Mountain, Lake, Cave and Corkyside

August 31 - September 1, 2014

#41 - Stay at a Cabin

Whitney, Susie and I decided that we would enjoy our day of for Labor Day with a trip up to Bear Lake.  We set out on our adventure after church on Sunday afternoon with the destination of my family's cabin in Logan Canyon.  With the cabin keys, a borrowed cooler and water jug, and treats to last for days we were ready.  The drive through Sardine Canyon and into Logan made Whitney and me reminisce over our days at USU.  We didn't know each other then but it was fun to see where we had each lived or who we knew while we were there.  Logan Canyon was just as beautiful as always on our way to the cabin.  It had been a couple summers since I had been to the cabin so I had to really pay attention when looking for the turn off.  With a little help from my dad, we found it and headed into the gated area.  It's a small path that isn't big enough for two cars to drive down at the same time. Whitney has just made a comment about hoping nobody else was coming the other direction when a car appeared.  She moved our car over to the side to let the other people pass.  As the car passed, I realized that it was my cousin, David.  Turns out he and his family had the same plans as we did. He was up at the cabin for the evening with his in-laws.  My cousin was very nice and offered to let us stay at the cabin with them.  The three of us discussed our options and came up with a few alternative plans.  Whitney had a friend whose family was staying at a cabin in Bear Lake but her friend wasn't there with them.  Susie had a friend who lived in Logan and we could stay in her basement.  I suggested we stay at the cabin next door and just sleep on the grass out front.  My friend Kevin's family owns the cabin and it didn't look like they would be using it that night.  We decided the best solution was to stay at the cabin next door.  After a short drive down the canyon for cell reception, I got a hold of the Johnson family and they assured me it would be fine for us to sleep there that night. A slight kink in the plans but everything worked out just fine.

#81 - Have a Bonfire

One of the main factors for deciding to stay at the cabin instead of the other alternatives was the need to cook our tinfoil dinners.  Whitney had spent the morning putting them together and we didn't want to miss out.  Our attempts to start the fire were unsuccessful at first.  We couldn't find small kindling that wasn't wet since it had been raining the week before.  Luckily my cousin was willing to share some of the embers from their fire to help us get ours started.  With our raging fire we were able to cook our delicious tinfoil dinners and follow it up with some marshmallow roasting and s'more eating.

Nothing but the finest accommodations for these ladies

Check out my awesome juice spill

#67 - Swim in a Lake

Once again things didn't go quite as planned but I'm getting pretty good about going with the flow because things still work out in the end.  Whitney has a friend with access to a private beach at Bear Lake.  It came time when the temperature had warmed up and we were ready to swim.  Unfortunately, Whitney couldn't get in contact with her friend so we headed around the lake watching for a place to land.  Just a few minutes later we found the perfect spot.

Susie searching for itty bitty seashells

Whitney and me doing some yoga poses in the lake.

Our spot was a fun little sandbar area where there weren't a lot of people but the sun was shining so life was good!  The light breeze that was blowing totally disguised that fact that the sun was burning our skin.  Each of us ended up with a nice sunburn on the back of our legs.

#90 - Stand in Two States at Once

While in Bear Lake we decided to go check out the Minnetonka Caves.  This required us to leave Utah and cross over into Idaho.  Not a big state-to-state change but it totally counts!  I stood by a mailbox that is supposedly right on the border.  One side says Idaho and the other side says Utah.

#110 - Minnetonka Caves

The Minnetonka Caves think that we are kind of a big deal!  Maybe that is a bit of an exaggeration but we think we are kind of a big deal.  Turned out that we were the very last tour of the season this summer.  The three of us bundled up in our sweatshirts and flip-flops (not entirely prepared) and headed on the tour.  During the tour of the cave there are about 441 stairs making that a round-trip total of 882.  With the exception of a few metal staircases, these stairs were chiseled out of the rocks within the cave.  I learned the difference between stalagmites, stalactites, and columns, saw a bat, got a cave kiss (minerals from the cave dripped on me), and was able to stand next to a very smelly family with incredibly obnoxious children.  Some parts of the tour were better than others!  My favorite part was the fact that the cave stays at a constant 40 degrees all year round so it was delightful for climbing all those stairs.

Susie not so thrilled with the 40 degree temps

Overall, it was a very successful Labor Day getaway!  I spent time with some great friends who helped me check of four more adventures from my list in a beautiful place.

-Em

View as we left Bear Lake......Gorgeous!!