Moving to the Forest

Last week, I was in the Book Cliffs looking for dead wood.  This week, I want to move my work to the National Forest.  Thus far, the snow has been too deep, but, after a few 70F degree days, things are starting to open up.  I'm interested in this north-facing Douglas fir stand overlooking Bob Wright Canyon.  As the pictures show, the south-facing slopes are snow free, but my area of interest still requires a little post-holing:  My boots were wet when I got back to the Chev.  At any rate, I sampled one tree with the increment borer and, barring a late season blizzard, I should be able to start working out there later this week or next.

Dead Wood

In the winter, I was collecting live tree cores in a mixed Douglas fir and pinyon pine stand in the Book Cliffs.  The longest cores that I brought back to the lab were about 350 to 370 years old:  Germinating in say, 1650.  To go beyond that, I have begun experimenting with dead wood.  The stand has been disturbed by fire, insects, and tree cutting over the past several hundred years.  Trees have died, but the wood remains.  So far, I have a piece of Douglas fir for which I was able to determine a germination date of 1303, about 720 years ago.  Yesterday, I was out looking for more.  I got another good sample of Douglas fir (above), but the real revelation was three separate Rocky Mountain juniper trees (below).

Homestead Show

I thought we had shown there since, but the only record I could find was from spring of 2021, so maybe it has been three years.  At any rate, yesterday we went to the Frontier Homestead to hang a show.  It is a good venue.  Unfortunately, it is now about a four hour drive from the house.  We were on the road from 8:30a to 5:30p.  Help us pay for gas:  Take your checkbook to Cedar City and take home some fine art!

View from the Office

This week we had a meeting in the conference room above the gift shop at the visitor center in Dead Horse Point State Park.  Not only is it a nice place for a meeting, but the second day of spring was so clear and sunny that we had views to the Abajos, the Henrys, and, of course, the La Sals.  It was nearly enough to make you forget you were in a meeting.

Non-scenic Dry Washes

There are some non-scenic dry washes south of the railroad that I have looked at on the map.  Yesterday, I went down there with EDO to look around.  It is kind of nice:  Quiet, easy walking, interesting rock formations.  Worth another trip.