Saturday, July 30, 2011

Jeepin' Up




Dad drove us up the lovely Right Hand fork this evening. Along the way, the kids were treated to a retelling of Old Ephraim (the first time they've heard of him).

Sunset lighting makes for nice portraits:

Except when one of is a cranky, carsick, and past one's bed time.

Along the way, Calvin casually mentioned that he saw some sort of animal on the mountainside. He was right:

Wednesday, July 27, 2011

It's Always Cooler at Tony Grove

Spring has finally sprung at Tony Grove (the lake was still frozen 3 weeks ago). We headed up today for a picnic and a hike around the lake (and an impromptu skinny foot dip by the kids).


There is a canyon on yonder side of the lake called "waterfall canyon." I've never seen a waterfall there. My parents have only seen one there once or twice before.

There was no waterfall as we hiked by the canyon, but when we looped back to the parking lot, a dull roar filled our ears and suddenly there was the waterfall.
A glacial pool builds up on the snow meadow above the lake, and when the conditions are right it breaks through and cascades down waterfall canyon. Today was our lucky day.

Thursday, July 21, 2011

The Little Grave Robber


Ivy has taken up a life of macabre crime. Poor Mr. Nelson never had a chance of keeping those alluring star-spangled banners.

In other morbid news, my parents and I ambled up to the cemetery one fine evening to go plot shopping. It's a great cemetery to rest in peace. We'll be in good company and it has a lovely view from any direction.


Sunday, July 17, 2011

Jones Reunion 2011


We just wrapped up a week-long reunion with Peter's side of the family. Every sibling and cousin was present (all 32 of us). We packed loads of fun into one week.

Activities included:
-Visiting ancestral graves in Wellsville
-Talent Show (Ivy danced, Calvin did a cartwheel, Bryn played the piano, I showed a movie that I had made, and Peter accompanied Puff the Magic Dragon)
-Hiking the Limber Pine trail
-Camping at Bear Lake (including Go-carts, wave runners, raspberry shakes, Polish horseshoes, and tent catching)
-Lagoon
-Logan Aquatic Center
-Pictures
-Olympics and minute to win it
-Board Games




Friday, July 8, 2011

Down a Dark Hole


As a child, my dad often led us on hikes up above Tony Grove and showed us sink holes, deep pits that dropped down to China. His father had shown him where they were and the locations are a closely guarded secret. We'd throw rocks in and listen for them to hit the bottom, and often we never heard the final clunk.

My brother Lance, climber and caver extraordinaire and the cave expert for Northern Utah's Search and Rescue, is well equipped to lead expeditions down said sink holes. And that is just what we did one fine Wednesday evening.

The sink hole we went down is named Thundershower. We rappelled down the initial pit, and wiggled our way in a hole (the first of many wigglings or birth therapy as I like to call it). After a bit of climbing, it opened up into a beautiful room decorated with all sorts of cave features (stalagmites, stalactites, flow stone, columns, and such). Then we rappelled down another pit, did some more climbing, and ended in a pool room.

The cool, dusty yet dank air smelled delicious. The water ever trickling and sometimes pouring it's way through the passages was icy cold and we were soaked through.

On the climb back out, Lance intentionally left me behind. I took a wrong turn, of course, and climbed (with difficulty) my way straight up a soggy dead end. Lance says he often does this just to show people how easy it is to get lost in caves. He's a big fat meanie dirtbag sometimes.

We used ascenders and got ourselves back out of the hole. It was great fun. And just so you know, stalactites hand tight (from the ceiling) and stalagmites might reach the ceiling.



Saturday, July 2, 2011

Cleaning Magic

Here's the movie we put together last weekend.

King of the Hill


Peter and I hiked Mt. Monadnock for the first time today. It's been on both of our lists since we moved here 9 years ago.

Our friends were nice enough to take our kids, and it was strange to ride in the car and listen to nothing but each other talk and grownup music (the Shins), and have no need to fling goldfish into the back seats (but we did anyway, just to keep in practice).

The hike was fantastic- one big mini-bouldering expedition. We made it to the top in just over and hour, enjoyed the view, and ran back down (I'm not going to lie, we rocked that trail-it's nice to know we're still part mountain goat). I give it 5 hiking boots up.

Here's a dizzifying movie of a 360 panorama at the top- which is how we felt after summitting. If you look closely you may see a couple of familiar faces (Katie and Mauricio). It's always fun to unexpectedly see people you know in lands far away.