Hiking King's Peak

Last week, my husband and about 23 other men and teenage boys in our church went on a hike to King's Peak in northeast Utah. It's the highest peak in Utah. They left early Thursday morning and got home about 4pm on Saturday.

My husband said it was a very challenging hike, especially the last mile or so. The parking lot starts at about 9000 feet elevation and the peak of the mountain is 13,527 feet. They hiked in about 7 miles the first day and set up camp. The next day, they hiked the remaining 7 miles to the peak with day packs and then returned to their base camp. Saturday they hiked out and then drove home.

It turns out that the Uintah mountains were a dangerous place to be in last weekend. Three little girls got struck by lightning, a 74-year-old man got lost in the mountains, and a boy who would have turned 18 on Sunday died on a campout with his Scout troop, probably from altitude sickness. I feel fortunate everyone from our group returned home without significant injury. A storm did roll in on Friday afternoon when the last members of our group were on top of the mountain and they just about got nailed by lightning. As they stood there, they could hear buzzing from the electrical charges in the rocks and the long hair on a girl at the top was standing straight up. So they decided to leave and after about 200 yards lightning struck the top.

I'm glad that my son and all the boys got to do something pretty challenging on this trip--every teenager needs those experiences. My husband said the one thing they would change is to have better food. Everyone brought their own and it was lacking somewhat. Fortunately the mosquitoes weren't bad like they were for my friend who hiked it last year.

King's Peak is the second one from the left.

Comments

Our Cousin Drew

This last week, my brother and his wife lost a very precious son, just 13 years old. He collapsed while running with a cross-country team and passed away before he could be revived. Everyone that knew Drew is broken-hearted at this loss. He was the happiest, most agreeable kid we knew. I remember him being at my house without anyone close to his age to hang out with, so he found our Duplo blocks and started building even though it is a toy that boys his age don't usually enjoy. He was so content. He didn't complain that I ever remember. His mother always called him the perfect child. He will leave a big hole in not only his immediate family but our extended family as well. Here is a poem my aunt shared that seems fitting: Leave Taking How I would have liked to wave goodbye and watch until you turned and smiled and disappeared on the horizon. You who taught me to dance and let me teach you, who laughed at my stories and winked at me when I was sad. I can just see you trav

Remembering Drew

This weekend we celebrated Drew's life. On Thursday night, we gathered as an extended family and had a dinner then sat in a big circle and talked about our memories of him. I took some notes and here is what people said. Grandpa (Gary Hansen): The last time we saw Drew was last week on the 4th. I remember all the cousins on the trampoline, bouncing up and down and playing basketball. Grandma (Susan Hansen): I asked Drew to come over last winter to teach my Activity Day boys how to make origami stars. He was very patient in working with them even though they were pretty clueless. Eventually they all went home happily with their stars. Paula: This last winter we invited Bruce and Michelle over for dinner and we didn't have anyone his age for him to hang out with. I remember that Drew found the Duplo blocks on his own and played with them all by himself, quite cheerfully entertaining himself. I asked him if he wanted to play with a different toy--maybe something more sophistica

Drew's Funeral

Yesterday was the viewing for Drew and then today was the funeral. There were a LOT of people at the viewing. Bruce and Michelle greeted people for almost four hours yesterday and then again this morning before the funeral. Bruce said that if weren't for Drew's death, it would be the best week of his life with so much love being shown to them. Friday actually began with a family run in Drew's honor. We started at a church by the new Lindon temple and ran to Bruce and Michelle's house with breakfast following. Friday night was the viewing. There was a very nice display of all things Drew. This was one of the pictures displayed and I recognized someone I know: We stood in line and the paramedics who worked on Drew stood in line behind us so we got to talk to them. Here's a fun fact: They cover both Orem and Vineyard but Vineyard gets a lot more 911 calls than Orem per capita. It's a younger population and they are quicker to call. They said it's hard when the

Search This Blog