The Cattle Drive

OK, on September 24th Heidi and I played cowboy. We rounded up about 1000 head of stears (that a casterated bull, in case you did not know) and helped drive them 5 miles to their eventual impending doom. A beautiful day, crisp mountain air, the sweet smell of bull s*it and I kept hearing the tape loop music of "the Big Country".

Heidi looked like she belonged there (and probably does), my horse had a mind to try to kill me, which he nearly did, our friend Dave Moore loved the action and helped take these pictures. He looked like he'd been doing it his whole life, which being from Wall Street just isn't the case.

Anyway, it is nice to get down and dirty and do something tangible rather that play with numbers behind a desk all day.

Red Canyon Fall Trip

So another successful bike trip to Red Canyon just outside of Panguitch, Utah. I call it successful when one comes back in one piece. After doing an "endo" on my last trip to Moab, I am all too aware of the perils of mountain biking.

This trip was with my Sister and husband Jan and Jim, and my niece and husband, Lisa and JJ with their two very cute daughters. Also Jim's grandson CJ was with us. Heidi was not with me as she was enjoying a "Painting with the Masters" trip to Colorado with some friends. Again we camped au natural in a BLM campsite away from the established campgrounds. A beautiful view of the canyons and surrounding valley where Panguitch is located. I had my VW camper which worked out great except I found my auxiliary battery was dead and needs replacing. The first night we enjoyed a great foil dinner, cooked in the coals. A hardy breakfast the next morning (made by moi) was french toast, bacon and eggs...a good hardy meal for what lay ahead.

What lay ahead was Thunder Mounting which lay at the beginning of Hwy 12 as you head toward Bryce Canyon. It is a little jewel which contains within its bowels and miniature Bryce Canyon. Since one cannot ride a bike in Bryce Canyon (a far less destructive mode of transport) this is a great proxy for Bryce. We parted at the end of the trail and took a paved bike path up Hwy 12 about 4 miles. This then cuts off on dirt road and leads to the beginning of the trail up the mountain. It winds through Ponderosa forests, rocks and boulders and a narrow trail...sometime with precarious drop offs. It tops out with a fabulous view of the whole region where Bryce Canyon is found and then drops into a bowl similar to Bryce. On one ridge and fell off on both side making it all that more important to not do too much sight seeing along the way. As we went into the bowl, the trail was quite hairy and technical and one had to really be on their toes. The final 1/4 of the trail was a rolling race to the bottom that one could really open up on. The ride took about 2 1/2 hours with spectacular views and a great trail.

That afternoon we just chilled at camp recovering. Mtn biking is very anaerobic and really can take it out of you so the break was very welcome. Dinner that night was courtesy of Lisa which was marinated pork loin, rosemary potato, pears and asparagus. This was topped off with a homemade peach cobbler. You could not have found better in a fine restaurant.

The next morning we headed back to Red Canyon and the Cassidy trail. This is a big loop that goes over to Loosee Canyon with plateaus and lookouts. At my ripe old age I huffed and puffed but was not too far behind the pace setter, JJ. You can tell what 14 years less in age can do. Anyway the views were again spectacular and again the trail had some great cruisers and enough technical spots to keep you awake and watchful. The ride was about 2 hours and a great way to cap off the trip.

Overall I like this area as much is not more than Moab. It has higher elevation, thus cooler temps, trees (did you know that Ponderosa Pines, if the bark is pealed back, smell like vanilla) and wonderful hoodoos and rock canyons. Unfortunately the season is shorter due to elevation, but a great destination.

Our Lake Powell Adventures

OK, my last adventure was my 100 miler bike ride for MS. As a result of all this stress I came down with an outbreak of shingles which afflicted my left chest rotating around to the back spine. At least Heidi attributes it to my ride.

So on July 22nd through the 28th we headed to Lake Powell with some friends, the Kings, and another couple Cara and Jeff Edwards. The Kings also had their two college age kids and their cousin. We started the trip auspiciously with a boat trailer blowout right before the last Provo exit (lucky us) which delayed us an hour. After a six hour ride finally arrived at Bullfrog Basin at 4:00 p.m. and about 105 degrees. Heidi managed to acquire a migraine headache. After a fireman drill of offloading the cars and on loading the house boat (we also had a nice ski boat and two jet skies and two kayaks).

