I'm Just Sayin...

Moving

2009-09-06T00:21:00.002-06:00

Recently I bought an iMac and I have to say that I am impressed with it. It is very simple to use and takes little time getting use to the switch from PC to Mac OS. What does this have to do with the move? Well, there is an application called iWeb that I just recently found and it allows one to create personal websites quite easily and also link them together. One of the many different sites available is a blog template that I have found to be much more user friendly than blogger. And so without further adieu I will cease to update this blog and from now on be doing all my blogging update at this site...

http://web.me.com/tjdhulst/tjdhulst

I hope that this won't be an inconvenience for those who do follow the blog.

"One nation under God, DIVISIBLE?"

2009-08-04T11:54:00.004-06:00

While reading through the Drudge Report I came across the above video about a town hall meeting with Senator Tim Bishop of NY. Now there are a few topics discussed in the video but the main ones are about universal health care and cap and trade. While watching the video and listening to the angry crowd and the responses Senator Bishop gave a few thoughts ran through my mind about the state our nation is in.

1) "We Want our Country Back!" screamed one woman before the town hall meeting begins. What does that mean? To her and many other Americans it might mean that the people we elected into office are not representing our values and representing our voice. The senator, in one of his little speeches, talked about what his beliefs were and what his stance on certain issues were but is that why he was elected? Was he elected to represent his beliefs or was he elected to represent his constituents beliefs? And, as one can tell by this video, his beliefs didn't reflect his constituents beliefs. OK, so there is a belief among Americans that our voices are not being represented by our congressmen.
However, one must ask the question how we lost our country in the first place? Why are these men who don't represent the majority holding office? If you look at the voter turnout for federal elections from 1960-2008 we find a startling fact. One, only about 50% of the country turns out to vote for presidential elections (the bold numbered years, every four years) and a dismal 36-40% for congressional elections (every two years). And from what we've seen in past and current years, the majority voice does not speak up, and now we see that the majority voice does not vote. So the majority of Americans are asleep at the wheel and those who are speaking up are those who we see as more liberal or progressive, hence the more liberal congressmen and liberal bills being proposed.
Can we not say then that we brought this upon ourselves? Is it not our fault that we did not step up to the plate and take action when it needed to be taken? I include myself in this realm because I am one of those 60% who have not voted in congressional elections. I have been one of those people who didn't take much interest in the political realm because I was complacent and didn't see much of a problem, until now when the majority of our leaders have views that are contrary to mine. But I didn't do anything about it when I had the chance. So yes, it is partially my fault, as it is everyone who does not participate in voting. Democracy only works when the people participate. Hopefully this situation will awaken the majority at the next elections. Let us take more interest in our local leaders and those we send to Washington. Let the majority speak! Remember the words of king Mosiah when he said "it is not common that the voice of the people desireth anything contrary to that which is right; but it is common for the lesser part of the people to desire that which is not right...and if the time comes that the voice of the people doth choose iniquity, then is the time that the judgments of God will come upon you..." (Mosiah 29:26-27)

2) A note to senators and congressmen: Listen to the people. If the majority of your veterans say that they are disappointed with VA services because they've had personal experience there you shouldn't respond by saying "I'm proud of our VA services," especially if you've never had to use them. If more military families are being forced to seek medical service off base because they cannot get into seeing their primary care provider than I see a problem. That's just two examples of government run healthcare, we need not discuss other failed government programs such as Medicare, Medicaid, Tricare, Social Security, Cash for Clunkers, Digital TV, etc. Again I repeat, listen to your constituents.

3) Remember that we still need to act in a civilized matter. Yes you might be upset but don't let that anger turn to irrationality. Things need to be done in an organized manner. Everyone has the right to voice their opinion and be heard, even if you disagree with it. I heard a commentator yesterday talk about the importance of remaining calm and organized. It only takes one screw ball fanatic to ruin it for everyone else. "The government won't hesitate to use the excuse of EMERGENCY," this commentator says. We need to be bold but not overbearing, forceful but not violent.

4) One thing that really disappoints me is the divided parties in our government. Democrats are fighting against Republicans because of party affiliation. Democrats say that they will push health care reform with or without Republican support. By doing this they want to push a reform upon millions of Americans who don't want it. In the past we've seen Republicans do the same thing. Fellow Americans, "UNITED WE STAND, DIVIDED WE FALL." Our country is continuing to be divided by these so called parties and eventually it will affect the country. It's time that we step out of the realm of political parties and make decisions based on the good of the country, not the good of the party.

Paiute ATV Trail 4th of July Weekend

2009-07-08T10:15:00.020-06:00

So this past weekend I had the great pleasure to celebrate the 4^th of July by taking a little trip down south and four wheeling the Paiute ATV trail in south/central Utah with my father. While driving through Utah you wouldn’t expect to find much in the south/central area, but if you get out of the car and onto a four wheeler there is so much to experience. The main trail loop is estimated to be about 250 miles long with dozens of little side trails. Exploring this whole trail system could take weeks, and since we only had four days we had to get in as much as we could.

DAY 1

The trip started out on Thursday morning. We met up at Hill Air Force Base in Clearfield because we were actually going with their outdoor recreation program. So we all met there at 7:00 am. Upon arriving we saw that the bikes were already loaded onto the trailers and all we had to do was jump inside the vans and we were off. The trip down wasn’t that long actually, it only took about three hours. We ended up in a little town called Salina, which is where the loop begins. From there we unloaded the bikes from the trailer and packed them with our equipment. And thus the four wheeling begins! The first part is riding through the town of Salina until you come to a service dirt road that takes you to the trail head. After passing under I-70 we met up with the trailhead and the adventure begins.

The trail at this point is rated as easy because it doesn’t have many technical parts to it and instead of steep climbs we had some rolling hills. We entered what is known as Soldier Canyon and followed a creek bed. It was always interesting to look back occasionally and see a line of four wheelers, and the dust rising up behind them, following in unison every turn and curve. There came a point in the trail where we had to cross a river which was somewhat deep. I kicked my legs up on the front wheel wells and sloshed on through. We made it about 15-20 miles in when someone from our group started to have a little medical issue that made us cut our first day short so we could attend to her and get her back into town (that story will be posted next). So after attending to her it was getting kind of late and so we made camp along the river bed at the base of a formation known as Squaw Ledge. At various times during the day, when the sun hits it just right, the ledge glows a brilliant reddish/orange color that is absolutely captivating. That afternoon and night we had some light rain showers that not only kept us cool but also helped keep the dust down while on the trail. It also brought a beautiful rainbow that graced the sky as we set up camp. I’ve become a big fan of Adobe Photoshop over the past year because it allows me to merge many photos together to come out with one big one, and that’s how I captured this rainbow, took many shots from different positions and put them all together. Dad and I set up camp next to a small grove of trees. After setting up camp we wandered back into this grove and found that it offered some good protection from the light rain that was falling and would be a perfect kitchen to start making dinner (freeze dried chicken alfredo with pink salmon). Other took notice to our little kitchen and decided to join us with their culinary creations. So we all enjoyed a good dinner under this canopy of green. Afterwards, we found some dry wood and started our self a little fire. As the sun set and the fire continued on we sat around it telling stories of past experiences and roasted marshmallows (seriously, what’s a fire without marshmallows?). Then as the fire died down and the stories became boring we all decided it was time to get a little shut eye. Because the day was cut short we only rode a grand total of about 25 miles, and that includes the double backing we had to do.

DAY 2

The day started out with the sun basking Squaw Ledge in its magnificent light. There were a few light clouds in the sky but nothing that appeared to bring rain with them. We expected this day to be a hot, sunny day. And that’s how it turned out. We made breakfast (oatmeal) lazied around camp while waiting for equipment to dry out a little before packing all up and then eventually broke camp and got back on the trail. We followed the trail as it meandered alongside a stream known as Lost Creek. This trail also cut through a beautiful canyon that offered some great turns and sights. Eventually we emerged from the canyon and were back onto open, flat ground. This part of the ride gets a little monotonous because it’s pretty much a couple of long, straight dirt service roads. The good part about these roads is that they let you open up the bike and see what you can top out at. OK, so it’s hard to see what you can top out at if you don’t have a speedometer, but when you have a GPS device you will find that we got up to about 40 mph, which for a mountain/hunting type 4 speed four wheeler it’s not that bad. Of course, with it being as hot and dry riding behind someone that fast does kick up a lot of dust and so goggles and a bandana are suggested. Also, don’t expect your white shirt to stay white for very long (or ever again) after riding in dust that long. This service road is part of the trail and it takes you around Koosharem Reservoir, which is named after the small town that it supplies, Koosharem.

There we stopped to gas up the bikes and get a quick bite to eat. Now there were two options, go to a little park and eat whatever you might have brought for lunch, or, go sit in an air conditioned restaurant and have a home cooked meal. I’m pretty sure everyone can guess where we decided to eat.

From Koosharem we headed east towards the mountains for some more hill climbing adventure. In fact, this is where the real hill climbing begins. This trail weaves in and out of different kinds of trees (if I was a botanist I could tell you which ones they were) as it ascends up the mountain until you come to the level of the aspens. There are a couple of steep climbs where it’s best to keep the bike in first gear until you make it to the top. Two reasons why, 1) you shift at just the wrong point and you’ll do a wheelie up the hill, and if you’re bike is back heavy then it ups the risk of tipping over and 2) at some points in second gear there’s not enough power to get you up so you’ll be stopping to downshift anyway.

After riding through some more aspen groves we dropped down upon a small body of water known as Upper Box Creek Reservoir. Here we drove out onto a little peninsula where we set up camp.

There were quite a few people there already who just came for a day of fishing so we had to share the area for a while, until night came and then everyone cleared out except for us. It had been a pretty hot and dusty day so when I saw that lake I knew it wouldn’t be long before I was in it. Once the tent was set up I was off and in the water. I had forgotten that at higher altitudes the water would be a little colder than one would think, but it didn’t take long to remind me. That first initial dive in was one of those that takes your breath away. But it still felt good to cool and wash off. Once I was clean and dried off we sent out to gather some firewood for the night. A couple guys took the bikes and hauled back some fallen trees from the hills above. Luckily one of the leaders but a couple of hand saws so another rider and I started cutting down these trunks so they would fit in the pit. It kind of felt like we were back in the pioneer days, me on one end of the saw and another guy on the other while we worked the blades back and forth through the wood. After that it was time to relax and unwind. A couple guys went off to fish while the rest of us sat around the fire for dinner and some more story telling. It wasn’t long after dusk when we saw a local beaver out swimming in the lake. If you walked around the lake you would notice some fresh cut aspens that the beavers had fallen. The moon had risen high above the lake by now and provided great illumination that night. Overall I believe we rode around 45 miles that day.

DAY 3

Happy 4^th of July! There really is no better way to celebrate the independence of our nation than by exploring the great back country that we call home. It makes you grateful for the freedoms that we have and for those men and women that fought, fight, and died for them. I awoke to the noise of people rustling outside and as I unzipped my tent door I could see the rising sun bounce of a pristine glass lake (yes I immediately wished my boat there to go skiing). It was a leisurely morning of eating breakfast and breaking camp. We still had plenty of terrain to cover but also plenty of time to do it as well so there was no rush.

With camp broken we headed back out onto the trail. Once again we found ourselves weaving through groves of aspens, crossing boardwalks that have been placed to protect some marshes, and climbing until we left the aspens and entered the pines. There’s always a certain sent to a pine forest that makes you realize how beautiful this world really is and how small we really are in comparison.

Once we reached the peak it was time to come down the other side of the mountain. We descended through what is known as Dry Creek Canyon which has a different scenery to it than other parts of the trail so far. It reminds me of hiking through the canyons on southern Utah in the Zion area. The dust was a plenty coming down this trail so the bandanas and goggles were back on to offer some sort of protection.

We made it down the canyon and rode through the small town of Marysvale and then stopped off at a little restaurant named Hoovers. There motto is “It’s Hoovers, not Hooters.” I had an excellent hickory burger from this place that I know would pretty much keep me held over until dinner.

After dinner it was back on the bikes and up another mountain side. This is a pretty popular part of the trail and so we passed many people going up and down the trail on their machines. At some parts the trail gets a little narrow and so passing became a little more challenging. There are also a few more first gear climbs along this trail. Getting close to the peak we came to an old, abandoned mine known as the Silver King Mine which was established back in 1894. That’s about all I know of it because there wasn’t much information around. So we walked through the little cabin that was there, saw the gated off entrance to the mine, and that was about it. It was a quick ten minute break while we rested our rear ends from the bikes. Then it was back to more fun. We reached the top and it was time to come back down, a little farther north though. Coming down was just as steep as going up and so that meant a couple of first gear descents as well. There were many times this trail crossed the stream so it also met some good mud flinging if you hit the stream just right, and we did.

Coming off the mountain meant that we had to ride through some more little towns so we could gas up and make it to the next section of the trail. We rode through Joseph, Monroe, and finally fueled up in Elsinore. From there it was back up the mountain. It was about five when we started back up and by then the sky had some overcast to it and a storm wasn’t far away and we were riding towards it. So of course we put on the rain gear and covered up the packs to keep things relatively dry. We weaved in and out of the canyon as we keep heading up the mountain. We passed a lot of cattle grazing in this area and chased a few calves off the trail. At one point I thought momma cow was about to take on the leader of our grouped because he was chasing her calves off the trail. She hesitated thought once she saw the rest of us ride around the corner. We finally made it to a place where were could set up camp and got it up before the rest of the storm hit. However, the storm had pretty much died down and made for a quite, clear evening. Again we gathered some fire wood to start a fire and had dinner. We sat around the fire listening to and telling more stories. It’s amazing how the stories never really ended and they just keep adding to one another. Again, the full moon came out and lit up the surrounding area very nicely. Once the fire had died down and we decided it was starting to get cold it was time for bed. Total mileage for today was about 85 miles.

DAY 4

That night another good storm came through and soaked the camp. Fortunately this time we had remembered to bring the rain fly for the tent (not like our Havasupai trip last year) and I also covered up my bike with a poncho so I knew my stuff would be dry in the morning. Morning came and was colder than the others. We struggled getting a fire going at first because the wood we had stocked up was nice and damp from the previous storm but with some perseverance we were able to get the blaze going. I had packed up everything before getting out of the tent that morning so I was able to stay close to the fire and keep warm while everyone else finished packing up. We decided to wait for the sun to come up all the way before we left so it could dry out the tents and the bikes. No one knows why but that morning the sun was particularly slow coming over the mountain and down into the canyon. It didn’t matter though; we had a short distance to travel and plenty of time to do it so we enjoyed the warmth of the fire and continued with the stories. The sun finally broke over, dried up the tents and we broke camp. We all lined up for one final picture of the group before heading down the mountain. We double backed along the trail we came up until coming to a fork in the road where we took a different trail to a town called Richfield. We came down off the mountain through the switchbacks of the canyon and entered Richfield. From here we cut through the town and followed a canal all the way to Salina where the four wheeling adventure came to an end. That day we rode about 35 miles and the GPS gave an overall mileage of 195 for the loop.

We loaded the bikes back onto the trailers, jumped into the vans and we were off. We made it back to Hill Air Force Base around 3:30, hosed off the bikes so they were clean for the next group to use them and then headed back home for a long awaited shower.

I’ve been on some good backpacking and hiking trips before and all though they have all been different and difficult to compare to one another I would half to say that this has been one of my favorite trips. The variety of scenery that we passed through and the company new friends made this one of the more enjoyable trips. If you ever have the opportunity to take a trip like this I would strongly suggest that you do so. You won’t regret it.

President Obama's Speech to the AMA

2009-06-16T18:33:00.002-06:00

Yesterday President Obama delivered a speech to the American Medical Association (AMA) in Chicago. When viewed it looks like his message was relatively well received, except for his comment on medical malpractice lawsuit caps, and that this reform appears logical to many of the doctors who were present during his speech. However, the media reports a mixed response being supported by some and skeptical by others. I read some comments by other providers and also watched some interviews from doctors who attended and it seemed that many of them have some of the same doubts that I had while reading, and then later watching this speech. The biggest concern I believe was that of a socialistic health care system.
Before addressing the concern of socialized medicine I want to point out one concern that I had with his speech and a concern I know many of my colleagues have as well. He addressed Doctors and Nurse Practitioners yet left out Physician Assistants as providers of health care. Maybe it was an oversight of the president but not recognizing the importance of PA's (who fall under AMA jurisdiction) as providers the president has alienated over 76,000 providers of medicine, a majority who fill the role of primary care providers, in this nation. Is it a bias on my part? Maybe, but still, this is my profession and his changes for reform will affect how I practice in the future and thus I, and every other PA, should be considered in his decisions. Not addressing us in his speech might suggest the contrary. For those PA's out there reading this blog who wish to let the president know of our importance in this nations health care system visit this site.
In his speech President Obama did all he could to assure the AMA that his goal was not a socialistic government, or a single-payer plan. He said, "If you like your doctor, you will be able to keep your doctor, period. If you like your plan, you will be able to keep your plan, period." He then goes on to say that his vision is to create a public plan (run by the government) that will provide fair competition to private insurance companies, but will still be able to cover those who have little to no insurance. This will ensure that every American has health coverage. He calls this Health Insurance Exchange but many skeptics are saying that he's just using semantics to cover up an eventual single-payer, socialized health care. What the fear is that with this new Exchange it will eventually drive the other insurance companies out of business and leave Americans with only one option for health care, this Exchange. The next fear is that with one company calling the shots decisions for medical treatment will then be made by bureaucrats rather than by doctors. Now, even though I see this as a problem with a socialized health care system I also see this already happening in our current system. The insurance companies decide to pay for what they want to pay for and use terms like "pre-existing condition," or,"prior authorization," to limit what they will pay for. I have seen this in my own practice. When having to choose between the two proton pump inhibitors Omeprazole (Prilosec) and Esomeprazole (Nexium) I have to weigh what my patients insurance will cover as first line treatment. Most companies will use Prilosec as first line treatment not because it has been shown to be more effective than Nexium (on the contrary, Nexium has been shown to be superior to Prilosec) but because it has gone generic and is now an over the counter (OTC) medication. In simple terms, Prilosec is first choice because it's cheaper, not better.
Ironically it's the government run system of Medicare and Medicaid that I have to deal with when getting prior authorizations for medications such as Prilosec and Nexium. It's Medicaid that chooses to use the cheaper as first line. This is another part of Obama's speech that I had trouble with. He cited an instance where a doctor spends 20% of his time filling out these prior authorizations forms or dealing with insurance companies rather than taking care of his patients. In my experience, that 20% of my time has been used dealing with similar circumstances...80% being Medicare and Medicaid problems that require prior authorization. Later on in his speech he states how doctors need to practice based off of Evidence Based Medicine (EBM) rather than what insurance companies are willing to pay for. I again will have you reference my Prilosec/Nexium example. EBM shows me that Nexium should be used, but government run Medicaid tells me I should use Prilosec first because it's cheaper. In fact, many of the providers I listened to or read comments from had similar concerns. They are concerned with the way Medicare and Medicaid have been running and see this only an insight to what the new reform will bring, and this scares us. We fear that these problems will only continue to exist in the new reform.
Much of what President Obama said in his discourse was nothing new to providers. We already know that electronic medical records saves not only time and money but also improves patient care. We know that preventing a problem is cheaper than fixing a problem and that preventative health will cut medical costs (it's my belief that preventative health care will not only put just a dent in the problem as the president addressed, but will blast a hole through it. He gave examples of five chronic problems that scourge our health care system which account for most of the cost. If we prevented the majority of these problems will it not then cut a majority of what we spend on health care? Preventative care will not just be a dent people in the system people.) Many of the things the president addressed we already knew, yet he spent a good amount of time discussing them. One of those points, however, I would like to address rapidly because I'm weary at how the president will bring about the change of preventative medicine. How will he get Americans to live healthier without forcing it upon them? I read an article about some of his goals (some I agree with, others I don't) and this change. But again, how will he make this change without forcing it upon Americans? Increase taxing of certain foods, alcohol, tobacco only makes Americans not consume them not because of health benefits, but because of costs.
Now comes the point of paying for all of this. We are a country already in debt and now we're looking to reform our health care by putting $1 trillion over the next 10 years into it. He states that this will be debt neutral and proposes a system of cuts and taxes to pay for it. He states that over the next 10 years he can cut $950 billion from our spending, thus almost covering the $1 trillion needed for reform. I don't know how all of that will play out, if it will work or not. But one thing that I'm concerned with is that this will take 10 years. At most he will only spend the next 7 years in office, maybe only 3. So what happens down the road when the next guy, or Congress decides to reform the reform? One of his proposed cuts was the amount of government money hospitals will receive for treating uninsured patients. He states that as the number of the uninsured go down so will the need for hospital reimbursement. The question at hand is which will come first? Will the number of uninsured go down first or hospital reimbursement? How can you pay for the one without affecting the other?
President Obama was openly opposed, even booed by some, when he said that he didn't support putting a cap on malpractice insurance lawsuits. However, he did recognize that the fear of a lawsuit did affect how providers practiced and that this increased costs. This is true, we do get that extra test just to be sure, even though we're 99% positive in the first place, so as to not be caught off guard by that disease that has an prevalence of 1%. All though he said he understood this as a concern, he gave no alternative or plan of action of how to address this problem, other than stating that he opposes caps. Now, in certain cases I agree, but the majority of malpractice lawsuits are frivolous and cause a huge strain on our system. I don't know how to fix it either, but then again I'm not the one bringing up the issue and then not having a solution for it. One thing the president must know is that providers will continue to practice defensive medicine while the threat of frivolous lawsuits still exist, and this will ultimately raise the cost of medicine.
I was pleased when the president addressed the problem with many insurance companies about "pre-existing conditions" and other hassles they give us as providers. I was also pleased to hear that insurance companies and pharmaceutical companies were willing to discuss what they can do to help stem the rising of health care. Personally I believe that there are some problems with insurance company policies that need changed and I'm glad to see the president take a stand on it. However, again it falls back on the concept of Big Brother stepping in and that worries me to a degree.
Overall I am skeptical of the reform laid out by the president. I agree with the need for electronic based medical records and preventative care, but question the Health Insurance Exchange program he announced. A change needs to be made, but I still maintain the belief that I don't think our government is capable of doing it. I believe that if we want a change then we need to make the change. Americans need to learn to practice preventative medicine and stop being so eager to sue. Insurance companies need to have a major overhaul in their policies about what they will and will not pay for (one theory of mine is that if the policy will not pay for a particular aspect of care then I should be refunded what I've paid to them over the years. At least I can use that to make a dent in my medical costs.) Pharmaceuticals need to change their spending policies so when their new drugs do come out they don't have to charge $200/month for them (spending policies: advertisement, luncheons, etc) I also believe that patents for medications should be shorter thus allowing generics to be made available earlier on. I believe that we in medicine could take a cut in our pay to serve the greater good or, if we are not willing to take a cut, then donate to our communities a generous offering, being money or time. Change is needed, we must be willing to work for it and not have Big Brother bail us out. Comments, opinions?

