Sunday, June 6, 2010

Hiking

I've started hiking with my 15 year old nephew, Jared. The first week that Sundance was opened for summer, I picked up Jared early in the morning and we drove out there. It was raining when we left and by the time we reached the resort there was somewhat of a blizzard. Even though we dedided not to hike that day, we wanted to go into the lodge and pick up some trail maps. They didn't open for another hour and a half so we decided to bag it for that day.The following week, I picked Jared up a little later in the morning. We drove out there, went in and got the trail maps and learned that the trail to Stewart Falls was still closed due to the freak snowstorm from the week before. So finally, yesterday, we got to hike for the first time. The trail to Stewart Falls was still closed but we were able to take the tram to Ray's Summit and get out and hike around the loop. Brad came with us but stayed on the tram after Jared and I got off at the summit. The hike was roughly one mile and took about 30 minutes. The guides pointed out some numbers on the map and assured us that all of the trails were clearly marked. As it turned out, the map was marked with only numbers while the trails were marked with names of places such as Arrowhead Summit, Stewart Falls, etc. Even Ray's Summit on the map went by a completely different name on the trail. We were confused but in the end figured out how to get back to Rays Summit. It was a very fun hike. The trail was narrow with a steep mountain climbing up on the left with an equally steep mountain climbing down on the right. There were some loose rocks and even trees growing out of the side of the mountain that we had to climb over. It was more dangerous than any hike I'd been on in a while but we had a really good time.

When we got up there the second week and still couldn't hike, we walked around and took a few pictures.

I really love the flowers in the spring time.

A Native American statue on the grounds of the Sundance Resort.

A little closer view.

A totem pole.

When we couldn't hike at Sundance on that second week we decided to go hiking at Vivian Park. We saw an old payphone and decided to take a picture since it's a rare site anymore. We didn't get very far on that hike since the wind was so cold.

After Jared and I got off the tram we waited on Ray's Summit for Brad to loop around and come back so we could get a couple pictures of him. It was so nice to have my hubby with us.