Weekend Hikes

It has been a good weekend for hikes:  Not as hot as it could be and not too crowded if you know where to look.  First, EDO and I did a three mile figure-eight on the face of Brian Head.  We went up the Color Flow Trail to the top of Vista.  Then we followed Vista all the way back to the bottom.  The nice thing is that they haven't opened the chair lifts for the summer season, so there were no bikes to avoid.  Second, I took VSO to a ridge that I like to climb in Center Creek.  It is somewhat steeper than I would normally recommend, and I was sorry to give her such a flogging, but, as always, she made it to the top with a smile.

Holiday Nerves

I know I've said this many times before, but these holiday weekends make me nervous.  We've had no rain for 38 days and the wind is blowing at 30 MPH.  People!  Cook the beans and weenies in the microwave and gaze into the campfire on your ipad.  It may be a family tradition to go camping for Memorial Day, but let's not burn down the rest of the state before June 1.

The Graduate

Ellen graduated from Parowan High School yesterday.  As one of the top students in the class—they didn't select a valedictorian—she was a speaker at the event.  Taking after VSO, EDO is a good public speaker and I don't think anyone in the audience would disagree that her presentation was the best of the evening.  Robyn, who was there, pointed out that the talk included quotes from both of her parents.  I'll let VSO speak for herself, but what EDO took from me was:  "There is always something to see."  Genius!

Rochester

On my way through Emery yesterday, I stopped at the Rochester Panel, located just above Muddy Creek and in view of town.  I had the place to myself, which I suspect is rare given how many wads of dirty toilet paper I stepped over.  The panel itself has some very interesting figures.  The one above I take to be an alligator.  The one below looks like a reindeer.  I didn't know that the Fremont people traveled widely, but evidently they circulated between Prudhoe Bay and the Everglades.

Reach the Peak

This is the one we call "EDO's Summit Route."  You can walk straight from the highway to the top of Brian Head Peak in an hour.  EDO pioneered it in 2016, and we did it together in 2017.  If the road is still closed by snow (like it was today), you will have the summit to yourself.

Aside from the snow on the road, however, the most alarming thing is that the entire route was devoid of moisture.  This is May 14 at 11,000 feet on the Colorado Plateau:  It should not be dusty.  Three of the past four years were drought years—2018, 2020, 2021—and it looks like 2022 is shaping up to be one, too.

Mount Carmel Paint Out

This week, VSO spent a couple of days in an art workshop at the old Maynard Dixon studio in Mount Carmel.  She completed four paintings, selling one and returning with three to show.  She began with some traditional landscapes, but finished with a garden still life, which I thought was a nice surprise.

Soloing

Yesterday, I made a solo climb to the ridge above Benson Creek (in 40 MPH winds).  I kicked eight elk out of a patch of burned aspen, where they were browsing the regeneration, and found my way back to the Chev by walking straight down the ridge above the highway.  At some point, I was thinking about how much of my climbing would now be solo because EDO will be graduating from high school and moving on to university.  But, when I looked back through my last couple dozen posts, I found only a few of them featuring EDO scrambling with me in the back country:  I guess I am already doing a lot of solo hiking.  On the other hand, sometimes we go out together and I don't post about it.  Like last Saturday, when we climbed to the wallow (five elk) above Center Creek.