Fifth Waters

Hot springs or hot pots sometimes get a bum rap for being popular amongst nudists and emitting a rank smell of sulfur. Fortunately, Dane and I found none of the first and only some of the latter on our hike to Fifth Waters in Diamond Fork Canyon (see below for specific directions). 

I was surprised just how hot the water was at the source, but there is enough cool water coming off of the falls that I could find spots that were the right temperature. We went in the morning, so we had the whole place to ourselves, but these springs must be pretty popular because people have built up stones overtime to make little tubs down the stream. I know that some springs can release so much sulfur that whatever you wear in the water is hard to clean later, but the smell really didn't bother us after a minute or two, and our clothes and towels are no worse for wear. 

This is the biggest and one of the hotter pots.

The falls--I've heard there are more springs above them, but we didn't venture far enough to find any.

If you find yourself wanting to check out these hot pots, here are some driving and hiking instructions. From I-15 take Exit 258, US-6 E towards Price. You'll drive about 11 miles, then turn left onto Diamond Fork Rd. You'll follow that road about 9 miles, then stop at the Three Forks Trailhead on the right. It has a big sign, so you shouldn't miss it, but if the creek is ever of the left side of the road, you've gone too far (cause maybe it happened to us). There are two trails that leave from the parking lot. Take the one that keeps the creek on the right. After about 1 mile, you'll come to a bridge. Then at 2.4 miles, after about 45 minutes, you're there.

Ironman

I have been so busy experiencing my backyard, that I have not had any time to post about, but I intend to repent right now. I went with my husband and his dad to open up the family cabin for the summer--you know, make sure no one blows anything up when they turn on the gas and wipe the mouse poop and cobwebs from the corners--glamorous stuff. It was a beautiful drive down through Southern Utah, and after getting off the mountain Saturday night, we decided to go check out the St. George Ironman triathlon that was going on.

This race has these athletes swim 2.4 miles, THEN bike 112 miles, THEN run a marathon (26.2 miles) in roughly 10 hours. Everyone that passed had killer calf muscles and probably -2% body fat, but they looked so dead tired. You have to know that when you see people like that walking the last few miles of a race that they are going through some intense physical and mental anguish.

Who knew that such feats are being accomplished in little St. George, Utah.

Experience AZ: Antelope Canyon

My sister, Erin, and I took a trip to Page, AZ to go on a picture tour of Antelope Canyon which is incredibly beautiful. I have been wanting to go for a very long time. I'm going to separate the trip into 2 posts. (Antelope Canyon & everything else)

Our tour was from Antelope Canyon Tours. There are a ton of places with nearly the same name, but we really liked this place. The guide we had was really nice and helpful. (You can't go in except for with a guide.)

The slot canyon is probably less than a mile long, but everyone there was really respectful about letting people pass, or get their pictures, or not be in the way. We went during winter, which means it was much less crowded, but also meant no light ray pictures:

stolen from here

So that means we will probably have to go back during the summer.

It is a pretty spectacular sight. Erin is the pro photographer... and I own a HTC Thunderbolt so I put her in charge of getting the good pictures and I took over people pictures. Here they are:

Here are my phone pics: (Not too shabby for a phone, right?!)

Conclusion: It was awesome. Go.

Experience AZ: Camelback Mt. Echo Canyon Trail

Over Christmas break, I got the chance to hike Camelback with a couple of friends who were down from BYU.  (& a bunch of new friends!) 

It felt SO good to get out of the house and be active. Despite the fact that AZ has the most beautiful winters ever, I don't take advantage of getting outside nearly enough. 

This hike is awesome, awesome. The parking on the other hand was awful. It is a tiny parking lot for how many people want to go there, but we ended up lucking out and getting a spot right at the trailhead. (There was a guy with a sign pointing to another parking lot with a shuttle, but it was $10/ person. Sheesh.)

So anyway, it was a decently hard hike, but not like a I-feel-embarrassed-at-how-hard-this-is-for-me hike. Next time you are in AZ take the chance to do this hike. It took us about 3 hours I think and the view from the top was beautiful!

Beautiful view! 

Aww... HHS Reunion 2012.

Also: AZ has the best citrus.

NV: Hoover Dam Helicopter Ride

I know I said Experience AZ and CA coming soon, but :::Surprise::: Experience NV!


My family and I had an amazing time at Lake Las Vegas, which included: uh-mazing food (my dad makes the best stuffing), laughing a lot, lots of time with almost all of my wonderful cousins and their families, the Bunker family reunion (got to hear an audio clip of my gran and my grandpa, who I’ve never met, singing a duet, very sweet), and I played football for the first time ever! We won’t talk about the details of the game, but the important part is that I played!

Now to the main event: The Hoover Dam Helicopter Ride! I can’t count how many times we have driven past the sign inviting us to go on dam helicopter rides (teehee) and my dad says lets go! And for whatever reason (we are cranky after the car ride to Vegas), we don’t go. Well this time, we decided to go!

They told us the ride would be 5 minutes long and would be $60 a person! What?! I know. Buuuut, if you happen to have the extra $60 (or a generous sponsor)… it was seriously so incredible. They pack a lot of amazing into 5 minutes.

