First Run of the Season

If you know me you know I love Christmas. Today, I realized that Christmas is approaching fast. After all the giving, all the receiving, kisses under the mistletoe (cross my fingers), singing Christmas songs, watching Christmas movie and reading Christmas stories there comes a great sadness of cold dark days and empty wallets. This year, however, I am looking forward to the long winter bliss. Because after Christmas season is over we fall right into the heart of the ski season—blessed, wonderful, full of hope and joy, ski season!


Fortunately, the ski season does not have to start after Christmas. I went up today, and it was beautiful.

Bring on Christmas

This is a practically a reply post to Adam Nott’s post. I say bring on Christmas! For me Christmas started on October 31. I was driving home from work and scanning through the stations when to my surprise I hear Christmas music on the radio. The DJ of the radio station was, as he states, “conforming” to the Utah standard, quite hilarious I thought.

You see I have noticed a few years ago that if you turn on the radio at midnight on Oct. 31 you can listen to Christmas music, I first thought it was kind of strange—but then I embraced it and every year I look forward to this grand tradition.

Christmas is the only time of the year where people are actually nice to each other; but on the other hand Christmas music in November angers people—I don’t know.

Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night.

Hello, is this thing on?

There are too many survey blogs. You know what I am talking about 50 questions that get circulated around the blog sites that ask questions from “what your favorite childhood memory” to the feeling you get when you are at a red light too long. Honestly, I get to about question six before my brain screams “I DON’T CARE!”

So, in the spirit of twenty questions I thought I would take this moment to interview myself:

1. Who are you? -Jacob Arthur Lifferth but you can call me Jake.
2. Who are you really? -An undercover agent from the South Pole here to keep people believing that penguins are cute/dancing creatures and not plotting to take over the world.
3. Are you the sexiest man alive not recognized by People magazine? -Yes.
4. Have you ever taken a bullet for the president of the United States? -No.
5. Would you? -Yes.
6. Would he take a bullet for you? -Yes.
7. How do you remain so positive, AND good looking, through this economic crisis? -Well I know that everything goes through a cycle (except my rugged good looks are always on top) and someday the economy will be back on top.
8. Is it true that you once saved a cat from a burning building? -No, that’s just a common myth, that and that I was the inspiration for Superman.
9. Can you give us your best Sara Palin impression? -Sure, here it goes: “Ya know…”
10. HA HA, you sure nailed it! -Umm, that’s not a question.
11. Well I ran out of questions. -…
12. Okay. Are you hungry? -Well I already ate, but maybe I could eat something small—is there anything?
13. I don’t know. -Hey I am supposed to be asking you the questions. -Don’t worry; do you think anyone is reading this anymore?
14. Probably not. -Yeah let’s go get something to eat.
15. Are we supposed to be doing twenty questions? -Oh yeah.
16. What is 2+2? -Four.
17. What does a cow say? -Moo.
18. Fill in the blank: Winter, Spring, Summer, and _________? -Fall.
19. What are your plans for the future? -Inspire thousands.
20. Really, are you that vain? -Hey, you asked me these questions and I answered them honestly.

Well I sure did learn a lot from myself; let this be a lesson in listening.

Don't Worry, Be Happy

I am breaking the mold. Usually I would blog about a hike that I just trekked out, but today I must share my spiritual epiphany. We have all heard about manifestations of deity found in inanimate objects such as toast, potato chips, car parts and so on; now it is time to add me as one of these recipients, well not of deity. I saw this in the sink last night when I was brushing my teeth. Do you see it?

It can either be the Don't Worry Be Happy face or Jack from Nightmare Before Christmas.

Aloha

Today I am suppose to go hiking with my friends but for reasons that do not really make sense and that cannot be explained the plans fell through. No worries though because I am watching Ax-men and I have been looking forward to recapturing a hike that I took back in May with some friends on the beautiful Hawaiian Island of Oahu.

