Utah Valley in the Snow

We had our first major snowstorm of this season on Thanksgiving, more than a foot in some places. I was out shoveling snow amazed at the beauty of the trees and the amount of snow on the driveway. Driving has been a challenge, but with an all-wheel-drive Subaru and off-road tires, we haven't had any trouble so far. However, whenever you drive in Utah Valley you need to be very aware of the other drivers. Red-light running is endemic and worse when there is snow.

Calle Hilanderas, Segovia, Spain

This narrow street in Spain is one of the best examples of the contrast between the old Spanish cities and those in the western part of the United States. This street likely goes back to Roman times and the paving stones may actually have been used up to a thousand years ago. Here where I live, they tear down old buildings (with a few exceptions) and repave roads regularly. There is a huge cultural gap between living in my condo and those who live on a street like this. But the difference is likely that I have spent years of my life living in places like this photo but it is unlikely that the people who live on this street have spent years of their lives living in condos in Utah.

Kokanee Salmon spawning

Every year, the Kokanee salmon run up the Strawberry River and other rivers in Utah to spawn. They are protected by law and if you catch a kokanee salmon anywhere in Utah — from Sept. 10 to Nov. 30, 2019 — you must release it. We travel to the U.S. Forest Service Visitor Center at the Strawberry Reservoir in September to see the salmon run. It is an amazing sight.

Juniper Swirl

Some juniper trees can live for over 3000 years. This one could be over 1000 years old. It is amazing how these plants and many others have adapted to the extreme temperatures and periods of drought in the desert Southwest. This is beautiful and fragrant wood. When I was young, we called these "cedar" trees.

The First Bridge, Rock Canyon, Utah

There are five numbered bridges over the Rock Canyon Creek if you don't count the one at the mouth of the canyon that crosses the creek to the Shoreline Trail. This photo is bridge #1. In the Summer, the water in the creek only runs down the canyon to about this location so crossing the creek without a bridge would not be much of a problem, but in the Spring, there can be a lot of water and it would be moderately dangerous to try a crossing. Some of the bridges are more elaborate. The bridges have become goals for hiking up the canyon. The complete hike to the Rock Canyon Campground is about 5.5 miles up and back from the mouth of the canyon. You gain about 1,700 feet in elevation if you go all the way to the campground. The trail is heavily used on weekends when the weather is good.

Willis Creek Slot Canyon, Utah

If we lived long enough, we would eventually visit every slot canyon in the Southwest. But, of course, that is virtually impossible because some of them are so inaccessible and unknown that we would never see them. But we have chalked up quite a few over the years. This is Willis Creek, one of the more accessible and easily located of the many slot canyons in Southern Utah. We had a lovely hike through the narrows section and the only difficulty was wet feet.

To the Point

Perhaps you know who designed this sculpture in Amsterdam near the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. We live in a city with very few statues or monuments. There are a few on the campus of Brigham Young University but elsewhere not so many. Amsterdam has hundreds of statues, monuments, and memorials. We saw hundreds of them. There seemed to be more than we saw in Washington, D.C.