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Sunday, June 15, 2008

Deseret Peak







This weekend we decided to go camping....finally. After weekends with bad weather, several Saturday morning tennis lessons and a triathlon we finally had a weekend free to camp. Since gas prices are so high we decided to stick around close. That made things difficult since it's been so cold and rainy in the valley all the mountains still have a lot of snow. We decided on the Deseret Peak Wilderness. It's only a little over an hour away and it's someplace new. Pat calls the mountains on the west side of Salt Lake the fake mountains so it was good to get out there and camp.

We drove through Stansbury Park, a totally cool, little community with a man-made lake. The houses butted up right against the lake. I told Pat I would love to live there. It's a small community but it's not too far from Salt Lake, only 25 minutes. Then we hit Grantsville, another place that would be fun to live. We drove up South Willow Canyon to reach our campsite. We got there about 7:30 and we were very nervous. The campsites are first come, first serve and several girls camps were there and we saw a lot of family tents. We drove to the trailhead and the final campsite. Every site was filled except one secluded spot away from the car and everyone else. I was so excited to get it, Pat was too especially since he didn't want to drive all the way back down the dirt road.


We made a delicious dinner of meatballs from IKEA (they are fantastic) and instant mashed potatoes. I brought enough potatoe flakes for two servings according to the box. But if you are ever making instant potatoes, you'll need at least twice that amount. We each got maybe a tablespoon of potatoes to eat. For dessert I brought up a new treat. I read on some camping menus to get a can of biscuits and wrap them around a roasting stick. Roast it in the fire for about 5 minutes. Then dip it in butter and the cinnamon and sugar. They're supposed to taste just like elephant ears. It sounds great, right? If anyone really knows how to make this and make it work I'm all ears. We couldn't get the rolls to stay on the sticks. I dropped two in and Pat dropped at least one in. Pat figured out a way to heat them without them falling off the sticks but it took about 20 minutes for them to cook and they still weren't cooked all the way through. Interesting, probably won't do it again.


The next morning we got ready to hike Deseret Peak, the highest peak in the Stansbury's at 11,031 ft while making breakfast. We were attacked by flies. Pat made fun of me for registering for a little net tent to protect our food from bugs but THANKYOU Bobby and Sara, there had to be 200 flies swarming our pancakes. We couldn't loose them at all, they followed us all the way up the mountain.

Deseret Peak is a beautiful hike with amazing views. There was a ton of snow so we didn't make it to the top. Our friend Dustin lent us crampons and ice axes for our accent though I have to wonder if we would have had a better chance making it to the top without them. The crampons gave us the confidence to try a little "shortcut." Instead of following the trail all the way around the mountain and then up, Pat thought we'd save a lot of time just going straight up. I, being stupid, agreed wholeheartedly. We started our accent, and were making pretty good time until I started to slide. Pat already trained me on how to use the axe to stop sliding but I was way to scared to turn onto my belly and dig in. Instead, I saw a tree and aimed for it. It was quite a big tree and I know it would stop me. I got up and started to cry. I didn't like this so much anymore. If I felt like that, you can imagine how Pat felt since he is much more weary of heights than I am. By now, I was hyperventalating and bawling my eyes out. We finally made it to the top of one summit only to see more of the same to climb. I started to cry again and finally just whimpered out that I wanted to go home. We wrapped jackets around are waists and bums and slid down the mountain. We didn't make it to the top but at least we got some pretty views and had a fun ride down to the bottom!

9 comments:

David and Megan said...

Dave said you need a larger diameter stick, preferably with some "grippy bark" on it. Good luck!

David and Megan said...

Dave said you need a larger diameter stick, preferably with some "grippy bark" on it. Good luck!

JC said...

i keep hearing about these ikea meatballs... i'm really going to have to give them a try!

jessica

Melanie Herway said...

Oh how I love camping...and I haven't been in forever. Reading this reminded me of our good ol Moab trip and camping site.
Anyway, I'm glad to hear you are still alive...good idea about sledding down the hill.

Scott, Kara, Paul, Brad and Andee said...

Loved reading every min of it! Anna, you always make me laugh. I'm sorry you slid down the hill, and that the rolls on a stick didn't work, but all in all it sounded like a blast!

Endless Days and Northern Nights said...

oh my gosh...you are so brave. I was excited for our first camping trip with little Sophie this weekend, but now I'm a little nervous! I'm glad you're alive my friend!!! I miss you!

Rachel said...

Anna! I am so happy to stumble upon you.. I am such a blog stalker. How aweseom that you amrried my old neighbor Pat Rich! You two are simply rad. (this is Rachel Procotr by the way)

Rachel said...

proctor

Jen said...

I hoped you enjoyed your little visit into my hometownish area....your next stop a little farther south would have been Tooele. Stansbury is a great place to live and cheap too! We should both live out there and be neighbors and then you can take us on all your camping exertions. I would have ousted the hike short cut if I would have been with you. My mom and brothers have hiked Deseret Peak several times for scouts. So take me next time cuz I'm a chicken!