Catching 'Zards

We were invited to a cool birthday party - a lizard hunting party for Clark Fox. Diamond Fork is know for tons of reptiles - especially for a large number of rattlesnakes, bull snakes and blow snakes. Unfortunately, we didn't see any snakes but plenty of lizards. Tanner caught two and brought one home as a pet - Junior is his name.

Lake Blanche 2010

Every once in a while I take off on a hike by myself, mostly to keep myself sane. This latest installment was to a lake that is well know to hikers and one of the most beautiful hikes I've ever been on, and right in our backyard up Big Cottonwood canyon. 6am start time and I cruised up and made the lake at 7:30. I hung out for 1/2 hour and ran down to be back at the car by 8:45am. Sundial Peak is amazing in the sunrise. I highly recommend this hike to all. It is a bit steep and guidebooks recommend you count on 2.5 hours to make it up. The views are great and don't forget to head west to catch the other 2 lakes up there.

Sawtooth Sweetness 2010

Do you like the title? Can a sawtooth be sweet? When the Thygerson's are in town, yes they can. I think Idahoans know this range of mountains very well, but it is an undiscovered gem that is very close to us here in Utah. Now, you may wonder, why go to the mountains of Idaho when the mountains here are so beautiful? Two words - new adventure!! Tanner got some great photos of us fishing and catching our limit of rainbow trout. Everyone got their own trout for dinner.

We found out that Jakob has been reading on how to survive in the forest. He tried some of his techniques and to our astonishment, they worked. The video is of a squirrel that he snared. One of the coolest things I've seen in a while. We know now that with his fishing and trapping techniques, he can provide food for us. Good thing to know.

The biking was great, Mac is getting really good at off road stuff. We found a great swim beach and paddled for 2 hours on Redfish Lake. On the way out we stopped in Custer, a town abandoned in 1911. We then trekked over to Craters of the Moon and love the cool caves. Great exploring for the boys. One had plenty of ice in it even though the outside temps were in the 90s. Then on to Lava Hot Springs for some tubing down the river. Anders screamed his first run, then sat out two runs, then rode down the 4th run asking ever minute if the next rapid was the biggest. I think if I told him we had just passed the biggest rapid then he could relax knowing he passed the point of danger. One our last run, as we went over a large rapid a lady in front of us fell off and we hit her with our large 4 person tube. I couldn't find her for a bit then Tanner pointed her out. She was struggling to stay above water, had lost her tube and was screaming for help. I jumped off the tube expecting much deeper water, got her up. The boys got some exposure as her swimsuit had come off. She could not stay up on her own and was going under and saying "I'm too weak!". I got her to shore and handed her off to her husband. It amazed me that she couldn't just stand up in the river. I don't think people realized the strength of the water and that some ability is need to ride that river. McKinley kept saying she was homesick after 5 days even though she was with her mom, dad and brothers. I don't think she knows what homesickness is.

Dog Lake 2010

Adrianne and I love to backpack. But going with little kids is a different adventure altogether. Jake and Tanner are at a good age to enjoy the backpacking - but we decided to see if McKinley and Anders would enjoy it. We outfitted them with their own packs and headed up to Dog Lake up Millcreek Canyon. It was a Friday (odd day) and mtn. bikes are allowed on the trail. Most were very courteous but one group of hot doggers almost took us out. We love this area. I tried my hand at building a raft with Jake and Tanner. After our last episode of raft building, Tanner wanted me to try it out first. It was successful for all of 5 minutes, then slowly came apart because we didn't have enough rope. We hiked around, played disc golf, geocached and really enjoyed the way down as we passed some 50 dogs and their owners going up to the lake, big ones, small ones, lost ones and some wondering how to get wet in the lake. I actually prefer to watch the funny owners - they watch their dogs like hovering parents watch over a one year old just learning to walk. Mac and Anders did enjoy the trip but we will have to wait and see if we do another one this year with them. Plus, our aching backs may not let us.