Filling the post-work void

Posted on 09/14/2010 by Jared Ray Conger

It’s about 3:15 PM and you can’t stop looking at your computer’s clock. When will you finally be freed from the confines of your world in cubicle-ville? But more importantly, what will you do when you get off of work?

In Salt Lake City, Utah I have an advantage that many other people just don’t have access to: the great, easily accessed Wasatch Mountains – and within 30 minutes from my front door.

When I’m in a rut at work and the Summer seems to be passing me by, I look to the hills for a quick and fulfilling hike. More often than not I prefer my hikes to come with the cache of some fishing; relaxation, zen like repetitive movement. Nothing has really soothed the savagely over-worked beast quite like the combination of the two (well, except for having a nice pizza, but that’s another story all together).

So, here is a “Quick Hike” recommendation that just so happens to blend those two joys of mine together.

Twin Lakes, Brighton (View Larger Map)
Round Trip: 2.6 total miles
Elevation Gain: 650 feet
Difficulty: Easy (there is a section of about 100 yards where you gain a good portion of elevation, so take your time).

My average time to hike in has been hovering around 40 minutes. The fishing has been, well… the  last two trips for me has been non-existent, but I went at bad times of the day for the fishing to be expected to be any good – so overall I would say that the fishing is medium-okay.

NOTE: You cannot use bait up there as it is a watershed! Flies, and Spinners only! (which also means NO DOGS! this is our drinking water people)

This is a lovely place to pack a lunch, or small dinner and head up to, or even put a small hammock in your backpack and setup for an afternoon nap (yes, I did this once and it was divine).

One word of warning: the Silver Lake recreation area below is quite popular and sometimes the parking lot can fill up quickly on holiday weekends so be prepared to do a little bit more hoofing it should you have to utilize a non-traditional parking spot.

NOTE: Verizon has great cell phone coverage up there so if you’re trying to escape the phone, turn it off.

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There’s Disc Golf in Them There Hills!

Posted on 09/13/2010 by Jared Ray Conger

Looking for something to do before the snow settles in? How about a round of Disc Golf?

It’s a fun leisurely game of chance that may, or may not involve a backpack with a few beers, a small picnic and a little bit of sun screen… While you can play it in the city, why not hit up some of the local resorts and enjoy the scenery before it gets chilly?

Disc GolfSome places to check out before it’s too late:
The Canyons: (CLOSED FOR THE SEASON!)
http://www.thecanyons.com/disc_golf.html?summer=yes
* Use of Course: FREE
Canyons Frisbee Golf course* Gondola Ticket $15 per person (or free with your The Canyons Resort 09/10 season pass)
* Disc Rental (includes a driver, mid-range disc and putter) : $15 rental fee, $10 deposit (or bring your own for free!)

Solitude:
http://skisolitude.com/summer/disc_golf.php
Each hole ranges from 300 to 500 feet. The course is free for those who choose to hike, but you can also take the Sunrise Lift to get to the first hole. (single lift $6)

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Rock ‘N Roll Coochie Coo

Posted on 09/12/2010 by Jared Ray Conger

Some Sunday rock and/or roll from one of the most classic era’s in music history –

Jimi Hendrix with Purple Haze

And now, a famous live performance on the BBC by the same master of the guitar, Jimi Hendrix (from 1969):

I said Whip it, into shape, it’s not to late, to whip it, whip it good:

(Check out this flow chart, it is a step by step guide for when to whip it, and so forth)

And finally, what day would be complete without a little Hall and Oates, wait, what’s that? No, no, I can’t go for that (no can do):

Enjoy your Sunday!

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Hiking the “Clyde Lake Loop”

Posted on 09/11/2010 by Jared Ray Conger

You ever just go to a place with one thing in mind, but somewhere along the way an unknown force compels you to continue putting one foot in front of the other and just keep on trucking?