Our intent was to motor up to Good Hope Bay which is way up stream, but due to late arrival we pulled in for the night for a temporary one nighter. Mother was getting over her migraine and I was coming down with some stomach flu. That night I slept poorly and woke up feeling absolutely punk. We headed out for our final camp at Good Hope and after two hours were set at our location for the week. What a beautiful setting (see pic). A huge Bay almost to ourselves, calm water and beautiful backdrop. That night was our assignment for dinner. We did a dutch oven lasagna which and a cherry cobbler which was a great hit (unfortunately I hardly ate a bite due to my stomach).

That week the temperatures were all in excess of 100 degrees and the house boat had no AC so we spent alot of time jumping in for a cool down. This was fine except that some fish in the lake likes to nibble at human flesh! I was still recovering from my biking accident (elbow) and the fish seemed to like sluffing off scabs.

Anyway with two jet skis and boat and lots of food and drink, we were all set. After the first full day I felt alot better. The heat was oppressive and the evenings were very warm. Of course the stars were spectacular. One night a storm came in and we were forces to sleep "in". It was soooo stifling and hot some were jumping into the lake in the middle of the night for relief.

On Sunday, we had to take one of our party back to Bullfrog as he needed to be back to work for Monday. We all (ten at that point) took the boat. While there a storm started to brew (see pic) and the ride back up promised to be a rough one. As we head up up channel the water became very rough so we found a side canyon to take refuge in. I think it was Spring Creek. As we went further we looked for a shady overhang as the sun was still blazing where we were. Eventually we found this fantastic amplitheater. Some of us elected to take the opportunity to bathe (we had biodegradable soap). While floating on my back, staring at the roof of this desert cathedral we put "Miserie" by the Thomas Tallis Singers on. This soaring choral music was fantastic as we rolled and reverberated off the rock and the natural amplitheater was a natural amplifier.

After a couple of hours we headed back up channel to our camp. It had pored on the camp and chairs were strewn around and wet. But by the time we arrived the sun was out and the lake soon turned to glass. That night we had alot of fun doing strobe photos of summersalts off the diving board.

On one of our side canyon trips we encountered this shallow cave. I soon dubbed it Gatorade Grotto for the lime green water. The reflection of sun and water and the dark shaddow cave were really surreal. Unfortunately some fish took exception to our presence and soon nipped us out of there.

It was fun to be with friends who were kind and generous to invite us. The dinners were almost gormet. So after a wonderful week we headed home...for a wonderful respite from the heat.

Everything you want to know about MS..or the 100 miler

OK, so on June 27th I did my first 100 miler on my bike. It was part of the Multiple Sclerosis Foundation fundraiser, the Utah Chapter, which is held in Logan, Utah and Cache Valley each year. I joined "Team 24" which was sponsored through my fitness club, 24 Hour Fitness. I had signed up in March and really didn't understand it to be a big fund raising event, which meant I needed to hit people I knew up for a donation.

Then I Mike and Lindsey advise that they are coming to Utah and happen to be here during that weekend, so I kind decided to drop the idea and not really train for it and all (though I continued to do a weekly spin class). I had paid the fee and bought the Jersey and when I went to pick it up the Team captain suggested I still do it, but instead of two days at 75 miles each, one day at 100. It was then that I committed myself mentally to do it.

I then find out it is $250 minimum money raised to enter and so I quickly hit up business associated and friends. There are many kind and generous people and I was able to raise $635 which also qualified my for a very cool bike jersey. I raised this in less that a week and money still is coming in as recently as yesterday. It really is a good cause, so that makes it allot easier.

Since the ride started at 7:00 am, it necessitated a stay over. The whole thing takes over the Cache Valley Fairgrounds and our group had a nice spot where maybe 50 people (another group as well) were camping. Nice mellow party atmosphere interrupted by one of the many rain events we have been experiencing in Utah this year. But after the thunder burst, the evening turned out perfect. I stayed in the VW Van as well as cooked my dinner.

