Doughnut Falls

Another brief excursion. This time with just Kevin and Christy. Our location? Doughnut falls. It was certainly nice getting into the timber and in the mountains again. This was an easy hike. The biggest challenge of the hike was navigating through the throngs of eager vacationers and city folk. We must have passed several hundred people on the trail. Regardless of the overpopulation, it was still a great afternoon hike.

An aspen in the fir.

Mountains over the alder brush.

Me looking frustrated after navigating the crowd...

New Growth after Winter.

Kevin and Christy, navigating the rocks.

Something Different. I have no idea why I am so fascinated with water...

The Grotto. The water flows into this small cave from a hole in the rock above. I really had difficulty getting to a point on the cliff where I could have a good angle of the falls.

From below the falls, standing in the river. Damn that water was cold. I think I was probably the only person stupid enough to wade across. Hence why I went. Why did the Chicken cross the road? To get away from all of the other chickens...that is why.

From above the falls. You can see where the water has carved a hole into the rock. Kevin snapped this photo from the "crowded side of the stream" From my side it was either see the falls...or fall myself. I opted for letting Kevin to take the proverbial plunge...

There certainly is more water here then at the falls, and this is only a couple hundred yards down stream. There must be a lot of underground water here.

Blue sky over a just blossoming hillside. I love the contrast between the aspen and the fir.
The day could not have been more perfect. Great weather, great temperature and great company.

Cascade Springs

So, boredom and my incessant pestering to get everyone out of the house resulted in taking a small group trip up through Provo Canyon to Cascade Springs. It wasn't the weekend of exploring, camping, hiking, boating and relaxing that I was initially hoping for...but I would settle for this too. It was a fun afternoon excursion. The dogs got exercise, the Kyle got fresh air and the jeep got to go four wheeling...resulting in much stress and many swear words from the Sister Christy. Good times.

Kelsey and I trodding up the "paved" track. Maddie seems to be doing the most work here. Kelsey is just along for the ride...and gets a pull up the hills in the process. No wonder she always walks the black dog?

This was just too cool. Ants are very interesting creatures. I could type a book here about my fascination with these little industrious beasties. This one was dang near a half inch long and severely irritated.

Meandering, gawking, camera in hand.

Fording a small river. We tried to beat the heck out of the Cherokee. On the hunt for rocks...

Sister Christy, Brother from another mother Kevin and Jake...the true master of all he surveys...

Something Different

One of dozens of small waterfalls. This was a peaceful little spot.

Jake decided that Kevin's legs needed a bath. How he prevents putting out an eye with those floppy lips and ears, escapes my understanding.

Something Different

At the head of the springs. The water just boils out of various nooks and crannies nestled in the vegetation and hillside. Hence the fact that it is a "spring"?

A really cool old barn...

Something different. This inspires a slight philosophical mood in me. This tree has been burned, snapped off and is rotting away, broken and forgotten in the brush...and yet it is winning in the struggle to create and support new life. That and it made for a great picture.

Something Different

A great cascade within Provo Canyon. I have no idea what the falls are called...

I should take this opportunity to note that Sister Christy is not actually of a religious organization and is not a member of the clergy..and as such, the reference as sister is genealogical and actual, not her occupation...

More Brewing

BEER:

More brewing. It is amazing how arduous and lengthy the process is.
Steps in brief and as best as I can remember:

1. Boil your water. Five gallons of water take a heck of a long time to boil.
2. Cool your water and steep your grains. This gives the beer its color and unique taste. The grains have to be soaked at a specific temperature. It take a bugger maintaining that temperature. Hint: (move the pot on the heat vs adjusting the temp)
3. Add your malt. This is the base sugar and flavor mix that defines your type, taste, texture, flavor and aroma of your beer.
4. Boil to its flash point. The flash point is the point where the malt undergoes a chemical reaction. Basicly the molecules of the malts bond with oxegen and turn a large portion of the liquid into a foam. It tends to jump and requires 100% attention, vigorous stirring and temperature mainenance to keep the flash from jumping out of the pot. Oh...and yes it does stink a bit.
5. Add your hops. This is a timed boiling process. The more complex the beer, the greater variety and annoying the "hopping" process is.
6. Cool to the pre-determined temperature. This requires a heck of a lot of cold water baths. Huge water waste.
7. Move to bottle or bucket. Add yeast, shake to oxegenate.
8. Store in a cool dark location and wait two weeks to ferment. This is your first Rack

Then you wait, praying that your yeast takes and you get a good ferment. From there its to the second rack, more fermenting, sugaring, bottling, storing, and drinking. Figure $25 to $30 for 52 bottles of home brewed beer. Good stuff. (You hope). Otherwise you have 52 bottles of pig swill. Stick with whats good, follow the directions, don't experiment and stay with the tried and true ingredients.

