Cairn Lake

Before leaving California, I thought I'd make one more run to Eagle Lake.  I went to the marina and walked along the shore.  I was surprised to find that it had been colonized by cairners:  There were cairns everywhere.  Normally I am annoyed by cairners because I assume that they are bohemian hipsters who are afraid that if you walk one tenth of a mile from your sport-ute, you won't come back.  But these cairns seemed to be more aligned with the scattered fire-rings of picnickers than with the anxiety of urban trekkers, so I stopped to make some pictures.  I found that some of the cairns supported pelicans.

Moving Day

I've said it before, but April is a nice time to be at 420 Grand.  The fruit trees are in bloom (the roses are greening up, too).  I did, however, recently accept a new job in Utah, so it is time to move on and move out.  It's moving day.  This is what the big bedroom (the master?) looks like today.

The Grazing Bear

I was out by the Susan River yesterday when I noticed this bear grazing in one of the wet meadows.  Well, probably grubbing, not grazing, but it did seem odd.  After a while, the bear noticed me, so I began to back-up.  Instead, the bear turned away and ran into the woods on the other side of the meadow.

Pent-up Demand

At this time last year, VSO was scheduled to host an art exhibit at the Frontier Homestead Museum in Cedar City, Utah.  Unfortunately, the event was postponed—for a whole year—and she has not had a chance to meet the fine art needs of a growing southern Utah population.  Until now.  The show goes on:  Starting two weeks from today, on May 1, VSO will have a solo show at the Museum (635 North Main Street, Cedar City, Utah).  It runs until June 12, 2021, but don't wait until the end—I predict an opening day bidding war for a number of these beauties.

Six Days on the Road, Part 2

On Wednesday afternoon, I drove from the San Rafael Desert to the Benson's new place in Alma, Colorado.  I've not seen Sandy or Chris in at least two years, so it was great to catch-up and to get some of Mrs. B's cooking.  Benson's favorite place to ski is Breckenridge.  He has at least 100 days there (maybe a thousand), so he is the perfect tour guide.  We covered the whole mountain on Thursday looking for those creamy sun-warmed shots.  And finding them.  My legs were tired by 3 or 3:30 and both of us were ready for a beer and a shrimp taco.

Friday was a different story.  After stopping at the County Fairgrounds so that Benson could get his vaccine at the Swine Barn (wait, what kind of vaccine was that?), we continued to Monarch Mountain.  Monarch is one of those compact, older, more-independent ski resorts, with a small parking lot and a bunch of fixed-grip doubles.  It is very nice.  I like it quite a bit.  Beautiful terrain, too.  Unfortunately, on this day, despite the bright sun, we never found spring conditions.  The snow refused to thaw and we could find nothing but hard-pack or frozen chicken-heads.  I'm not too picky but, by 2:30, even I was starting to say, "Let's check out the Elevation Brewery down in Salida."  So we did.  Pictures HERE.

Six Days on the Road, Part 1

On Monday, we left The Homestead and drove to the San Rafael Desert.  We arrived in a 30 MPH sandstorm with temperatures around 85F.  Then I spent two or three hours driving us around the backcountry, looking for good hiking and camping opportunities, and generally finding neither.  It was a somewhat unpleasant afternoon, though we did find some nice looking real estate.  Finally, we pulled into a dusty wash and made dinner in the gale.  The wind blew so hard all night that none of us could sleep.  Nonetheless, VSO was supermodel gorgeous the next morning.

On Tuesday, EDO lead me on an epic, ten-mile, rough-country hike in the San Rafael Reef that left us on the wrong side of an impassible slot canyon.  For a few minutes, I was wondering whether we would find an exit route before dark.  In the event, we went up and over, and reached the truck at 4:45p, just 15 minutes before VSO would have started worrying.  From there, we found our way to another dusty camp.  On Wednesday morning, I went with EDO on a three or four mile slickrock hike while VSO created a plein air painting.  After lunch, I started for Colorado while the girls returned to Parowan.  There are a bunch of pictures HERE.

The Car Turns 300,000

Miles, that is.  Today, EDO drove from Parowan to Price, Utah.  She spent the day in a program for high school juniors at Utah State-Eastern.  On her return she pulled over on the freeway just before Paragonah to record the latest milestone:  The Vue's odometer hit 300,000 miles.