Yesterday, I went with EDO to Price Canyon for what ended up being a hike in Ford Creek. But first we checked the river: Probably more than 500 CFS and starting to look pushy. On the other hand, according to the National Weather Service, the highest recorded flow, in 1940, was 9,300 CFS. That would have been something to see . . . from a safe distance away.
With a near record snow pack and a recent warming trend, we've been expecting increased flows on Utah's rivers. Yesterday, I went out to Straight Canyon to see what was being released from Joe's Valley. Nothing scary yet; certainly less than 500 CFS. Probably the normal peak would be middle of May to first of June, so we'll see.
The Cache Valley is a good place to be a merganser. Or a boater. There is a lot of water out there, water for fishing and floating. I don't know much about it, but evidently the Little Bear, Logan, and Bear Rivers meet in the middle of the valley to form a series of reservoirs, marshes, wetlands, and sloughs. It looks like a paradise for ducks . . . and paddlers.
Probably it doesn't seem like this to EDO, but for me it feels like we moved her into the Tower just yesterday. (Her room is on the top floor, mountain-side, with the snowflake in the window.) Today, we moved her out. Well, not completely, she has another week and a half to finish her finals. But, we did load the truck with about half of her belongings. Next year, she will live very close to Old Main and the historic quad.
The last time I tried to use the old Green Goose, it wouldn't go. The brakes were jacked up and too finicky for me to fix easily. Today, I worked on it for a little while and made it marginally better. Rideable. For all the days (and miles) I've put into the trails on Wood Hill, I've never tried them on the bike. With the Goose good to go, and the Gary Fisher in shape, VSO and I decided to try an out-n-back on Ponder and Lollipop. Well. Like I say, it has been a while since I've done much riding. And, despite the name, the Lollipop is not for beginners. I know they say that you never forget how to ride a bike, but I went over the handle bars and ate a mouthful of sand. It was less sweet than you might have imagined.
I parked at the bottom of South Dead Dog and climbed the trail to the top of the mesa. I crossed the Dead Dog spine and circumnavigated North Dead Dog. I went down Ben's Switchbacks and walked the road back to the Chev. The Double Dead Dog. I can't remember if I've done it before, but it is probably longer than I thought. It took two hours. The North Dead with Ben's is about 3.2 miles. So, the Double Dead is at least 4 miles, maybe closer to 5? At any rate, I've spent so much of the last two months sitting on my A, that I felt the need to do something a little more like normal.
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Despite the ongoing winter in the Utah mountains, green-up has begun in Price. Damnit. It means that I will soon be mowing. I hate mowing.
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It has been quiet at this newspaper for two weeks. We've been on the road for most of that time. First to New York for a funeral. Then to Arizona (for work) to meet with one of our tribal partners. Next week again to Arizona and the week after that we will be in Logan. It is strange to be traveling so much and almost never in the woods, or hiking in the canyons. We don't usually choose to be this busy.