Church and State

2009-06-13T16:14:00.002-06:00

Today I read an online article that touched on the subject of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and Proposition 8 that was passed. The main emphasis of the article, to me as a reader anyway, was a protest to religious supported laws, or laws that are enacted not based on "civil rights" but a matter of what particular voters consider as being moral or not. In his argument, the author expresses his belief that laws cannot and should not be passed based on their considered morality but rather on civil rights and then uses examples of other such instances (i.e. beliefs during the civil right movement in the 50's-60's) to further his opinion. While reading this article some questions came to my mind.
The first thing I thought about was the old statement "separation of church and state". This was instituted in the days of our fore fathers. The concept behind it was that no church could have Constitutional power to impose it's beliefs on any person. However, many of the laws that organized and enacted had basis on some religious belief. Laws enacted then and laws existent now are based on a principle of right versus wrong, good versus evil, protection of the innocent and justice for all. We have laws against murder, stealing, rape, abuse, kidnapping, extortion, and a plethora of other laws that, one can look at it this way, limit what we can and cannot do. My question now is where did these laws come from? Or where does the concept of good and bad come from to perpetuate the need for such laws?
Who are we to say what is right and wrong? Does not enacting a law against murder take away the freedom I have to chose to take the life of another? Yes I might be infringing upon the right of another and the Constitution grants us the right to Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness (originally property), but who decided that we have those rights in the first place? Who decided that humans have a right to anything? Are we not just another organism belonging to the animal kingdom? Does not the gazelle have a right to life? If so, then why is there not a law in the animal kingdom that prohibits the lion from killing the gazelle for the lion's personal gain? If this is a world inhabited by the product of evolution then "survival of the fittest" is our adage and rights be damned!
Yet, we do have rights. Our founding fathers outlined a system of laws based on what they believed our rights to be...those beliefs stemming from what their own personal, religious beliefs were. They were Christians who followed the 10 commandments, and thus implemented many of those commandments as law (murder, stealing, etc). Again, the laws they enacted were based on what they considered to be good or bad. And thus even though there was a call for separation of church and state we see that the original laws of this land were taken from the religious beliefs of it's organizers.
So today we have laws being written, proposed and voted upon by the people. Those who feel strongly opposed to certain laws because of religious beliefs are ridiculed and labeled as bigots, racists, closed minded along with an innumerable amount of other terms. Those who support laws that are widely opposed by the majority are seen as heroes, visionaries, free thinkers, progresivists and other highly acclaimed accolades. They use terms like "civil rights" as their swords and "racism, sexism, and oppression" as their shields when it suits their needs. I would like to see these people argue for civil rights when the pedophiles of America argue that it is their "civil right" to sexually assault young children because "it's who I am, I was born that way" or when serial killers argue that because they have a psychiatric condition (antisocial personality disorder, conduct disorder, borderline personality disorder, narcissistic personality disorder) they have a "civil right" to carry out their acts of violence. My question is where is the call for civil rights when a doctor in Kansas is allowed to perform more than 60,000 late term abortions for reasons other than medically necessary? We have laws and activists that protect against animal cruelty and yet proponents who believe that a woman has the right to chose to keep or terminate a creature that that looks human, has human tissue, and genetic material that establish it as human because it's her body, her life and her right. Where are the rights of the fetus?
In other words, civil rights are based upon what we consider to be good or bad. You cannot establish laws that protect the rights of others without first establishing the concept of what is good and what is bad. Where do you get your sense of good or bad? For me, I get it from what I believe to be a true religion and so I will be guided by those beliefs. If I believe gay marriage to be bad then I will vote against a law that looks to allow it. If I believe murder to be bad then I will vote for any law that punishes murder. Men and women are entitled to their separate opinions and beliefs and they will vote based on the beliefs, and seeing how there will always be separate beliefs there will continue to be a never ending struggle about, that's right folks you guessed it, what's RIGHT and WRONG.

Boundary Trail - FAIL!

2009-06-06T14:22:00.018-06:00

This week our journey through the hills of Idaho takes us to the eastern part of Caribou National Forrest and along the west slope just down from Pebble Creek Ski Resort. This trail is known as the Boundary Trail and is an 18 mile double track ride from Pebble Resort, along the ridge of the mountain, back behind Crystal Springs and then comes out just north of Lava Hot Springs. It is rated at a difficult to very difficult level as compared to most of the other trails around the Pocatello area. This is due to the constant change in elevation and the terrain that you must traverse. The trail is covered, and I do mean covered in rocks, and not just your little pebbles or the occasional golf ball sized rocks, I'm talking rocks the size of large watermelons. And these rocks are evenly disbursed throughout the trail or organized to make for a smooth ride. No, at times these rocks covered the trail like sprinkles on a doughnut, just not as tasty. There are sections of the trail where it's pure rocks for 100 yards or more. Now, the rocks are one thing...but add in rain and mud and the trail becomes absolutely unbearable (hence the FAIL in the title). This is the first time we've had to turn around because there was no way that we were going the full 18 miles alive. In fact, I believe we got 2.5 miles into the ride before we decided to turn back, and we probably should have turned back sooner...or maybe postponed the trip all together.
So this ride started out in planning the night before. Looking at the terrain on Google Earth and checking the profile with Mapsource. I also checked the weather report because it has been cloudy and rainy in Pocatello for much of the week, and Friday wasn't looking any better. The report said that there was a 40% chance of rain during the day with a higher chance at night. With that we still decided to go tackle this beast. So Friday morning rolls in and the sky is cloudy with a mixture of white, grey, and black clouds; no rain however. We load the bikes up and head down to Lava to drop off the Jeep. Heading back towards the start of the trail head we run into some rain along I-15. I check the weather report again and notice that the storm is just rolling over us, moving in a north-eastern pattern with more storms off the the west and south that look to be intensifying. One would think that with the current rain, future weather report, and current Doppler radar we would have scrubbed the adventure in the first place. Well as someone once put it, "common sense isn't so common." No this information didn't deter us at all. We continued to head up the mountain to the Pebble Creek Ski Resort. Once arriving there the rain had disappeared but plenty of clouds still covered the sky, many of them heading towards us. And yet, we still decided to hit the trail, knowing that we would probably get wet and ride straight into those storms. A little rain never hurt anybody, right?
So we started out on the trail. Immediately hit mud and had a good time trying to keep up enough speed so as to not get mud everywhere and also keep the back tires from slipping out beneath us. The mud wasn't that bad at this time and we were able to push through. The scenery from this altitude was absolutely beautiful. I was able to appreciate this part of the valley from a whole new perspective. I've driven through it every time I go between Ogden and Pocatello and its part of the plain where the original Lake Bonneville drained into the Snake River Valley Plain. From here you can see as far as Malad Summit (if the clouds aren't covering it) and over to the West Caribou National Forrest. It was an awesome sight to see Scout Mountain and Old Tom Mountain with there peaks covered as low flying clouds sat on top of them.
We continued on pedaling through rock, rivers, and mud...plenty of mud. About 2 miles into the ride I took this picture where you can see the rain coming.

That didn't stop us though, oh no. Another 0.5 miles and the we hit the front of the storm. It was a light rain to begin with and we were prepared for it. Yes, we had bought a box of Western Family garbage sacks to use for ponchos at a gas station just before the trail head. Dressed in trash we thought about heading forward, but the rain starting coming down harder. Also, the GPS calculated that we had a moving average of 5.0 mph but an overall average (moving + stopped time) of 2.5 mph...thanks to rock and mud. So with 15 miles still left and only moving at 2.5 mph we decided to turn back around (yes it wasn't the fact that it was raining but the fact that we were just going too slow is why we decided to turn back.) Of course, I don't think we would have made it much farther because of what this heavier rain did.
With the ever increasing and never ending rain our trail got to a point of pure unrideability (word?). The mud was so thick and expansive that trying to push through it was almost impossible. It caked everything it touched: forks, spokes, cogs, crankshafts, derailleurs, and chain. Instead of falling off it just kept growing. Most of the time I spent trying not to let my back tire slip out from under me. Eventually, and unfortunately, after 0.25 miles of this Stella had enough. Yes, while trying to push through the pure cake batter that was this mud all of a sudden I heard a pop and felt no resistance while I pedaled. I looked down to see Stella wounded in battle, her chain hanging limp and transected from the cogs. Now I have spare tires, patches, a multi tool, and a chain tool, but what I didn't have was an extra chain or at least a couple of extra links. There I was, stranded in the rain and mud. With only a 1/4 of a mile down that meant I had 2.25 left to hike-a-bike back through that horrible mud of Satan! Just going another 1/4 of a mile probably took 30 mins of pushing, pulling, carrying and everything short of cursing and abandoning my bike. A little under a mile (0.8 miles to be exact) from where we had to turn back we had reached a point where a Jeep trail had crossed ours and looked like it headed back down to the valley. Once we got back to this point I told my buddy that I was going to coast down the mountain until I got to a main road then I'd call him to let him know where I was at so he could come pick me up. There was absolutely no way I was making it back to the trail head in this mud and without a chain. After looking at the map and GPS he decided to come with me down the trail and get back to his Land Cruiser along the main roads. Even though it was longer in mileage wise it might go faster because he would be able to ride instead of push his bike through the mud, seeing how it was that thick and deep that he couldn't pedal either.
So we head down the Jeep trail. It wasn't much different in its mud consistency than the trail we were just on. The difference was now we are sliding down a mountain side trying to just keep the bikes under us and not get thrown into the foliage. The rain had picked up and was now falling harder, colder, and sideways with the wind. As the speed increased on this descent my buddy soon realized that regular bike clamp breaks do absolutely nothing in the mud. My disc breaks help out a lot, but only to an extent. They at least slow down the wheel rotation. My friend didn't have that luxury as he is sliding down the mountain and then loses control of his rear tire. As it fish tails behind him the trail eventually just slides out from under him all together and he is thrown from the biking and goes sliding down the mud mountain with his bike coming in a close second. It was just like a giant slip'n'slide we all use to play on as kids (and still do as adults). Eventually the two stopped, he regained his composure, picked up the bike, jumped back on and started the ordeal again. My laughing didn't help my cause at all because the same thing happened to me just a little way down the mountain. I don't think Stella was too happy with me at this point.

Eventually we made it down to an old highway that would take us back to his Land Cruiser. This was pretty much a dirt road as well, but a kept dirt road so it wasn't too muddy. My buddy started riding but soon realized his chain was too caked in mud and debris that if he kept pedaling it would eventually snap. So we both ended up riding the bikes like those push razor scooters that were popular a few years back. We came to the intersection that would take us back up the Land Cruiser. There was a stream near by so we stopped to wash off, well, what we could. Oh, as a little side note the weather had improved and was now sunny and warm (I swear mother nature was toying with me that day). The final stretch back up to the Land Cruiser was all uphill and my friend really didn't want to push his bike up it. The consensus was that I would stay at the creek with the bikes while he ran up to get the Land Cruiser. According to his story that ran quickly turned into a tiring walk up the switchbacks that lead to the ski resort. He said that the whole time he could see the ski lifts and radio towers at the resort and they looked close, but never seemed to get closer because of all the switchbacks. When he got back we then calculated that distance from the creek to the trail head and it was a good 1.5 miles. Oh well, hindsight is 20/20 isn't in.
As tortuous as this day has been, I'm still glad I did it. There's something to be said about experience gained, be it good or bad (see my other blog for further discussion). The scenery was breathtaking, parts of the ride were fun, and I now know what to expect when I go to tackle that trail again. I only got 2.5 miles into an 18 mile ride so yes, I will ride that trail again. It will not beat me. Next time I'll take a different approach to it, a dry one!

Here are a few other shots from the day. Remember you can see these along with the rest of the unpublished photos, as well as all the photos taken from my other rides at http://picasaweb.google.com/tjdhulst

Until we meet again Boundary...

China Peak

2009-05-25T18:02:00.010-06:00

So today's ride was a grueling, 2204 feet in four miles accent up what is known as China Peak on the east bench of Pocatello. This trail is a double track trail that wides it's way up the mountain side until you come to the top where many different radio towers are present. This is a trail that is accessible by Jeep, and I have come up here a couple of times in the Jeep, but I thought I'd give it a go on the bike. Let's just say that I'll be taking the Jeep up it next time I decided to conquer that peak.
I started out from the house where I'm staying at while I'm here in Pocatello and rode along the roads for about two miles until I came to the road that eventually takes you up China Peak. The road starts out as a paved road but eventually turns into that double track dirt road. Because this is the side of the mountain that is constantly in the sun the vegetation is mainly just shrubs and tumbleweeds with very limited trees to provide shade. Did I mention the grueling four mile climb? If not let me repeat it...it was grueling! It's basically a switch-back ride up to the top. Not much more I can say about it. Seeing Scout Mountain off in the distance and knowing that last summer I was able to make it to the top of that on my bike kept me going along this horrible ride up. And yes, hike-a-bike was in play for some of the trail.
Once at the top the view of the valley is pretty spectacular. You can pretty much take in the whole city of Pocatello and Chubbuck from this height. The backside of the mountain looks to be full of green lush pockets of trees and flowers which should make for a nice ride later on (but I'll be Jeeping the bike up to the top next time). I think it took a little over an hour and a half just to drag myself up that mountain.

I didn't spend much time at the top because I was planning on taking a different route back that I was told would make for some fun downhill and I was anxious to get to that. This trail follows the crest line from China peak to the north and goes up and over a couple other little peaks. From China to the first peak it was a fun little ride with a few quick turns and some rolly polly type trails. Then came the first peak. I stopped and talked with a guy who had just hiked over the first peak on his way up to China and he asked me if I was planning on going down the peak on my bike (yes I held my tongue, but a little Bill Engvall came to mind). He then told me that it was pretty steep and rocky and made for a hard hike up. He said it might be better to walk the bike down part of it. I said thanks for the advice and continued to climb the peak. The dude wasn't kidding at all! I got to the peak and just looked down thinking holy crap! It was steeper than I had expected and also much rockier too. So I took his advice and walked down the more treacherous parts. I then jumped back on and headed up the next little peak only to find that it looked pretty tricky as well (however, not as bad as the first one). I decided to give this one a whirl on the bike and see how the two of us do. What I can say is this, my hands and legs were killing me at the bottom because of how much pressure I was putting on the breaks and how much leaning back I had to do to keep from going end over all the way down. I probably fished tailed down half that hill because of the loose gravel and rocks. But it was fun. You'll be able to see those hills on the profile picture at the bottom. They're the ones that seem to drop off.
After tackling that little descent it was all downhill from there. Again the trail was pretty much dirt and rolly polly that made for some good jumps and a smooth ride with the full suspension.
Overall I think I did about eleven miles in a little over two hours for the round trip.

City Creek

2009-05-25T16:57:00.011-06:00

Well, it's time again for another fun filled adventure of mountains, single-track trails, and Stella. So it's been a little over a week now since I've returned to Pocatello, ID for a 5 week stay while doing my General Surgery rotation. Might as well hit the trails while I can.
The City Creek ride took place last Friday afternoon. Now I've ridden the main trail many times because it is a quick up-and-back for when you don't have a lot of time. However, I was given a little magazine that had some articles about how the city has improved and expanded upon the main trail of City Creek. So my buddy and I thought we'd get out and do a little exploring, while also hitting the famous 911 section of the trail. We started up what is known as the lower trail. This trail is a single track trail that follows the contour of the creek as it heads back up into the hills from whence it flows. The first part of the trail is mostly uphill but very mild. There are a few foot bridges that you cross from time to time, some only about a foot wide at a time. Hopefully you're lined up pretty good when you hit those bridges because if not you're taking a drink (happened to me last year on one). About a mile and a half up the trail you come to a 4 point crossroads. Here you have the option to head up to the Bench Trail (which takes you to 911), you can cross the river to the main road that leads up to Kinport Peak, take a trail know as Adrenalin, or continue up the upper city creek trail.
We started up the upper trail. About a quarter mile up you run into a challenging hill that has a grade greater than 20%. Luckily it's mainly dirt without a lot of rocks so the technical aspect isn't as demanding as the physical strength. Pushing up it tires you out quickly, but there's no better feeling than pedaling to the top of that hill and looking back down on what you've conquered. Also knowing that you get to go down it later is a good reward. After making it up and another quarter mile of biking we got off the main trail and started up a trail called Cross-Cut that is basically a push up some more hill until it intersects with the Serengeti. Now this trail is pretty easy going with a mild incline. It wraps back around one of the hills that forms the canyon for City Creek. However the change in vegetation was remarkable. It's amazing how little one has to divert from the lush grounds of a flowing stream to find death creeping around the corner. We followed this trail until it connected with a trail called Sullivans and then took that. This one is a fun climb that takes you back into that same canyon we came out of (basically a switch-back pattern) although on a little higher plane. We rode deeper into the canyon, through groves of pine trees and aspen. Eventually this trail ends in the canyon and merges with the upper part of the city creek trail.

Time to head back down. This part was unarguably the most fun part of the trail. It is a single track trail that continues along the stream through dense pines and aspens. The trail zigs and zags through these trees, often with trunks growing right next to the trail. The downhill requires a bit of technicality in it's handling because if you're not careful it's easy to clip a trunk with your handles or hand for that matter. I clipped one and it tore a pretty good chunk of flesh away leaving me with a bloody pinkie the rest of the ride. Parts of the trail ride right next to the creek and some hairpin turns make for a great adrenalin rush as you fish tail around the bend so as to not end up going over the 2 foot ledge into the creek. That downhill fun goes for a little under a mile. From there it we met up again with that little 20% grade hill, only this time at opposite ends of the spectrum, and flew down it (although not as exhilarating as the zig-zag section) until we came again to that 4 point intersection.
From here instead of following back down the original trail we took one more hill climb to the Bench Trail where we eventually met up with a section called 911. Now this is a fun ride. It's a single track, 3/4 mile ride through a gully that serves as a type of half pipe for the bike. Up and down and up and down and up and down we went. One wrong move here can send you for a nice little fall back into the bottom of the gully (and yes, I've done that too, last year) where you'll be pleasantly greeted by the fauna with dagger like projectiles jutting from their stems.
When you make it out of 911 (either spiffy clean, or feeling like a human pin cushion) it's a quick sprint back to the Bench Trail that then flows down the side of the canyon rim to meet up with City Creek trail just past the parking lot.
Over all the ride was just a little over six miles and can be done in under a couple of hours if you're in no rush (or faster if your pressed for time) and would like to take in the scenery. Physically it's not too demanding and, as I said at the beginning, is a good up-and-back ride.

Too Funny Not to Share

2009-05-20T17:34:00.004-06:00

Really the only reason I put this up was because it was just too funny not to share. The stuttering, stumbling, seizuring reporter after being attacked by an enormous carnivorous monster with nasty big pointy teeth!

Antelope Island

2009-05-14T15:17:00.016-06:00

So some of you might be asking how the heck is Tyler finding all this time to go biking? Well it helps to have beautiful weather and three weeks off in between rotations. Starting next week the trips will become less frequent, however, hopefully at least once a week. I think within the past week I've been biking five out of the seven days. I have to say that it's a great way to keep active and also a great way to enjoy nature. And so without further adieu I present to you Tuesdays ride around Antelope Island.
Antelope Island is the largest island in the Great Salt Lake and also, I believe I read it somewhere, one of the largest, if not largest islands in the western U.S. It's home to the largest population of bison in the United States along with some antelope (weird huh), bobcats, seagulls, and plenty, plenty of bugs! I kid you not these things were like the bugs from hell. By no means where they big, but there were plenty enough of them. The worst is they seemed to only attack while you're actually trying to ride. They swarm around your face, get in you ears, eyes, nose and mouth. They congregate on your arms and legs, set up shop inside your helmet and in you hair and if that's not bad enough, it seemed like just the presence of a few attracted the rest of the colony. And then there's the biting. I didn't get it quite as bad as my brother Chad did. Afterwards his arm was full of little wheels and flares of where the bugs munched on his arm for lunch. If you've ever wanted to see a mast cell histamine reaction his was the arm to look at.

So if you don't count the bug encounter the rest of the ride was pretty enjoyable. There are plenty of trails and loops and they're all intertwined together. If you really want to make the drive out to the island worth it (along with the $9 you have to pay because it technically is a state park) then you'd better plan on spending pretty much a good chunk of the day there. Don't leave at eight in the morning and tell your spouse that you'll be back by twelve...it's just not gonna happen, or be worth it for that matter.
We started at the north end of the island at a campground called Bridger. We started on a trail called the Shoreline loop which basically follows the shoreline...amazing huh. This trail is a single track trail that wraps around to the west of Buffalo Point and then meets up with White Rock Bay Campground. This one way trail is about 2.8 miles. Now parts of the shoreline trail are rated "expert" because there are just tons of rocks that crowd the trail. It made for quite a difficult ride, and actually for a little hike-a-bike. From there we biked through the campground and started along the White Rock Bay loop trail. This is a double track, dirt trail that leaves the shoreline and drops into a flat that, pure perception tells you it's forever, but GPS says it's only about 2.5 miles. However, these are the worst 2.5 miles of the ride, think bugs. That bug spray you bring along that says good for up to ten hours is the biggest farce in the whole history of advertising! Ten hours? Try two minutes! Along this plain it is common to see some bison grazing off in the distance and the occasional antelope. We caught a glimpse of a couple of these creatures off having a good time and wondered how they were doing with the bugs. Maybe they would like some of that bug spray I brought. One you finish the plain section of the trail you come to a 700 foot climb over about 1/2 mile. Again, the bugs do not make this an enjoyable climb. However, getting to the top seemed to help reduce the bug population. The mild breeze blowing at the top probably contributed to that. Once you climb up out of the plain and onto the higher grounds the vegetation changes as well. There are some beautiful wildflowers that grow sporadically around the island and every now and then you'll run into a patch of them. I'd tell you what they are, but really I don't know. So you'll just have to enjoy them nameless, unless you're a botanist.

Here the trail splits into two separate trails. To the left the trail continues along the hillside and around the island, this one is called Split Rock loop. The trail to the right juts west and takes you out to a little overlook point called Elephant Rock. Seeing how we were a little pressed for time we decided to make the quick 1.5 mile and go to the look out. This trail was actually quite a fun little single track that had plenty of rocks to maneuver around or over, although not to the extent that the shoreline had. This trail was pretty rideable for the entire way. There's a quick downhill and then a steep, switchback uphill to go through before coming to the overlook point, but for the most part the trail is fairly level.
The view from Elephant Head was amazing. Living in Ogden and seeing the receding lake levels makes you forget just how big the Great Salt Lake really is. Being on the other side of Antelope Island helped bring that back into perspective. The lake just goes on forever. These next two panoramics were taken from this overlook.

