California has more than beaches

YOSEMITE

I love road trips. I haven't been on one longer than down to Moab for a long time and it was fun to go on a long one.

Our trip started because of looking into a Tegan and Sara concert. They weren't playing in Utah, (but I found out, since that they are playing at Thanksgiving Point with Death Cab for Cutie so you should go!) so we ended up finding one in Davis, which is just outside Sacramento, which is where I served my mission. So, after buying those tickets we decided to make a real trip of it, and go to Yosemite as well. I had been when I was 8 but neither of the other two had been there before.

We left Thursday, in Harriett packed and stoked for her first trip. I got on a roll and drove the whole 13 hours into Yosemite. It was good that it was dark because I'm sure it would have taken way longer had I been able to enjoy the scenery. The road into the valley was closed so we pulled off the road somewhere and set up our tent. Luckily we got out of there in the morning soon enough that we didn't get busted.

The next morning, we found Camp 4, set up camp, and then found 'The Manure Pile'. It's close to the base of El Capitan (and for those of you who don't hablo Espanol, that's Spanish for The Captain) and we did a 6 pitch route called After Six. (Just an FYI ... a pitch means length of a the rope. Like, one pitch I climb up, get to a belay spot, belay from there, then the next person climbs up to me, and we keep going, and do that six or however many times). Molly has done a couple multi-pitch things, but Jess never has, and it was my first time being the one leading all the pitches, and setting up all the anchors. So, it was an adventure, but I gotta be honest (and a little bragy) and say it was great and everything went really smooth. The first couple pitches took forever because it was all teaching and checking and double checking everything, and getting all the kinks of climbing with three worked out, but then we all got the hang of it and it was so fun. We stopped in the middle to have a PB&J lunch. The view from the top was great, and it was awesome to have done it.

The next day we relaxed in camp for a bit and then started a hike to Upper Yosemite Falls. It was a rough hike with steep switch backs at the beginning and at the end. It was only 3.5 miles but it took us just under 2 hours. It was steep but totally worth it. We had great views of Half Dome the whole way up. I couldn't believe how close we could get the the falls at the top and close to the edge. There was so much spray and wind at the top it was It was awesome. Such a great view of the valley and it was a great time to be there because there was so much water flowing. It was rough on the thighs on the way down . We hung in camp for a bit, then tried to motivate. We looked through the climbing book and tried to find a couple different spots, but couldn't find them, so ... I'm a little hesitant to admit this but we climbed in the back of Harriett, put the seat down, and watched Juno on my laptop. I know, I know, it's supposed to be this "hard core climbing trip", but we enjoyed taking some rest time, and told ourselves it was a "girl's trip" also.

The next morning, we cleaned up camp, then went to do Mungenella, a three pitch route by the Lower Yosemite Falls. There were great views of Half Dome throughout the whole route. We did it in two pitches. As with all the climbs, the hike down was more sketchy than the actual climb.

We drove in to Sacramento, and found my friend, Heather's house. She was one of the last people I taught on my mission, and it's been a while since I've seen her, so it was so good to see her again. We drove around Downtown Sacramento and Old Sac, and did a little shopping. I didn't ever see a lot of it while I was out there, sadly enough. We drove up to El Dorado Hills, my first area, and visited a family and an older couple that took good care of me while I was out there. It was good to be back there, and I was amazed that I was able to find their houses. That night we went to the concert. They put on such a great show. They're Canadian twins, and so fun to listen to. They have such great banter, and I love their music. I think musicians that can change up their music, so that the concert songs are different than the CDs are great and they did that, and it was awesome. Here's a couple more pictures for good measure.

Over all it was such a great trip. I love climbing trips and this one was awesome because it was so much fun, and great to do it with just girls. Molly and Jess are leaving on missions in a month and a half and I'm really sad to see them go, and getting pretty bummed to be loosing two of my best friends right now! But I know they'll be great missionaries and I am stoked for the people the get to teach and I'm jealous of their companions (Not the being on a mission again part, but the getting to hang out with them all the time part). Good luck girls!

