Big Canyon

Fathers Day Family Weekend

2009-08-06T06:45:00.001-07:00

June 19-21, 2009

About 14 families (70ish people) arrived Friday night for a weekend of fellowship, fun and WORK - Big Canyon Style! Some brought their campers and some stayed in the Lodge.

Saturday morning we ate breakfast and then Brian handed out the "To Do List"...

Some cleaned out, fixed the leaky roof and built shelves in our program shed.

Ahhhh. So nice!

A few men built an outdoor projector screen for the stage.

Another group cleared Thistle and Sagebrush around both sides of the yurt.

Look at all of it!

Once the area was cleared, Brian brought in the backhoe for digging tree holes.

Areas cleared and trees planted. (hard to see the new trees in this pic)

Another group worked on the pergola over the patio.

Ta Da!

That evening we had a Dutch Oven Cook Off! Each family brought an oven and a meal to share. They were all very yummy!

It was a great way to spend the weekend.

Friends, fellowship, fun, food, hard work and FATHERS!!

Happy Fathers Day!

A big thanks to all of our friends for a fun and very productive weekend at

Big Canyon Ranch.

Shadow Mtn and Lifeline Youth Retreat

2009-08-05T11:26:00.001-07:00

June 17-19, 2009

It was a rainy weekend with a mix of blue skies and sunshine. They were good sports and they didn't let a little rain get in the way.

Archery

Climbing Tower

Do you see all of the rain and mud?

Perfect for Jungle Paintball - at least that is what they thought.

Team Challenges

Field Games

Crud War

Lake Time

Wild Women June 09

2009-08-02T19:20:00.001-07:00

June 12-14, 2009

Stacy Madden with Soul Quest ministries put together a Women in the Wild weekend for any and all women. About 5 different churches were represented. The women had a great weekend of laughter, tears, new friendships, challenge, and commitment.

Climbing Wall

Team Challenge Course

Jungle Paintball

And fine dining at the Silver Spur Cafe

Father/Son Retreat

2009-07-20T15:43:00.001-07:00

May 22-25

This was the first Father/Son retreat put on by Big Canyon. It was a HIT! About 50 fathers and sons were at Big Canyon on Memorial Day Weekend.

Fine dining on the Silver Spur Cafe patio

Field Games

Water Balloon Volleyball

Jungle Paintball (in the rain)

Team Challenge Course

Archery

Games

Campfire worship, skits and teaching

EV Free Men's Retreat

2009-06-17T09:10:00.001-07:00

May 16-17

2009

It was a beautiful weekend and the guys had a great time doing "guy things", eating (lots of it!), hanging out, and studying Gods Word.

Teaching Time

Caleb and Brian getting a "game plan" for the next activity.

The Hatchet Throw

3-Man Slingshot Throw

Crazy Golf

Archery

Skeet Shooting

They were a great group of guys and we enjoyed hosting them for the weekend!

The Party Patio

2009-05-28T21:34:00.001-07:00

The Silver Spur Cafe is a yurt. It is our dining hall and kitchen. We LOVE it! It has been an awesome place to feed our guests/campers in the winter. Now that it is summer, it is time to build a patio for outdoor dining.

Dick O. ( is our awesome volunteer who has put in many hours of labor at Big Canyon) and his son, Brian and Hudson leveled the pad, spread the gravel...

and then came the cement truck!!

Dani and Elizabeth overseeing the guys ~ making sure they do it right! And they helped!!

Done pouring.

Time to stamp it.

Stamped, dried, and cut. Party grill is ready to be "fired up".

Fathers and sons enjoying their meal on the patio.

We also poured a sidewalk up to the lodge. (the poles are for future lighting.

It is so beautiful up here. Come and see for yourself! :)

Creekside Women's Retreat

2009-05-21T15:10:00.001-07:00

April 3-5, 2009

Creekside Christian Fellowship had a women's retreat at Big Canyon the weekend before Easter. The women all had a fabulous time. They dined in the Silver Spur Cafe (yurt).

Brian did a talk about the cross and its significance.

Then the ladies each carried the cross for about 20 feet. WOW!! It was a very emotional experience each of them.

The Ladies

Communion together

The ladies wrote their burdens and sins on paper and then placed them at the foot of the cross.

Three of the ladies washed the feet of the other women. Amazing!

Our God Reigns!!!

San Jose CA YoungLife Ski Weekend Retreat

2009-02-19T10:39:00.001-08:00

at Big Canyon!!

48 High School-ers and YL leaders from San Jose CA arrived at Big Canyon in SUV's with snowboards stowed away on top.

They spent their days at Park City Mtn Resort tearing it up on their snowboards and skis.

