The Hike from Hades

 

This is going to be a very unorthodox blog.  You can call it cheating if you will, but I am going to copy my journal entry from this past Saturday night and add in some pictures.  I have absolutely no desire—NONE, NONE, NONE, to expend any more energy, brain cells or otherwise, on this hike than I have to.

Saturday, June 28, 2014

10:19 p.m.

“ Oh my goodness.  I don't know if I have EVER, EVER, EVER in my life been this tired.  So tired I can't move my limbs and not enough energy to even breathe deeply.

We left for Lake Blanche at 8:45 this morning and got to the trailhead and started walking by 9:30.

 

I have over 20,000 steps today, and each one of those steps was worth another 2.  Technically, I should have about 60,000.  It was Labor and Delivery.  It was like 4 miles of staircases up interspersed with crawling over boulders and then 4 miles of misery of a different sort coming down.  The sign said 2.8 to the top-- I don’t know what they were smoking.

At one point on our way down, Jamie hit some evil tree root on the trail and went flying over the edge of the cliff right in front of me.  She did this neat little “drop and roll” move and ended up caught by a bed of vines that just happened to be there.  I aged a year or two right there.  Her biggest worry was the grass stains she picked up on her shorts.

 

I don't even have descriptions that come close to what it was, but they will never get me there again.  Ever.  I can't believe Jim did that just last Saturday with a 20-pound pack on.  Jamie did it the week before that with Mckay.  But she was 17 and in love.*

 

(*This picture is from her hike to Lake Blanche with Mckay. Poor baby looks fatigued.)

 

 

It was a little disconcerting to meet Bullwinkle on the trail.  I don’t know who legally gets right of way, but I wasn’t about to challenge him to find out.  Do Mooses (Mice?  Meese?) have tempers?  Do they charge?

It took until noon to get to the top and then I was so tired and uncomfortable and it was windy and the sun kept going behind the clouds leaving me shivering with goose bumps, and there was no where to sit comfortably, and I needed to use the bathroom, but that was still a couple hours away back at the bottom of a couple of mountains back,  and I didn't want to move anymore than I had to, and Jim wanted to explore and take pictures and I did NOT. 

We ate lunch at the top and then started back at 12:30.  We were down by 2 and the whole way down I told myself that I did not need to go to the bathroom because I was so dehydrated and it was so hot.  I did NOT.  It was psychological warfare.

I have decided I am a meandering "Joy in the Journey hiker." The hike we took every year up at Silver Springs in Washington that wandered back and forth next to rushing creeks in old growth forest was just exactly ME.  This misery to a beautiful destination hike is NOT. 

  

*My smile is completely fake, an utter sham, an attempt to humor my daughter behind the camera who is accusing me of awful things.

We got home and showered and then tried to take naps.  I know Jim was asleep because of the snoring, but I never made it—I didn’t have the energy to do that either. 

Jim made waffles for dinner.  It was that or cold cereal.  Everything I got out for dinner before we left this morning would've required movement.  I would've gladly accepted help being spoon fed at this point.

I accomplished nothing else the rest of the evening.  Couldn't move.  Literally. Finally made it to my office and lay on the couch.  Tried to read.  Kept dropping off.   We are all ready to fall into bed.”

P.S.  And I have kids that want to do this hike when they come home from college this weekend.  Ha!

 

“Aubey Did It”

I have been thinking about my kids a lot lately, especially the ones I don’t see very often—actually, I think about ALL of them a LOT, but I have been missing my Missing Kid especially, and I could’ve just come out and said I am missing Dallin, but that would’ve been way too easy and way too grammatically correct for this sentence, and I am in the mood to do “run on” and I seem to be on a roll, so I will just keep going and see if I can make as long a sentence as Dallin does in his fancy schmancy papers he writes in graduate school.  Ok.  I am too tired to run anymore.

What I mean to say is, we really missed Dallin at Aubrey’s wedding and I thought it was about time to share a little of what happened with him.  So Dallin, this one’s for you.

Do you remember how Nathan used to pass the blame for anything he did wrong when he was little?   It was always,  “Aubey did it.”

