Horseshoe Canyon

It is part of the National Park System, so, for that reason, it should be banned.  But VSO has wanted to see the Great Gallery for many years and I did say, in a moment of ill-judged bravado, that I would take her there mid-week, during the winter.  So, we went today.  I can't imagine what it is like during camping season because there were loud, fast-driving tourists in abundance.  The road is good and, I don't know, there is probably cell service:  Remote workers?  At any rate, I did my duty and need not return.

Aside from the world famous rock art, what caught my attention were the winter cottonwoods.  I made a lot of pictures of pictographs, but I probably made more pictures of trees.  I can almost forgive the Disney crowds if they are coming to see these beauties.  More images here.

Farnsworth

Today, all three of us started up Farnsworth Canyon.  After 90 minutes, when we were nearing the top, EDO and I decided to try climbing over the saddle and into North Temple Wash.  VSO agreed to return to GC2, parked at the mouth of Farnsworth, and drive shuttle to the mouth of North Temple.

It worked perfectly:  EDO and I scrambled to the top, dropped off the rim, and hustled down the road.  We popped out of North Temple Wash and found GC2 waiting, just as the sun set.  A seven mile loop.

Rim Winds

With EDO, I climbed one of the canyons to the rim this afternoon.  We got there just as the sun set.  It was beautiful.

It was also cold.  We've got the Carbon County north wind with us for the next few days.  Thirty miles an hour with chills in the teens.

Rock Art Hunting

This week, VSO wanted to go rock art hunting.  All three of us went to the Ferron Box and to the Molen Seep.  There are other places, like Short Canyon, but we didn't have time for them.

I bet we saw 30 or 40 rock art panels at the two sites—from single figures to complex tableaux—but this one (above) may have been the most beautiful and interesting.  Guarding one of the panels along Ferron Creek was this horned owl (below).

Cmas Tree '23

We got a late start on the Christmas tree this year.  But, once we reached the woods, we didn't have any difficulty picking one.  As soon as VSO saw this little beauty, it became her top choice.  Normally, the subalpine fir is tall and narrow, but this one is short and full.

Tracks

Yesterday I went up the Second Water Trail for an hour before sunset.  All was normal except for the tracks.  There were plenty of boot tracks for the first mile and several of them continued up the trail at the point where I turned back.  It seemed strange.  It is a long way from town.  Who is walking around out there in the crusty snow?

Gap-like

When we first moved to Iron County in 2008, there were several small washes between the Little Salt Lake and the Parowan Gap that we used to walk in, sometimes every day.  You could go out for an hour and walk to the top of the Red Hills and not see or hear anything.  Then, as the population of Iron County boomed and the motorized use spread, especially during the COVID induced outdoor recreation infestation, people started pushing the motors up the washes.  Motorized recreational vehicles have become so powerful that they can go just about anywhere, even up steep narrow washes that you wouldn't expect.  With the motors comes the trash.  If you have to carry it, you're not so trashy.  But, if the vehicle carries it, why not?  Beer cans, toilet paper, mustard squeezies, old TVs.  Finally, I quit.  The zone is banned and I won't go back.

The cross country motorized use in Carbon County is just as bad, or possibly worse.  But rough country can stop the motors if it is steep enough.  Yesterday, I was out by Pinnacle Peak and I parked the Chev to look at this little canyon.  Lower down there were a couple of hand-over-hand rock falls that were pretty steep and, about halfway up, was a 25 foot pour-over that was too sheer to climb, even on foot.  I found a cheater route up the side wall and made it to the top.  It was quiet in the late day sunshine, and not much more than 30 minutes from the truck:  A Gap-like out-n-back without the motors.  On the other hand, Carbon County is one big gas field.  At the top of the canyon was a well pad with a pump jack!

Pit Firing II

Today we did another pit firing:  Dig the hole, line it with rock, burn a fire down to coals, load the pottery, rebuild the fire, heat it to 850F, let the second fire burn down, cover the whole mess with a pile of dirt, leave it overnight.  We didn't start with enough wood to raise the temperature to 850F, so we brought the saw along to make more.  EDO has been running a saw professionally, so I turned it over to her while I did the swamping.

Stacked Rock Vision

Yesterday we went to Range Creek (where VSO's pompom took up most of the space).  The canyon is probably considered to be the most important Fremont archaeological site in the state.  Researchers have found dozens, if not hundreds, of small granaries, generally located high on the canyon walls.  I think they are difficult to notice, but VSO has an eye for them.  She spotted this one (below, at right) from the road on the valley floor.  Amazing.

The Birds and the Cacti(s)

Yesterday, I was walking the ridge above Bear Canyon in the Turtle Canyon Wilderness.  On a small rocky outcrop at 9090 feet, I encountered a colony of hedgehog cactus.  (I'm assuming it is from the genus Echinocereus, though I don't really know my cacti.)  I found it beautiful, but odd.  Why grow here, on a dry ridge above 9000 feet?  Wikipedia has the answer:  "In the wild, several of the species are cold hardy, tolerating temperatures as low as -23 C, but only in dry conditions."  So there you go.  The other living creature that caught my attention was the Clark's Nutcracker (Nucifraga columbiana).  Flocks of this busy, noisy corvid circled and followed along the ridge, probably there to feed on (and cache) limber and pinyon cones.  I finally found one sitting still long enough to capture it on film.

