This year has been filled with so many amazing adventures. Blake made a short video highlighting some of our favorite memories. Happy New Year! 

Christmas Tree Hunting

The Saturday after Thanksgiving, Blake and I joined my parents in a search for the perfect Christmas tree for their house. We were pretty excited to finally get to go. My dad and brother, Seth, have been in charge of this for the few past years, so we were happy to be involved. Manti Canyon is the prettiest canyon in all the lands, but I may be slightly biased.

Capitol Reef

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Thanksgiving is seriously one of my favorite holidays. Spending time with family and being able to eat some delicious food, makes it one of the greatest days of the year. This year, we headed down to Manti to eat with my family. We ate all my favorite foods and best of all raspberry PIE and spent the rest of the day relaxing and watching movies. It was so nice to have nothing to do.

Happenings

Basically I'm terrible at updating this blog. We haven't been up to much lately though, so I haven't had much to post about. Blake and I both got new positions at work and are trying to manage our new responsibilities. I seriously love my new job and am so excited to be apart of such a great cause. Research is really great, guys! Blake is busy acing his classes; he'll tell you he's struggling and school is hard but he studies hard so he's doing really well. We haven't had as much time as we would like to adventure, but we are trying to do small things here and there. 

Exploring Cedar Mesa

After Monument Valley, there were a few sites that we wanted to see. The Southeast corner of Utah is very spread out, so getting from one site to the next is anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour. Our first stop was Goosenecks State Park. This state park reminded me of Dead Horse Point and Horseshoe Bend except that it has an added bend to it. We spent about a half hour here taking photos and enjoying the scenery. Our next stop would be Natural Bridges National Monument. The road to Natural Bridges is pretty rad; there is a section of the road called the Moki Dugway that switchbacks up the side of a cliff. We stopped at a lookout point to look back at the road. It was a little nerve-wracking to see that we had just driven up a giant cliff. Looking off the cliff you can see the skeletons of wrecked cars that had lost their way, which made it even more reassuring....

Monument Valley

One place that I have dying to go is Monument Valley. We decided a couple months ago that we would finally head to the Southeast corner of Utah for fall break. Our plans weren't quite definite and it seemed like things kept coming up. The week of our planned trip we weren't even sure that we would be able to go because it would be such a long drive for not enough time. Luckily things fell into place and we were able to leave Saturday night after a friend's wedding. We left Salt Lake around 9:00 PM and drove as far as we could. We made it to right outside of Moab until we were just too tired so we pulled off the road a couple miles and set up our camp. Sunday morning we woke up and kept going. We wanted to make it to Monticello to go to church; unfortunately we just weren't going to make it in time. I was looking up sacrament times and we found a small branch in LaSal. It is a very tiny town just south of Moab. There were only about 50 people in the branch. It was a fun experience to go to a branch in Utah!

Backpacking the High Uintas

In July, we backpacked in Big Cottonwood Canyon to Lake Blanche. This trail was steep and very challenging. After this trip, I wasn't really sold on the whole backpacking thing. Blake told me that backpacking in the High Uintas doesn't have much elevation gain. After doing some research, we agreed that Naturalist Basin would be our destination on the Highline Trail. This is located right by Mirror Lake. This is rated as a great beginning backpacking trail, so that really helped ease my worry about carrying an extra 20 pounds on my back. 

Pine Creek Canyoneering

When we decided that we would be going to Zion for Labor Day, Blake reserved six permits for us, Dan, Kristin, Alison and Eric to canyoneer Pine Creek. We spent one night a week for the past three months learning and practicing to rappel. Blake was such a great teacher; he always made me feel calm and confident. One week, Blake, Dan and I went up Big Cottonwood in preparation for our 100 foot free rappel. This rappel was about 100 feet and had a very intimidating start. I was feeling pretty scared but Blake's calm presence and encouragement helped me get down and after that I felt like I could accomplish any rappel. I was ready for Pine Creek. 

