Twin Lakes Overnighter

I had the opportunity to join the scouts on the 2nd night of an overnighter to Twin Lakes in the Uintas.  I bummed a ride with Ken and Kris who were also going up for just the second night.  We left Farr West about 4 and got to the trailhead about 6 p.m.

Bridge over outlet at Wall Lake

Just after we passed over the bridge at Wall Lake (1 mile into the hike), we saw this guy coming out of the brush on the lake side of the trail.  I think we recognized him before he recognized us.  It was Elliot, one of the scout leaders.  He told us that his grandson has cut open his toe jumping into the lake and they were trying to evacuate him.  Unfortunately, he, his grandson, and the other adult leader had become separated.  After assessing the situation, we suggested that he go down to the bridge and wait for a few minutes to see if the other two showed up.  We then proceeded up the trail and would look for the other two as we were hiking.  We hiked for another 20 minutes or so and came across Darin and two of the scouts.  They were loaded down with Eliot and his grandson's backpacks.  We exchanged info and they continued down while we continued up.

At Wall Lake

After arriving at the campsite, I grabbed a quick bite to eat, grabbed my fanny pack, snacks, water and my bivy sack and headed back down the trail.  We had a tough time finding the trail to Twin Lakes in the daylight and as they would be arriving back after dark, I didn't want them to get lost.  So I hiked back to the main trail and 30 minutes later, Darrin and the scouts arrived.  Eliot and his grandson had met up at the bridge and Curt was driving them to the hospital in Park City.

Later, as I was getting settled for the night, Curt showed back up.  He had his GPS and had no problem finding the campsite.

The Motley Scout Troop

Saturday morning I went for a short hike up to the notch and back.  We had a leisurely time eating breakfast and packing our gear before heading back out.  Overall, it was a good trip.  The boys had fun, caught some fish, and other than a fairly significant toe inury, things went pretty smooth.  Most of the boys that were on this trip will become a part of my group next year.

Summer is Here

It's June 2.  Summer has started.

Yesterday I submitted my request for a backcountry hiking permit in the Grand Canyon.  Our preferred route is the Royal Arch, but I also put in requests for the Tanner, Escalante & Tonto Trails and a Rim to Rim to Rim hike.  Hopefully we'll get something.  It took 12 tries at the fax machine before I got one to go through.  Hopefully only 1 went through and I don't get charged for multiple trips.

I also tried to put in a request for the Zion Virgin River Narrows for a planned outing in August.  Too early.  The earliest date I can submit is on June 5 at 10:00 am.

Our bike trip in Moab is next week.  Our plans are to leave home fairly early on June 5th.  Oops, need to figure out an alternative method for getting zion permits.  I'm taking a group of varsity scouts for a biking trip at Moab.  Klondike, Corona Arch, Professor Falls are among our destinations.  Should be fun.  We've taken the boys out on several mountain and road rides over the past few months.  Most are ready, a few are not.

I'll provide an update on Moab when I get back.  Hopefully all the boys will have a good time - most of the time.

Mel and family are on their way to our place.  We get the kids for a week while they jet off to Hawaii for their 10th anniversary.

2011 In Review

A new year brings the opportunity to review the accomplishments of the recently expired year.  Here's some statistics for your leisure time review.

Family Statistics

• Number of Children:  6
• Number of married children:  5
• Grandchildren:  12
• Grandchildren born in 2011:  2
• Sequential years with a new grandchild: 9 Years & running

(Do we need to draw straws to see who will keep the trend alive?)

2011 S-10 Pickup Statistics
Miles driven:  12560
Gas Purchased:  579 gallons
Cost of Gas (it wasn't priceless):  $1953.26  (Avg $3.37/gal
Miles driven to work:  4,800
Fun Miles:  3286

• Grand Canyon:  1208 miles
• San Juan River:  827 miles
• Zion girls trip:  821 miles
• Zion Virgin River Trip:  746 miles
• Boise Trip:  686 miles

Miles Driven to who knows where: 4,480

My Personal Exercise Statistics:

Activity          Miles Time    Rate
Bike                 609   37.5   16.2
Run                  109   15.9   6.9
Walk                105  30.1   3.5
Hike          128   67.7   1.9
Swim                1    1.2  .95   (new PR for rate)
Boating             121   36.7   3.3
(Some rates are off due to rounding errors)