Next morning the sponsors had a breakfast, if you call a muffin breakfast. We then had group pictures and were ready to go. I estimated there were about 3000 cyclists. The people on our Team were of various levels and abilities, so I just rode at my own pace, which was not too bad. I seemed to pass the same people, and then they would pass me. I must say that Cache Valley, one of my ancestral homes, is a beautiful place. It was great for biking being relatively flat with minor changes in elevation. This made things allot easier. The ride went northwest past some rivers and bird refuges, then headed east, then north up into Idaho, then west then northwest with a loop at the far north end of the course then head south, east, south, west, then southeast to the start. Many rest stops along the way with oranges, apples, bananas, energy bars, water, Gatorade, sunblock, etc. A nice lunch in Lewiston.

Along the way they had signs about various fact of MS. It was very informative. By the time you were through, you had a good basic knowledge of MS and who it affects.

It was at mile 60 where I took a rest that I assessed that my legs had good staying power, but how on earth I was going to sit on that seat for the next 40 miles was a true mystery. Needless to say, I'm glad I had all the children I intended, cause after that ride was over, I wasn't sure I could have any more.

After getting back to the fair ground/camp I was pleased at how well my legs felts...even if there were other parts without any feeling at all. After about an hour rest I headed back to SLC. As I was leaving I looked at my trip odometer which I had set when I left Salt Lake. It read 90 miles. It was then I realized that I had just pedaled a distance further than from Foothill Village in SLC to Logan. It really put it in perspective. Anyway it is nice to have a new things to say I have done and I'm grateful I have the health and ability to accomplish it.

My Moab Bike Trip

As you all saw from an earlier post, I started to mountain bike, my first trip being down by Bryce Canyon. So I told Jim, my sister Jan's husband, that if he is interested in doing any more I'm game. So he suggests that we go as soon as he's out of teaching school for the year. The only problem being that that weekend was when Heidi was coming home from the Philippines. Fortunately Shari was visiting making it a bit easier to bug out on Mom for three days. (disclaimer, these are not my photos, they are from the Internet).

So Jim and I head down on the 14th of June. I have my VW camper and bikes on a tail rack. Jim has our itinerary mapped out and we head straight through Moab to the Slickrock trail getting there about 1:00 p.m. (Oh, we decided to go to Moab since it had been quite cold and rainy in Utah and we figured, rightly, that it would be cooler and dry).

So we arrive at the slickrock trail and I'll have to confess I was initially terrified by it. Not knowing the technique, my new bike or my capabilities it was a bit intimidating. But after getting into it and the hang of things, I did just fine and we had a great 2 1/2 hour ride through gorgeous rolling slickrock (see pic). I unfortunately forgot my bike gloves and paid a price with a bad blister.

After a nice Mexican dinner in town we headed to our camp site which was primitive camping on the Dominion trail north of Moab and directly west of Arches. We had it all to ourselves. The next morning we started from camp on the dominion trail. It was very technical and a little hairy has we came off the ridge, and below us arose this fantastic white slickrock stretching to the horizon. It looked like some kind of glacier. When we got off the ridge we headed up this "glacier" of slickrock, which was quite different than the slickrock trail (it been very smooth). This slickrock was river bed or sea bed rock and had allot of undulations, large indentation, etc which make it interesting. We rode and rode up this gradual climb and then had to park the bikes as we hit the Park boundary, and walked a while enjoying the scenery. But as they say, what goes up, must come down and the ride down was a blast. My rear shock proved its worth (it is adjustable and I put it on what I refer to as Cadillac mode). It really made the whole ride a super fun experience. At the bottom was a wonderful pool which had tad poles and other creatures and allot of birds. Due to the rains they had received the whole desert was quite beautiful, we even say an evening Lilly. A lot of cactus in bloom.

We continued on the ride which was a big loop and about 200 yard from camp Jim suggested we take a little side trail. Well, about 5 minutes into it I was initiated into Mounting biking with an official endo...which is to say my front wheel went off a ledge and my rear wheel decided to go over my head. If landed on my right elbow, then arm, then right knee/leg. Lying there amidst the initial pain I slowing assessed the damage and determined I was quite lucky to have nothing broken. I washed off the blood which was now forming with my water bottle and we continued on the ride for another 15 minutes or so. As I was quite close to camp I used the solar shower to wash the wounds thoroughly and then did the iodine treatment and rested.

