Climbing High in the Wasatch Mountains

If you just keep walking uphill long enough, you will get to some really steep climbing and then if you keep going, you get to the top. This photo is on a ridge high above Pittsburg Lake and very close to the Alta Ski Resort. But this is on the American Fork Canyon side of the mountains. All of this area was extensively mined and evidence of the old mines can be seen if you know what to look for and where to look.

Pittsburg Lake, Utah

Considering the time and effort it takes to reach this isolated lake in the Wasatch Mountains of Utah, you would think you were far from civilization, but just over that ridge are two of the largest and most developed ski resorts in the state: Alta and Snowbird. You can see the top of the Snowbird lift if you look carefully and were looking in a different direction than that shown in the photo. Knowing that we were just a jump over from the ski resorts did not make this location any less remote. I am also careful to avoid showing all the people who were in the area at the same time. Oh well, so much for photos showing any reality.

A Corner of Goblin Valley

In digging back through my huge archive of photos, I decided it had been a while since I re-visited Southern Utah. Well, technically, almost all of Utah is southern to me here in Provo, but this is part that is considered to be the canyonlands of the Colorado Plateau. This is Goblin Valley. When I first visited this beautiful place, it was at the end of a very long and dusty dirt road. There were no signs and no development of any kind. Eventually, the entire area became "popular" and became part of a Utah State Park. Now, the road is paved. There is a large campground with bathrooms and showers and there are lots and lots of tourists.

The Henry Mountains of Utah

The Henry Mountains are one of the most remote and inaccessible locations in the continental United States. Here is a description of the mountains from the Wikipedia article entitled appropriately, "Henry Mountains."

The Henry Mountains are located in the southeastern portion of the U.S. state of Utah and run in a generally north-south direction, extending over a distance of about 30 miles (50 km). They were named by Almon Thompson in honour of Joseph Henry, the first secretary of the Smithsonian Institution. The nearest town of any size is Hanksville, Utah, which is north of the mountains. The Henry Mountains were the last mountain range to be added to the map of the 48 contiguous U.S. states (1872), and before their official naming by Powell, were sometimes referred to as the "Unknown Mountains." In Navajo, the range is still referred to as Dził Bizhiʼ Ádiní ("mountain whose name is missing").

The highest peaks in the range are over 11,000 feet. This is a view looking west from Highway 95 near Hite, Utah.

A Cloudy and Snowy Day on the Mountains

After three days or so of rain in the Valley, the sky cleared and we could see the snow line on the mountains that surround us here in Utah Valley. This was the first real snow of the season, discounting a brief skiff of snow on the mountain tops with the last rain storm. The weather is supposed to warm up and I suppose that most of this new snow will melt rather quickly. But we are now in the season when the storms start coming down from the northwest and the snowpack in the mountains will not melt again until next Spring. We started dragging out our warm clothes and getting ready for more snow. It is an interesting experience to once again, in my old age, return to seasons after living for so many years in the low deserts of Arizona.

Country Road

The day after this picture was taken the storm moved in and it rained in the valley and snowed in the mountains. This road and all the mountains are now covered with a couple of inches of new snow. The road turns into a muddy mess with rain or snow and we were fortunate to make our trip to the mountains before the storm came in. The leaves will have all fallen by the time the sun comes out and the road is passable unless it snows again and then it will be closed for the Winter.

Signs of Fall

We saw this lovely arrangement of straw and pumpkins in front of a house down the road from ours. We live in a condo and I am quite sure they wouldn't like straw or pumpkins in the front yard. But we can enjoy what others put out for the world to see.

Brigham Young University from the Mountain

When you climb or drive up into the mountains on the east side of the Utah Valley, you can get aerial views of the Valley floor. This image came from a lookout point just north of the Brigham Young University campus. At the lower left is the Provo, Utah Temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and the first large buildings just to the right of the Temple are the new addition to the Missionary Training Center. You can also see the newly constructed Heritage Hall dorms and many of the other buildings on campus. If you need a map to identify the buildings, here is a link.
http://map.byu.edu/

Pumpkin Patch

Around this time of year, pumpkins begin to appear in the food stores and other places for Halloween. I love to eat squash and pumpkins are just another variety of squash, actually Cucurbita pepo. There are few other varieties but the orange ones shown above are the ones most commonly associated with the holiday. From my perspective, using pumpkins for decoration and then throwing them away is a loss of perfectly good food. I would rather eat them than carve them.

Turkey on the Run

It is almost time for the turkeys of the world to start worrying. But in this case, this elusive turkey was already in the run. When we enjoy a nice turkey sandwich or a big turkey dinner around Thanksgiving time, we probably are not thinking about these wild turkeys. We found this one in a flock of about a dozen wandering around a dirt road high in the Wasatch Mountains.