Campout Statistics
Number nights trying to sleeping out:  36
Ambien Pills required:  36
Ambien Pills available:  35
The cost of 1 Ambien Pill on a sleepless night - Priceless

Racquetball statistics
Racquetball games played:  89
Games Won:  81
Games Lost:  8

Cutthroat games played:  25
Games won:  25
Games Lost:  0

Estimated calories burned through exercise:  170975
Calories per pound:  3500
Theoretical fat burned off:  48.85 pounds
Actual weight lost:  8 pounds

Thank goodness for junk food.  If it wasn't for the junk food, I would have wasted away to a mere 152 pounds.

You want to do What? Really? Come on, be reasonable!

It's the end of the year and I'm looking for ideas to keep me motivated and working out next year.  I know that Mel has big ideas for fun things to do, so I gave her a call.

Earlier this year she ran a half marathon.  That's 13 miles.  Now she wants to do a marathon.  Thats double the 13 - a total of 26 miles.  I've always been told that when you have a goal that you want to achieve, break it down into smaller units so that you can see progress and have bite sizes pieces to work on.  I decided to apply the idea of breaking it down into smaller steps.

26 miles = 45,760 yards

26 miles = 137,280 feet

26 miles = 1,647,360 inches

Maybe that's not such a good idea!

Fortunately Mel is a better thinker than I am.  She broke it down into weeks before the big event and activities to achieve each week.  Look at her blog to see the details.  She's working out six days a week.  Two days of cross training, 3 days of short runs (if you call 3 miles a short run) and a longer run (7 miles) on Saturday.  And that was for week two!   The shorter runs get longer and the longer runs get huge.  The marathon in on April 21.  She had 125 days to prepare.

Go Mel!

I've never run anything over a 10K (6.3 miles).  However, after talking with Mel this evening, perhaps I have a new target for 2012.  Can I train in Utah and keep up with Mel as she trains in Arkansas? Wow!  That's a big commitment.  I've started to break it down, not into feet and inches, but into time.  Can I dedicate at least an hour a day to working out and 4 or 5 hours on Saturday?

I have two weeks before the new year starts.  Two weeks to write-up my own plans and then decide on my commitment.  I'm not sure if I can put in the time and miles (I still have a life and the Grand Canyon is calling me again).  But it sure sounds like a challenge, and I've considered doing a marathon but never taken it past the 'considered' phase.

Oct Updates

The 4th Annual Columbus Day Hike is officially over.  The fantastic four and one old dude hiked from Lee's Pass at the Kolob area to the Grotto in the main Zion Canyon, exiting down the Angel's Landing Trail.  It was a fantastic time.  My trip report will be posted on my Outdoor Adventurers Blog.

We returned home from Zion late on Friday and then on Wednesday I was off to the Gates of Lodore for a rafting/kayaking trip down the Green River with Mr. Eller, kids and friends.  What a hoot.  I was able to break in a new inflatable kayak going through such rapids as Triplette, Disaster I and II, Hell's Half Mile, and SOB.  The weather was great, the water was wet, and the kayak performed as advertised.

A few days after getting back home, I went to the base and had the bodpod done again.  I'm under 190 pounds for the first time in 20 years or more and my body fat is down to 20.6% pure lard.  Earlier this year I was 199 pounds and 26% fat.  Several years ago, before I was rescued by a friend who invited me on a bike trip, a trip that I failed to complete, I weighed in at 234 pounds.  What a difference 45 pounds makes.

Where did the summer go?

It's now Oct 2, 2011.  Summer is over, where did it go?

It's been a very active summer time, hopefully the autumn season will be just as busy.  My activities during the 'summer' include:

1. Whitewater rescue course on the Green River (3 nights), May
2. Joel, Annaleise, Madison and Brianna's birthdays (3 of them on the same day)
3. Overnight backpack on Indian Trail (1 night), June
4. Kayak trip down the San Juan River (4 nights), July
5. Green river canoe trip (4 nights), July 
6. Katie's birthday, July
7. Zion National Park (Subway, Kolob Arch) (4 nights), July
8. Burley Spudman, July
9. Family reunion (3 nights), August
10. Bailee and Pam's birthdays, August
11. Bike the Bear (1 nights), August (I made two loops for a century bike ride)
12. (I'm over 55 and had physical this year, do I need to add a special test for over 50 males?)
13. Zion National Park (Virgin River, Angels Landing) (2 nights), August
14. McKenzie's birthday, September
15. Justin, Pam and family moving from our home to Bountiful, September
16. Keith and Sheria's visit from Texas (& 2 new family members), September
17. Nampa, (3 nights), September
18. Aubrey's birth, September

