Hobby Plots

I've been spending a lot of time (probably too much time) spinning plots in a couple of forest stands on the Markagunt.  Though there have been days when this was my job, now it is more of a hobby.  I call them hobby plots.  After I had a plot or two, I put the data into a growth and yield model, the Forest Vegetation Simulator.  This particular model generates simulated images of the stand to be used in papers and presentations (above).  The problem, of course, with limited data and modelled outputs, is that they are likely to give a distorted view of reality.  In this case, one of my plots landed in a clump of (three) ten-inch subalpine fir trees.  The model projects the plot data to the stand level and finds that there are about 80 ten-inch firs per acre.  As you can see, (below) the actual stand has been salvage logged and has about five overstory trees per acre.  I just happened to have most of them on my plot.  The best way to correct the model is to collect more data.  Whew.  This hobby is becoming more like a job.

Storytelling

VSO calls this kind of painting "storytelling."  Inspired by Matisse, she made it to raise money for Canyon Creek Services in Cedar City, Utah.  I think it is an interesting shift from her plein air landscapes, which probably owe more to realism and impressionism than to the post-impressionism or fauvism of this painting.  We'll see how it is received by the salon?  If it does well, maybe we can encourage her to tell some more stories.

First Snow

I was on the Louder Ponds Trail yesterday afternoon.  This is what it looked like (above).  I called it the first snow.  It was actually more like graupel or hail, but I feel more hopeful when I think about it snowing.  I don't think the two things are related, but it was also the day for mushroom blooming:  Amanita muscaria in the snow (below).  I know next to nothing about fungi, so I may have the species wrong, but the orange and yellow caps are eye-catching against a white background.

View From the Office

Yesterday, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) hosted a tour of the Bears Ears National Monument in southeast Utah.  We visited two of the most well known sites on the monument:  The ears themselves (above), which are on the National Forest.  And the House on Fire (below), which is on BLM managed land.  It was a beautiful day, bright and clear.  A little too hot for me, but better than sitting at the desk.

First Half

This morning, EDO competed in the Parowan City Half Marathon.  Her first half.  I thought she would be in the 2:10 to 2:20 range, so I went out to mile 11 and waited for the 2:10 pacesetter.  I saw 2:10 go by and waited until I saw 2:20, but I never saw EDO.  So, I raced up to the finish and got there at 2:11 (above).  Still no sign of EDO.  Darn it:  She had finished in 1:50 and walked home.  She was 49th overall, third in her age group.  Not bad for her first half.  I'm just sorry I missed it.

Drought No Drought

When I got to Robinson Reservoir yesterday afternoon, I was surprised to find it full:  It has not had water in it for the past couple of years.  It must have benefited from the near record rainfall that we experienced during the second half of July.  At the Cedar City Airport, the National Weather Service recorded 3.51 inches of water between July 13th and the end of the month.  It was the third highest July total since WWII.  But, the other obvious thing about this view is that most of the white fir on the slope above the lake has been killed by the double whammy of drought and fir engraver (close up view below).  So, which is it, are we in a drought or a flood?  Well, for the past two water years, we should have accumulated a total of about 20.5 inches of moisture.  We are currently at around 13.7 inches.  I don't think the ecosystem has been fooled:  The drought remains.

The Lights of Lassen County

For most of the past two and a half years, I've been commuting monthly between The Homestead and 420 Grand.  The latter is located in Lassen County, California, which is named for Peter Lassen, a Danish immigrant and pioneer who established the "Lassen Cutoff" of the California Trail.  Lassen was murdered in the Black Rock Desert in 1859, but his grave can be found on the edge of a meadow between Susanville and Janesville.  On Saturday, VSO and I visited the grave before returning to southern Utah.  I'm sure we'll return to Lassen County from time to time but, now that I am working in Utah again, it was the last of the monthly commutes.