Browse to Anderson Valley with Bean

Oh what a hike!  It's one of those that I feel like doing like a little kid and saying, "Are we there yet?"  I love it when we get there, but it is a killer with a LOT of elevation gain over a short distance...but it is totally worth it when you get there.  We sort of got of to a late start and then lost the trail a little and did some back tracking.  After a lunch stop with the steepest part yet to go I secretly wondered if we should just call it and head back.  But we pressed on and made it up to see the little dilapidated cabin.  I just kept thinking that I may just be too old to do this again and better do it now as a final time!  We took a little nap up there, enjoyed what there was to see and then came down...which is almost as bad except you can at least breathe.  When we got to the bottom we visited with the people who were camping at the trailhead.  We had seen them before on horseback and then they passed us going up.  They were very friendly and even shared some leftover Dutch Oven cobbler with us which made me feel a whole lot better!  It was a great hike...and I don't want to do it again for a while, maybe never.  I'm glad we did it then because it is so dry now that the forest service has locked the gate on that area unless we get some "significant rains."  We did it just in time! 

Jacob Lake - North Rim - Christmas present redeemed!

Just before school got out Paul and I decided we just couldn't wait any longer to get out!  We were feeling a bit too lazy to get everything together to camp and went the easy way by redeeming out Christmas gift cert. from the kids to Jacob Lake.  We wanted to get the most value and it was cheaper to stay in one of the tiny cabins this time of year...and I have always wanted to, so that worked out too!  We went over on a Friday afternoon and checked in and then drove over toward North Rim of the Grand Canyon to explore some.  We took a dirt road we just barely explored before and drove to see some amazing vistas.  It's actually just outside the canyon in the Saddle Mountain Wilderness area I believe.  It was so beautiful. We parked and walked around by the Nankoweap trail for a bit.  Then it was time to get back. We had a great dinner and evening forest walk...so lovely.  In the morning we decided to explore some other new places and found some short hikes in the canyon that we had never done before.  It was so much fun!  We did Cape Final, Walhalla Ruin, Cliff Spring Trail, and drove out to Point Imperial and looked around.  We tried not to do any long hard trails because of Paul's sore foot, but did these short, less strenuous ones. It turned out just right!  We had a full day of it and then headed home happy and well fed!

Do not tell hike in Browse - Hidden Waterfall

Paul, Bean and I took a Saturday hike that was all new to us.  Supe and Lance call it a secret hike, so I can't share it publicly.  It was not too long, a little steep at the end and absolutely beautiful!  It's up by Browse and takes you down to the river and to a beautiful waterfall a bit like Kanara Creek.  Someone has done a lot of work clearing the trail down to it otherwise it would just be a total bushwhack job.  We enjoyed the beautiful views of Kolob, the Big Sequoia, the flowers blooming and just the whole beautiful place! I need to go back and get all of the way into the water before it dries up this hot summer.

Some History of the Browse Guard Station - much of this is on the sign that some fool shot a hole through.

LOCATION

37° 23' 7.99" North Latitude,   113° 21' 11.02" West Longitude 
37.3856° North Latitude,   113.3531° West Longitude 
6,095 feet (1,858 meters) elevation 

Township, Range, Section:   T39S, R13W, S19 

HISTORY

This site was first developed in 1921 as the 179-acre Mill Creek Browse Experimental Range with an enclosure to study the use of browse vegetation as summer forage for cattle. 

Two years later, a small cabin was built. 

Grazing of cattle was discontinued there in 1929 but, four years later, the Forest Supervisor approved construction of four exclosures (areas fenced to keep out wildlife and stock) to support deer management studies. 

In 1934, the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) built a Plan 5 guard station and a Plan 70 outhouse; the 1923 cabin became a woodshed/storeroom. Regional landscape architect H. L. Curtiss prepared a landscape plan that included wild grape, native grasses, spruce, cedar, rose, willows, snowberry, apple trees, an irrigation ditch, sidewalks and parking for four cars. 

Despite these early improvements, the site was not formally withdrawn until 7/7/1953 and again in 1959. The Forest Service recommended the 1959 withdrawal (120 acres) be released in 1986. 

Beginning in 1960, the Forest Service shared the guard station with the Utah Fish and Game Department for use as seasonal housing. The site was intact with its three buildings and corral when the Sequoia Fire of 2002 swept through the canyon. Remarkably, everything around the station burned but the buildings were unharmed, thanks to clearing of flammable materials the previous year. Subsequent rains on the fire-damaged land led to a mudslide, flooding, and loss of the 1923 shed. 

A restoration plan was developed in 1996 and the following year, the Utah State Historic Preservation Office concurred with the Forest's determination that the Browse Guard Station is eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places. 

Jay, Brynn and Chicas visit St. George!

Jay, Brynn and the chicas came down for a quick visit and we filled the our Saturday with as much fun as we could tuck into it.  We started at the duck pond.  The ducks were so happy to have a visit that pretty soon it became a mob attack and the girls retreated to a rock and behind Brynn! No children were eaten after all!  Paul made a willow whistle which the girls enjoyed trying out. 

