Extended Family Camp - Strawberry Ridge

This camp really started the day after we got back from the camp with Brandon and Rusty.  I knew that if I wanted to get one of the 3 good spots up here, I'd need to get there early, so I pulled the trailer up on Monday the 29th of July.  Much to my surprise the best spot for a big group was available, so I left the trailer blocking/reserving the campsite.  I worried about it sitting up there all week, so I drove up to check on things on Wednesday and Friday Night.  I bought about a half of a cord of wood from a really nice old man in Lehi for us to take up the camp, since there is basically no wood to burn around our camp spot.

Everyone came into town for Kaylee's baptism on Saturday the 3rd.  What an amazing little girl she is and what a wonderful baptism!  Karen posted pics of her baptism on her blog so you'll have to check that out if you are interested.  After the baptism and brunch, Karen and my mom went out shopping for all the food we'd need for the week long camp.  We all headed up to the camp on Monday morning.  I had reserved a 50" Polaris RZR 800 for the group to use and for me to learn whether or not I'd like to buy one for our family.  When we got to the rental place in Springville they informed my that it had been returned wrecked (totaled) on the prior Thursday.  They said they tried to contact me, but I proved them wrong by having them call the number they had listed for me.  Needless to say, that was disappointing, but we still had a great week of riding motorcycles, bikes, four-wheelers, going for hikes, and sitting around the fire.

Yep, it only took 20 years, but I just joined the Robin Hood Club!

Shots taken from 30 yards.

Camping With Cousins - July 26-28

Brandon, Rusty and I had tried to figure out a weekend during the spring that would work for a camp we could all go on.  This was the weekend that worked for everyone.  Brandon went up early and reserved the spot for everyone.  Mindy's parents (James and Jan) and her  brother Cory Reese and his wife/kids also camped with us. My dad brought up his new/used camper too.  LeGrand came up for the camp and Wayne/Debbie and Jeff Brothersen stayed just up the road.  We were camped over by Fairview Lakes up Fairview Canyon.  It was really nice to catch up with Jeff because before Grandpa Tom Brothersen's funeral a couple of weeks earlier, I had not seen Jeff for over 10 years!  We had a ton of fun with Brandon and Mindy.  It rained a bunch on Saturday night and Sunday morning which foiled our plans of leaving early Sunday morning to be back in time to make our 1 p.m. church.  We ended up saying a little while till it dried out enough to get out of the camp, and I got Karen back in just enough time to get to her young women's lesson.

July 15-20 - Yellowstone!!

What an amazing week we had as a family at Yellowstone National Park!  We saw everything from bears and wolves, to Elk and Buffalo.  We saw some of the most amazing scenery in the world.  I especially loved the Yellowstone falls (lower falls of the Yellowstone river) with the different hikes you can take to view it from different areas.  Taking 3 kids down the hundreds of stairs on the Uncle Tom's Trail was a bit never racking for Karen, but we made it and we have the pictures to prove it!  The entire trip was amazing.  We stayed at the Grizzly RV park in West Yellowstone and would enter the park everyday during the morning hours.  We'd stay in the park until dark and then head back to the trailer for the night.  Most nights we wouldn't get back to the trailer till around or after midnight. That is how much fun we were having. 

I couldn't believe how much driving you have do when visiting the park.  Each day we'd put on about 120 miles or more, but it was worth it.  We did a lot of hiking.  I think we went on about 15 different hikes.  One of them was with a Ranger since we needed to do that for the Junior Ranger program that the kids were doing.  Kaylee and Konnor got their official Junior Ranger Badges (Kase is an honorary one since he was too young to do the official one). 

I made this fun video that gives you an idea of the fun we had:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qmCV-xPSNJM

I had to hike about a mile and climb a hill for this pic, but it was worth it.

Bottom of Uncle Tom's Trail.  Can you say EPIC Stair decent?

On a hike, Yellowstone Lake.

July 4th - 6th Camp - Strawberry Ridge/Indian Creek

This camp really began on Monday the 1st when we pulled the trailer up to drop it off.  There are really about 3-4 good spots up here, but they go fast so you have to be planning early to get one of these spots.  We dropped the trailer off on Monday night and then came back up after work on Wednesday the 3rd.

We really liked this area (although we had a ton of biting flies around).  I did a ton of riding and made another video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uv52s7PjeDc

On the 4th of July we drove down to Mt. Pleasant for the Rodeo and the Fireworks (that's how much I love my wife).  We drove back up to the camp that night and Grandpa Keith came up on Friday night and stayed with us too.  Since it was such a beautiful area, with not very many people running around, and tons of places to ride dirt bikes and 4 wheelers, we decided to bring the extended family back to this area next month.