The Swell

Welcome to the San Rafael Swell. Here we are just about to drive through the reef.

I don't have too much time to write now, so I'll just throw a few pictures on here from my trip to the Swell last weekend with my dad. (I know what you're thinking, yeah right, like Grace can just say a few words, but really I will) I was going to go climb some routes that I've wanted to do forever with my friend Scott but he ended up having to work and my dad was going to go with one of his friends who got the dates wrong, so we ended up going just the two of us. That was the most time I've spent with just my dad in a long time and it was really great to spend 3 days just hanging and wandering through the desert with him. I love the San Rafael Swell too, it's great.

These are both from Little Wild Horse CanyonIt was pretty cold the first night. A lot windier and colder than we thought it'd be.

This one is from Crack Canyon

I love the old, Juniper skeletons.

So, basically, it was a great weekend and I had a fantastic time with my dad in the desert!

I hate being sick!

I've been fighting it for like two weeks. Just waking up with a sore throat or a little stuffy nose, but it's gone by noon or so, but the last couple days, I have been sick. Body aches, head ache, ab-working out cough, unbelievable amount of snot coming from my sinuses sick. I don't like taking medication. I never have, and I try not to even take Ibuprofen if I can help it, but eating dinner at my parents last night I was miserable, and I took some "Vitamin I" and even though I was stuff stuffy and coughing, I wasn't achy and miserable. Then today at work, after sneezing and coughing into my mask all day at work, and having snot run down my face because there's nothing I can do about it, I had the doctor I work with hook me up with a prescription for some drugs, and I gotta say, I'm feeling pretty good about taking them. So, it's 10:30 and in bed, which for is a change for sure, and I'm going to bed, and going to be feeling great about working another 12 hour shift tomorrow.

And, just for fun, I bet you may have seen this but if not, check it.

(Here's the details about it, because on the site they are in Espanol:
Several years ago this woman found a sick, malnourished lion cub in the jungle. She took the cub home and fed him and brought him up until he was too big to keep anymore. Then she made arrangements with a zoo in Colombia to take the lion. Here's a video of what happened when she went to visit him in the zoo for the first time)

Good night, hope you all are healthy and well!

Check your pockets!

It's April, and I still need my fat skis! The last time I went up to Snowbird, like two weeks ago, I thought I'd snowboard because I hadn't in a while and sometimes I miss it, but it was a miserable day. It had snowed like 8 inches on top of totally hard cement. And it was cold and with a snowboard, that was the worst day I could have chosen. So, with the nice weather, I haven't been thinking about skiing much any more, but with the last storm we got, I decided to go up yesterday, and it was amazing! It was still a little hard underneath, but the foot of new snow on top was great. Many more face shots than what I'd expect in April, and it was great.

(This picture was taken the day before I went, but it was still that good!)

I ran into a couple of the McQueens up there, and they're great skiers and it was so fun to keep up with them. It was pretty cloudy and sometimes I'd look around and couldn't see anything! Just white everywhere. So, on my last run, we went through the upper gate of Silver Fox, and I thought I was going to go off this little rock but ended up going pretty fast off about a 12 foot cliff not even expecting it. Needless to say, I wrecked pretty bad, and my neck is so sore today! When I got up and tried to get snow out of everywhere and pull myself together I noticed my pocket was open and my keys were gone. With Fiona, I'd just leave the keys on the floor and leave the door open, and it's been a change for me to actually lock the car and have to carry my keys. So, somewhere up in the Macaroni Shoot is my brand new car's key and clicker (a new thing for me also) my house key and my Front membership card. Luckily, I bought a magnetic thing, but unluckily, the other key didn't fit in it, so it wasn't attached to the outside, but luckily, it was in the car. Public Safety broke in in like 5 seconds and my key was in there, so a major tragedy had been averted.

So, the point of the story is don't ski with your pockets open, or just leave your keys in the car.

