Elk Down! Oct. 2010 Hunt

My dad, brother Joe, and I set up camp this year in Mayfield Canyon at Twelve mile campground. This is some beautiful country and we saw Elk herds everyday. We had some opportunities slip away for some Spikes earlier in the week. But on Friday, I was able to finally connect on a Spike Elk. It was team effort and was lucky to be in position for it. On a ridge to the north of the kill shot, we were all glassing the basins around us in the early morning. Joe spotted a large herd to the south of us on the west side meadow moving south. The plan was to have Joe stay on the north ridge and Dad and I jumped into the truck to move into a better position. We coordinated thru our two way radios and I dropped Dad off on a saddle that drops in from the west side of this basin. I continued south to another ridge and dropped into a meadow from the south side of this basin. While Joe updated the elk herd location, Dad moved to the east, and I moved north. I positioned myself with a wide open clearing in front of me and could hear the elk close by walking thru the timber. I turned off my radio so I wouldn't spook them and waited. It got really quiet and couldn't hear them anymore. I turned my radio back on, and I could hear Joe telling me to move back southwest, the herd had shifted. I moved back up the meadow to another location. It was a slow process because the weeds were dry and crunched if they were stepped on. I was worried that we were going to miss another chance. I was in another clearing looking north. All of a sudden four cow elk burst out of the timber about 30-40 yards in front of me and were all jittery. They moved east, then west, then east again. Then the moment arrived. A spike Elk ran out of the timber running straight for my location. I didn't wait for a broadside shot, I didn't want another spike to elude us again. I put the cross hairs on his neck and pulled the trigger...Elk down! Deep Lake...

We took alot of video this year, but I neglected to take very many pictures. Here are a few that I took. Also if you visit Joe and Brandi's blog(link on right side of my page), he had more pictures too...I will eventually make a DVD once I get all the pictures and video from Dad and Joe...

Battle Creek Falls

I took Luke and Tate on a short hike above Pleasant Grove. It was called Battle Creek Falls and the waterfall is only a half mile from the trailhead. 200 south in PG goes east to a dead end which becomes the trailhead and dirt parking lot for Kiwanis Park. It was pretty and alot of fun. They both loved throwing rocks into the water...

September hike

-A couple weeks ago we attempted to hike Mt. Timpanogos as an Elders Quorum. Somehow the word got spread to the Deacons Quorum, also including a 11 year old kid from primary. So needless to say, we did not make it to the top, and instead found ourselves digging deep into our motivational speech pockets to get a few of these kids off the mountain. It was a slow pace, with numerous breaks. About 4 hours into the hike, I asked to check the backpack of the 11 year old. I discovered two 2 liters of water and a candy stash. We took a 2 liter from him, and away he went. Then later, he had his sugar crash. Once we got real food in him and plenty of water, he finally pushed thru and finished strong. Another kid was just extremely tired and claimed he could not walk another step, but we managed to finish the last three miles on this mentality. It was an extremely frustrating hike with our end goal still not met.

-So, on Sept. 11th, 2010, Mark(E.Q. president) and I decided to hike Mt. Timpanogos by ourselves. We purposely did not invite anyone else(from the ward), to avoid word getting spread to a less than capable kid. So I picked him up at 4 am and we hit the trail around 4:45 am. It was a little chilly, but we made it to the top(7 miles) in 3 hours 50 minutes. Along the way we saw, some herds of Mountain goats and at one point were within 10 feet of a couple who were ramming their heads together. It was so awesome. I've wanted to hike Timp for several years and can't believe I put this off for so long. It was an incredible site with spectacular views. Next time, I will bring my good camera to take some better pictures. On our hike down, we made it in 2 hours 47 minutes. We estimated a roundtrip of 8 hours from reviews we read online. So to do the hike in 6 hours 37 minutes was awesome. I took my GPS watch and tracked our elevation, distance and time. It was a great tool to have to gauge how much distance we had left to get to the top or to the bottom.

-When we reached the saddle, which is a mile from the shack at the top. My watch said it was about 11.041 feet. By the time we got to the top, it was 11,749 feet. It was an obvious difference in air thickness. I wouldn't say it was hard to breathe, but I could tell a difference. For me, I could also feel my heart working harder, and due to my current condition(ablation surgery in a couple days), we decided to not stay up there too long. And besides, Luke had a soccer game at 2 pm that I was hoping to get back in time to watch. It was an awesome trip.

Shack on top of Timp...

Emerald Lake(nicknamed Glacier lake)...

Views of Utah County...

Bathroom remodel

Bathroom project #1...This is our hallway bathroom upstairs and was in need of a makeover. I did the tile and new toilet last summer, but decided to remodel the rest. Beadboard, paint, and new vanity...wow, looks totally different. Still need to find a mirror for the wall, but other than that, its finally done... I will be doing our bathroom off our bedroom next...

Before the remodel...

Ripped out old vanity...

Had to move the piping, patched hole, and removed mirror...

holes patched, beadboard installed...almost done...

Finished product... Asked Tate to smile...looks like he's pooping! Our two little helpers...

Demolition Derby

On Saturday evening, we went to the Demolition Derby in Spanish Fork with Bert and Holly, Tiffany, and the kiddos. It was our first derby, and it was so cool. Luke and Tate were mesmerised by the cars crashing and the noise of the engines. But they loved it.

One car hit a stalled car so hard, it tipped it on its side...so cool!

Luke smiling for the camera, but cant take his eyes off the cars...

Last Hurrah!

Erin goes back to school on Friday. So this is our last hurrah before the summer is finally over. We camped up at Cedar Springs Campground at Flaming Gorge Reservoir. As you can see in the pics, we weren't alone. John and Sunni were there too...I can't take all the credit, they invited us. Luke loved playing with his cousins, while they fished and caught crawdads. John caught a fish and cut the fish head off and we stuck it on a fishing pole. We would dip it in the water near crevases and the crawdads would latch on. Then the kids would have a small net and scoop them up. Back at camp, John cooked them up and the kids thought that was so cool. They actually ate them too...It was alot of fun, and really some beautiful country up there.

First time fisherman

Luke and I went fishing on the Provo River just up from the mouth of the canyon. Even though we didn't catch anything, Luke had a blast and loves to fish. Not sure if I will ever go there again though...I tried my entire tackle box and got only one bite. Maybe its better in the evening or early morning... My line got stuck across the river, so I went across to retrieve my expensive fly...Luke managed my pole while I was away...

Luke sportin his cheesy smile...

Luke loves to go fishing..."He kept saying, I want to catch a fish. C'mon fish where are you?"

Breakfast time...Strawberry Pop Tarts...mmmmm, yummy!