Probably not too smart...but oh so beautiful!

Saturday Paul and I decided to hike to the source of the water in the south fork of the Santa Clara Creek that runs through Pine Valley.  We have hiked up part way along the creek lots of times and have always wondered where it all started.  We usually stop at the first really big waterfall.  Once we went a little further and the trail disappeared and the vegetation became so thick that it was just too much work to continue.  Our plan this time was to just get into the water whenever that happened.  That's where the not too smart comes in.  Some places were very slick and probably kind of dangerous with the possibility of  slipping and maybe falling down some pretty steep places, but thankfully things went well and we did come to the end, at least this year, of the running water.  If time had permitted, we probably would have continued up the dry stream bed and then down a trail that connected to the one we started out on, but for now, this will suffice.  There were many more beautiful waterfalls and some incredible scenery as far as we did go.  It rained on us some on the way back down, but it was not cold, so we just enjoyed it and made it back in time to go and join Tavin for his #11 birthday.  All in all it was a great day!

The rock that I am sitting on at the top is where the water dried up.  

Happy #11 Tavin!

Wow!  After all these years in scouting we at last have our first grandson going into the scout program.  Are we really that old?  It was fun to get together with the Borrowman brood, Ryan's folks and Bean to do a  little celebrating/gift giving/eating of chocolate covered strawberries/and visiting last night.  Tavin was enjoying his new Ripstick when we got there.  I didn't even know what that thing was called and certainly didn't want to get on it, but he and Brynnli will be pros soon enough.  They took a break to come in and open presents.  We gave Tavin a boring but useful present of a scout uniform and handbook to get him going in the 11-year-old program which he will now enter.  He looked good in his uniform!  Happy Birthday Tavin!  We love you and are proud of you. 

Two Favorite places in one week end!

We decided we wanted to go camping and then check out the mountain goats up in the Tushar Mts. above Beaver Friday/Saturday.  We were pretty sure it would rain sometime while we were there, but we have gotten pretty good at the quick set up and escape into the tent, so we were not to be deterred by that.  We wanted to cook a good stew in the Dutch oven, but had a contingency plan if that wasn't possible.  So off we  went!   As soon as we got to Enoch, where it was raining cats and dogs (they had flooding), we were pretty sure the contingency plan to just eat dinner in Beaver and then head up the road was in effect.  We got up to the mountains and found our usual campsites filled with bow hunters, so we found a new, nice spot and got the tent set up during intermittent showers.  After set up we headed indoors and used our sweet dvd player to watch a Number One Ladies Detective Agency movie we had brought along.  Then it was off to sleep in the cool mountain air.  In the morning the rain was done and we breakfasted and then headed up to check out the mountain goats.  We spotted them way up on the hills below Mt. Delano.  We hiked up there with breathing stops along the way.  It was nice because there were no bow hunters up there!  We spotted a group of goats that had broken away from the main herd and hiked over to look at them.  They promptly headed back to the main group when we got near them.  So we spent the morning playing hide and seek with them creeping up from behind hills to try to get close enough for a good photo op and they just kind of moseyed along keeping just far enough in front of us to feel safe.  We herded them clear up to Mt. Delano and then they moved on past that to the next peak.  We finally did get close enough to get some OK pics, but nothing too up close and personal.  In the process we signed in at the peak and were excited to see that a Varsity Scout group had been there recently and had placed their Title of Liberty on the peak as part of their 50-miler.  They were even from St. George.  After our goating adventures were finished we lunched up there and then made the hike down.  We were pretty much done with what we had planned by about 3 pm and decided to head over to Brian Head and cook that stew we hadn't been able to make the night before.  We had a great dinner, despite all of the 4-wheelers buzzing by with bow hunters on the scout for deer.  Can't see how they every get anything when they are making so much noise, but we did see at least one successful one.  We had a great time and thoroughly enjoyed the whole trip!  

A very merry evening with Shakespeare and the Randalls

Happy Birthday or Mother's Day...I can't remember which one, but whichever it was, it was a lot of fun!  Last night Paul and I got to go up to Cedar City and enjoy the play The Merry Wives of Windsor.  It was a delightful comedy and we were lucky because the rain didn't start until the very end and wasn't enough then to stop the final scenes.  To make the evening even better, we got to join the Randalls for dinner before we went.  Lou is such a great cook.  We had Asian Chicken Salad...mmm good!  A neighbor and her son had brought us a fresh apple pie which we added to the meal.  It was delish too.  So, our thanks to everyone for the gift card which we used to get our play tickets, and to the Randalls for sharing their dinner and good company with us.  It was a very merry evening all the way around!

The theater, Falstaff and Mistress Quickly, Falstaff and the Merry Wives, the campus, Bryan serving pie, more campus.

Falstaff in love? Hardly! But the loveable old renegade does have his lusty eye on a couple of middle-class housewives. Trouble is feminine wit and wisdom triumph once again as the amused and annoyed wives teach Sir John a lesson in this bubbling, popular comedy sure to please everyone in the family.  Falstaff, Mr. Ford and Mistress Quickly were my favorites.  The theater is wonderful and the campus beautiful.  We didn't do the Green Show because it was one we had already seen when we were up there for another play earlier in the summer. 

An entomology "edventure"

We saw some deer as we were driving around (and during the program - no pic).  Behind  the fence you can just see twin fawns.  They were too shy for good pictures. 

