Signs of Spring

 The snow is slowly melting...and then we get another snow flurry! Nevertheless, there are clear signs that spring is on its way.

Here are two of the first wildflowers of the year, both closely related. One is Nevada Parsley. I'm not sure on the other.

For St. Patrick's Day, Desert Girl made a Leprechaun spotter, inspired by her cousin George who we had chatted with on Facetime. I don't think she found any pots of gold. But she got a little more gold for a second front tooth that fell out. Now she's singing, "All I want for Easter are my two front teeth, my two front teeth, my two front teeth..."

Desert Boy discovered using a magnifying glass to burn letters and designs into wood. He spent a couple hours doing it and has some grander plans in mind.

 The spring storms are so pretty, with very interesting clouds.

The heifers and their calves are near our house. We've been trying to keep our new gate closed more (they jump right over the cattle guard), and that's been helping us keep them out of the yard.

 One morning we awoke to very low clouds. It was so cool, as this is a rarity here.

What signs of spring are you seeing?

Playing in Snow

 So back in February we got a good snowstorm. We headed up to Too Tall Tony hill to go sledding with friends.

It's a short but steep hill.

Then we decided to go up to Upper Lehman Campground to see what sledding would be like there. The huge ponderosa pines were so beautiful!

This sledding hill is down the road. It's slower going but they can have some long runs.

I wandered off for a walk and crossed the creek.

The campfire ring at the amphitheater looks cool. Literally!

And sometime I would just like to spend a day looking up at big, beautiful trees.

What the kids enjoyed most was digging. They found the pile left by the snow plow and started shoveling. Eventually they made a tunnel through it!

Even Jenny gave it a try!

We had so much fun that we went back with some other friends and dug some more.


I took a short walk up the Scenic Drive, where I could see the snow really blowing on the peak.

 It's mid-March now, and I have a feeling that winter will soon be coming to an end. I really love the snow, and we had so little of it this winter that I'm craving more. Right now we're back in a cool snap, which is good, as the apricot trees aren't blooming yet. I had a reminder on my Facebook feed that they were last year. And maybe we're going to get a little more snow over the next few days. I'm going to keep my fingers crossed!

Snowy Ski Trip to Eagle Point

I was keeping an eye on the forecast, and it was promising lots of snow Saturday night. Maybe we could finally go downhill skiing? We decided to go ahead and do it and drove to Beaver, Utah. We ate dinner at a restaurant and then checked into the hotel. The kids couldn't wait to go swimming!

The next morning we woke up to new snow. I did a happy little dance! We enjoyed breakfast at the hotel, the kids swam again, and then we headed up the canyon. We were expecting it to be plowed, but the plow turned around at the start of the canyon. We followed the tracks up the road, usually just one lane wide. But occasionally a vehicle came down, and then there was a bit of panic. Would one of us slide off the road? I was so happy for the guard rails, but we really couldn't believe that the road hadn't been plowed at nine in the morning. The snow got deeper and deeper, about a foot at the top.

We signed up Desert Boy for his first snowboard lesson and took off with Desert Girl. She remembered how to ski right away.


It was kind of blustery in the morning, with periods of wind and snow that made it very cold. But then the sun would peak out.

The powder was amazing. I didn't really have experience skiing in powder, nor did Desert Girl. We liked it a lot.


We ate lunch with friends at the lodge, then headed up the big mountain. Desert Girl and I did a couple blue (intermediate) runs, while my husband did a black diamond (advanced) run. I had a hard time keeping up with Desert Girl. I am a bit wimpy when it comes to skiing, I don't like to feel out of control! For our last run on that side, we all went down a black diamond run. We didn't tell Desert Girl until she had finished, and she was so happy.

We went over to pick up Desert Boy from his lesson. He had had a great day. It was just him and one other student with the instructor. He showed us some of his moves, and he was looking good. He's still on the green (easy) slopes, but is ready to go again and learn more.

Desert Girl kept on going, I couldn't believe her stamina. She fell asleep as soon as we started driving down the canyon. Which was now plowed, but in quite a few places the plow driver hadn't bothered to plow a full two lanes. Fortunately there wasn't much traffic.

We're watching the weather again, it looks like there is more snow in the forecast. Perhaps we'll get to go skiing another time this season? It is so nice to spend the day outside!

January Catch-Up

 I used to worry about January being a boring month. Hah! It flew right by. I managed a few blog posts, about the Birkebeiner ski race, Sheepherder's gathering, reseeding efforts, sledding and skiing, girls' basketball, the supermoon eclipse, a short cave trip, and a hike in the Burbank Hills. (That list actually makes me feel like I did okay with blogging!)