First of all, for those of you who have crossed the new bridge over the dam, you know you can’t see anything from it…. Which is disappointing for 2 reasons. I love seeing the beautiful dam and now my family doesn’t get to enjoy yelling out the windows, “Look at the dam tourists, look at the dam clocks, look at the dam tour guides.” Very ma-toor, I know.

The ride takes you along the trail of the old railroad that took workers from Boulder to the dam when it was in construction and then you fly out over the new bridge and dam and it is so very beautiful. After the helicopter ride, we all hiked the old railroad trail.

This video isn't the best of of the ride because I decided I wanted to see it in real life 

instead of through the lens- but you can see how excited my dad was and it's great.

So the hike starts in the parking lot of the Hacienda, which is also where the helicopter rides take off from. It really was so spectacularly fun, I hope some of you get the chance to do it!

COMING SOON

Experience AZ

Experience some CA maybe...

Anyway... point being new posts... COMING SOON!

Flannel 5K

Utah is a major destination for runners. I've only run a couple of 5Ks, but being around the runner's moxie here I've gotten more and more into running. Now, I'm organizing a 5K for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.

It's called Lumberjacks & Flapjacks: Flannel 5K. It is going to be a lot of fun! It's November 6 and after the run we are doing a big pancake breakfast!

If you are interested or know someone that is tell them to check out flannel5k.blogspot.com.

Nothing would be more tiresome than eating and drinking if God had not made them a pleasure as well as a necessity. ~Voltaire

I realize I blog about food more than anything else, but I just about love it as much as anything else, so it fits. So here are some of my all-stars.

Best Thai

Spicy Thai. I probably eat here more than anywhere else. The yellow pumpkin curry and pad thai are to die for. Or to live for! I don't know, they are fantastic.

Best Quick and Cheap Eat

Sensuous Sandwich. Finally tried it for the first time today- I spent less than $3, was totally full, and also it was delicious. I got the spicy something or other with cream cheese. Bueno.

(Runner up: NuSkin Cafe- pretty good, pretty cheap. I recommend the enchiladas. And the one egg meal for breakfast.)

Best Burger

So Provo is pretty saturated with burger joints and far be it from me to claim to have the expertise on which is best, but while I think In-N-Out is hard to beat Five Guys and Smashburger give a pretty good fight.

Best Grill Food

They mostly just have sliders, but I don't really think of it as a burger joint... Marley's. (Otherwise known as the Harley Davidson Grill) SO good. Love it. I would go more often, but it's in Timpanogos, but good news: they are coming to the Riverwoods. And everything is 50% off tomorrow. (the 22nd)

Best Classy Restaurant

Communal. I absolutely loved everything I ate here. Very classy, very good service, very good environment, and pretty expensive. But if you're looking for something legitimately nice in Provo, this is it.

Experience Life.

4,000 people and 120,000 balloons later...World Record!!!

I was recently in a fierce battle waged upon the emerald turfs at BYU. Thousands of people gathered at the call of the collegiate advisors to do something that had never been done before. There was Aaron and his thousand, and Lance and his thousand, and Moroni and his thousand, and Gilgal and his thousand. Each leader set out with one goal, to break a world record...a feat that seemed an insurmountable task. The preparation was extensive and the 120,000 armaments (balloons) were prepared for days leading up to this battle.

The armies gathered and faced eachother on the fields of battle. Tensions rose as the sun drew high in the sky, scorching the restless soldiers as they looked into the eyes of those who would be victims to their conquest. Rumors were that the enemy's balloons would be so numerous as "to block out the sun." The response came, "So much the better...then we shall fight our battle in the shade."

Finally made it to the Uintas (Trial Lake)

So when I put the Uintas on my proverbial to-experience list, it was one of the ones that I thought well if it happens, cool, if not, I'll live. While I probably would have lived, I am glad I can say that I can now live my life having been to the Uintas. Haha, really though, I had a lot of fun at a friend of a friend's cabin. (Actually it was more like an acquaintance of an acquaintance, but now we are all friends. Haha.)

I didn't actually go fishing, but I watched some of the guys there fish. And they fished from a raft they made themselves. Possibly not the stablest raft ever (2 people fell into the very cold lake) but they did catch some fish.

The cabin was really cool, built in the 1920s and now on the Utah Register. There was no running water or electricity, which we were made aware of once we had already begun driving. Ya, very clever.

There were mosquitoes everywhere. Mosquito mayhem. But we had a lot of fun playing games all night and getting to know new friends. It was a beautiful drive up there and I wish we had had more time to hike and explore around.

Unfortunately, I didn't really take any pictures, but fortunately Max did. So I stole these from him.

I know, I know. We are really cool.

The guys made a raft. Some of them were more successful up there than others.
Did I happen to mention how beautiful it was up there?

"The time has come," the walrus said

Yes, yes, the Experience Utah hiatus has been long. But I'm back in Utah and ready to roll.

While in the library today, my need for distraction led me to the little cards on the table and I spotted this advertisement:


Hello?! Awesome, right? I have had the Springville Art Museum on my to-do list for a long time AND Rubio's is catering AND it is free. Give me one good reason not to come, I dare you.

EU in a nutshell

From last fall on campus

The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes.

Marcel Proust