King's Peak

This weekend Tim, Daniel, Carrie, my dad, and I went up the Uintas to hike King's Peak. It was a fantastic hike. I enjoyed spending time with my family, building better relationships with them and seeing parts of the amazing country we live it. 

Click here for the rest of this post.

Tibble Fork

Here is another trail I have never ridden and I loved it. There were some nasty sections with big rocks and narly roots, but that is what makes it exciting. We parked down by the reservoir and then carpooled to the top. I was surprised that there still some crazy climbs left, but I enjoy them too. I like the workout as well as the nutso downhills. We had a pretty big group of guys show up again this week. Great times! Here are some more pics.

Jackson Pollock

A friend of mine, who is also a designer, had this link on his blog. Very cool stuff! I have never really been a fan of his work, but the site is definitely worth a look. Check out the link: Jackson Pollock.

Mill D Trail

This is going to be short. The ride was awesome and we had a ton of people show up. I definitely want to ride this one again. There were some nasty sections that really got the blood pumping, but that is what makes it so enthralling. Here are a bunch of pics.

Mortality and Adventure

For the last week or two there has been a singular thought that has reoccurred throughout my day. It started after Wade, one of the guys we were mountain biking with, crashed and was seriously injured. After that accident I have been contemplating the risk of the things I do and how they could affect me or my loved ones if I was hurt. It has really just been a thought in the back of head that jumps to the forefront of my mind throughout my day. This all became very real yesterday afternoon when I was biking down Rattlesnake Gulch. This particular trail is severely steep and pretty technical. Lots of big rocks, logs, and loose rock. I had passed most of the very technical stuff and was coming around a corner a little fast and wasn't able to make the turn. This is a single track trail on the side of a mountain. There was no where to go, but down. My front tire slipped off the trail and all I could think of was hoping I didn't fall too far down the mountain. The trees and shrubs of course grabbed the bike and my momentum threw me forward over the handle bars. I don't remember anything else accept when I was stopped and became aware of where I was was. I was ten feet or so below the trail and braised up against a tree. Somehow I landed very easily and was only a little scraped up. I had to climb up the hill and go back to drag my bike up to the trail. I had to check myself and my bike to make sure I could continue down the hill. I sat there for a moment collecting myself and thanking God that I was OK and not hurt. All of the possibilities flooded my mind and made me even more grateful I was walking away with only a few scratches, some shaken nerves and a lot of dust. 

Today I was reading the New York Times and came across an article that really struck home with me. It was about a mountaineer who had died on Denali and the reaction of the news to other people. The author wrote about immediately wondering what mistake the climber had made. But as the author later writes, "Death can come from crossing the street, or eating a tomato." Accidents happen. Of course, accidents can happen because of stupid human mistakes, but also they just happen. You can't control them. As the author of this article wrote death can come from anywhere and anything. You can let the worry intimidate you into inaction and think that sitting on your couch will keep you safe, but what kind of life would that be? There is risk in all that we do. You don't need to take any unnecessary risks to enjoy life, but doing things you love to do with a calculated risk makes life worth living. One shouldn't have to live in fear of things that could happen. If that was the case none of us would leave our homes. Try to be smart in your risks and accept what life may throw your way. We only have one life, so cherish the people and things that are important to you and live life like you mean it. 

4th of July

I neglected adding photos from our 4th of July holiday, so decided I would add some today. 

Susan and I spent the holiday with my parents in Logan. Jill, Todd, Tyson and Baylie also came up. We had a lot of fun just relaxing and enjoying time off from work. On the 3rd, we went with some of Todd's family to watch the firework show at Utah State. On the 4th, I went for a ride up by Hardware Ranch. It was a good ride, even though I did it backwards. It was tough. I rode for a few miles straight up before turning around and enjoying the downhill. That night Todd and Tyson put on their own firework show. It was awesome! On the 5th, Todd, Susan and I road from my parents house up Logan Canyon and took the river trail up to third dam. It was a fun ride with LOTS of flat terrain. It was a pretty full weekend and we had great time. Here are some more random pics.

Dog Lake Trail

It was a good ride. A pretty good climb and a super quick decent. It was less than fifteen minutes of downhill. Fun, but over way too fast! 

Here are some other pics.

Clark's Trail / Bonneville Shore Line

A post starting out with a photo of an ambulance is never a good thing. Well in this case it still isn't.

A group of us met up to go riding in Draper and Wade took a nasty tumble. I was on top of a hill taking pictures of some of the guys riding past a No Trespassing sign when I heard was sounded like someone crashing their bike. I turned to Matt and asked, "Did he just crash?" He said he thought so and we took off down the hill. Sure enough. Wade was laying at the bottom of the hill entangled in his bike and holding his arm. As we rode down to him he was saying he broke his arm. He said it so matter of fact that I thought he was exaggerating. As we got closer he says, "Compound fracture. It's a compound fracture." He wasn't panicked at all and his voice was rather calm. It was hard for me to digest what was going on. He was plenty dirty and bloody, but as we got to him it was blatantly obvious that his arm was broken and the bone was pushing hard against his skin. We untangled him from his bike and I grabbed my phone to call 911. No service! I ran back up the hill to call again and luckily that distance was enough. I know the 911 operator was trying to be efficient, but she was so aggravating. I was trying to explain to her where we were and she kept wanting to know if there was an address. "Ya. It's Dirt Trail North on the Side of the Freakin' Mountain!" Don't they have some way to lock onto your cell phone and send the ambulance there? I see it in the movies all of the time! Finally, a cop arrived after I explained that there is only one rode over Traverse Ridge and I was standing on it. After the first police car arrived they came in droves. Cop SUV's, motocycles, cars, ambulance, fire truck, and multiples of some. I went back down to help out by documenting the event. I was waiting for them to tell me to put my camera away, and was surprised when they never did. They even joked about taking pictures. Wade was telling the EMT's about Bogley.com and they should check it out to see the photos! What a guy!

He did break his arm pretty good and had surgery this morning at University Hospital. He had a plate and some screws put in his arm. A few guys have talked to him and say he is doing well. He is suppose to be released tomorrow. Crazy!

We finished the ride after the ambulance had left, and for the first 15-20 minutes I had a hard time riding because all I could think about was crashing. Then I just thought that you can only control so much and the rest is just left up to chance. I am not going to hide out in my house and hope that nothing bad ever happens to me. You have to continue living life and just try not to think about crashing!

Here are some more pics and the rest of the post.