From the beginning of the shoreline trail to Elephant Head overlook is about 8 miles. We decided to head back to the Jeep from there. We came down off Elephant Head and then cruised down what now became a 700 foot descent onto the open plain. The bugs aren't so bad once you're cruising down around 30 mph. We hit the plains again and just sprinted back to White Rock Bay Campground. Instead of taking the shoreline trail back we looped around the east of of Buffalo Point along the road back to the starting. I believe we rode about 15 miles overall that day and took about 3 hours to do it. One thing I would suggest, pack extra water. Chad ran out just after we came off of Elephant Head and I only had about 1/3 of my camel pack left to share between the two of us. While driving back we saw a couple of bison grazing by the side of the road so of course we had to get a picture of them. Those are some big animals.

North Ogden Bonneville Shoreline Trail

2009-05-14T14:27:00.008-06:00

Well it's about time again for another story on the adventures in Ogden mountain biking. Monday's tale takes place on a portion of the Bonneville Shoreline trail between Ogden Canyon and the North Ogden Divide. The trail head actually begins at a parking lot that is just at the mouth of Ogden Canyon. It's a single track, switch back climb of about 300 feet in a little under a mile until you reach the Pineview service road.

From there it's a quick sprint of about a 3/4 mile until you come to a spot where Ogden city is building a couple new water tanks along the mountain side. From here you have two options: you can follow the service road until the gated part and then follow a single track, lower trail that takes you to a junction where two three trails cross called Douglas Junction, or you can head east and up to where another trail that better follows the shoreline is under construction. This trail has not yet been connected to the service road but is accessible after a quick hike-a-bike to the trail. This trail then drops back through a gulch and then comes out a little higher along the shoreline. This trail also is a single track trail, however some parts of it are still under construction and so it requires just a little more hike-a-biking. It's worth it though because the trail rides along the ridge of the hill has a quick little downhill where it meets up with the Douglas trailhead.

Here you can follow the trailhead down to the road or continue along the shoreline trail towards north Ogden. The rest of the shoreline trail from this point is relatively flat. It has it's ups and downs but no major climbs or downhills. Some parts can be a little technical while trying to maneuver around, or over rocks and sometimes you even weave in and out of little patches of oak and maple groves. The trail basically follows the contour of the mountain and is relatively easy for about another two miles or so. Once you get to the trail that is right below Lewis Peak it gets pretty much impossible for a bike to go across. There are too many rocks and boulders in the way to ride across. You could hike it but then it's just not fun when you really wanted to bike. So from this point you can either double back along the trail, or drop down to another trailhead and loop back along Mountain Road which eventually gets you back to the trail head at Ogden Canyon. On this ride I decided to take the loop back because I'd been out for a little while and needed to get back quick so I thought the road would be the fastest way.
While riding back along the road I looked up at one of the canyons that I had weaved in and out of and saw a sight that I had missed while riding. A huge waterfall cascading down off the cliffs in the canyon. I had crossed over a couple of streams along my ride and I figured this waterfall is what feeds them. I kind of wished I would've seen it while I was riding, but oh well.

Now for a quick side note. The best part about the Ogden trails is that many of them connect to each other one way or another. For this ride I didn't have to Jeep my bike to the trailhead because there were plenty of trails that would take me there from my house in Ogden. I took a quick little downhill trail called Birdsong trail that ends right next to the NOBST trail head. On the way back I picked up the Rainbow Loop trailhead to make it back home. Overall the trip was about 12 miles and took a little around two hours. It took that long not because of the uphill climbing or anything like that but because I probably stopped and talked with three or four different people on the trail. I said this in my last blog and it remains true...those people that you meet out on the trails all tend to follow the same "trail code" where it doesn't matter what's going on, you can always stop and talk with a fellow trail goer. So not only do you get beautiful views of the valley and mountains, but you meet some new friends along the way.

Meet Stella...and the Kayesville Bonneville Shorline Trail

2009-05-09T16:28:00.011-06:00

No, not the Stella from the Rocky movies. This Stella is a new member of the family who happened to arrive yesterday. Stella would happen to be my new mountain bike. Now why would anyone choose the name Stella for a mountain bike. All I can say is The Italian Job.
This past week I have been out biking quite a bit and my brother Chad came on one trip with me. He has been looking at getting a bike and getting a little more exercise into his daily routine. Well, to be able to start mountain biking one first must have a mountain bike to ride. This is where it got a little tricky. Seeing how Chad's wife just had a new little baby boy last Thursday it was looking pretty tight money wise and we all know that Chad was not about to go out and drop close to a grand on a bike, well he most definitely would have, but his wife wouldn't have let him. So I decided to take one for the team and sacrifice myself for my brothers sake. What did that sacrifice entail? Well, it entailed me getting a new bike! So now I can go around and sell my old one to my brother at a fraction of the cost he would have paid if it were new. That's not the only reason I got a new bike, however it was a great push into the purchase. I've come to find out that I've maxed out on good old Bumblebee and if I wanted to improve my biking I had to take it up a notch on equipment. So, long story short, please take this moment with me to welcome Stella into the family.
Now getting a new bike wouldn't be anything if I didn't take her out on a ride right? Well of course I did. Chad and I went out on a quick ride this morning along the Bonneville Shoreline Trail that spans from Layton to Kayesville. It is a quick, and fun little ride that includes some good push climbs and also some flats for a good sprint. It's mostly single track that follows the contour of the Wasatch as it weaves in and out of the little side canyons, one of them being Adam's Canyon. Seeing how Spring has just begun the streams that flow out of these canyons are running high, loud, and cold. At various places one has to cross these streams but for the most part there are little foot bridges built over them, except for one. This stream is one you can either walk across because there are plenty of rocks laid out to step on, or you can bomb through it on the bike. Seeing how it was early in the morning and only like 40 degrees I decided that I didn't want to ride with frozen toes so there was no bombing through it for me.
As I said, the trail follows the contour along the old Bonneville Shoreline and offers a great view of Davis County (yes I did say something nice about Davis County but I was merely talking about the scenery, not the people.). I took these opportunities to get some nice panoramic shots. I have to say, they turned out better than I expected.
Parts of the trail are out in the open sage but when it dives back into the little canyons you immediately ride through tiny groves of trees and vegetation. Those time when you come into those groves and are weaving in and out of the trees just might be my favorite section of the ride. Not only is it fun to do but beautiful to see as you go through. Then there are some great downhill parts with plenty of roots, rocks and drop offs to make it interesting. Now the old me would've taken those downhills a little bit slower but since I had Stella and her dual suspension and disc brakes, well lets just say controlling the bike on the downhill was much easier, and more comfortable to ride.
Seeing how today was a Saturday and this is a fairly popular trail there were plenty of people to ride past and talk with. We even ended up playing bike tag with a group that we kept passing and then they in turn kept passing us. It's a different feeling being up on the mountain than it is in the city. For the most part the people are more friendly and willing to stop and chat for a couple of seconds. It doesn't matter if they're bikers, hikers or joggers there exist a code of the trail that most people seem to respect. Granted, there are the occasional few that tend to ignore everyone and just keep going.
The trail itself is only about 3.5 miles long and downhill for the most part if you start on the northern trail head. Once you come to the end you have the option of riding back along the trail, or following highway 89 for a good cardio. Eventually you have to climb back up the mountain to get to the Jeep. Overall I believe we did about 8 miles. Before hitting the final pull up the hill we stopped off at a local Sinclair for some quick OJ after we found five bucks along the side of the road. Chad took this opportunity to express how his legs were feeling after the highway 89 section, and the whiteness of said legs.
It was a cool morning but overall a beautiful day to be out on the trail. Watching the shadow of the mountain recede over the valley as the sun slowly crept its way up was a beautiful sight to take in. The sky was a clear blue and reflected amazingly of different parts of the Great Salt Lake. Pollution hasn't gotten too bad yet and so the islands of the lake were easily visible from a distance. 6:30 am comes really early and I told Chad that I was cursing his name as the alarm clock sounded, but being out there on the trail and taking in the sites we did made it worth the early morning start. Knowing how hot it can get in the afternoon also made us appreciate the cool morning ride. The different sections of the Bonneville Shoreline Trail each have their singularities but one thing they do have in common is sitting on the west side of the Wasatch Front and when the afternoon sun beats down on them it makes for a grueling ride. However, in the morning they are a great way to get the day started. Each trail offers a great variety of good hills to push up and also long flats to sprint across. Overall these trails offer a great early morning workout without completely draining you for the rest of the day.

Wheeler Canyon

2009-05-06T17:08:00.008-06:00

Time again for another uplifting and informative blog on the bike trails of Utah. Today's adventure takes place on a little trail just south of Pineview Reservoir, known as Wheeler Canyon. The trail head begins right at Pineview dam and heads up along a double track, well groomed trail. The trail follows a path high above the creek of Wheeler Canyon. Again, it's a fairly easy ascent with a steady climb and smooth trail. My brother Chad decided to come along with me and seeing how this was the first time he's been mountain biking in a long time, I thought this would be a great tail to start out with. About a mile into the trail the canyon divides into a Y and a trail heads up either side. We stayed along the north end of the trail because eventually the trail loops back around and we can come back through the south canyon. The north end heading up continues as the double track well groomed trail. Again it follows a creek until it meets up with the Old Snowbasin Road at the ArtNod junction of the trail. From here many different trails spread out over the base of Snowbasin and the surrounding mountains like the coronary arteries of the heart light up under arteriograms. While talking with Chad I informed him that in the future we would be hitting up those trails as well. We followed the road until it met up again with the trail that would take us back down Ice Box canyon into Wheeler. At this junction where the road meets a trail is a beautiful meadow that later on in the spring will be filled with yellow wildflowers. The trail now is a single track trail with a fun descent into the meadow. However, because of the recent rain and ever increasing runoff the trail was muddy, slippery, and slow. When I got to the bottom of the meadow my black/yellow bike (from now on will be known as Bumblebee, you know...like the Camaro in Transformers) was brown and grinding. However, that's nothing compared to what happened to Chad. As he comes down the trail and over the bridge onto the flat, dry ground he immediately stops and has a look of extreme disappointment on his face. He yells saying that his chain had busted. When I pull up next to him I realize that it wasn't so much his chain was the problem as it was his derailleur had broken of at the hanger which connects it to the frame. The worse part for Chad was that we had done all the grunt work to make it up to this point and the single track trail that lied ahead of us was mostly down hill and fun. So after a brief laugh Chad hiked his bike back up to the road that we rode along while I continued down the trail. Now some might consider this inconsiderate of me, leaving my brother behind while I continued along the best part of the trail, but someone had to go get the Jeep. And seeing how I had done this trail before and knew the path back it only made sense that I be the one, right? Ok, I'm not going to lie, I had a blast flying down.
Now for Chad's sake the round trip trail was only about 5 miles long and we had done over half of it before the bike broke so it wasn't going to take me that long to get back. And it didn't. It actually took me longer to drive the Jeep up to where he was then it took me to ride back to it through the canyon. So I eventually made it to Chad and we loaded up the bikes and went on our way home.
Now for the best part...the bike wasn't even Chad's. It was the bike of a friend of ours named Taylor. Luckily the derailleur wasn't that much, around $20. The worst part was fixing the thing. I've never had to fix one before so it was a good learning experience...right? It took me over 3 hours! Now there is good reason why. I first bought the derailleur but hadn't bought the hanger that connects it to the bike (where it had actually busted at). So I had to go and get that. After disconnecting the derailleur I replaced the hanger and decided to put the old derailleur back on seeing how it hadn't broke (just the hanger, remember). Once I got it connected up and the chain back on I had to adjust the cable so that it shifted smoothly and into all the gears. That's where the problem begins. I had printed off some instructions on how to make these adjustments (and they are very fine tune adjustments) and was following those and doing what I thought they said to do. I tweaked a screw hear, pulled a cable there, shifted while adjusting and everything short of picking up the bike and throwing it in frustration when it just didn't seem like what I was doing worked. I couldn't get the stupid thing to shift into it's highest gear and when shifting into it's lowest gear the chain would fall off. So after a couple hours of making these hairline type tweaks to the screws and cables I decided to start all over. Maybe it's the derailleur I thought, maybe it's bent slightly. So I get the new one out, put it on, reconnect everything and it's time again to tune it. Who would've though, 10 minutes later I get it shifting perfectly! That right there is a testament to how important properly working equipment is. It makes life so much easier when things work the way they're supposed to.
So anyway, that's the trip for today. Hopefully since I have a couple of weeks off and the weather is supposed to be warm I'll be able to get another couple of rides in and posted.

Media Induced Panic

2009-05-03T13:44:00.007-06:00

It's not uncommon these days to turn on the television and see some report of a major health crisis affecting not only our nation but also the world. There seems to be a new epidemic/pandemic every year that threatens our very existence. And so with the ringing in of 2009 we have the notorious Swine Flu A H1N1. It was first discovered in a patient in southern California in later March by the CDC. Mexico had also been dealing with a recent increase in flu like symptoms and discovered that it's patients were also infected with this new strain of the virus. After what I can assume to be a painstaking history process Patient 0 was eventually discovered to be a small boy in Mexico. From there the virus spread to the rest of the world. Since it's discovery the World Health Organization (WHO) has raised it's pandemic alert level from 3 (which has where it's been since the recent Avian Flu outbreaks) which means that human to human infection is not yet present to a level 5 meaning the human to human infection is sustained and a pandemic is very, very possible.It has now infected people in over 18 countries with a total worldwide infection of 898 (as per WHO report on May 3rd, 2009 at 11:00 am). Mexico has the highest number of cases with 506 CONFIRMED including 19 deaths. The United States has CONFIRMED 226 cases, at least one in every state, with 1 death in Texas, an infant visiting from Mexico City. Austria (1), Canada (85), China, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (1), Costa Rica (1), Denmark (1), France (2), Germany (8), Ireland (1), Israel (3), Italy (1), Netherlands (1), New Zealand (4), Republic of Korea (1), Spain (40), Switzerland (1) and the United Kingdom (15) have all reported confirmed cases as well, however no deaths. All this information can be found on the CDC's and WHO's web pages.
So we have a new strain of influenza that has the potential to be problematic. This wouldn't be the first time the world has faced this problem. Back in 1918-1920 the world was struck with possibly the worst pandemic (even worse than the black plague) it's ever seen. This flu was named the Spanish Flu (more correctly named the flu of 1918 because it didn't originate in Spain) and killed between 50-100 million people worldwide. It is estimated to have infected over 1/3 of the worlds population at the time. All this took place in a course of 18 months. It generally infected and killed healthy young adults with strong immune systems. The belief is that this particular strain sent the immune system into a cytokine storm, or over surge with destroyed the body. Those with weak immune systems, like the elderly or infants weren't as susceptible, thus the noteworthy death of young adults. Two other well known pandemics were the Asian Flu of 1957 and the Hong Kong Flu of 1968, although they weren't as virulent or lethal as the flu of 1918. These were serious pandemics which affected the world in a great way.
In my lifetime this is the third "flu epidemic/pandemic" that has been reported. Back in 1988 there was a similar Swine Flu outbreak that received wide coverage by the media. In 2004 Avian flu was the new pandemic. Both of these influenzas received broad media hype and scared a lot of people. Now in 2009 we have another media propagated Swine Flu. Here's the problem with media propagated medical issues:

Now I don't wish to sound like this doesn't have the potential to cause a worldwide problem, because it can have that potential. But what worries me more is the widespread hysteria generated by those individuals who are influenced by media, rumors and opinions from friends/acquaintances, and hypochondriacs. The biggest problem with this is that incorrect information is given, or correct information is given but the interpretation of such information is questionable. For example, the virus name H1N1 is not an entirely new virus. The recent strain isolated and now known as the Swine Flu A H1N1 is actually a recombination of four different viral strains, one of which being a common human H1N1 virus. This strain affects millions of people every year and according to the WHO "these annual epidemics result in about three to five million cases of severe illness, and about 250,000 to 500,000 deaths" annually. Another great example is that of the number of infections being reported by the WHO and the CDC, 898 internationally and 226 in the US. While some might quote these numbers and say that the infected rate has more than doubled in the past day and that more and more cases are being seen, what is being reported is that if you take the overall worldwide cases of 898 and factor that into a worldwide population of over 6 billion people, well people the math turns out to be 2 x 10-7 (or 0.0000002%) worldwide infection. Now lets take the number of infected US citizens at 226 divided by a population a little over 304 million that equates out to 7 x 10 -7 (or 0.0000007%) US infected, with 1 death that technically isn't even a citizen but a visitor from Mexico.

Remember people that 60% of statistics are made up 55% of the time by 9/10 dentist who recommend Crest to 90% of their patients.

And so I repeat, this new strain can have the potential to break out into a pandemic as bad as the Hong Kong or Asian or heaven forbid the 1918 Flu but let's not let the media scare us into overreaction or irrational acting. The best place to get information on the current situation is from your health care provider and also from the CDC or WHO. They will have information on how to protect yourself and others, what signs and symptoms to look for, and what to do if you do come down with a case of influenza, swine flu or not. The information given by health care providers right now is the following:

Protection:
-Avoid close contact with those who are symptomatic.
-Regularly wash your hands with soap and warm water. Use of antiseptic gels when/where needed (but if you live in Ogden you'll be hard pressed to find them seeing how many stores have sold out.)
-Do not share eating utensils and other things of such nature with those who might be sick.
-Cover your mouth with a handkerchief or sleeve when coughing and sneezing. Wash your hands immediately after.
-Maintain a healthy life. This means eating healthy (fruits, vegetables, grains, etc), getting plenty of rest, and daily exercise. (This is the most effective disease prevention for almost any disease)

And most of all, stay up to date on correct information posted by responsible agencies. Television news, newspapers, etc all have an agenda to fill and it's about "getting the story first." It doesn't have to be the correct story, just the story. Media is in competition with each other and whatever will get the best ratings will be aired. Remember "898 worldwide infections in 18 different countries have been reported so far!" sounds a lot more serious than "898 worldwide infections in 18 different countries which equates to be 0.0000002% of the worldwide population."

A New Season: Bonneville Trail

2009-04-26T14:38:00.016-06:00

It's getting that time of year again. These past couple of week the weather has been teasing us with rising temperatures and then sudden rainstorms and cold fronts. Sometimes we struggle to believe that Spring has really arrived. Well, I'm glad to say that the bike has been out a couple of times this month and so it is official, Spring is here. And so begins another year of mountain biking and sharing with others the experience through blog.
My first trail this year was what should have been a fairly simple one, unless of course you're out of shape and didn't keep up on the cardio during the winter like you should have. Those of you familiar with the Ogden area know of the Bonneville Trail system that follows the west bench of the Wasatch Front. There are many sections to this trail and I did the Ogden section of couple of times this past week. It's one trail that can easily be done after work and it's not uncommon to pass by other bikers, runners (all though why would anyone run when they can bike?), and hikers. This early in the season the vegetation is still just barely beginning to bloom. The trees have yet to sprout leaves, however, the shrubs and grass along the trail becomes greener and greener as the days pass. Water begins to stream from the canyons as the snow pack melts. On Monday as I crossed the stream that comes from Taylor Canyon there wasn't even a trickle of water. The creek bed was dry and parched. On Thursday, however, that had all changed with a full flowing stream typical of early snow melt. I was amazed to see how big a difference only 3 days made. Those streams coming from Waterfall Canyon and Strong's Canyon had already started their early Spring decent.
My section of the trail started at the entrance to Ogden Canyon in the Rainbow Gardens parking lot. It is a single track trail that leads of up quick ascent until it merges with a double track service road that runs along the foot of the mountain. One can follow this service road over to Ogden Canyon to access the water pipeline that spans the entrance of the canyon. At that part you can look up the winding road of Ogden Canyon. On the adjacent canyon wall, depending on the county's water need, you can see the man made waterfall from the pipeline splashing down below. From the service road one can follow many different trails. The Ogden foothills are filled with dozens of trails, many of which end up in the same general vicinity. The more famous trails are the Bonneville Shoreline Trail and Indian Trail. I plan on doing a hike along Indian Trail this summer so check back periodically for that.
Back to the trail. From the service road we hooked up with the upper part of the Bonneville Shoreline trail. Again, it turns back into a single track trail, gradual climb with ups and downs, and weaves in and out along the rock wall in between Taylor and Ogden Canyon. At the Taylor Canyon junction you can head back down to the city or continue along. The trail becomes less technical at this point but the incline continues with less ups and downs. The trail now hugs the side of the mountain and has a very steep drop off to one side. It's mostly a dirt trail but every now and then you come across some rock slide areas that leave a lot of gravel where it crosses the trail.
Eventually you come to a popular resting point in the trail called Overlook Rock. From this point you can see the entire Weber Valley which encompasses North Ogden, Ogden, South Ogden and everything to the West including the Great Salt Lake and many of it's islands. From this point the trail begins to level out. It still hugs the side of the mountain and weaves in and out of its little nooks and crannies, but the uphill is done with.
The next major canyon you ride into will be Waterfall Canyon. This is a very popular canyon for hikers because of the 200' waterfall at the end. I don't have a picture of this waterfall because it's been years since I've hiked this canyon, but I did find this picture on the Internet that was taken during the winter when the waterfall was frozen. Kind of cool. The stream coming down from the canyon is in full force and the bridge to cross is not in the best shape of its life. Just a couple of planks were missing. No worries though...right?
Again you follow the trail along the contour of the mountain and then weave in and out of Strong's Canyon. Eventually you end up at the end of the trail which meets up with a neighboring community built high along the bench just west of Weber State University. This is the end and you have two choices. Follow the road back home (boring!) or double back along the trail to get some revenge on that stupid incline at the beginning. The choice is pretty obvious from there. Upon arriving at the service road again I followed another trail to the 22nd street trail head, which is close to where I live, while my friend headed back to Rainbow Gardens, close to where he lives.
The trail is a great way for beginners, and out-of-shapers, to start of the season. In fact, in some spots it's a pretty great trail for youngsters to learn to mountain bike. We saw this mother with her two children up on the trail. She had one child on his mountain bike and was guiding him and holding onto the bike as he learned. I would've suggested the trails just below this one because they are a little flatter and easier to handle. My friend Darek made the comment about "throwing the kid into the deep end of the pool." Regardless, it was great to see a mother out teaching her child how to ride, instead of letting him play video games all day long.
To end off, I'll leave you with my classic Google Earth view of the trail. This year, however, I'll be adding a topographical map and also a vertical profile of the trail (Tyler got a handheld GPS at the beginning of last year and has been playing with it ever since). I also am going to leave those of you interested in a link to a great website Darek gave me about Utah mountain biking trails. I've already found and have mapped out three more trails that I want to do so. That link is http://www.utahmountainbiking.com. Stayed tuned for future updates...and if we're lucky, maybe even some great stories about getting the boat out.

