A Day in Old Sacramento

Melody and I had an extra day because I came home early from the hike, so we spent some time in Old Sac. One of my favorite places to visit down there is the old hat shop (Rich and I once bought each other hats for our birthdays there). Yesterday I put on a Viking hat, made a face, and Melody snapped this photo.

We ate at Joe's Crab Shack (Yumm!). We walked around and later got ice cream cones to eat on the way home. It was a fun day.

The Hike That Wasn't

The 50 Mile Hike for Aaronic Priesthood Scout Camp was organized this year by one our High Councilors. He did a great job of preparing, but could do nothing about the weather. It has snowed heavily all winter, and when we got up to 6500' elevation we were slogging over 6' -12' of snow. With the help of my GPS we were able to track the trail under the snow, but it was difficult going for hours before reaching our destination.

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Above is a creek crossing over a log (which we made more than once, backtracking due to the snow) - the other photo is of the lake we camped at the first night, completely frozen over. This was to 6800' and the planned route would take us up above 7200' for the next three days. With the steep switchbacks and trails on the eastern aspect being even deeper under the snow, we had nothing to do but turn round and head back.

Our camp the first night. No bare ground to lie on except this flat rock outcropping. My accommodations are the black backpack and blue tarp to the left of the tent.

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The photo on the left is the ridge we had planned to cross on the second day, just before sunrise. The photo on the right was taken just as the sun peeked over the ridge. (You also see one young man still in his sleeping bag, with his head and shoulders uncovered even though the temperature had dipped to freezing.) It was a beautiful morning. And I really enjoyed the oatmeal, hot cocoa and beef-stick bites I had for breakfast.

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On the left is a view of the scenery from the trail (at a lower elevation) and on the right is the ever picturesque Blue Lake. We stayed here the second night while considered our options.

This is the crew that made the hike. We covered 27 miles with the backtracking and explorations of different routes - and promised to let them try again next year.

As for me. I had the same trouble I've had in recent years adapting to the elevation. I just don't process oxygen like I used to. After a couple days at altitude I do a lot better. Some of the trip was no fun at all -other parts were as enjoyable as always.

I'm in Heaven

A friend of mine just got back from Hawaii vacationing with his family, and he brought me two of the island's favorite treats. SPAM flavored macadamia nuts! I was thrilled. They taste great.

Stake Conference

A couple of months ago I got a call from Elder Russell M. Nelson. (That was quite a surprise). He said he would be coming to our stake conference in June and bringing a newly called Seventy Juan A. Uceda. All of the preparations went well and I went to pick them up at the airport Saturday. Melody and the girls prepared two wonderful lunches for Sat. and Sun. and it was very nice to have them in our home.

All sessions of the conference went well, and we had a record number of members attend. After sitting next to Elder Nelson for 6 hours on the stand, I feel much less concerned now about how much I fidget during meetings.

The grand children were very well behaved (Pam and Rob have dome a wonderful job with them), and Kim got to ask Elder Nelson about Uganda (she left for there yesterday). Before leaving our home, Elder Nelson picked up Lucy, kissed her on the forehead and told her goodbye. She my not remember that, but I'll never forget it. Elder Uceda was marvelous and it was a privilege to get to know him.

Grant was looking fine Sunday morning.

Busy Week, Fun Week

Pam an Rob and their family came for a visit last weekend. What a blast that was! I was just a bit busy with stake conference, but had time to play with the kids and have fun. We played at the school across the street, flew a glider plane, shot the foam rocket, and went to the water park.

One of my favorite things to do is feed the grandkids. (I used to like getting breakfast for our own kids when they were little.) This was Saturday morning I think, and I started them out with a nice glass of chocolate milk. Yumm!

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We actually hit two water parks that day. The first one was having some "issues" and the water would run for 2 minutes, then be off for 10. So we drove to another one and got wetter. Neither one was as nice as the water park in Rexburg (far from it), but it provided something for the kids to do and we all had fun.

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Tuesday morning I got up and voted (California primaries for state officers and more dumb voter initiatives), then I took of for the annual 3 day hike for the 4th level girls in YW (for 30 years so far. There was too much snow at Lassen for us to go where we had planned, so we went to Bullards Bar (where there was no snow, but lots of loud drinkers). Below is my camp site with my old tent and sleeping bag in the foreground and my new hammock in the background. Also, the old camp bucket I made years ago with my new seat pad on it.

The photo on the left is of the girls and Troy Bair fixing dinner. Bro. Bair's tent and backpack is on the right. I really like the tent and think I'd like to get one like it. His pack is actually his kit for fighting forest fires (he's a fire captain in the Sacramento area and sometimes is called upon to help the CDF firefighters).

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Troy and I will be leading abour 18 Young Men on a 50 mile hike the week of June 21st during our Aaronic Priesthood Camp. We will probably hit Old Man Mountain, Meadow Lake, and Grouse Ridge.

Name That Tune

One of my students came in the other day telling me about this comic musician that really had some good stuff. One of the clips he pointed me to is below. I laughed so hard I couldn't believe it. And I agree with his assessment of "The Edmond Fitzgerald." Enjoy!