Well, she has officially gone and done it.

My wonderful friend, Natalie, gave her a bridal shower, and even though Aubrey hasn’t lived here in Utah very long, she had amazing support by the ladies in our ward, and even some family.

Aubrey Walton (at this point) and Natalie Winder.

 

The thought of having to do this two more times is  . . . well . . . I shouldn’t really think about it when I am this tired.

They really put on quite a spread.  It’s obvious I had absolutely nothing to do with it. 

Marcy was in town visiting Kendi who lives in Orem now.

Rhonda and Art are still up in Corner Canyon in Draper.

She really got a lot of nice gifts and it was a lot of fun.

The night before she got married, Robert’s family put on an open house for them up in Bountiful.  Most of the extended family that was coming was here by then and made the trip up there.  His family did a wonderful job to help them celebrate and we were surprised that friends from Herriman made the trip up there.

 

Aunt Uarda made them a quilt with the colors that Aubrey chose.  Some day I hope to have one of her quilts for my own.

 

The morning they got married, it was very, very windy, and I think it was probably a good thing that Robert didn’t let go of her.  I believe she would’ve floated off, she was so happy.

And nothing’s changed in the two months since then.  They are still THAT HAPPY.  Robert’s brother-in-law keeps asking if they have had their first fight yet.  Aubrey tells them they fight about who is going to do the dishes--Robert keeps pushing her away from the sink and tries to do them himself.  His brother-in-law says it makes him sick.  They figure the sicker they make him, the happier their marriage. 

Westin has to be the cutest grandson this side of heaven.  He especially loves to be “ow-side.”

 

The Oquirrh Mountain Temple flowers were right up there in basic beautifulness with the ones on Temple Square that I love so much – and don’t complain.  It would hardly be one of my blogs without pictures of flowers now, would it.

It was obvious how much the wind bothered her.

It was really neat that all my family made it.  Grandpa and Grandma are 84 this year.

 

Some things never change.  Does this bring back any memories of attempted family photos?

We are missing you in this picture.  We will have to get another family picture when you come this summer.

 

Yup.  It was the wind again.

You didn’t really want to get on Rhonda’s bad side.

I wish we would’ve had more time with all the family.  We had to leave the next morning to take Marci to Rexburg, which really made this a hit and run kind of thing. . .

 

 

Austin and his new beard with Uncle Art

 

.                 Barrett and Lindsay and their new baby.

Remember Menolly?  She was official photographer and did an amazing job.

 

 

    Richelle helped a lot to control the crowds and her husband—most of the time.

 

 

 I really think they just miss hugging guys.

   It was picture worthy to see Nathan in a tie again.  Handsome, ain’t he?

Candy and Dana had a long, long drive to get here.

    Can you tell they miss you?

                Aubrey and all of Robert's nieces.

 

Robert is the youngest of 12 children, so a family picture is a production.

 

There was plenty more where that came from . . .

 

 

After the wedding ceremony, we all drove over to our ward building where we put on a luncheon for all the families.  Richelle was in charge of flowers and decorations and really did a beautiful job.  Aubrey had chosen yellow and blue for her colors – lemon and blueberries.

 

 

 

 

Caryn Smith and even Brian Walton, who came and represented the Walton side of the family.

Ashleigh and Justin Smith drove up from Mesa.

 

They didn’t do so well when they were trying to feed each other cake.  You would think with her killer Ultimate skills she could hit her target better.

One of the things she wanted most at the luncheon was a dance with Robert and a dance with Dad.   She danced with your Dad to the song, “Aubrey” that I loved as a teenager, which actually was where I got her name.  I don’t cry that often, but watching them was one time I couldn’t help it.

Your Dad wrote a song for her wedding.  It was about the experience she had one night while watching  “The Hobbit” right before she started dating Robert.  Your Dad asked her to write it up and share it at the luncheon before he sang the song.  The song is about “Is There a Moon Rising for Me?”

You can make your Dad cry on demand by asking him to sing it.

 

                    And there you have Aubrey and Robert Field.