Fall Leaves in the Wasatch

I choose a little softer focus to highlight the colors and the haze of the beautiful Fall weather. The weather didn't last and it was the next day when the storm arrived and likely covered much of this with snow. We realized when we got to this point on the Squaw Peak Road that we were only about three miles or so from our home in Provo although the drive was much further up the canyon.

The Coming Storms of Winter

Slowly the warmth of Summer departs and the air has a decided chill. The first snow appears on the tops of the mountains and even though there are still a few days of warm weather, it is inevitable that the temperatures will fall and Winter will come. The snow on Mount Timpanogos did not last very many days, but a new storm is covering the mountain and the snow level is dropping to 7000 feet so there is likely a new blanket of snow that will wait until Spring to melt.

Fall View of Utah Valley

High up on the Squaw Peak Road, there is a lookout point with a nice parking lot. The fall leaves were at their height and we had a wonderful drive up to Rock Canyon Campground and back, stopping along the way to take some photos. You might want to click on this image to see it at a larger size.

Strait of Juan de Fuca

In the distance is Washington State's Olympic Peninsula. Judging by the size and quantity of driftwood on the shore of Vancouver Island, I suspect that this placid scene with almost no waves can change into huge waves from the storms of winter. A ferry boat ride across the Strait takes about an hour and a half.

Fall Grass

As the seasons change, we begin to see some changes besides the colorful leaves on the trees. The summer greens turn to golden brown and we know that cold weather and perhaps some snow can't be far behind. The contrast between a green, recently mowed lawn and the wild grasses in untended fields are an analogy for our world. Somehow, even though green lawns are attractive, I like the fields better.

Navajo Rug

During almost my whole life, we have always had Navajo rugs. When I was young, they were so common we used them as actual rugs on the floor. Today, they are considered museum pieces and high quality rugs sell for thousands of dollars. The design of the rugs and baskets speak directly to my soul. Some kinds of designs seem foreign to me, like those from the Far East, but I still have rugs and jewelry. I commonly wear a Navajo silver and turquoise belt buckle.

Yosemite Valley

Scenes such as this idealize the beauty and solitude of places such as Yosemite National Park. The reality is far different. In 2015, there were 4,150, 217 visitors to the Park. Driving and parking in the Yosemite Valley are difficult to say the least and impossible most of the time during the summer months. I have experienced the same congestion in a number of other parks including Zion National Park, Arches National Park and Bryce National Park. Some of the National Parks, like Zion, have excluded vehicular traffic and vastly improved the parking and traffic issues, but even in Zion, when you have to wait in line to walk across the Virgin River, you lose all sense of beauty of the location. The worst congestion I have experienced recently in National Parks has been in Glacier National Park and Zion National Park. I have stayed away from some of my favorite areas, such as Arches National Park, simply because of the traffic congestion and parking problems.

Sierra Vista

I have been going back through old photos I took a few years ago and selecting a few of them for posts. This is one of the Sierra Nevada in California. The sky was so blue that it was almost black, so the photo looks a little dark but that is how it looks when you are standing there. Also, with distance, the oxygen in the air turns all mountain scenes blue. Just like the sky is blue. So if you see a bright, mountain scene, the photo has been substantially altered.

Rocks and Water

The contrast between the texture of the rocks and the water in this image is dramatic. If you were standing in front of this waterfall, you would likely be unable to see the texture of the water. Rather than a rough surface, the water would appear to be a continuous stream. Which is the reality? Is this the reality of the waterfall or is the roaring, rushing water its reality? By capturing this image, I have chosen to carve out one moment of time and make it more important than the stream.

San Xavier del Bac

One of the most outstanding examples of Spanish colonial architecture in the United States is the Mission of San Xavier del Bac outside of Tucson, Arizona. The mission was built between 1783 and 1797 and was originally established in 1692 by Father Eusebio Francisco Kino. See Wikipedia: Mission San Xavier del Bac. Restoration of the structure was completed in the late 1900s. It is a lovely place visit and the Mission is still used weekly for church services.

Flowers from a Prickly Pear

I do miss the cactus in the desert. Living in Utah, cactus plants are relatively rare. I always enjoyed the Spring season from March through June when the cactus were blooming the low desert around Mesa, Arizona. The trade off is the enjoyment of many lovely annuals here in Utah. But, in my opinion, none of them come close to the waxy beauty of the cactus flowers.

Standing Next to the Falls

The thought that came to me about going over Niagara Falls in a barrel was that you would not necessarily land in the water, you might just fall into these rocky rapids and it the initial fall did not kill you, these rocks probably would. It is estimated that over 5,000 people have perished going over Niagara Falls. See Wikipedia: List of objects that have gone over Niagara Falls. The first recorded person to survive going over the falls was Annie Edson Taylor, who went over the falls in a barrel in 1901. There are dozens of websites that discuss various aspects of going over the falls.