 

Next we went down to see if we could visit the DSU Art Museum, but it was closed, so we just visited the outdoor statue garden and had fun posing there!

Then we headed down to the Towne Square for some fun in the sun/water.  The girls loved it.  Juge and Lance arrived while we were there and we took a ride on the carousel too.

After that we were pretty tired out so we headed back to the house for some popicles and playing/laying in the yard.  Somewhere in here we ate lunch and took naps and got ready for the next and final round of fun.

 Dinner was a bring your own picnic to the park affair.  Then we played on the toys and had a family soccer game until the lights went out and it was time to call it a day...a very good, fun day!

Essie #4

Jay, Brynn and chicas came down for a visit and since it was so close to Essie's birthday, we went ahead and celebrated it just a week early.  So fun!  She's so enthusiastic about every present not matter what!  She's such a fun little girl, so ready to share what she knows and just excited about life!  Happy Birthday Essie!  We love you tons!

Teacher Appreciation Week 2018

Even though I'm not THE teacher, the sweet moms and kids in our class included me in the appreciation given for this week.  I love my job and that is enough, but it is nice to be thanked too.  Fun stuff!

So this week has been Teacher appreciation week. I'm not the teacher, but our kids have such nice moms that I get the cutest handmade cards and other fun stuff. They asked to know what school supply I wanted. I need magic sponges! They are a great clean up item. So today a little girl brought me some (with my favorite candy bar, etc to boot)! I opened it in front of the class so they could all see what she brought. When I showed them the magic sponges and said how happy i was to get them one girl called out the Mr. Clean was "in his underwear!" We talked about how he gets things so clean that he could wear his white CLOTHES and not get dirty! I love the things these kids say! After a hard day of trying to get the job done sometimes these little add ins can bring a smile to your tired, sagging face. (One of them made the word sag today in a game we played and didn't know what it meant. I told them it was kind of like how old people's faces look when they get wrinkled. The same girl told me quietly that my face was just about to sag!) They crack me up with their honest, forthcoming words!

More school fun.  We brought fruit roll-ups for our last day of OEK and took their picture.  And this is one of my favorite bulletin boards we do each year.

Grand Edventure Xmas Date - Tavin and Kaebri

It was so fun to spend the evening with these two wonderful people!  They are both smart, good looking, nice, fun, etc.!  And it was time for us to give them their Christmas edventure date with us.  David Archuleta was awesome!  What a beautiful voice and such a very nice person as well.  It was a fun evening with good folks, great music, good treats and perfect weather!  So glad we live close enough to spend a little time with these grand kids.  They have very busy lives and we do too, so it is a treat when we can find a time to hang out.  

Pine Valley picnic with Grandma Kurtz and more

Grandma Kurtz (Anna Lou) has been so involved with the Utah Jazz basketball play offs that she hasn't wanted to come to dinner on Sundays.  We try to have one get together with her each week, so we went up to Pine Valley during a time when they weren't playing for a really nice picnic and walk.  Being in the mountains with the trees, plants, clean air and water is just plain good for the soul...and sharing it with those you love makes it even better!  

When it's finally spring enough to get to the mountains...almost...we start by heading to Pine Valley for walks and picnics.  It's gets us through until we can head to the hills for sure!  If you look close you can see the firelight across the lake in one picture.  The camp hosts were there getting things ready to open up and the smoke smelled delicious!

Evening waterfalls...I know I feel better just looking at them, listening to them and breathing that almost Spring cool, clean air!

Wire Pass, Buckskin Gulch adventure with Supe and Beacher

Supe and Beacher invited Paul, Bean and I to join them on a hike a couple of Saturday's ago.  It turned out to be a really good time for that particular hike.  We started at Wire Pass and went on to Buckskin Gulch.  Paul, Bean and I stayed with them through about 4 miles of it.  They continued on and did the full 21 miles ending up coming out through Paria Canyon through the last section.  Paul, Bean and I turned back and then visited Glen Canyon Dam for a bit and then picked Supe and Beacher up at the White House trail head where they exited.  It was such an adventure through the amazing, carved walls and some water in these slot canyons.  It is supposed to be the longest slot canyon in the US (disputed by some).  The sandy parts were packed because of some recent rain.  That also made for some water for us to wade through in narrow spots, but it didn't get past our waists and was still pretty fresh and non stinky.  It was just the right weather and we also got to get out of St. George for a crazy Ironman day.  All in all it was GREAT!  So glad they invited us!

When the water started we wondered if it would go on.  Then as we kept going, we wondered how deep the water would get.  We knew we had to decided whether to keep going or to stop and turn back, so we decided if it got above out waists we would turn back...luckily it didn't.  It was so amazing we did not want to turn back!  We just got really wet, thick muddy water in out boots and up to our thighs.  It was worth every thick, slippery, cold muddy puddle we waded through!