Chalk Festival

June 18, 2011

I went down town to Gateway to attend the Chalk Festival. I had a few of the girls I work with who had been entered into the chalk festival.

There were pretty amazing pieces of "art". 
 

This one won peoples choice.  Pretty amazing.

I had a few other favorites, here are a few

 

This was my favorite part.

I had a great time looking at the art.  The very next day it rained and washed all the art away.

Hike to Mount Olympus

 

Mount Olympus 

Distance: 6.4 miles (round trip)
Walking time: 6 hours
Elevations: 4,200 ft. gain/loss
     • Mount Olympus Trailhead: 4,830 ft.
     • Mount Olympus: 9,026 ft.
Trail: This is a very popular hike. The trail is well used and generally easy to follow. The last 0.1 mile below the summit, however, is very steep and rocky and some scrambling is necessary.
Season: Summer through mid-fall. The upper parts of the trail are usually covered with snow from mid-November to early June. For current conditions call the Salt Lake Ranger District, Wasatch-Cache National Forest, at (801) 943-1794.
Vicinity: Near Murray and Salt Lake City

June 7, 2011

I was so excited to go on this hike.  I had finally just got a new camera.  My last one was in 2003 and my new camera was so much better then that one.  I was excited to be able to start taking pictures.  I did not know exactly how the camera worked and I forgot to get a memory card for it.  Whoops.  Unfortunately it only held about 4-5 pictures for the camera's memory.  So I didn't get too many great pics.  Sad day.  The good thing though is I didn't go on this hike alone and my friend was able to supply me some pics.  It was one of the first days that were warm and very clear sky's.  I was happy to be outside.  I was just very tired and could have slept half the day.  So I was happy that the day got moving.  The first part of the hike is very steep and in the sun quite a bit.  We were able to move along in great speed. 

Along the way were were able to see many things that were of nature and also of man.  There was this Golf Course that made the scenic views much more beautiful along the way.

 There were many rivers that we past.  The first one is half way up the mountain.  I love this creek.  It is nice to know how far I have gone.

We met these two guys at our break at the creek.  As these to guys came to the creek each of the had a bag with a golf club attached to them.  I asked them, "Do you plan on golfing".  As we did see a golf course on our way up.  They said they were going to do exactly that.  They said this summer they plan to hike a number of peaks in UT and hit a few golf balls off the Mountain.  Interesting.  I guess its a good way to perfect your swing in high elevation.

There is still quite a bit water run off from the snow that just won't melt becuase its been too cold for too long.

This is the view at the saddle.  I sadly did not make it to the top.  I know, I know you are thinking why did you even get up this morning if you weren't going to succeed.  You see, life isn't always about making it to the top.  It is about your experience and having a wonderful time as you continue on.  As we hit the snow, I didn't find it enjoyable at fighting the snow and climbing on and so I took in the beauty and moved on.

1st Hike of the Year

Yesterday evening I had my first Sunday off for a very long time.  I decided since the rapture did not come and that it was such a beautiful sunny day that I would go on a hike.  I think Mount Olympus.  I was amazed on how easy the hike was compared to other times that I had hiked it.  Usually as I made my way up the steep mountain I stop to take breather breaks.  I usually am so winded.  I wasn't.  I think this is due to the fact that I had been going to my spinning classes and have built my muscles up in my thighs.  It was extremely nice weather.  It had been so rainy that I hadn't been able to do anything outside in a long time.  I can't believe its almost June and I have spent so little time outside.  When I think of how long I am inside I think that I should move back to Arizona.  There are more months that I can spend outside.  Oh well.  I am going to try to go again in a week or so.  My goal was to make it to the creek.  To that point it is a mile and a half.  It is pretty steep to this point.  I wasn't sure if I would make it.  It was about 4 p.m.  When I started.  There were storm clouds moving in.  I heard the first water fall.  I heard the second one.  I knew I was there.  When I arrived I wanted to sit and enjoy the running water.  I really want to try it sometime just hiking up the mountain by using the stream.  This will have to wait till the winter runoff is finished.   I really want to stop and hang out at the creek crossing.  It was a bit awkward though with about 2 different families.  I decided that I would be coming back shortly.  At this time it is my goal to have a camera so that I can provide much better pics.

Another Birthday Gone By.

The last post I posted is quite old.  I decided to start posting.  Not that I  have a lot of interesting things in my life but more the fact that if I post I may make my life a wee bit more interesting.  It can also fill up some time at work in the middle of the night.  One of my first goals is to get a camera and then blog about my travels, experiences and all my projects that I want to finish.  I recently got a raise/promotion at my job to team lead.  I think I am happy about that.  I am now working a lot more though.  As if I don't work enough.   Who needs time off is what I say.  I keep looking forward to the day when I don't have any debt and can enjoy having that time off.   I am in the middle of trying to find something interesting to do with my time at night while I work.  I am currently working on another blanket and wasting my time watching movies, documentaries or upstanding shows such as the bachelor, biggest loser and modern familly.  If anyone has any other great suggestions that would be great.  A little while ago I had heard about Steve-o coming to salt lake and I had told Sam about him coming.  Sam looks up to him from loving Jacka**. I think it is a bit ridiculous but he also looks up to him from his amazing sobriety that he has found.  The night before Sam and I had run into him.  We decided to go to his debut as a standup comedian.  As in his other stuff that was a lot of crude awful humor.  He would actually be pretty funny if he could tame down his crudeness.  I don't think thats happening though.  The one think that of course fits his craziness he decided to get a flame thrower and set his hair on fire.  It was pretty incredible.  Mostly stupid though.  On the way out he got a pic with everyone that wanted one. I did not have a camera, I also had to get to work or I would be late.  So we went out and said goodbye to him.  He remembered us from the night before and took a pic with his phone and twittered it. It was pretty awesome.