Island Lake

Alright, I think I am finally ready to share some of our adventures from our backpacking excursion up in the High Uintas. As previously mentioned, we made a quick stop by the Provo River Falls on our drive up to the trail head which would eventually take us to Island Lake. We were with our buddies, Ryan and Rachelle Evans.

Then there was us, the Copelands. Scott and Emily:)

We began our hike at a lovely little sign that said, "Crystal Lake 1 mile. Long Lake 2 miles. Island Lake 3 miles." Only three miles? Easy! When we went to Coyote Gulch in March we packed 16 miles in two days. This was going to be a piece of cake. 6 miles in three days. Or at least that is what I thought. We were on our way and I realized we were at a much higher elevation, causing thinner air than I am used to and making me want to stop more frequently for breaks! :) So, we stopped and ate and enjoyed our time.


Along the way was a turnoff for Crystal lake, which we only got to catch a glimpse of since we didn't head that way. But we did see lots of mountain meadows with wildflowers.

And other beauties that reminded us that we were hiking at about 10,000 feet (hence the lovely tree line).

So we kept on hiking. Until we reached Long Lake! Which was two miles in, and a nice easy stroll in the mountains.




Long Lake was so beautiful, I just wanted to give Scott a kiss, but he got a little shy.

So Rachelle and I showed him how to be tough and love the camera.

We continued along and crossed a cool bridge.

On the other side of the bridge was a sign that read, "Island Lake, one mile this way!" So we followed the trail "this way" for awhile and took another break. This mile sure was taking forever! So we kept going until we came to a meadow and suddenly, there was no trail to be seen! We were a little lost. So, we turned around and followed the trail back to the sign by the bridge, which was probably .75 of a mile to a mile back, so lets make that one and a half to two miles out of our way...We looked at the sign again and still could not figure out where we went wrong. Until a lovely dog came trotting along from the opposite direction. His owner told us he had just come from Island Lake and that the trail was the other direction. We realized that the sign was loose and wobbling around, leading us to the wrong trail:) So we got back on track and we were very happy to be on our way again.

So we hiked on and saw more ponds and meadows along the way.


We were loving it, but our little detour made me a bit tired, especially since we hiked up to 11,500 feet and then back down to 10,000, then back up and down, up and down. I was getting so pooped! But I'm lucky to have Scott. He took my pack from me and carried it up the last little incline for me! What a sweetheart! Then, we saw this!

Yup! That's right. We FINALLY made it to Island Lake! So we set up camp and enjoyed a nice rest. And some MREs:)


We made a fire, and slept a good sleep that night. Until the deers started coming down to drink out of the lake. They were noisy! But the loudest noise we heard came from an elk that was in our camp! It was fun to see the animals so close up.

The next morning, I woke up with the sun. Everybody else was still asleep in the tent, so I decided to try to build a fire by myself. Scott usually builds it when we go out, but I wanted to surprise him. So, I gathered the kindling, and some small twigs to start. Then some bigger ones and eventually, I made a fire! I burnt my foot in the process, but I still made a fire! Scott was proud:) We ate some oatmeal and frozen breakfasts. The eggs were delicious! Then, next thing I know, the boys are all ready to jump in the water!

We all brought floaties and blew them up. Rachelle and I laid on our inflatable floaties and floated around the lake while we watched our husbands jump off of the 40 cliff. It was fun. Then they grabbed their round tubes and tried to float around, but they tipped over. We had a blast just hanging out on the lake.

After awhile, we took a lunch break and played some stick ball. I don't have pictures from those, but we had a fun with it anyway. Then, the boys decided they wanted to cliff jump again! Rachelle was floating around again, but I went to the top of the cliff with the men. And Scott and I took a few pictures together:)




Ryan was excited to get some action shots of Scott's cliff jumping skills, so he climbed down and got ready!

I apologize because to watch this video of Scott, you have to turn your head sideways:)

After his sweet jump, Scott got to use his sweet rock climbing skills to scale back up the cliff, rather than swimming and hiking around.


Then Ryan came up for a jump!

Jumping got tiring, so Scott and I went for a little walk. We came upon this pond full of lily pads and flowers!

We heard the fish jumping in the background, so Scott went for a fish!

I got bored, so I went for a hike on my own:) This was my view.




When I climbed back down, we went back to the pond with the lily pads with Ryan and Rachelle to play on the logs.

Scott got way down low...

And guess what he found...

A salamander! It was not happy:)
But we were!


