How big was that mountain?

We left at 6 AM Saturday morning to climb the Wellsville Mountains. First we watched the sunrise from the Mendon Trail Head parking lot.

We reached the saddle in just under 2 hours. Then we decided to hike along the ridge to the Wellsville Cone (Peak.)

Along the way we could see Cache Valley, the Bear River Valley, the Great Salt Lake and distant mountain ranges in all four cardinal directions. We saw four or five hawks that were migrating south because today was the start of Raptor Migration Season.

This is the inside of the Wellsville Cone. There is a huge rock slide that you can't see. There are also lots of coral fossils around the cone.

We watched this interesting jet trail shadow move across Box Elder County. The dark-light in the sky is rather curious.

We finally reached the peak part of the cone after crossing what Jonathan called an "exposed" section of trail and I call a hundreds of feet drop off with only 9 inches of trail. Both definitions are correct. We got to hike back the way we came and the wind cooled us off nicely. We had a perfectly wonderful hike and next time we won't wear shorts, but pants. Jonathan is my favorite hiking buddy!!!

Wonderful weekend on the Wasach Front

On Saturday Jonathan and I car-pooled down to Layton. He got to help his brother remove poison oak, cut down trees, put in sprinklers, and move heavy rocks in his sloped ravine-looking yard. I would have loved to help, but Mandy and I had a reunion to attend in Draper for James Henry Martineau (2nd great-grandpa.) It was a fine reunion, staged at a stake center with a park next to it. I picked up several copies of the J.H. journal that was unveiled at the reunion. I helped transcribe the first ten to twenty pages of the journal so I feel pretty connected to it. It's a huge hard-bound book, about the size of a college chemistry book. At the reunion, we also learned about our Huguenot ancestors in France. That was the best part of all.
After lunch we drove up to the Draper Temple that Mandy's company is building. It was lovely and we made fun of the expensive, yet architecturally poor houses in the area. We stopped at IKEA and Mandy helped me pick out some furniture that would match my couches. I dropped her off at her house and then picked up Jonathan from Brian and Carol's. We drove back home and I got ready for my YW lesson.

Logan letters to the editor provide entertainment

We all really know that Big Foot's name is Harry and that he lived briefly with the Hendersons in the suburbs of Seattle. Some folks in Hyrum are still confused. Click here to read an actual letter to the editor in the Herald Journal concerning the origin of Big Foot.

A Relaxing Vacation

This was Island Park Reservoir on Saturday evening.

Adventure with the Texans

It was all fun and games until someone failed to tell Grandma Carolyn that we were playing in the river up Logan Canyon and not sending the Texans up her way. John, Meli, Julia, Jonathan, and I had a nice lunch at the Blue Bird. Those who could adjourned to my house and then drove up to Spring Hollow Campground to stretch our legs. John stuck his whole head in the freezing spring water. He instantly became Julia's Pop-sicle. The Texans left for Grandma's in time that I will hopefully not be excluded from the family reunion next week.

New outdoors pet!

My new pet bat's name is Sparky. He's a little camera shy.

This is last night's sunset. It was the prelude to an evening thunder storm and a lovely walk along the first dam canal with JDP.

I've decided that ...

Jack the Rabbit needs his very own blog entry. This picture shows Jack resting comfortably after eating his new owners' very young vegetable garden including some very important tomato plants. You might be wondering what I have to do with Jack. Mostly, I just observe him through the neighbors' fence and say things like "ah, how cute." Jack's mysterious past, in conjunction with some recent criminal mischief, has left his care takers in a awkward position. Should they be happy when he attempts to escape, or should they protect him with the assumption that he most likely had a difficult life on the streets (of Smithfield) and now deserves to live out his days in peace? If only rabbits could talk, Jack would undoubtebly share his story.