Park Discovery

When we went to Cedar City last week, Jenny and I decided to take the kids to a park I had read about but had never visited, up on the hill above Walmart and across the street from the Aquatic Center.

It turned out to be a really cool looking park, and we hurried to enter.

No one else was there on that January day at lunchtime.

I can imagine that it gets quite busy during the warmer months of the year!

All the kids liked the series of steps and buildings to run through.

Ava balanced well on a mushroom--at least that's what I think it was!

Although Desert Girl was first to go over the suspension bridge, the bigger kids couldn't wait.

And away they go!

I kept trying to get photos of the kids, but they were moving fast! Desert Boy and Ava paused for just a moment.

Then Desert Girl had to take a turn!

They even had a bouldering wall. It's extra challenging in cowboy boots!

The park opened in 2001, so we were surprised we hadn't ever heard of it before. Now that we know it exists, we will certainly be back! For directions on how to get there, click here.

Cloudy Skies

 We went to town today for a fun day of dentist visits (yes, my kids consider those to be fun, to my great delight!), thrift store shopping (and dropping off more than we bought--hurray!), eating yummy food (do you know how overwhelming food choices are?), playing in an awesome playground (photos coming soon), swimming (yes, how could we resist the swimming pool), grocery shopping (every trip to town involves this), and best of all, getting to enjoy it with friends!

On the way back, the light was fantastic between the third and fourth mountain passes. (Oh, did I forget to mention that this little jaunt to town was over 130 miles one-way crossing four mountain passes? Oops. Little details.) Jenny and I couldn't resist taking some photos.

 Is this called virga when it could be snow? Actually, with the 40+ degree temperatures, it probably really was virga (rain that doesn't reach the ground). We are crossing our fingers for snow this Saturday. It would be too weird not to get any snow during the entire month of January.

 The colors in the clouds changed so quickly, and the view was spectacular in every direction. It was hard to know which way to turn. And the only other beings out there with us were some cows. I'm not sure if they enjoyed the light show as much as we did. I'm kind of guessing not. But you never know. Cows can be a little funny.

The desert is one beautiful place!

I should probably mention that it was in this same valley that a UFO was purported to land. Or rather, crash. From aerial photos you can make out the shape of the spacecraft in a playa. The report says that the aliens assimilated into the local population. So maybe the cows weren't the only ones with us enjoying the sunset. Or perhaps since we're the local population, maybe that explains some of the strange behaviors seen around the nearby towns and communities from time to time...

Random November Photos

 We saw about 70 pronghorn in one of our fields a couple weeks ago. I made my husband stop so I could take a photo of some of them. As you can see by the snow on the mountains, it's getting colder, so lots of the animals are moving to lower elevations. The pronghorn are found pretty low year-round, but it's not often that we see this many of them together.

 I liked the juxtaposition of this well against the dry desert behind it. In many places in the Great Basin desert the only water is underground, so if you want to grow something (or get water for your house), you need a well.

 It was a cloudy day, leading to the bleakness of the landscape as it prepares for a long winter ahead. This photo makes me want to curl up in bed with a good book and a pot of homemade soup on the stove, sending its delicious aroma throughout the house.

It was cold enough for icicles to form on this water trough. The cattle will use it for part of the winter as they're out grazing on the winter range. A small pipeline brings the water from a creek higher up on the mountain to this lower location.

And last but not least. The freezing temperatures at night are creating some wonderful ice formations along the creeks. 

Footprints

We are getting a little tired of all the snow, but to look on the bright side of things, Desert Girl is still fascinated with it.

Here she is doing a little happy dance out in the snow.

Then she started realizing that she was making footprints and decided it would be great fun to walk all over some fresh snow and make lots of new footprints.

It's wonderful when the entertainment is cheap!

Oops! Sometimes walking in the snow can be difficult.

Desert Girl is no quitter. She got up and started right back to work making more footprints. She's gotten a lot better on uneven ground, but still has that cute little drunken sailor walk.

