60 Fish in 2 days!!

Over the 4^th of July I had the coolest vacation. I went backpacking into a place called Brown Duck Basin. Any one who knows me knows that I love to go fishing and this was probably the greatest fishing trip I have been on in a long time if not ever. I fished 4 lakes and 3 rivers and caught 60 fish! They ranged from as small as 4 inches to as much as 18 inches. I was in heaven! There was nothing like it. The only draw back was that I was all alone and I don’t have anyone to sit around and swap stories with when I am to old to do this sort of thing one day.

This fish was so fat I could hardly get my hand around it to pull the hook out. The other one I was pulling in and my glasses fell off from the fight. It was awesome!

I set out on the trail head on Thursday July 3^rd at 5:45pm. It was a 7.5 mile hike to the first lake and I thought I could do that by dark pretty easy, boy was I wrong. It was a 2000 foot climb total but it kept going up and then down. I swear when it was all said and done I climbed 3000 feet. There was a diversion in the trail and when I got there I realized that it was to dark to follow it very well so I stopped where I was and made camp. I woke up the next morning and broke camp only to find that I was 100 yards from the lake.

That had to be one the most physically challenging things I have ever done. When I laid down to sleep every muscle in my body was shaking. Not knowing I was at the top I said to myself "What the heck have you got yourself into?" I was sure I was going to die. Keep in mind I have been working out every day since January 3 of this year. I can run 3 miles without any problem.

When I got to brown duck lake I knew the hike was worth every step. Within an hour I had caught 10 fish. I decided that I wanted to see as many of the lakes and rivers as I could so I moved on and set up camp between the next two lakes. It was the most beautiful meadow you can imagine. I fished and fished and never had a dull moment. I fly fished the streams, used all kinds of bait and just lived for two days in fisherman heaven.


The area was loaded with beauty and I thanked God for all the beauty he had built into this world for us. There were all kinds of streams ponds and wildlife. I even had lunch with a chipmunk. I had laid down to take a nap and pulled my hat down over my eyes. Just as I was about to go to sleep I saw a patch of fur next to me. I jumped up not knowing what kind of animal was about to eat me. turns out it was a chipmunk. We sat and ate lunch together.


In fishing there is something we call a grand slam. It is when you catch 4 kinds of trout, rainbow, german brown, cut throat and brook. I caught all 4 and scored my grand slam. To the novice that is like hitting a home run in baseball that goes down in the history books.



In the end it was the time of my life and I would recommend it to anyone who wants a great experience in the great outdoors.


PS: I really was smiling on the inside.

4th of July

Since I was alone on the 4th of July I decided to go hiking into the wilderness. I will blog about that when I get the pictures developed. While I was up there I was thinking about our freedoms. In the movie "The hunt for Red October" there is a scene where Captain Ramius (Sean Connery) is talking with Vasili Borodin (Sam Neil) about what they are going to do when they get to America. The exchange goes as follows:

Capt. Vasili Borodin: I will live in Montana. And I will marry a round American woman and raise rabbits, and she will cook them for me. And I will have a pickup truck... maybe even a "recreational vehicle." And drive from state to state. Do they let you do that?
Captain Ramius: I suppose.
Capt. Vasili Borodin: No papers?
Captain Ramius: No papers, state to state.
Capt. Vasili Borodin: Well then, in winter I will live in... Arizona. Actually, I think I will need two wives.
Captain Ramius: Oh, at least.

With the exception of the 2 wives things they were seeing a great truth. In America we are free to go and do as we please. I was off traipsing through the wilderness with a back pack and fishing pole. I did not have to get a pass of a permit to do what I wanted to do. Others were grilling burgers or going swimming. Each person free to do as he or she pleased. As I sat out there and pondered on this I realized that often times we do not realize how free we are in this country. Within reason we are free to pursue happiness any way we want. It is true many paths we take do not lead to happiness but we are free to pursue it none the less. When I hear people talking about how bad America is for getting involved in other countries affairs I think about this freedom we love so much. We do not make people be like us we actually give them the ability to choose to be what makes them happy.

Anyway that is what I was thinking this 4th of July weekend. Hope you all found some happiness this weekend wherever you were.

7 minutes 55 seconds!

Last fall I had a mid life revelation. My blood sugar was taken and it was really really high. I tried dieting and not eating sugar but it did not help. On January 3rd of this year I began a daily exercise routine. Since then I have dropped 45 pounds, 2 pant sizes and lowered my blood sugar to normal levels. Today I weighed in at 236 pounds. I know that to most of you if you were 236 pounds you would flip out but I am ecstatic!

But that is not the best part. I usually run and walk 3 miles 3 to 4 days a week. I do about 3 laps of running to one lap of walking. So this morning I walked 2 laps ran a mile, walked 2 laps and then ran a mile. (One lap on my track is a 10th of a mile.) The last one I walked 2 laps and then timed the last mile. I did it in 7 minutes and 55 seconds! Once again all you young athletes out there probably get a chuckle out of that but I am very proud of the fact that a 37 year old large man can run his 3rd mile that fast.

Anyway I have been so happy about that and the other changes since the first of the year I had to post something about it.

Almost a week in heaven!