Upcoming Activities include:

1. 4th Annual Columbus Day Hike (Lee's Pass to the Grotto)
2. Float trip down Desolation Canyon
3. Emily's birthday
4. Thanksgiving and lots of birthdays in November, along with our anniversary.
5. Christmas and more anniversaries and birthdays in December
6. Grand Canyon trip (Hermits Rest to Monument, Indian Gardens, Phantom Ranch)

Can I squeeze in a skiing trip?

Many of these activities have helped me in achieving one of my goals for this year.  This goal was to have at least one workout each week.  Thus far I've been able to achieve that goal.  A few weeks were a little iffy, but I was at least able to get at least one, one hour walk as a minimum. I've kept a activity journal and have included in the journal an estimate of the number of calories burned for the activity.  The number of calories comes from the Food and Exercise Diary and while I can't guarantee it's accuracy, at least it is pretty consistent.  Thus far this year, I have burned off over 122,000 calories.  It's a good thing I eat a lot!  If I didn't eat so much, I would have wasted away to nothing.  At approximately 3500 calories/pound, I would have burned off over 35 pounds.  For each of the last 3 years, I've averaged over 121,000 calories burned through my workouts.  That's the equivilant of about 105 pounds of fat.  If I lost that much, I'd be under 100 pounds.  (I'm not even close to 100 pounds).  

Unfortunately I also struggled to keep my weight in the neighborhood of 200 pounds.  What am I eating and whatever it is, it must be way to much.  In late August, I did another bodpod test.  I'm down to 24% pure lard.  That's a big improvement from the over 26% fat from my first time in the bodpod.  After getting this number, I decided to use the diet portion of the Food and Exercise Diary.  I didn't create a diet, I just started keeping track of what I eat and logging it in every day.  Once again, I don't have a lot of confidence in the exact calories recorded because I had to make estimates on the quanity and content of some of the foods, but once again, I think it is close. Once I finish deso trip, I'll make another appointment for the bodpod and get some updated numbers.

The Burley Spudman - I did it

Today I did the Burley Spudman triathlon.  The last time I did the Spudman was 2008.  A man in the heat ahead of me had a heart attack and drowned, and so they cancelled the swim and changed it to a duathlon for my heat. I registered, but missed out in 2009 and didn't register in 2010.  I wanted to do it again and see if I could reach my goals so in January I registered and today was the big event.

My goals are the same as they were three years ago.
1.  Don't die
2   Finish the event in under three hours
3.  Finish the run in under 1 hour

However, last time I tried, I was three years younger.  Now I'm a senior citizen.  I'm also not quite as active as I was three years ago, I'm trying to hang in there, but the 'JOB' takes more of my time than I would like.  I haven't been able to train as much.  So far this year, and before today's event, I've biked 252 miles, ran 45, and swam .15.  That's a whole lot less preparation than what I would have liked.

I don't have my official times yet, but inspite of the lack of training, I think I achieved all three goals:
1.  I'm still alive
2.  I believe that I was just under three hours, however I did take a lot longer than usual in the transistions.  I hurt my left foot last week just as we were beginning the hikes at Zion National Park.  It is still pretty tender, so I wanted to make sure that I had my foot properly protected for both the bike and the run.
3.  I finished the run in 57:43 (unofficially).

Once I get my official times, I'll compare it with my goals and my other years times to see if I've improved.  I feel like I did about the same on the swim - Just keep my head afloat and I'll make it to the exit point.  However, I feel like I was a bit sluggish on the bike.  My bike-o-meter quit working and I haven't replaced it yet.  Without being able to monitor my times, the only thing I could really concentrate on is trying to pass or at least stay even with the folks just ahead of me.

The run was the event I wanted to focus on.  In the past years, after doing a swim and bike ride, it was really hard to do the run.  This is the first time in five tries that I've had my run under 60 minutes.  Needless to say, I'm happy with the results.

