S.W. U.S. trip: Climbing Mt. Baldy, Orem, Utah

We got an afternoon of free time on the trip so the Canadian Contingency (minus one who chose to go golfing instead) decided to climb up Mt. Baldy. We started at an elevation around 4400 ft and got up to about 8000 ft ... or for us Canadians an elevation gain of about 1500 km. We ended up taking about 6 hours for the trip. The trail started pleasantly enough with lovely views of Orem and the surrounding mountains.

The view up to Mt. Baldy:

This is where it started to get a bit rough... we lost the trail heading up to Mt. Baldy and started bush-whacking from the base to the summit through some scratchy shrubs.

There was still a good amount of snow near the top so we paused for some scenic shots and a snowball fight.

A little further up we found a ridge that went up to the top. It was covered in a few feet of snow still but firm enough not to sink through... although the summit was still deceptively far away and difficult to run to on the snow.

View from the top of Mt. Baldy:

What else would we do up there except build a snowman?

We named it after the missing Canadian and left him up (minus the cowboy hat) there hoping we could see him from the bottom with our binoculars... never did get a chance to check it out though....

We couldn't see the trail from the top. Mark decided to take a short cut and used his rain jacket as a toboggan and slid down on his bum.

Part way down we came across a sign-post indicating we were on the right track.

There was a little bit of trail at first but we lost it again and ended up picking our way down the gully between the mountains...

When we got close to the bottom we found the trail again and came across this idyllic setting (and sign). Apparently we started the hike from the wrong side of the parking lot. The trail we started on didn't actually go to the summit... but it was an awesome hike anyway!!

S.W. U.S. trip: New Mexico

I got back on Friday from my geo-tour work trip of the S.W. U.S... most of these will just be scenic shots. I've broken the trip up into a few different posts to make it more manageable. We flew into El Paso and pretty quickly headed into New Mexico where it was a bit uncomfortably hot (35 C or so).

This is the El Capitan Reef... a classic carbonate reef facies that you'd see in all the text books. We didn't actually get to see much carbonate facies... pretty much just 15 minutes on the second day.

Just a close-up on this pretty cactus:

One of the trails we took started at this little house. The story is this little house was built by a guy back in the 1900s (ordered pre-fab from Sears or something like that). He advertised for a bride but when she got there and saw the place she turned around and went back home.

View down the trail towards El Paso (roughly):

New Mexico desert:

This is a roll-over fold (the curved beds on the right) that was created by layers collapsing along a fault.

This is White Sands Park. We got to drive by and see the gypsum dunes, but didn't actually get to stop. They also pointed out Carlsbad Caverns as we drove past but we didn't get to stop there either.

Uma's first trips to the dog park

Tom has told me that I've got a ridiculous number of puppy pictures on the blog now, but whatever, they're cute... and here's a few more. Uma is now officially allowed to go to dog parks - all up to date on her vaccines. We took them to Nose Hill park for the first visit because there's not usually too many dogs there so she can work up to larger groups... but that also means she's fair game for Kali. Uma started the wrestling but there wasn't really anywhere to hide so Kali chased her down and rolled her... and Uma came running to us for protection since she's not quite fast enough yet. Kali doesn't hurt her or anything... just pins her to the ground and won't let her up.

Of course after all that playing puppies definitely need some snuggling in the sunbeam time... whether Kali wants the snuggle part or not...

Who knows? Maybe she does... Uma is pretty warm and a perfect pillow size...

This morning we took them to Bowmont Park because there's a combination of fenced in puppy areas and nice walking areas. Here they are sporting the new collars my sister made for them - very styling and we got a few people asking where we got them and saying she should go into business making them...

There were actually quite a few dogs around and Uma started making some friends... although I'm pretty sure she was expecting them all to want to pin her like Kali does. We'll be taking Uma for a few solo trips too... and pretty soon puppy school.

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Puppy shots & new puppy bed!

It was gorgeous yesterday and we knew the snow was coming again so we took Kali & Uma to a nearby, relatively secluded park where we could play and do some training. Tom decided to chill out in the sun for a bit but Uma took it as an invitation to try to jump on him...

Uma's still growing of course... up to 25 lbs now. She still wants to snuggle with Kali but they're running out of room on Kali's bed. I picked up some more upholstery foam so I can make a bigger bed...

Napping in the sun...

Something wrong here... while I've been working on making a cover the two foams were individually covered with old bed covers but whenever the girls wrestle the beds end up flying all over the place. This time the beds somehow ended up stacked with Uma victoriously hanging out on top... probably one of her few victories...

