landing involves travel along a steep, narrow ridge with support chains anchored intermittently along the route. Footing can be slippery even when the rock is dry Unevenly surfaced steps are cut into the rock with major cliff dropoffs adjacent. Keep off when it is wet, icy or thunderstorms are in the area. Plan to be off before dark.



Once you got to the top, this is what you saw.



This is whats called "Walters Wiggles" it is a series of 21 short switchbacks. It was fun... to look at, not so much to hike up, we had fun going down though.

This was probably the hardest hike I did the whole trip, and I was glad we had done a few "warm up" hikes before this one. I really enjoyed it. I am one of those crazy people who kinda loves heights, and the excitement it brings. It felt really good to accomplish especially because I was 4 months preggers at the time we did it. Jared kept saying I needed to slow down a bit cause I was making him look bad for needing more breaks than I did. haha.

For some reason my blog wont really let me put on more pics, but really I have a hard enough time choosing as it is. This was definitely one of my favourite days, and I would do it again in a heart beat.

Bryce Canyon

Evening between day 2 &3...

So the night we camped at Bryce Canyon we didn't do any hiking into the great vastness of Hoodoos, and I really wasn't feeling all that great that night so I don't think I really saw what was before me. But going back through the pictures I am getting a different perspective of it, and some time I will go back to explore them and better appreciate them, because they are more beautiful than I think I originally felt.

This was a quote at one of the look outs. I could not have said it better:
"There are deep caverns and rooms resembling ruins of prisons, castles, churches with their guarded walls, battlements, spires, and steeples, niches and recesses, presenting the wildest and most wonderful scene that the eye of man ever beheld, in fact, its one of the wonders of the world." -T.C. Bailey, Land Survey 1876

And truly if you looked indeed you could see city walls with little buildings in them. Enjoy the pictures.

Slot Canyons

Day 2, the slot canyons. There are so many pictures of this day to choose from. I hope to pic a few good ones that will give you an idea of what we experienced.

It was so hot out side of the canyons that day Jared kept making sure I was getting water so I wouldn't get heat stroke, one of my moms expressed concerns to me before we headed to Utah.

I don't know how this hunk wore jean pants that day, I had suggested he ware shorts that day but he choose to roast instead.


So there are lots of canyons in the area we went but we only went in two of them, we went in through the front of the one called "Spooky" and out the front of the one called "Peek-a-Boo".

Spooky... I found it more narrow than the other canyon. Lots of twists and turns, through out the year there are flash floods that bring rocks into the canyon that we had to manoeuvre around and over. Hopefully you get some of the effect in the next few pics.






Peek-a-Boo...
This canyon was quite a bit wider that Spooky.




This is Larz, Jared and Larz did some dune jumping and Larz had attempted to wash the sand off his face... he almost got it...

Moab - Arches National Park

warning: these next few posts might be long and have lots of pictures, but I will try to contain myself.

During the last week of May Jared and I took a little vacation down to Utah to going camping with a very good friend of ours, Larz, Jared and Larz met on their missions in Denmark and Larz was also our best man at our wedding.

When Jared first suggested it I was a little hesitant, I figured it was more important to be making money to be spending it. Once we were on the road I realized how badly I was needing a serious vacation, and so grateful that Jared felt the need as well.

We spent a day in Orem with Larry's family, and then we headed to Moab. We found a camp spot right on the Colorado River, that night it was very windy out and we didn't get a very good sleep but we did two hikes the next day.

The first Hike: Negro Bill.It was an unplanned hike, but I'm glad we did it cause it was a beautiful hike! Bill was a coloured man who, back when Moab was first being established, slept with the founders wife. The founder was a very wealthy man, and hung Bill for it. The hike takes you to the place he was hung.

This creek ran through out the canyon, we had to cross it many times. It made everything in the canyon that much more vibrant.

Larry said he had never seen this area so green before and we were very lucky to have gone there when we did. There were so many flowers and cacti in bloom I have never seen before.

These were probably my favourite cactus flowers. They had this antique feel to them and they looked and felt waxy.

We were almost (finally) to our destination. We had taken a wrong path along the way which had taken us about 1/2 hour- 3/4 hour off course. Still worth it though.

Bill was hung over a valley on a naturally occurring bridge, truly a spectacle to all in attendance.

The Second hike: To the "Delicate Arch"
The rock formation found in Arches Nation Park are beyond anything I have ever seen, especially when you think of the millions of years it took to create.

These particular formations were called "The Three Gossips". The park was full of really cool formations like this.

This was the view we got for most of the hike. I love how for most of our trip we were surrounded by mountains of sandstone for the most part but at times you could see the type of mountains we're used to not far off in the distance.

This was taken in an arch looking out at the "Delicate arch" it was pretty neat since it was the first look as to where you were hiking to.

Jared and I under "Delicate Arch". This arch is on one of Utah's license plates. There was like an unofficial line up to take pictures of it/ around it with no one else there. There were lost of pretty serious photographers there who would get a little annoyed when uninvited people would stand around the arch during "their turn". It was a spectacular view.

If you look at some of the previous pics you'll see that this arch stands on like the edge of a bowl/funnel. Not many people travel down into the basin of the funnel to get a different view, but we did. Again definitely worth it. No one else was down there so it was so peaceful and just gave you a different perspective.

So that was it for day one, a.k.a Monday. Stay tuned for day 2,3,&4, I have over 1700 pictures to choose from for the 4 days no worries I won't put them all up.

What? Me, pregnant?

So I am officially 17 weeks pregnant, and this picture was just taken tonight. I don't think I really have a belly yet, at least not that obvious to other people.I think I look like I just put on a few lbs. It is definitely obvious to me though, my pants feels really tight these days. Feel free to let me know what you think of my belly, nothing can offend me.

Some thing I actually found interesting was that I lost 4 lbs in between my first appointment and my last which was a period of about 5 weeks. My doc said that was completely healthy even though I wasn't that sick in my first trimester. Jared seems to think I need to eat more... which sounds good to me lately. I have certainly got my appetite back more recently, so expect I will but on some weight by my next appointment, even though honestly I was kinda happy I had lost a little weight instead of gain a ton.

Yesterday was pretty cool, we got to hear the heartbeat for the first time. Since I work in a clinic I get to hear fetal heart beats quite regularly, but it was so much cooler that it was coming from my abdomen! My doc said that she was impressed with how healthy I was being and that I was a good role model for other pregnant people out there, which made me feel really good.

So far in this pregnancy I went snowboarding (back during spring break), and I have climbed a mountain! Jared and I took a trip to Southern Utah last week and we camped/ saw 5 or 6 different National parks. We did one - two hikes a day. I will be blogging about those in the near future so stayed tuned.

Apple Crisp for Alli

So this is a really good recipe for apple crisp especially if you like a good thick crusty top.

Apples cut and peeled (I used a dish big enough for 4, but this recipe could definantly cover a bigger dish, with more apples)
1/3 cup margarine/butter
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup rolled oats
1/2 tsp salt.

Cut marg/butter into all the rest of the ingredients until pea size. Spread apples/ canned apples on the bottom of a casserole dish, then put the topping on. Dot with a little extra marg/butter. Bake at 350F till done (approx. 45-60 min.) I also like to add a little cinnomin(sp?) to the apples.

And when its all done make sure you eat it with a little vanilla ice cream, it's the way to go!