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Summit of Mt. Ben Lomond

Two weeks ago we packed the kids into the Caravan and began the trek from California to Utah.  Cade and I were planning on tagging along with Aubrie’s brothers for a deer hunt in northern Utah.  We finished the drive to Provo at about 1:30 AM, and easily fell asleep at our destination. 

The next morning Cade and I packed our camping gear and were off with the other boys for our three hour trek to Liberty, Utah on the eastern side of the Wasatch mountains.  After some exploration of the area and a visit to the firing range, we went to bed early to rest for the day ahead.

Our group woke up at 3:30 AM (2:30 California time) to get an early start on our hike up the mountains we would be scouting.  We started our hike from the trailhead at 4 AM having no idea what to expect.  It was cold, dark, and no signs of anyone else on the mountain aside from a few other parked trucks at the trailhead.  The trail started out as a wide gravel road for maybe 1/2 a mile.  Then a small horse/hiking trail shot off to the side next to a boulder and disappeared into the woods.  The trail switches back and forth up the mountain, becoming rough and wet at some points, but overall being an easy to intermediate hike.  We came across a deer while it was still dark, its eyes glowed in our headlights.  Since we were looking for a buck, it was simply a diversion from the hike, but still fun to catch our first glimpse of the wild life.  The hike continued up the mountain until about 7 AM.

At that point we had come to a hill off the side of the trail that seemed to have nice views of the surrounding area.  Adam felt it would be a good place to start the hunt, so we settled in on this hill to have breakfast and wait for the sun to come up.  As the sun rose it illuminated the mountain we were perched on, and I took in the beauty of its peak.  I had no knowledge of what mountain we were on or its elevation, but I knew with our early start that the summit was a definite possibility.  When I asked Cade if he wanted to go all the way to the top he replied an eager “Yes!”  So after breakfast we wished the others luck with the hunt and told them we were off to the top.  There’s nothing like a spontaneous adventure to the top of a mountain!

Southern view of the peak from the final ridge.

Cade and I went back to the trail and continued on our way to the top.  It wasn’t long before we started seeing patches of snow which gradually became a frozen white blanket covering the earth around us.  At about this point we turned a corner on the trail when we made our first moose sighting of the day.  It was about 50 yards off the trail, but was still exciting since you don’t see moose everyday in California.  On our way up we saw a group of 3 deer making their way across the mountain, and the reality of the day set in as we began to hear gun shots echo off the mountain.  At about 9:30 AM we were on top of the last tree lined ridge that approached the peak above.  We found a confluence of trails on this ridge with a sign that finally provided some information about our climb.  It showed various trailheads that lead to the top, and their respective elevations.  We had started at 5,000′ and had traveled about 4.5 miles to about 8,700′.  We would be climbing another 1.5 miles and 1,000′ to the summit of 9,716′.

Cade and I were already hungry again, so we took a break and ate “lunch” before continuing on.  This final ascent was definitely the best part of the trek.  Though we were unequipped with the shoes for it, we spent a good amount of time ignoring the trail.  Instead we opted to climb through the snow and boulders, finding as many shortcuts as possible.  We were wet and cold and the wind became more intense the higher we climbed.  As we neared the summit we got back on the trail and followed it to the top.

We reached the summit at 11:00 AM, or about 7 hours after starting out that morning.  The views were awesome, from the Great Salt Lake and Utah Valley to the Rocky Mountains to the east.  I was proud of Cade for making it all the way without any complaints.  I don’t know if most seven year olds would have made it, let alone wanted to get there.  We met a girl at the top who had jogged up the trail from Ogden.  She is a med-student from Florida and she was visiting University of Utah to consider it for her residency.  Coming from Florida with a completely different landscape, she was amazed by the mountains.  Even though we live in the foothills of the Sierra Nevadas, this was truly a sight for us also.  We were glad to have met her since my cell battery had died, so we had no way to take a picture.  She asked if she could take our picture and send it to me later.  (Scroll to the bottom of the post for the pic)  After the snap shots she took off, and Cade and I enjoyed the summit for a few more minutes.  Cade found a pen to write his name on a piece of tape that was attached to a metal box at the top.  The wind was really blowing, so after about 10 minutes we were chilled and ready to go.

The hike back down was much quicker and we saw more wildlife.  We found the rest of our group taking a break right on the trail on our way back down.  They never shot a buck, but we drove back to Provo thoroughly spent from a fun day on Mt. Ben Lomond.