 Saturday evening we got to spend some time with the Smith kids up at Pine Valley. When we got there we stopped in at the little information center.  I had never been there before and it was fun to see it.  The kids got some cool free posters, stickers and Smokey Bear stuff.   Then we had a picnic of Subway kids meals and old people diet food. After that we had a few minutes to walk the trail enjoying the cool air and scenery.  Then we headed to the new amphitheater for the Saturday evening ranger talk about "edible plants of the forest".  Unfortunately he didn't make it, but a guy from the information center said he would pinch hit with a presentation about insects.  He was an entomologist that specializes in wasps and showed us nests and told us quite a few interesting things about them.  He also had a specimen box with many other insects. He collects for the Smithsonian and other places.  He had traveled world wide to do his collecting.  There were very few people there, so we got to see all of the stuff up close and ask any questions that we wanted to.  It was really cool.  Just as he  finished up it started to rain, so we were off to the car for the trip home.  We listened to a  Hank the Cow Dog story on the way there and back.  It was a fun and informative entomology "edventure" and a nice way to spend time with the kids and get up to the cooler clime.  Thanks for going with us kids!

Another Pine Valley date night

Went up to Pine Valley area to check out possible locations for upcoming Fall Camporee for scouts.  Checked out all the dirt roads running from Baker reservoir.  There are some pretty places back in there that I never knew about.  Then we went into Pine Valley to eat a picnic dinner...in the car since it started to rain.  It stopped after that, so after doing our checking out of campsites, we went on our evening walk on the trail from Whipple trail head parking lot over to Lion's Lodge.  So pretty and refreshing right after the rain. We left when the sun left.  Glorious evening!

Found fresh raspberries for dessert.  Mushrooms are finally popping up too.  Didn't sample them!

Family Camp 2012 - August 1-4th

Family camp has come and gone again.  We started this in 2005 and I think back then we only had 5 grand kids...things have changed.  This year we had all but the Smiths and Bean in attendance (missed you guys).  It was still a good crowd!  We owe many thanks to the Lillywhites for lending us their cabin, Bofa North, at Bear Lake. It was a great fit. We had a nice combination of the beach and the mountains all in one spot.  Many thanks to Jay and Brynn for getting things set up for this year...right after having a new baby join their family.  Hey Borrowmans, you are up for next year.  We played at the beach, hiked and swam/waded in mountain lakes, ate lots of good food, played games, stayed up too late sometimes, relaxed in the cooler climate and had a beautiful view of the lake from the cabin balcony, some braved the crowds and visited Raspberry Days activities,  and we also made our own fresh raspberry shakes, and then cleaned "like a lillywhite tornado".  The one thing we didn't do was get a whole group picture...oops. Thanks to all for making the effort to come and for your tasty contributions to our waistlines.  Time for a diet again.  See you all next year! (Actually, I think we might see you before then at Thanksgiving.)

If you look close you can see Supe in a mid-air dive off the big cliff.  Sorry you got cut off the group shot Ryan.  Juge, if your picture turned out better, please share:o) (See Juge's pic above.)

Blessing day for Trigg

Yesterday was Trigg's blessing day.  He was being peaceful as usual.  These pics were taken on the fly out the door afterwards with Paul's Ipad, but hey, they aren't too bad!  It was nice to have so many able to come and participate in this special day.  Those who could stay for the rest of the meetings got a real treat too.  What a great ward.  We love you Trigg!

A day to celebrate

Today we had the privilege of joining a best friend of Bean's for his temple sealing.   It is so great to see young people getting off to the right start.  I wish they lived closer by so we could enjoy visiting with them and watching them grow up and raise their family.  

Pioneer Day...beating the heat and getting out

We decided to head for the hills, as usual, to make good use of our day off for Pioneer Day.  I guess you could say we did get a little inkling of some of the pioneer life in dealing with the weather along the trail....and actually loved it.  I'm sure dealing with it day after day might have been quite another story.  We got out of the heat by going up to Brian Head and then over towards Cedar Breaks area to do the Rattlesnake Trail.  It's only a 4 mile trail down to the junction with High Mountain Trail, but you drop 3200 feet in that 4 miles and then climb back up the same, so it's quite a work out, but also worth it.  We only saw evidence of other people - their tent and gear were at the junction.  Other than that, we had the place to ourselves.  Probably because we're the only ones dumb enough to enjoy hiking in the monsoon thunderstorms.  A couple of times we had to hunker down in a grove of trees and let it pass.  It was perfect temperature wise and every now and then the sun would peek out and we'd shed our jackets or ponchos for a while.  It was good to be out enjoying the rain and such a beautiful place!  We found some great campsites for future use too.

Just a few of the great views

More views and cool rocks and plants

More gorgeous stuff, view from our shelter grove during a real downpour,  Paul in steamy glasses.

It was interesting to watch the water change.  The first creek we walked by looked like this...pretty clear.

Then another creek - clay colored - joined it.

Here is where they joined up.

After they mixed, we had this color.

 

On the way back, after lots of rain, our clear creek had turned reddish.

Here's the same spot earlier while it was still clear.

We  stopped in Cedar City to eat dinner at the park and there was our creek, joined by many additions along the way.  Now it was a thick, sluggish, chocolate mass. 

When they get the road fixed at the bottom, we are looking forward to hiking from the top clear out to the bottom of this hike.  The last half is in the river, and it isn't something you want to do during the monsoon season and without a shuttle vehicle at the end.