Doughnut Falls

It has been years since I have done this hike.  Back in the day, the only places I knew to hike were Doughnut Falls, Lake Mary, and City Creek, so I spent a lot of time on those trails.  Lately, as I've been discovering so many other great trails, I haven't been to the old favorites at all.  It was a fun treat to revisit Doughnut Falls this weekend.  It's still a great hike, but looks completely different in the winter.  The most notable difference is that you can't really see the falls.  However, it is balanced by the fact that you can crawl around above the falls pretty easily and not worry about whether you will be that year's casualty.  It also makes a good sliding hill as long as you don't fall off the edge (which, I suppose, would go back to the this year's casualty thing . . . ).  I didn't actually take any pictures at the falls as I was busy climbing around and sliding down the hill (slippery snow pants rock!) but here are some highlights from the trail. . .

Going up a hill almost always leads to going down.  Sometimes it's a lot of work to remain upright while going down the hill.  I say embrace gravity.




We also found a strange formation created by the local wildlife.  I've heard of such things, but never believed the critters would actually use them, even when I saw said critters hauling all of their gear down the trail in sleds.  Now I can say I've seen it with my own eyes, and crawled in with my own hands and knees.  I think maybe I could sleep there but I can't imagine why I would want to.

In a separate event (Diane and Beth wanted to get their snowshoe-rental-money's worth), we also checked out a mysterious trail in Millcreek. . . The sign said Elbow Fork but when I came home and checked my book to find out where the trail ultimately ends up, it said Elbow Fork was across the street, so I'm not really sure where we were.  Anyway, we got above the inversion muckiness and saw a little bit of blue sky while communing with nature so does it really matter exactly where we were?

Hangin' with the Hoodoos

Have I mentioned lately that I have fallen completely in love with winter?  This is quite a surprise to me as I have spent most of my life tolerating it from indoors while waiting impatiently for spring to arrive.  I am amazed every time I get out in the mountains at how enchanting a fresh snowfall is.  I sometimes wonder about all of the things I didn't see while I was looking out the living room window wishing for sunshine and don't want to miss anything else!  When I heard about a long weekend trip to Bryce Canyon, I remembered Liz's pictures from a few years ago and decided immediately that I must be a part of it!

We got up early the first day to catch the sunrise.  (That's right . . . I got up early on purpose.  It happens every now and then, with proper motivation.)  The group made plans to go to Bryce Point.  We missed a turn and ended up at Rainbow Point instead. I can't say we went wrong.

 

After the sunrise, Diane found a picnic log where she enjoyed her gourmet breakfast.  Diane's trail food is far beyond the average.  I bring trail mix and Cliff bars, she brings artichoke bruschetta.

From there, we decided we ought to try to find the rest of the group.  Eventually we caught up with them, then ended up heading in different directions anyway, but we added a couple more new friends to our sub-group.  Like so many of the people in this hiking group, they were both named Gail.   Here we all are on the trail. . . I'm not sure what to call it.  It started at Sunrise Point and ended at Sunset Point, but changed names a few times in the middle.  We called it the Intimate Hoodoos, which will also be a good name for Diane's band someday, should she ever want to start one.  (The opening band for them will be the Majestic Garbage Eaters in honor of the eagle we spotted while driving back to the hotel.)  I think it's always good to have a band name ready, just in case.

We ran into a nice woman right here where we really wanted a group shot.  We asked her to take a picture but she said we should have her husband take it instead.  It turned out that he has had some practice with scenery photos as he is the host of the recreation TV show  "At Your Leisure."  We may end up being famous.  I'll be sure and post a link if it happens!

You may see Cathy or Diane talking about our hike on the TV show when we become famous.  Here is Reese interviewing Cathy.  Remember, you saw it here first.

We took a little detour off the path to see Wall Street.  There was a rockslide there so most of the trail was closed but we got to see a little bit of it. 

Look how blue the sky is here!

This was our last stop near the end of the trail.  I think it was called Two Bridges.

 We spent the rest of the evening at the Visitors' Center listening to the ranger talk about stars and looking at the Orion Nebula through the biggest telescope I have ever seen.  If you ever want to see a ranger with incomparable enthusiasm for astronomy AND amazing talent for making it all understandable, this is the place to go. Here we are using our newly acquired knowledge of finding degrees or something.  (We were all worn out so the details are a little fuzzy, but we know this was important.)

Day 2 brought more adventures. I have heard mixed reviews about cross country skiing. . . From it absolutely sucks to it's the best thing out there, and everything in between.  I decided to give it a shot.  So far, my opinion falls somewhere in the in between.  I eventually got the hang of it and got some glide going on.  There was a lot of flailing but only one fall on my tail event.  My favorite part was the downhill sections where I could just enjoy the ride and feel the wind on my face.  (Channeling my inner puppy, maybe?)  Don't get your hopes up too much Nicole, Chris and Lisa . .  .these downhills make a bunny slope look like a double black diamond run.  (Yeah, I had to check wikipedia for the terminology there.)  Anyway, the mystery is resolved.  I've tried it.

Later, we hiked to Mossy Cave.  The icicles were just too cool.

By the time we got back to the hotel, I was ready for a nap, but dedicated blogger that I am, the nap was not to be.  There were photos to upload, stories to write.  So, without the nap, I ran out the door to the next adventure. . . sunset at Sunrise Point.  You may wonder why we didn't go to Sunset Point to see the sunset.  I have no answer for that.

 As I looked over the canyon here, I couldn't help but wonder which parts my grandma rode her horse around as a teenager when she wanted to get away, and which place was her secret weapon for when she found her "Mr. Right" and wanted to take him to a place where it was so beautiful that he couldn't help but propose immediately!

We spent the rest of the evening playing games in front of the fireplace.  The Bucket King is always a good game for a laugh.  This time it was good for many, many laughs.  You know you're having a good time when the hotel staff comes over, not to tell you to quiet down, but to tell you they wish they were off duty so they could play too.

Monday morning, we packed up and headed home.  We made one last stop at Red Canyon. 

How I Spent My Winter Vacation

This year, like other years, I spent Christmas with my grandma, aunts and uncle.  Unlike other years, Mom Bread and Cheese joined us!  We had lots of fun.  See MB's blog for most of the story. (Nice of her to do all that typing for me, isn't it?)  I get to tell about our snowshoeing outing because I have the video.  :)  We went on the Inman Trail just outside of Pocatello.

This outing was Cheese's first time on snowshoes.  She figured it out quickly and started climbing every hill she could find.

Mom Bread and I cheered her on (from the trail).

 On this hill, she insisted that we join her at the top.  You just can't say no to that much enthusiasm.

It was a little slippery and a lot steep.  We spent a lot of time on all 4's passing the one set of poles we had back and forth.

MB stopped to make a snow angel with really long legs.

We made it!  What a view!

What goes up must come down.  We took the easy way.