Museum Wood

VSO has been cataloging artifacts at the Prehistoric Museum.  The other day she sent me this picture of a piece of wood removed from a Fremont granary in Range Creek by an early archaeologist.  We speculated about the origins of the artifact and looked at some of the literature from Range Creek.  For the most part, researchers believe that Fremont builders used primarily Douglas fir and Utah juniper.  But, how can they tell?  What, for instance, is pictured above?

Yesterday, I made a run to the top of the pass above the canyon to see what was out there.  Douglas fir, limber pine, big tooth maple, aspen, Rocky Mountain juniper, mountain mahogany, pinyon pine, Gambel oak, and Rocky Mountain maple.  (I was surprised to see the limber because it is not on the range map.)  I didn't see Utah juniper at that location.  At any rate, it made me wonder if Fremont construction might have used a larger number of species than those listed and whether it would be easy to tell the difference between them.  I collected pieces of dead wood to compare with the artifacts.  This one (below) is pinyon.  And it is definitely not the same as the artifact, which I will concede is most likely to be Douglas fir.

Moved, Sold, or Dumped

Since we sold 420 Grand in 2021, we've moved three times:  Out of 420, Alice out of Harbor Circle, out of The Homestead.  As part of each process we've hired storage units (four total over that period).  Yesterday, we cleared the last of them.  After selling a reasonably nice truckload of furniture to a local dealer for about one tenth of the price of the storage unit (above), VSO pointed out that the economics were unfavorable.  It is true, but there are other benefits to storage:  First, when it is time to close on the deal, you gotta get your crap out and sometimes you simply need a place put it.  Second, when there are other family members involved, you sometimes need to wait to see what they want to keep before you dump the rest.  At any rate, no more storage fees:  We've moved, sold, or dumped it all.

Nations Natural Bridge

Just on the outskirts of Blanding, or possibly even within the city limits, there is a small natural bridge.  VSO and I went out there today and climbed up to it.  Very nice.  Unfortunately, its proximity to town means that it is crowded with loud people and loose dogs.  Two of my favorites.

Another Podium Finish

Today, EDO competed in the inaugural Bears Ears Marathon.  She started just before sunrise in Blanding, Utah and finished a little under three and a half hours later in Bluff, Utah.  The weather was nearly perfect:  Bright and clear, but not hot.

This was EDO's second marathon.  Last year, she finished 34th out of 154 at the Top of Utah Marathon with a time of 3:46.  This year, she was 18th out of 94 in 3:25.  Last year, she finished on the podium (first and only in her age group).  This year, she finished on the podium as the second female finisher overall.

Hawthorn Survey

Last week I was walking in a brush filled tributary of Soldier Creek when I noticed a tree that I couldn't identify.  It was somewhat familiar, but I could not place it.  Was it invasive?  Where did it come from?  Why was there just a single specimen?  I made a picture and took it home to look it up.  Crataegus douglasii.  Black hawthorn.

The specimen I'd noticed is native to Utah, but was outside the range map for the species.   It made me curious, so I went back the next day and surveyed from the tributary's confluence with Soldier Creek to the first main branch of the canyon, a distance of about 1.5 miles.  I found eleven, including the one from the day before:  Ten of them were alive and one was dead.  It makes up less than one percent of the riparian vegetation, but it certainly seems well established.  Perhaps we should extend the range map?

Darkness at Noon

We didn't plan to make a big deal about it and never took the time to find a pair of eclipse glasses.  In the event, I figured the totality of the eclipse and the magic of the camera lens would be good enough.  It wasn't (above).

Fortunately, the brightest (har har) member of the family thought to grab a roll of over-exposed analog film.  VSO taped a strip to each side of her glasses and invented the perfect home-made eclipse viewer.  She shared a piece with me so that I could put it over the camera lens.  Voila.  The Ring of Fire!

Marathon Prep

EDO is training for the inaugural Bears Ears Marathon on November 4th.  Today she got a 14 mile out-n-back in Spring Canyon.  I went, too, and carried the camera.  My out-n-back was about four miles.

First Water

We tried to go to Second Water, but found our way blocked by a hunting camp.  We proceeded to First Water.  The trail has not been maintained in some years and was difficult to find.  When we were on it, and it wasn't blocked by downed wood, we went fast.  Otherwise, it was a thrashing.

Beautiful, though.  Everything was just past peak color:  The aspens, the oaks, the maples, and the cottonwoods.  In the late day sun, the world glowed.

Pinnacle Canyon

I've not done a lot of hiking on the west side of town, but yesterday I drove out the Pinnacle Canyon road until it turned to go up the bench.  I parked and continued walking in the canyon.  It is actually in the middle of the gas field, so not at all remote.

But, from the canyon bottom the roads and rigs are invisible (and mostly inaudible).  I went all the way up one of the forks until it reached a well pad and road on the bench.  It was a nice early fall hike.

Summer is Over

Summer is over.  The sun can still be strong, but the days are shorter, the nights are cooler, and the equinox has passed.  The good part of the year is coming.