We continued on our little nature walk to the other side of the lake and actually saw the island which gives this lake it's name!

It was beautiful! But the sun was beginning to set. So we hurried back to camp and found some firewood for the night. We built our fire and cooked up some dinner. Those Mountain House freezer dried entrees really are delicious. I recommend them to anyone and everyone. We finished off with a vanilla pound cake for dessert(MRE desserts are delicious as well), and some hot chocolate. I love drinking hot chocolate in the cool mountain weather. It was very warming and refreshing in the cool weather that comes along with being over 10,000 feet above sea level. I'm not going to lie, even in the summer time, it got pretty chilly up there. So, if you ever go, make sure to pack some layers to keep you warm!

After snuggling up in the tent in our sleeping bags one last time, we woke up to a lovely morning, ready to hike back to our car. But not before we ate some oatmeal one last time before we headed out.

We were very fortunate to know where the trail was on our way back, so we didn't get lost this time around. It only took half the time to get back. It was a nice quick hike and we're glad we went. We can't wait to go again sometime soon! Hopefully I can find a new job so I don't have to request off every weekend. Wish me luck:)

One

By the way...yesterday was our ONE year anniversary!!! We made it and had lots of fun along the way. We were fortunate enough to be at the Manti Temple, where we got married, for our buddies wedding. Happy Anniversary Scott

Provo River Falls

Last weekend, we were lucky enough to go backpacking in the Uintas, up to Island Lake to be exact. But on our way....we made a quick stop by the Provo River Falls! They were gorgeous! It was fun to see the top of the Provo River instead of the bottom where it meets up with Utah Lake:)

Maple Canyon

I have been falling behind in the updates, but I'll work on it. It's tough!

A couple of weeks ago, Scott and I decided to head down to Maple Canyon for some awesome rock climbing. We love it down there. We climb on conglomerate rocks...basically, it looks like cobblestones stuck in hardened mud. Or something like that. Either way, it is way fun. We discovered it last summer after our buddy Ryan took a rock climbing class which had a field trip down here.

So, we packed our bags and headed down to camp and climb for the weekend. It was a blast.

This was the first climb I completed on our trip.


Here is a picture of Rachelle and Jordan.


And Scott climbing.


After climbing all afternoon, we headed back to camp where we ate chili dogs and m&ms for dinner! My favorite:) Here is a picture of Scott and I with the smoky fire.


We were so excited when our buddies, the Arthurs, surprised us with their presence!


We had fun, eating and hanging out with our friends. Rachelle and I took lots of pictures.



Scott and little Aiden had fun catching marshmallows on fire. And honestly, I'm getting pretty sleepy right now. So, I'll sum up. Ryan Arthur and our friend Bobbi Pence each climbed for the first time this weekend! I hope they had fun!

As for me, I lead climbed for the first time! Yay! It was a bit scary at first, but I would do it again:)






P.S. Scott and I joined a co-ed softball team. It should be fun! If we don't get rained out, our first game is tomorrow night:)

P.P.S. We went on a sweet backpacking trip last weekend. Keep an eye out for that post, which should be coming in the next couple of days:)

The Fourth of July with some Family Visits:)

My brother Bobby and his wife Abbie came to visit Abbie's family here in Utah the weekend of the Fourth of July. Scott and I were able to spend some time with them! It was alot of fun. We had a baby shower for Abbie and little Major, soon to be born:). We went for a drive on the Alpine Loop and had a lovely picnic.



Scott and I went to a minor leaque baseball game(they don't have any MBL teams in Utah).

Abbie made some delicious homemade doughnuts. We went on a motorcycle ride. Ate snow cones, and watched the fireworks.

We went up into American Fork Canyon and made a fire to make some smore's.



We finished off the weekend by going to Seven Peaks waterpark on Monday. We had a blast and are loving being back in Utah!

Sorry this was a random post, but we just wanted to share a few things we have been up to lately. We'll write more when we finally get internet that works at our new place:)

Sad Day

With the current situation Scott and I are in, we decided it would be best if we sold our motorcycle. Although they are not too expensive, ours kept needing little fixes that weren't so little. We got a nail in our rear tire, which needed to be replaced. And for those of you who know bikes, replacing a tire is much much different than replacing a tire on a car. then our battery started to leak, and the clutch cable snapped. All in all, we kept putting money into it, and it was fun while we had it, but we decided to save our pennies and get a better one in a couple of years. But we will miss it! We were lucky to sell it for what we paid for it:)