Labor Day in Zion

This weekend we headed down to Zion National Park with Blake's family. We have had this trip planned for a few months. Blake and I have been to Zion quite a few times together so we really wanted to try some new hikes and a little canyoneering. One of our favorite hikes is the Canyon Overlook, so we did this short hike Friday night. We recommend this hike to everyone; while it is really short it has such a great view of the canyon. 

The Wave

Back in March I thought I would try my hand at the lottery system for The Wave. We talked to someone who had been putting in for years with no luck. We didn't think we had any chance at drawing out but I just wanted to see how the system worked. Somehow we got very lucky and drew out. I put in for four spots so that my parents could come along. A few years ago, my parents and I were in Kanab watching Seth play baseball and saw a photo of The Wave on the wall in one of the local stores and we talked about how we HAD to go there.

Cathedral Valley

Blake and I have been talking about going to Cathedral Valley for a few months. It is located on the remote north end of Capitol Reef. This park has been one of our favorites because while we were dating we took several day trips down and did a lot of exploring here. Cathedral Valley isn't on the main road through the park. It is actually a little tricky to get there: you must have a 4X4 high clearance vehicle because the road to the valley is a dirt road. After making our way through mountain roads, we descended into Upper Cathedral Valley. We found a campsite under what is known as Cathedral Mountain. Because this area is so remote we didn't see any one else here. If you are looking for some solitude, this is the place!

July

A couple weekends ago, Blake and I tried our hand at backpacking. I had really been wanting to hike Lake Blanche so we chose this for our backpacking trip. This hike is pretty hard; it says it is about 6 miles round trip (I swear it is longer!). Those three miles to the lake are all uphill and actually pretty steep; about 2000 feet incline. While getting up was hard, it was well worth it to wake up to the beautiful Sundial Peak. 

Anniversary Adventuring

We celebrated our first anniversary a few weekends ago in Las Vegas. It was such a fun weekend spending some quality time just the two of us. We ate some good food, relaxed by the pool, and did a little exploring. Initially we had planned on spending some time in Red Rock Canyon, unfortunately it was just too hot to do any climbing or hiking. It is only about a twenty minute drive from the Las Vegas Strip, since it is so close we decided to drive out one night to take a look. There is a short scenic drive with a few great lookouts, the drive is really pretty with some very interesting rock formation and colors. We definitely would like to return and explore a few hikes and do some climbing. 

Moab

Thursday night, Blake and I were talking about how we wanted to go somewhere over the weekend. We wanted to go somewhere that wasn't too far of a drive and that had some hiking involved. We talked about a few places but we ultimately agreed Moab would be the best place. It wasn't really set in stone though, just an idea. Around 11:30, Friday morning, I got a text from Blake that said "So are we going to Moab or not", I replied with a "yes". So that was that, once we got off work we headed home, packed our bags and got on the road. The drive was about three and a half hours and since it had been raining quite a bit everything was so green and beautiful. We got to Moab around 6:00 and headed straight to Delicate Arch. This hike is the best! Three miles round trip is so worth the iconic view. 

Graduated!

After five VERY long years, I am finally done! I got my Bachelor's degree in Exercise and Sport Science. Woo! The U has been such a great experience. I have learned so much, made great friends, and had many new experiences. 

Top Ten Day Hikes in Utah

A few days ago, Blake and I were discussing some of our favorites hikes. We have been on some great hikes together, so I thought I would compile a list of our top ten day hikes in Utah! Here they are in no specific order:

The Subway

Zion National Park is probably my favorite place in the world to visit. There is nothing comparable, to the pristine beauty and wonder that lives here.  Last weekend we had the opportunity to hike up Left Fork Creek (the Subway) in Zion's. There are two ways you can do this hike, both requiring a permit, bottom-up or top-down. Bottom-up doesn't have much technicality to it, it is a in and out hike. You hike in as far into the Subway that you can and then hike back on the same trail that you hiked to get there. Top-down is a lot more technical, there are several rappels and swimming. You start on a different trail and rappel down into the canyon and finish the hike on the same trail as bottom-up. Blake's sister, Alison, bought permits for bottom-up early and reserved the day for us to explore the Subway. Unfortunately, Alison and Eric weren't feeling well as the hike got closer so they couldn't make it. We missed them.  

