Tag Archives: Utah

The Utah I Never Knew

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Until a few months ago I never knew any of Utah beyond the Salt Lake City airport. Last fall, during the “baby steps” of my journey, I squeaked through the very northeast corner of the state. After leaving Colorado on my way to the northwest I camped for the night at Red Fleet Reservoir before heading north through Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks. It was interesting to see the landscape of Colorado evolve into the red hills of Utah, and from there into the rolling hills and ranch land of southern Wyoming. Several months laster I entered Utah from Colorado once again, this time in the winter, and in my tow vehicle. I’d been in Colorado for a month gathering images for my next book, The Mountain Dogs of Colorado, and left my RV behind in Sedona while I maneuvered the mountain passes in my trusty AWD Honda. This time my route took me from Steamboat Springs, through Grand Junction to Moab. I was completely entranced by the beauty I found between Moab and Sedonathe following day. For a third time I entered Utah from Colorado, this time with the Salt Lake City area on my radar. An old high school friend, Mark Athay, had offered a comfortable place for me and the girls to hang out while my RV was in for some service work. While Mark was at work I took advantage of his high speed wifi connection to get caught up on some of my own work, and sadly much of the day was spent spinning my wheels with tech support issues that I could not tackle from the road. I was thrilled to have an excuse to step away from technology when Mark took the following day off to go hiking at one of his favorite spots, Ruth Lake. We set out early for the Ruth Lake trailhead in the Wasatch National Forest in order to beat the heat. The moment we parked the car a lone moose trotted across the road an into the woods on the other side.

Female moose

Surprisingly it was the only one we saw all day. Possibly just as well though, because I let Jazzy and Sadie hike off-leash. They love to hike unencumbered so they can sniff around and blaze the trail ahead of me. We seldom have the opportunity to hike this way so it’s a real treat when we can. Ruth Lake was the first of many on this trail.

Ruth Lake

There were a few so small they didn’t even have names. In my mind there’s now a Jazzy Lake, a Sadie Lake and a Mark Lake along that hike (unfortunately we ran out of unnamed lakes before we got to my name :-) )

With Mark, Jazzy and Sadie at Trout Lake

Jewel Lake

Jazzy chillin’… literally!

Back side of Jewel Lake

:-)

Jazzy is typically camera shy. When I call her name she’ll stop and look at me for a moment, but if she sees the camera aimed at her she will turn away and avoid looking at me, no matter what I do to entice her. It was a rare treat to have her stand still and “smile” for me a few times!

Jazzy posing?

Return to Ruth Lake

After the hike we drove back down Hwy 150, stopping a few times along the Provo River at some spectacular places I’d spotted on our way out in the morning.

Provo River

Provo Falls

Since I was leaving the following day, and knowing my love of nature and wildlife, Mark decided to show me one more treasure in the Salt Lake City area that evening. Antelope Island sits in the southeast corner of The Great Salt Lake and is home to numerous free ranging Bison, Big Horn Sheep, Pronghorn Antelope and Mule Deer. There are also an abundance of hawks and owls. The owl population was so dense that we had to break several times to avoid hitting them as they soared across the road at dusk. We arrived on the island not too long before sunset, and were limited to view the wildlife from the road, but Mark stopped several times so I could hop and out grab some images. I found the island intriguing, in a dry and arid sort of way. I kept having to remind myself that I was in the middle of Utah, and not on some coastal island somewhere.

View of Salt Lake from Antelope Island

Sunset at White Rock Bay,  Antelope Island

Lone Bison “hiding” in the grasses above White Rock Bay

Pronghorn Antelope

Bison herd

Sunset over The Great Salt Lake

The following morning I headed on up the highway to Bear Lake which is shared by Utah and Idaho. I’d reserved a spot at the Utah State Park on the south end of the lake. The campground was packed with families and filled with the sound of happy children. This, naturally, made me feel a bit melancholy for Elissa’s younger years and made me wish for some time with her.

View of Bear Lake looking north from Utah.

Once again I found myself frustrated with the fact that the dogs were not allowed on the beach. (Not even on leash!) I understand the need for this rule, as some dog owners do not take responsibility for cleaning up after their pets, and I’d say those few are a very low percentage. It would be nice if they could at least designate a pet friendly area and mark it as such so people know what they MAY be walking into. From what I’ve observed during my ten months of travel, is that most dog owners are grateful to find designated places where their pets can run, and most are very diligent about cleaning up after them, especially when bags and trash cans are provided. I would love to have taken Jazzy and Sadie with me when I put my kayak in the water at sunrise the following morning. From a smooth and quiet beach like this it would have been fun to see how one or both of them would do on the kayak. Instead, I left them snoozing in the RV, while I cruised with my camera, and photographed my first American White Pelican.