GOTTA GET'M STARTED EARLY!!

Obama on Leno

2009-03-19T23:07:00.002-06:00

So tonight President Obama became the first president to appear on the Jay Leno show while in office. I watched it to see what he would say and what questions Leno would ask. A lot was said about the A.I.G scandal and President Obama said that he thought there were many Americans out there that have this sense of entitlement about them. He also said that we are in tough times right now and that the country needs to get back on its feet and the only way it'll happen is if we get back to the principles on what this country was founded upon. In other words, what our forefathers taught. I started laughing as soon as he finished that statement. Not because I don't believe in that principle, but I don't see his policies as doing that. In fact, I see them going in the opposite dirrection. A lot of his policies are trying to make government even stronger in the lives of the people and more a part of their lives. Look at health care, finance, redistribution of wealth, housing, etc. More government involvement is what's being preached.
That's not what this country was founded upon. This country was founded upon principles of hard work by the people. The government is there to protect the rights of the people, not medle in their lives. If the people can't handle themselves properly it's not the governments responsibility to come in and fix it. How will the people learn if the government is there to bail them out? When you take away those responsibilities from the people, then democracy fails and the country will be in prime setting for a dictatorship or communism.
More government involvement leads to more sense of entitlement, leads to less responsibility from the people, leads to less involvement from the people, leads to the fall of this nation. President Obama is right, we need to get back to those principles that our forefathers founded this nation on. How was this nation founded? Through revolution, abolition from a government that failed to let them live their own lives. I'm not calling for war against our nation, but I'm saying that we need to stop expecting the government to jump in and catch us everytime we fall. We need to take responsibility for our own actions. If those actions lead to great riches and benefits then that's our right. If we decide to be lazy and not work hard then we also have no right to complain that the rich get richer while the poor get poorer.

Payoff after 20 Years!

2009-03-19T16:54:00.004-06:00

It's almost time, only a few months left! Ever since I was six years old I've been going to school more days than I've been able to play and have days off. Granted the only difference between kindergarten and home is that instead of mom yelling at you to clean up your mess and take a nap it's a teacher instead. But now, 20 years later, I see the end. I've gone through many different schools: Club Heights Elementary, Washington Terrace Elementary, Midland Elementary, Sandridge Jr High, Roy High, Weber State University, and now at the end of July I'll be graduating from Idaho State University. DONE! No more school! And the best part of it all...I'll have a career that pertains to all this blasted education I've been going through. It won't just be a job to pay bills, but a career that I've studied for. It's truly a great feeling knowing that I'll be done with school and will be able to focus on other things, like waterskiing, vacations, and overall play...oh yeah, that work thing too I guess.
So what's with the "payoff" statement in the title. Well, like I said I'll finally be doing work that I've studied for and that work will start at Midtown Community Health Center in Ogden, Ut. That's right, I haven't graduated yet but I've already had a job offer and signed a contract to work at that clinic starting August. I've been doing one of my rotations there just recently and have loved it. The staff are great to work with and the patients are as well, for the most part.
For those that don't know it's a clinic located in downtown Ogden, on 23rd and Adams. The patient population are mainly those of low income status and Spanish speaking only. The clinic offers family practice, prenatal care, and acute care to all patients. It has an in-clinic pharmacy that is very affordable and sometimes even cheaper than Wal-Mart. It's partialy subsidized by the government which allows it to serve the econimicaly challenged. It has deals worked out with local hospitals that allow our patients to receive diganostic imagging services and also referals to specialists at a discounted rate. Overall, it does a lot of good for the downtown Ogden community.
I'm pretty excited to start working there this fall. I think it will be a good place for me to get established back in my hometown but also a place where I feel that I will be able to help those who are truly in need of it. I also feel that it will provide me with the opportunity to further increase my medical knowledge and also better my skills.

State of the Nation - Children's Version

2009-03-13T13:18:00.004-06:00

I got this in an e-mail the other day from a friend and got a good laugh out of it that I thought I'd let everyone get a chance to read it.

The Little Red Hen
> >
> > (The New American Way)
> >
> > "Who will help me sow my wheat?" asked the little red hen.
> >
> > "Not I," said the cow.
> >
> > "Not I," said the duck.
> >
> > "Not I," said the pig.
> >
> > "Not I," said the goose.
> >
> > "Then I will do it by myself," said the little red hen, and so she did. She
> > planted her crop, and the wheat grew very tall and ripened into golden
> > grain.
> >
> > "Who will help me reap my wheat?" asked the little red hen.
> >
> > "Not I," said the duck..
> >
> > "Out of my classification," said the pig.
> >
> > "I'd lose my seniority," said the cow.
> >
> > "I'd lose my unemployment compensation," said the goose.
> >
> > "Then I will do it by myself," said the little red hen, and so she did.
> >
> >
> > At last it came time to bake the bread. "Who will help me bake the bread?"
> > asked the little red hen.
> >
> > "That would be overtime for me," said the cow.
> >
> > "I'd lose my welfare benefits," said the duck.
> >
> > "I'm a dropout and never learned how," said the pig.
> >
> > "If I'm to be the only helper, that's discrimination," said the goose.
> >
> > "Then I will do it by myself," said the little red hen.
> >
> >
> > She baked five loaves and held them up for all of her neighbors to see.
> > They wanted some and, in fact, demanded a share.. But the little red hen
> > said
> > "No, I shall eat all five loaves" and she did.
> >
> > "Excess profits!" cried the cow. (Nancy Pelosi)
> >
> > "Capitalist leech!" screamed the duck. (Barbara Boxer)
> >
> > "I demand equal rights!" yelled the goose. (Jesse Jackson)
> >
> > The pig just grunted in disdain. (Ted Kennedy)
> >
> > And they all painted 'Unfair!' picket signs and marched around and around
> > the little red hen, shouting obscenities.
> >
> > Then the farmer (Obama) came. He said to the little red hen, "You must not
> > be so greedy."
> >
> > "But I earned the bread," said the little red hen.
> >
> > "Exactly," said Barack the farmer. "That is what makes our free enterprise
> > system so wonderful. Anyone in the barnyard can earn as much as he wants.
> > But under our modern government regulations, the productive workers must
> > divide the fruits of their labor with those who are lazy and idle."
> >
> > And they all lived happily ever after, including the little red hen, who
> > smiled and clucked, "I am grateful, for now I truly understand."
> >
> > But her neighbors became quite disappointed in her. She never again baked
> > bread because she joined the 'party' and got her bread free.
> > 'Fairness' had been established.
> >
> > Individual initiative had died, but nobody noticed; perhaps no one
> > cared...so long as there was free bread that 'the rich' were paying for.
> >
> > EPILOGUE
> > Bill Clinton is getting $12 million for his memoirs.
> > Hillary got $8 million for hers.
> >
> > That's $20 million for the memories from two people, who for eight years
> > repeatedly testified, under oath, that they couldn't remember anything.
> >
> >
> > IS THIS A GREAT BARNYARD OR WHAT?

You want a change? YOU make the change!

2009-02-09T23:58:00.003-07:00

I was reading a news article the other day about president Obama asking for support to get the new stimulus package pushed through. In his speech he used the phrase "America voted for a change and this is the change America voted for." I thought about that and also about his ideas of "change" he has for our health care system. He was also quoted in another article saying that "only the government can shake the country out of a recession." Basically what this administration is running with is that more government involvement is what is needed to get us out of this hole (for my views on the capability of our government to enact such changes read my previous entry). So let me make a few simple suggestions about how if we want a change, WE need to make it. Let's look at health care for example.
As a nation we spend more money on health care than the rest of the world. Yet, there are more people in our nation that have little or no insurance and do not receive the proper health care that they need. Now some of the other nations on this chart have adopted a universal health care system and so this allows all of their citizens to receive a standard of care. Granted it might take 6 months for grandma to get that new hip she wants/needs, but at least under universal care grandma, regardless of her income, can get it. In America however, it's different...and that's why people believe that there needs to be a change. And in certain areas I agree with them, but I believe that there are a lot of misconceptions and beliefs about the system and how it needs to go about being changed. Also I would like to present some ideas at how it can be changed.

1- In this country health care is a business. That's the simple truth. Granted, most of us in health care went into it with some altruism in our hearts, but we still have bills to pay and this is our job. Before starting PA school I put in forty hours a week of work at the hospital because I needed money. I had a mortgage, bills, need for insurance, need for food, school tuition, etc that I had to pay for. After school I will still put in those same forty hours (if not more) as a PA for the exact same reason. Doctors, PAs, NPs, RNs, LPNs, and everyone else in healthcare also have those same expenses and this is how they make their money. If more of our nation understood that fact I think they would see health care differently. People will go out and buy expensive cars, entertainment centers, houses, etc and not complain about the people/business that sold it to them, but when it comes to going to the doctors..."are you going to charge me extra for cleaning my ears out because I don't want to?" Do you go to work as a "______" because of your innate desire to serve others, or because of money? And if you say that it's not about the money then you're full of crap!
2-"Doctors really just try to keep people sick because if they cured everybody then they wouldn't have a job." Let me tackle that statement for you. America, health care providers will always have job security not because we try to keep you sick because you do that just fine on your own. Keep on smoking 2 packs a day, keep drinking yourself to death every night, keep eating at places like McDonald's everyday, oh and one more thing...please, please don’t get off the couch and exercise because if you did that you might just lose weight. You might just start eating healthier and maybe you might stop smoking. That would lead to a decrease in heart disease, diabetes, lung cancer and all those other wonderful diseases that keep us in business, and we don't want that. Cure for cancer...why? Honestly people get over yourselves! You are the one making yourself sick, not me. Do I put the cigarette in your mouth and light it for you? Do I chain you down to the couch and force you to watch reality shows like "The Biggest Loser"? Do I convince you to spend money on alcohol instead of medication? NO! YOU! YOU do that on your own! If you're an overweight, smoking diabetic these are the things I'm going to tell you: Stop smoking, Exercise 30 mins a day at least, Eat healthier (and I might just even give you a diet plan and refer you to a diabetic educator to teach you about eating better), take these medications that have been proven to treat diabetes and heart disease. If after current follow up appointments and more suggestions you continue to not do those things then it's not my fault you're still sick.
3-YOU MAKE YOURSELF SICK (one more time for emphasis). Now there are plenty of people out there that have illnesses and diseases that they have no control over. Trust me I know this. If you're a Type I Diabetic I'm pretty sure you didn't tell your body to attack your pancreas. If you have a genetic disease then it's not your fault (you can blame your parents for this one). There are diseases that we can't stop from happening, but we can hinder their progression and in some instance cure them. But it's still up to YOU to manage this thing on a daily basis. Diabetics, take your insulin as prescribed. Hypertensives, reduce stress in your life and take your blood pressure medicine. Infected, take your antibiotics as prescribed. If it says take twice a day for ten days then do it! Don't stop taking them on the third day simply because you feel better, the infection still exists within you and will only grow back stronger and more resistant.
4-Rising Costs: Now how can we manage the rising cost in healthcare? Simple, learn how to use health care appropriately. The emergency room is not a family clinic. "Is it the EMERGENCY or the ROOM part that you don't understand?" When your kid has the sniffles go to your family doctor. Don't have one? Get one. Can't afford one? There are thousands of community clinics around our nation that base their fees on a sliding income schedule, and most of these clinics also have payment plans as well. Again, health care is not free and we too have bills to pay. I digress back to the emergency room. I remember working many days when there was a two hour or more wait in the emergency room. 75% of the cases could have, and should have been taken care of by a family practice doctor. People, the emergency room isn't free, even if you don't have insurance. While suturing up a young child I overheard the patient in the next room say to a friend while she was talking on the phone "Well does she have insurance? No? Then just tell her to come to the emergency room." Again, it's not free and if you come with the idea that it is then you are in for a big surprise. When we constantly use emergency rooms as family practice offices then of course costs of health care are going to increase. Again, the increasing cost is partly because of OUR actions. It's not all the insurance companies, or those greedy doctors faults that health care cost are outrageous...it's OUR fault. It's a simple example of supply and demand. If WE continue to abuse health care the way we due then prices are still going to climb.
5-Staying Healthy=WORK: You want to lower your health care costs? Then stay healthy. You do that by choosing healthy lifestyle choices....remember the ones they taught you in 8th grade health class? We don't teach these concepts to our children because it wastes another hour of their precious time. There is truth behind it all. Here's the hard part, it requires effort on our part. It requires that, instead of snacking on a bag of potato chips and a regular soda while watching "Dancing with the Stars", I turn off the T.V. and go for a walk/run/bike/insert your choice of physical activity. Instead of getting that super value meal super sized I stick with just the regular sized meal and a water, or even better, I cook something for myself instead. It requires that when I start to get sick with the sniffles I do all that I can to get better right away (proper use of available health care) so that I don't lose a day of work or pass it along to others. It requires that when my medications are running out and I need a refill I let my doctor know in advance instead of seeing him two weeks after they've run or calling his office on a Saturday, when it's closed. Yes people, it's easier and cheaper to avoid problems then to have to fix them. But it requires effort on OUR part. There are no magic pills!
6-Children follow Parent's Example: Today I saw a woman who was suffering from multiple ailments, while taking at least a half dozen different medications, who was no taller than 5'4'' and weighed over 300 pounds. That's a BMI of over 72! 25-30 is overweight, 30-35 obese, 35+ MORBIDLY obese. MORBID: "Suggesting the horror of death or decay." She could barely walk, barely breath, in constant pain, and many more complications. Next to her sat her daughter with the exact same build, except a little taller, but still MORBIDLY obese. And then there was the granddaughter, while still only less than 2 years old, probably fell above the 95th percentile in weight for her age. Parents it's up to you to keep your kids healthy while they're are under your care. Turn off the video games, make them go outside, give them fruits and vegetables as snacks, help them with their 8th grade health class homework on healthy life choices (who knows, you might learn something as well.) You want to make the world a better place for your children to live in? Maybe you can't change the world but you can at least help it so that they live to see that world by helping them stay healthy. Again, it requires YOU to take action.
7-You Do Not Know More Than the Provider: You don't. This isn't your specialty. You didn't go to countless years of school focusing on human anatomy/physiology, infectious diseases, or pharmacology. You do not spend your entire day at work diagnosing and treating others. You do not spend your free time reading new drug studies, researching new treatment modalities, or studying to recertify your credentials in medicine. If he/she says you don't need an antibiotic than you don't need one. It's not that he/she wants you to continue to suffer but years of schooling has taught that person when and where to use antibiotics. You want to know why we have drug resistant bacteria out there? Because of the huge overuse of antibiotics for illnesses that usually clear up on their own and also becuase people only take antibiotics until they feel better, not for the recommended time. You might not like your provider, but that doesn't mean you know more than he/she does. And don't go doctor shopping for one that will give you everything you ask for. You'd be better off finding one who knows what he or she is doing and has the guts to stand up to you and say "You don't need that." Maybe you want to try a natural alternative. That's fine, but where do you think we got most of our medications from? The majority of them were inspired by naturally occurring agents: penicillin, digoxin, Botox, insulin just to name a few. For a good read about natural products go here.
8-Stop Suing! Why does your provider all of a sudden want to order these expensive tests to rule out some rare disease? Because if he didn't, and by some incredible chance that you did, YOU would slap a lawsuit on him for all he's worth and for all his children's worth. Not only would you sue for any financial costs that this would incur but also the "emotional damage" it put you through. It's called practicing medicine people. We're not perfect at it and mistakes will be made. I now find that many providers are practicing CYA (cover you a..) medicine. This includes ordering more tests and prescribing unnecessary medications because they're afraid of the unforeseen possibility that their patient might just have some 0.0000000000000000001% chance of some fatal or debilitating problem. Let me put this in simpler terms for those of you that still might not get it: more lawsuits=increased medical malpractice insurance=increased CYA medicine=increase health care cost. Now if there was a provider out there that deliberately made a mistake putting someone’s life at risk I can understand a reasonable lawsuit. But because the doctor told you your cancer gave you maybe only 6 months to live, and for some reason you've made it a whole year since then, you think it's prudent to sue for "emotional damage" saying "I was ready to die and now I haven't" or "I sold my house and blew my life savings in Vegas." Get rid of the frivolous lawsuits! (See point 5 on doing YOUR part by putting forth an effort)

Now there are those companies and organizations (insurance/pharmaceuticals/Medicare/Medicaid) that can change their organization to help lower the cost of health care but we can't make them. They will have to do it on their own. But if WE work at changing what WE can then I imagine it would make a significant impact.

These are just some examples that I can think of that will help to reduce the cost of health care and "change" the system. Isn't "change" what the American people voted for anyway? Remember that our government is a government "of the people, by the people, and for the people." If the PEOPLE (YOU and I) can't/won't make these changes then the government won't be able to make them either. WE are the government.

Again, for emphasis, YOU/WE have to make the change. YOU/WE have to be responsible.

P.S.
If you've been sick for the past four days with severe vomiting, cramps, and diarrhea don't wait to go to the ER at 3:00 a.m.! Seriously, you're just asking to be called an idiot.

P.S.S

In the immortal words of Dwight Schrute: "In the wild, there is no health care. In the wild, health care is, 'Ow, I hurt my leg. I can't run. A lion eats me. I'm dead.' Well, I'm not dead. I'm the lion. You're dead."

Governmental Digital TV

2009-02-04T18:40:00.005-07:00

So today while watching NBC nightly news I saw a report stating that the upcoming change to digital TV, originally scheduled for Feb 17th 2009, will be pushed back to early June because "the country just isn't quite ready yet." They expounded upon that by saying that there are over 6.5 million Americans who use analog reception and still don't have a digital converter box that would allow them to continue to watch TV. Now most of these people still using analog receivers do it not because they are stubborn and don't want to change but rather can't afford to by a converter box (average price $40.00). That's just the ones that are left, there are still plenty more people out there who can't afford a converter box but have received one, and sometimes even two, for free because when this proposed change was announced over 2 years ago the government started giving out coupons to receive free boxes, thus allowing everyone to make the switch. We've all seen the ads on TV about the upcoming switch and most of us either got prepared for the switch, or already have cable and so we don't have to worry. Today, 2 years later, in the Senate there was a heated debate about moving the switch date back to June. Democrats argued that the country just wasn't ready yet, because of the stated 6.5 million who still didn't have boxes and that the government ran out of coupons. Republicans argued that this switch needs to go forward as scheduled because this will free up the airways allowing the government to sell these newly freed airways. The verdict was passed and the date was moved back to early June. Now that I've caught you up on current digital affairs let me express my opinion and reasoning behind it, along with a couple of solutions.

Problem: Government giving out free coupons (sometimes even two per household) to ease the transition and now have run out. What's wrong with the government helping people out some might ask? Well, if the government is handing out coupons worth $40 dollars towards a new box that means the government spent $40.00 per coupon, couple that with over 13 million Americans who have received these coupons and that's a hefty chunk of change. Where did that money come from? Taxpayer pockets. Now there are a couple sub-problems within this problem.
Sub-Problem: We were already in a financial crisis two years ago when this proposal came out and now we have an even larger debt. Why is the government spending money on something that is not a necessity? Some might argue that TV is a line of mass communication during an emergency and that people will need these boxes to be able to continue to receive those emergency instructions. Here's where I find fault in that argument. In most home emergency kits it is recommended to have a three day supply of food and water, a flashlight, extra clothing, battery/hand crank operated radio (with extra batteries), etc. Your TV won't work when the power goes out so that's not included in the emergency kit. Any emergency information broadcasted over the TV will also be broadcasted over the radio. If a digital converter box is necessary for everyone to stay well informed then technically the government should have been giving out free TVs years ago so that everyone could have stayed well informed back then. But they didn't. Why?
Sub-Problem Two: The government would give out two coupons per household. Why? If someone can't afford a converter box my guess is that they probably don't have more than one TV in there house. If they do then their priorities are misplaced and maybe they shouldn't be getting a converter box in the first place. But alas, two coupons per household. Now the government has run out of coupons and there are still 6.5 million households left without boxes. Keep in mind that over 13.5 million have already received their coupons. So let's do that math...13.5 million at two coupons equates to 27 million coupons. Now 13.5 million plus 6.5 million adds up to 20 million. So we should have had an excess of 7 million coupons. Yet we ran out with 6.5 million left without their precious TV.

Solution: TV is a luxury, it's not a right. If you can't afford a one time purchase of $40.00 for a converter box then I'm pretty sure you're struggling to pay rent, buy food, afford health care, etc. TV for you is not a necessity. It's not needed in cases of emergencies, to stay informed (I have a TV and there are still things in world news that I don't know about. Why? Because I don't watch those channels and most people don't either), or is something that the government should regulate.

Problem: This project has been in the making for years and in the public eye for at least two years and now with the conversion date approaching the government is not ready.

Solution: It's too late to take back that extra coupon we gave to each household so now it's time to just cut your losses and go ahead with the switch. Americans are resourceful, if they want their TV their going to get it. You'd be surprised how fast a desperate person can muster up $40.00 for something they really want (not necessarily need).

As Glenn Beck would say let's take an ADD moment. The government isn't even able to handle the switch form analog to digital cable on time for those people who can't afford to. Remember there are plenty out there who already have cable or satellite so the government isn't helping them out. What makes us think that they will be able to handle health care for the ENTIRE nation? It's a one time switch that should only cost $40.00 per household that they weren't even able to take care of. Now they want to socialize our health care system and try and manage that for us? If you really think they can pull it off then more power to you.

Problem: TV IS NOT A NECESSITY!

Solution: I've already said it but I'm saying it again. If you can't afford this one time cost then you have bigger problems on your hand than not being able to watch TV. Get your life in order! Again you will see that people will be resourceful enough to find $40.00 somewhere so that they can get their precious television but when they're prescribed an expensive (because it hasn't gone generic), live-saving medication they think twice about it. What's more important in the future my health or my entertainment?

Now you might think this critical of me (along with my other prior blogs) and you know what...you're right. I am being critical. I think that this was a stupid idea to begin with and I continue to believe it. At least I've come up with solutions. I think that priorities are being misplaced in this nation. So if I think something is stupid, idiotic, ridiculous then I'm going to say it.

Addendum:
I just found this article online. My favorite quote is the very last statement.

