Battle at the Creek

Down on the way to Provo there’s a town below the mountains called Pleasant Grove.  We drove down the other day to do a little day hike up to a waterfall at a place called Battle Creek.  I’d never heard of it, but the waterfall looked nice, so we decided to check it out.  The Battle Creek site wasn’t much to see, but of course, due to the fact that an actual battle took place there, I had to learn about it.  Turns out, some dirty Indians (uh, misunderstood Native Americans, I mean) stole some of Brigham Young’s horses back in the pioneer days, and he decided to send the Mormon militia to take care of it.  Truth be told, they never actually stole any horses, but the Mormons ambushed and killed them anyway.  They snuck up on them around dusk and surrounded them, throwing rocks at the women and children who were hiding in the freezing creek, and shooting the men as they tried to run away.  Yeah.  Real Mormon Medal of Honor winners these guys were.  Anyway, it was a good short hike and made for more pictures.  

Stopped for a moment at this bridge over the creek.  Paul used his make-shift fishing poles to catch make-believe fish.

Adam labored up the trail with his rocks.  He did a pretty good job overall, not too much whining!

And, as always, got his hands dirty.

The boys up by the falling water.

Good times, good hike, good waterfall.  Just watch out for the Mormon militia if you're up there and you've been stealing their horses. 

Look over the overlook!

A couple weeks ago we took a little drive up the harrowing Butterfield Canyon road west of Herriman, all the way to the top of the Oquirrh Mountains to the Kennecott Mine overlook.  It was one of those old logging-type roads where the edge drops off to certain death if you decide to slide off it.  Becky wasn’t too thrilled, but I thought the views were pretty amazing.  We wound our way up until the dirt road twisted its way to the top where there was a small parking spot looking out over the Salt Lake valley to the east, and the Tooele valley to the west.  And directly below us was the massive Kennecott mine.  Pretty cool view, and pretty cool weather surprisingly.  The rain drops started to fall on us, and the wind was slightly chilly.  At 9,000 feet high it’s still cold, even in July I guess.  Here are a few photos.

 You can't have a lunch meat sandwich without Mayo! Duh!

They had to complain about the weather... should have brought the winter coats I guess.  But hiding in the trunk of the car works too.

 I can see my cousin's house from here!

This is it!  This is the top!  Let's find a higher mountain to climb now!

 Paul and Dad, braving the cold to reach the summit!

And Adam Michael, taking a look down into the mine.  Throw all the rocks you want, just don't fall in, Adam!  Another fun day trip, and not too far to get there... can't beat that.

The Return of Uncle Ted

We thought he was gone for good, lost somewhere in the DC jungle, but the long lost Uncle Ted came to visit us a few weeks ago and stayed in Utah for a couple of days to hang out.  We saw a few of the highlights with him, the temples, the malls, the mountains, the Mormons, and the lake.  Pretty exciting stuff.  

It's the Salt Lake Temple, if you come here, you've got to see it... apparently it's required.

Probably trying to climb into the fountains.  Watch out or the Mormon fuzz will throw you out!

Returned Missionary, Elder Unbehend, only recently returned from teaching the lost souls in DC about Brother Joseph and the good book.

Paul, looking very Mormonly...

 Got soaked in the fountains at the new downtown mall.  Would we expect any less?

The happy kid.

Had to check out the Great Salt Lake... though we weren't sure where they got the "great" part.  Lots of bugs, lots of foul odors, and a few dead birds scattered across the muddy beach.  Nice.

We couldn't convince Uncle Ted to go for a swim, maybe next time.  Glad he made it out though, if only for a few days.  Gotta come back when he can stay longer!

The road home... again.

Becky and the boys went to Montana, again.  I guess you can’t go home too much, can you?  They think not.  Anyway, the usual things went on, hung out with the cousins, the aunts and uncles, and the grandparents, and enjoyed the sub-zero temperatures of a Montana summer!  Sounds fantastic!  Here are a few photos of the trip and the people they saw.

 These two are only slightly mischievous...

The youngest Sellers boy... at least for three more months.

The youngest Clayburn girl... at least for another month.

Just the way he wanted his marshmallows... black and crispy. 

Time for a sugar overload.

Oh, the open fields and sun rays...

Needing some M & M's.

Brookie B, growing up fast.

Both of them growing up fast.

Heading off to the dance recital with Granny G.

Another fun trip up north, and I'm sure it won't be too long before they're on their way up there again.  At least we're quite a bit closer now, so they can skip out on the airfare.  Thanks to the Unbehend and Clayburn families for hanging out and having a good time!
 

Just hang onto the chains...

So I’d heard from a friend who’d been to Zion National Park that the Angel’s Landing hike was the hike to do down there.  I looked it up, and it seemed pretty incredible and slightly terrifying, and ultimately it did turn out to be those things.  But Grandpa Jim and I decided to head up early on one of the days, and though there were a few times where I thought to myself, “I shouldn’t be doing this…” it turned out alright and neither of us fell 1500 feet to our death… thankfully.  Here are some pictures from the hike.

The start of the hike... going to go all the way up there to the top of the ridge!  Right before here was the sign that said six people have fallen to their deaths since 2004... so try not to be seven and eight.

The first half was all paved and winding switchbacks, so we took a break before the scary part began.  Nice hat, by the way.

We're going up there...?  And in some places, the path just wasn't that wide...

Hold on to the chain, and if you fall, try not to hit me and take me with you!

The incredible view of Zion's canyon...

We made it!  And now we have to go back down...

The pictures don't do it justice, but somewhere down there are some tiny tour buses.

And we survived so Grandpa could take Paul for some fine refreshments at this lovely establishment!  Hopefully they served ice cold Mountain Dew...

So if you ever go to Zion, and you feel like putting your life on a few links of chain... you should definitely check out Angel's Landing.  Awesome hike!