Jackson

I think the first time I went to Jackson was when my mom and her friend Alicia took 8 of my friends and me there for our eighth grade graduation. It was so fun. We stayed in a nice place and did the canyon section of the Snake (my first memorable river experience) and went on some other great hikes. I have been to Jackson quite a few times since then, but not for a while, and it was great to get up there this weekend. My friend, Mark was signed up for the Pole Pedal Paddle race up there, and I went up to do support for him.

We went to the pre-event meeting, and it's so funny to see that group of people. At the Moab half-marathon, there was a huge variety of people: big, skinny, real runners in tight clothes for aerodynamcity (is that a word? I'm not sure, but I like it) others in sweats. Old, young, business men, and hoodlums. But at this event, pretty much everybody was the same. Everyone was wearing down or fleece, usually a beanie, with sunglasses on top (I had all of these). Most had goggle tans and / or beards, carharts or ski pants. Luckily we had Mark's Subaru (that looked pretty sweet with a kayak, bike and three pairs of skis on top) because we fit right in with all the other 4-wheel drive cars, trucks and other burly vehicles that reside in Jackson. (I did see one Ford Taurs wagon up there and I was stoked!) People always talk about the stigma in Utah to have to be better than your neighbor, and have to always be happy and have it all together but I really don't feel like I get sucked into that, but I do like feeling at home with a group of outdoor enthusiasts. If you know me, you know I have a bit of a problem with having and wanting too much gear. It's so great to have just the right jacket or piece of equipment for whatever fun things I'm doing outside. So to be in a group of other people that I imagine have the same issue makes me feel right at home. But it is amusing being in that group, looking around and pretty much seeing a different version of all the same person. I usually don't like being one of many, but in that group of people, I'm OK with it. They make me feel more motivated to push myself harder and spend more time outside. However, this isn't the point of this entry...

This race is great, and I really want to do it sometime. I'd love to do it all myself if I knew it was going to be warm, but it would be so fun to do it in a team. It's awesome that Mark did it on his own without much training, he just wanted to do it, and did so well. It starts at the top of Jackson Hole resort where you have to ski down through gates, then run 200 yards, put on skate or cross-country skis and ski a 10 K, then trade out to bike stuff and bike 20 miles. At the end of that, you get off your bike, and get into a kayak and paddle 9 miles downstream on the Snake River. We got Mark's kayak dropped off the night before, and in the morning I dropped him off and helped him leave his skate skis and bike. (He had never skate skied before, except for a test run around a field the night before but he caught on really quick)



I like the above picture, because you can't really tell, but he's wearing tele boots, has skate skis on his shoulder, and he's walking his bike. It shows the diversity of the race, not to mention the sweet sunrise going on in the background!

(My camera was just about out of batteries so the pictures I took were either from my phone or taken super quick as I turned it on, before it realized it didn't have enough life, and turned off)

I went up Cache Creek and cross country skied a 10K of my own, but was glad I didn't have to get on a bike and ride 20 miles, because it had started snowing. I saw Mark on the bike section, and helped him trade out to his kayak.

His whole bike was crusted with muddy ice, and when he got out of his kayak at the end, this life jacket was coated with ice. He said he wasn't too cold, just his hands.

I would've been freezing, but it's great he did it all, and enjoyed it. We ate good Mexican food and hot chocolate at the event and had an amazing home-made s'more at the Brewery. We stopped at Lava Hot Springs on the way home and it was a perfect end to a fun weekend. Good job, Mark!

Out with the old...

FIONA

Remy, Callie, the Honda, the Tarus, and Fiona. Such is the life of my cars. Remy, an '82 Nissan Sentra was so great. My first car when I was 18. We had it for 2 years and it died when my brother Eric was learning how to drive a stick and he reversed in front of our house and popped the clutch so hard that something happened and Remy never moved again. Callie, my first wagon, was an '80 Toyota Corola. Bought for $500 from my dad's patient, after I left on my mission, my dad gave it to Coulson for his graduation present and he later sold it for $1700 to buy his Volkswagon Westfalia, Blue Betty. The Honda, the Tarus, boring stories, that end in one donation to the Kidney Foundation, and one totaled car until came Fiona, the '93 Ford Escort wagon that I got for free and have had her three years. But, she is starting to show some wear, and I don't think she'll survive making trips back and forth from the Grand this summer. So, after some looking and much deliberation I settled for a maroon Ford Tarus wagon. It's long and bubbly looking, and looks like such a grandma car, but it has under 100k miles and I had the money to buy it without borrowing any, and it's spacious inside and the back is huge so I can fit all my crap in there.