American White Pelican taking flight

And a few more shore birds… The following morning the girls and I crossed the border into Idaho. Stay tuned for the abundant beauty I found there! A very special thank you to my friend Mark, for his generous hospitality and for showing me some more of the diverse beauty of Utah. Bryce and Zion are still on my radar, so I know I’ll be back!

Two Days of Rock and Roll (day 1)

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Serious play on words, but I’ve never seen so many big ROCKS before in my life, and I saw them all as I was ROLLING down the road. Well, I hiked to some, but I had to roll to get there. Thus the title of this post.

I saw so many amazing sights in two days time that I’ve struggled with getting this post live. After tackling the huge task of whittling down my choices I realized that there are still more images than I can possibly share in one post so you’re getting it in two.

I’m back tracking a little because some of these rocks were between Fort Collins and Estes Park. While driving through the mountains in Colorado I couldn’t help but look up and wonder what kept the rocks on some of the sheer canyon walls from coming down. Some perched so precariously it was a miracle they were still in place. There’s no shortage of rocks (big and small) laying along the road either, which got me thinking… Surely falling rocks cause fatalities every year. I’ll be darned if I can find a statistic on it though.

Red Rocks, a concert venue just outside of Denver… speaking of Rock and Roll! What an amazing setting catching your favorite bands live, and I understand the acoustics are fantastic as well. Jazzy and Sadie drew the attention of these lovely young ladies. They were so sweet and youthful and full of life. As we parted I couldn’t help but hope that each one of them finds a way to hold onto that perspective and those smiles throughout their lives.

 

 

This waterwheel, which sits right along Interstate 70 in Idaho Springs, caught my eye both times I made the eastbound trip between Breckenridge and the Denver area. With no chance to stop during those trips I vowed to find it on my next trip through. I got a kick out of part of the inscription on the plaque displayed at the site; “Charlie Tayler used this waterwheel to power a stamp mill at his gold mining operations on the Ute Creek. Tayler, who attributed his good health to the fact that he never kissed women or took baths…”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And a quick stop in Silverthorne to get a shot of yet another interesting piece of “Ice Art”. Folks were paying to walk around inside of this thing!

Next stop was Steamboat Springs for the final few days of my winter shoot in Colorado. While there I met some wonderful people and their well loved dogs, and some other fun animals as well.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I think the girls enjoyed the snow every bit as much as they did the beach. I hope they got their fill because we won’t be seeing any more of it for awhile. (Back to the beach before long though!!)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

From Steamboat I set out for Moab with the intention of seeing a bit of eastern Utah on my way back to Sedona. Once again I was amazed at the ever changing landscape as I drove. As I entered Utah I opted to ignore the GPS guided route I ventured off on a road far less traveled. Hwy 128 led me past the tiny little empty town of Cisco, along the Colorado River, and past Dewey Bridge. This old bridge, built in 1916, was designed to support the weight of 6 horses, 3 wagons and 6000 pounds of freight. The plaque said it was restored in 2000. Out of curiosity I did a search to find out what happened to it since. According to a report a seven year old boy playing with matches in a nearby campground started a fire that moved up the riverbank and destroyed the bridge’s wooden deck and rails.

Judging by the complete lack of traffic on this highway I’m guessing this gorgeous drive is not seen by many.

Speaking of falling rocks! Clearly they fall!!!

And just to give you some perspective on size...

My first attempt at stitching in PhotoShop... four images combined.

At the end of the highway I turned right and made a bee-line into Arches National Park just in time to catch some of the unbelievable scenery before dark. Not nearly long enough, but  magical just the same.

Although I understand the hike is quite amazing, this is as close as I had time to get to Delicate Arch

And last but surely not least... Landscape Arch

And if you think that’s some amazing scenery, wait until you see day two! Coming soon… I promise!! Right now my focus is on getting back to Dallas for my daughter’s spring break. Nearly 700 miles to cover in two days. Doesn’t seem like much, but I assure you it’s a long haul in a big RV! I should make Amarillo before dark. Amazing to think it’s been almost six months to the day since I set out on this journey. It makes me smile to remember I took off down the highway singing “Amarillo By Morning”. And it puts an even bigger smile on my face to know I’m going to see my girl by tomorrow night!