They arrived on Saturday February 14th ~ Valentines Day!

Abbi and Maggie did the decorating for the Silver Spur Cafe

They did lots of eating...

We did lots of serving!

They sang songs, laughed at silly skits

participated in games and heard about the Love that Jesus has for each one of them!

Womens Ice-Olation Weekend Retreat

2009-02-02T09:47:00.001-08:00

A weekend of solitude with the Lord.

A beautiful sunrise just coming over the mountains, peeking through the trees.

It was definitely a women's weekend. The bathroom countertops were loaded with the "necessities".

Karyn, Stacy, Shari ~ The Leaders and Planners

Fine dining at the Silver Spur Cafe'

Some of the Weekend Happenings...

Encouraging talks

Quiet time with the Lord

Meditation on God's Word

Ice-olation in the igloo. The women loved the igloo for a quiet, cozy, prayerful, focused time with God. Very intimate!

Fellowship

Movie Night!

With some chocolate!! What more does a woman need?

Maybe a cozy fire?

God had provided a new blanket of snow a few days before they arrived. Everything was white, crisp and fresh.

Blue skies. Quiet. Friends. And God!!

Awesome Weekend!!

Mens Weekend Retreat

2009-01-26T14:13:00.001-08:00

Twenty eight men from every possible walk of life spent last weekend at Big Canyon being challenged and encouraged in their walk with Christ. In addition to some powerful life-changing content, a lot of fun was had throwing tomahawks, shooting rifles and shotguns, slinging the football, playing "winter golf", and just being guys at casino night.

One of our guests for the opening meal. He must have known elk chili was on the menu. Next year it might be moose chili (just kidding...come on!)

Trap Shoot

Football Sling-Shot Catch

Tomahawk Throw

Rifle Shoot

Winter Golf Pitch...good luck finding your ball.

Some of the kitchen help.

First meal in the new Silver Spur Cafe

Some real life-changing went on this weekend.

A little after-hours fun. No money changed hands but the competitive juices were flowing anyway.

Get on Your Mark! Get Set!!

2009-01-23T07:55:00.001-08:00

GO!!

28 men will be arriving this evening for a Men's Retreat weekend at Big Canyon.

We are excited to use the Silver Spur Cafe for the first time for cooking and dining.

The kitchen is behind the wall and this is the serving line.

The dining area.

Please be praying for these men this weekend. They are in for an incredible experience!!

Attention All Men!!

2009-01-10T13:50:00.001-08:00

Big Canyon Christian Adventures and Retreats presents...

A Weekend Retreat for Men

"The Battle All Men Face"

January 23-25 2009

This five part retreat focuses on engaging men towards a closer relationship with Jesus Christ. The retreat provides encouragement and authenticity through speaking sessions and small group breakouts. Music and team building are also featured throughout the retreat. Men are encouraged to evaluate their lives based on the Bible.

YOU don't want to miss this one!!

Lodging. Meals. Speakers. Fun. - all for $189

Registration open to the first 40 men. Hurry, it is filling up fast.

If you have questions or want to sign up call Bill Thurston at 801.520.3665

Moving Along

2009-01-09T15:15:00.001-08:00

We continue to make progress on the Yurt - aka "Silver Spur Cafe". Brian has had many helpers - his daughters included. Scott helped with the staining. Joe got the radiant heat working. Dale and Dick came up and got a great start on the drywall.

Brian stealing a kiss from Tessa.

It is looking great. We are hoping to move in appliances, tables, chairs and supplies on Tuesday of next week.

2009

2009-01-01T11:56:00.001-08:00

Happy New Year!

From all of us at Big Canyon Ranch

Let the Plowing Begin!

2008-12-22T13:48:00.001-08:00

The snow is falling, falling, falling, falling...

The Big Canyon Plow Truck - STUCK!

The backhoe to the rescue.

Remember the Yurt?

2008-12-21T15:07:00.001-08:00

The Yurt in Winter

Brian continues to get things done. It has power, gas and water.

Cement floor is stained.

(Dani and Elizabeth helping him by pulling off the masking tape)

Kitchen walls are framed. Lighting is up.

More pictures to follow. Stay tuned!

A bonus picture of the wild turkeys that hang out at Big Canyon. They are getting so big.

Creek Power!