I really do feel like I'm giving up on Fiona and I feel so bad about it. She is still running pretty well for the most part (despite some fun little quirks) and I'm sad to be upgrading. But I'm giving her to the Rich Foundation of boys, so I'll be able to see her for a while watch her die a probably slow and miserable death at the hand of young drivers. So, I'm going to have to be OK with having the grandma car. Once I get my rack on it and some stickers, hopefully she'll become a little more like my car and i'll become a little more attached. I am looking for a name. Harriett is the first on my list right now, but I am taking suggestions, so leave them if you will.

Who was that?

It's probably just my FOMO (Fear of Missing Out for anyone who doesn't know) but I can't stand it when people whos number doesn't show up on my ID call and then don't leave a message! I don't know why it bugs me, maybe it was a wrong nubmer, or one of my roommates calling from working or something, so I shouldn't care. I don't know who I think it is, or what I'm missing out on, but that's just the point. So, if you're ever calling me from a number you don't think I have in my phone ... leave a message!

Westwater

I love the river! And so much more when I'm doing it with my friends instead of peeps. Thanks to Camille and Mark who put the trip together, a group of 6 of us did Westwater and it was so great. I was pretty nervous it was going to be super cold, but it turned out to be great. We left Thurs night and got to the put in pretty late. It was so good to sleep next to the river agin. However, it was a little colder than the last time I did it, and we woke up with frost on our bags. It was a rude awakening to move my pillow around and lay my face on ice. (And I had some great morning hair after sleeping in a beanie!) It was so nice to take our time getting to boats ready and to just hang and make breakfast, and take off whenever we were ready. I got to row Mark's Cataraft and it was so fun. I'd never rowed and/or ever been on one before so I was stoked for a chance to row it. He and Garrett kayaked, so he was happy to have someone row his stuff down the river. Anne Spencer and I were on one boat, Camille and Dez on another, and the dudes in their kayaks. (FYI Anne is a great photographer and just did her final project down at BYU and it was called women of rock and ice. Check them and here other photos out here. She and Garrett are to be credited for all the fabulous photos you will see on this blog)

Westwater is beautiful and I love the vishnu shist. It's such a great canyon. The water was lower than I've ever seen it, but it was great because the rapids were all about the same size and they were all fun. And I got to see razor rock in Skull,

which I've always heard about, but never seen. We all had good runs through the canyon and it was cool watching Mark and Garrett kayak, although I have no idea how they didn't die of brain freezes the whole time.

After the canyon it was so nice to pull into camp and just hang out. We all got our bags out and laid on the warm rock and enjoyed the sun. Then when it was time to set up camp everything just got done. We for sure had the A team and it was great. Dinner got cooked and enjoyed and cleaned up, and the fire got started. We did a massage lesson around the fire, so everyone could work on each other rather than having me work on everyone. Garrett just scamerped around taking great pictures.

This one is light from the fire

And this is lit just from the full moon. Sweet pics Garrett!



The next morning, we woke up with the sun, made some breakfast, Dez lead us in some yoga and we took our time getting on the river. It felt great to be rowing again, and great to be hanging in the sun. I rolled a couple times in the kayak, and was glad I didn't paddle the canyon. My head wouldn've frozen.

We climbed in Moab that afternoon, stayed in the trailers, and had a great drive home. I love weekend trips and Westwater was so fun. It was the first overnight private trip I've been on and it's all thanks to Camille for putting it together and Mark for having all the gear, so thanks friends for a great weekend!

SQUASH PARTY!

