Colorado National Monument

Brad and I went to Grand Junction and Fruita Colorado this weekend. We had a great time as always. While in CO we went to Colorado National Monument (the difference between a National Park and a National Mounument is who set the land aside. A National Park is set aside by Congress and a National Mounument is set aside by a president) Colorado National Monument was set aside by President Taft. The park was really nice. It is made up of a bunch of canyons and had some amazing lookout points.







While in Colorado Brad did some mountain biking. I couldn't mountain bike because I sprained my ankle playing indoor soccer so I just stayed in the car and read which was very relaxing. Brad said the trails were amazing and that he would want to go back and ride some more.




A highlight of this weekend was also eating at the Pita Pit. Brad and I use to eat at the Pita Pit while we lived in Rochester and just haven't had it since we moved to Utah. So while in CO we found a Pita Pit and ate there 3 times because it was so good. Brad and I do have a Pita Pit in Utah about an hour away and after this weekend we will definitely be going there more often.
All in all it was a very relaxing and good weekend. Other then visiting Colorado National Monument, mountain biking and eating at the Pita Pit we just walked around Grand Junction CO and Fruita CO. The leaves were out in full force and it was very pretty (a lot of yellows this year).

Kennecott Copper Mine

Brad and I finally went to visit the Kennecott Copper Mine. The mine can be seen along the mountain range and Brad and I have been very interested in going to see it.


A few ramdom facts about the mine are:
It is the largest copper mine in the world. The mine had produced more copper than any mine in history-about 18.1 million tons. The mine is 2 3/4 miles across at the top and 3/4 of a mile deep. You can stack two Sears Towers on top of each other and still not reach the top of the mine. If you were to streach out all the roads in the open pit mine, you'd have 500 miles of roadway-enough to rach from Salt Lake City to Denver. The mine is so big, is can be seen by the space shuttle astronauts as the pass over the United States.





Every year Kennecott produces about 300,000 tons of copper, 500,000 ounces of gold, and 4 million ounces of silver. Here is the site about the mine if you want to know more facts: http://www.kennecott.com
Brad and I really enjoyed our visit. We couldn't get over how big the trucks were that hauled the rocks out of the huge pit. Here are some pictures of just how big the trucks are compared to a regular truck and how big the tires are compared to Brad and I.





Here are pictures of Brad and I at the mine.

Rachel's Trip to Utah

I talked to Rachel about a month ago and she was complaining about not using her vacation time and how she hated planing trips. So I told her that I would plan her a trip and all she had to do was pay for it and show up. So with the being said I of course planned her a trip to Utah to see me. Rachel is pretty easy going and she likes to camp and hike so I decided to take her to some National Parks out here in Utah. She had some idea of what to expect but nothing can prepare you for the National Parks out here.
She flew in late Thursday night and we left early Friday morning to drive 5 hours to Zion National Park in Southern UT. (Yes, Salt Lake City is cold and there is snow on the mountains but southern UT is in the 80s due to the lower elevation so that is where we went.) We got to Zion pretty early in the day and had plenty of time to set up our campsite and hike the park. We saw the main attractions of the park and did two main hikes all before it got dark. We went back to our campsite cooked dinner, made a fire and crashed from our long busy day.



On Saturday we got up and drove to the North Rim of Grand Canyon. It took us only three hours to drive from Zion NP to the Grand Canyon. Once at the Grand Canyon we walked around the little village they had and we to the different view points of the canyon. It was very windy in some spots but overall it was a very comfortable fall day. After we had our fill of the canyon we drove back to Zion, cooked dinner and crashed for we would be hiking Angel's Landing.




After a good nights sleep we got up on Sunday morning packed up our campsite and heading to the trail head of Angel's Landing. For those of you who don't know Angel's Landing is a very steep hike 2.5 mile hike. The hike starts off on pavements with large gains of elevation with a lot of switch backs after to get to what you think is the top you then have to finish the last half mile hiking on this steep cliff with chains. No joking matter. Rachel and I kicked this trail butt. We pretty much ran up the trail with no rest. (I don't know if it was the bacon, cheese and egg bagel sandwich that gave us our energy or the sweedish fish we ate after our bagel sandwich). I have climbed Angel's Landing 3 time already with other people but I never climbed it so fast. Rachel was just amazing going up all the switch backs and climbing with the chains. She was very nervous about the chain part of the hike and I being the good friend said I will turn back whenever she wants. We would be out on the chains and she would say "I really don't know about this" and I would stand there seeing if we would turn back and then she would take off climbing the chains up to the top. It was a windy day and there were fires in AZ so our view was a little hazy at the top but still the hike was worth it. After we climbed and hiked down Angel's Landing we then got in the car and drove back to Salt Lake City were Rachel caught her flight back to Rochester.




Rachel and I had a great time hanging out like we usually do (we have only been friends since 2nd grade).
While I was off with Rachel in Southern, UT Brad was in Northern UT/ID (right on the boarder) working/hanging out at Bear Lake. So he was invited to hang out with Rachel and I but due to work it turned out to be a girls weekend for Rachel and I.