After resting and a great lunch, we put the top down and headed to another trail called the Monitor and Merrimack (after the two Civil War ironclad ships). It was a great mix of road, slickrock and varying conditions. Unfortunately we had a good 1/2 to 3/4 miles of sand road which we ended up walking, but the scenery and ride were really great. Needless to say, by the time we were through I was bushed. After two Gatorade I finally felt human again.

That evening we had a nice steak dinner with tortellini and Alfredo sauce. Jim and I had several games of backgammon on top of the rocks above camp with a 180 degree view of superb country. The next morning we broke camp and headed up to the Klondike bluffs trail. Again, this was a bit different than the others with a gradual climb over streams and slickrock (undulating) which had really good dinosaur tracks. This trail terminates at Arches and we walked the rest of the way to an overlook near Tower Arch (Shari and John, we hiked there and were below this outlook where we found that helmet). After a good rest we headed back down and again, nothing like going down on slickrock with great shocks. It is fun, but you need to really keep awake. This wrapped up our rides and we headed back to SLC.

I'll have to confess, mountain biking is extremely stressful on the body. Very anaerobic and the 2 solid days of riding really was felt the rest of the week. I felt like I had hit a wall or something. But it was very memorable and I hope to do it again soon.

Mom and Dad's New Experience

OK, so Heidi came up with this big surprise for our anniversary (which was delayed celebrating as she was traveling from Manila to home). It was an indoor skydiving place in Odgen, UT called I-Fly. I have to tell you it was fun, it was different, and I'm glad we did it. A great diversion from the same-0-same-0. They gave us a video of it which I will attempt to figure out how to get on this, so we shall see.



They first gave us an orientation session, describing how we should stretch out and hold our arms and legs. They also have hand signals (you can't hear much when wind is going by your ears at 120mph, plus they give you ear plugs for which I was very grateful) so that they can help correct your omissions.



After suiting up in jump suits (no pun intended, in fact I guess that is where they got the name from), helmet, goggles, shoes and ear plugs we headed into a room which has a very serious sealing mechanism for the door. The chamber actually pulls air from the ceiling recirculating it from below. There is a controller who can adjust air speed etc for each individual person and there is also a coach who is in the chamber with you to help position you right and correct your minor mistakes.



Our session was two sessions at two minutes each for a total of four. Sounds pretty short but when you are doing it two minutes is about all the muscles can take to maintain the correct form and position. Hopefully I can get some of this video so you can see Heidi and myself. Great fun, great experience.

Ok, so I have tried and tried to extract pics from our video (which is way too big to post) and have been unsuccessful, so here is a link http://iflyutah.com/index.php?page=660

My Recent Adventures--Red Rock Canyon

Well, mother had left for the Philippines and memorial weekend was upon us. I had been invited to join Aunt Jan and Jim camping and biking down at Red Rock Canyon which is five miles east of Panguitch, UT and about 15 miles due west of Bryce Canyon NP.

Jan and Jim are great people to go camping with. They have been everywhere and know all the best places, especially places where it seems no one else is around. Can you imagine memorial weekend and not seeing another soul? Well it can be done if you do "primitive" camping on BLM land...which is another way of saying that you and the bears will have somthing in common. A small price to pay for solitude and privacy. So we go to this place which is about five miles east of Panguitch in the cedars at the base of these red cliffs with a view of the whole valley that Panguitch sits in (see pic). Really nice.


Along with Jan and Jim was Moshe and four friends from his college days including Rob (his school bud), Rob's wife Sophia, Tim and Sophia's father. Sophia and Arie are Russian and all from New York. Needless to say, I am sure that camping was a new experience for all but Arie (the father). To add to the challenge they were vegetarians, which if well planned can work out ok but looks like alot more work than just throwing a chicken into the dutch oven.


Anyway, this place is a biking paradise. There are two canyons within biking of our campground called Loosee and Casto Canyon. Jim and I went on a ride up Casto Canyon. This is what I would term my maiden voyage on my bike (I bought a used bike in March). It initially was two track meaning ATV's had access, but we never ran into anyone else up the canyon (on memorial weekend no less). This was like a mini Bryce Canyon in RED, mixed with a stream bed and trees. I didn't have a camera (mom had it) and so missed some truely fantastic scenery, but I have borrowed a photo or two from Sophie and Rob. Anyway the canyon goes on up to a mesa with a great roller coaster single track trail and view. The trail goes over to Loosee Canyon, but due to a blowout on Jim' s bike due to bad tread and an impending storm (the weather was lousy all weekend), we headed down the way we came. Needless to say, I was hooked on mountain biking.