Wild Washington

One day, we wanted to go hiking but unfortunately the weather wouldn't let up. We talked to one person who said that they hadn't seen rain that bad in the twenty years they lived in Seattle. Since it was raining so badly we decided to do a little drive to Snoqualmie Falls. This waterfall was absolutely beautiful. There was a lot of fog because of the rain which I thought made it look even more amazing. The fog and the pine trees are my favorite. There are two viewpoints at the top and at the bottom, from the top we could hardly see the falls because of all the fog. Once we got to the bottom we were amazed. 

Seattle

We had an absolute blast in Seattle. Our first stop was Pike's Place Market. The Market was so fun to wander around. There was such a exciting vibe here. Everything was local and there was so much to see. There was also tons of great seafood. One of my favorite things was the crew of fishermen throwing the fish back and forth to each other. They were so entertaining and fun to watch. It reminded me a little bit of the markets in Taiwan. 

Ophir Canyon

We have really been enjoying climbing lately. This past weekend we thought we would climb outside since the weather was so nice! We went to Ophir Canyon, which is about an hour west of Salt Lake. We had a blast! Here are some photos..

Goblin Valley

If you have never been to Goblin Valley, I suggest you go. Like now! It is such a beautiful place. We got engaged this same weekend, last year. Since we started dating, adventuring has been a real priority for us. Blake and I decided that to celebrate one of our favorite days we would go on an adventure. We drove to Manti Friday afternoon. We drove right past the place we got engaged, such a special place for us! One of our favorite places to eat is Roy's Pizza (best cheese sticks around), so we stopped in Ephraim and got our fill. 

Saturday morning we got up bright and early and hit the road. The drive to Goblin Valley was about two and a half hours. First we wanted to hike Little Wild Horse slot canyon. This hike is located about 5 miles outside of Goblin Valley. Little Wild Horse canyon is a little over 4 miles, instead of walking to the end, turning around and walking back we chose to loop around and hike through Bell's Canyon too. It is also a slot canyon and added about 4 more miles. The total of our hike ended up being around 8 miles. 

Funny story, we hiked a couple slot canyons back in August and one of them had a lot of standing water throughout the canyon and we ended up having to take our shoes off and wade through the water that was about to our thighs. This time we kept joking about running into standing water and what we would do. We only had about a mile left of the hike and were in Bell's Canyon when we reached standing water. I busted up laughing because I couldn't believe that we would have to do it again. Luckily we were able to get past the deep pools without having to get wet. It made the hike a little more technical but also more fun. 

 

Nine Mile Canyon

This weekend we wanted to get out town, but we were low on time or money—which ended up being the criteria for our decision. Nine Mile Canyon fit the bill. It was an added bonus that I hadn’t been there since I was a 3^rd grader studying rock art in Utah.  We hit the road around eleven, and it took us two hours to get to the mouth of the canyon. Once in the canyon, we started our hunt for rock art. Nine Mile Canyon is known as "the world's longest art gallery.” The name is a little deceptive since the canyon is not only nine miles long. It is, rather, about 46 miles of paved road with panels of rock art interspersed about every mile.  Most of the panels can be seen from the car and are easily accessible by foot. The most famous panel is called "The Great Hunt,” which is the last scene carved out on the panel. It took us about an hour and a half to get to "The Great Hunt", with several stops along the way. It is definitely worth the 46-mile drive to see this panel. 

Christmas Break

We started school this week and let me tell you, I was not ready to go back! Finals week was the week before Christmas and somehow I lucked out and had the majority of my finals the last week of class. As a result, I basically ended up with a month-long break. Hallelujah! Once Blake finished his finals, we took a weekend trip to Bryce Canyon. We found a good deal on Groupon for Ruby's Inn, so we stayed for a couple of days. We went to Bryce earlier this year, but unfortunately we didn't get to do much hiking. This time we made sure we hiked both the Queens Garden and Navajo Loop trails, highlights of Bryce. It was incredible.