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Labor Day Weekend
Sep. 3rd, 2013 11:04 am
On Saturday I went to the Soldier Hollow Sheepdog Championship at the old Olympic Biathlon venue. It must be one of the biggest of it's kind in the US, because it was four days with over 40 competitors each day! My friend Jen invited me (she used to handle sheepdogs in 4-H growing up) and we had a really great time - it's surprisingly tense! The dogs had to go about 1/4 mile up a hill, drive 5 sheep down a hill, around a pole counterclockwise, back up the hill through a gate, across the hill through another gate, back to the handler (who is guiding them by whistles), separate two or the three sheep from each other, and then drive them all into a pen - all in 12 minutes! We only saw one dog successfully get the sheep in the pen and, sadly, since he missed a gate, didn't even place! Everyone clapped when a dog completed a part of the course and we all generally agreed that sheep are jerks.
This is from the same competition a few years ago:
There was also a "splash dogs" competition - dogs jumping into the water for distance. The furthest we saw was 22 feet! Watch this video with the sound off (stupid "who let the dogs out?" music playing). We saw several of these and especially enjoyed that Jack Russell terrier in the beginning!
On Sunday we got our Mormon on and checked out Temple Square, the world headquarters of the LDS church. It's a very pretty area, with lots of beautiful flowers and fountains - and many pairs of "sisters" who are happy to help you with any questions! You can't go in the Temple (in fact, not all Mormons can) but they do have a replica in one of the visitor centers.
The Angel Moroni:
I didn't learn anything new about Mormonism, but the experience did actually normalize the religion to me - in a way that sort of made other religions seem equally weird - but as a born and raised atheist, I guess that's normal.
Anyway, we got a little Mormoned out and headed up to the Capitol, which was pretty dead, since it was a Sunday.
It's not nearly as impressive as the Wisconsin Capitol, but hopefully we can go back sometime with out of town visitors and go on a tour.
And I swear to god, every single time I leave the house I see a wedding - any day of the week, any place in town.
Then on Labor Day itself we went for our first hike! There are quite a few trails that go up from the Lake Bonneville Shoreline Trail behind the University (mostly from mountain bikers), but the Mount Wire peak (about 7100') seemed like a good starter hike for us. It is recognizable for the two microwave transmitters on top:
The trail alternated between shady scrub and exposed rocky hillsides. It went pretty much straight up the canyon, with little to no switchbacks.
The view at the top is nice though - Salt Lake City all the way out to the Great Salt Lake (you can really make out The Avenues - our neighborhood - the Aves are the very straight streets on the near right, going up the foothills):
South East toward Mt. Olympus, which we want to climb as soon as we get a car (we were able to bike to this trailhead - about 7 miles roundtrip - steady uphill on the way there and mostly downhill on the way back)
Selfie at the top! You'll be seeing a lot more pictures of me in hats now that we're in Utah :)
Then, instead of heading back the way we came we went over a saddle to the Red Butte, where the trail went right along the steep ridge-line:
This is looking back up at the "trail" as we came down toward the "Living Room" - a rock-slide locals have name such for the sheets of rock people have turned into "chairs."
Taking a break in the "Living Room"
The hike took us most of the day and we are definitely still getting used to the altitude, but it was great to get out and enjoy our new environment! We even ran into two Madison natives on the trail and a UW grad at the supermarket later!
This is from the same competition a few years ago:
There was also a "splash dogs" competition - dogs jumping into the water for distance. The furthest we saw was 22 feet! Watch this video with the sound off (stupid "who let the dogs out?" music playing). We saw several of these and especially enjoyed that Jack Russell terrier in the beginning!
On Sunday we got our Mormon on and checked out Temple Square, the world headquarters of the LDS church. It's a very pretty area, with lots of beautiful flowers and fountains - and many pairs of "sisters" who are happy to help you with any questions! You can't go in the Temple (in fact, not all Mormons can) but they do have a replica in one of the visitor centers.
The Angel Moroni:
I didn't learn anything new about Mormonism, but the experience did actually normalize the religion to me - in a way that sort of made other religions seem equally weird - but as a born and raised atheist, I guess that's normal.
Anyway, we got a little Mormoned out and headed up to the Capitol, which was pretty dead, since it was a Sunday.
It's not nearly as impressive as the Wisconsin Capitol, but hopefully we can go back sometime with out of town visitors and go on a tour.
And I swear to god, every single time I leave the house I see a wedding - any day of the week, any place in town.
Then on Labor Day itself we went for our first hike! There are quite a few trails that go up from the Lake Bonneville Shoreline Trail behind the University (mostly from mountain bikers), but the Mount Wire peak (about 7100') seemed like a good starter hike for us. It is recognizable for the two microwave transmitters on top:
The trail alternated between shady scrub and exposed rocky hillsides. It went pretty much straight up the canyon, with little to no switchbacks.
The view at the top is nice though - Salt Lake City all the way out to the Great Salt Lake (you can really make out The Avenues - our neighborhood - the Aves are the very straight streets on the near right, going up the foothills):
South East toward Mt. Olympus, which we want to climb as soon as we get a car (we were able to bike to this trailhead - about 7 miles roundtrip - steady uphill on the way there and mostly downhill on the way back)
Selfie at the top! You'll be seeing a lot more pictures of me in hats now that we're in Utah :)
Then, instead of heading back the way we came we went over a saddle to the Red Butte, where the trail went right along the steep ridge-line:
This is looking back up at the "trail" as we came down toward the "Living Room" - a rock-slide locals have name such for the sheets of rock people have turned into "chairs."
Taking a break in the "Living Room"
The hike took us most of the day and we are definitely still getting used to the altitude, but it was great to get out and enjoy our new environment! We even ran into two Madison natives on the trail and a UW grad at the supermarket later!