Planning Ahead

2009-01-24T18:31:00.003-07:00

As newly inaugurated president of the United States, Barack Obama has already signed off on some policies that will forever change the way our military works. One of those policies recently was the signing of the order to close the terrorist prison found at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Now this prison has been the source of much criticism for years because of the reported use of inhumane torture and other techniques that tarnish the reputation of the United States. Along with that same order came the order to follow the military handbook on the proper techniques of acquiring information, which means no more torture: threats of torture, coercion, physical abuse, or water boarding. Now I haven't studied the Army's Field Manual so I don't know what other ways of obtaining information are but I'm sure there are some quite respectable ways. Along with the closing of "Gitmo" and the no more torture Obama has also set up a task force to evaluate how we are to handle the now current residents of Gitmo and the future terrorist that might be taken into custody. He also has organized a task force to investigate new, non-torturous ways of obtaining essential information from terrorist.
Here's where I see the problem. Shouldn't you already have a plan in place ready to begin before you scrub current operations? Why is he closing Gitmo before even coming up with a solution to prosecute it's current residents? I know he promised this during his campaign, however, I feel he should already have a plan in place to compensate for Gitmo's closing. What will happen in a year when Gitmo is supposed to be closed and this task force hasn't quite finished it's suggestions? Once these suggestions are finished then they're going to need to go through the House and Senate for approval (and we all know those things take longer than a year).
Now if this new task force comes up with a great idea to house the now Gitmo prisoners and also new great ways of getting information from the enemy I'm all for it. However, I stand by the fact that you already have a plan ready to be implemented before you even consider stopping the current one. It just doesn't make sense to do it any other way, especially when you're talking about the future of our nations security. Just a thought. I hope his other official acts as president come with a little more thought involved.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090122/ap_on_go_pr_wh/obama_suspected_terrorists

Priorities

2009-01-15T17:33:00.004-07:00

The San Francisco Chronicle released an article this week talking about the amount of money being donated to the upcoming inauguration of president-elect Barack Obama titled "Obama inauguration very much a Hollywood production." As I read through the article I was surprised at how much money would be put into next weeks inauguration, over $42 million. California leads the pack with its citizens donating around $6.4 million with New York following at $3.9 million. Now the Obama campaign has put a cap of $50,000 per individual and has also made public those names who donated. Among them are top Hollywood directors and actors, university professors, physicians, professional athletes, and more. Barred from donating are corporations, labor unions, and registered lobbyist, however, individuals from these groups may donate not representing their organizations.
Isn't it great to see that, in this time of financial crisis, so many "respectable" people are donating their money to a single event that will do absolutely nothing to stimulate our economy? Especially surprising to see is that Californians, who recently have been considering asking for part of the bailout check due to the bankruptcy of their state, are found as the top donors. Wouldn't it be great if those same people would instead put that money into paying off their state's debt instead of helping to fund an event that could easily be televised to the whole world without costing $42 million? ANd why are these people donating? Tax breaks, public recognition, personal gratification, and every other self absorbed reason.
Why does this inauguration, or any for that matter, have to cost so much money? Do people really need to attend in person the swearing in of our elected officials? Why can't the nation just sit at home and watch it on television. I guarantee it is not costing $42 million to broadcast it. But it will cost $42 million to accommodate the more than 2 million that are expected to attend, security to enforce the crowd and calm the masses, and of course, the huge party afterwards.
Now there will be some jobs created for the hosting of this event and some of that money will trickle back into the community but its effects will be short lasting. Maybe instead of limiting each donations to $50,000 or less the Obama campaign should tell its constituents, especially those from California, to donate their money back into their own state to help it out of its own financial crisis. I thought our president-elect had a plan to help the U.S. out of its current financial crisis. This doesn't seem like a step in the right direction to me.

November Mayhem

2008-11-23T17:47:00.007-07:00

Half way through November and halfway through my third rotation. I spend most of my days in the ER in Pocatello seeing a lot of urgent care stuff but not a lot of emergent care. In the ER here the PAs do a lot of the easy stuff seen in the ER and the docs cover the really emergent situations. I get to work with the docs sometimes but usually I spend most of my time with the PAs. To tell you the truth most people couldn't care less if the student was there or not. You have to make yourself known and volunteer/ask for different assignments. I've got to see some pretty cool stuff in the past two weeks though. Probably the most exciting was participating in a "code." For those that don't know when a code is called in a hospital it means that a person has crashed and is in need of resuscitation. I was part of the CPR team. Unfortunately for the pt it was an unsuccessful code, but that's part of the business. Other things I've been a part of have been simple suturing/stapling, splinting, and saving lives...one sore throat at a time.
In the off times I've been out playing flag football with some classmates (see pic above), going to Jazz games, watching Bond movies, and enjoying my sleep.
While on my journeys through the ER I have come across some interesting information. Apparently the space shuttle has been docked with the international space station for quite some time and, if you catch it at the right time, you can see them pass overhead. Right now it passes overhead every two hours or so at night, but you have to catch it just at the right time because if you don't it will be eclipsed by the earth's shadow. If any of you are interested here is the website to follow the path http://www.n2yo.com and to check the times it flies over click on the 5-day prediction with graphics link. My preceptor is the one who actually showed me this website. It's actually quite exciting to watch as it passes overhead and then fades away as it passes behind the earth's shadow. The following videos were taken this evening and last night. In the first one it passed behind some trees before disappearing and in the second one it's kind of hard to know that it's moving, but you see it fade away.

So that's basically what's been going on. Not a whole heck of a lot to report on. Thanksgiving is just around the corner and most people I know will be heading home for the holidays...except for me. From my experience back at McKay-Dee I've learned that the best times to see interesting cases weekends and holidays so I figured that I'll take a shift in the ER for Thanksgiving. I'll make it home for Christmas though.

"Yo man let's get outta here!" "Werd to ya motha"

The American Dream

2008-11-08T01:55:00.020-07:00

Over 400 years ago there was a group of people who left their mother country in search of freedom, freedom from religious persecution. They braved the frigid waters of the Atlantic and settled in a land unknown to them. Coming from an industrialized nation such as England these people had little knowledge and skill when it came to tilling and taking care of the land. Had it not been for the indigenous people of the time, these early settlers would have perished. But providence wouldn't have it, so this people flourished in the land. Years later they would rise up in a declaration of independence against that same mother land whom they still paid tribute to. Again the battle cry of freedom was raised; freedom from wrongful taxation, freedom from an oppressive monarchy, freedom to live how they chose to live. The war progressed and many feared that this little nation would easily be suppressed by the powerful English infantry and navy. Again, providence wouldn't have it and this nation prevailed against all odds. As history looks back on this war there are many who still marvel that these thirteen little colonies could defeat the most powerful nation in the world. An thus the United States of America was born.
Over the years the United States gradually turned into a land of opportunity, a land of hope, a land of new beginnings. Millions would immigrate from their homelands, where their families have lived for thousands of years, in hopes of obtaining a better life for their children. Many came to escape oppression from their government. Despite their situation these people came to live the "American Dream." This concept continues this day with thousands of people immigrating every year (be it legally or illegally).
However, what is this "American Dream"? The Declaration of Independence states that "…held certain truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness." James Truslow Adams, who coined the term "American Dream" in his book Epic America (1931), states the following: "The American Dream is "that dream of a land in which life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement. It is a difficult dream for the European upper classes to interpret adequately, and too many of us ourselves have grown weary and mistrustful of it. It is not a dream of motor cars and high wages merely, but a dream of social order in which each man and each woman shall be able to attain to the fullest stature of which they are innately capable, and be recognized by others for what they are, regardless of the fortuitous circumstances of birth or position." If you were to look up "American Dream" in Wikipedia you would find this statement: "The American Dream is belief in the freedom that allows citizens and residents of the United States to pursue their goals in life through hard work and bravery. Today, it often refers to one's material prosperity, which is dependent upon one's abilities and work ethic, and not on a rigid class structure."
I ask you this question...do you still believe in the American Dream? Do you believe that through hard work, personal sacrifice, and personal responsibility you can achieve your goals? Do you believe that each person is "innately capable" of making their own progress? Or have you abandoned this dream and sought out a new one, one of entitlement and "I deserve"? Unfortunately it is my belief that the people of this country are living that new dream.

Now I don't want people getting confused with my motives for that last video. It was not in any way an attack against President Elect Barack Obama, but more against the mindset of miss Peggy Joe and the millions of other Americans out there that have that same sense of entitlement about them. There are many who believe that the government owes them or should regulate all aspects of human life; healthcare, education, business, oil, etc. With the government running everything these people, like Peggy Joe, believe that all their problems will be solved. "If I help him then he'll help me," she says.
Our founding fathers did not believe in this principle. Those Rights that they (and we) believe in are 1)Life 2)Liberty and 3)Pursuit of Happiness and they established this democratic government to protect those rights. You have the right to life and liberty and our government must and will protect those rights. However, you do not have the right to be happy but rather to pursue after happiness. That right to pursue happiness is protected by our government but it doesn't guarantee it, nor will it ever. In essence what this means is that you have the right of protection from your government, but not to free handouts.
Why wouldn't our founding fathers establish a government that helped offered more programs to its people, or offered more help? Because they knew that if the people depended upon its government to provide for them then this people could never become self sufficient. It's the whole "Give a man/Teach a man to fish" concept. Another important lesson to learn here is that if there is a problem, then we the people need to step up and fix it. We should take care of the poor among us, not the government. A colleague of mine wrote about this in his blog about Universal Healthcare. In a nutshell he states that the spirit of charity and gratitude are taken away with this type of believe.
To finish my ranting and raving, live the American Dream! Live it to its fullest potential but realize that you have to pursue after it, it's not going to be given to you. Don't let a sense of entitlement persuade you into thinking that the government is going to make everything all right, because it won't. Socialism didn't work for Russia and it surely won't work for us. President Benson counseled back in 1977 that "the people should support the government but the government shouldn't support the people." Abraham Lincoln coined a "government of the people, by the people, and for the people," a urged the American people in his Gettysburg Address to work and make every effort possible towards maintaining that government and our American Dream.

2/4/09
I was perusing the Glenn Beck Page and found this article. Read point 6.

The NBA: Where 1000 Happens

2008-11-08T00:25:00.009-07:00

Congratulation to Utah Jazz coach Jerry Sloan. On 11/7/08 he got his 1000th victory with the Utah Jazz making him the first coach to notch over 1000 wins with one team (career total is about 1092 wins). To lead a team to that many victory means that you have to spend a long time with that one particular team. In Coach Sloan's case that's 21 years with the Jazz. Now those years haven't been all fun and games but his coaching style has made the Jazz offense one of the best in the league.
Over these past years he has been criticized by many Utah fans for not letting the Jazz players play basketball like the rest of the nation. His game isn't about show boating, fancy passes, live-or-die by the three, and many other style of play that's been growing in the NBA. His style of basketball isn't fancy and many times doesn't aesthetically appeal to the average viewer, but it wins games. It's fundamental basketball at its best. Setting plays for each other, constant ball movement, pick-n-roll (it worked beautifully with Stockton to Malone and now it's back with Williams to Boozer), high-lows, all lead to one thing; team play. Everyone touches the ball and has an opportunity to score. If the Jazz lose a game it's wasn't because the all-star of the team was didn't perform well but rather because they didn't play together as a team. In other words, they didn't play Sloan basketball. Two years ago when the Jazz got blown out in game 3 against the Warriors in the second round of the playoffs Sloan told the team, "OK you played the way you wanted to and lost. Next time we play my game." Anyone remember what happened next game? The Jazz blew out the Warriors at Golden State. They would later go on to win that series 4-1. So even though his coaching style might not be what the fans want to see, it gives the true fans what they want...a winning season.
When talking about Sloan you can't overlook one of the qualities he's most known for, his temper. All though it has become more under control over the past couple of years, it's still a treat seeing him up and yelling at the refs. You know he's about to get a T or thrown out when Phil Johnson gets up to calm him down. Now

Now Coach Sloan did get his 1000th victory tonight, however, those of us who went to the game knew it wasn't the victory he would've hoped for. A win is a win yes, but when you let a 31 point half time lead slip away and only win by 7 against a team that had one of the worst records last year, and only scored 29 points in the first half of this game then you know that temper of Sloan came out in the locker room. A career changing moment, a first timer in NBA history, and thousands of fans cheering his name as the seconds ticked away, Jerry Sloan walked off the court like it was just another game. That's the way he plays and coaches and that's the way he will continue to coach. It's a winning combination. So congratulations to Coach Sloan for becoming the first coach in sports history to achieve 1000 wins with one single team. The following are a few pics from that game.

Intro into October

2008-10-03T14:21:00.004-06:00

We're almost done with 2008. Is it just me or do the years seem to get shorter and shorter? It's kinda hard to believe that over a year ago I started PA school and now I'm half way done and already working in different clinics. Many friends have moved out of the state and are attending their respective graduate programs, everyone's married off (I know I'm a slacker, but I'm O.K. with that), my little nephews are growing and picking up on new things every day, and, unfortunately, the boat is being put away (if Daniel is reading this the boat being winterized early is not my fault. Dad decided that since I wasn't going to be down until the end of October he was going to get it out of the way. Everyone knows if I had my way I'd try to hit the lakes one more time this year. Se la vi.)
So here it is, first few days into October and one week into my second rotation. I'm working out of an outpatient family practice clinic in Idaho Falls. It's a community health clinic funded by the government and so it serves a lot of people who are financially troubled. Because of the increased Hispanic population I get to use my Spanish a lot more. It's been over a year since I used my medical Spanish in an every day setting and I can tell you it has gone quickly down the crap hole. Words and phrases that I used to use in my sleep now take some actual thinking on my part and it's not as fluid as it used to be. That really is a disappointing thing to come to terms with. I don't think it will ever be as good as it was while I worked as an interpreter.
This switch to outpatient medicine from psych has been a challenging one. The interview process and questions are different and I actually have to perform a physical exam. That's probably been the best part of the change. Even though my exam skills are rusty and I'm still learning the nuances and intricacies of the physical exam, that hands on medicine is quite satisfying. I'm not going to lie when I said that I was a little scared and nervous going into this rotation because of my lack of the vast amount of knowledge required in this field. However, as I said back in my psych rotation, going through the history and physical exam usually leads you to the next question that you need to ask. It's amazing how everything seems to fall into place.
For it being my first week I've got to do some pretty simple, but still exciting, procedures. My second day I got to remove an ingrown toenail. Not that difficult or exciting of a procedure, but I was still pretty excited to do it, it being my first one and all. It truly is something else to forcibly remove the nail from the nail bed by simply jamming and blunt ended instrument between the two, all while the person has no feeling whatsoever because of the lidocaine injected into the foot just minutes earlier. As I sat there ramming this tool under the nail to clear it away from the bed so I could cut it out I was amazed at how much pressure I actually had to apply to get it up there. It wasn't a simple push either; it was a shove, pull out, then shove again maneuver, like picking away at ice with an icepick. At one point I pushed hard enough to get completely through the bed and under the cuticle. As I heard the popping sound and sudden release of pressure as the instrument freely flowed under the nail until it came to a stop just after going under the cuticle I for sure thuoght I was going to be kicked by a screeming teenage girl. Nope, she didn't feel a thing. Her father was even amazed at the proceedings and he also thought she was going to screem. I cut the rest of the nail out, debrided the wound and then bandaged it up. A simple procdure that I was excited about for the rest of the day. Other simple things that I was able to do were cut off a little kids cast and trim some pretty horrific onychyomycotic (fungal infected) toenails.
After a couple of days I was feeling pretty confident about my history and PE skills but still pretty shaky on my assessments and treatment options. With the help of a couple good preceptors, good advice, study, and practice that has all changed. By then end of my fourth day I was pretty confident about my findings and treatment plans of all my patients except for one difficult case that needed some extensive work up. Even my preceptor agreed with me that this was a difficult case and he didn't know what was going on either, hence the extensive work up.
So that's what's been going on in the professional life. The personal life is still there and chugging along. I was down in Ogden a couple weeks ago. Unfortunately I wasn't able to partake of the pristine waters of Pineview because of lack of a boat crew. That's what happens when everyone moves off to college, the boat suffers. So instead I hung out and played with my little nephews for a little bit on Saturday.

I also attended an 80th birthday party for my grandpa. The man doesn't look or act like he's 80 so I was a little skeptic of the party but all the paperwork checked out. It was good to see some family and enjoy of their company for a while.

After that I took a girl I've been dating (yes I still find time to date with all that's gonig on, contrary to the rumors believed by my ISUPA classmates) out and we saw a play down in Salt Lake. The next day we took a drive up Ogden canyon after church to see the changing of the leaves brought about be the fall weather.
Then it was back up to Idaho for me.

I took the bike out one beautiful Saturday afternoon up Gibson Jack canyon (one that I've previously done) again to see the difference in colors due to the weather. It was a great, challenging ride that I enjoyed even more this time due to the change in scenery. While up there I got to thinking about the beauty that this impending death brought about (if you want to read more on those thoughts just check out my other blog site here). And then the rest of the weekend was spent studying.
So that's the update for now. Things are going well and I'm liking this current roatation a lot. One thing I forgot to mention was the constant Spanglish used at the clinic. All of the staff know Spanish and many of the patients uses some type of English in their speech so it's not uncommon to hear "ayer cuando me fui to work me fijaba que my arm was doliendo," or, "dice que you need to give la paciente something para relajarse." It's great!

September Update

2008-09-04T21:40:00.006-06:00

Well it's been almost two weeks now since I've been back in Pocatello and have started my first rotation in my training as a PA. For those of you who don't know my second year of PA school will not consist of classrooms, or long, boring lectures, but will be based off of five week rotations to different sites where I can get "on-the-job training" and practice. There will be eight rotations in all and they range from outpatient/inpatient, ER, surgery, OB/GYN, etc. I will be doing a few in Pocatello and, if things go to plan, my last few will be down in Ogden.
My first rotation is at the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare working in an outpatient psychiatry setting. Luck has shone down on me because it is the same place where I have been doing an internship since January and so I was already prepared for the environment and what I would be doing. I felt bad for some of my classmates because they had surgery first thing Monday morning and have never been in that situation. However, ask me in three weeks when my second rotation is about to start and I will probably feel the same way they did. I go in Mon-Fri from 8am-5pm, weekends and holidays off, and have participated in a variety of things. The majority of my time is spent seeing patients who are clients of this clinic and managing their medications, but when there isn't another provider there with me I have to find other ways to fill my time. I've decided to use that time to gain a better knowledge of the resources these patients have that don't pertain to the medical part of psychiatry; individual/group therapies, crisis evaluations, and so on. These are all different parts of psychiatry but they all are involved in the armamentarium that is used to help maintain these patients stable or to help them improve their situation. Literature has shown that medication alone isn't sufficient for most of these problems because it's not always just a "crosswiring" if you will of the brain. Patients with these problems need to learn skills to help them adapt to their situation, and medication just won't do it. It's been said, "...therapy solves problems, medication treats symptoms." I've enjoyed what I've learned by sitting in and participating in these different treatment options. I've even taken notes and am trying to apply these principles in my own life, not just use them as suggestions for my patients.
I've also had and will have the opportunity to work in child mental health. What a completly different setting from adult mental health. Many of the disorders present in adult mental health cannot be diagnosed in childrens mental health so it's like going to a whole new specialty.
Today I had the opportunity to attend a court hearing of a person who is going to need institutionalization. I was asked if I wanted to attend to see how procedings went and what the courtroom setting was like. The psyhcologist that I went down with was called as a witness because of a screening that he did on this individual over a year ago. I read through his report and it was quite detailed. He was asked about certain situtations that he talked about in his report and what his opinion was as to the outcome for this individual. While on the way home he took time to explain this persons history in a little more detail so that I would have a better understanding of why he put in his report what he did. He also used this opportunity to stress the importance of careful, and judicious charting. He told me that a year ago when he was writting this report he "knew" that this case would eventually end up in court and that he might be subpoenad for his testimony. With this forsight he said that he detailed his report so that he could remember it later and to also leave no room for ambiguation as to his findings. Now this was something that I've been taught all year long, "chart everything!" but sometimes it really doesn't sink in until you experience its importance for yourself. I'm just glad that I saw it in this context and didn't have to live through it myself.
So I've been able to see a lot of patients in these past two weeks. Some of them are stable and have mild problems, while others aren't so stable and have some pretty amazing stories to tell. It takes a lot of self control to not react to some of these situations, even when deep down your thinking "Really? Are you kidding me?" There are so many diagnoses that overlap eachother that sometimes it's hard to diagnose on the first visit. I've had the oportunity to give initial examinations to a few patients and I have had to sit back and think "how do can I differentiate between these three possible diagnoses?" Sometimes patients can have co-ocurring disorders but you have to be really careful to get all the information that you can so can give an accurate diagnosis. The wrong diagnosis will lead to the wrong treatment, which will not only lead to prolonged suffering, but can also be dangerous depending on how the treatment works.
I'm grateful for the staff that I work with and that take the time to help me learn and understand. The chief psychiatrist is very knowledgable, patient, and willing to take time to give me little pointers here and there. She also acknowledges fairly constantly when I do things well, which is always appreciated from a young PA. All the staff that I've worked with so far have been very helpful in helping me understand the way things work and give pointers here and there.
So that's how my rotation has been going so far. I feel that I've learned more in the past two weeks then I learned all last year sitting in class. Class room learning is important but acutal experience is when things really start to sink in.
Not much else going on around Pocatello right now. I haven't gone mountain biking since I've been back, mainly because of time but hopefully I can get a couple of rides in before the weather gets too cold.

New Blog

2008-08-24T22:35:00.003-06:00

So I've got another blog up and running along with this one. The two will touch on different categories so you'll have to go check it out. Continue to check this one out periodically as well. The new site can be found at

http://tyler-inspirations.blogspot.com

Havasupai Flood, August 17th, 2008

2008-08-20T12:21:00.015-06:00

This will be my report on the happenings and my experiences during the flash floods of Aug 17^th-18^th. Before getting into it I want to open with a quick reminder to scroll down and read the previous blog about Havasupai if you’re not familiar with the area because I have already given an explanation of the area in that blog. It’s just a blurb about my trip down there (except for the flood part) and a little description of the area. If you are familiar with the Havasupai area and still want to go down and read it feel free to.

