Shirtless

The other night at the gym Ryan and I watched this kid who had been strutting around shirtless (not doing much climbing) tearing the gym apart looking for something. Ryan said "what do you think he is looking for?" I replied "probably a clue." To which Ryan said "his shirt." We both laughed because the guys who strut around the gym shirtless are usually just there to try to pick up on girls. They grunt and yell while trying to "send" their "proj". Most of them are pretty young, and it is funny to watch them.

Just a few minutes later Shaun who works at the gym came by and asked if we had seen a green shirt because that guy is looking for his. We both just laughed.

Loyalty?

I remember when I learned how loyal my company is to me. I thought that they really appreciated me skipping breaks and lunches, working 6 hours of overtime almost every day for a year (800 hours of overtime in a year), and generally trying to do everything I could to help make management's life easier.

Then they laid me off, and tried to eliminate my position. They were nice enough to let me work part time though. Fortunately I was able to use the union contract to "convince" them that they should put me back to work.

I don't consider myself naive anymore, but I found out that two of my friends were laid off this week. They were both laid off by local companies that have less senior employees they could have laid off instead. The reason they didn't? These friends made more money than the less senior people.

What really bothers me about it is that one of the companies in particular talks about being loyal to local businesses, and keeping my dollars local. I'd like to see some loyalty from them. At UPS we at least have a union contract where the least senior person would get the axe. I know some of you have to deal with unions, and hate them, and others of you have to deal with management and hate them.  It would be nice if both sides would just do the right thing for a change.

End of rant.

Big Cottonwood Canyon

 After our backpacking trip we were lucky enough to have a place to recuperate for a couple days. Our friends Ann and Rob let us stay with them at their cabin in BCC. They have a great cabin with tons of fun stuff to do close by. Here is a picture at Snowbird Ski Resort. We went up there to check out all the goings on. This picture is at 11,100 feet after riding the tram.

 We did a little hiking.

 Ann took Philip and I climbing. I got to lead a 5.10c......trad. It is the hardest climb I have ever led, and possibly the most fun too.

This is how we felt too when we had to say goodbye. Ann was a great hostess, and really made us feel at home. The kids kept us in stitches, and I am in love with the canyon. If I lived there I would be fired by the end of the week.

Dedication? Obsession? Whatever it is I like it.

Living The Dream 2 from Camp 4 Collective on Vimeo.

I like it when people take things into their own hands. Sometimes it is better to do what you feel like doing than what the doctor says you should be doing. (No offense to all of my doctor friends out there.)

Backpacking the Uintas Part 1

Last week we spent five days Backpacking in the Uintas Mountains. We were on the East side by Flaming Gorge.

 This was when we left the safety of the truck for a very wet hike. Fortunately we all had our rain gear, or this would have been a miserable trip.

 We could have used some mosquito netting though. I won't ever go to a wet climate without a head net ever again. We used our rain gear to keep them off the rest of our bodies.

 We had to cross this little stream that appeared to be about twice as high as normal.

This is what the sky looked like most of the time. Always threatening to rain so we stayed pretty close to the tents.

Backpacking the Uintas Part 2

 Here is the campsite we ended up at after spending two hours bushwhacking the last half mile. Turns out there was a trail, but the map didn't show it and it was really grown over.

 The lake that was our destination.

 Even though the trail was impossible to find there were several signs around the lake. I think that it just doesn't get much traffic so the Forest Service doesn't keep it up. Fitting name since we saw Harry Potter after we hiked out on Friday.

We found quite a bit of trash (most of it very old) so we decided to pack it out. In all we carried out about five pounds of garbage. It was just to pretty of a place to leave trash even if it wasn't ours.





Backpacking The Uintas Part 3

 This is a pile of gear that we found stashed by a hunter from three and a half years ago. We figured he wasn't coming back for it, and that if we left it it would just be trash. I ended up with a few good things out of the deal too. It just meant that I had to carry a seventy pound pack for four miles. Good training. The kids came up with many stories about the hunter who had abandoned his gear. They named him George. Most of the stories are not very flattering.

 We started our hike in the rain, and got rained on every day. No big deal. We brought Uno cards. We would all pile in the three man tent, and play Uno until dark or until the rain quit.

 The fish were a little tough to catch on flies, but this one kept trying to eat the water filter hose. I only caught a few fish. I felt sorry for them after a long winter under the ice. They had really big heads, and supermodel skinny bodies. Comical really.

This is what we ate most of the week. Amy dehydrates meals for us so all we have to do is boil water and stir. In fact next week she is in a contest at Summit Hut with one of her recipes. They are good on the trail, and sure easy to make and clean up after. (Notice the extra protein on the side of the bowl. Mosquitoes are good eating.)