It was a REALLY tight fit to pull around this area and get backed into the spot, but we made it!

All 3 kids cruised this hill countless times.

I installed a spark arrestor on my silencer.

There are tons of amazing trails in this area!

June 20th - 22nd - Payson Canyon Camp

This weekend we found a spot near Jones Ranch up Payson Canyon on the Nebo Loop.  We had a ball!  I did a lot of riding on those trails and put it all together in a video that you can check out here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SouOp9oHT5k

We left on Thursday night after work and stayed till Saturday afternoon.  We did hikes and rode bikes a lot.  We had some neighbors but they weren't too close and were also very nice.  We will definitely come back to this area for another trip sometime.   You'd really want to bring your own firewood when camping here because people have it pretty cleaned up.

Mapleton Canyon Ride - June 15 2013

This ride starts from the Whiting Campground up Mapleton Canyon in Utah County. You can use 400 N in Mapleton to get to the canyon. Drive to the end of the road in the campground and you'll be at the trail head for trail 006. The first few miles takes you up a creek bed, so be careful in high water times. After a while the trail splits off to the right (016 to Diamond Fork) and left (013 toward Hobble Creek Canyon). We were told by a local that the trail to Diamond fork is basically only one way since it's very hard to come back up it once you head down toward Diamond Fork. Sam and I took the left fork and went over to the intersection of 013 and 012. We'll spend another day exploring the other trails in the area.


The video I made for this one definitely has a double purpose.  Not only was it fun for me, hopefully it will help to drive more traffic to his motorcycle/ATV website.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qXO9SXAgrgg

American Fork Ride - 6/8/2013

 Sam and I went riding up American Fork Canyon.  We started the the Mill Canyon Staging area which is located just above Tibble Fork Res.  We took trail 040 up to the Mill Spring and then went west along the Ridge Trail (157) toward the main Alpine Loop road.  We then back tracked up 157 all the way up to the Dry Fork (198) connection.  We took Dry Fork Road and the main dirt road (085) all the way back to the truck.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OPGBD_7-U1Y

Mill Canyon Staging Area

Mt. Timp in the distance

Had a little fun here.  Watch the YouTube video to see how we got across it.

Arapeen Trail System - Memorial Day Weekend

On Memorial weekend I had a blast exploring the Arapeen Trail system up Mayfield Canyon on my dirtbike.  We camped from Thursday night through Monday at about noon.  The trails were amazing and the scenery was epic!  The meadows were filled with amazing green grass and flowers.  The aspen leaves were just coming in at the upper elevations, and a beautiful new green below.  I can't describe how beautiful it was. The image above shows my tracks from the GPS.  I ended up riding a few of the same trails over and over to get to and from camp.  I tried to hit all of the tracks that weren't too muddy/snowed over.  There were a couple of trails that I didn't have time to get to, but overall, I got a very good sense for the lower portion of the trail system.  I've got to go back soon and hit the rest of the trails.

Some of my favorites were the Pinchot Trail (2), and the Clear Creek ATV trail (22).  24 was also a very fun loop that you can get to from the 22 trail.  I couldn't get all the way up 23 because of some dead-fall trees in way. I used both sides of the 27 loop to get to and from camp and they are really fun as well.  26 was pretty fun but there was a section a little too loose and rocky for my old, worn out tire to get up with out having to walk the bike (not fun) up the hill for about 50 yards.

I tried to use the main road (12 mile canyon) to get to the Skyline, but it was snowed over about 2 miles above the upper Pinchot Staging area.  I also tried the 28 trail, but it got to snowy and muddy to keep going.  Looking at the map and my tracks though, I might have been up to the 21 section of that trail before I turned around.  Trail 25 goes down a little lower (to the west) and I didn't get on that one.  I'd like to go back and hit the upper portions later in the year.  It would also be great to explore the trails that are clustered around Manti Canyon.

Memorial Day 2013 - Mayfield Camping Trip

This weekend was epic!  We had a great camping spot and perfect weather.  We spend 4 nights in our toy hauler and had a great time.  Grandma Kathie joined us for the first couple of nights and then she went to her high school reunion.  Then, Grandpa Keith joined us for the last 2 nights.  I rode about 100 miles of the 2 track track Arapeen ATV trail system on my KTM 300 XC-W.  The rides were some of the best I've ever had.  I loved the beautiful scenery around what seemed like just about every turn.  It was truly amazing!  We stayed from Thursday night to Monday at about noon.  We even drove down the canyon after taking showers to attend sacrament meeting in Mayfield on Sunday Morning.  Here is a small sampling of some of the pictures I took.