BACKDOOR

HIKERS: Kim, Amy, Isa the dog

SUMMIT TIME: 40 min, base of screen

RT TIME: 60 min.

WEATHER: 42-55 f, sunny

KIM'S NOTES: This was a new hike for us. We started at the bottom of Bald Mountain, but took a different ridge up. There were quite a few challenging places- long grinds that reminded us of climbing Nebo, steep ravines, places where we were following elk and deer trails and blazing our own as well. Over all, a definite keeper!

AMY'S NOTES: Loved this! Parked at the base of Bald but took the left atv trail. At the top of the first rise go right and follow the ridge up (no trail). There is a steep gully/ravine between the ridge you are on and the next over which is home to the screen. We followed the ridge south east and eventually traversed the gully coming out on the flat just north of the screen.

NEW CANYON

HIKERS: Kim, Amy, Isa the dog
SUMMIT: 32 min
RT TIME: 60 min
WEATHER: 34 F

AMY'S NOTES: A quick hike up and back to the concrete slab (don't know the technical name for this) in the creek. We took the traditional upper route of New Canyon today. The sun joins us earlier and earlier every morning. It is an absolute pleasure to feel the sun on my back and watch the long shadows of walking figures in front of me.

The image is of Lei Wang training for 7 summits and 2 poles. I think Kim and I could knock those off the list no problem. Must find some tires first... anyone willing to donate? For more info on Lei goto her blog: www.thegoldenpig.org

BALD MOUNTAIN- SHADE TREE+ (PLUS)

Here's Amy in this year's new hiking gear. What do you think? I personally think the faux lederhosen look great!

HIKERS: Kim, Amy, Isa the dog

SUMMIT TIME: 35 min.

RT TIME: 65 min.

WEATHER: 34 f, sunny

KIM'S NOTES: This morning was a gorgeous, spring morning full of sunshine. We hiked well and even went farther than we have for a while. I am reluctant to say it and jinx us, but I think we are seeing (and feeling) some progress.

CANYON ROAD

Taylor's Flat

HIKERS: Amy, Kim, Jamie, Isa the dog
WEATHER: 24 F, windy
SUMMIT: Taylor's Flat, 27 min
RT TIME: 55 min

AMY'S NOTES: We started at Red Knoll Rd. Most of our mountains and trails were mired in mud from the heavy rain and snow over the weekend. We opted to skip the slog and go for the somewhat drier road base. A cold windy morning.

MILLCREEK CANYON

DATE: Saturday, April 25
HIKERS: Amy, James, Kuma the dog
RT TIME: 1 hr approx.

AMY'S NOTES: I finally now know what people are talking about when they say Millcreek is a favorite hotspot. A beautiful canyon minutes away from SLC proper. (Head East on 3800 South and you are in Millcreek). The road is closed off about half the year and becomes exclusively available to hikers, skiers, dogs, etc. Saturday was very rainy, cold, and windy, and the snow in the canyon was rapidly melting. The creeks were bulging with water. This weekend was originally scheduled for Notch Peak but we backed out due to predicted storms. Climbing Notch in the cold windy rain on an exposed face, would have frankly been miserable. Glad we postponed. Despite the beauty of Millcreek, the photo is pretty bad. A quick shot while trying to keep the camera dry.

NEW CANYON: RIVERSIDE ROUTE

HIKERS: Kim, Jamie, Amy, Isa the dog
SUMMIT: Take out, 33 min
RT TIME: 63 min
WEATHER: 54 F

AMY'S NOTES: Today was the warmest morning of the year, or at least the warmest that I've taken note of. This is a new route for us. The New Canyon road forks after about 1.25 miles and we follow the right fork along the river to the take out where the road ends. This second half is a nice consistent climb that mimes the turns and drops in the river. The photo is taken looking east, upriver, while standing on top of the take out.

NEW CANYON: RIVERSIDE ROUTE

HIKERS: Amy, Kim, Isa

TIME: 30 min.

RT TIME: 60 min.

