This weekend it worked out to pull off double header bucket list items. Thank you Kathryn for being so supportive and letting me do this!

Part 1: Cascade Mountain and Provo Peak Hike

For years and years, I have looked up at the ridge leading up to Corral Mountain and Provo peak and thought I should hike that. I see it every day driving home from work, and the starting point is right at Camel Pass which is just below the Springville overlook. I’ve been to the overlook dozens of times over the years. Stan and Melanie even got engaged there!

Early this year, I decided this was the year and mentally committed to make it happen before the hiking season was up. When we had an open day this last week, I decided to make it finally happen. I started out at Camel Pass just below the Springville overlook and then went right up the ridge. Besides some really thick patches of scrub oak that I had to bush whack through, it wasn’t too bad. After making it to Corral mountain, I decided to keep going and continued on to Provo Peak.  At that point, I took the trail down to the road and then hoofed it back to the truck. All told, 12.5 miles with 4200 feet of ascent.

An example of what the hike was like.

Looking back down the ridge where I came.

Looking forward to Provo Peak.

Part 2: Tibble Fork to Sunset Peak Ride

While buried in snow in this winter (and loving it by the way), I found myself thinking about the upcoming dirt bike season. I then found myself browsing dirt bike videos and saw this one from the Dirt Bike Channel. The trail looked so awesome, something that I’d love to ride. I reached out to the guy and he let me know it was the top end of trail 057 up American Fork canyon. I’ve been part way on that trail many times, but never continued on to the end. I couldn’t believe it. So, I put it at the top of my dirt bike ride wishlist for the season.

Late this week, a friend from work and I were talking about how we needed to get the bikes out and go on a ride again. After consulting the calendar, this weekend was among the few and best options left of the season, so we decided to go for it! Never mind it was the day after I was doing the hike!

Wow, what an awesome ride it turned out to be. When we started, it was lightly raining and we got drenched between the rain and brushing up against all the wet bushes.  45 minutes into the ride, the rain let up and conditions were top notch with nice cool air and grippy dirt. We didn’t have any real issues either and we were able to do the entire ride that I imagined. We both ended very satisfied the ride and were not left wanting for more. All told, we rode for 5 hours and did around 38 miles of aggressive, overgrown, getting-constantly-whacked-in-the-face, single track. Oh yeah!

Here is a close up of the track going up the final push to the base of Sunset Peak. This is the section that is covered in the youtube video. Kyle from the video did it in 8 minutes. It took me 13. That said, he’s done it dozens of times he said, so I’m pretty happy with my run. Sure a lot faster than walking it too, which I wouldn’t mind doing either with different shoes on! This is beautiful country through here.

Here’s the view from the top. This is a fun spot being at the top of three large drainages. Take a few steps and spit and it’ll go down to Brighton and the Big Cottonwood Canyon, a few steps in another direction and it’ll go down through Alto to the Small Cottonwood Canyon, and few steps back and it’ll go down the way we came and on through American Fork Canyon.

Looking back to the way we came from American Fork Canyon.

Looking down at Brighton.

Turn around and you’re looking at Alta’s Supreme lift.

Timp was majestic. You can see how everything is still so green. And all the water crossings were still running.

When I got home, I got a kick out of this. Help! 🙁 I have a flat tire.  Haha.

We’ve had 3 back to back family reunions this summer with the Kirks extended family, the Moores, and the Hawkers. It’s been a lot of fun! Now we’re in the last days of summer break before school starts in 1.5 weeks. Here are some of the highlights from the trips.

First off, every big trip goes better with a big ol’ batch of Muddy Buddies. Sous chef Landon got in the action and helped whip up a fabulous mega batch.

Loaded up to the gills on the drive up to Idaho to drop the kids off before Kathryn and I headed up to the Hairpin Ranch to meet up with the Kirks. On the drive up, we bought a soft car top carrier cause this was ridiculous!

I always love it when these two Geralds get to hang out.

After a lovely peaceful drive, Kathryn and I made it to the Hairpin. We love this place.

First item of business was a sunset ride up to Speen’s Scenic Site. Nailed it.

We enjoyed blasting a whole bunch of clay pigeons.

…and shooting with some of Ben’s gun collection he brought.

Here’s quite a few of the gang that was up there. All told, Kathryn is one of 43 cousins on this side of the family.

Out on an adventure drive on the side by side.

Later, we took the ATVs out for an adventure date and decided to go hike to Peterson Lake. After hiking for a while, my internal odometer signaled we should have been to the lake by now. When I pulled out the map, we realized that we had made a guidance error and forgot to turn left right as you start the hike. Instead, we were lulled away on a lovely other trail going up the wrong drainage. Rather than admit defeat, we decided to go off trail and cut across.

It was quite the adventure we found ourselves on, and we quickly started making analogies to life, the gospel, and repentance as we were bolder hopping and getting turned around and going off track a few different times.

We did eventually make it to the lake, and then back down the real trail back to the ATVs. Kathryn was a great adventure buddy.

After a quick pack, snack, and drive, we were back with the Moores and ready for part 2.

We kicked off the evening with a BBQ, tie dye shirts, kids chasing the drone, and a birthday celebration for Josie.

Cute to see these little cousins all playing together!

And these big cousins got to do some fun activities as well, like horse back riding and volley ball camp!

There was lots of good food.

Family pictures!

Grandma Nancy behind the scenes shot 🙂

Goofy picture

Kevin brought a cotton candy maker which was a big hit with the kids.