This morning I finally found time to work on the bed cover. The girls were a hassle of course, trying to help with the pinning, climbing under the table where the pedal is (Uma at least), and just generally hanging around.

Here are the girls snuggled up on the new king-sized puppy bed. One of the foams was a bit smaller than the other so I might stuff the bed to make up for it. It's a thick, smooth, soft fleece on one side and the grey side is a fuzzy, woolier fleece.

Mooks has been feeling like a bit of a neglectarino on this site so I thought I'd slip in a cute shot I took of her... She's still ruling the roost of course, but Uma likes to push it.

Yard Work

Last weekend it was so beautiful that Tom and I took advantage of the weather to do some yard work. The previous owners kind of let the trees go, and many of them were planted too close to the house, or fence, or randomly jutting into the yard. We're clearing out most of them so we can put in a vegetable garden and leave room for the dogs to run around.

This is a shot from the backyard towards the door and shed that provides the back of the carport (a bit of a needed sound barrier as well). The sliding doors lead to the bedroom.

A view from the deck towards where the last shot was taken... By this time the trees have been thinned quite a bit from what they were, but they'll be gone completely. We were going to keep the one in the very corner but after trying to clean it up we realized that it's not going to be very salvageable (and I got really frustrated with thinning it) so we're going to put in something like a Japanese maple... something with a nice simple trunk and canopy that develop all kinds of suckers. Both Kali and Uma have been up on the deck and find it pretty nice for sunning... although the stairs are way too narrow and rickety to be safe and Uma fell through them on her first attempt up.

This is the deck and back of the house... no idea why there are no windows out here but that will be changing soon. We're shaving off some of the deck to make it narrower and free up more yard, extending it out to cover most of the back, and adding a single patio door on the right. This crab apple tree is one of the two we are keeping. The deck is actually in rough shape with some rotting boards so we're going to redo it completely and put in some safe stairs that will lead off this corner by the tree.

View of the far corner and Tom working on clearing out a second apple tree... it's still a work in progress. You can see the pile of brush we've already cleaned at this point, and it's still growing. The brush pile is over the area where the garden will be.

View from where Tom was standing showing the width of the yard. It's a good-sized yard but most of it is length rather than depth. The girls spent most of the day outside with us helping to remove branches by chewing them... sooo helpful.

A final backyard shot looking down the far side of the house with the second entrance.

We just got 10+ cm of snow last night so the yard doesn't look like this anymore... so much for the hint of spring...

Another Puppy Update... wow, 12 weeks old already!

It's kind of hard to believe Uma is already 12 weeks old, but she's growing like a week. She's close to 25 lbs now - 10 lbs more than when we got her a month ago! Some days it seems like I go to work and a she's scrawny, and by the time I come home she's visibly grown... Last monday we took her in to get her second round of boosters - only 1 more during the first week of April and then we can finally start taking her to fun places like puppy parks. She's still not quite sleeping through the whole night, usually waking up around 4am. Tom suspects that might be when the buses start going by and wakes them up because it certainly isn't my alarm clock or when they get fed. She had a bit of a relapse with the house-training during a cold snap we had last weekend but seems to be back on track now that it's nice and warm again (+7ish the last couple of days!). Uma's also doing quite well with walking now... we've had her out for a few 1 hour walks around the neighbourhood. Fortunately she loves copying Kali so leash training has been mostly a breeze although if Tom & I walk them together (1 dog each) there's a bit of pulling going on because Uma wants to walk beside Kali or hassle her.

Tom chilling with the girls:

When we had the cold snap I bought some fleece to make Uma a little puppy coat so she'd go out easier/longer... I got a bit lazy (and I needed it fast) so I only threw in a few stitches and ended up making a puppy cape (she'll out-grow it soon anyway). Meet Super-Uma!

I love this picture because it's hilarious. Mookie was sauntering by, considering snuggling Kali and I caught her mid-yawn. I love it because it looks like she's attacking them...

Zoom back to previous posts to check out the comparison of this shot with when we first got Uma to see how much she's grown. I'm sure they're wondering why we're always snapping pictures of them... especially when they're sleeping...

Uma's big enough that she's having trouble fitting onto Kali's bed. I picked up some more upholstery foam and fabric and I'm working on extending Kali's bed into a double-puppy bed so she can sleep without having Uma on top of her...

Tom and Mooks snuggling, also wondering why I keep harassing everyone with the camera...