2008-11-18T08:00:00.001-08:00

It was a representative from Rocky Mountain Power, of all people, who first gave me the idea. "Did I ever tell you about the fishing lodge I went to up in the Idaho wilderness that was powered completely by a nearby stream?", he tells me with a wink. Then he went on to tell me that it will cost somewhere around a 1/4 million dollars to bring power lines up to the camp. That was enough to get me doing some research. A year later, thanks to a generous donation from the folks at Blue Source and the innovation and engineering from the folks at Garner Engineering, I am proud to say that our camp is now completely powered by a micro-hydro generator from Big Canyon Creek. Although it doesn't generate a massive amount of instantaneous power, it is stored in a battery bank and provides up to 90 kilowatt hours per day.

First we created a small retention pond

A 15' concrete dam captures the water

This screen filters the water and draws it into a 6" buried pipeline

1000 feet downstream the pipe enters this concrete vault where the turbine is housed. After it goes through the turbine all the water enters back into the stream. As you can see, although it is not a particularly large stream it has a very consistent flow year round.

My son, Caleb, takes time out of his busy hunting schedule to check the turbine for me.

A buried powerline almost 1 mile long then enters this mechanical room in the back of our lodge and feeds this system which steps down the voltage, turns it into DC, stores it into a battery bank, and then inverts it back to AC as needed. Pretty cool.

Blast from the Past Part III

2008-11-12T17:17:00.001-08:00

June 15, 2007

Cement Pumper ready and waiting for the cement truck.

Doing the final preparations before the cement arrives.

The cement truck finally arrives and here comes the cement. The guy on the left is the pump controller. See his belt? That is how he directs the pumper where to go and how much to pump out. That is pretty cool.

The Workers

All of these men and children are volunteers (except for the pump controller). They came to Big Canyon first thing in the morning. Got the job done and went to their paying jobs. Awesome!

Done!

Blast from the Past Part II

2008-11-05T13:41:00.001-08:00

For those of you just tuning into the Big Canyon Blog, these Blasts are to take you back to see the things and progress that has taken place at Big Canyon...

In the last post you saw that we got the area cleared. Now Aaron B. came on the weekends and volunteered to move the earth so we could put in the footers for the foundation.

Dale and Danielle (our daughter) digging the trench, for water pipes, from the Lodge to the well.

The Trench

A Group of men from Grace Community Bible Church came up and helped with clearing more brush for the trench to the water tanks and also putting in the footers.

The Clearing Team

The Footer Team

Everything is dug, leveled and the footers are in!

Ready to pour!

A Blast From the Past

2008-10-30T08:48:00.001-07:00

There is continual progress at Big Canyon. Nothing I have taken pictures of or anything big that might be noteworthy. Mostly just digging of a trench for the water and electric to the Yurt and covering other trenches from this summers projects. SO....

Let's take a ride into the past and peek at what has happened at Big Canyon in the last year and a half.

~April of 2007~

Creekside Christian Fellowship put together a group of men and a few of their sons to come help clear the area for the lodge. It took quite a crew all doing different jobs with team effort.

The Cutters

The Haulers

The Chippers (sending the trees through the woodchipper. Noisy and dusty.)

The Firestarters (of sage brush and other unchippable (not a word) debris)

The Workers (taking a well deserved break)

Looks Great!! Job well done.

Clearing Accomplished!!!

(stay tuned for more "Blasts from the Past")

A Yurt! The Construction part 3

2008-10-24T10:38:00.001-07:00

Let me guess, you have not been sleeping at night because you do not know what a Yurt is and you are still very curious.

Some of you geniuses already knew and others "googled" it. Way to go smart people! For those of you who are waiting for me to feed you the information - this is your lucky day! Your curiosity will be put to rest. Read on.

Welcome to Big Canyon's YURT! Come on in.

This was the fun part. Caleb, Mike, and Michael held up the center ring of the yurts roof while Brian and I stuck in the rafters. One end went in the ring and the other hooked into the cable on the lattice.

The ring became stable on its own. Michael helped with getting the rafters into their holes as Brian hooked them to the cable.

Caleb and Mike carried the rafter beams to us.

Done with the installation of the rafters!

This is a Yurt! Now you know.

Yurt! part 2

2008-10-22T12:51:00.001-07:00

Still curious? Dying to know? Anxious to see what we people on the mountain are doing next?

The forms were put down, radiant tubing and plumbing were laid. Next...

CONCRETE! Doesn't that look like fun?

Joe, Brian and Caleb spreading the stuff.

Brian and Tony getting it spread evenly. (Go Chiefs! Just had to throw that in there b/c of Brian's sweatshirt)

I am not real sure of the terms but I believe Tony is "floating" in this picture. No, silly, not in the air. Floating the moisture to the top. Question: Where does a concrete guy where his tools?

Ahh! Nice and smooth. Almost done.

Tony is awesome. If you are in the area and need concrete, Tony is your guy!!

Thanks Tony!

A Yurt!