Last week I took the family down to Duck Creek in southern Utah. It was the best. We met Lisa's family there and spent almost a week riding four wheelers, fishing, hiking and sightseeing. That is some beautiful country and we didn't do half of that is available to do there. It was a lot of fun to see everyone there. I do not get to see Lisa's family as much. She gets to go to Mesa and Prescott and spend a month with them every year in Arizona. I really like Lisa's family and enjoy their company. Unlike the last trip into the outdoors this one was smooth sailing. If anyone is looking for a fun trip this one is a high recommendation from me.

One of the places that we went was Cascade falls. Here are some pictures. Instead of posting the whole trip, which would be a huge post, I will do it in sections. Enjoy.

This is the family at a look out point near cascade falls. You can't really see the vastness of the overlook but it was breathtaking.

Kenneth and I went out on a small ledge at cascade falls the stream comes out of the mountain on Kenneths Right. It was really neat and the view from where we were was awesome.

The water you see to my right comes from a lake about 700 feet above and probably 5 miles away. It flows underground to this point and then shoots out of the side of the mountain. The water was cold and deliciouses. You see me Lisa and Troy standing here. The hike in was beautiful.

Bad Luck

I have the worst luck. I have decided that the odds are against me and that no matter what I can never take up gambling. I took the whole family camping on June 6th and 7th. We went to a place called Payson Lakes. It is a nice little place up in the pines with great trout fishing in the 3 lakes you find up there. I took the boys up last the first part of May and we had a blast.

I took work off on Friday the 6th and we went up to enjoy a fun trip. Friday went good. It was a little cold in the evening but that was about it. We went fishing and just about everyone caught fish. Adam caught the most and Troy caught the smallest one. It was all a lot of fun. That evening we had fish tinfoil dinners and pizza. All in a days camping.

Here is the unlucky part. There was a 30% chance of rain in the forecast. I thought to myself. 30% chance of scattered showers is in my favor. Whenever I want rain and it is 30% chance it never happens. On Saturday morning we woke up to an inch an a half of snow! How is it that I get snow in June. I know that is not officialy summer but come on, give me a break! Well it started to let up so I finaly crawled out of my sleeping and started to break camp. Lisa and the little kids jumped in the car and turned on the heater. About the time I got it all cleaned up and in the trailer, the snow had stopped and I could see that the clouds to the west were breaking up. I suggested that we go fishing since it was clearing up but Lisa was having none of that. We got home to a nice hot sunny day.

We went camping last year and had a similar experience at Flaming George. Both places are beautiful but the weather did not cooperate. We had a downpour and ended up packing up and going home. These last two family experiences have made Lisa swear she will never go camping again. I have decided that either I am unlucky or Lisa is bad luck.


Adam and Kenneth breaking camp with me.




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This is the camp site and then we have Lisa, Krislyn and Troy curled up and cozy. Notice who is still happy.

Can we have some consideration please!

Here is my vent. At the first of the year I started working out in the mornings before work. My health was going south and it was either take pills and insulin everyday or start working out. I love lifting weights so I took that option. The problem is that I already go to work at 5:30 in the morning. This means that now I have to leave around 4:20am. So the alarm clock accosts me at 4:03am. I do the :03 just so I can get a few extra minutes of sleep. It has been great for my health and I will probably write something on that another day.

My irritation is with people who do not have any consideration for their neighbors. My biggest problem right now with the teachings of Jesus is that whole love your neighbor thing. I go to bed at 9:00pm and it is amazing how many dogs seem to start in about that time. It reminds me of the barking chain in 101 Dalmatians. The only difference is that I don't see all the owners trying to stop them. Then there is that rouge person who seems to think that he can call at any given time as long as it is not 10:00. He will remain un-named but his initials are Aaron Talmage Ball. (Aaron works out with me and wakes up at the same time) I think I will back my dune buggy up to their front door at 4:00am ring the door bell, then when they open the door I will rev the engine at them. (It has no muffler.) I guess the other option is to just get really good earplugs and take the phone off the hook. That whole what would Jesus do gets me every time.

A little bit of catch up.

I got to thinking and realized that I have set up this blog and sent the link to lots of people that I have not seen in a while and decided maybe I should catch up on some of the "Whats been going on." Lisa and I now live in Utah in a little place called Eagle Mountain. It is waaaaayyyyy out there. We are about 20 minutes from the freeway however they are putting in a Walmart about 10 minutes from the house. I work for 3M in tech support. No I do not answer calls about using sticky notes or sand paper. 3M has a software that groups and calculates Medicare reimbursement formulas for hospitals. I really like the work and it has been a good experience.

We have rounded the family out at 7. There is of course me and Lisa and then in order of age Kenneth, Adam, Daniel, Troy, and Krislyn. I'm sure you can guess which one is spoiled. They are all doing great and living up to their parents expectation. Lisa is running a preschool now that all but one of the kids are at school. It keeps her busy. Enjoy some of the pictures.


Lisa Made us all dress up on the Sunday of general conference and take this picture 2 years ago. The boys were not happy about that.













This is a picture that we took last year. It was a lot of fun and there were no ties to put on!



Me and my latest dune buggy I built along with a trip the family took to the Grand Canyon without me. (Yes I have still never been to see the Grand Canyon.)