On Saturday, August 16th around 4:30 - 5:00 pm a few thunderclouds passed over us and dropped a light amount of rain on the campground. It wasn't much and only lasted about ten minutes. The sky remained cloudy on and off the rest of the afternoon but not much rain fell. About 6:00 pm a couple of native Havasupai came through camp letting all the campers know that a flash flood warning had been issued for the area and was in affect until 10:00 pm that night. They also told people swimming in the pools at Mooney falls to come back up to camp and not go back into the water. About a half hour later, one of the BIA (Bureau of Indian Affairs) officers came through on a four wheeler cautioning people to be prepared. Campers were cautioned to consider moving to higher ground. Even though we were informed of the flood and cautioned to be prepared it was done in a casual manner and felt as if it were more a "heads up" type warning. Some of the campers asked Havasupai and officer what to expect and, from their account, they were informed the river would only rise about two to three feet, if it did at all. At that time the river running through the campground had turned a redish-brown and looked like the river flowing through Willy Wonka's chocolate factory. Dad and I hiked up to Havasu falls and it was still that beautiful turquoise blue. However, right next to Havasu falls is another little side canyon that meets up with Havasu canyon and a river was now flowing through what was once a dry washbed. Just below Havasu falls is where the two rivers connected and the color change took place. It wasn't a gradual color change either but a sharp distinction of color separation.

With the extra water the river had risen but only about a foot. From there we hiked down to the top of Mooney falls to see the change the new color had brought about.

The falls were still a spectacular sight but instead of a white water falling into a blue pool it looked like twist flavored soft serve ice cream coming from the machine. The pool and the river downstream had turned that red0brown color as well. Before the change in color you could see where the pool ended and the river began because of the travertine formations that created the pools. These were no longer visible. Quite a spectacular sight to witness. After that all thought that that would be the end of the "flooding". Havasu was still blue and the flood had come from the adjacent canyon and looked to be slowing. Without any more rain falling everyone thought that we were in the clear.

12:30 am - 1:00 am: I was awaken by someone shaking my tent and saying "there's been another flood, get up." I slowly dressed and got out of the tent to check things out. I walked over to the river about 150 feet away from our camp and saw that the river had risen about five feet and was now running at what seemed to be 25-30 mph. I told Dad to come check it out and we decided to pack everything up. We were still on one of the higher spots of the campground and it would take substantially more water to even threaten our camp, but we thought to be on the safe side and just be prepared. After striking the campsite we wandered down the camp and talked with a few of the other campers. What we saw completely took us by surprise. We came to a pint in the camp where the river had overflowed its banks and had washed away peoples tents, gear, and camps. This was about 300-350 feet downstream from our camp. One of the high grounds just down from that was turned into an island with the river raging on both sides of it. You could see people's headlights and flashlights moving around on that island as they scrambled to pack everything up and try to keep it dry. They even built a little campfire on that island for light and warm (with the rising river and increased speed of it, it brought a little chill through the camp). Everyone downstream from that spot and those who had camped on the other side of the river to begin with were immediately cut off from the rest of us, and the way out. We noticed that the foam and debris from the initial surge that came through was about 2-3 feet above the current water level and most of us thought that it had reached it's highest point. We hiked up to Havasu falls to see if we could see anything in the dark and you could just hear the increase in power that the water was falling. Looking over a ledge you could also see the river had risen and now spanned the entire length from the canyon wall to that ledge wall (it doubled in width basically). Looking at the falls you could see that the mist from the falls was rising well above the initial height of the falls.

We back to camp and continued talking with some of the campers. We learned of a group of five young adults who had crossed the river from their campsite, just five minutes before the flood, so that they could fill up their water bottles for the night from the spring. Now they were cut off from the other three members of their group. Sadly this group had camped right next to the bank on a lower part of the camp and when the surge came through it took everything they had. Tents, backpack, clothes, wallets, car keys, cameras, everything was swept downstream. The other three had to scramble to higher ground while watching their stuff disappear and knowing they were trapped while their friends were on the other side. The five that were on our side of the river yelled back across to let their friends know they were all right. These five were given a couple of mats and sleeping bags so that they could try to get some sleep.

At this point Dad and I returned back to our original campsite and tried to catch a few minutes of sleep. Dad slept on top of the picnic table while I crashed on it's bench. About 3:00 am a group of people came by led by a guy named Benny and said that they were Rescue One. They informed us that everything seemed to be stable at the time but were numbering off all the people that they could account for. This Benny was actually a guy who has worked in many search and rescue events and was camping down there at the time. He organized the group of campers in the site next to him as the Rescue One. About a half hour later this group came back saying that we were to move to higher ground. This higher ground was at the horse stables just outside of the camp. It really wasn't much higher than where we were at already. I again walked over to the river bank from our camp to see and it had risen another five to six feet from the last time it rose. Everyone moved up there and the people on the other side were told to seek higher ground themselves if they could. Unfortunately we had to leave those people trapped on the other side. There was nothing we could do to help them. The waters had risen too high and were flowing to fast for anything to be done.

We moved up to the horse area and then immediately told that we needed to move to even higher ground because the river was still rising. We hiked back up the trail past Havasu falls and grouped together in a the cemetery that is just upstream. Historically this was the highest ground nearby and has never flooded, that's why the cemetery set there.

4:00 am: So here we are at the cemetery. Benny circles everyone around him and tries to answer the questions that were being asked. Just listening to the questions and hearing the voices with which they were asked you could sense the fear in some of the people. Now this was my first flash flood experience but I've grown up hiking and camping and being in the back country so I felt that I was somewhat prepared to handle what would come. However, some of the people were over from Europe of back east and have never experienced this type of thing before, nor grew up knowing what to do in these type of situations. That, coupled with the fear of not being able to see the river at that time and not knowing if it would continue to rise, helped to escalate the tension and fear felt by many of the campers. Dad and I were sitting next to the group of five that had been separated from their friends and gear. They had nothing on but swim trunks, short sleeve shirts, and shoes; nothing else. I brought our bags over to them and we gave them our sleeping bags, air pads, a hoodie, two jackets, couple pairs of pants, and some dry clothes so they could at least stay warm. We found out that they were from the Provo area and we told them to stick with us and we would help them get home and help accommodate them with what they needed. As dawn was coming and the sky was starting to lighten up I walked over to the edge of the cemetery to check out the river. You could make out the rapids and the level of the river in the dim light. It looked like it had grown five or six times it's original width and height. There was a constant rumble from the river that sounded like thunder off the canyon walls and you could feel the vibration through the ground. It's banks we probably a good 75 feet away and down from where we were at. I repeat by saying that the roar of the river sounded like thunder. You could also hear what sounded like lighting as the force of the river was so powerful to uproot or snap full grown trees and carry them down river. It truly was a sight seeing tree after tree being swept away. This sight those caused us to worry about those still caught in the campground area. The massive amount of debris flowing through could easy knock someone into the river or kill them instantly.

At this time we could see lights from the canyon walls and hilltops nearby. The main trail that campers hike in by was inundated and the two foot bridges that cross the river were blown away by this massive river but there are a couple of trails along the cliffs that the locals used. These are "secret" trails I guess you could say and were a back way in and out of the canyon. From there the locals had come down to check out what was going on and to help where needed. They made it all the way to the campground and started helping some people cross the river. This rescue happened later on from when we were in the cemetery but I'll add it hear while talking about the back trails and the locals. The three young adults stranded from their five companions were just some of the people who were saved by these tribe members. At the time the river started to rise even higher, after we had left, these people had to scramble up trees and stand on top of picnic tables and hang on to trees for their lives. They stuck in these trees for over five hours, half in the water and half in the tree. They had lost their shoes and some of the clothes they were wearing. The story from one of them was that a couple of tribe members came to where they were at and helped them crossed. One was told to jump from her position in the tree and extend her arm so that the Indian could catch her. With hesitation she trusted him and leaped into the water (it's speed had increased with the additional rise and was now estimated to be flowing around 35-40 mph) She says that she jumped in and went completely under expect for her right hand, which had been caught by the native there to help her. He pulled her to shore and continued to help others. Others crossed in similar ways. I also heard that there were attempts at using ropes to help get other across but I'm not completely sure about those details. Another young man caught in a tree had to actually move to another one because the debris hitting his caused it to start to break. He said that massive trunks would just slam into his tree and knock it around. He also stated that at various times he saw chuck of rock and mud the size of cars just being swept away through the river.

5:00 am: Back at the cemetery and before the local natives had made it down to the campground light was starting to illuminate the river and our surroundings. It was impressive. It looked like the Colorado flowing through Cataract Canyon. Just a series of rises and troughs as the river carved it's way down the canyon. Finding this secret trail we started climbing up the cliffs behind us to safer ground. The water now was at the cemetery edges. We found a canyon in the cliffs with a path to climb up and ropes to assist us. This was used by the locals when they came that way into the cemetery. We formed a support line up the wall to help those campers who would struggle climbing up. People were informed to leave what they had and to only take what they needed. Not many headed this call so it caused the climb to be delayed. Everyone got up and sat on the cliffs watching this amazing feet of nature that took a calm, smooth flowing, blue river surrounded by lush vegetation and in a matter of hours turned it into the floods of Noah. By this time the Indians had scouts and walkie talkies along that trail and were informing everyone to hike back to the village that was about two miles away, using the back trails. While the others started the hike Dad and I climbed back down the cliffs to get our gear that we had left behind and to help anyone else that was still down there. Before this I gave my day pack to the group of five and told them to head to the village and that we would meet them there shortly. I initially packed this packed at 12:30 am when the first flood came through so that I had the essentials handy in case we had to quickly move. It consisted of two camelbacks full of water, two or three bags of trail mix, a couple of granola bars and powerbar gel packs, camera, gps handheld, wallet, and car keys. I already had my multi tool and flashlight with me so I kept those. Because we had unpacked all our gear to give to this group we left it there while we climbed up the cliffs. After everyone was up the wall we climbed back down to get it. The waters hadn't risen in a while and were still not posing a danger to where we were at. In fact, I don't believe the waters rose much more after that. Unfortunately I wasn't able to make it over to see how this had affected Havasu falls but some people that I met did and got some amazing pictures.

We got back up the cliffs and hiked the two miles back to the village, catching up with many of the campers. Hiking bike we found another cemetery, hiked through people's corn fields, climbed through barbed wire fences, and through muddy washes that had been created earlier that night when the initial flood hit. Part of the village close to the Havasu Creek was inundated as well but the main part went unscathed. While hiking back I could see Navajo Falls. It was completely covered in mud and only a trickle of water was coming down.
About twenty minutes later I saw the reason why but didn't realize it was the cause until the next day. While hiking along I heard this sound that I thought were the initial helicopters in to rescue those down stream. It was to constant though to be choppers. I looked up and saw above the tree line another waterfall, one that didn't just a day earlier. At the time I had no idea where we were at in relation to the river but it was too big to have been missed if it existed previously. I couldn't see where it came from or where it was going but it was like a mini, muddy Niagara.
We made it back to the village and met up with the group that we were helping out. I went to the store and bought a couple things of gatorade for them and Dad went to the cafe where we got some food. The trail mix, granola bars, etc were all gone by the time we met back up with them because we told them what was in the pack and to eat what they needed.

9:00 am: We're now back at camp and relatively safe. The first chopper on seen was the AirWest chopper which was the privately run chartered helicopter used by the locals to get supplies. It started flying down the canyon to evacuate those cut off downstream. A couple of Arizona Department of Public Safety (DPS) choppers arrived and continued the air evacuation. The first people to be rescues back to the village by the helicopters arrived around 10:00 am or so. Talking with some of them I learned that a large group had been able to gather at the cliffs of Mooney falls away from the flood waters. We were grateful that those people made it there safely because if they had gotten swept away they would have gone over that 200 foot waterfall. (For a youtube video of the flood over Mooney go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tyqsNcqMGZg it was taken by one of the people stranded down there). Others who didn't make it down to Mooney were able to climb the cliffs into some caves. Those trapped on the island (a group of 11-12 year old scouts and others) had to spend part of the night in trees as well until they could be air evacked out. These boys came back completely exhausted, dehydrated, and scared. It was not hard to look at their faces and see the fear and terror that they went through.

10:30 am: News spread through the camp that the Redlands dam about 30 miles upstream had broke and another flash flood potential existed, one that could even threaten the main part of the village. I went over and talked with the evacuation coordinator who was also the onsite FEMA coordinator to get a little clarification on the rumor. He informed me that one of the helicopter pilots had flown over the dam to assess the situation and reported that it had broke but that it was not affecting the height of the water to a worrisome level. The main focus at this point was getting all those still trapped downstream out of the current danger they were in. About 11:30 am or so the three remaining people from that separated group made it to the village. They were air lifted out from their spot and dropped off at the cemetery, from there they had to hike back to the village, two of them not having shoes. When they arrived they were beaten, bruised, and exhausted. I attended to them the best that I could and gave them some pain meds (Mortin and Tylenol) that we had in our first aide kit.

Noon: By this time I believed that everyone that they could account for were rescued from the campground and back at the village, of course there was no way of being 100% certain. A group of hikers that started hiking out before the flood hit were also brought back to the village by the choppers. The had made it past the village and were headed up the canyon to the parking lot when they were trapped by flood waters as well. We were told that choppers would soon be coming to get us out. There were over 200 campers there and so I knew that it was going to be a long, long time before we even set foot on the bird. So we just had to make due with what we had. About 12:30 pm we were moved to a place in the village that would be large enough for Blackhawks to land and told to form a single file line. "The choppers will be here soon," we were told. An hour and a half later the first one landed. We were moved from our spots in the shade into an open field and waited next to a fence for an hour in the noon day sun. This was the sign of what was going to be a very frustrating afternoon. The organization of this air evacuation was that of poor, poor quality. No information was being given to the group, "just going to have to wait," we were told. Now where we were lined up waiting for the Blackhawks to arrive was right next to the landing pad, 75 feet away. Anyone who has been near a helicopter when it lands know of the massive dust they kick up while landing. Now imagine behind 75 feet away from a military Blackhawk landing in a dusty dirt field; a little annoying.
After it took off the coordinator decided that we probably should move back and form the line farther away from the LZ. "No kidding," I said to my Dad, "You'd think they would have thought of that in the first place." One of the guys we were helping out looked at me and said, "Let me tell what was wrong with that last sentence of yours. You started with the phrase, 'You'd think'." We all got a good laugh out of that. Now we were told that the Blackhawks would be taking ten people at a time and that three would be used in the effort. However, when the first Blackhawk arrived it only took six and the second one only took seven. The "third" never even showed up, contrary to the reports you might have heard from the Cococino County Sheriff on the news. The other two DPS helicopters also assisted in air lifting people out but they could only take three or four at a time. They also had to stop in the afternoon because the pilots had passed their fourteen hour flight limit due to their part in the rescue downstream and the time it takes to fly to and back from Phoenix, where they were sent from. It was about a fifteen minute turnout from take off to return for the Blackhawks and from touchdown to take off they averaged five minutes to load. So you do the math; two Blackhawks, fifteen-twenty minute intervals, six-eight people at a time, and over 200 people to evacuate equates for a long, long wait in line for those of us located near the rear. We left our bags and went and sat in the shade. I would occasionally go and moved them as the line progressed but returned back to the shade.

When the first Blackhawks arrived they brought some police officers from another local tribe to help with crowd control. I went over and started talking with them and they told me they had no clue what was going on and they were as just in the dark as we were. They were a couple of good guys and I talked with them through the remainder of the day. I was informed by them though of something rather interesting and disturbing. Although two army Blackhawks were being used, evacuation wasn't being run by the government. In fact, it was being run by the local tribe leaders and was only being assisted by the government. So it was the tribe council man who decided what route the evacuation would take place. Well around 4:00 pm or 5:00 pm we were informed that they were going to start evacuating the local tribe people before the rest of the campers. This wasn't a forced evacuation of the tribe members but those who chose to go could. So while we had waited in line to board the choppers for hours, many of the tribe members that chose to evacuate came up to the front of the line with wheel barrels of their personal property, pets, and whatnots and boarded the Blackhawks.

Now I need to explain a concept before I continue. There is a private helicopter service that provides transportation for supplies and the Indians in and out of the canyon. It is contracted out through the tribe. On the days the helicopter flies tourist can use this service as well for a fee. It provides a different perspective of the canyon on the way out if you don't want to hike back up. It cuts a four hour hike down to four minutes and provides spectacular views. It's run on a first come first serve basis so tourist need to get to the helipad early and sign up. However, because it is there for the Indians they have first pick if they want. That means that you could be waiting for two hours to get on and if a local needed to use it to get out they got to jump to the front of the line. This is a totally acceptable concept because it is for them really, it's just a convenience for tourist.

I asked the FEMA guy who was "organizing" (I use that term loosely because there was very little organization, if any, that existed. No information was being passed along, people were moved from shade to sun an hour before the first chopper arrived, groups weren't organized so that the loading of the choppers would run more efficiently, etc) why the villagers were being able to play that "first pick" card when these were military helicopters and this was an evacuation. He told me that because the evacuation was being run by the tribal council, and that that decision to evacuate the locals first was made by them, that's what they were doing. I also asked why there was a need to evacuate the villagers, was there an imminent danger to them or the village? He told me not at the present moment but more flash flood warnings were predicted for the next couple of days so they decided to evacuate the villagers as well.

Now you can only imagine how us campers felt about this little decision. Many people were irate. There was no imminent danger to the village. They were passing up the people who had been caught in the flood, no means of communication to the outside world to inform family members that they were all right, many had lost their gear in the flood and only came out with what they were wearing, people not familiar with the land to evacuate those who had lived for years, had a community that could support those who were affected by the flood, who had places to stay with food to eat, didn't have flights to catch or drives to make or family to inform, and weren't waiting in line for five hours up until that point. There was a lot of speculation as to why that decision was made and why the government didn't step in and say that this was unacceptable and the first priority were to be the campers and tourist since there was no immediate danger to the village. Those speculations were made and everyone is entitled to form their own opinion but I won't be commenting on any of them because this blog is intended to inform what happened, not why it happened.

One thing that I want to comment on though is an incident with the local government doctor assigned to work in the village of Supai. He was part of the group that elected to leave when the locals got to leave. Just before he got on the chopper I stopped him and asked him a question about a person in our group that had a somewhat series medical condition that required her to take a medication every day, that medication being washed away. Now I knew about that condition and her medication through my studies as a PA student (just starting my second year) but didn't feel comfortable giving her advice because of the type of medication it was. As I explained to him her condition he looked at me without taking his hand off his suitcase and explained that he didn't have any and said "She'll be fine for at least three days without it," then turned and got on the chopper. I just stood there in amazement at how this man, this medical professional, had absolutely no regard nor compassion for this young woman. Now he was right, the medication has a long half life and will remain in her system for a couple of days and there really was nothing he could do about it, but to see him turn tail and run onto the helicopter while there were still over a hundred campers and tourists waiting to be evacuated made me extremely upset. I would like to think that those of us who go into the medical profession do/did it because of our desire to care and help others. It's only common to place the needs of others above our own desires and needs. How could he just leave everyone there to save his own tail? What if something happened to someone that required medical attention after he had left? He is a government paid doctor assigned to that village, and yet, his oath as a doctor meant nothing at that time. Every man for himself it seems to be. For those of you reading this and are in the health profession I hope that you went into it for the reason of helping and serving, and not just the big paycheck. I helped attend to some of the wounded and a couple of other doctors who were camping there did too, but the village doctor who was getting paid didn't. In these situations it takes us to overcome ourselves and even disregard our own desires and need to attend to those in need of help. Sometimes that requires that we let them go first in the evacuation so that if an emergency does arise later, we are there to help.

Eventually the choppers had to refuel and were gone for about an hour to an hour and a half. They eventually returned and started shuttling people out. During the time they also brought supplies, like bottled water, for those of us still stranded. Of course the local store was still open and you could still go and purchase items to eat and drink...that is if you still had your wallet and it wasn't swept away. Eventually the Red Cross made a deal with the store to put everything from that point on on credit and it would be reimbursed so the refugees didn't have to pay for supplies.

Now there were officials on site, like BIA officers, local police and sheriff, but what they were doing we have the faintest clue. They weren't passing along any information (and we were wondering if they were getting any from up top) nor were they controlling the local tribes horses that were running wild through the camp, many times through our line and almost taking out half a dozen people. Again, no organization. You would see them ride around on four wheelers and sit down and talk. Now the police officers were only brought in to keep the crowd under control and didn't have much authority to do anything else so I'm not including them in with those people who were not taking charge when they should have. Plus I talked with a couple of them for most of the night and they were pretty decent guys in the same situation as us, no idea what was going on.

It's now about 7:30 pm or 8:00 pm and the sun has gone down a long time ago. There is still light out but it is growing dimmer by the minute. One of the BIA officials tells everyone to leave this organized line that we had formed on our own and form four single file lines in a bottleneck section formed by a corral. Not taking charge himself and putting these people in an organized fashion, he just told everyone to do it and then walked away. Now our organized line has become a disorganized herd of people, with us being even farther back now.

A Blackhawk touches down and the ground crew signal that it can take ten people. Ten run out and seven get on with the remaining three being tol to turn around and go back to the line. What? While they were returning the three ground crew that were helping people get on all day long jumped on themselves and the chopper took off. I saw that and immediately thought "Well, there goes the last chopper for the night." Fifteen minutes later that was confirmed when we were officially told that we would be stuck there for the night. (Now KSL news reported that 50 people or so "elected" to stay behind for the night and that they would be choppered out in the morning. The Cococino County Sheriff also told CNN that everyone who wanted to be out would be by nightfall. I want to set the story straight and inform everyone that those are false statements. First of all there was around 80-90 of us still there and not a single one of us elected or volunteered to stay back. The truth is we had no choice and were forced to stay back because the choppers weren't going to come back. So we didn't elect, but were elected to stay back. And as for the Sheriff's statement, everyone that wanted to get out that night didn't.) Many questions were asked like what about the possibility of another flash flood and where to go (when I heard that question I was like "Really? Did you seriously just ask that? YOU START CLIMBING UP THOSE ROCKS!), where were we to stay, what were we to eat, and what time would they be back in the morning? We were told that the choppers would be back at "first light". "What time is first light?" someone asked. "Dawn," was the answer. Dad raises his hand and said, "That's not what the question was. The question was what TIME is first light, or in other words, what TIME are they planning on coming back?" "At dawn," was the response. Another question was asked what was to be done with the line and how would people be able to save their spots? I first thought at this point what does it matter where you are in line anymore? Regardless of what time "first light" is and what time the choppers actually get here your day tomorrow is already shot. No response to that question either from the officials. I raised my hand and asked if he, the BIA officer, would personally organize the remaining group into smaller groups and assign numbers so that there would be some form of efficient loading of choppers in the morning and so that people didn't just start lining up at "first light" to sit and wait, you know, some kind of organization to appease the already irate group that was left. Nope. Didn't happen.

We took refuge in the local community center and food was provided from the store. There is a lodge there (for those who don't want to stay at the campground) that was charging $45 to anyone who wanted a bed. Convenient, right? So we slept there that night. Many people used the phone found in the store to call their families and let them know that they were all right. We also heard some of the news reports that our families received from CNN and other services, like us "volunteering" to stay behind.