Back to Niagara Falls

We made two trips to Niagara Falls during our visit to the northeastern part of the United States. Some of the photos I took were of the same subjects, but the sky and the falls were different. This photo is iconic and with the number of people at the Falls on any given day, there are probably millions of these photos out there. So why do I want to take an iconic photo? Well, I can always hope that my own photo is quite a bit different than the snapshots taken by the average tourist. Look at a few dozen or so photos of the Falls and see what you think.

A Golden Barrel

The an Echinocactus grusonii or Golden Barrel Cactus. I love the patterns and shapes of cactus and I miss having one of these lovely cactus in our front yard. This particular one happened to be in the Buffalo, New York Botanical Garden.

The Martin Harris Farm

Martin Harris was instrumental in the publication of the Book of Mormon. His farm house, made of lake-stone, is located just outside of Palmyra, New York. The house is occupied and not open to tours but is surrounded by lovely, landscaped gardens and, at the time of this image, a large cornfield. For more information about Martin Harris see the Brigham Young University, Harold B. Lee Library article on Martin Harris.

The Rock Cairn

When we are out hiking on unfamiliar trails, especially in the mountains or on the Colorado Plateau, we watch for piles of rocks, called cairns, that indicate a trail. There is also a pastime that involves trying to make piles of rocks and balance them. This image is likely the later since there were no trails on this beach. In some National Parks, I have seen signs telling tourists not to disturb the cairns because they are historic trail markers. I don't think this pile qualifies.

From Below the Covered Bridge

This is another photo of the same covered bridge in New England. The first shot did not show the dramatic location of the bridge so I walked down a path to the creek below the level of the bridge to take more photos.

A Covered Bridge

Most of the images of covered bridges are nostalgic, sort-of Currier and Ives, type of representations. But in reality, covered bridges were and are built to solve a problem with heavy snowfall and freezing temperatures. Because bridges are over water, the moisture from the river or stream tends to build up on the bridges as ice. The covered bridges were built to prevent the accumulation of ice and snow on the colder surface of the bridges. The reason for this this that there is no subsurface under the bridge and so it is cooling down from both the top and bottom. If you drive around where there are not covered bridges you will commonly see signs that say watch for ice on bridge.

Waiting for the Wind

If dandelions were larger, they would be among the most cultivated flowers in the world. But as they are considered a weed, they are marginalized and eradicated. They are among my most favorite flowers and I am always happy to see them with their bright yellow faces. Once they turn to seed, they also make a feathery, beautiful array of parachute seeds. There are really a lot of different varieties of what we collectively call dandelions, but it doesn't really matter, they are all classified as noxious weeds. I guess I can claim that some of my best friends are noxious weeds.

Pipes and Monuments

The landscape in Southern Utah can be surprising. One of the most surprising areas is the Kodachrome Basin State Park. The origin of the unusual pipe formations is debated but the sandstone monuments are a common sight on the Colorado Plateau. Most of the area is covered with the juniper-grassland vegetation that looks like a solid dark green carpet in the distance. The ground is sandy under the thin veneer of vegetation. The road in the image is the entrance road into the Kodachrome Basin State Park.

A Desert Flower Arrangement

You have to look closely to see the flower, but I find that nature has a way of arranging itself in artful ways. Some people have a talent of making flower or plant arrangements that are beautiful. That is not one of my talents. But I do recognize beauty when I find it and I try to record what I see with my camera. This image is a study both of color and texture.

It's a crab

If you spend enough time looking, you will likely see some of the details. Now that I look at this photo, I am not sure that the crab was alive or dead. I do remember chasing one around in the tide pools of Acadia National Park, but this guy looks a little to used up to be alive. On the other hand, how did he get onto the rock?

The Summit of Mount Washington

When you are walking or climbing to the top of a high mountain, you are usually watching your feet. As you climb it is very common that the summit can only be seen once you are actually on top or very close. On many mountains, the actual highest point is not overly obvious. I can think of several mountains where you have to wander around a bit and find the highest pile of rocks before you feel like you have actually reached the top. Mount Washington is no exception, but here, at least, there was a sign pointing out the top. In all fairness, I should point out that we drove our car to within a few dozen yards of the top of the mountain in this case.

High Mountain Tundra

High on the slopes of Mount Washington in New Hampshire, above the tree line, the vegetation changes to reflect the altitude and climate. The alpine tundra system, as it is called, consists primarily of sedge, rush and heath meadows and felsenmeer barrens. The treeline in the White Mountains is between 4,200 and 4,900 feet. I can compare that to the tree line I can see out my window on Mount Timpanogos from Utah Valley that is at about 10,600 feet. In driving up Mount Washington, I was impressed by the rapid change from thick forests to alpine tundra. These low plants are the "forest" of the high mountains.

Sandstone Wilderness

There are some people that equate a lack of vegetation with waste land. From my standpoint, none of the earth is wasted. I love the barren desert landscape as much or more than the parts that are heavily covered with vegetation. The jungle has its attractions as does the arboreal forest. But it seems like the desert has more of an attraction to me than the forest.