More snow coming tonight...

Snow Survey

The last week of February I got to help with a snow survey. I had been intimidated by the distance and elevation gain previous years, but this time around I worked up the nerve to accompany them to the first of the three snow courses. Snow is measured to help determine water supply forecasts by the Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS), and this particular snow course has a record since 1942.

Along with two guys from NRCS, we had five other participants, including John, above. He started out ahead of us to break trail. The snow was great, several inches of relatively new snow.

Heading up the road. It was a gorgeous day.

Greg took a turn breaking trail.

I had a chance, too. The snow was really blowing off the mountain, but where we were, it was nice.

Jacob caught up with us. (Sorry for the sideways photo.)

Did I already say it was a gorgeous day?

We got to the first snow course and found snow quite a ways up the snow course marker.

Jeff was another volunteer, and he and John started off measuring distances so we could get our five measurements in the right locations. Those five measurements are then averaged.

Curt was in charge, and he recorded the data.

The long tube is the snow core, and after it's been filled with snow, it gets weighed to determine the snow water equivalent, or amount of water in the snow.

Greg takes a turn doing a reading.

Then it's my turn. It was harder than it looked to get the pole in straight up and down.

I had another obligation that afternoon so couldn't continue and headed back down. The three that went all the way got back to the trucks around 8 pm, using their headlights to ski down the trail. Maybe I'll have the guts to try that for the next snow survey at the end of March!

It won't be much longer after that when the marmots come out. (The sign says Marmot Crossing, SLOW).

Wild Goose Runs in Blizzards?

Photo by Michael Menefee, all rights reserved. http://www.flickr.com/photos/fortphoto/360161897/

Just in case I need to clarify: "runs" as in ambulating quickly; trots; lopes, strides; etc. (I have learned that my brothers sometimes think in a different way.)

Anyway, we're getting ready to head to town tomorrow for the Snow Goose Festival. They have a variety of events, including a 5k/10k run, which attracted my attention. We're having a cadre of runners from around here go, and I've been training for a couple months and can't wait to see if I can make my goal. The only problem is that we're under a winter storm warning, and the brunt of the storm is supposed to hit tonight and tomorrow.

I called the race director to see if the event was still on, and he said it would be held no matter what. They had snow plows to clear the course and heaters in the pavilion. Plus, he told me in a very excited voice, at 11 a.m. there's the Snow Goose Plunge into the reservoir. Eighteen people are signed up to do it--they get a t-shirt in return. Hmmm...wonder if any of our group might be taking the plunge, too?

So we'll get ready to drive in snow, run in snow, and watch people plunging their bodies through the snow into some really cold water. Who says winter is boring?

I promise, I'll post the outcome of all this in a somewhat timely manner (within a few days, anyway). That's if I don't end up frozen solid first.

The Hay Barn - Down, Down, on the Ground

Okay, the title of this post is a play on my last post's title (Helium - Up, Up, and Away). Sorry, I just couldn't resist the urge to be utterly cute and witty. Unfortunately, the subject of this post isn't so cute. In fact, today I have a sad tale to tell. It actually relates to my blog title, Desert Survivor.

In order to help protect hay from the drying sun, soaking thunderstorms, and blowing snow, the ranch constructed some hay barns a couple years ago. The hay barns had a relatively simple structure: thick posts stuck into the ground, curved wooden trusses that stretched from beam to beam, and a metal sheet roof to cover everything. Sure, the elements could still get in the sides of the barn, but the tightly packed hay was much better protected. Only the outside perimeter would get bleached by the sun, while the interior hay would stay nice and green, like it's supposed to.

Except that we had a huge snow storm right before Christmas. Then the temperatures dropped. And the wind blew. And the trusses broke under the weight of all that snow, collapsing the roof onto the hay. My husband and several other ranch employees spent days shoveling the snow off the roof so that it wouldn't melt onto all the hay below. Then the dang desert wind got under that sheet metal and blew the roof off.

