Two weddings and a trip to Capital Reef

Apparently last Friday was wedding day... both my cousin and my good friend were married on the same day, and luckily I was able to make it to celebrate both.  Luckily also, it was the one nice, sunny day out of the week (as opposed to the uncharacteristic rainy June that we've had - and I've enjoyed it immensely).  Here are pictures from my cousin's wedding since I didn't take any at Brian's.  

This is my dad's sister (my Aunt Lynne), my dad's brother and his wife (Uncle Don and Aunt Kaye), and my dad and mom.

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A few days later I went to Southern Utah, backpacking with my good friends Hed Rad and Shelly who were both in town for a short while.  It was so good to get away from the normal routine of things and enjoy the amazing world we have around us with dear friends.  It was an inspiring getaway.  Sometimes when I'm wrapped up in my life in Sandy I forget what an amazing state I live in and how much there is to see and experience.  I love Utah.  Where else can you see red rock, slot canyons, amazing forests, and interesting desert landscape all in one state?  Here are a few pics from our adventure to Upper Muley Twist Canyon in Capital Reef National Park.

We hiked in three miles and set up camp, then carried on with the next 9 miles of amazing terrain.  The hike goes through a (dry) creek that's between red rock.  A couple miles in you come to Saddle Arch, shown below.

At this point you hike up to the top of the canyon.  As we rose up out of the red rock, this completely different yet awesome scenery appeared.  The real life version, of course, was a bit more mesmerizing than this photo attempts to be.  

So as we continued on our hike along the ridge, to the right was the above shot, and to the left was the below.  Both pictures were taken standing in the same spot.

Eventually you make your way back down to the creek and go through (or around) the narrows portion.

Above are Hed Rad (Heather Raddatz who was visiting from Portland and is about to move to Africa for a year to start a school there) and Shells (Shelly Karren who was visiting from Boston after completing her Masters Degree).  Needless to say, I was among inspiring friends.  

Shells did her best to camoflauge her feet to match the wilderness around her.

This hike is amazing.  Our only regret was not doing it a month or so earlier when there was a little flowing water to enjoy.  As Shelly said, "The water would surely add the 5th star to this hike." But alas, it has dried up for the most part now.  Still, no regrets.  It was beautiful.