To those of you who don't come to my squash parties because:

a) (Most common excuse) You have never played before and don't want to be bad at something

b) You have other plans

c) You are too tired to play

d) You don't have a cute squash skirt, protective eye wear and non-marking soled shoes to wear


I say, those are all lame excuses. And here are my answers:

a) It's great that you have never played before. That's why you come to a squash party! And you don't have to play, they do have ping pong and a TV and there's always snacks.

b) You can bring your date, spouse, kids if you want and it starts early enough or goes late enough that you could come drop by on either end.

c) Again, you don't have to play, you can come to just hang out

d) We have rackets, glasses, squash balls, shoes and I have tons of awesome clothes for you to wear.

But, that being said, I'm not trying to give you a guilt trip too much, and honestly the people who will actually read this probably have better more legitimate excuses and / or may not have even heard of it. So, don't feel bad, just think about it when next squash party comes around.

This last one was sort of a St. Patty's day party (I found out at the party why St. Patty was important, but really, why do we, as Americans care about the snakes in Ireland? I'm asking for real, so if anyone knows let me know). I'm a lot like my mom in my unrealistic idea of time, and had all the intentions of making a bunch of green food and drinks but in the end, hardly had time to make green cupcakes and throw on some green make up. I mean to take pictures throughout the night, but I forgot to bring a camera, but Ali brought one, and we took some pictures after of some serious hoola-hooping.




I tried to upload some vidoes of Ali doing some sweet hoola-ing, but they took forever, and wouldn't really load, so maybe when I've got a better connection, I'll try again later, but until then, let's get this on here.

It was a great party, and any time anyone wants to play, I'd love to!

What's all the hype?

Seriously, I just don't get why people love running. I feel good after and I feel like I am doing my body good, but I just don't get "in the zone" like people, especially my friend Bri, who has run like 8 marathons says. I think it's also beacuse I always seem to get side aches. No matter long I wait after I eat or drink or do breathing exercises or whatever, I still get them a little, and it makes it harder to quiet the voice in my head that says (in a whiney voice) "I'm tired and my legs hurt and I don't like running." But every once in a while I actually like it.

I think it was 6 years ago, I decided to run the Moab half marathon super last minute. I had run 5 miles twice and 7 once, then just ran it. Angela and I weren't registered and we snuck on the one of the last buses. So, I'm not sure exactly what my time was since I didn't have a chip, but the clock said 1:58 when I went under it. I'm pretty sure that that was faster than I'd ever really run.

So this year when my roommates decided they were going to run it, I gave it some thought, and decided against it, becasue I just wasn't liking running (the one time I had run in the last 3 months I got a bad side-ache). But we went down to try to register the night before and I remembered they do a 5 mile race, and decided I could run 5 miles. We all got in the race, and slept in the trailers. I really do love that place. I will only been down there for two weeks this summer, and I know I have out grown that place and Moab in general, but I will always have fond memories of the trailers.

We ran our seperate races in the morning. I finished my 5 miler in 49 minutes and I have no idea how I ran almost 3 times that far faster than that pace. I can't believe it. Anwyay, everyone did really well and it was a great morning.

After some hanging and showering at the trailers, Some of our other friends came and met us and we all went in to the San Rafeal Swell. I love that place. I love it that there's no signs and it's easy to get lost. It keeps it feeling like the desert and not a tourist place. We did get a little lost, but had a good time riding on top of Jeremy and Jake's sweet Westfalia. Some of the dudes had some "man time" and shot guns and the rest of us found a sweet camp spot. As we were getting set up, the sun set was amazing! It is so great to be in the desert. We turned the Westfalia into a kitchen, made some dinner, then made a huge bonfire. Probably made it a little bigger than we should have. We turned up some music and got prettty roudy and had a dance party. The sunrise in the morning, when I got up to use the "bathroom" was another great testament of why I love the desert. It turned out to be such a great trip for most of the time.

I don't think I'm quite ready to be done skiing but the nice weather we've been having really makes me want to go camping and do things on the weekends. So, if anyone is interested, let me know, and we'll get a trip together to Zion or the Swell or one of the other amazing places that Utah has to offer!