Me and my bike, After the finish

The race was a well organized event.  From my perspective it went very smoothly even though the number of participants and spectators was huge compared to my memory of past events.

7 Aug 2011 Update
I retrieved the official results yesterday.  There were 40 finisher's in 55-60 year group.  I came in at number 27.  Swim time:  23:03;  Bike time:  90:53;  Run time:  57.42;  Overall time  176:07 ( 2:56:07).  So I met all three of my goals.

Historically, my times are as follows:
Year                   Swim                    Bike                    Run                      Total
2005                  27:43                     77:55                 64:14                   2:49:53
2006                  23:59                     87:50                 87:22                   3:29:11  (calf muscle injury)
2007                  23:50                     72:39                 61:50                   2:47:09
2008                                                74:56                 59:13                   2:16:41  (duathlon)
2011                  23:03                     90:53                 57:42                   2:56:07

Note:  Some of the segment times in different years included the transitions and some did not.  So the numbers listed above are not truly accurate of the real segment times.

Upper Green River Float Trip

Nine months in the making!  It's now in the rear view mirror!  And no, I'm not talking about a baby although we are expecting two more in our family.

I'm talking about the Young Men's canoe trip down the Upper Green River.  Last fall, the young men identified it as one of the activities that they would like to do.  In November, I got it on the calendar and the week of July 11 was set at the time.  The week of July 11 has come and gone and so has our canoe trip.  I believe that everyone had some good experiences and hopefully they've learned some things that will last them a life time.  I won't say that everyone had a good time all the time, because there were definitely some ups and downs.

However, here are the highlights.

The Cottonwood Creek River Crowd

We met and loaded up at my house at 6:00 a.m. on the morning of July 11.  After saying goodbyes and a few photos, we were off.  Our first stop was at Walmart in Evanston because one of the driver's had forgotten his water shoes.  While he was getting some shoes, we noticed that he had also picked up a nail in one of his tires, so a trip to the tire store was in order.  An hour later, we finished our breakfast at McDonalds and we were on the road again.

Breakfast at McD's

We arrived at Camp New Fork in time for lunch and a movie.  The movie was our training before hitting the river.  It was a review of things we've talked about over the last few weeks concerning hydraulics, strainers, rapids, etc.  Then it was off to the water front for some hands on with the canoes.

August Update

July 31 (nearly August):  Melissa, Pedro & family left Centerton, Arkansas last night (Friday) to come out for a visit.  Today, Susie, the girls, and my grandaughter Bailee and I left to meet Mel & Co in Thermopolis, WY for a couple of days of R&R and then for a trip through Yellowstone Park.  Since the Suburban doesn't have air conditioning, we thought we'd find a rack for the Lumina and put some stuff on top of the car.  No luck.  Those temporary racks that we used in yester-year are extremely hard, if not impossible, to find.  Pam had offered their van and so we took it instead of one of our vehicles.

We arrived at Thermopolis mid afternoon and Mel & Co were already there.  Outside of the cabin where we stayed were some hot pools, so we spent the afternoon and evening playing with the kids in the pools.  Dinner was cooked over an open fire and life is good.

August 2:  We left Thermopolis this morning headed for Cody.  We were almost to Meteetsee when the van gave a bang, lost power, and put out a lot of black smoke.  Oops.  After pulling to the side, I looked under than van and discovered oil draining from the block.  Although I couldn't see any holes, I was pretty sure that we had thrown a rod and blown out a piece of the block.

Fortunately Mel & Co were right behind us and took Susie to Meteetsee where she had cell phone coverage.  Two hours later a tow truck showed up and towed us into Cody.  We called Justin & Pam, let them know the situation, rented a car, had dinner and found a hotel room.  After several discussions with J&P, we decided than van was terminal and needed to be disposed of, and then we would continue our trip through the park and meet Justin in Rexburg tomorrow evening.

August 3:  With the rental car and Mel & Co in their vehicle, we toured the park and made a few stops at various sites, including Old Faithful.  It was a nice trip through the park and it has been years since either Susie or I had been there.  We ended the day with dinner at Winger's in Rexburg and a night in another hotel.