I wake up about 4:30 am and walk outside. It's a full moon out and you can see the canyon wall with great detail. Blackhawks have flood lights on them right? How is it that they couldn't get the rest of us out earlier? Most people start waking up about this time because yesterday "first light" came around 5:00 am. Over the walkie talking it's heard that the first chopper would be there at "0600." So just before 6:00 am everyone was lined up out side the LZ waiting for "first light" and "0600." Luckily we got there early and were one of the first in line, instead of last. 6:00, 6:30, 7:00, 7:30, and still no chopper. By 8:00 am the sun was up and shining on the village, still no chopper. "First light?" A report comes in to prepare the LZ by 9:00 am. 9:00 am rolls around and still no chopper.

While waiting I decided to go off and do a little exploring. Remember that new waterfall I talked about earlier? Well I found it, and it's consequences. This new waterfall had formed about 0.3 miles upstream from Navajo falls and cut, literally cut, out a new canyon from flat ground. The canyon was at least 40 feet deep and I can't give you an estimate as to how wide it was, but it was enough to divert the river away from Navajo and dry it up. Absolutely amazing to see this feet of mother nature and how such little time it took. I stood there in awe and wonderment about the sheer force and power only "9 inches" of water falling in canyons 30-40 miles away can do when it all funnels into one. For those of you with Google Earth or some kind of mapping software the coordinates for this new fall are:

36 degrees 14'46.76" N
112 degrees 41'59.29" W

The coordinates for Navajo Falls are:

36 degrees 15'01.99" N
112 degrees 41'55.88" W

If you look at the landscape you can see a flat, forested land. Now check out this video I took an those coordinates.

Finally! 10:30 - 11:00 am the first chopper arrives! "First light?" It's a DPS air rescue chopper and starts again with the evacuation. Shortly after two National Parks Service (NPS) chopper from the Grand Canyon arrives and another Blackhawk assist with the remainder of the evacuation. Each different organizations chopper had different protocols. The DPS choppers loaded people up quickly and flew them out. The Blackhawks had to follow army protocol and load everyone up, securely fasten them in, etc. The NPS chopper I rode out on has a set of its own rules: jumpsuits, helmets, and a pre-flight itinerary. Are you kidding me! Just get me on the bird and out of this canyon!

I'm finally in the air! 36 hours post flood and I'm finally being evacuated! We were taking to a hilltop about three miles away from the parking lot and interviewed to make sure that everyone in our party was accounted for. We were shuttled back to our car and by 1:00 pm we were finally on the road. What awaited us ahead was a 12 hour drive home. We gave those who were lost a ride home to Provo and pulled into our garage at 1:30 am Tues morning. What an adventure!

As of lately I was informed that eleven campers are still considered missing. To that I can't comment on because I didn't know the exact number of how many campers were there in the first place. All I can say is that the initial rescue effort to get those people who were cut off by the river was amazing and everyone was working hard. I also don't wish to make it sound like the choppers did a bad job at the evacuation. DPS, the army, and NPS choppers and crew did an excellent job and were only following protocols and orders. Those who dropped the ball on this were the initial ground organizers.

I took my GPS handheld down and saved the coordinates to the falls, the trails we hiked on, the chopper right out, etc. I've loaded them into Google Earth and created a .kmz file so anyone who would like to see them let me know and I'll email them to you.

You can also see my full collection of pictures (pre and post flood) at

http://picasaweb.google.com/havasupaitrip08

Havasupai 2008

2008-08-20T00:20:00.011-06:00

This past weekend I spent down in the Native American tribal land known as Havasupai. The Havasupai are a group of indigenous people located in a small little village, known as Supai, at the bottom of the Grand Canyon. Although not a part of Grand Canyon Nation Park, Havasu Canyon is part of the Grand Canyon complex. The village lies about 17 miles south of the Colorado River and relies on its water from the beautiful blue-green waters of Havasu Creek which flows through Havasu Canyon and merges with the Colorado.

These blue-green waters are what give the land its beauty. This land has some of the most amazing, beautiful scenery that I have ever scene. It’s a stark contrast from the rest of the Grand Canyon. Those of you familiar with the Colorado know that when it passes through the Grand Canyon it is a muddy body of water in most places. There is life at the bottom of the canyon but it is scarce.

Once you get to Havasu Canyon though things changes completely. Through Havasu Canyon runs Havasu Creek. Havasu Creeks starts at least 80-90 miles southeast of Supai on the plains. It is created from the runoff of snow and rain an flows northwest about 50 miles until it drops into Cataract Canyon, which then feeds into Havasu. There the stream is fed from an underground river that flows upward through an artesian well. The river flows the entire distance of the canyon until it finally feeds into the Colorado. The river is what brings in the tourist though due to its distinction from the Colorado. First of all its blue-green color is a thing of beauty at the bottom of the desert. The color is due to an enormous concentration of lime (CaCO3) contained in the streambed. This lime also gives the creek its other amazing distinction, its travertine formations. Sediment trapped in the river gets mineralized very quickly and thus the stream bed is ever changing with new pools and rapids being formed yearly. The entire distance of the stream can be described as a series of “step downs” from pool to pool. These “step downs” are the travertine formations. They are not very big drops with the average being about a foot.The water remains at a cool, refreshing 70 degrees F yearly and is a great place to cool off from the mid-day sun. However, Havasupai isn’t known for it’s blue-green water and travertine formations alone, it’s most famous distinction are a series of four waterfalls in between the village and the Colorado. This is what brings in the tourist from all around the world.

There is a primitive campground located just north of the first two falls and can accommodate around 200 campers or so. Because the ground is located on an Indian reservation each group is required to make reservations and accommodations through the local Havasupai tribe. This is not a government national park. The funding brought in by tourism helps keep the local village of Havasupai alive. The village is home to around 400 tribe members and is only accessible through helicopter or hike. It gets its supplies through a contracted helicopter service (known as AirWest) and a mule train.

In fact, it is the only place in the world where the mail is still delivered by mule (yes, there is a post office there).

It’s not a primitive village by any means; there is a K-8 school, courthouse, jailhouse, store, clinic (small), community center, churches (LDS and Christian), café, and homes. Many of the residents have satellite dishes, electricity, and phones (landlines). Don’t get me wrong, it’s not completely modernized, but it’s not primitive either. Many of the residents work with the tourism part of the community packing down tourists gear on the pack mules, working security, and other things. Some are farmers and grow corn. The kids run around barefoot in the dirt through thorny weeds and rocks as if pain didn’t exist.

The following is a brief description of the four major falls.

Havasu Falls

Havasu falls is actually downstream from Navajo falls but it’s the first one you will run into if you stay on the main trail. It’s an amazing fall to run into because you come at it from behind. In fact, if someone didn’t tell you it was there you wouldn’t know to expect it. So you’re hiking along the west side of the river and come to a steep down slope ans you start your descent you can hear the falls and as it makes its first turn to your right you see this amazing 120 foot, pure kinetic energy wall of water that spans 50 feet. It drops into this pool of turquoise blue made by the travertine deposits forming natural dams. Because of the sheer force of the falls the pool gets extremely deep (I really can’t give a good estimate of w

hat it would be). Along the west bank of this pool is an outlet for an underground stream that also feeds the pool. At the north end is another wall that encloses the area and makes it seem like you’re in a private resort. The walls by the falls are these stalactite-like projections that look like clay falling off piece by piece and just waiting for the potter to come and shape them.

Mooney Falls

Monney is by far the largest of the four with a drop of over 200 ft! It’s not as wide as Havasu but just as impressive. It’s located about a mile downstream from Havasu and again you come up on the falls from behind and walk into a world of amazement! It truly is spectacular to witness the massive amount of energy being dropped so far dow

n. Like Havasu, Mooney drops into another deep pool of turquoise blue water perfect for swimming and playing around in. To get down the base of Mooney it’s a little more technical of a climb. In fact, that’s what you’re basically doing…climbing. There are steel stakes and chains down the “path” so you can hang on while you go down, down those 200 feet I was talking about. At one point you have to climb down through a cave. At the bottom is set up a standard aluminum ladder that you can buy at any hardware store to get you down that last 15 feet. Once at the bottom your look up and again are just bewildered at the sight. The mist coming off of the falls, along with the canyon breeze is refreshing for any hiker who has been tortured by the day’s sun.

Beaver Falls

Is no where near the height of the other two but none the less impressive. It is a series of three waterfalls and pools that step down to the next. The highest of the three would have to be around 25-30 feet and is perfect for the afternoon cliff jump. On one of the levels there is an underwater cave that is easily accessible and amazing. While in the cave you look up at the ceiling and it looks as if a ceiling of spikes is about to come down on you. Surrounding the pools at Beaver are plenty of trees to give shade for lunch. Beaver is located about 3 miles down Mooney and the trail is fairly easy. However, finding Beaver is not. At one point you have to scale up a rope/wood ladder and walk along the canyon wall. The canyon widens a little bit and for a while you can’t see the river but can still hear it. If while hiking you come to a sign that says “Now leaving Grand Canyon National Park and entering Havasupai tribal land” you’ve gone to far. Turn around, climb down the canyon wall an

d walk upstream and there you’ll be. It’s one of those places that if you don’t know what you’re looking for you’ll easily miss it.

Navajo Falls

This was the last of the falls that we visited and is actually the first of the series, but because it’s not along the main trail so you’ll miss it if you’re going straight to the campground. By the way this was my favorite of the four. It’s probably only 70 feet tall but the landscape is just amazing. The water looks like it cascades down a series of beehives. To the east of the falls is a little cavern with a pool and a mini waterfall coming out of a

hole in the wall about the size of volleyball, if not smaller. The lush vegetation around the pools and the falls gives it a secluded feeling. One can climb up along the back side of the falls and explore a little around the top, then scale down the middle of the falls using a rope that’s been tied to a tree up top and stand on a ledge about 50 feet up from the pool. From that ledge you have two choices, stay there looking down at the water from that height and question whether you should jump or not, or, close you eyes and throw yourself through the air and plummet towards the water. Really the later of the two is the most fun.

Now that you’re a little more informed I can recall my trip. Dad and I started driving from Ogden, Ut on Wed, Aug 13^th in the morning and reached the Hilltop parking lot around 8-9 pm (~12 hr drive). We got the tent out a slept in the parking lot that night. We woke up at 4 am and started hiking down the trail at 5. Around 5 am is when the canyon starts lighting up. Now, there’s a reason it’s called Hilltop parking lot, it’s on a hi

ll on a canyon ledge. The trail begins there and immediately descends about 1500 feet in about 1.5 miles through a series of switchbacks. Once down you hike along the river wash of the plateau. At this time in the morning the sun is just barely shining on the top of the canyon walls and is one of the more beautiful and breathtaking dawns that one can experience.

A quick side note, because of the hot Aug temperatures one has to start early in the morning because by 9:30 or 10 it’s already 100+ in the canyon. The sun beats off the red sandstone walls and you start to feel like a brick over pizza. Back to the story: With the dawn slowly rising we continued along the plateau until we came to another spot on the trail where we drop down another canyon (the Grand Canyon is one HUGE canyon with canyons in the canyon). The trail now follows the wash and you’re hiking in the bottom of this amazing sandstone creation with walls towering over 2000 feet above you. One cannot help a sit in awe at the mighty creation of this amazing place. Just taking it in with the human eye is overwhelming, let alone processing its formation. This little canyon you start in eventually takes you into Havasu Canyon where you will encounter the Havasupai village. The distance from the parking lot to the village is around 8 miles and took us around 3.5 hrs. This is a backpacking trip so you have to pack in your own tents, bags, food, everything; which means you’re packing around 35-40 lbs on your back the whole time.

Upon arriving at the village everyone is required to sign in at the camp office to receive their permits and instructions. From there we went to the local café and caught a quick breakfast before continuing on.

The campground is another 2 miles down the trail, and it’s the worst part of the hike. Going down the canyon is not bad because for the majority your walking on sandstone and packed dirt. The trail from the village to the campground is different; it’s sand. Think of walking along the beach shores and then imagine doing that with 40 extra pounds on your back, in 100+ temperatures (by this time it’s around (9:00 am and the sun has already hit the village) for another two miles. It’s not that it’s a hard, technical trail…it just plain sucks. It’s like busy work in school that you have to do. Along the trail we passed Navajo and Havasu falls. We finally arrived at the campground and set up camp near a spring that supplies fresh water and about 50 yards from the river. Then we quickly changed and rushed to Havasu falls to cool off in the water. We swam around there for a couple of hours and then went back to camp to take a nap. I had brought my backpacking hammock and quickly lost consciousness as I laid in it. Dad got out his air pad and slept on the picnic table. We were both exhausted from the hike down and the hot sun. I’m pretty sure we both slept for a couple of hours. After awaking we explored the rest of the campground, and hiked to Mooney falls just about a mile outside of the camp. Explored around there for a little bit and then went back to camp, ate dinner, and just kind of watched the other campers. It’s interesting to see how prepared, or unprepared, other backpackers are. You can easily spot the ones who have the experience and those who don’t. There were many times we saw what people were packing and thought “Really? Why would you bring that?”

It gets dark in the canyon early because the sun starts to disappear behind the canyon wall around 5:30 or 6 pm. We took another quick hike to Havasu falls (0.3 miles from camp) to catch them in the different light. From there we went back to camp and went to bed.

Friday morning we woke up when it started to get light, had a freeze dried pack of scrambled eggs and ham for breakfast and then took a day hike down river to some falls called Beaver Falls. This is about a 3.5 mile one way hike. It’s not difficult at all but just takes some time. There are three different points that you have to cross the river, a forest of vines and thorns, couple of cliffs to climb, and weathering a hot sun to get to the falls. The falls are located right at the point where the tribal land merges with Grand Canyon national park.

There is a sign that marks this point, and if you get to that sign you have gone too far and missed the falls. We ate lunch there and played in the water for probably 3 hrs or so. You would think it would be hard to spend that much time in one spot but as beautiful as it was with so much to explore around, and as tired as we were and relaxing as it was, we didn’t find it that difficult to just lounge. Plus, what rush were we in. It’s not like we were on a time table at all. We planned this trip to give us plenty of time to do everything we wanted and spend as much time as we wanted. While at the falls we met up with a group that hiked up from the Colorado River (about another 3.5 miles). These people were on a 14 day river rafting trip and stopped off at the Havasu/Colorado junction to get a change in scenery. One of them said that as soon as they heard there was a place to go swimming in clean, fresh water they were all up for it. Their guide started showing them some places to go climbing and cliff jumping and also showed a couple of them where there was an underwater cave that had an air pocket in it to go exploring. I listened closely to him from a distance and watched where he went so I could go find it for myself. After he left I went looking for it and found it. The entrance wasn’t that far from the surface and I came up in this little 10 foot by 3 foot air pocket. The ceiling was full of stalactites formed from the water seeping through. I showed dad where it was at and tried to get him to go explore it but he didn’t want to. That didn’t matter though, because at that time I had taken him to a place where the only way down was a 25 foot jump off the falls into the pool below. I jumped and was just paddling in the water waiting for him to jump. He just looked at me from up top and gave me this look of “why did I follow you up here?” Eventually he jumped and it looked like he enjoyed it, of course I couldn’t get him to do it again. He’s not too comfortable with that height and prefers the 15 footers. We played in the pools a little more and then headed back. It only took us about an hour and a half to go back because we didn’t stop as much on the way down (I already took pictures on the way down). One of the parts in the trail requires you to climb a 15 foot ladder with rungs about 6 feet apart. There a ropes in-between the rungs to help you get up. On the way back we came across a rope swing that some teenagers were playing at. We joined the fun and flung ourselves out into the river. Dad was getting ready to go when one of the boys asked if he wanted them to grab his legs and pull him up higher so he can swing out farther. Surprisingly Dad said yes and they threw him out. After complaining about that 25 foot jump I was shocked that he let these kids do that to him. Oh well.

The hike down and back to Beaver, and all the playing in between took about the whole day so when we were done we went back and ate some dinner. For lunch we packed down some tortillas, tuna, and cheese and brought down much more than we should have so that night for dinner we had tuna quesadillas and a freeze dried peaches and cream pie. Before the trip I bought a 2 lb bag of tortillas and put them in the food sack, which eventually ended up in Dad’s pack. When he pulled that out at first he just started laughing and said “I can’t believe you made me pack that!” (For those of you not familiar with backpacking you have to pack light things so that you can actually carry your pack down the trail. Every little ounce matters and you really only take what you need)

That night it started raining a little. The tent we took down didn’t have the rain fly and so we had to improvise with a couple of ponchos. Ours was the only redneck tent in the campground!

It’s now Saturday morning and we have one more day left before we pack out. We decided to hike upstream to Navajo Falls about a quarter of a mile away. There I found some places to go climbing and cliff jumping. Dad cliff jumped as well, just not off the same ones. I found a place that was probably about a 50 footer. To get there I had to climb up to the top of the falls, then, climb down in the middle of them using a rope that had been tied to a tree up at the top. I also saw a couple of kids climb up a semi-cave and jump out from in the middle of the falls. Of course, I had to go find this cave and experience it for myself. That was a little more difficult than expected. It was right under the falls and so initially it was hard to see where to get some good holds to pull myself up. I had to actually climb up and in between a couple of walls to get to where I could jump. It was a fun jump though. We were the first group up there in the morning and more showed up later. A large group of guys came up and I showed them where to jump from. These guys we doing back flips and twists of the cliff into the pools. A couple of them even did a little “synchronized jumping” which gave everyone some good laughs. After a couple of hours there were headed back to camp for some more tuna quesadillas and a nap. This time Dad took the hammock and I got the picnic table.

After another couple hour nap we woke up to some thunderclouds rolling over and some rain. It didn’t rain hard and it quickly passed but that storm that passed over would change the course of our trip, and Havasupai forever. See my next posting on the flash floods.

All and all the trip was amazing! I would love to go back in the future to see the effects of the flood and those changes it brought. I was already surprised at the changes that happened over night. After everything we went through I would still go back. That country down there is the landscape of the Great Creator and it was truly a spiritual experience as well to enjoy of His beauty, created for our enjoyment.

I took plenty of amazing pictures of this place! Overall I have about 1.4 GB of pictures and video, that’s over 300 pics and vids. For those of you familiar with my blog I love to take pictures of the outdoors and backcountry. That being said, I don’t take a lot of pictures with people in them and I also take a lot of the same area trying to get different angles and lighting patterns. People say that a personless picture is a boring picture but I disagree. The most beautiful pictures I have ever seen have been nature in its own element, without mankind mucking it up or ruining it with a cheesy smile. Now I still am one to get in a cheese it up for everyone to see but there is always the pure shot that I get. When I do get people in my shots I like to get them with their natural looks and not a pose so you’ll see a lot of pictures of people hiking with their backs to me, etc. That way it looks more real. Because of the sheer quantity of pictures I have created another site apart from my other picture page with my Idaho backcountry pictures so that I can fit most of them in. This site is located at

http://picasaweb.google.com/havasupaitrip08

Feel free to go perusing if you wish.

For those of you who are familiar and enjoy playing with Google Earth I also took my handheld GPS and mapped out the trails that I went on, the waterfalls, and some other interesting points. I have created a Google Earth .kmz file and so if you would like that please leave your email and I’ll send them your way.

August Update

2008-08-10T20:55:00.003-06:00

So it's been about a week and a half since school let, making me a free man. It hasn't been a dull week by any means either. Ever since I've been home there's always been something to do or something that needs to be done.
Last Friday a cousin of mine got married. Now he's the son of my dad's brother who has lived in Ireland for the past 20+ years but my cousin's lived in the States for about 3 or so. Now with the wedding being over here and all that meant that the whole family from Ireland has come over. The cousins have been staying at my parents house for the past three weeks while the parents have stayed at Grandma's. It's actually been nice seeing the family again, it's been 12 years since the last time they were over here. Because the cousins were all crashing at my dad's that meant that I had to put up with them too, and it's been fun. I took them waterskiing for their first times and taught/got them all up on skis. Now they all did pretty well for their first time but my cousin's fiancee kicked all their butts. She was the fastest in learning to get up, the longest to stay up, the only one to go in and out of the wakes, and (here comes the best part) she even attempted to slalom ski and amazingly got up for a couple of seconds. She did a lot better than I thought she would at slalom skiing. It's a shame that they're leaving tomorrow because with a few more gos I think she would do pretty well.
Last weekend we went on our annual family reunion up at Rockport. It's a reservoir near Coalville Utah. We spent the weekend mingling with family and waterskiing. A sad story though. While on the drive up Morgan Canyon heading to Echo I looked back and noticed that my left trailer (boat trailer) wheel was smoking. I pulled over to the side and found that the bearings had completely burnt up and the wheel looked like it was about ready to fall off the axle. For anyone pulling a trailer this is an unfortunate event, but when it's a boat trailer and you're heading up for a weekend of boating it becomes a nightmare. The rest of our caravan continued up to Rockport while I stayed back to wait for the tow truck and take care of the repair arrangements. It cost $100 to tow the boat 12 miles to Coalville where I had to leave the boat for about 5 days while they fixed the problem. Now ordinarily this wouldn't have taken that long to fix but because it was over the weekend there were no warehouses open to order parts from. 5 long days, 100 miles, and $240 dollars later I got the boat back, with the trailer not in perfect condition. The new problem was that during the unloading from the flatbed the tow driver dropped the coupler (the part of the trailer that hooks onto the hitch) from about a 2 foot elevation on the flatbed and bent it up, making it almost impossible to latch the coupler onto the hitch. So the latch and unlatch the coupler I have to use a hammer. So, now the trailer is in another shop here in Ogden getting the coupler fixed, and again I took it in over the weekend so it will take longer to fix. Hopefully it should be done by Monday evening so I can go skiing on Tues.
The weekend of camping was fun though and got to spend some great time with the fam, learning some new card games from the Northern Irish (we've had a long, lengthy discussion on the difference between the Irish and the Northern Irish).
As much as my cousin will tease me for saying this, I had a great time with the family over for the week and am going to miss them when they're gone. Although we don't know much of each other and have only met twice there is still that strong family bond that ties us together and allows us to act like we've known each other for years.

One of the worst sights I've ever witnessed!

