Tent Caterpillars

Tent caterpillars are moderately sized caterpillars, or moth larvae, belonging to the genus Malacosoma in the family Lasiocampidae. Twenty-six species have been described, six of which occur in North America and the rest in Eurasia. Wikipedia: Tent caterpillar. I have been fascinated with these web nests since childhood. This particular web is in the Wasatch Mountains of Utah. I found this nest and others in the surrounding area had already been abandoned because it is late in the season.

A Visit to the Devil's Kitchen

Earlier this year, I was able to drive part of the way around the Nebo Loop Road and make a visit to the Devil's Kitchen overlook. This area of red eroded rocks looks similar to Bryce Canyon National Park on a very small scale. In fact, this photo shows almost the entire area. The overlook is about 100 yards from the highway on a paved path. It was a nice cool day in the mountains with some lovely clouds.

The Mount Nebo Ridge

Mount Nebo is really a long ridge running roughly north and south along the Wasatch Front. The two summits are really almost indistinguishable from the remaining portions of the ridge.This photo was taken from around the 9000-foot level so the elevation difference between where I am standing and the top of the mountain is not that great. Unfortunately, to climb the mountain you have to go down a few thousand feet before you can start up the trail. The trail is roughly half the length of the trail up Mount Timpanogos. On Mount Nebo, the elevation gain is about 4160 feet and the trail is about 9 miles. The Mount Timpanogos Trails are about 15 to 17 miles and have an elevation gain of 4668 feet. Notwithstanding the shorter distance, the Mount Nebo trail is considered more strenuous.

Mount Nebo

Mount Nebo is both the southernmost and highest mountain in the Wasatch Range of Utah. The mountain has two summits. The North Summit is 11,933 feet in the southern Summit is 11,882 feet. This technically makes the mountain both the highest and the second highest mountain in the Wasatch Range. The mountain is not nearly as accessible as the more popular Mount Timpanogos located adjacent to Utah Valley.

Utah Valley from the Nebo Loop

From this perspective, Utah Valley appears to be mostly agricultural. You get a different perspective when driving on the freeway. The entire population of the Valley is crowded up against the bottoms of the Wasatch Mountains. The haze makes the lake look small and far away, however it dominates the valley.

A Capitol Window

While we were traveling through Montana and other states this summer, the air was constantly filled with smoke. In this image, you can see the smoke like a white curtain in the distance through the window. The smoke came from dozens of huge fires burning around the area where we were traveling and as far away as Canada. The temperatures during our trip were in the low to mid-90s and we even had particles of ash falling on us while outside camping. Back to the photo, I do like the design here.

Woodworker's Paradise

Most woodworking today is done with power tools. But I am fascinated with the old hand tools. It takes a trained eye to name all of the tools in this photo. I know the use of most of them. In some other alternative world, I might have been a woodworker. Now, all the work I do is on computers, although I do have a fair collection of hand tools and a few powered ones also.