August 4:  Justin and I drove with the Lumina and rental car back through Yellowstone Park to Cody, dropped off the Rental car, and then drove back through the park to Rexburg.  Elapsed time:  11 hours.  Stops:  West Yellowstone, Cody, & West Yellowstone.  However we did see 1 bear, 1 buffalo and a bunch of elk.

We then picked up Annaleise & Bailee from the Rasmussens and headed back home.  After we got home, Pam asked if we had said daily prayers over the van.  Nope, that part slipped my mind.  She then stated that she never went anywhere in the van without saying a prayer for it.  Pam also stated that even though the van was a financial loss, she was happy to see it gone.

August 14:   I was at Bear Lake today as a solo participant in a scouting event.  The event:  "Bike the Bear."  Please see My View of the World under the Fitness 101 category for my write-up of this event.  It was my first ever Century bike ride.  Although I didn't set any records, it was a good accomplishment for an otherwise uneventful (fitness wise) summer.  However, the Grand Canyon is coming and I'd better get back into shape.

I drove to Lewisville, Id. on August 15 to visit my dad.  His 85th birthday was on the 16th and I wanted to go up for a visit and wish him a happy birthday.  Dad, Mary and I had a nice visit and I ended up spending the night at their place.  After taking them to breakfast the next morning, I made the return drive back to Utah.

Another Change

My last 'Hello World" announced that I was released from one calling and called as 2nd Counselor in the Young Men's Presidency and as an assistant scoutmaster.  During my 'lengthy' tenure, I've gone on four overnighters and taught maybe 5 or 6 lessons.  But in the church, one thing is certain, you get called and you get released.  I was really enjoying the position.  However, sometimes good things don't last very long.

I've now been released from both the 2nd counselor and assistant scoutmaster positions.  

So what's in store for me now?  I've been called as the Teacher's Quorum advisor and Varsity Scout Coach.  The person that had the job moved out of the ward and as I was 'recommended' as the replacement.  Hopefully I will do well in this position.  I've already gone on one outing with the older boys.  It was planned before I got involved and I was planning on going on it anyway.  The outing leader needed another adult to go on the hike and he knew that I was a glutton for punishment when it comes to those type of activities (Meaning that I like backpacking and enjoy going to new places.)

Old Store at Sego, UT

On 16-18 June I went with the Teacher's Quorum down to the Thompson Springs area and spent a few days in the southern part of the state.  It was a good outing and I got to know the boys a bit better.  We did some exploring of the old Sego mining town and then went on an overnight backpacking trip up Nash Wash.  The boys followed it up with a service project at Cunningham Ranch.


This past weekend, 25-26 June, I had one last commitment with the Boy Scouts and that was a short backpacking trip up by Causey Resevoir.  It was a short hike, about 2 miles each direction, but the boys made it and I didn't hear any complaining from any of them.

Change is Good

I was recently released from my Church calling and have been given a new one.  I had my old calling, or one similar to it, for 11 of the past 13 years.  I have been an assistant or secretary in the HP Quorum for the majority of the last 13 years with brief lapses when I served in the bishopric and when the Group Leader was released, but I've always been called right back into the the HP Quorum.

Not this time.  I'm now second counselor in the ward Young Men's organization.  It's been a long time since I've worked with the young men, and most of the time it has been a challenging, but enjoyable calling.  I'm excited for the change.

I've been car camping with them twice, and have been favorably impressed with most of the boys, but there are some behaviors that concern me.  One is that a few of the boys try diligently to do as little as possible.  For example, we've worked on the personnel fitness merit badge which requires, among other things, for them to set a benchmark for situps, pushups, pull-ups, stretch and a run.  After working through a fitness program, they do the same events again and try to show some improvement.  Most of the boys gave their benchmarking session a real diligent effort.  However, a couple of them walked the entire distance and did the absolute minimums on other exercises.  Talk about taking the easy path.

We have one young man with Cerebal Palsey.  Everything is difficult for him, but he never quits and he has given it his whole effort 0n each event.  He used his walker for the run, and he gave it every bit of energy that he had in order to make it around the loop twice.  I asked if he wanted to quit after the first lap, but he saw that all of the other boys went around twice and so he hung in there until he made the second lap.  I was totally impressed.

I'm looking for a good opportunity to serve the YM, but it has been a long time.  Hopefully I'll have the patience for it and I'll be able to help them in some small was as they continue to mature.