The kids all put on a fabulous concert.

Complete with hand written programs.

And a debut performance of a song Dad wrote about Mom and him.

The birthday boy old guy.  The big 7-0.

Dad shared a birthday present with us all, hooking us up with a handgun training course with some pros. Very cool.

Cup-o-dirt

Surrounded with love

Dad teaching the kids that pea seeds don’t sprout into giraffes.

That was a lot of fun! Thanks Mom and Josie for watching the kids so we could go on the Montana trip! After packing, snacking, and driving, we made it home and it was our turn to host. First we had Kevin and Bethany come stay with us for a night. We met up at the Utah Lake State Park and headed out for a lovely boating evening on the lake.

After not skiing for like 8 or 9 years, Kevin popped right up on the slalom ski and did great.

After Kevin and Bethany headed out, Stan and Melanie came through and stayed with us the next night.

All these kids were really cute after church, so we had to grab a picture. And then we all took a break and enjoyed a little home time.

Then we were right back at it again for part 3. This one was a quick weekend get together with Hawker family up at the cabin. This side of the family is growing big too. Lot’s of cousin blue on the log.

All the bothers went out on an electric long board ride (James was taking the picture). It was slightly terrifying and exhilarating all at the same time. It would be a lot of fun to get more into this.

We played lots of fun games and activities.

And ate lots of really great food.

We had a great time hanging out with the Hawker family. Thanks Tim and Suzanne for hosting us all.

One of the perks of super late church is we were able to make it back in time for our own ward. I thought these two were super cute and couldn’t help taking a picture.

And that’s a wrap of the big summer trips on the books! Time to get planning some more I guess. Happy August!

Summer is here, no doubt about it. We’ve been having a great time taking the boat out this year. Utah Lake is full, pretty clean, and great for a quick evening trip or a long afternoon outing. One of the kids favorite activities on the lake is to drive the boat. And when they drive, you better watch out and hold on tight!

Ashley and Eliza came with me on a hike up Spring Creek canyon. They did great!

More boating! With Grandpa Ray and Grandma Julie.

We visited Gina and John at their incredible property in Wallsburg.  Quite the view..

Father’s Day afternoon at our house. I’ve been blessed with a wonderful father, and with the opportunity to be a father myself to 4 amazing kiddos. Love all you guys.

Mom even got on the crazy cart and took it out for a spin 🙂

More boating! New tube.

Landon did T-ball this year. It was fun to see him hustle.

While I was on a business trip, Kathryn took the family to the Saratoga Springs Temple open house.

This was the sunset over the Great Salt Lake on the way back from the trip.

Puppy time!

Chicken Rex

Happy Independence Day! No better way to celebrate than a fun day at Lagoon with the family. Thanks for coming up Mom and Dad.

Mom on her favorite ride.

And thanks Tim and Suzanne for coming as well! And Ben and Emily.

Crazy how much these kids have grown up over the years coming here.

2017

2018

2019

2020

Fireworks!

Kathryn came with me on a hike up to Big Baldy. She did great! It was a lot of fun to hike with her.

Nicklemania!

So many EGGS!

More boating 🙂

And the first summer squash and zucchini of the year.

Happy Summer!!

We’d been intending to go on a trip to San Diego for a while, and after looking at the crazy summer and all the activities already booked, we decided we had a now or never weekend opportunity to go down. So, in typical K&L fashion, we planned a last minute trip, loaded up the car, and hit the road!

We were tempted to try a night drive and get there in the morning in time for Sea World to open, but we chose the sane option and had a quick stopover in Vegas before hitting the road super early the next morning. Kids always LOVE hotel rooms, that is until the novelty wears off.

Things worked out great and we showed up at Sea World just after opening time. It was a really great day. Some sun, not too hot, not too crowded, and all the rides were open.

Weird shark! Not just an optical illusion, it really did have a funky face.

Stroller party!

Now everyone get in!

The shows were all great, but the Dolphin show is our family favorite. The kids wanted to sit in the splash zone. They got the perfect amount of splash, just a little, but not enough to get them wet. We were sitting up a row higher and it was great.

We stayed at the Best Western on Coronado Island. Great little place, and close to the bay side of the island. We took the ferry across to San Diego and then got on a harbor cruise.

The harbor was loaded with Navy vessels of all sorts. There were even 3 aircraft carriers in port. Very interesting to see up close.

In the afternoon, the sun decided to come out, so we headed to the beach in front of the Hotel Del Coronado.

Sun

Sand

Forts

Hand Stands

Chills

Baby feathers and Mama feathers. hehe

Dodging waves

When it was time to go, the fort was still standing, despite several waves that almost wiped it out.

On Sunday, we found a nice ward in Pointe Loma, and then headed out to the tide pools. They were mediocre, but we did see an octopus and lots of crabs.

We went to the Pointe Loma lighthouse.  Navigation has come quite a long ways in the last 100 years.

We made a quick stop at the Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery. It was impressive to see all the straight rows and a flag for Memorial Day fitted at each gravesite.

Next up we went to the USS Midway Museum.  What an incredible experience. If I’m ever back in San Diego, I want to plan another 1/2 day to finish looking around.  100% recommend if you’re in the area.

I think we had the best seats in town for dinner.  So fun!  Both the New England (White) and the Manhattan (Red) clam chowder from Bluewater Grill were top notch.

Good buy San Diego! Thanks for a great trip.