Here’s some more information about the peak from Summit Post and Wikipedia:

http://www.summitpost.org/parent/152185/ben-lomond.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ben_Lomond_Mountain_(Utah)

Sam and Cade Bragg, Ben Lomond Summit, 10/17/2009

Tags: ben lomond, climbing, deer, hiking, hunting, liberty, moose, provo, snow, summit, utah, wasatch

Bombers Week Seven Recap

10/24/2009 – Week Seven Recap

Captains: Laura, Brookelynn, Emily

Tags: bombers, grass valley, soccer

Bragg Boys at California Pizza Kitchen

(October 2009)

From Left to Right: Marcus, Matt, Andy, Greg, Chris, Robby, Tom, Sam

A boys’ night out earlier this month after a church meeting.  CPK has some pretty good pizza.  I traded slices with Matt, Andy and Marcus, but have to say my garlic chicken was the best of them.

Tags: bragg, california pizza kitchen, family, picture

Where’s the Outrage?

I’m becoming increasingly concerned that the remarkable rally we have seen over the past 6 months is nothing but hot air.  I’m done with bailouts and government spending.  I’m tired of the political incompetence we have seen from both Democrats and Republicans for as long as I have been voting.  I hope we do not fall into the trap of apathy that will certainly result in the decline of our nation.  Americans need to know what’s going on, talk about what’s going on, and figure out how to fix this.

Below is an excerpt from a Mish’s Global Economic Trend Analysis article that I read this weekend.  You need to read the whole article to fully understand what is going on, but here is Mish’s take at the end of the article:

Where’s The Outrage?

I don’t know about you, but I am outraged.

I am outraged and not just about Goldman Sachs, but about a process that allows, even encourages political pandering, by time and time again rewarding leveraged riverboat gamblers and failed institutions and at taxpayer expense.

I am outraged that real people are suffering massively while the influence peddlers have stolen the country for their own personal benefit.

I am outraged at a political system that is totally unresponsive to the American people.

I am outraged by campaign contribution and lobbying processes that allows corporations to buy votes with donations.

I am outraged how legislators ignored the wishes of the people who clearly did not want these bailouts in the first place.

I am outraged that very little of this is in mainstream media. Why is this stuff not on the frontpage of every newspaper in the country or at least in the editorial pages?

I am outraged that the average US citizen is not aware of any of this, instead depending on CNBC, or “The View” for their interpretation of the world.

I am outraged how special interest groups have exercised their power to monopolize the economy for the benefit of themselves, US citizens be damned.

I am outraged that all these bailout programs are doing nothing to alleviate the massive consumer debt problems. Every program, virtually every program was designed to bailout lending institutions, not consumers.

I am outraged at fees charged by banks receiving bailouts.

I am outraged over government pension plans and government pay scales massively out of line with the private sector.

I am outraged that Congress and this administration thinks the solution to massive budget deficits are still higher budget deficits in excess of a trillion dollars.

I am outraged about indictments. Paulson Admitted Coercion to force a shotgun wedding between Bank of America and Merrill Lynch yet no indictments were handed out. Let the Criminal Indictments Begin: Paulson, Bernanke, Lewis.

I am outraged that US citizens are not concerned enough and not educated enough to demand change.

I am outraged that the two party system has failed. Neither party has delivered meaningful change on budgets, on taxes, on social security, on deficit spending, on the size of government, on military spending, or fighting needless wars.

I am outraged at a Fed that purports to be “inflation fighters” when the only source of inflation in the word are central bankers, and their fractional reserve lending policies.

I am outraged that Greenspan and Bernanke could not see a housing bubble that 1000 bloggers could see.

I am outraged at the selective memory of Bernanke when speaking to Congress about these problems.

I am outraged that Bernanke’s one sided response to asset bubbles, letting them grow without end, then bailing out the financial institutions that cause them.

I am outraged the Fed exists at all. It is a useless organization that cannot see bubbles, that panders to banks, that supports inflationary policies that are tantamount to theft by fraud.

I am outraged that the Obama Administration promised changed and did not deliver. “Yes We Can” was a lie. The reality is “It’s Business As Usual, Only Worse, With Higher Deficits”.

I am outraged there is not enough outrage over this.

Where the hell is the outrage?

Mike “Mish” Shedlock
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com

Tags: economy, government, money, politics

Bombers Week Six Recap

10/17/2009 – Week Six Recap

Captains: None

Star Players: EVERYONE!

OVERALL RECORD 1-4-1

Tags: bombers, newcastle, soccer