Millard County Cosmic Ray Center

I've passed the Lon and Mary Watson Millard County Cosmic Ray Center in Delta, Utah many times, and finally I decided it was time to stop and take a look. It's open Monday through Friday from 10:30 am to 2:30 pm. The cosmic ray center has been there since 2006, but the visitor center portion opened in the fall of 2011.

Inside, visitors are greeted to a pleasant space with signs around the walls explaining why the University of Utah and about 30 other universities from China, Russia, Korea, Belgium, and the United States are studying cosmic rays.

I have a more detailed post about what they're studying, some fun photos, and my amazingly wonderful wit here. (Are you still reading this post? Why haven't you clicked on that link yet??)

Okay, to continue...(now that you surely have read my previous post)...


One wall is dedicated to the Topaz Internment Camp, where thousands of Japanese-Americans were locked up during World War II without ever being charged with anything. The camp was just a few miles outside of Delta, and you can learn a lot more about it here.

The Topaz Museum was just awarded a large grant to build a new museum, which will help better tell the story of what happened in one of the darker chapters of American history.

 So, if you're in Delta on a weekday in the middle of the day, stop by this small visitor center and learn a little more about the history, the science, and more about the area. You can also get your very own Telescope Array Project t-shirt (only $5 when I stopped in, what a deal!). Check out the Telescope Array's website for more details.

A Rocky Hike

 On the way back from my triathlon in Orem last weekend (it was great, I really felt good on the bike portion, which was a nice change), we stopped at a rocky outcropping. Where I grew up in the Midwest, we would call this a mountain, but out here in Basin and Range territory, we get a little picky about what we call mountains.

Desert Boy wanted to go for a hike, and I've always wanted to explore this rock. So we took the road less traveled, went through the gate, and drove up the two-track road. Then we piled out of the van and started up.

 The storm clouds added drama to the stark scenery. Beams of sunlight highlighted limestone cliffs pocked with holes. Could any of them be caves?

 I really loved the clouds. I figured it might start raining before too long, so we couldn't dawdle. My goal was to get to the top of the rock. But when we decided we couldn't get to the top with the kids safely, we went to plan B: walk around the rock outcropping.

 Desert Boy enjoyed the rock climbing challenges.

I enjoyed taking photos.

 We found that there were ledges most of the way around the rock outcropping, and that made for relatively easy hiking.

 Most of the ground looked brown, but I found a few bright colors from small desert wildflowers, like the purple Arabis above, blue flax, yellow bladderpod, and orange globemallow.

 The desert looked so big.

 We found a little alcove that was cool.

 Here's another view of that alcove. Maybe it isn't so little!


The way the rock has eroded away makes for some interesting shadows.

Sometime we'll go back with helmets, harnesses, and a rope and see if we can get to the top. It doesn't look that hard to go up, but I'd like Desert Boy and Desert Girl to have a belay for the way down.

Now every time we drive past this rock, I'll think of the great lighting we had during our hike around it and our little adventure.

Advance Copy

 I received a special package today, from Utah State University Press. I waited till my husband got home so he could join me in opening it (and take some photos for me!). This is something I've waited years and years to receive.

 The package was a little tricky to open! Fortunately my husband had his knife handy.

 It's a book! But not just any book...

 It's my book! Welcome Great Basin National Park: A Guide to the Park and Surrounding Area!

 This was the first time I've seen it all put together. I've reviewed and edited so many versions of the manuscript, but this is the first time to flip through the pages in book form (6" x 9"), feel the heft (it weighs over three pounds!), and see the entire layout. The color photos look awesome!

 I can't remember the exact number of photos, but it's over one hundred.

We still have to wait a few weeks for the rest of the copies to arrive. They're literally on a slow boat from China, then a fast train to Chicago (to the University of Chicago Press Distribution Center), and then on trucks to various places that order them. You can see more about the book at the Utah State University Press website, my author page, or by clicking on the link to the right.

I have to admit it all feels a little overwhelming, sort of like giving birth. Thank goodness giving birth doesn't take as long as publishing a book!

Sheep Shearing

 In 2009 I tried to go watch the sheep shearing, but got there just as they were packing up the last of the wool. (Click here to see that post and interesting comments.) This year I did a lot better. We got out to see some of the setup (seen in my last post), and we went back the next day to see the sheep shearers in action.

We got there in the late morning and found that hundreds of sheep had already been sheared.

 The wool sorter was busy taking wool from the shearing trailer and placing it in the appropriate bin.

We found Morgan, our wonderful hostess from the day before, and she led us into the sheep shearing trailer. Desert Boy was a little intimidated at first by all the noise, mostly from the generator and electric motors used to power the clippers.

 The sheep trailer is a bit cramped, with space for seven shearers to wrestle 200-pound animals. The first step is for the shearer to tumble a sheep from the little platform under the curtain and onto the floor.

 Then he starts shearing the belly.

 Next up are the rear legs. The wool is really thick, and it looks a little strange as the big, bulky animal is generally transformed into something much smaller and bonier.

 After the rear quarters are exposed, it's time to start near the ears. During the whole process, the sheep was surprisingly docile. I have a feeling that not all are quite that easy to work with. It must also take a lot of practice to get the sheep into just the right position to shear efficiently and quickly.

 Some of the shearers use harnesses to shear, as bending over all day is really hard on the back. They usually start at 7:30 am, work until about 10, take a 15-minute break and then work till noon. After an hour-long lunch, they work all afternoon with a 15-minute break about 3 and finish around 5:30 pm. That would be a lot of bending and wrestling sheep. With seven shearers, they can shear over 1,000 sheep in a day.

