Exploring the Cedar Breaks-Brian Head Area

 Our Labor Day weekend plans changed at the last minute, and we headed up to Cedar Breaks to meet my brother Ed from Flagstaff. After setting up camp (in an afternoon storm), it was time to head up to Brian Head Peak. It's the easiest peak to summit, since you can drive up it! From the top we had nice views of the town of Brian Head and some of the 70,000-acre wildfire that burned to the northeast from it.

The kids can't resist making funny faces for photos. Fortunately they don't do it all the time.

A few of us biked down the road (the marmots and pika were hiding--be sure to look for them if you go up the peak). After a quick stop at Georg's for a bike fix (great customer service!), we went on to the Twisted Forest. We discovered this last year, and it is such a cool hike that I couldn't wait to go back. The highlight is old bristlecone trees growing on sandstone.

The hike is rather short, but mostly uphill.

Before too long we reached the ridge, with great views. Ed and I walked along it, checking out more trees.

This tree is sure hanging on the edge!

We didn't stay too long, as the storm clouds were building. But it was so neat to see this place again. I'd love to come back and spend more time, just relaxing with the trees and absorbing their energy. Bristlecones make me feel like I can do that!

After a bike ride, my husband headed home and the rest of us went back to Cedar Breaks and ate dinner. Then it was time for a short walk.

The moon was up when we went to bed, but I woke up early and decided to wander. The wildflowers were still great, so I was glad to get some of the northern Milky Way with them.

I wandered more until the sun came up. Next we did a little more exploring before starting a big adventure--a two-day, 10-mile backpacking trip. That's coming up next!

Birthday Trip to Big Warm Spring at Duckwater

 Ava wanted to go to Big Warm Spring at Duckwater for her tenth birthday, and we fortunately were able to join in. This amazing hot spring is located kind of in the middle of nowhere, but that's part of the charm. I have a previous post that gives a lot more info about the spring.

The kids took turns with the underwater camera.

It was great having goggles and masks to see more.

The water was gorgeous, as always.

And no chlorine, so it doesn't hurt your eyes!

The main spring head is a cave-like hole about ten feet deep.

The older kids started floating down the channel, and I headed after them to see what they were doing. I got distracted by the abundant aquatic vegetation.

And the Railroad Valley springfish.

I couldn't see the kids, but I could hear them...

...they were taking a break just around the corner.

Then they wanted to keep heading downstream.

I stopped to admire the goldenrod. You always know that summer is coming to an end when you see the goldenrod blooming.

We eventually got out and walked back to the main pool. Some of the silt that had been stirred up had settled, allowing for some fun underwater photos.

It was a terrific afternoon! Happy birthday, Ava!

2017 White Pine County Fair - Part 2: Other Exhibits

 Throughout the summer, the kids spent 20-30 minutes a day on their 4-H projects. They had signed up for 4-H the previous fall (it's free to sign up the first week of October). Desert Boy chose to show a lamb, shooting, legos, and computer coding. Desert Girl chose entomology and flowers as a Cloverbud (junior 4-H). In the end, Desert Boy dropped shooting as we couldn't get into Ely often enough for him to practice, and Desert Girl dropped flowers because although she planted quite a few flower seeds, very few came up, and we were supposed to have photos of her through all the stages of her project and we didn't quite manage that. Looking back on it, two projects and an animal is plenty for a beginning 4-H kid, and one project is plenty for a Cloverbud.

Desert Girl spent quite a bit of time chasing insects this summer. She mainly collected from inside our house and yard. She even managed to collect a couple wasps without getting stung, which I thought was pretty good. She did quite a bit of the identification, and was especially good at figuring out the butterflies. After she collected the insects, she put them in a kill jar, then pinned them, identified them, and wrote a label. We got a student insect collection kit from BioQuip that worked well for us.

When 4-H kids enter their projects in the fair, they are also interviewed. Desert Girl was worried about her interview, so I asked her some practice questions. She rocked her interview, telling the judge about each insect and how she had collected it. She also showed off her insect journal, which included a beautiful self-portrait of her collecting insects. :)

Cloverbuds get colorful ribbons, but the judge wrote that she would have awarded a blue to Desert Girl.

Desert Boy was delighted to get a grand champion for his lego model of the U.S.S. Andromeda.