On Saturday it was threatening weather so we decided biking was out and went to Bryce Canyon. It is truely challenging to hike Bryce in the rain. Hiking poles for both hands are a really good idea as the mud is super slippery and the trail quite narrow. But the rain brings out the colors so vividly.




So, there are many wonderful rides down by Bryce. It is totally different from Moab, but with alot of great trails and scenery (and cooler, our camp was about 7000 ft). Anyway, I look forward to doing it again. I just got back from Moab on the 16th of June and will write about it soon.

Finally Finished!!! The Bamboo Saga

In my earlier post I explained my bamboo project and included a few pics. So after that post my neighbor John was quite complimentary of how it turned out. He wanted to know if I was going to extend it to the end of the yard (West of the house). After some thinking about it (cost is no small aspect) and also looking at the fence from down on my river deck, I decided to do it.

So here is the result. I also stained the bamboo with a protectant and light cedar stain which gives it a gloss as well as excellent protection again water and sun. You might miss it in the pictures but I included a header on the gate...tried to give it a oriental feel. Anyway, alot of work but I'm happy with it.

Winter Hikes

Before winter fades too fast in our memories, I thought I'd share one of mine and Heidi's favorite hiking trails. We love to go up Millcreek Canyon, a mere 15 minutes from door to trail. We love a trail known as Desolation Trail (why the name elludes me). For those familiar with the Canyon, it is just east of Millcreek Inn and borders on the east edge of Tracy Wigwam BSA camp.

The trail is 2 miles, one way, to what is a view of the SLC valley. As the trail is on the north side of the mountain, it has plenty of snow, while the other side of the canyon may show little or no snow. The pics I have included are two different trips, one in a snow storm and deep trail snow and the other on a bright sunny day following snow earlier in the week.

The dogs love it and know when we are going. They run way up the trail and then run back to us only to repeat the same. Other people, usually with dogs, do the trail and we have to watch when we pass that no altercations occur. But our dogs are good natured and rarely have a problem.

When summer rolls around the trail is still great, although their are many great summer trails. Those are waiting for another post later this summer. In mean time hope you enjoy the pics.

Big Daddy D

The Garden Project

Ok, so each year I like to do one "garden" project to enhance the yard. Last year, in the midst of back surgery recover, I decided to install a fountain with the main feature being a Basalt column (a natural hexagonal column) which had a hole drilled up the middle so water could flow out. I'm not sure what I was thinking since the beast weighed approx 300lbs, but the results were nice and I'm still walking.

This year I'm not sure what inspired me, but I wanted a more "Japanese" feel to my yard. Having enjoyed our Christmas trip to the Philippines, and the Japanese village spa at the resort we stayed at, I guess it may have lay the groundwork for the idea of using bamboo. So I ordered one eight foot section of bamboo to test how it might look. I initially tried it along the back cement wall and it just didn't seem to do the trick. So I moved out front where I have a low slung (3 foot) fence more for aesthetics than function. I liked it so proceeded to order five more 3x8' sections.

I removed the original fence stave's. Then I put a 1x2" foot on the bottom cross bar with which to rest the bamboo, cut the bamboo sections to fit the fence frame and then put a retaining cross bar both top and bottom. The original fence and "framing" pieces were stained dark gray which helped to bring out the light colored bamboo. You'll need to be the judge of the results, but at least the neighbors seem to like it and have complimented the results.

My first blog entry

One of my brilliant kids suggested that I start a blog and write about myself. Convinced that I have absolutely nothing interesting to offer, I blew it off. Then they suggested it would be a nice way to keep family in the loop of what Heidi and I were doing such as the new fence I have constructed. So, this being a somewhat slow day (April 15th and the dozen or so tax returns and extension have been filed), I thought I'd see if it was a big deal to start.

I will have to get some photos and other things to make this perhaps a once a weeks affair and maybe it might encourage me to do something interesting for the sake of a more interesting blog.

So with snow flying outside, the river at home almost flooding I officially launch my "Getting Old in the West" blog. Hopefully you won't be too bored with it.
Love Big D