Amethyst Lake

At the beginning of August I went on a backpacking trip with some of my in-laws to Amethyst Lake in the Uintas. The distance from the trailhead to the lake is about 6 miles, mostly up-hill. We camped about 1 mile away from the lake. This was my first backpacking trip. At the beginning of the year I started exercising more regularly and eating better and I felt that this trip would be a good opportunity to test my physical fitness.

Here I am in the parking lot.

This is our group before we started.

Our first rest break

This is about 2 miles into the hike. It's hard to see, but there is a sign and the trail forks here. You head left up to Amethyst, and you quickly realize that you are going to hate your life for the next 4 miles.

We hiked next to this river during the most brutal part of our journey

This was some of the terrain we had to navigate on the way up.

Our campsite with my tent in the foreground

This meadow was right by our campsite. Oh yeah, and there was a moose too.

This is the same meadow, looking up toward the lake.

This is one of the small lakes near Amethyst.

One of the meadows on the way home

We had a fantastic time, except for the part where my father-in-law fell and sprained his knee and had to ride out on horseback. I was really happy with how I faired physically and it has shown me how much fun you can have in life when you get your body in shape to do it. Also, this has been the trip that just keeps on giving! A couple weeks ago I started having some pain, so I went to the doctor and found out that I had brought a little friend home from my trip (not giardia). So, I also learned that even thought you filter your water, you can still get sick. Now I get to take medicine and eat some of this:

2011 Draft

The 2011 NBA Draft has come and gone. In the weeks leading up to the draft, I listened and read all of the stories and speculation about who the Jazz might take. I'm a bit of a Jazz fan. Okay, I'm a big Jazz fan and I enjoy the anticipation that comes with each off-season almost as much as I enjoy the season itself. There are essentially two types of Jazz fans, in my opinion. The one type doesn't question the decisions made by the front office or the way the coaching staff approaches things. The other side is always criticizing the front office, calling for the team to be "blown up", or in years past, for a Hall of Fame coach to be shown the door. I am in the first group. Kevin O'Connor is one of the most respected General Managers in the NBA. Time and time again he has shown his intelligence and ability to do what is best for the team and organization. Now that the Deron Williams trade is months behind us, take a look back and see what we got for him. Devin Harris, a serviceable point guard. Derrick Favors, a #3 pick with a defensive mind and improving offensive game who can run the floor like a deer. Enis Kanter, another #3 pick who many project could be an all star big man. Recently I've been shocked to hear and read about some of my fellow Utahns who think that the Jazz front office made the wrong move. Who do you think the Jazz should've drafted? Do you think they should've taken Jimmer? Fine, that's a valid statement if it weren't for one problem. He wasn't on the board at number 12, and you'd be high if you think that ANY team was going to take him higher than 7. You think the Jazz should've traded up to get him? Who's to say they didn't try? The only team that had shown any interest in trading picks with the Jazz was Detroit. News flash. If the Jazz traded up to 8 and took the Pistons pick, they weren't picking Jimmer. They were taking Knight. I heard today that the Jazz front office put in approximately 30,000 hours in researching for the draft, but somehow a bunch of fans think they know better. I'm happy with the direction the Jazz are headed and I expect to hear the boos when word comes that Paul Millsap has been traded. And, this time, just like every other time, the Jazz front office will be vindicated when it turns out that they made the right move. There, my rant is done. Any comments?

Wild Friday

This last Friday was a busy day. My day started off with me waking up at 5:15. I got up, exercised, and got ready for the day. I stepped outside at about 6:45, just in time to see my dad rounding the corner onto my street to come pick me up. He dropped me off at work at about 7:05. From there I had a routine morning until about 9:00 when we had 40 boxes delivered. These 40 boxes included 9 commercial laser printers with all of their accessories. The rest of the work day was spent removing everything from the boxes, breaking the boxes down, hauling garbage out to the dumpster, and assembling the printers. At about 3:30 I went into the bathroom and took a shower and changed my clothes. At about 4:05 I logged off my computer and headed outside to wait for Jenny to come and pick me up. She arrived a few minutes later and we proceeded to head down to Provo. Disclaimer: I absolutely loathe Provo. Perhaps the only place I hate more than Utah County is Las Vegas. After getting lost a little bit in Orem and Provo, we arrived at the BYU Museum of Art for the Carl Bloch exhibit. We had to move through the exhibit a little quicker than we might have liked in order to keep Flint happy. He stayed happy, but unfortunately he was in a chatty mood and this didn't seem quite like the place for conversation. Once we were finished with exhibit, we went out into the lobby of the museum and met two of my sisters with their kids. We waited while Nat fed the boys, and then we headed out to Cafe Rio in Provo. We arrived to a jam-packed Cafe Rio, which we expected. Jenny and Michael skillfully found us two large tables next to each other while the rest of us got in line to order. A few minutes later, I maneuvered my way back to the tables carrying two trays off food. Then, I headed back into the melee to get some drinks. The little guy ate his quesadilla surprisingly well. After some visiting we left and headed for home. We got home right between 8:30 and 9, just in time for the little guy's bedtime. Jenny and I were in bed just after 10. A fun and exhausting day.

Also, the exhibit was fantastic. Any time you have the opportunity to see excellent original artwork, it is always worth whatever inconvenience it might cause to see it in person.