Jackson and the Fifth ICUP Race

 This past weekend, I went to Jackson Hole, Wyoming with some teammates for my fifth Intermountain Cup (ICUP) mountain bike race. We had a good time! We pre-rode the course on Friday, went out on the town that night and race Saturday morning. I got 3rd place out of four in my category! 

The course was pretty technical - lots of rocks, roots, and bridges. There was even a little river that I had to ride through - a river of run-off that apparently hasn't been there in years past since the race has been at the end of July traditionally. And because of the run-off, there was also quite a bit of mud. But all of that made the course fun! I'm so glad I went, because we found out it was going to be the last time they hold an ICUP race there. The resort is turning the trails into downhill-only trails. Sad day. :(

Lately

My ribbon and winnings for getting 2nd place at the Deer Valley Intermountain Cup mountain bike race. I will actually claim that win since the 3rd place racer gave me a run for my money.... and yet there was only three of us racing in my category. :) 

And then, skiing. Yes. That is snow skiing at Snowbird. On June 19, 2010. Isn't that wild? The snow was definitely slushy. But it was fun! And all the waterfalls from the melt-off were beautiful. But just the novelty of snow skiing in June! I just had to do it. 

BYU executive Master of Public Administration Here I Come!

Whoa nelly. I'm a little in shock. I've been accepted to BYU's executive Master of Public Administration program!!! I just found out a few minutes ago. Graduate Studies emailed me saying my application status had been updated and that I had to log in to find out what my status was, so I thought for sure I wasn't accepted since I had to log in to see it. Surely, they would have told those they accepted in the actual email.... but nope. I'm accepted! Three years of classes on Tuesday nights with only the months of July and August off to play and vacation and then August 2013 graduation will come soon enough. Woo hoo!! 

Little Red Riding Hood 2010

Well, I rode the Little Red Riding Hood Century Ride again this year. That's 100 miles of riding my road bike through out Cache Valley Utah. I love that valley - especially in the spring. It is so green and pretty. Teri and I signed up for it together. And we tried to train. We really did. She did better than I did - she at least got a 40-mile ride in. My longest ride was 36 miles. But you know what? We still did the full 100 miles. We felt pretty good at lunch and lunch was at the 50 mile mark. So we braved it and went the full 100 miles. I did so much better than I did last year and I have a feeling it was due to the 9 Advil I took starting with the night before, the morning of and during the ride. What a life saver that Advil is! Teri is rocking awesome - she pushed through it. :) But it was so worth it to say we did it. And to follow Sis. Dalton's words, "I can do hard things." Oh yeah and guess how many calories I burned while on my bike for 7 hours: 3,289. Yeah crazy. That is two-days-worth of eating for me. 

And my friend Alison came along with us. She was super fun!

Backpacking in Grand Gulch

Over Memorial Day weekend a few friends and I went backpacking through Grand Gulch in southeastern Utah. We put one car at Bullet Canyon trail head where we would come out of the canyon and began our hike at the Collins Spring trail head on the other side. So it was a one-way 33-mile hike. 

I did such an awesome job packing for it. I'm super proud of myself. My pack was only a 38 liter pack and didn't weigh 30 lbs. I did wear the same clothes for three days - but it was only 3 days and 2 nights in the canyon so there was no need to pack heavy. I needed all the advantage I could get since I knew I would be the slowest hiker there. 

The first day was pretty cool except for hiking through all the sand. We did take a wrong turn down the wrong canyon which would have taken us down to the San Juan River to the south - when we needed to go east. But we got it figured out before too long and only added 1.5 miles to our hike that day - although we were trying to get 12-14 miles in that day. 

The second day of hiking was through some pretty thick vegetation and thus was pretty close to bush-whacking. The two guys would frequently get ahead of us and then wait for us to catch up, but there was one point where the canyon split with Step Canyon and since we were tired, Lizzy was hurt, and we weren't paying attention to the canyon walls above us, we three girls turned up Step Canyon unknowingly and added a mile to our hike that day - which was already planned to be 11 miles. One of the guys left his pack with the other and came running up Step Canyon to get us. They had been yelling for us... and at one point it seemed like their yells were to our right and then later behind us.... but we doubted ourselves since their yells were echoing off the canyon walls. 

The third day was the best day of hiking, very little sand and very little thick vegetation. And only 7 miles. We climbed up through a slick rock wash at the very end and that was pretty cool. We really tested my water filter's ability to filter water: the canyon was pretty dry and didn't have very much running water at all. So two out of the three times that we filtered water to drink and cook with it was from potholes that had tadpoles swimming around in... yuck. But my filter worked like a champ and we didn't get sick. I'll be replacing the actual filter portion of my water filter though.... it got pretty slow at pumping water by the end and I figure that is because the filter is clogged with all the stuff we didn't want to drink. 

We counted 17 ruins that we saw! That is what Grand Gulch is famous for. Have you heard of Mesa Verde and the Anasazi ruins there? Well, Grand Gulch is chuck-full of ruins similar to the ones at Mesa Verde. The ruins were home to the Anasazi people sometime around 900-1200 AD. And you could walk up to these ruins and really check them out. 

Lindsey & I checking out an Anasazi home

The three lost ladies of Step Canyon

Our rescuer coming to save us from Step Canyon (re-enacted)

Wild roses! What a lovely surprise.

Trying out an Anasazi bed

In the Anasazi Jail House

Going down into the Perfect Kiva

Lindsey and I in the slick rock wash at the end of our hike.

My 4X4 Honda Accord - made over the majority of this "high clearance required" road to pick up Lindsey's XTerra.

My Big, Comfy Chair

Yay! I have more seating in my living room now!! I can actually host visiting teachers and home teachers comfortably now. :) 

I special-ordered my chair from a furniture shop in Historic Gardner Village in Salt Lake City. I had a hard time picking out the fabric, but thankfully my mom was there to help me and the salesperson was very nice and helpful. I even showed her the pics from the tour of my condo on this blog so she could see what my living room looked like. 

And I think it turned out pretty good. And the chair is exactly what I was hoping for. Big and comfy. I wanted one that I could lay across the arm-rests comfortably... hence the comfy part. 

And guess what else? I got together with an old-college roommate of mine, Amanda, recently. We indulged ourselves with chocolate lava cake at the Rooster Noodle-n-Dumpling Bar and then gave tours of our houses to each other. Her house is darling!! And she was so kind and gave me some old curtains of her that go perfectly with my living room. So tonight I hemmed them to be the right length and hung them up. So great! Thanks again Amanda! 

And the funny part about my adventure hanging the curtain rod.... I bought my first cordless drill so I could be a little more self-reliant and not ask so much of my friends anymore... but I also stripped my first screws with it. Ha ha! Oh the adventures that await me.

Arches & Moab

A few friends, actually a lot of friends - 17, and I went down to Moab this past weekend to play in the red rocks. 

We woke up early to enjoy the sunrise at Mesa Arch. Then we hiked to Delicate Arch. And then we spent the remainder of the day in Devil's Garden hopping from arch to arch and enjoying springtime in the desert. I wish I would have taken pictures of the flowers in Arches to prove that the desert really does see spring. So beautiful!