Another Canyon Adventure Weekend

The weather was beautiful and it is still hunting season in the mountains so we decided to visit some of our favorite terrain, the canyons of SE Utah! As usual, we pick a canyon, descend and then see what we see. There are so many archeology sites it is difficult to not see something.

An ancient high rise. You can see the roof supports of an ancient dwelling that was seriously difficult to enter... so we didn't even try.

A few wildflowers were still blooming in some of the more protected parts of the canyon.
Always evidence that we were not the first ones down this way.
There were lots of pools left over from the floods of last month. Here a reflection of the canyon wall reflected in the water.

Hiking in Arches NP after the rain

We spent the past weekend in Moab attending a writers/readers conference. Most of the activities we attended were in the evening giving us the whole day to explore. However, this was a rainy weekend in the desert so we stuck close to town and were rewarded with a desert river running high and red.

Lunch on the banks of the wash.

Crossing the river on a beaver dam. They were not at all pleased that the river rose a few feet the night before and even less so that we used their structure to help us cross the flooded area.
What a great spot. The river is usually a few feet across and perfectly clear.
..and from the other side

To Grandma's house and back

After reading Chris' airline itinerary on facebook, we thought we could share a typical drive to Grandma's house and back for a weekend. A total of 840 miles. Of course this is the scenic route. We could have done it in only 706 miles, but it was a pretty weekend. We had this idea as we were driving back, so all of the images are borrowed from the Internet and do not reflect current conditions.

A Waterfall in the Backyard

After a little bit of planning, a lot of digging and many rocks moved we now have a "water feature" in the backyard.

The video portion of our program

Canning

Last week we picked 55 pounds of peaches. We certainly can't eat them fast enough so we froze a few last week and tonight canned another 8 jars. Nothing like eating your own canned peaches in the middle of a February snow storm. It is the culinary analog of cutting wood. You put out the effort in September and enjoy the product all winter long.

Our new jet engine to heat the canning water. Note all the matches it took me to get the dumb thing going.

Watch the thumbs!
Prep work

A Trip Way Back in Time

Last month we visited Colonial Wiliamsburg and had so much fun in 1776 that we decided to travel back to 1140 and see how the Ancestral Puebloans lived during their hayday. This year Mesa Verde NP offered a few longer ranger led hikes to different parts of the park. We decided to visit Spring House ruin in Wikiup Canyon.

This was a fantastic experience. The ranger not only knew his history but knew how to entertain a group for a day long hike (not the easiest thing to do). I would recommend this experience to anyone that can hike 9-10 miles with a bit of elevation gain. And we all earned our junior ranger badges.

The trail we used was created by the CCC and was used by park visitors until the resource was so damaged that the back country was closed. Hence the opening of the resource but with park service employees in charge.

As always when traveling in the American Southwest, ladders help gain access to some steeper terrain...and they are fun to use.
A ruin along the route.
Spring House! This ruin has not been stabilized. The spring that created the alcove is still flowing and most of the visible masonry is original.
Just to remind us that we were traveling in the back country. The rattle snake with full on rattle. I am guessing he did not like us interrupting his meal of field mouse.

A Proud New Junior Ranger!

While on a Ranger led backcountry hike in Mesa Verde National Park, I answered a really, really hard question (!) and I earned my Junior Ranger Badge. I will treasure it for a really long time, or until it breaks, whichever comes first.