Jacob’s Blog

I’m just starting to learn how to take videos with my digital camera and place them on the Internet. Here is my latest experiment from my latest hike.

Today I hiked the Wells Gulch trail in Lory State Park, Colorado. It was a good little hike, with plenty of variety. Hiking on an overcast day in March, spring hasn’t quite emerged yet, so a lot of the great spring color and wildlife wasn’t present. There was, however, still some icy spots which made things more interesting.

Last week I was interviewing with Hewlett Packard in Fort Collins, Colorado. They were interviewing me for a software developer position to do programming for embedded Linux systems. The trip was incredibly fun, and the interview went well too. The day after I got home, I received a phone call from HP and they extended the job offer to me.

I’ve accepted the offer, which means in January I’ll be moving to Fort Collins, Colorado. I’m very excited about this time of my life and I’m looking forward to all the new adventures which await me.

Hiking the Y isn’t that great of a hike, but for some reason I hike it a lot. Twice in the last week. I hiked it on Friday at about 8am. It took me 28 minutes, which was less than the 30 minute goal I set for myself. I hiked it again today, reaching the Y at 3:25 am; hiking it at a more casual pace of 30 minutes. Hiking the Y in the middle of the night without a moon and without a flashlight can be kind of spooky, but I was surprised how lit up things were from the city lights from Provo down below.
Continue reading Stuff that happens at 4am…

After a long and difficult week at school, I decided to hike the Y tonight. It was a little disappointing compared to previous hikes, because I just didn’t really have the energy to do it, but I did anyway–it just took me a little longer. While hiking, I saw the sun set, but I also saw something on fire in the valley down behind Provo Town Centre. I hear a siren, and I looked down and saw a big bright orange spot with lots of smoke coming out of it. Then I watched a bunch of flashing light go toward it from all different directions. I don’t know what caught on fire, but I hope everyone is alright.

Another disappointing aspect of the hike was that there was some spray painted graffiti that wasn’t there before–on some of the switchback posts and rocks. That is just pretty uncool, whoever did that. Stupid.

Tonight I thought I had lost something very important to me. I prayed to Heavenly Father that I might be able to get it back. I thought that maybe I had treated it too casually, and carelessly left it around–while distracted talking to a friend. Looking for it, I had memories of it being with me, but yet it wasn’t there. I walked down the block thinking what I could do to get it back. I used my flashlight to check the shadows where I might have left it. I even broke into one of my neighbors apartments to see if I had left it there, but it was missing (and I didn’t wake my neighbors up). Eventually though, when it seemed that there was no where else to look, I found it.

All at once all the stress and emotions of the thought of having lost it where flipped, and I almost cried. Immediately, I thanked my Heavenly Father for helping me find it. Then I thought that I should write about my little story by sitting on the yellow picnic table in the middle of the night.

Any guesses as to what I might have lost?

Today I thought that I would try some mountain biking on Squaw Peak, a few minutes from where I live. I have to admit, that I wasn’t ready for the challenge, but thats ok, because the more I work at it, the better I’ll get over the summer.

Yesterday I was hiking the Y, just for fun and exercise, and I noticed a few new things.

First, they had a new gate and fences around the bottom that make it look quite a bit better than the previous chain linked fences.

The also had a nice sitting area at the bottom with about 9 benches facing the valley below. This will definitely be a great place to leave those friends who don’t quite feel up to the adventure of hiking to the top.

There are also a couple of benches scattered through the first few switchbacks which will also be a nice place to sit an have a talk if you are hiking with someone special.

I’ve already hiked the Y three times this year, and I hope to be able to do another ten or so trips, to help keep me in shape for grander adventures which will surely come this summer.

Last Saturday I did a quick Y hike. This was my first hike of the year in which I timed myself. My goal was to get up in 30-35 minutes, but I ended up doing in in 27 minutes. This is still a few minutes slower than my fastest time, but pretty good for the beginning of the season.

I love my hiking boots. They make hiking a pleasure.

The weather was also great, not to hot, not to cold, with clear, crisp air.

On the way back down the mountain, I met Tyler, who is a freshman at Helaman halls and is going on a mission to Sweden. Good luck Tyler on your mission.

If only I had time for more adventures like this.

When the weather turns warmer, I want to show classic movies in the cove. More details later, but I’m starting to think about some movies which could be shown. Below is my list. Please comment if you have a movie to add, or if you want to boo a movie on my list.

• Star Wars (episode 4)
• Rear Window or another Hitchcock film
• Raiders of the Lost Ark
• Monty Python and the Holy Grail
• Hotel Rwanda
• Batman Begins
• The Wizard of Oz

Darn! I just remembered that I forgot my car up on campus and I should probably go get it right now even though it is late. Darn! I’ll have to finish the list later. Suggestions very much welcome.

Update 30 Jan at 6pm: Ok, I’m back. Moved my car last night, and now I’m back with the following additions:

• Back to the Future
• Karate Kid
• ET
• One of the Lord of the Rings movies
• Life is Beautiful
• The Three Amigos
• The Singles Ward
• The Princess Bride

I think that on particular nights we should combine the classic movie with some other activity like a new release movie, BBQ, desert potluck, or other events. Watching a movie up in the canyon is also an option.

I’ve been doing some research into socks for hiking and backpacking. I need some new adventure socks. I found a page at REI that describes how to choose socks. The page is helpful and straight forward.

A couple of months ago, I hiked Kings Mountain in Oregon. Here are a couple photos I took of the view from the top of the mountain.

A little more than a month ago, I went out to the middle of nowhere to look at the stars. I took a couple of really good friends with me, so even though it was cold, it was also really fun and enjoyable. We arrived in the dark, so we had no idea where we were, but I looked it up on Google Earth to get kind of an idea where we were. Here is the view from Google Earth. We were in the very middle of the picture below.
Google Earth is part of Google Pack, a free collection of essential software. You can download Google Pack by clicking here.

Tuesday I went up to Salt Lake City for some adventures and fun. I visited one of my favorite places, the Salt Lake City Library. I got a nice tour of the Beehive House which was Brigham Young’s house when he was governor of the region. I also got a tour of the Conference Center, where I saw the originals to some of my favorite Book of Mormon artwork. I also hiked Ensign Peak just about the time the sun was setting. Overall, it was a good adventure with some good company.