View from near Clyde LakeThen let’s talk about one of my favorite areas to do some hiking in the Uintas. Loosely I’ve heard it referred to as the “Clyde Lake basin” or the “Divide Lake Basin” but essentially, it is a great ~5.75 mile round trip that brings you by 9 fish-able lakes with the option to hit about 8 more (some more fish-able than others), with backdrops being set by Mount Watson, “the Notch” and Bald Mountain.

Fishing basically consists of brook trout, but you will come across Rainbows, and even some Tiger and Brown trout depending on which lake you are at.

Shade graces the trails for a good portion of the time, an important aspect on those hot summer days, and there are more than enough “oh wow” spots to choose from for an impromptu watering stop, or, to just sort of take it all in.

PS – don’t forget your fishing license!

Map of the High UintasHow to get there:
Drive from Kamas up the Mirror Lake Highway, at mile marker #26, prepare to turn left for the Crystal Lake Trailhead.

From Crystal Lake Trailhead, take the Notch Mountain Trail to Wall Lake. This trail is next to the horse ramp in the parking area.

Start easy, head towards Wall Lake – after about a mile of nice easy rolling hills you will come across this larger Uinta lake (note, the fishing can be spotty due to it’s ease of access).

Look North from the lake, the depression in the mountains you see is called, The Notch. Continue on the trail towards The Notch, slowly climbing your way towards it. The trail will pass by a few unnamed lakes, giving you some switchbacks which lead to a cliff face , then bringing you to the feet of Hope Lake (roughly 2 miles in).

At about the 3 mile mark you arrive at The Notch. As soon as you arrive, head left along the mountain shelf, watching for cairns to guide you down to Clyde Lake. You can spot Clyde Lake to the West of said shelf with Mount Watson as it’s backdrop.

Once at Clyde, you may choose to go for a swim on a warm day – there are some great large flat rocks to lie on and dry off (or run down into the water). This nice basin also contains the three Divide Lakes (in high mosquito season you may want to skip checking them out as it’s a bit swampy and they can get thick and “buggy”)

After Clyde Lake the trail will turn south towards the next set of lakes: Watson, Linear, Petite and Cliff. Keep an eye out for cairns marking the way as at varying times of the year the trail may become muddled, or covered with some snow.

Once at Cliff lake, the trail will wind down towards Crystal Lake, and then back into the parking lot.

Some basics for you to know…
Difficulty: Moderate
Round-trip: 5.75 miles
Hiking time: 4 to 5 hours
Elevation gain: 903 ft.

clyde lake map

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Movie Review: Valhalla Rising

Posted on 09/10/2010 by Jared Ray Conger

Brief synopsis…
Valhalla Rising is the story of a mute Norse warrior, enslaved by the clans of the Highlands*, he then finds his freedom and begins an odyssey of epic proportion, in the end, finding some light at the end of the proverbial tunnel.

Valhalla Rising, Are and One EyePerhaps I was under the wrong impression when I assumed this movie would be about Vikings while depicting large format battle scenes, I think I blame the printed materials I first came across: Well, I hope you can see why originally I thought there may be large battles after seeing the hordes of warriors on the original cover.

But, somewhere they made a change, likely it was done before hitting theaters in the USA:

The latter is closer to the movies feel; bleak, dark, almost empty. But allow me to elaborate, this film is in no way “empty” in a negative tense, but rather just full enough – in fact, it nearly over flows with visual beauty, and intense music (NOTE: I do not intend to refer to brutal fight scenes as visual beauty, rather the backdrops. It does pose quite a visual dilemma when faced with the brutality of certain scenes while being set to some of the most amazing landscapes on Earth).

In one scene a young boy, Are, fills us in on the origin of our hero …
“What’s your name” (speaking to One Eye)
“His name is One Eye”
“Where’s he from”
“He’s from Hell”
“Where’s Hell?”
“Across the sea…”

While the young boy appears to be of Viking decent, you never really are told, and while they appear to be surrounded by Scottish clans, you can only truly assume so much; which is something that I loved about this movie – you are told nothing, and left to analyze and conclude most everything on your own. I know that there are some of you that this concept will absolutely freak out, but, you are also more likely to dislike “artsy” type films. (Another strange dilemma; an artsy Scottish-Viking film?)