We were in Hawaii from May 19 to May 27; there we have many stories of surfing, lying on the beach, snorkeling, visiting the beach from the TV show “Lost” and much more. We also did a hike up to Pauoa Flats that was about six to eight miles. We had initially planned to hike to a waterfall that was, well, less than spectacular, it was mostly just a drizzle down a cliff side, and I guess other times of the year it is better. So we hiked on.

The trail was wet and a little muddy and it cut through a thick bamboo forest. There were not too many people on the trail but we passed a few—no natives though.

At the top is a lookout point that is very spectacular to see the beautiful landscape of Hawaii’s mountains, peaks, lush green trees, shorelines and beaches.

Here are some other pictures from Hawaii:
"Lost" Beach

The Hotties

Snorkeling

Cliff Jumping at Waimea

Surfing at Waikiki

Sunset at the Lost beach, I was feeling a little vain.

Red Pine Lake

Last Wednesday (Aug. 20) my friend Steve and I talked about going on backpacking trip, two days later we were off. Red Pine is an overnight backpacking trip that we have done every year for the past five years. A few times we have not made it to the top, either because of snow or poor planning, but we have learned from our mistakes and we now always plan on going the latter part of summer. There were five of us in the group: Steve, Eric, Jessica, Jordan (thanks Caroline for letting us have him for a night) and me.

The plan was to leave at six. At seven we were off, an hour past schedule but early by our standards. The sun was starting to touch the Oquirrh Mountains as we set off for the three mile hike. The first guy we met coming down from the trail was an older fellow hiking alone. He smiled as we passed and he said “The bus is waiting for you.” I do not know what he was talking about; perhaps he was referring to Chris McCandless stay in the so called “Magic Bus” from the book/movie Into the Wild.

The trail up to Red Pine Lake follows the White Pine Lake trail for about a mile then it forks off. The trail is wide and rocky for the most part. The towering evergreen trees shadow over the trail creating thick green walls on both side and it opens up at top to a vast blue sky or magnificent spread of stars. There are a few spots were the trees open up and a V shaped portion of the Salt Lake Valley is visible through the cut of Little Cotton Wood Canyon. When we got to this view it would be the last we saw of the sun light for the rest of the hike up and we had to rely on our head lamps.

The last mile of the hike is very steep and the trail is not as distinct, there are a lot of places where the trail will split. I have learned through experience that if a log is laid across the fork of one paths then it is to indicate that it is not the main trail. This knowledge made it easy to stay on the right path and I did not get lost or have to backtrack and I did not lose the confidence of Eric or Jessica who were following me.

At the lake, if the sun is down, there is an optical illusion where the lake appears to be a hundred feet down and two hundred yards away—yet in reality it is only a few feet away. I thought my eyes were playing another trick on me, I looked and looked and I could not see any other campers! Red Pine is usually covered with campers. With our usual late arrival we have to roam around for several minutes looking for a suitable camping spot. This time it was just a mere survey for the flattest spot tucked away from the main trail.

Although we did not have any campers around us, we did not go the entire night without spotting another human, at about 11:15 pm we met a lady who was hiking. We did not catch her name but she was in her mid-twenties and she was planning on hiking though the night alone. She stopped to talk to us for several minutes and she told us of all the hikes she does, including her Canada trip she had just returned from. She was very nice and polite but to go hiking in the middle of the night by oneself is pretty extreme.

I slept great that night. I prefer blankets to sleeping bags, it is more comfortable but it is not as warm, luckily it did not get very cold at night. I woke up only a couple of time that night, once because of some coyotes howling.

Steve woke up early the next morning to go fishing; however, he did not have much luck.

Red Pine Lake was very beautiful in the morning; it is so calm except for the occasional splash heard from a jumping fish. It is one that has to be seen in person, the sun peering over the surrounding peaks really liven up the trees and it helps to display the contrast of the evergreens to the granite rock.

Gear Guide

Recently some of my friends went on a hike up to Twin Peaks, I was saddened when I could not go because of work. The four of them took off early in the morning and started up the trail. Twin is about four and a half mile hike one way, but the real clincher is that over the four and a half miles the trail vertically climbs one mile. A hard but very rewarding hike—one that I must to do.