2008-10-16T06:28:00.000-07:00

A WHAT!?!
(very slowly) A yu u r r rt. Pronounced - yert.
Yep! We are building a yurt. Big Canyon's Aspen Lodge is winterized and ready to go. However, we don't really have an indoor dining area or kitchen. Since we don't have the money to build the Big Ranch House (dining hall), we decided to build a yurt. It will serve as the dining hall and kitchen for now.
Today's work was getting the forms in for the 30' (in diameter) concrete pad. The yurt will sit on the pad. Still don't know what a yurt is - do ya?

Mike took a day off (of his paying job) to come help for a day. He is digging the ditch for the forms.

Tony (concrete guy) and his young son, Anthony, took a day off (also from their paying job) to put the forms in.

Half-way done.

Finished! Ready for concrete. Great Job!!

The "Box Man" (that's what my little ones call the UPS truck) delivered the yurt. Brian is pulling the mysterious crates off the truck.

Still Curious! Stay tuned.

Grace Community

2008-10-15T11:10:00.000-07:00

Another Great Weekend

With awesome leaders, fun group of kids, and snow!

The radiant heat was hooked up and ready to go when the campers arrived. Good thing because we needed it. Brrr!

When they arrived Friday evening, they played night games outside. Next morning the snow came. They still wanted to play paintball - so that is what they did!

Thanks Grace Community for an awesome weekend!

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

2008-10-07T13:42:00.000-07:00

Creekside Christian Fellowship

Women's Weekend Together '08

This last weekend we had a group of about 30 women for a retreat. Christina G. from Southeast Baptist in Salt Lake was the guest speaker. She did an awesome job. The women were encouraged in their walks with the Lord.

We pushed the couches to the side and brought in tables and chairs. It worked well. It was a great weekend!

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Friday Evening Music Fest 08

2008-10-01T12:24:00.000-07:00

Unplugged - Music Fest '08

This took place Friday evening, in what we call the Aspen Grove. Surrounded by trees and a big Victory Ring (firepit), it made for a more intimate time of fellowship and worship. We had two different worship teams play. The first group was Zach Roper (and his band) and then there was Ricky Stroud. They all did a great job.

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

2008-09-29T13:49:00.000-07:00

Big Canyon Music Festival has come and gone. Here is a slideshow of all the prep work before the big weekend!

A slideshow of the weekend will soon follow.

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Stain On!

2008-09-17T19:06:00.001-07:00

Let there be Color!

Joel and his crew showed up first thing in the morning and were done by the end of the day.

Windows, doors and rock covered in plastic.

Staining away.

Voila! Finished.

Some of the landscaping we did on Saturday and the stain closer up.

It looks awesome! I did not get great pics b/c it was getting dark but you get the idea.

(FYI: the piece of plywood over the front door will be replaced with a window when it arrives.)

In Goes...

2008-09-10T09:43:00.000-07:00

The Grass Amphitheater

A missions group of 30+ from California put in over 7 hours of labor laying sod.

AMAZING!!

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Let it Rain!

2008-09-10T08:53:00.000-07:00

Better Yet, Let it Sprinkle!

Ephraim, UT Youth Group

Ben and Candice B. brought their youth group to Big Canyon for a week of hard labor. They were awesome!! They dug sprinkler trenches, threw big rocks, and layed sprinkler pipe for the grass amphitheater. They also worked on projects at the cabin.

Digging trench

Placing pipe where needed

Laying out the pipe

Covering the pipe that has been laid.

Caulking the Lodge in prep for the stain.

Washing the mud

The Result: Dirty Kids!

Because the group was smaller we decided to have them in our home each evening for dinner. We were blessed to have them with our family.

Celebrated 2 Birthdays

Yummy cake!

Helping with dishes

Playing on the tramp

And just hanging out in the backyard. Lots of fun!

Thanks so much EYG!

Lifeline Church Family Camp

2008-08-27T10:35:00.000-07:00

August 1-2, 2008

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Women in the Wild Weekend

2008-08-27T10:28:00.000-07:00

July 25-27, 2008

Our next group of campers were the women from South Mountain Church. They have appropriately named this weekend ~ Wild Weekend. This is their 3rd year to "book" at Big Canyon. Fun times. Great memories!

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

South Mountain Club 56 '08

2008-08-27T08:52:00.000-07:00

July 20-24, 2008

This was our first group of campers to use The Lodge. It was a great week with lots of fun and laughter and hearing about God and His amazing love.

Make an on-line slideshow at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Up and Running!

2008-08-26T12:18:00.000-07:00

We are proud to announce the beginning of a Blog to keep you updated on the latest at Big Canyon.