The brother's backpacking trip

This week Dani was scheduled on a 4 day Desolation Canyon river trip, but the morning she was supposed to leave she got pretty sick and didn't want to risk being 100 miles away from civilization still feeling crappy, so she stayed home. Unfortunately, I had already made plans to keep me busy while she was away with double EMS shifts, a long day at work on Friday, and a campout with my brothers. The time Dani had off was good for her to rest and recuperate.

Because I was going up to Springville to work for my dad this week (a 20 hour day), I took Wednesday off and left Tuesday evening to take my younger brothers on their first backpacking trip. We drove to the Gold Basin trailhead in the La Sal mountains, where we were bombarded with mosquitoes as soon as we stepped out of the truck. We're all Boy Scouts and none of us brought bug repellent. As we hiked the mile to our camp the buggers were relentless, and we finally donned our full rain gear just to keep them off of us. We enjoyed appetizers like cherries, carrots, and jerky while we waited for the cheese and broccoli soup to cook (Dani kindly packed all our food, thanks darlin'). When we settled down for the night in my two-person tent, I was surprised by how comfortably it fit the three of us.

A forested area that had been cleared by an avalanche last winter.

The peaceful tarn at the bottom of the basin.

In the morning we left our sleeping gear in the tent and took off through the woods in an attempt to summit Mt. Peale, the tallest peak in the La Sals. As we tromped through the underbrush we woke thousands of mosquitoes, and if we stood still for more than 10 seconds they would swarm our bodies. We kept thinking, "It will be better as soon as we're on the rocks above the treeline," but as we began our climb high above the forest the insects got worse! Finally we called it quits, we had had enough.

On our way back to our basecamp we stumbled across an old decayed cabin site, without any apparent roads or trails.

When we had packed up and come back home, we concluded that our trip was a success despite the annoying mosquitoes that plagued us constantly.

After work on Friday Dani came from Moab to pick me up on our way to Layton to check out an apartment for the fall. We stayed the night at Grandpa and Grandpa Hall's and enjoyed their company until we left in the morning to go look at a promising basement apartment. We arrived a bit early, so we drove around the neighborhood and noticed the nice balance of older classic homes and newer ones in the area. When we toured the apartment, we both were pleased with everything: a tiled bathroom, gas-burning fireplace, well-lit rooms, and lots of storage (heaven knows we have a lot of outdoor gear). The only downside to it is the small kitchen space, but for just the two of us it'll be just fine. We love that it includes all utilities (wifi too!) and is more than $200 cheaper than we budgeted for! We're pretty excited to move in, and everything is coming together for us this fall.

Solitude in Arches

Our highlight of the week was backpacking in Arches Nat'l Park. On Friday Dani swung by the visitor's center to pick up a backcountry permit and when I came home from work that evening, mom kindly shuttled us to the trail head for Courthouse Wash. After a short hike we found a beautiful sandy campsite in the narrow canyon walls, overshadowed by the cottonwood trees. There was a slight chance of precipitation, but we didn't even need our rainfly over our tent. Even though I grew up in the desert, I still appreciate the beauty of the red rock, sand, and distinct arid smells.

Dani prepared some delicious overnight oats (pre-mixed containers of oats, craisins, walnuts and brown sugar you just add water to the night before) for breakfast which we enjoyed before we began hiking again. It would be pretty hard to get lost - you just follow the stream in the deep canyon. We found pools, waterfalls, and even a wild turkey. Considering it was a weekend in one of the most popular National Parks in the state, we were pretty lucky to have the canyon all to ourselves! We didn't see another soul the whole trip, disguising the fact that we were less than three miles from the road in either direction.

Sometimes our carefully-placed camera on self-timer falls over. And we pose anyways.

I was officially hired on as a volunteer EMT for the Grand County EMS department this week! I will continue to train until I feel comfortable running with only one other medic. Early this morning we were called to a unconscious vomiting patient in a campground. After a quick assessment and treatment we took him to the hospital. As my first "real" call where I got to actually transport a patient with a medical emergency, I was pretty excited to administer care in the prehospital setting. It's going to be hard to go nursing school this fall when this is so much fun!

First Full Week in the Desert

After I trained at the doctor's office in Springville last Friday, Dani and I drove down to move to Moab to live for the summer. After settling into the guest bedroom at my parent's house, I had a full week ahead of me of training at the office. I'm working Monday through Friday, 8am-5pm. Dani took advantage of her free time to get out and enjoy the plentiful sunshine on some day-hikes in the area. She sent me PLENTY of pictures throughout the day just to make me jealous:

The Moab Valley from the top of the Rim trail.

