Jul 3, 2012

Jeremy Jones

Jeremy Jones is a professional snowboarder who grew up here in Utah. Jeff and I have always looked up to him as a rider and followed his career pretty closely. He's older than most of the other pros out there and yet is still creating new tricks and new styles of riding which is just amazing. Jeremy is the one whose snowboard I ride, the Samuel the Lamanite board, with a picture of the prophet on the wall above people shooting arrows and slinging stones at him. Nobody could hit him because he was protected by the power of God.

Jeff sent me the following video on YouTube and my respect and admiration for Jeremy Jones grew even more. This video is so inspiring and steezy (see what I did there?) and it really touched me. Hopefully it will touch and inspire you too. Though he'll probably never read this, thanks, Jeremy.

Jul 2, 2012

Diamond Fork Hot Springs

We've heard several times about a natural hot springs that was somewhere in Spanish Fork Canyon, but never had the opportunity to go up and check it out. Well, that opportunity finally came! theBRIGADE crew went up to explore the area and it turned out to be pretty freaking sweet!


We left after work in the afternoon from with Jake's Scouts and met Jeff and Paul on the way. The trip down took almost 2 hours with all the traffic in Suck Valley, but thankfully we made it without anyone throwing up in the truck. Miracles... Ha!

We found a really beautiful campground and a great campsite that allowed for plenty of hammocks and tents to be set up. After setting up the tents, we got a fire going and started cooking hotdogs for dinner.






After dinner, we decided that we would try to make it up to the hot springs. It was a beautiful night and perfect for a night hike! We drove down the road to the trailhead and it was pretty much packed full of vehicles. We turned on our headlamps and started up the trail...



It was quite the hike for doing it in the dark without ever being up there before. We passed a lot of hikers on their way down and they updated us on our progress. After about an hour or so, we finally found, or actually SMELLED, what we were looking for! And believe me, it was 100% worth the hike!



The water was PERFECT! We couldn't have been more happy. Soon our shirts and shoes were on the ground and we were soaking in the amazing hot springs. Then we looked up to see literally BILLIONS of stars in the sky on what was a clear cloudless night. It was perfect.

After a good soak, we decided to head back down since it was getting pretty near to midnight. The hike down was much faster and we made good time getting back to the truck. We drove back to camp and everyone fell asleep pretty quick. The night was clear and cold, which made for a long night sleeping in a hammock! Overall though, everyone slept well.

We awoke to frost in the morning, so it wasn't long until we had a good fire going and started cooking pancakes and bacon for breakfast. It tasted extra good on this cold morning. We were living like kings!








After breakfast, we cleaned up camp and loaded all our gear into the truck. We decided to hike back up to the hot springs one more time before heading home. The hike was really enjoyable in the daylight and we were finally able to see everything we missed the night before! It was beautiful. Look! Jeff even found an arrowhead! (Inside joke)






We had such a great time at the hot springs that day! The waterfall was really cold, but made for a refreshing rush when you went under it. There was even a hole through it that could be accessed from the backside! It was so sick!








After we were done, we hiked back down to the truck and headed for home. Once again, this was an awesome trip and adventure! Well done, boys!

Jun 27, 2012

Goblin Valley

It's been a minute since we've been out on the ground together, but we recently took a trip down south to hit up Goblin Valley. That place is pretty much the strangest, but coolest terrain I've ever seen! Definitely a must-see place here in Utah.


Jeff and Maren were able to leave on Friday morning and had a chance to check out the area and do some Geocaching throughout the day. Tim and I left after work and made it down just in time before they closed the gate for the night! It was kind of a surreal feeling getting there in the dark. We knew there had to be some awesome stuff to see around us, but we just couldn't see it! We had a good dinner that night and even enjoyed some leftover Boy Scout cobbler that one of our campsite neighbors brought by! Score!


The next morning we woke up to a beautiful sunrise and we could finally see a little bit of what was surrounding us! It was quite the sight for sure. We cooked a nice breakfast, cleaned up camp, and headed up the road to the Valley of Goblins.

We spent the rest of the morning exploring the Valley and enjoying the different rock formations. It is seriously one crazy place! Let's just say that if you're trying to lose someone who is following you, this is the place to go! We had a great time and got some great photos!













After we were finished in the Valley, we drove over to the visitor's center and checked out some maps of the surrounding canyons. It was still early in the day and we had time, so we decided to check out one of the canyons on our way out and eat lunch on the trail before heading home. It was a good time!