We parked at the Mesquite Wash Trailhead. It isn't really a trailhead, so don't be fooled. It is a place to stop the truck where you can walk around on the rim of some canyons. A beautiful area, though, and we all walked out to the edge of McCarty Canyon. There was some talk of finding our way down, but the sun was setting and we were at least two hours from the oil. So, we looped back across a couple small mesas, maybe 5.5 miles altogether, and got back to the highway shortly after 6p.
I don't know very much about the south end of the Ferron Ranger District, so I took a field day this week to see a small part of it. I wanted to make some pictures of Nelson Mountain for a project I've been working on, so I drove up Muddy Creek to the Hole Trail. The trail is motorized, but closed to motors during the winter so that wildlife, mostly elk from what I could see, can forage. I walked about four miles, to the back side of Youngs Peak. I was expecting some sunshine so that I could try for some dramatic pictures, but it snowed on me for most of the day. It was late in the afternoon before there was drama.
EDO had to go to work, so we didn't have a lot of time. We scrambled straight to the top of the ridge between Center Creek and Bowery Creek. The weather has been spectacular and the strong sun has melted all the snow from the Center Creek side (above). In the shade on the Bowery side, however, the hoodoos still wear caps of snow (below).
Whenever it comes time to move, I am confronted by the books. We have a lot of books. And books are very heavy. In fact, by volume, they are heavier than furniture. When I move, I put the books in boxes. There are three sizes of boxes at Home Depot or Walmart. A small box holds 40 pounds of books; a medium box holds 60 pounds of books. I don't put books in the large boxes because I can't lift them. Why not get rid of the books? After all, every book is now available on Google Play, or could be stored on an SD card the size of a corn flake. Today, I am reading "Educated" by Tara Westover. In her family, they stored food, fuel, and gold bullion to prepare for the end of civilization. I guess we're the same. When the apocalypse arrives and the internet goes dark, those with books will survive.
In 2016, I posted about the eagle tree. The eagle tree, a large cottonwood in the Parowan Valley, has since been cut down. Thus evicted, the eagle family? flock? has moved to a white poplar tree closer to the road. The other day when I drove by, there were five eagles roosting around the large stick nest.
I wanted to make a family portrait, but when I returned, there was just one eagle. It flew up when I stopped the truck, so I had to wait for it to settle before I could make its picture.
On New Year's Day, we all went out skiing late in the afternoon. The conditions were great, but it was a bit cold. When we left the truck, the thermometer stood at 6F. When we returned, it said 0F. Or to paraphrase Ron White: There was no temperature. It was difficult to keep the fingers and toes warm, but otherwise it was just right.
