Summer 2023, Part 1

Let’s start with a visit from our friends, the Abbotts (Tim was my roommate at BYU for 2.5 years)! They were just passing through on their way to/from Duchesne as they headed home to Oakland, CA. They invited us to come out to visit them this summer and we decided to take them up on it. This is Eleanor and Callum planning to leave with them when they had to go. Their two kids pictured are Evelyn and Phoenix:

Max and I climbing to the top of Mt. Olympus in mid-June. This was our first major hike of the year knowing we wanted to prep ourselves for Kings Peak later in the summer.

^ Just getting started…

^ Trudging up the steep section… the whole hike includes 4,000 vertical feet and this part is definitely the toughest.

^ View from the saddle before the scramble to the summit

^ The scramble—Max’s favorite part. Just the right angle to not be dangerous but to still be loads of fun.

^ Summit!

^ This little guy rode in his backpack the whole way up.

^ He crushed it! An excellent first test to summer 2023.

A couple weeks later I finished my classes on Friday and left with Ailie and Max to take our backpacking gear on its maiden voyage out to Lake Blanche in Big Cottonwood Canyon. My brain was melting in a serious way and I needed some outdoor time.

^ This lady was a chipper champion the whole time, oo-ing and ah-ing about how lovely everything was.

^ Lots of snow melt still coming down the canyon meant full streams.

^ Sunset beginning.

We unfortunately had a late start and idd not make it to our campsite until after dark. However, we were lucky to have no trouble finding a great spot to set up tent and spend the night. We felt plenty warm and comfortable, though I have to confess that I was awake a lot. Air mattress was great… lack of a decent pillow makes things tough, though. Ailie did a lot of thrashing in her sleep. When I’d ask her what she was doing, she’d say, “just thrashin’ around.” She remembered none of it in the morning.

When Max woke up, we let Ailie sleep and wandered around enjoying the views of Lake Blanche in the early morning before the Saturday morning crowd arrived.

^ Sundial Peak over Lake Blanche. There was a thin crust of ice on the lake near the shore that morning even though the morning itself did not seem quite so cold.

^ Max being everywhere all at once (and images that follow).

^ Warm enough to lose the hoodie. All I can think when I see these pictures now is how he was missing all of the beautiful views before he got his glasses!

^ Our campsite (we took the rainfly off to let things air out—we didn’t sleep with only the mesh).

^ A geo cache Max spotted under a pile of rocks while he was scrambling around.

^ Pausing again to be impressed by all of the water on the way down.

A successful first foray into the world of backpacking and it seemed like everyone had a nice time (important). We were pleased with all of the gear we’d got and the packs felt usable and comfortable.

Now a photo of a regal cat taken either by Ailie or Claire:

We went to the Grantsville 4th of July parade with Eric and Lindsie again this year and the quantity of candy thrown did not disappoint the children. It felt appropriate to be celebrating there given that I would start working there in the Fall (I may say more about this later, but I have enjoyed my time there immensely so far. It’s a great little spot with a wonderful faculty and delightful students!). None of the following pictures probably need any description—just kids being cute.

Eric and Lindsie, here’s the link to download all of the 4th of July pics if you don’t have them already:

The next day we went to the open house of the Saratoga Springs Temple, which was very beautiful! We all enjoyed the various colors and motifs they chose for this temple. I don’t remember what Callum was sad about. 🤷‍♂️

Max now sporting his dapper spectacles:

That weekend, I had an unusual break in coursework and it was only Ailie and I at home, so we went for a little hike together up Grandeur Peak. We had a lovely time enjoying all of the wildflowers and greenery!

^ Flowers everywhere!

^ Mt. Olympus is that next mountain over.

^ It ended up growing dark before we’d returned to the car. We bravely talked loud, clung to our flashlights, and tried not to think too much about cougars.

As we were packing up to leave for California we learned that the Abbotts were sick and that our plans to visit them wouldn’t work out. So we wound up doing a staycation—we went to a movie, did a BYU day, went to a nickel arcade, and did some other stuff. We had a lot of fun and many of the kids said they’d prefer it to an actual vacation. 🤷‍♂️

I know, I know… another hike (and it won’t be the last one)! This is the whole family heading up to the Twin Lakes Reservoir as part of the family staycation.

^ Check out those bull moose! Two of them!

Another day of the staycation—a trip to Red Butte Gardens with grandma and grandpa Lewis:

Grandma and grandpa Lewis, here’s the link to download all the pics we took at Red Butte if you want them:

To conclude the staycation we decided to do a little camping trip out to Mirror Lake in the Uintas with the whole family. Unfortunately, Claire woke up sick that morning, so she and mom stayed behind while the rest of us set off for the mountains. We got LITERALLY the very last campsite in the whole place! And it was a good one, with great access to the lake, running water, and anything else we may have needed.

Not pictured is all of the paddle boarding we did the first day—I was out on the water with them, which meant no cameras.

^ Bald Mountain in the background.

^ The marshy area crossing to those trees turned out to be deceptively deep. We had all taken off our socks and shoes, but our pants all wound up mostly soaked anyway.

^ Our campsite the next morning.

^ After the sun came out and warmed things up we started the paddle boarding and swimming.

^ View of some 12,000 foot peaks in the Uintas on our way back to Park City.

^ Fun stop at Provo Falls (and the two pictures that follow).

The one night camping trip to end the staycation (though not really “staying” in this situation) was a great way to conclude things. We all wished we had another day or two to make it the best.