This story, however, does not have a happy ending for all—two of the four did not make it to the top. The two that did not make it up are both in great shape and they have the drive to make it. Their problem was that they were not prepared, and one got bloody feet—in some way. She even commented that she wish that I was there; because I am always prepared for trail hazards (I guess boy scouts paid off).

This made me think that knowing what to take on the trails will help to be safe all the way up. I’m sure someone might see a sacrament talk undertone in this lesson: but it is a shame to not reach the top so it’s important to take what you need, you may not need everything but someone in your party might and it is better to reach the top together than alone.

The following is a day hike gear guild; it is intended for hikes that are about 0 to 20 miles, overnight backpacking trips require more. I do not claim that this list is absolutely everything needed for a day hike. A little research on your designated trail and tailored preparation will go a long way. The list has three parts: the “Essentials” are needed for every hike, “Conditional” items are not needed for every hike but are required for some and “Optional” lists some items that I like to take or that I see other people like to take.

Day Hike Gear Guide

Essential

• Day Pack, Camelpak or Backpack
• Water—usually a 2 liter Camelpak bladder is more than sufficient.
• Small First Aid kit—these can be purchased at REI, Cabela’s or any outdoor adventure store.
• It should include: Band aids, Ibuprofen, moleskin, gauze, sterile wipes, Neosporin, tweezers, Ace bandage wrap, first aid book, and emergency blanket and so on.
• Bandana—there are many uses for these, I usually take two.
• Pocket knife
• Compass or GPS and knowledge on how to use either.
• Map of the trail
• Snacks/fruit/Powerbars/Powergel/backpacking meals.
• Camera—not a life or death item but it is essential to capturing the memories.
• Sunscreen and insect repellant
• Extra pair of socks
• Sunglasses
• Flashlight or head lamp—especially if the hike goes longer than planned and it gets dark, or if you want to explore that undiscovered cave.
• Poncho or rain coat

Conditional

• Rope or webbing
• Bear Spray
• Snow Shoes
• Warm clothes
• Tools: shovel, saw and so on. Only for trail repair.
• Water purifier

Optional

• Ipod—this is good while relaxing at the apex of the hike or if you need a little morale or motivation when fatigue sets in. HOWEVER, it is very inconsiderate to listen to an Ipod while hiking with others and it can be dangerous, it is important to use all your senses to know what is going on around the trail. Besides, listing to nature is very therapeutic.
• Camp Stove
• Hiking pan and eating utensils
• Book/scriptures—for that extra ounce of relaxation or inspiration in nature
• Walkie-talkie
• Cell Phone (a lot of trails have cell phone service), but PLEASE turn it on silent, it is even more distracting and irritating to hear a cell phone go off in nature than it is in a movie theater. It is wise to have a cell phone for emergencies.

This list may seem long but it can easily fit into a pack and with careful attention to detail it can weigh less than 15 lbs. Also, one day pack can be sufficient for 2-3 people.

Good luck on your next hike and let me know any great trails.

"Billy will you go get the mail?"

One of my favorite comics is Family Circus; I especially like the ones where Billy’s mom asks him to go get someone or something. The illustration shows a bird’s eye view of their house and surrounding area and traced dotted line shows the haphazard trail that Billy blazes to accomplish this simple task. The journey of the dotted line: weaves in and out of flower beds, there is usually a tight rope style traverse atop a fence, walking around and around a dizzy looking dog, climbing up a tree and down a rope swing, and other various twirls and carefree saunters. The comic ends with Bobby returning to his mom to inquire on that simple thing that was asked of him in the first place.

Bobby’s trail looks pretty darn similar to the trail my GPS traced of Dave Mecham and me as we tried to find the trail head to Lake Blanche last Saturday. The trail head is a little tricky to find: there is a wide asphalt-paved path that leads to a sign that reads, “Lake Blanche Trail.” Clearly it was too difficult to find, right? So Dave and I walked past the sign that was practically screaming “You Idiots, where are you going?!” And we made our way into a maze of thick brush and deer trails that lead to many dead ends. After several minutes of frustration we decided to back track, and behold we saw a sign… well the trail sign.