Via Wikipedia’s description of the movie, “… takes place in 1000 AD and follows a Norse warrior named One-Eye and a boy named Are as they travel with a band of Christian Vikings in pursuit of a Crusade. Instead they voyage west to North America.”

Important side note: don’t be fooled, this is indeed an “ART FILM”- the action is just enough to keep you frothing, but you aren’t going to see mega-battles created in CGI here. The films special effects really take place in the format of makeup and after effects (in terms of hue/color balancing- all done to the point of brilliance mind you).

In the end, this movie is one wild ride, after which I was consumed by it’s acts, meanings, music, backdrop, and history. While engaged in the act of watching it, I found myself moving closer to the television, as if that could somehow help me interpret my surroundings better; while the intensity of some scenes making it hard for me to sit still at times, had me moving all over the couch, or even standing up at one point and talking to myself.

I would close by saying that this type of movie only comes along once in a long while. Rarely are Art, Film, Music, and Awesome built so seamlessly into one flowing body of work; and this body of work is Valhalla Rising.

RANDOM NOTES:
The film starts off with some brutal violence, but the hardest to stomach is in the first scene – entitled “Wrath“, after which, it tones down quite a bit.

Scene V: HELL – a borderline schizophrenic experience; the music really carries this pace as you begin to realize where the travelers are …

PLOT
“A mysterious mute Norse warrior named One-Eye is held captive up above in misty highlands. He is forced as a prisoner to be pitted against other criminals and mercilessly fight to the death. One-Eye continues to survive each fight, ruthlessly slaughtering his enemies by the numbers. While imprisoned, a young boy named Are tends to him regularly, bringing him food and water.

One-Eye is shown to have the ability to foresee events in his dreams.”


OFFICIAL SITE
http://www.valhallarising.dk/

Facebook Page:
 http://www.facebook.com/pages/Valhalla-Rising/103750792997645
Movie Previews:
http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=valhalla+rising&aq=f

More Reviews:
http://www.boston.com/ae/movies/articles/2010/07/30/valhalla_rising_brings_vikings_to_the_new_world

http://www.ifcfilms.com/uncategorized/valhalla-rising

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0862467/

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Preparing for the Snowboarding Season

Posted on 09/03/2010 by Jared Ray Conger

via Transworld - Guardsmans Pass, Big Cottonwood CanyonIt’s never too early to get in shape for the upcoming snowboarding season. In fact, let me give you a “duh” moment here real quick: “Skiing and Snowboarding are two very physically demanding sports. So much so, a health and exercise expert says athletes should exercise or “get in shape” before hitting the slopes. 3 out of 1,000 Skiers and 7 out of 1,000 Snowboarders are injured on the slopes everyday. These experts also say the major reason behind these injuries is that people are out of shape when getting on their skis or boards for the first time this season.”

In essence, a huge part of being ready for the upcoming season is about working on your balance and flexibility. Balance really has so much to do with the quality of experience you will have on the slopes, after all, it is balance that allows you to go from heel to toe, switch edges without face-planting, and come off of a kicker without looking like a wild duck.

A good way to work on balance is to simply walk on a wall (I recommend a lower wall until you have attained some essence of balance, avoid a preseason injury here) – even railroad tracks are great (again, make sure there are no oncoming trains to deal with, safety people, safety!).

Keeping limber is as easy as stretching out on a daily basis, take 5-minutes to just stretch your body out from head to toe. This guy has some nice suggestions on creating a daily stretching routine:

Check out this guy’s basic suggestions for “what to do” to stay in shape:

But these two ladies show us some more “dialed in” things to focus on:

Does all of this work? Let’s put it to the test shall we?

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