Lazarow World-Hike-About

It's good form to remember dates, meetings, anniversaries, birthdays and all kinds of occurrences of the past. Women expect that and of course, they are correct. With this in mind, exactly 52 years ago, September 26th, 1969, I had invited Jennifer Benjamin to accompany me to the Highlands North High School matriculation dance, otherwise referred to in this country as the prom. Recently, I wrote in some text about the colonial streak in one of us which of course just surfaced some 31 words earlier. Hey, who's counting.    I counted myself extremely fortunate that the young woman accepted my invitation. We were both 17 years old at the time so we were unable to drive ourselves to the school hall. A friend of mine, Geoff van Lear, currently residing in Cape Town, arranged for his dad to drive the four of us in a VW Beetle. I cannot remember how we returned home--probably the same way. Obviously, I must have drunk much Diet Coke that night. To say that was a turning point...

Because it's the season, the photographs have a bent toward our favorite time in the mountains. On a stiff climb, we look toward the other side of the canyon...not surprising. We undertook this hike twice, once via the Peruvian Gulch Trail, and the second by way of the cirque. A hiker experiences some of the best hikes, trails and scenery possible in a relatively compact region. There's an abundance of beauty, further enhanced because of the season changes. Should there be a consistency in the greater Salt Lake City, it might be that the mountains are high, the trails steep, challenging, and always requiring a degree of alertness to the dangers that exist. As for the beauty of the surroundings, it goes without saying to which the photographs may attest. There's a third and fourth way to the peak, also from the same side, which we intend to investigate. The summit's altitude is 11,000 feet, making the elevation gain one of over 3,200 feet. That's tough.  ...