Fortunately most of the hay has been sold or moved, so it's not as bad as it could be.

It's a sorry sight, though, to see the roofless hay barn. The good news: It's slated to be rebuilt.

We're not the only ones who've had problems with all the snow and wind this winter. The neighboring dairy also had a barn collapse, unfortunately with some cows underneath.

Although we don't get much moisture in the desert, when it does come, it often brings problems with it. Nevertheless, we still want it! That little bit of precipitation is what makes it possible to survive out in the desert.

A Ride on the Dinosaur

A couple weekends ago we had a chance to ride on this old dinosaur, a 1970s vintage snow mobile. Very few people around here have snow mobiles, as it's only every 5 or 10 years that we have sufficient valley snow to actually use one. This one had previously been used on National Forest and National Park land. A neighbor bought it, and when she heard about how hard it was to go check on cattle in places, she offered to lend it to the ranch. A mechanic was able to get it going again, and before it was taken out in the boonies, it was decided that it needed some test rides close to home. That's where we came in!

As you can see, it was really white! This snow fell before Christmas, but because of the cold temperatures has been hanging around ever since.

My husband and I got turns on the snow mobile, and it was super fun! So fun that maybe in a few years we'll try a snow mobile trip up on the high plateau in Utah. There are lots of snow mobile trails and rentals over there. And more snow than we get!

Even Desert Boy got a ride. I don't think he stopped grinning the entire time. It was a fun opportunity. Thanks, Dave!

Fire and Ice 2011 - Day Two

Well, Day Two of Fire and Ice turned out a little differently than we had expected. After having such a frigid New Year's, the weather got warm and it rained for two hours Sunday morning. The rain, coupled with the not-so-thick ice, meant that the venue was flooded. The ice sculpting contest was canceled!! We were still allowed to walk around the lake, so we got out the sled and put the kiddies in it.



The pathways out on the lake were quite slushy, and in places the water was two or three inches deep. The sled was great for transporting the kids. Emma eventually learned that although it was really fun to drag her hand in the water, it was cold.

Here was the truck sinking in the lake. It was originally meant to be sinking (I think), so it looked just right!

We decided to head down to the other end of the lake, where ice fishing was the big activity.

We wanted to figure out a way to harness Henry to the sled, he had plenty of energy!

We saw a fish being caught, and several anglers had caught multiple fish.

Then we headed back through the slush to the ice sculptures. The clouds were coming in, making us glad we had our rain jackets.

We approached our ice sculpture, wondering how it would look. The donuts were still in good form, although all the snow around them had melted.

It was hard to walk away from the ice sculptures, I really wanted to do more! We had packed up the van for a full day on the ice, with a table, chairs, cook stove, and plenty of food.

Farewell, Snowbucks. Perhaps we will recreate you some other year.

Across from us was the Shoe Tree, which was recently cut down along Highway 50. They had a gravestone that said R.I.P. I think this entry would have done really well, probably in the top 3. Next year the topic will be old, and it won't be such a good entry.

This is Tea for Two. It was getting fairly flooded. That packed snow weighs a lot!

This was the path to the dump truck and mine. These guys had worked four days on it and invited us to come take a look.

I think they would have gotten in the top 3, too. At least we got a cool photo by part of their sculpture.

Where would our Snowbucks sculpture have placed? Definitely in the top 20.

The concessions tent was open, so we went over to have some hot chocolate and lunch. They had purchased food for lots more people, so we felt bad for them. We just needed one more day of cooler weather.

Oh well, there was nothing to do but try to find the silver lining. We didn't want to wait for the fireworks that night, so we went home, and I caught up on some much-needed sleep. And I ate some donuts. We had bought a dozen donuts to help inspire our team during the carving, and now someone had to eat them. Desert Girl was very eager to help, and even managed to snatch one on the way home without us knowing. She might be small, but she knows what food is!