Broken Knee Mended

In late 2004, I had a collision while playing ultimate frisbee which broke the top of my tibia midair. The break was nasty because of its proximity to the joint. I was taken directly to the hospital where a plate and six screws were inserted to hold my knee together. In July of 2006, I finally had the surgery to remove the hardware putting an end to the two year ordeal.

The Narrows of Zions National Park August 2006

Left to right is Bridget, me, Ellie, Mike, Rachel, and Chas. Zions offers free shuttle rides up and down the canyon to its 3 million visitors each year. Right after this shot I realized I didn't have my keys on me so we had to get off and backtrack, finding them in the grass near where we parked, phew!



The most famous hike in Zions, the Narrows is a trail mostly in the water fighting a current as you make your way through the spectacular canyon full of photo opportunities. Blisters soon set in and the sun was scarce due to the depth of the canyon.

We found several opportunities to play in the water. Just before turning around we found a place where we could jump off a rock into a deep pool. We got quite chilly because the sun had no chance of reaching us.

Hike to Red Pine Lakes and White Baldy Mountain July 2006

This is yet another hike this summer up the Little Cottonwood Canyon. I set off with Mike, this time with no water filter and a little later than planned. We planned on getting to the lakes and then possible going to the summit of the mountain that overlooks them.





Once you reach the first lake, the trail disappears and the rest of the hike mostly consists of scrambling up large chunks of granite.










It was getting late in the day and we were quickly running out of water but we were determined to make it to the summit, so we did.







A nice view of the Red Pine Lakes from the summit of White Baldy. With the sun getting low in the sky and only half a liter of water we started the hike back down. It was completely dark by the time we reached the car. We had a real sense of overcoming as we made our own trail to the summit and survived despite the lack of water and light.

Mount Timpanogos July 2006

This hike up Mount Timpanogos was a bigger undertaking because we planned to camp near the summit. We packed food, wood (they told us we wouldn't find any), and sleeping gear and set out to conquer the famous mountain. Our packs weighed about 30 lbs each. On this trip were me, Mike, and his friend Josh.




Half way up, we got off the trail and had to try to find it again. We wound up at the edge of a rock that dropped straight down to a subglacial river. You can see the waterfall and pool behind the wall of ice.





With the summit in sight, we found a quiet spot by Hidden Lake, a lake that can't be seen from the trail until it is passed. We knew about it and knew most didn't so this was our destination. The lake is fed by a glacier that dips down into it and slowly melts. It turns out there was plenty of wood at this spot so we carried extra weight for nothing. I didn't sleep very well because I was borderline chilled and didn't have a good mat. But we made it through the night.

The next day, we stashed our things and made the trek up to the summit. To get down you can slide down a glacier which feeds into the more well known Emerald Lake. From the summit both Emerald Lake and Hidden Lake are easily seen, as is the whole of Utah Valley.




On the highest parts of the mountain we spotted several mountain sheep. This was a mother with a kid nearby and this was as close as we could get to any of them. They make confident leaps from cliff to cliff that would stop humans in their tracks. A simple slip up would be a long painful fall.

Hike up Big Cottonwood Canyon July 2006

I've done a lot of hiking this summer mostly with my friend Mike whom I met at the LDS Business College and with whom I play hockey. On this trip up the canyon my friend Ellie joined us. When you do a day hike in the dry heat of the Wasatch Front water is an issue because you don't want to run out deep in the mountains. Fortunately Mike had a portable water filter which allowed us to have drinkable water whenever we found a stream.


This particular hike didn't lead to anything spectacular. After half a day, we sat down, enjoyed a few MRE's (Meals Ready to Eat) which we heated with Mike's portable stove and then doctored some blisters before heading back down the trail. I'm wiping sweat off my face and Ellie is doctoring her foot. It was so hot that I was determined that the next hike would at least end with a lake.