Backpacking to Malan's Basin

Amina and me backpacking toward Malan's Basin.

Friday, July 18 and 19 I took Amina on an overnight backpacking trip to Malan's Peak. The trip was sponsored by the Clearfield 4th Ward Elders Quorum. Our good friend Tim Young, also the Elders Quorum President, planned the trip and even loaned us equipment that we were lacking. We couldn't have gone without his help. Thanks Tim! the only other two people that went on the trip were Matt Lloyd and David Allred. the numbers were small but we had a great time.

We started at the top of 27th street in Ogden. From there the trail went 3 miles up, and I mean UP, to Malan's Peak, then about 1/2 mile down into Malan's Basin. The hike up to the peak was brutal! I was huffing and puffing every step thinking I was going to kill over at any time. Somehow I was able to keep putting one foot in front of the other and finally made it to the peak. Hallelujah! From all of the backpacking trips I went on as a kid I can not remember such a difficult hike. My body aches all over today (Sunday).

This was the first backpacking trip for Amina. She did an amazing job. I just need to get her a real backpack (not just Dad's knapsack) so that we can take more trips in the future. It did wear her out as well. After the trip she showered, laid on her bed and crashed. she woke up for a little bit just before bedtime. Then today (Sunday) she slept in and got even more sleep.

One of the great views from the trail.

Cresting the summit of Malan's Peak

Standing on Malan's Peak

Looking over Ogden from Malan's Peak.

On top of Malan's Peak

We arrived at Malan's Basin just before sundown. We set up camp, ate some Cup-o-Noodles, listened to Tim's mad harmonica skills then turned in for the night. Before we went to sleep, Amina and I stayed up and played the best Farkle game EVER! Felicia and I played Farkle when I took her to girl's camp with me a couple of years ago (yes, she went to girls camp before Sadie ever did) so I think Amina made sure she didn't miss out on that experience. It was great fun. For the record, I won 2 out of 3. We didn't take anything to write on so we kept score on our hot chocolate packages.

Our Farkle score cards because we didn't have anything else on which to write.

Amina and me at Malan's Basin.

Our fearless guide Tim Young.

Saturday morning we all set off on a search for the boiler, the only remaining evidence of the old Malan's Basin Resort. We didn't have to look far. It was only about 100 yards down from where we camped. After we found the boiler, Matt and David went home and Tim, Amina and I went on a hike down the stream to see if we could find the top of Waterfall Canyon. The hike was awesome! The trail was very poor and very difficult in some spots. We made it to the rocky cliffs that lead to Waterfall Canyon but we decided not to make the decent all the way down to the waterfall. We did however see a rattlesnake. I heard the rattle and saw the snake slithering under a rock. It must have only been 5 feet or less away from us. It was quite small so I think it was a juvenile. Anyway, I stopped Amina and had her walk up a different way. I had never seen a rattlesnake in the wild before so that was pretty cool, but I was also a little freaked out. I would hate to think what would happen if Amina got bit by one. We have not had super great luck with overnight camping activities with Amina. Explaining that one to Melanie would have been interesting.

Checking out the Boiler in Malan's Basin.

A tree growing around a rock we found on the hike down to Waterfall Canyon.

Hiking down from the mountain was much harder than one would expect. I didn't have the problem of constantly trying to catch my breath, but it was nearly as difficult. My legs felt like rubber and, with all the pressure on my toes, my feet were killing me. We did, however, make it back safe and sound- exhausted and looking forward to going on another hike. -Ryan

Taking a break during the hike back home.

The Bedroom Makeover Surprise

Ready to leave for Kansas City in my beautiful, red, Skills USA blazer at 4:00 AM.

So this is a bit of a flashback to the trip that I took to Kansas City. Check out my nice red Skills USA blazer! I had to be at the airport at 4:00 AM, thus the excited look on my face. Anyway, the day before I left Melanie and I purchased new bedroom furniture from IKEA but I did't have any time to put it together. So, I went on my trip knowing that I would have quite a chore when I returned. When I did return, 6 days later, Melanie brought up the unpleasant reality that when we got home we would have to put the bedroom together. The worst part was thinking about how we were going to get that old massive desk out of the room. That thing weighs a ton! When she brought that to my attention I immediately deflated, thinking "time to get back to work." I missed my family so much while I was gone (6 days is a long time) but thinking about all the work that needed to be done was not pleasant. She apologized for bringing my trip to such an abrupt end but that didn't help much.