Here's all the rest. Above, Desert Girl was delighted to find a Snake Valley Rock. She rehid it for someone else to enjoy. Note the lack of snow! The Fire and Ice Celebration in Ely was cancelled.

The White Pine Public Museum held a very interesting presentation by Sam Baker about the discovery of the short-faced bear in a nearby cave. He gave an enthralling talk.

We held a trails work party one day, and the kids were big helpers. We basically move a lot of rocks on these days and get to enjoy some fresh air and socializing.

I got to go to a part of Lehman Cave I had never seen before, where I saw these really cool helictites.

Desert Girl lost a tooth!

One one early morning run I saw a Western Screech Owl. That was quite exciting.

I practiced with a drone that took photos. Here I am letting Desert Girl take the controls for a bit. I later crashed it. Oops.

We have monthly 4-H meetings with guest speakers/activity leaders. Here's Desert Boy concentrating on his cake decorating. I love how 4-H lets kids experience so many different disciplines. We've had a great volunteer turnout to help the kids.

Our monthly fire training included donning all our protective gear, including SCBA tanks, then blacking out our masks and following the hose out of the simulated house. That meant belly crawling under the fire truck. It was hard, but gave you a good sense of accomplishment.

Government shutdown. Blah! What a waste. Fortunately it was short.

Lint camp! Here are some of the tools we use to clean lint and dust off cave walls and speleothems.

And more beautiful mornings. I really enjoy my daily jog. On this particular day I stopped to get a photo of this delectable road art.

Now that it's almost March, I'll start working on blogging about February! 

Mid-Winter Hike in the Burbank Hills

 One Sunday afternoon in January we went out to the Burbank Hills for a family hike. We didn't really have any destination, we just thought we'd wander and look for fossils. We drove up a road, parked, and started hiking. The winter sunlight was gorgeous, backlighting the mat rock spirea (Petrophytum caespitosum). 

A bit further on we found a plant that made Desert Girl ponder. What was a yucca doing in the snow? This is Harriman's yucca (Yucca harrimanae), and it's scattered around the area. It can deal with some snow. We don't have any other species in the area; they prefer warmer climes.

Snow dusted the landscape as we looked towards Big Wash and the Snake Range.

We ended up setting a goal to get to the top of a ridge. It turned out we weren't on good rock for fossils (I hadn't taken time to consult the geology map), but it was still a fun hike.

The kids got to scramble a bit, which they always love.

Then it was down the other side. It was obvious which were the south-facing slopes by the lack of snow.

I wandered along the ridge, finding this huge opening. A new cave? Alas, no, there aren't any known caves in the Burbank Hills, but plenty of shallow shelters.

It wasn't a very long hike, but it does the soul good to go out and wander and explore. And it does the body good to go out and move and breathe fresh air. Here's to more outside time!

Supermoon Eclipse January 2018

 In the early morning of the supermoon eclipse of January 2018, I noticed that it was a lot darker outside than it had been previously in the night. I knew the eclipse was well underway. And I knew I could go out and photograph it. First I peeked out the window and saw that it was indeed progressing. Then I went back to bed, warm and snuggly. But I couldn't sleep. A cool phenomenon was happening, and I had prepped the camera the night before, so I should just go out and do my best to photograph
it.

So I shrugged on my coat and winter boots and got the above photo from the driveway. It was nice, but nothing that would be too memorable. Then I heard an owl hooting. Earlier, while I was snuggled in bed, I had dreamed of capturing an owl silhouette with the moon, but had dismissed it as a crazy idea. Maybe it wasn't so crazy. Except the owl was in a nearby tree that I couldn't line up with the moon. But then it flew to another tree. I walked over, and it looked like I could line it up! I walked back to get my gear and get set up. I found it was extremely hard to focus in the dark, plus the moon kept moving so I had to keep readjusting. Here's what I got:

The Great Horned Owl hooted to a companion as I worked to refine the shot. It was really tricky, and I didn't get the perfect shot, but I still thought it was pretty cool to get the owl and the supermoon eclipse. (shooting specs: Canon 7dMII with Canon 100-400 mm lens @ 400 mm, ISO 2000, f 5.6, 2 seconds)

The owl flew off and I knew that that opportunity was done. So I got another cool shot of the moon with some stars.

I was wondering if I could get the eclipsed moon setting over the top of the mountain. I got in the car and drove up a dirt road. I didn't get quite the alignment I wanted, but it was still nice to get snow-covered mountain and moon.

Next time I'll use a different aperture.

Whoops, the moon is falling onto the earth! (aka what happens when your tripod isn't quite steady)

Farewell, eclipsed supermoon. I hear another one is supposed to occur next January. Hopefully we'll have good skies again. And cooperative owls!