13 August 2017

We just got home from an 8 day road trip.  We started our trip in Idaho with a visit to Becky's parents.  Abe and Helen helped Grandma restock the shelves in her office.

Our next stop was Brandan's family reunion in Owl Hollow, Idaho.  Owl Hollow is a wooded canyon near Lava Hot Springs.  This is a photo of our vacation home.

The road to the house continued up the canyon to BLM land and was a beautiful place for a walk.

The cousins were excited to see each other.  Here are Helen, Kaylee and Sasha.

Salem, Abe, Sutton and Logan are playing a game.

On Monday we went to the swimming pool at Lava Hot Springs.  Everyone had fun swimming, jumping and going down waterslides until a thunderstorm closed the pool.  This is Abe and Parker jumping off the 7 meter platform.

Monday night ended with a giant soccer game.

Tuesday morning was rainy so the cousins organized a pool tournament.  Those who wanted to play found a partner and signed up.  Parker organized the brackets.

Gibson and Dallin played Grandma and Grandpa in the first round.

The rain had stopped after lunch so we headed back to Lava Hot Springs to float the Portneuf River.  Abe, Nate, Parker and Maddi are on this tube.

Here are Helen, Jonny, Kaylee, Amber and Salem.

The rapids were big enough to make sure everyone on the tube got wet.  This is Grandma, Sutton, Grandpa, Drue and Sasha.

Hot springs run down the river bank into the water.  The very hot water from the springs mixes with the cool river water.  People have sectioned off the river into pools of different temperatures, from pleasant to scalding hot.

It was our turn to make dinner on Tuesday night.  Salem joined our family to prepare rice bowls.  Cooking for 30 people is a big job and it's nice to divide the work.

Here's Abe with a tray of chocolate mousse for dessert.

After dinner, we finished the pool tournament.  After a whole morning of close games, the final match ended very quickly.  Becky (Brandan's sister) and her husband, Aaron played against Brandan and his brother, Nate.  Nate hit 2 balls in on the break then another 3 balls in on his first turn.  Then Becky hit Brandan and Nate's last ball in for them before Brandan hit the 8 ball in.  Here's a photo of the brackets.

Family photo: 

Back row- Brandan, Jaxson, Amber, Logan, Jonny, Wade, Parker, Drue, Nate

2nd row- Becky, Maddi, Maks, Becky, Helen, Sutton, Steph, Salem, Abe, Kaylee, Maggie, Gibson, Zoey

Front row- Aaron, Niko, Emma, Xander, Martha, Dan, Sasha, Dallin

 Here's a photo of Brandan with his siblings.  

Back row: Wade, Brandan and Drue.  

Front row: Jonny, Becky and Nate

We drove Wednesday to southern Utah and spent Thursday and Friday hiking in Zion National Park.  On Thursday we missed our turn and ended up driving up the Zion-Mount Carmel Highway.  Part of the highway is a one mile tunnel through solid rock. This is a view out of one of the windows in the tunnel.  It turned out to be a scenic wrong way! 

We spent several hours hiking in the Narrows on Thursday.  The Virgin River is the trail for most of the hike.  It felt great to be in the water on a hot day.

August is monsoon season and the heavy rains wash sediment and rocks down the river.  It didn't rain while we were there, but the river was murky from recent storms.  This is one of the deepest parts we saw.

We loved exploring the Narrows and marveling at the beautiful canyon walls.  On our way back, we passed a woman who had broken her ankle.  Brandan and several others carried her the mile-long trail to the shuttles.

 We rode the shuttle back down the canyon and stopped for other great views and short hikes.  This is the Great White Throne seen from Big Bend.

This is the Weeping Rock, a place where spring water seeps out from the rock and falls into the canyon.  Even though Zion is in a desert, the river and the many springs keep the canyon green.

We've often wondered how forest service crews get heavy materials and tools up challenging terrain to build trails.  Here's one answer: we saw this mini truck come down a trail that was closed for repairs.  Its tread easily navigated the rough ground.  Where was this when we were carrying the injured woman?

 This is a photo of Abe with Abraham Peak above his head.

 Abraham Peak is park of a formation called the Court of the Patriarchs.  Abraham Peak is in line with Isaac and Jacob.  Mount Moroni is in front of the patriarchs, and a little shorter -- a nice reference of the Book of Mormon among the Biblical giants.

 We headed out early Friday morning to hike Angel's Landing.  This peak got its name from Frederick Fisher in 1916 who said "only an angel could land on it."  Thanks to some careful engineering, Angel's Landing is now one of the most popular hikes in the park.  Here we are standing in front of Angel's Landing as we began our hike.

 The first 1 ½ miles of the hike are paved and pass through 21 switchbacks.  The first park superintendent, Walter Ruesch, planned the trail and led the construction.  The switchbacks are nicknamed "Walter's Wiggles" in his honor.  Later in the day we met the granddaughter of the stone mason who built the switchbacks, Otto Stanworth.  Work on the trail began in the late 1920s.

 Every switchback faces you toward amazing views and features.  We saw this tiny arch on the way up.

 The last mile to the top looks like this.  It's a steep climb up sandstone with chains bolted to the rock for handholds.  We talked to some fellow hikers who were doing their best to challenge their fear of heights.

 The trail extends over a narrow fin with 1000 foot drop offs on both sides.

 Here's the view from the top.

 Here is Abe sitting on top of Angel's Landing.

 We had amazing views in every direction.

 One of the challenges of the hike was allowing for hikers going in both directions with only one route.  Sometimes we stepped to the side to allow other hikers to pass us in the opposite direction.  At one tight spot, Abe, Helen and Gibson slipped into a slit in the rock.

 One more view from the top.  This was one of our favorite hikes we've ever done.  It's unique for its beauty from every angle and for the interesting and challenging route to the top.

 We stayed in Springdale at the entrance to the park.  We felt like we were inside the park when we stepped outside.

We were a little concerned about going to Zion in August when the temperature would be the hottest and thunderstorms likely.  It didn't rain while we were there and the heat wasn't too bad, especially on the day we hiked in the river.  We also enjoyed swimming in the hotel pool after long days spent hiking.

Our drive home on Saturday took us through 5 states: Utah, Arizona, Nevada, California and Oregon.  We drove along the northern edge of Area 51 in Nevada.  Nevada's legislature has a sense of humor, as shown by their decision to rename highway 375 the "Extraterrestrial Highway."

 We saw a couple of alien-themed tourist traps at the beginning of the highway, but most of the road looked like this.  Brandan counted 16 cars in about 100 miles.

 We got this photo this week of Sofi and her companion at the Martin Harris Pageant in Clarkston, Utah.  This was Sofi's last week in Utah.  She leaves for Taiwan tomorrow.  We're so grateful for the time she spent in Utah.