He also got a Grand Champion for computers. He had signed up for computer coding, so we spent part of the summer working on Scratch, a programming website for kids. We made sure to follow the fairbook's requirements for the computer entry, which was quite different, but we managed to put in one page of his coding, so it all worked out.

Then it was time to check out the booths. The kids liked the interactive booths, like this one the USFS had.

The cotton candy eventually captured the kids' money.

The mining booth let the kids dig. They enjoyed that a lot.

The kids also participated in some games, like the water balloon toss.

I wanted the kids to get ideas for future projects, so we wandered around the exhibits building. Desert Girl loved this cake decorating with a beach and ocean theme.

Ava's favorite was this alligator cake.

They also enjoyed looking at the legos.

We also looked at the Open Class part of the exhibit building. For Open Class, you don't have to do an interview or keep a journal. You submit your entry Thursday night or Friday morning, it gets judged Friday afternoon, you find out how it did Saturday, and then Sunday afternoon take it home. So it's easy to do.

There weren't many baking entries in seniors (adults), juniors (pre-teens to teens), and children categories. Maybe next year we'll try something here.

Someone submitted homemade beer. Fun!

Hobbies gets lots of entries. I thought this collection of painted rocks was rather cute.

The girls liked this flip flop wreath.

Desert Girl had entered photos and was the only one in the Children category. She was delighted to get Grand and Reserve Grand Champion ribbons. Not only does she get ribbons, there are also premiums (money) for these ribbons. In a few months she'll get a check, and she'll get to spend the money how she likes. So that's another incentive to enter things in the fair.

Desert Girl also had five flower entries in the Children class, and that was enough to get her the big blue Sweepstakes ribbon. So she got to enter flowers after all (even through we only had yellow ones in the yard), and had fun with it.

One of our neighbors had some entries in the vegetable section that were quite impressive. It's fun to see what people can grow. Over on the right we admired drawings and paintings. So much talent!

The more entries, the more fun it is to see everything! Nearly every county has a fair, so I encourage you to submit something in your county fair next year. It's a lot of fun, can be an impetus to learn something new or improve on a hobby, and gives you appreciation of how much talent is out there.

First Time at 4-H Camp

 This is the first year for our kids in 4-H. My husband participated for many years as a kid, showing animals. I also participated, even though I was a townie and never showed animals. I have fun memories of doing tree leaf collections and baking cookies.

4-H is so much cooler now, with a whole variety of projects. Desert Boy is signed up for a lamb, shooting, legos, and computer coding. Desert Girl is a cloverbud (younger, non-competitive 4-H) and signed up for entomology and flowers.

Other possible 4-H categories include baking, sewing, crafts, model rocketry, outdoor cooking, photography, robotics, welding, woodworking, and more.

There are lots of 4-H meetings, but we've missed them all because we live so far away and currently don't have a local club. But we heard about 4-H camp, which was over the course of three days. We already had other activities planned for the first and third days, but we could attend Saturday, which was Family Day. We drove out to White River Valley and to the unmarked camp, which is on private property. 4-H camp has been held at the same spot for a long time, next to a hot spring. My husband used to go there. A metal building is a new addition and allows for a variety of activities out of the hot sun.

The first activity of the day: an obstacle course. First, get through the spider web.

After making a simulated campfire, run to the pond.

Two swimmers had to swim across and get some rubber duckies. Desert Boy volunteered to be one of the swimmers and did okay. He could really use a swim team, but we'll just have to improvise!

Then they tied themselves together and hobbled through the door. The team that Desert Boy and Desert Girl were on won, and later they got a free icee for their efforts.

Not long after it was lunch time, with some delicious hamburgers.

It was getting hot after lunch, so it was time for a water game. PVC pipes had holes in them, and the kids had to cover the holes with a goal of filling the pipe to the top.

Water kept spilling out of the pan, making it a cold task.

When that was done, it was time to swim! My husband and I looked at the hot spring, which was off limits. The water was quite hot.

First, a group photo.

Then into the pond! The water comes from the hot spring, so is quite pleasant.

The bathtub used to be a soaking place, but it needs a good cleaning.

We enjoyed our day a lot, and the kids begged to stay longer. We could have, as there was a fatal accident on the highway by a construction zone and we were delayed a couple hours. Drive safely!

The kids are already asking about 4-H camp for next summer, and it's tentatively planned for the second weekend in July. Hopefully they can make it and make even more great memories. And maybe next year, more local kids will participate, which will make it even more fun. :)