WEATHER: a beautiful spring morning (about 42 f)

KIM'S NOTES: This was first accent of this trail for us. It was actually a good one. Quite a climb once you got into it. We weren't in top form, but it felt good anyway. All in all, I believe this is one is a keeper.

BALD MOUNTAIN STANDBY

HIKERS: Kim, Amy, Jamie, Isa the dog
RT TIME: 45 min
WEATHER: 46 F, Sunny

AMY'S NOTES: Bald Mountain the old standby. Accessible, steep, and totally doable in our short amount of morning time. We came down pretty fast this morning, which if we continue to do should give us 5-10 minutes more of going up. We need more up.

NEW CANYON: LONE PINE HILL

HIKERS: Kim, Amy, Isa
TIME: 25 minutes up to Lone Pine Hill summit
RT TIME: 54 minutes.
WEATHER: Clear, sunny, beautiful (approx. 38 f)
PHOTO CREDIT: to Amy. (The only person I know that could make 2 rocks on a gravel road look aesthetically pleasing!)

KIM'S NOTES: This hike used to kick our butts, but not anymore. We came, we hiked, we conquered. This is the first morning we started lifting 'weights.' Our trips to the bottom occasionally feel a bit too easy, so we grabbed some rocks and started lifting. It was actually a great upper body work out, and up our canyons there are plenty of 'weights' around. I personally hope to be sore tomorrow.

Kim at the top of Lone Pine Hill.

Amy and Isa with Lone Pine.

MAPLE CANYON LOOP

DATE: April 19, 2009
RT TIME: 3.5 hours
CONDITIONS: snow in the canyons, sunny
HIKERS: Amy, James

AMY'S NOTES: A beautiful Sunday afternoon hike! We started from the mouth of the canyon where we parked the car, walked up the road, and began the loop at the upper trailhead. A few firsts on this one - first time actually completing the entire loop, first time in winter, and first time in the lower canyon. There is still a lot of snow in Maple Canyon. After some bushwacking, traversing, route finding, and general meandering we returned with soaked shoes and pants. Why do I never put on gaiters? I am now an official 4 season Maple Canyon fan. (See other Maple Canyon posts for more info/pics.)

BALD MOUNTAIN

RT TIME: 55 min
SUMMIT: 25 min

AMY'S NOTES: This morning kicked my *&^%(*. It's a good thing Jamie was there to lead the way and keep the pace or I would have happily collapsed and sat squarely in the middle of the trail and watched the sunrise instead. On a more ambitious note, Kim and I are headed to Notch Peak to hit the first major climb of the summer. Very excited and looking forward to the second highest exposed cliff in America.

CANYON ROAD

Hikers: Amy, Kim, Jamie, Isa

Time: 6:40 am- 7:35 am (55 min.) approx.

Route: From Red Knoll Road to the cabin

Weather: 34 f and cloudy

Notes: Yes, we are back to hiking every morning again. The weather hasn't been great (thus the Canyon Road route), but it is good to be going again regularly. It really keeps us looking young.

NEBO "A'mazing" VIDEO

AMY'S NOTES: I found some forgotten funny footage of Kim this morning while browsing photos. This would be Kim and I shortly after reaching the summit of Nebo last fall. I think we were both a little delirious. See the Nebo post for more info/pics. (I'm not sure who those people are at the end...)

COSTA RICA

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Date: Dec 2008 - Jan 2009

AMY'S NOTES: Costa Rica has great billboard signage, exquisite beaches, highways that suddenly drop off into the cavernous holes of landslides, amazing fruit that truly is ripe, a humidity that seeps deep into your skin, howler monkeys who conjure such intense primal instincts that honestly I may as well have just teleported to the dinosaur age, ant hills 15 feet across, waterfalls more abundant than utah sagebrush, and more birds sighted in 15 minutes than was possible for me to catolog the entire trip. And Jungles. Everything but the water and sky is green. Deep saturated green. The photos were taken either in the Arenal Volcano area or down on the Osa Peninsula.