When we got home and I finally made it downstairs I couldn't believe what I saw. The furniture had all been assembled, that old ugly desk was gone, and the best part, the room had been completely painted and redecorated! The colors are perfect, the furniture looks awesome, the bedspread and pillows are gorgeous, everything is perfect! I was so incredibly happy and very surprised. I did not think that Melanie would find the time to even begin putting the furniture together let alone paint!

I learned that Melanie had lots of help to pull of such a mammoth task. Thank you Heidi. Thank you girls. And of course, thank you Melanie. You did a fabulous job. I love you. -Ryan

Melanie painting the walls of our master bedroom.

Amina helping with the bedroom makeover.

The Welcome Sign that was hanging in the window.

Me surprised at my new gorgeous bedroom.

Very First Pepper

Today we got to eat the very first pepper from the garden! It is called a Fooled You, because it looks like a jalapeño, but tastes mild. My favorite type of pepper is the Gypsy pepper. They are starting to grow and I am super excited. I am really glad that I talked Dad into planting a garden this year! -Amina

Wasp Nest (continued)

Although Fancy got so close to that wasp's nest and they didn't do a thing to her, my situation is a little different. Even though I was so far away from that nest, one of the wasps stung me and made my finger swell up this big! This picture shows my swelled up finger next to my normal finger. The results were not pretty.


My dad decided after this experience to spray the nest and all the many other ones in our yard. He used a whole can of spray getting rid of all the nests we found. -Sadie

Felicia Conquered Her Fears

I Conquered my fears by taking pictures of the giant wasps nest in our back yard. My Dad helped me. He taught me how close to get and how to use manual focus. The first one was really bad. So I had to get a lot closer. It was a lot better but not good enough. I stepped a lot closer. Then I clicked really fast it was all blurred. So I took one slow. I was so happy that I took a good one, I ran in to tell Mom.
This is one of the good pictures that I took. I had to get really close and zoom in. It was really scary, but I did it. This is when I conquered my fear. But the picture was still focused on the fence.
I had to use manual focus on this one so that it wouldn't focus on the fence. I had to put my hand really close to the hive. This was my best one! So I ran in to tell Mom. She was so happy with me!
-Felicia

Arches Family Vacaton: Part 2

Wednesday morning the girls and I went on a hike through the Fiery Furnace in Arches National Park. This hike requires a ranger guide because there is no marked trail and it would be quite easy to get lost. Also, the minimum age is 4 years old, just perfect so Maisy could go. Everyone on the hike with us was impressed with how well Maisy did. She is so small for a 4 year old that I think most of the people there were a bit worried about her coming on the hike. She showed some mad rock climbing skills and on the parts where we had to shimmy across crevasses .eaning against the rocks with both hands, I just flung Maisy on my back and away we went. It was really a lot of fun. Unfortunately Melanie was still not feeling well so she stayed at the hotel. We missed her. The hike was absolutely beautiful.

Here the girls are standing in front of a natural bridge. This is not an arch because it was formed by running water.

Sadie is crawling through Crawl Through Arch. Pretty clever name for an arch, isn't it?

The hole above their head is an arch in the making. It is not quite an arch because it only measures 2'11" at its largest opening. If it were just 1" larger, or 3', it would be classified as an arch. Maybe in a few hundred years it will make it.

Taking a break for a snack at Twin Arch.

Felicia and Maisy stop to pose before they hike through the narrow opening leading to Surprise Arch.

Hiking along the ledge to Surprise Arch.

The girls looking up at Surprise Arch.

After our Fiery Furnace hike we went to Sand Dune Arch. Maisy loved playing in the sand, well they all did. You should have seen the sand they dumped out of their shoes when we got back to the motel. I don't know how Maisy's feet could even fit in her shoes!

Wednesday night I went to Turret Arch and the Windows Arches with Sadie and Amina to watch the sunset. We got stuck behind some sight-seeing motorcyclists and thought we were going to miss the sunset. Luckily we got there just in time to see it set. We walked around the North and South Windows before we settled on watching the sunset while sitting inside Turret Arch. It was gorgeous! I would love to see the sunrise and sunset at every location in the Park.


Sadie and Amina thought it was a little weird that I was taking so many pictures of them. They really just wanted to enjoy the sunset and not be models. Crazy Dad. Someday they'll understand.