Me, patiently waiting, researching beer and job hunting.

Kevin. Adding the remainder of the malt to the vat.

Stirring. The goal is to keep the boil hard and hot, stir like crazy to prevent the flash from jumping out of the pot and letting the foam boil away.

Shake Rattle and Roll. Get that yeast active! At nearly 50lbs, this is something that I probably couldn't hack

Fermenting. This is boring, but fun to watch. The yeast goes crazy in the first couple of days. The liquid is constantly turning itself over through the fermenting process. This batch actually isn't very active. I hope the yeast took. Otherwise its 52 bottles of brown, dirty, nasty water and fit only for the drain.

More to come as the process continues.

Christy & Kevin's vacation (2009)

My sister and brother in law opted to take themselves a much deserved vacation. Their destination? St. Maarten and Anguilla, nestled in the thick of the tropics of the Caribbean. Here are a couple of their photos that struck my fancy. So, in no particular order we have...

Plum Bay

Christy and Kevin, hamming it up. Insert your various "aaawwww ain't that sweet" sounds here.

Oh yeah! Spices! Good stuff. Why can't a person find that in Montana???

Kevin, looking slightly ummm....Jamaican? Complete with a bare chin for the first time in what...a decade? Is that a black eye I see? Must be tough, enjoying all that white sand, fluffy girly drinks and sun...

What happens in Vegas might stay in Vegas...but what happens in the Caribbean has consequences. Ummm....safety first? This was evidently at the airport? Yeah....no thanks.

Viva la Griz!

Prime beach location. Nothing like the smell of jet fuel and the feel of jet wash blowing through your hair...knocking down your chair, tossing sand in your martini....

Cool Picture. Scary landing...

Ah...this is the life. Where's mine?

Nice shot.

Pedestrian Crossing.

Great Pictures! I might have to include Anguilla on my list of places to see. I guess its horribly expensive though. Someday maybe?

Liquid Gold

I would have never thought that brewing your own beer could be so much fun. It is a fascinating, time consuming endeavour that really makes you appreciate the labor that goes into providing one of mankind's greatest evils...and one of mankind's greatest creations. I keep forgetting to take pictures of the entire process, but here are a couple of interesting ones that I snapped when I remembered. This is a tribute to Kevin's Brew. Coming soon to a store near you. Umm....or not.

Make Beer, Not Bombs!

There are 52 Bottles of Liquid Perfection in this bottle. This is the second rack (ferment) just prior to bottling. Kinda blurry (the picture, not my eyesight) Haven't sampled it yet. This is Kevin's version of Sierra Nevada Pale Ale. It does smell like it, but its a bit richer of color then the real thing.

Backlit. Put a lamp shade over it and you would have your mood lighting set to perfection. Kinda cool.

Swinging it from Jug to Pail. Like an idiot, I forgot to photograph the bottling process. Last step...Having the patience to let the bottles cure in a dark cool place for a couple of weeks before tasting. So far so good. I have helped him brew a Pacifico style Cervesas, Full Suspension, Sierra Nevada, and an APA. All have been phenomenal. Can't wait to start my own someday.

Jake. Chillin` after a hard day of playing ball, stealing bits of food at a barbecue and getting underfoot during the bottling fest.

Hopefully I will remember next time to take pictures of the process.

Utah

A random assortment of Utah pictures. My tenure in the Salt Lake area has shown me that Utah does have a lot to offer regarding a variety of environments, scenery, mountains and just about everything else I need to stay sane. Just about the only draw back I can come up with is in regards to the mass of humanity. I can see more houses from the hill behind the house than there are in all of Montana. Umm....

Woohoo...trees! So far, they seem to be in short supply...

Ahhh snow. On the way to Alta.

Ok, that is a bit too much snow. No where to turn around. I would hate living at the end of this driveway. I like snow...but there are limits?

My oldest niece, Kelsey. I have tried to drag my nieces up the mountain behind the house on numerous occasions. Good exercise. Kacie, 2. Kelsey 1. A little competative blackmail maybe to entice them to the top?

Prickly Pears. I fly some odd 8000 miles to get away from things scratchy and pokey only to find that i must have magnet for all things that make me bleed. I spent hours picking cactus spines out of the dogs.

Maddie. Good ol' dog.

Nice mountains, not so nice population density. Oh...and trees? Ya...nope.

My second niece, Kacie. + Jake + Maddie.

A happy dog. Run Jake Run. Stop Jake Stop. Ok..where did the damn dog go? He is worse then the Energizer Bunny.

Something different.

The first wild flowers of the season. No clue what they are. At first glance I thought they were of the Castilleja family of Indian Paint Brush. No clue. I am so out of practice that they might as well be onions for all I know. They don't quite look like the Paint Brush that I am familiar with.