WALES: ABER FALLS & SNOWDONIA

Date: March 2009

AMY'S NOTES: Very civilized hiking. In fact the Welsh refer to it as "walking." But beautiful nonetheless. Snowdonia is a mountainous national preserve located in northern Wales. It served as natural barrier against invaders for centuries. While there, I ate and worked in the castle of the last prince of Wales, Prince Llewelyn (d. 1282), which is now owned by 2 historians who are diligently working to restore and preserve the proper history of Wales. Aber Falls, see above pictures, is just a few miles above that site. Incredibly quiet with damp winter earth tones and the short growth of spring greens, I easily imagined the history of a thousand populated years traversing the landscape.

BALD MOUNTAIN

HIKERS: Kim and Amy and Isa

TIME: 3:35- 4:20 PM

RT TIME: approx. 45 min.

WEATHER: overcast, cold (around 45 F)

NOTES: We are still in winter mode- which is another way of saying 'out of shape.' But it was great to get out and feel the breeze and breathe hard. We are still working out our hiking goals for the summer, but are going to seriously start training any day now. Overall, a good hike, if not a little chilly.

WHITE ROCKS TRAIL

HIKERS: Amy and Kim

LOCATION: Snow Canyon, St. George

TIME: approx. 1 hour

KIM'S NOTES: Snow Canyon is a beautiful place! Amy shared lots of memories of visiting here as she was growing up and was amazed at all the changes and growth of the area. This was my first time in Snow Canyon. It was actually a short hike, but a steep one. The colors were beautiful- like they always are in Southern Utah- starting out with a mixture of black volcanic rock with red sand and turning gradually into white petrified dunes. The trail leads to a natural amphitheater and then we climbed up to the top-most peak. It involved quite a bit of scrambling, which was a good workout. The white rock looked like elephant skin magnified a thousand times and so we named the peak "The Wart" or "The Mini Nipple." We found a less treacherous way down, so the descent wasn't as perilous as it could have been. All in all, a short but sweet hike and very picturesque.

Amy viewing a small slot canyon on the way up.

Kim, before climbing the wart.

Amy and Kim on top of the wart with Snow Canyon in the background.

Kim and Amy with the wart in the background.

CANYON ROAD

Hikers: Kim, Amy, Isa

Start time: 9:22 am

End of pavement: 9:56 am

RT time: 56 min.

Weather: Sunny

Kim's Notes: The weather has continued to be sunny, so everything is very muddy, thus we decided to stay on the pavement. We started at a fast pace and kept it up to the top. I was sweating and breathing hard, so it was a good workout. (I knew you wanted to know). We talked about some summit goals for the summer and have decided that we will do a 14,000 ft. peak in Colorado. Now we need to do some research to find out which one will work for us the best. It is a great goal to be working toward. Who wants to come with?

BALD MOUNTIAN

Hikers: Amy, Kim, Isa

Start: 2:20 pm

Screen: 2:54 pm

RT time: 56 min.

Weather: sunny, with one little snow squall

Notes: The snow was very slushy and the mud was very sticky, but we still made it to the screen. It was a bit difficult because of the thawing conditions, which made it a challenging in a good way. The view from the screen is always a great payoff and today was no different. With half of the fields melted and half with snow still on them, our beautiful Sanpete valley was very picturesque. A great day to hike.

TAYLOR'S FLAT

AMY'S NOTES: Taylor's Flat is located on the south side of Ephraim Canyon road a short way beyond the turn off to New Canyon. Several trails and atv roads lead up from the Flat. What began as a plan to summit Bald Mt on Saturday evolved into a quick jaunt up the start of the Backbone (which I'm excited to see more of). The continual rain over the last several days has converted our snow into melted rivers of water, deep slush, and trecherous mud. Everything is pretty sloppy. We were still able to catch the setting sun over the valley and watch the clouds throw patterns on the foothills. As I write this now in the warmth and shelter of inside, the house is getting pounded by hail. Kim and I talked about big plans and big hikes for the spring and summer and decided a conversation with Virgil is due. Stay tuned.