 The wool came really nicely off the back of the sheep. It made me remember a wonderful sheepskin we had at home when I was a kid.

 The shearer is almost done, and you can see the huge pile of wool on the floor. It seemed nearly as big as the sheep!

 Then the shearer opened a little door, directed the sheep in the right direction...

 ...and out went the sheep. The whole process took about three minutes.

Time to clean up! This was the last sheep for this shearer before lunch, so he cleaned his clippers, oiled them, and got tidied up before leaving his work area.

 This sheep shearing outfit is owned by Cliff Hoopes, seen above. He's from Wyoming and shears in several states.

 He stopped and talked to me before heading to lunch. He wanted to know if I was involved with the water effort, referring to the opposition of Southern Nevada pumping thousands of acre-feet of water from the desert in east-central Nevada over two hundred miles south to the Las Vegas area. I said yes. He said he wanted people to know that he was against that pumping. If the water tables drop and the sheep don't have all the food and water they do now, he'll be out of business out here. He currently shears about 45,000 sheep in the area, and he said he's just one of the shearing outfits.

 In addition to the shearers, he also employs folks to operate the wool press. This expensive machine compacts the wool.

 Wool from each bin is pressed.

 It's getting smaller.

Then the bag is closed and marked with a number, the brand (Okleberrys) and the quality of wool.

 Desert Girl had fallen asleep on the way out to the sheep shearers', but Desert Boy was eager to check everything out, and Morgan was so nice to show us around. While she answered Desert Boy's questions, I wandered around a bit, taking some photos.

 I talked to Edwin, who agreed to pose for a photo when he realized that he had taken video of me dancing at the Sheepherders' Party. It must have been a pretty funny video, because he kept laughing as he mentioned it!

 This was the lunch spot for this young man.

 On the way back to the van we passed the empty chute, where the sheep are painted with the brand.

 There was also a branding iron in the fire, but I didn't see any sheep branded. Anyone know which sheep get branded? (Please leave a comment if you do.)

The sheep look really strange after being sheared, in particularly they look so bony! You can find out a little more about shearing from this article in The Prairie Star, written this January about Cliff Hoopes' shearing operation.


Finally, I wanted to end with a photo that really shows what a fenceline can separate:

The unsheared sheep sure don't look too concerned about how they will soon look. With hot weather fast approaching, I bet they don't mind losing their heavy wool coats.

Getting Ready to Shear Sheep

 Yesterday afternoon the clouds were so pretty and I had sheep on my mind (perhaps due to seeing the sheep in the ranching exhibit a few days ago). I decided we would take a little trip to see if the sheep shearers were getting set up. We found plenty of sheep in the general area, along with their faithful guard dogs. We also found some activity at the sheep-shearing corral. So we got out and headed over to see what was happening.

 They were really nice and let Desert Boy get on the horse. Desert Boy couldn't remember riding a horse (although he did several times when he was younger). He loved it. I think part of the reason he was so excited to be on a horse is that his friend Ava is totally into horses and talks about them all the time.

 Desert Boy was all smiles for his little ride.

 Thanks so much for giving him a ride! That five minutes was so memorable to him.

 After Edwin teased us about if we had come to work or not, he got on his horse and headed out to gather some sheep.

 That gave us time to look around. They were unloading panels and setting them up to make a chute that came from the recently-arrived sheep shearing trailer.

 Here's the chute, where the sheep can be easily counted, vaccinated, and whatever else needs to be done.

 Here's a view of the purple sheep shearing trailer. It has seven doors with ramps leading down into stalls. This is where the sheep go after they're sheared.

 Morgan was a sweetheart and showed us around. This is the inside of the shearing trailer. Above each shearing station is a little motor that operates the cutting blade.

 When Desert Boy found some wool, he came up with all sorts of ideas of what to do with it. He is creative. Maybe not practical, but why not dream big? Or with some of his ideas, small? He was ready to make some doll clothes from this piece of wool. He figured pressing the wool flat would work well.

 Off in the distance we could see the sheep moving this way.

 A couple of boys were on foot helping Edwin move the sheep. Sheep are apparently much easier to herd than cattle.

 It was so much fun watching. But then we weren't just watching. Morgan said we could help move the sheep, so we tried to keep them going towards the corral.

 They plan to shear about 1000 sheep here, and these are the first couple hundred in the corral. They stay the night in the corral as it's easier to shear them when they don't have full bellies. I love the sheep dog's expression in the photo above.

 Some of the sheep were just as curious about us as we were about them.

 Edwin went out to get more sheep, and Desert Girl took the time to admire Morgan's colorful fingernails. She was really impressed with them.

 Desert Boy went and hung out with the older boys for awhile.

 Then he discovered some bones, and from then on, everyone was on bone-finding duty. This is not a task to be taken lightly. We went to the other side of the corral to pick up more bones than I really wanted to take home. But Desert Boy was already planning his next dinosaurs.

 Edwin and the sheep gradually approached, with the storm clouds looming in the background.

 I like how the leading edge of the sheep and the leading edge of the storm nearly intersect.

 We tried again to help get the sheep into the corral, but we weren't the best help around. Some of the sheep tried making a run for it.

 Edwin brought them back around.

 Morgan helped get them moving in the right direction.

They were added to the group, making the inner corral full of sheep. Hopefully the weather will cooperate (wet wool is difficult to shear), and it will be a good couple days of shearing!