The Hike

The Lake Blanche trail is 2.8 miles one way and it vertically climbs nearly half a mile. Not an easy hike yet many people, young and old—fit and fat, populated the trail. At first we passed many people in their golden years coming down, it seemed that the higher we got the younger the crowd got. We also passed up a few people who were heading up. The total time it took to get to the top was one hour and 37 minutes.

The hike alone is beautiful. There were purple and yellow wild flowers that speckled the green terrain, boulders that stood immovable among the vegetation and the towering evergreens providing welcomed shade from the hot sun for most of the trail. I stopped to take a few pictures of the grand landscape knowing that my simple 4.1 mega pixels camera would only take an insulting picture, yet enough to trigger the memory of it.

Lake Blanche

Lake Blanche appears after hiking across long rock slabs. The lake is very pretty but it is not as big as I thought it would be. However, surrounding Lake Blanche are peaks that spire into the sky. I wished I had planned time to hike to these peaks.

Dave and I found a place to relax by the lake. Many hikers were spread around the lake doing the same. I pulled out my hiking stove and the eggs and bacon backpacker meal and boiled up some water to make our lunch. I don’t know if I would enjoy the grainy eggs and bacon if I was at home, but it sure tasted great up there and I would have gone for seconds if it was available.

After lunch, taking a few pictures and enjoying the surroundings we started the hike down. The trail follows the along the lake then takes a right angled turn down the mountain. As we were about to take that turn, we crossed paths with two young ladies. I decided to turn on some Jacob charm and so I joked by saying “Keep going, you’re almost there,” they were nice enough to give me a courtesy laugh that had a hint of effort.

We made great time getting down, we did not stop once to rest and we passed up a lot of people heading down as well. It took an hour and two minutes to get to the bottom. On the way down we saw people hiking up to the lake, they looked tired. Knowing how great and beautiful it is up at the lake I felt obligated to encourage them to keep moving. I am sure they would have made it anyways but it is nice to get a little bit of motivation once in a while.

. . .

I did not think I would really get into blogging, but I have found that it has really encouraged me to get out and pursue my passions in life. When my alarm went off Saturday morning at 7:30 I almost just turned it off and rolled over to go back to bed but then I had the thought that I have to blog about my hikes, so I got up. I guess this is a good thing after all.

P.S. I’m always looking for new hikes and people to go with, please let me know of any good hikes and if you do not mind me tagging along.

Due to popular demand: another blog entry!

I’m late on posting this hike we took on July 5, 2008. We did not finish the hike and so I was going to wait till we did it again so I could blog it. However, since I graduated with my degree in economics and with that got a second job at a new Red Robin on Foothill (yeah as a server) I have been too tied up to hike it again. Well there was one Saturday when I could have gone but I went to see The Dark Knight instead, a worthy substitute.

Anyways, on with the hike:

We started to hike up what we thought was the Lake Blanche trail. We hiked up about two miles before turning around.

Truth is we probably would have made it to Lake Blanche hiking on this wrong trail but the trail was much steeper than the book description. We did not make it to the top. Let me explain we did not finish the hike, one girl was getting really winded and was going to wait for on the trail till we were on our way down, but that is not very wise so we turned around.

We had to cross the river several times.

The river was covered in snow, tunnels were formed that we could walk under.

The hikers: Jessica, Eric, Shiree, Steve and Andrew. I'm taking this picture.

So we hiked down and went up to Donut Falls.

THE FIRST, and maybe last, Blog.

I thought that this blog craze would have died by now. In some respects it has, but none the less here is my first ever blog (take a moment to let it sink in).

This photo was taken at the top of Mt. Wolverine on June 28. My friend Steve and I blazed our own trail to the top, I know that’s frowned upon by those environmentalist, however, climbing to that peak was one of the greatest feelings I have ever had. Mt. Wolverine is located between Alta and Brighton.

Steve and me at the top.

I cooked some oatmeal at the top, nothing like a gourmet meal at 11,000 feet.