A 50mm Life

Endless Summer

Another Hawaiian sunset

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Minnetonka Cave

[+2 on Flickr]

In 1906 or 1907 a man named James Arnell discovered a cave very close to Bear Lake, Utah, while in search for his dinner one afternoon. Later, Porcupine Cave was renamed Minnetonka Cave, or Falling Waters, and this spectacular cave features beautiful helictites, stalactites and stalagmites throughout.

The cave is incredible, and the lighting is very well done with some red, green and white lights. The cave is only explorable by an official tour from the ranger (and a fee), which lasts about 90 minutes. While wearing shorts and sweatshirts we ventured into the 40° F cave and walked all 896 stairs down and back! We had a blast!


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Follow the Sun

After hitting the Saddle of Timpanogos and going as far as we wanted that morning, we made our way along the trail to start our decent back home. The morning sun had just breached the horizon and was above the clouds in the distant sky.

What a trip! It’ll be something I’ll never forget, and a hike which I’ll conquer again this year and many more times. I learned more about myself in that day and 1/2 than I have in the last few years. It was a spiritual experience with nature.

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Rainbow of Light

Catching a last bit of sunshine in the Aspen Grove waterfall produced a rainbow of light flowing over the mountainside.

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Green Paradise

Walking along the Aspen Grove Timpanogos trail to visit the 1st and 2nd waterfalls. This is a 1.2m hike, and rated easy. Much of the hike gives you a break from the sun as you walk along shaded canopies, but bring lots of water!

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Timp Waterfalls

On a previous hike with the family up the Aspen Grove trail of Timpanogos, we hit the 1st and 2nd  waterfalls which are found along the path. Pictured is the 2nd waterfall - a ton of water streaming down maybe a 25-30 foot mountain wall.

This hike is perhaps the most beautiful that I’ve been on in Utah. It’s an easy hike - just 1.2 - 1.4 miles from the Aspen Grove parking lot, making it closer than the Stewart Falls hike with 2x the beauty.

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(+3 more over at Flickr)

11,000 feet above sea level, here we are finally on the Saddle of Timpanogos. Below us looms Utah Valley, including Utah Lake and cities such as Nephi, Santaquin, Spanish Fork, Springville, Provo, Orem, Lindon, Pleasant Grove, American Fork, and Lehi.

The view is breathtaking in-person!

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Aspen Grove

The morning after hiking Timp I woke up early to capture the sunrise. Looking towards Sundance Ski Resort, the sun gently came up over the horizon and lit up the whole mountain side.

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Hidden Lake Sunset

(+2 over at Flickr)

Living at the foot of the Rocky Mountains in Utah Valley, we sit just below the 2nd tallest mountain in Utah, called Mount Timpanogos or Timp for short. Timp sits at 11,749 feet, and I hadn’t had a great desire to hike up Timp until last week.

After a series of short and easy training sessions, I decided that we’d go explore the area and mountain to get a feel for how tough it will be to hike. If this is all you read, just know this mountain is completely unforgiving and kicked my butt.

So, last week me and my son put on full backpacks with a tent, sleeping bags, water, and food, and took the Aspen Grove Trail (there is also a Timpanooke Trail to the summit of Timp) to start our exploration.

In a fairly aggressive time schedule, I must admit that I was a little naive. It took 5 hours from the base of Aspen Grove to reach our camp site at Hidden Lake, and took 4 hours from this point to hike down. We explored the Hidden Lake, Emerald Lake, Timp Shelter, Timp Glacier, Timpanooke/Aspen Grove Trail merge, and the Timpanogos Saddle.

After all was said and done, we hiked about 16 miles and gained/descended about 4900 feet of elevation. We ate a  freeze-dried hiking dinner (Western Chili and mashed potatoes), went through 10 liters of water, ate snacks, and energy bars. We saw a herd of mountain goats, and earned sore shoulders, hips, and feet from our expedition.

Pictured is the last light of the day in its fisheye HDR glory.

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Fireworks Weekend

I sure hope all of you had as great of a weekend as I did. I took Thurs & Fri off from work, and spent a few days at Bear Lake, Utah with the family. After returning Saturday night for Independence Day, we went to the Freedom Festival’s Stadium of Fire in Provo, Utah.

The Stadium of Fire takes place at BYU Cougar Stadium, known as LaVell Edwards Stadium. The place was packed, and holds 50,000 people in the stands. Headlining that night before the fireworks was Carrie Underwood, and not only was she great, but there were a ton of cowboy-boot, hat and short-shorts girls singing right along with her in the stands. I was amazed at the new fashion trend Carrie Underwood has started with that outfit.

Just after the show started at 8 pm, Mother Nature started showing off her stuff, and put up a fantastic sunset, as pictured above and below. Just check out the colors and the sun!

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The Patriot

I had the best weekend! See the previous photo for more information on that.

Once fireworks started at the Stadium of Fire, the display did not disappoint! The fireworks were the best I’ve seen in my life, and were amazing. Here are a few of my favorites.

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Lunch Time

A juvenile sea turtle hunts for green mossy seaweed to eat during lunch time on the North Shore of Oahu in Shark’s Cove.

Snorkeling is such a blast. On this day, the waves were quite rough, and tossed this sea turtle back and forth 20-30 feet with each surge. I’d lose it for 30-40 seconds sometimes.

Hope you’re having a wonderful summer!

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DiCAPac WP-S10 Waterproof Bag

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The Weekend

After a nice long week, a few days off is going to feel great! Hopefully you have some great plans to relax, and have fun?

This photo was taken looking back on San Francisco after a business trip to company headquarters. It being late in the day, the sun has start to set, giving a golden reflection in along the bay.

Wish me luck in my grass volleyball tournament!

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Sparkles

Just a few weeks ago I had the opportunity to hang with my 11 year old son and his scout troop up at a wonderful waterfall and hot springs. Well, I didn’t get enough, and came home so excited that I took the family up the next weekend.

We camped a night in our big family tent, hiked the 2.2 miles (or so) there and another 2.2 miles back to enjoy the waterfalls, the gorgeous scenery, and the hot springs.

Walking in the river, I bent down to get the camera low with the fisheye lens and snapped a few RAW/NEF photos. The water is refreshing (i.e. freezing) mainly, some places were boiling where the hot springs come out, and a few places, like the pool below, are just right. One of the best weekends replayed with the family - we’re sure spoiled here in Utah!

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Imagination

Flying home from San Francisco last month, I kept peeking out of the window in an attempt to see the sunset from my seat. I forgot that Daylight Savings had me getting the “show” much later than my landing time - but I did get some great clouds! Their formations sometimes curious, I thought I saw something in this particular one. What do you see?

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