Above Rock Canyon, between Cascade Mountain (10,908′) and Provo Peak (11,068′) sits Lightning Pass. A year and a half ago, after riding motorcycles for 8 hours behind Timpanogos and then up Provo Canyon’s Left Fork and Big Springs, Darin Vandecar and I attempted to ride over the top of the mountain, but didn’t make it. We got stuck behind two other bikes spinning their wheels up a few hundred feet of steep, loose switchbacks. By the time they reached the top, my time was up (had to go float the Provo with a bunch of friends) and we had to turn back.

I’ve craved another shot at the pass ever since. This time I planned to try from the front (west) side. Whenever I mentioned it, I heard stories of a steep, difficult, and possibly impassible scree field near the top and few of my riding buddies seemed very enthused about it. Continue Reading »

Today I went to lunch with my friend Brent (formerly of SAR and still an occasional motorcycle buddy) and we got talking about winter and ski season. I decided to get a season pass at Sundance this year – only $209 for weekdays.

Sundance isn’t steep enough to get me very excited about skiing there all the time, but it’s only a few minutes up the canyon and having a season pass will be great motivation to get outside and catch some daylight on a regular basis. I’ll bring my telemark skis and master that this year. Continue Reading »

I promised to take the neighborhood kids I teach in Sunday school sailing and I realized that one benefit of making commitments and scheduling things is that it pulls me away from working too long.

The boys had homework deadlines and other activities and couldn’t make it, so the girls rounded up their friends in the neighborhood and six of us pulled the boat down to the Marina around 4:30 this afternoon.

There wasn’t any wind, but we enjoyed the warm weather and spent a while diving off the boat and swimming. The water was comfortable with alternating warm and cool pockets. It felt great to be in the water, and enough time had passed that I forgot to miss Bear Lake’s clear, pristine waters. Continue Reading »

I can only work so many 12-14 hour days in a row without a significant drop in productivity, so when my motorcycle riding brothers planned a trip up Hobble Creek canyon yesterday afternoon, I thought I’d best join them. We ended up riding 72 miles round trip and I’m so glad I made the right choice.

After all, autumn is here and it won’t last forever. The best seasons – spring and fall – are far too short in Utah, and with autumn just begun, time is already running out to enjoy it, to get outside and find that perfect spot among the blaze-red and yellow leaves. That perfect view edged by magnificent mountains or a peacefully-still private meadow. The place where a crystal creek spills endlessly over rocks and roots and makes you forget to be in such a rush all the time. Where you remember to stop living in the future or past and land smack-dab in the ongoing present moment, at least until you climb back in your car and drive home again. Continue Reading »

I read my friend Chantal’s blog today as she recounted her birthdays over the years. She mentioned me in one and said this:

“My friend Shaun took me to the mountains for dinner a little later (crutches and all). He made a birthday wish for me that my life-long dream of traveling abroad would come true. Somehow I knew that his wish would come true. He just seemed to me to be one of those people who always got what he wished for.”

Sure enough, her next birthday was spent in France where she spent the year studying. She later served an LDS mission in France, and has traveled to Mexico (a spontaneous trip with me), Thailand, and I don’t know where else.

I’d like to take credit for this wish come true, but other than the Mexico trip, it was simply inevitable. She’s one of the most motivated, goal-oriented people I’ve ever known, with pages and pages of what you might call a “to do list,” except in place of “wash the car, call Mom,” her list was filled with things like “learn pottery, learn Spanish, buy a house, go to law school.” If anything, the only magic she needed was for someone to believe in her dreams.

Of course it’s always nice to be remembered, and her last sentence is bouncing around in my head now, and I realize two things: Continue Reading »

I went riding last Thursday afternoon with friends up Hobble Creek Canyon. We first rode Kirkman up a steep, rocky, curvy trail that causes all kinds of problems if you don’t stay forward on your pegs and steer between the bumps that would love nothing better than to throw your front tire into the air and make you work to get it back down before going off the trail or making you stop and try again.

That’s my second favorite trail in Utah County.

Next we took Pumphouse Ridge for miles along the scenic ridgeline until we dropped down our favorite variation into Packard Canyon, an indy-like smooth trail full of fast, gentle corners. Continue Reading »

I’ve spent the last few years working to narrow down my list of current projects. One of the four or five at the top of the current list is the Utah real estate web page Free Home Utah.com.

We just changed the name (from Free Home Shop), added a blog, and did some design changes, and now I’m working on getting on to page one of Google for common searches like Utah homes for sale.

Having been a real estate agent and appraiser in the past, as well as a home buyer and seller, I designed the site to have everything for everyone. For example, it’s free. List as many homes or rentals as you want, no charge, no catch. Home buyers can search all they want and they don’t even need to register unless they want to use advanced search tools.

The idea is to get super-high volume as the word gets out and hope a lot of users upgrade their listings, which provides a few benefits for under ten bucks per month.

Anyway, we’ve built the better house trap. Now we just need to get the word out so world can beat a virtual path to our door. And yours if you’re selling a home or your a real estate agent.

Last night I became a Reiki Master. Along with my MA in English and being a webmaster for several pages, I’m more than ever a “jack of all trades and master of some.”

If you don’t already know, Reiki is a popular style of energy work. It has three or four levels (depending on which branch you follow) and uses a few techniques to focus specific types of energy for healing effect. Even though it’s not nearly as effective as the other types of energy work I practice, I’ve been quite surprised and impressed with what it can do.

My first experience came when a friend (who is either a Reiki Master or at least level two) tried it on me. I had some thought/feeling that was bugging me (I forget the details) and he offered to give Reiki a try. “Sure,” I replied, ever interested in new experiences and finding out if there was anything to it. He spent a minute to focus the energy, then “zapped” me with it.

I felt the difference immediately! Whatever had been bothering me was gone and I experienced a deep peace in its place.

Soon afterwards, I persuaded my friend Fred Keller, a Reiki Master Teacher (level 4) who is highly principled and one of the most effective energy workers I know, to get me on board. I bought a book to study everything and over several weeks, went through levels one and two and now the master level.

Anyway, it’s just one more interesting thing, one more useful tool.