So they say that you should not put off having fun with your children because they will be gone before you know it. TRUE!!! But of course we crammed as much in the last few months with Jed that we could. Dinners out at Sandy's, movies, arcade outings, Bear Lake with friends, hikes with Dad and even Lion King adventures with Mom are just a few of the last minute fun things we did.
So Curt and Jed and their hiking adventures! FUN FUN FUN!
The big warm up hiking up to Ben Lomond Peak was an adventure. Curt thought that maybe Jed would not want to go up to Kings Peak the highest peak in Utah if he goes to Ben Lomond first and figures out that its a lot of hard work and hiking. But on September 2, 2010 Jed and Curt went to the North Ogden Divide parking area and started their hike. They only took 4 bottles of water and due to Curt not thinking it was a big hike. Little did they know it was a 14 mile round trip hike. Jed has always had trouble conserving water- he drinks in gulps so when Curt and Jed finally reach the 5 mile marker area and it actually told them how much further they needed to go that they talked about conserving water. Unfortunately Jed had already drank 1 and a half bottles of his water and they still had 2 miles of the steepest part of the hike ahead of them and then they had to make it all the way back... Not good. Well they were almost to the top when Jed had finally had enough of hiking so he decided to sit down. Even after Curt tried to persuade him to keep going he decided not to. Curt made it to the top and looked back over some rocks. Jed only had about 100 yards to make it to the top and he decided to keep going after all. It only took them 4 hours to make it 7 miles up from the parking area. After getting something to eat and drink they headed back and made it back down in only a couple of hours. Jed had 4 to 5 blisters on his feet by the time they gotten down and Curt had 2. 1 of them was the biggest blister I have ever seen. Gross!
After a week, Curt thought his master plan of getting Jed not to go up to Kings Peak might have worked due to the trouble Jed had going up to Ben Lomond Peak a week earlier. So when Curt asked Jed if he still wanted to go hike Kings Peak and he "EXCITINGLY" said "YES"... Curt thought to himself what have I created.
So after another week of recouping from their blisters the plan was on for September 16 and 17 to go to Kings Peak in the Unita mountains. Kings Peak is 13,528 feet and there are many ways to get to it but the closest is to go to the Henry's Fork camp ground and come in from the north slope area. Curt and Jed left Ogden around 6AM on September 16 stopped in Evanston Wyoming to get lunch and their last minute things and then off to the trail head.
They started around 10 AM and they were off. They made good time. Curt had worked on getting his GPS system in order before they left but as usual he did not get all the information he needed nor did he get it downloaded on his GPS so they did not have the right data on his system. The GPS worked and showed them where they were at but it did not show them were any of the lakes were so they had to use the old maps he had to find where they wanted to camp for the night. They made it to Dollar lake around 3 or 4 PM. They don't know what time they got there because Curt thought Jed would wear his watch but Jed thought Curt would have one so neither one of them had a way of telling what time it was. Curt had his phone which did not work in that area but he thought once they got to Kings he could call out. They made camp and filled up their camel packs. Yes Curt got smarter on this hike and made sure that Jed was well aware of what this hike entailed so they brought more water and the capability to pack more with them. So they filled everything up and ate dinner still not knowing what time it was and then just took off and hiked around a bit before it got dark. They walked around a while taking pictures of the area so they could share their adventure. Night came fast and they were off to bed. Curt had to put ear plugs in because Jed was snoring. At one point, in the middle of the night Curt woke up to see a big full moon- it was like daylight.
Morning came for the hikers and they got a later start than they wanted. They left camp roughly 30 minutes before they could start seeing without their head lamps. Curt had not gone this way before but had talked to his brother in law Mike who had been with a scout group earlier in the year and Mike had told him about a rock slide and how it was a lot shorter distance to Kings by going up it. Curt asked Jed what he wanted to do and Jed decided not to go up the slide so they went up and over Gunsight pass into Painter Basin hiked through that area for 3 to 4 miles before hooking onto the highline trail up to Anderson Pass. From Anderson Pass they rock hooped to Kings Peak which was almost a mile up the sky line. Curt and Jed finally made it to the top of Kings Peak at 10 AM and the reason they know that is because Curts phone finally updated.
While they were at the top Curt suggested to Jed that he take a moment and sit in complete silence and say a prayer while they were there. Once Jed did this he opened his eyes really quickly and look at Curt and said, "That was Cool". Jed had felt the power of the spirit very strong and now he was able to have a moment of where Father in Heaven actually communicated with him in real time on top of Kings Peak.
Anyway Curt and Jed got something to eat and drink and headed back down to camp. Curt decided to have them go back down the rock slide on the way back to save them some time so they went straight for it. Rock hoping is not Jeds favorite thing to do so after a mile or so of that he was not very happy with Curt. Then when they got to the top of the rock slide and Jed saw what they were going down he said quote, "You want me to do what?" Curt told him he did not have a choice and that they were going down the slide. It was hard to stay on their feet due to the amount of rocks that were very loose and Curt put it as almost skiing down the hill because of the amount of sliding both he and Jed did on the way down. Jed was not happy about the whole situation but made it through it. While they were going down the rock slide 3 other people were at a lake at the bottom of the slide area by a lake. Curt and Jed stopped and watched them because they were shooting their weapons into the lake. Jed told Curt that they were stupid to do that because of the capability of a ricochet happening. Curt asked Jed where he learned that and Jed turned to him and said, "In hunter safety class dad dahhhhh".
Anyway they made it all the way down the hill and started back to camp. Once they made it back to camp they refilled their camel backs, ate lunch and packed up the camp and headed out. They knew they made it in there in about 5 to 6 hours so they could make it out before dark. They made it about 1 hour before it got dark. They had packed themselves a couple of drinks and snacks for the trip home which always taste fabulous after a long hike like the one they did. They were able to make it home Friday September 17 around 9 PM. Curt looked at the maps and estimated that both he and Jed had gone roughly 25 miles in 2 days of hiking on the trip. Good times and great stories.
Lion King date with Mom!!!
Jed has always wanted to see a broadway production so for his birthday we bought tickets for him and I to go see the Lion King in SLC. What fun we had! First dinner at his favorite place...Crown Burger! Big pastrami burger and chocolate shake...yummy stuff Jed! Then off to the theater.
We giggled and laughed and had such a great time that night. Jed loved the music, the costumes and the acting. Definitely a night your Mom will never forget! Love you Jed!!!
I Love this Picture of my Boy!!! He was getting embarrassed because I wouldn't stop taking pictures of him!
Dinner's at Sandy's Fine Foods!
We also had some good times just eating out at Sandy's- where Ashley works. We giggled and laughed and enjoyed some good food.
Silly Silly kids!!! So Jed was always predictable at eating establishments... Hamburgers, fries and a chocolate shake please! haha! We miss you Jed!