Morning Glory Arch at the end of Negro Bill Canyon.

Dani's arm around an imaginary me while I'm at work.

Friday night we went on a short overnight trip to Culvert Canyon. We brought our tent, but the weather was so great that we decided to cowboy camp under the stars. We sure love the desert. After we hiked out of the canyon we stopped at the Moab dinosaur tracks and petroglyphs.

Sleepin' in in the morning sun.

Dino tracks!

Petroglyph panel at the Poison Spider Trailhead

The last cabin...

For our final week in Alaska, Dani and I topped it off with a night at THE LAST FOREST SERVICE CABIN accessible by foot: the Dan Moller cabin on Douglas Island. We've talked about someday building our own backcountry abodes in Utah and donating them to the Forest Service when we're older and have the means, but for now, we've certainly enjoyed our "Rustic Cabins of Southeast Alaska" tour. This one is by far the best built and roomy-est cabin, in part because the Juneau Snowmobile Club goes up there every winter and has made some big improvements on it. A massive four-bed loft, second-story balcony, and an effective propane heater made it pretty comfy up there.

We had a light rain at sea level, but after hiking into the mountains we we amazed by how much snow was still on the ground!

In the bowl behind Dan Moller.

Our favorite part of the afternoon.

We could overlook the valley approach from the front porch. 

This weekend we also did a quick bike/hike to Salmon Creek Reservoir before work. We hiked the ridge loop around this lake last summer, so it was cool to see what it looked like up close. Despite the snow in the mountain-tops, it's starting to feel like spring in Alaska!

Everything feels like it's coming to life with the moss getting greener.

This week was the perfect end to our wonderful stay in Juneau. My dad informed me of an opening as a medical assistant at his doctor's office, so I'll be working there as a student intern this summer while we wait for nursing school to start in August. Dani got her job as a riverguide back, and although I'm extremely jealous that she'll be on the water nearly every day, I'm so glad that I'll have this valuable opportunity in the medical field, especially because I'll get to learn from such a talented physician.

We're looking forward to lots of sun in Moab, but we'll sure miss our rainforest home in Juneau. We've made some unforgettable friends here and this place will always hold a special place in our heart as our "year-long honeymoon."

Ice Climbing and Northern Lights

Monday morning we got up before the sun did and headed to West Glacier trailhead. We met up with a couple guys from our ward to do some ice climbing on the glacier. Once we made it to the glacier the real adventure began as we put on crampons to trek across the glacier and find a good spot to climb. Chris was able to borrow a pair of ice climbing boots in his size with matching crampons, but I was too small to fit any of the men's gear. Instead I borrowed a pair of one-size-fits-all adjustable crampons that worked fairly well. They occasionally fell off my hiking boots, only making me realize how utterly useless my naked boots were against the slick glacier ice.

We both LOVED ice climbing! It was so fun to use the ice axes to get up a wall of ice.  The hardest part of the day was crossing the glacier to find a spot to climb - it's nerve wracking to trek around huge crevasses and bottomless moulins (like glacial storm-drains that flow to the terminus of the glacier) while holding an ice ax to self-arrest if you were to slip and fall (something I'm really good at even when there's not ice). All-in-all it was a fantastic day, and we are so grateful for the Tingey brothers for bringing us along on this adventure.

Tuesday morning was a different type of adventure as we spent the morning babysitting little Liesel - Ben and Camille's perfect baby girl. We had fun talking her on a walk, making her giggle, and just watching how cute she is. However, the best part was probably how Chris willingly volunteered to change her diaper!

On Wednesday there was a high chance of the Northern Lights coming out to dance, so we went on a late night hike up to the John Muir Cabin. Ben let Chris borrow his tripod and nice camera again (thanks Ben) and Lady Aurora did not disappoint. We've seen the northern lights several times now, but the show this evening put everything else to shame. Even though some of these pictures are out of focus, we figured they were all worth sharing just to give you a glimpse at how much the lights changed and danced throughout the night.

It started out pretty quiet....

 Then it grew stronger...

And before we knew it we had a fast-moving, color-changing light show that could rival any rock concert!

As it died down long ribbons of light pulsed across the starry night sky.

And before we knew it the show was over. The warm cabin called our numb toes and freezing noses in for a good night's rest. 

An Alaskan sunrise from the front porch (the only kind Chris will watch, because it's late enough he doesn't have to wake up early). 

All weekend I worked downtown for a conference ACSA (my downtown job) was putting on. Chris took advantage of me being gone on Saturday to have a "man date" with Ben and take more pictures.

Long exposure at Amalga Harbor

Remember to pray and remember to play,

Mr. & Mrs. Andrew