Rolling Solo

Today I rolled solo up to Surprise and Amphitheater Lakes. It took about two hours for me to get up to Amphitheater Lake. That time included traversing snow. They say it takes seven hours for this hike. I'm not sure where that figure comes from. It might take me seven hours if I walked it backwards and was blindfolded. :) It took me four and a half and that included spending an hour at the lakes. To reach Amphitheater Lake I gained about 3000 feet in elevation in about 5 miles. There was actually quite a bit of snow up there still. :)

Delta Lake

Today Boyd and I hiked to Delta Lake. The view up there is always, breath takingly beautiful. I love to look out over the magnificance of it all and see the valley floor below. I find myself in such awe up there. Hiking to Delta Lake is probably one of my favorite day hikes.

On our way up to the lake we crossed paths with a grizzly. He wasn't feeling very photogenic though. We weren't able to get a picture of him as he crossed the trail right in front of us because he was moving pretty fast. He had places to be I guess :)

Hanging Canyon 2013

 Just the beginning of all the Water Falls and Cascades we saw up Hanging Canyon today

Arrowhead Pond- We didn't make it up to Ramshead Lake or Crags Lake. There was a lot of water coming off of there and a lot of snow still. We decided not to risk it where neither of us had been up that canyon before. We weren't sure where the stable footing would be under all that snow and with all the water flowing underneath. We will be going back up that canyon to hit those two lakes in the near future though.

Me Chelaxing...overlooking Arrowhead Pond





The end of the bridge. The end of the trail. This picture was taken to look back up the canyon we had been up today.

A Little Family History

We were all home this past weekend to sort through my Dad's things and to help my Mom there at the house. It was a long couple of days, but they were also very good days too! While there I learned a few things I hadn't known about my family before. I also got the chance to hear a few stories again. The following is a recap from this last weekend.

The USS Iowa: My Grandpa Reading was a gunner's mate, 3rd class aboard this ship during World War II. Over the weekend I was told the story of when they shot down 139 of 140 fighter jets during the war. One plane broke though their line of fire and caused casualties on the other ship that was with them as it crashed into it, but neither ship sank.

My Dad's grave site. The headstone was set and put in place about a week and a half ago. We all visited there today. We stopped and picked a few wildflowers and crabapple tree blossoms up in the valley, near the house where my Mom grew-up. We added them to the flowers my Mom had bought to place there.

The foundation of the house my Mom grew-up in, in Darby, ID

The old car my Grandpa Larsen used to court my Grandma Larsen. It belonged to his father. It is parked in a field there in Darby, near where my Grandpa use to farm.