Weekend at Rockport

A little Sunday afternoon Rockband to bring the family together

The N. Irish giving it a go

The d'Hulst/Beattie's from Ireland

Frontrunner

2008-08-08T11:51:00.006-06:00

So my cousin is getting married today in Salt Lake and I decided to take the new frontrunner train down instead of driving the Jeep. A oneway ticket down is $5. The Jeep gets about 16-17mph freeway and at $4.10/gallon it only makes sense to ride the train. So here I am right now, sitting on the train and writting this blog on my iPhone and listening to Juanes.
Even though the trip takes a little longer it is nice to just sit back and not have to worry about traffic, gas, driving, etc. It's nice to just take in the scenery. I can see why so many people use this as transportation to their jobs. The trip from Ogden to Salt Lake takes about an hour with eight stops on the way. During that time I've checked emails, read some blogs, worked on a talk for Sunday, played on facebook, and now I'm writting my own blog. Its a time where someone can be productive and get those things done that they would like to do but find it hard to find the time to do them, like read a book etc.
Not only does this allow people some additional "me" time but it also helps our community out as a whole. It takes cars off the freeway, which in turn will help clean up our air. It save gas money, which can then be budgeted towards the boat. It's a cheap form of transportation beween Ogden and Salt Lake for those who aren't priveledged of even owning a car. The train also might give you the chance to meet someone new. At one stop along the way this family got on and sat it the seats across the ails from me. Well the little kid decided that I needed a new friend and sat in my booth. We joked around for a little and then he went back to his family.
So all in all it was a good experience. I'm now sitting at the train station in Salt Lake waiting for my dad so we can catch Trax to temple square. If you have the opportunity I suggest hoping on the train and giving it a whirl.

Por Fin!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2008-08-03T16:16:00.012-06:00

It's finally here! It's finally happened! The world can continue on as we know it. Nothing has to end! Why am I so excited? Well, on Friday August 1st, 2008 I got Felicity (my waterski) out of the basement and took her up to Pineview for our first official run of the season. It has been way too long since I waterskied last (Oct of 2007) and I have never gone this long into the summer without it. What was the cause of this great atrocity? That would be PA school going through the summer and living in Pocatello, Id where no one I know has a boat. That was the biggest deciding factor, not having a boat. Fortunately enough school has ended for a few weeks and I have migrated back down to Ogden where there is constant access to a boat and people to go with.
It was seven o'clock on a crisp August morning, the sun hadn't risen over the mountains yet there was plenty of light outside. A cool breeze was blowing as I prepared the boat for our maiden voyage. My buddy Daniel and his wife Hannah arrived and we piled into the Jeep for the short drive up Ogden Canyon. Excitement was in the air as we pulled the boat up the dam and finally caught our first glimpse of the water. The sun had risen over Ogden valley and reflected off the mirror lake. Words cannot express the what was felt as we looked over a smooth, glassy lake calling to be caressed by the body of my fiberglass ski. My buddy and I have launching the boat down to a science and wasted no time getting her onto the water and us out of the port.
The time finally arrived. With my life jacket and gloves on I grabbed the rope handle in one hand and Felicity in the other and we both slid gracefully into the water. The water was perfect! The temperature was that of a cool, lukewarm bath; refreshing but not cold. "Hit it!" I yelled and was immediately pulled out onto heaven. What waited ahead was a glass lake ready to be cut like a hot knife through butter. I couldn't have asked for a better way to start my summer vacation! And so, without further ado, I present for your viewing pleasure some select photos and video of what true pleasure is.

I can just tell this is going to be a good three week summer!

Mormon Canyon

2008-07-26T19:20:00.009-06:00

It's been two weeks since my last bike post. The reason for that was on our last ride my buddy got a flat and screwed up his rim pretty bad to where he had to take it into the shop to get fixed. Well it wasn't ready by last Saturday so we took a week off. I thought of maybe getting up and going on a quick bike ride up a trail that I've done a few times now, but then I decided that sleeping in until 11:30 am was a much better use of time and resources. However, today we resumed the biking experience through Caribou National Forest. We started at the Scout Mountain trail head and headed along the east bench of Scout Mountain. We've previously ridden this part of the trail when we did our Scout Mountain excursion (last bike blog). We past the pond and continued along the trail that would eventually take us up to Scout Mountain until we came to a fork in the road. Instead of heading north towards Scout we turned south and headed towards Old Tom Mountain but we didn't climb to the top. After about 3/4 of a mile we turned off the Old Tom trail and headed down Mormon Canyon.
The trail down Mormon Canyon is more single track than not. It's accessible and wide enough for bikes, horses, and dirt bikes but not ATVs or Jeeps. It's a fairly steep, and rocky descent down the mountain dropping about two thousand feet in a little under three miles. The beginning of the track rides down the ridge of the mountain so there were many times where not paying attention would send you tumbling down. A lot of the downhill is fairly rocky as well creating a steering/braking problem. It doesn't matter if you're going up or downhill, a rocky trail feels like biking over ball bearings. Regardless of how much pressure you put on the brakes or how far you lean back so as to not go over the handlebars, those rocks take you on the trail they choose. It gets especially annoying/frightening when one side of the trail is that roll down the mountain I was talking about earlier. That part was coming down the mountain into the canyon. Once you get into the canyon part of the trail you don't have to worry too much about a lot of rocks, the tree roots take care of that problem. Sometimes they can be just as bad, if not worse, then the rocks. However, they do make for some nice little jumps to play around on. The canyon trail crosses the stream quite a few times so it makes for a nice cooling effect when riding through. Unfortunately though this week's ride didn't go flawlessly. I ended up getting a flat in my rear tire and had to stop to repair that. I don't think I rode on the flat too long because my rim doesn't seem to be bent at all. I easily found two holes that needed repairing and patched those up fairly quickly. Thinking that I had fixed my tire I put it back on and kept on down the trail. About a mile down I realized that there must have been more, smaller holes that I couldn't find because the tire ended up going flat again. Not wanting to deal with finding and patching the holes I just switched out tubes with a spare that I had brought.
I think that we spent just as much time driving and placing vehicles as we did biking. Like I said, we started at the Scout Mountain Campground just southeast of Pocatello and came out on the other side of the mountain near McCammon. Up and over the mountain the ride was only around eight miles, but driving back was about thirty-three miles. So lets calculate this out really quick...it's twenty-six miles from my house to where we had to drop the jeep off at the end point, then thirty-three miles to get to the start point, then another thirty-three miles after we had finished biking to go pick up the start vehicle. Grand total...ninety-two miles (at $4.10/gallon) to bike a measly eight. I figure that's just about the same, if not more, that I would spend in gas if I had gone waterskiing for a couple of hours. Just like waterskiing though, it was well worth it.

I still got a fair amount of pictures for this trip but not as much as the other trips. Two reasons why: 1)I've already ridden and taken pictures of the first half of the trail and 2)the second half was all downhill and most of the times it's too exciting of a ride to stop and take pictures.

Scout Mountain Trail Head

Overlooking McCammon

Old Tom Mountain (Mormon Canyon to the left)

Mormon Canyon Descent

Mormon Canyon

Ridgeline Descent

Check out the moon just behind my head

The tree spanning the trail made for a great little obstacle

Remember those tree roots I was talking about?

As always look for the complete collection of pictures of this trail and other trails at
http://picasaweb.google.com/tjdhulst

This blog will be the last blog about Pocatello mountain biking for about a month or so. At the end of this week I will be heading back home for about three weeks. Those weeks will be full of waterskiing, waterskiing, and hiking Havasupai Falls. Maybe I will be able to hit up a couple of trails around Ogden. I will be posting news on waterskiing and the hike trip as well.

July Update

2008-07-17T09:56:00.004-06:00

My most recent posts have been on the bike trails that I've been on and not much else about what else has been going on these past couple of months.
There's been a lot going on in school since June. We gone through a lot of interesting training exercises and labs to prepare us for the upcoming clinical year. One of those was proper scrubbing techniques and maintenance of sterile fields. This picture is of us, not maintaining sterile fields. Since this training I've watched many medical TV shows (House and Scrubs mainly) and critiqued their scrubbing in procedures. It's actually quite funny to see media portrayals of such things after one has gone through proper training.
We have recently started our ER module and with this comes training in Basic Life Support (BLS [also know as CPR]), Advanced Cardiovascular Life Support (ACLS), and Pediatric Advanced Life Support (PALS) skills. We have completed the BLS training and will start ACLS and PALS training in the next couple of weeks. I've started going over the ACLS stuff to be prepared for the training and I'm really looking forward to it. Recently we went through a mock trauma scenario where a team of us were in charge of taking care of a gun shot wound (GSW) patient. I was elected team leader in this scenario because of my experience in the ER; which makes no sense to me because I didn't work in the ER under as a medical provider but as an interpreter, so I had exactly the same training/experience as everyone else on my team. However, I enjoyed taking this responsibility and the experience that followed. For those not familiar with team resuscitation techniques the team leader assigns tasks to members of his/her team and uses information provided by the team to make decisions on care for the trauma patient. Before our mock patient "arrived" we were given all the information from the EMS team bringing the pt in and from there I was able to assign tasks to my team. Although knowing this was just a mock pt and we hadn't received all the ER training necessary to fully run a trauma code I felt nervous at first. However, when the pt arrived things started to come and I feel that our team worked smoothly. There were many secondary small simple things that I blanked on but my team was there to help out and remind me of those little things. We nailed the primary concerns and were able to stabilize our pt for Life Flight transport. I really enjoyed that setting. I enjoyed the fast pace of the treatment and the on the spot thinking necessary for patient stabilization. I enjoyed taking charge and directing the care. I liked that setting when I was able to participate in it when working in the ER and really enjoyed being a part of that pt's care. I'm looking forward to actually be able to do it coming up in the clinical rotation year.
Another skill that I enjoyed learning and practicing was the placement of an endotracheal tube (ET tube), known as intubation. This skill was actually a lot easier than I thought it would be, well, practicing on dummies anyway.
Other skills we've gone through or will go through have been catheterizations, IV placement, digital blocks, and much more. I don't plan on being a big fan of catheter placing but the others ones I won't have a problem with.
In two weeks we will be officially over with the didactic year of school. No more sitting in class 8 hrs a day 5 days a week. No more sitting through lectures and trying to stay awake (for now). However, that doesn't mean that this next year will be any easier. I'll still be studying a lot for end of rotation tests, but I'll also be studying during the rotations to learn all that I can and be prepared for whatever might come my way. I feel really inadequate for a lot of these rotations because I've forgotten a lot of information that I've supposedly learned. It's not just going to be cram for the test systematically eliminate answers from a multiple choice test anymore. Now I have to create the answers and then systematically eliminate them from my list. It's not just trying to pass with a satisfactory 70% anymore. I'm more excited than I am nervous for this next year but those doubts and fears are still ever present.
I have many friends starting med school and dental school this year. For those that read this let me give you some advice that I'm gained from this year.
Try to organize a schedule that will allow for study and personal time. The schedule is by no means will remain static but try to stick with something. At the beginning of the year I started out strong studying most nights of the week even when a test wasn't present. I understood the information and was able to participate in class with answers. Throughout the year though that studying steadily decreased and I started to not prioritize it enough. By the end I was only studying for upcoming tests and just doing the bare minimum. It's easy to get distracted and burnt out with classes and school work but try to do more than the minimum. I feel that's the main reason why I feel so inadequate for the next year.
You will get bored in class and become easily distracted, especially if there is a computer with internet access in front of you all day long. It's hard to just sit there and pay attention. If your programs are anything like mine the lectures will be taught off of power points and you will have access to them anytime you want. This makes it even more difficult to pay attention. If you get in the mentality that you can go over the lectures later on your own time you will miss a lot of information that doesn't come in the ppt's. Unfortunately there will be many times the lecturer will read straight from the ppt and that will get annoying. I was the one who got bored and started playing on the internet. One thing though that I saw other classmates doing was taking notes on paper instead of on the ppt. This facilitated their paying attention and participating. If you're like me don't think that you can just pay attention and get everything then go over the lecture later without taking notes. It just won't work.
Another thing where I screwed up was letting someone else compile a study guide. The person who did them compiled them very well and they were very thorough. They helped me study for the test but not for retention. Make your own study guides. It will take a lot more time and you might not be as thorough as someone else, but you will learn and retain more.
One thing that I have done that has been beneficial is my internship in psychology. It has given me so much patient experience that otherwise I would have had to wait for. It hasn't helped me out a lot in a medical setting but I have learned skills for interviewing patients that I know will be beneficial. It's also given me added experience in assessing patient progression and also adjusting therapies where needed. In your studies if you get an opportunity, and have time for, any outside experience like that I suggest you take that opportunity.
One final thing, don't expect to know everything about everything. Going in and coming out you will feel inadequate and unprepared. That's just the nature of the beast. The best providers are the way they are not just because they were the smartest in their class but because they worked hard through school and afterwards. They continue to learn and gain experience in the field. Do all you can while in school, but just know that you still will far short. Accept that fact and you'll find that you'll be more excited than scared going into your clinical years.

P.S. don't blog while in class...that also makes it difficult to pay attention.

Scout Mountain

2008-07-09T20:30:00.011-06:00

So this weeks trail came a little earlier in the week than the weekend for two reasons; 1) I had Wed of this week from class and 2) I’ll be at Bear Lake this Sat living it up on my ski. We decided to head up Valve House like we did a couple of weeks ago but instead on turning down the wash to loop back around we kept heading up the trail toward Scout Mountain. The trail is a pretty steady incline until we met up with East Fork trail which follows along the base of Scout Mountain until it wraps around the back and up. The trail becomes a little more difficult with steeper, rockier climbs…and more of them. Along the trail we passed a pond that, with the mountainous backdrop the pond didn’t look too bad but upon closer inspection it looked like breading grounds for West Nile and Malaria. We’d been told about the ponds by some other bikers and I was hoping to do some little swimming but that didn’t play out. After the pond we rode up another ridge and came out in a valley of wildflowers and a great view of the country.

Here’s where the fun begins. The actual accent up the mountains begins. We went from 7400 ft to 8600 ft in 3 ½ miles up the backside of the mountain. The trail consists of switchbacks and rocky terrain. It’s big enough for four wheelers and Jeeps to climb up. At the top of the mountain there were a few different tower transmitters and a spectacular view. We took about a 20 min break at the peak and then headed back down. Instead of following the original trail up we decided to ride down the back side of the mountain and wrap around it. This trail is a fun single track trail called Crestline trail and as the name implies follows the contour of the crest. Like I said it’s a single track trail that, on one side hugs the mountain, and the other side a 1000 ft roll down the mountain. We decided it was best not to do anything stupid and go rolling down since neither one of us had cell phone service and only a weak first aid kit that consisted of bandages, gauze, and a wrap. Funny story though, at the beginning of this trail there were a couple of snow banks that cross over the trail. While trying to cross over my friend’s bike did a little slipping and sliding. While trying to control it he went over the handle bars, started running down, jumped, tried to grab onto a tree to stop him, lost his footing and flipped and rolled twice down cracking his head on some rocks. We had just barely begun this leg of the trail and so the fall/roll down was only 25 or 30 feet. Luckily, he was wearing his helmet and there was no head trauma. His helmet got a nice little crack in it on the right frontotemporal side.

After riding along the ridge we came to a downhill that rode through some beautiful forest. For all those Ogdenites reading this it reminded me of coming down Malan’s Peak and Taylor canyon along the switchbacks.

We met up with the paved road that leads up to the Scout Mountain Campgrounds and from there caught the trail that headed back down Valve House, our starting trail. If being out on the mountain for a whole day wasn't fun enough we topped off the ride by chasing a moose down the trail. It was all downhill and after coming around a bend there was a moose standing in the middle of the trail. When she saw us fly around the corner she took off and we followed her down until she ducked out of the way.Apparently my friend didn’t have enough fun falling down a mountain or chasing the moose do he decided that he needed to also blow out the valve on his front tire and get a flat along the last leg. So we had to stop and wait for him to switch out tubes.

The trail took us 7 ½ hrs to ride and hike and a roundtrip of 25 ½ miles. From the beginning to the summit it took us 3 hrs 40 mins and was 11.15 miles. It took us another 3 ½ hrs to get back to the Jeep because of the other trail we took. It was a long, hot, and dusty day but well worth it for the scenery and the shots.

After riding all day on the trail

Midnight Canyon/Elk Meadows

2008-07-05T11:41:00.010-06:00

This weeks bike trip not only involved a little biking but also some jeeping to get the bikes to the trail. We scouted this trail last week and decided that it would be better to jeep the bikes to the top of the mountain and then ride down. The trail going to the top was about 5 miles and steep in many places. It took us 45 mins just to get the bikes to the top in the jeep. When we got to the top we unloaded the bikes, got the gear ready, and locked my keys in the jeep. Not a problem though because I had a spare set of keys in my backpack. The problem was that the backpack was also locked in the jeep. So here we are sitting on top of a mountain with both sets of keys locked in my jeep and the windows rolled up. As we sat there wondering which would be less expensive, breaking a window or bringing up a locksmith, an elderly gentleman on his four wheeler stopped by to see what we were doing. He was up there that morning taking pictures and just happened to ride by. We told him what had happened and after a brief laugh he decdied to help ponder some ideas of how to get my keys out. We had been working on prying open the back window and trying to break the latch but it wasn't working. The guy told us of a barbed wire fence that he had past and so we went to go snag some wire. We broke off a couple of pieces and strung them together to make a long hook. From there my buddy and the guy pried open the back window far enough for me to get the wire in and start fishing for my backpack. After a while I finally snagged it and was able to bring it to the window. The trick now was trying to position the backpack just right so I could get the keys with my fingertips. They keys were sitting in a little side pocket so they were reachable if I could just position it right. The whole time I felt like a surgeon working on a patient through laparoscopy. After about an hour of work we finally got the keys out and didn't have to break anything.

Now the bike ride can begin! The trail is wide enough for a four wheeler most of the way and rides along the ridge of the mountain until it drops down into Midnight canyon. The trails follows the stream down the canyon and crosses over it two or three times so both the bikes and us got a little muddy. It's all downhill in the canyon.

We eventually came to a fork in the road and had to climb out of the canyon to meet up with the trail to Elk Meadows. This was a difficult little climb. I'd say we were able to bike half and walk the other half of the trail out of the canyon. Coming out though was beautiful because it was all through pines and aspens, all uphill.

We got out an continued along the trail that eventually would take us to Elk Meadows. There was still a little climbing involved but it was all bikable. We came to this spot in a forest of aspens where the trail looks like it just disappears into the forest.

After climbing a few more ridges we finally came to the end of the uphills and we able to drop into Elk Meadows and downhill the rest of the way. The scenery at the top of this ridges was amazing and all encompassing.

After a short break at the top we dropped down into Elk Meadows. The trail runs through a valley full of tall green grass and wildflowers. The ride was a good ride except for the amount of insects out flying around. I could've used a windshield on my bike that day. For those of you familiar with the Ogden area it felt like driving past Willard Bay at sundown. Disregarding all the bugs the trail was still enjoyable.

The trail continues through the meadows to the main highway. However, me being the expert map reader I am, made a wrong turn and double backed to the West Fork trail that we had done two weeks earlier while at Gibson Jack instead of heading to Corral Creek which was our original endpoint. Even though we had previously ridden this trail we, weren't the least bit disappointed with this unimaginable mistake because it is a fun single track downhill with many turns weaving in and out of the forest.
This has been the longest trail distance wise that I've done up here so far. If you've been looking at the maps the majority of the rides have all been focused around the same region: The Gibson/Slate mountain areas. On the west side of these mountains lies a dozen or so different trails that all interconnect together that make for some great biking. If only I had gotten my orientation merit badge in scouting I might have been able to avoid the mishap of doubling back and we would've been able to go explore a different trail. Oh well, I guess that's what the following weekends are for.

I haven't been able to post in my blogs many of the pictures I've taken on the various bike trips because of sheer quantity. However, I do upload them onto Google's Picasa web storage and if you want to see the complete collection of pics and videos then just visit this site

http://picasaweb.google.com/tjdhulst

To Double Back?

2008-06-29T17:45:00.004-06:00

On Saturday a friend and I took his '67 Toyota Land Cruiser out in the mountain to scout a bike trail that I've been mapping out for the upcoming holiday. It's a fairly long trail and climbs up a mountain so we decided to check it out to see if the first, and most difficult, part was ridable. We climbed the mountain with the Land Cruiser and decided that it would be too difficult to bike up. However, since we were at the top of the mountain we decided to explore some four wheeling tracks. I had a general understanding of where we would be going because of maps and google earth so we felt pretty comfortable exploring around. Going down the backside of the mountain was a little more difficult than we could've planned. We came to this one spot on the trail where the decent was around a 60 - 70 degree drop, loose gravel, a narrow trail, and a long, long roll down the hill on both sides if we were to screw up. We had no choice but to go down because there was no room to turn back around. As we headed down and the backend started to fishtail we both had the though of impending doom in the front of our minds. We made it down unscathed and continued along the trail. The rest of the trail was less techinical and not as dangerous. We finaly came to a fork in the trail and had to make a decision on which to travel. I knew that the left would take us safely back to a paved road , while I right one, well I had no clue on the right one. We decided to take Robert Frost's advice and "take the one less traveled," (the right). We putted along and enjoyed the decent of the trail. After a while we came to the final decent. From the top we could see the end and the road. The final decent couldn't have been more than 200-300 ft and didn't look as dangerous as the first part we came down, but still looked like it had it's risks. However, this time we had a choice to turn around if needed. We both questioned if we should attempt the risk with the end in clear sight, or double back to the safer trail which would take significantly more time. As we stood at the top estimating the risks vs benefits I was reminded how many times we were faced with these kinds of decisions in our spiritual lives. How many times can we see "the end (goal)" in sight and rush down the quicker, and possibly more dangerous, path? When faced with these decisions how often do we listen to that initial prompting of "turn back"? Even though we judged that final decent less dangerous than the first we decided to double back to that fork in the road and take the safer route. That increased our time spent getting back by 45 minutes because we had to climb back up the mountain and circumvent around it. We both felt both felt more comfortable with the decision that we made. Sometimes in our lives we don't have a choice to avoid the danger and must continue on but there will be many more times where we will have to make the choice of "risking it" or "double backing".

Valve House Biking

2008-06-28T15:14:00.009-06:00

So this week's trip was on an easy trail titled Valve House. It's located within Caribou National Forrest just south of the the trails that I've previously blogged about. At the beginning the trail doesn't look like it has much to offer. The trail begins at the highway and heads up a four wheeler trail with a gradual incline. The scenery isn't very appealing at first because it heads up a canyon with a wide open. There was actually times when we passed some cattle grazing along the trail sides. However, once you get farther along the trail the forest begins to thicken and it becomes aesthetically pleasing. The trail doesn't take much time and its a very easy climb. After a while you come to a fork in the road and have the option to continue up the trail towards some ponds or to head down a canyon wash through some beautiful valleys of wildflowers and eventually loop back around to the highway beginning point. This is a quick easy ride that doesn't take much time at all; with all the stopping we did for photography the trail took a little around two hours. The downhill ride through the wash is single track and not to complicated. The scenery is beautiful with some amazing wildflowers along the way.