Joel and some of his photo buddies from Ogden and Salt Lake City teamed up last week to spend time photographing in and around Death Valley National Park. Here are some of the fruits of his labors – impressive if I do say so myself!
After rediscovering stamp collecting when he brought home boxes and boxes of his grandfather’s albums, stamps, and first day covers last November, Joel’s mail and package deliveries are all starting to look the same … Collectors and stamp supply houses are littering their parcels with old stamps. If you received a calendar in the mail over the holidays from Joel, you know exactly what I am talking about!
Note that most of those required at least eight hand cancels due to the number of stamps that were used. I am sure the employee at the Post Office had visions of carpal tunnel lost time accident claims floating in his head every time Joel walked through the door.
The worst part of this new/old adventure is that, by accident, Joel discovered our next door neighbor is an avid collector of US and German stamps, too. I am hearing chatter of a four day road trip in May to a big stamp convention in Denver …
Although we have had quite a bit of snow this winter, it always seems like the snowfall is followed by 40 to 50 degree days. Not very conducive for snowshoeing … Yesterday it was in the teens and we decided to hop over the North Ogden Divide to the Ogden Nordic Ski area. A beautiful day and it was nice to finally get outside!
Or why we will not be decorating the house this year …
Earlier this year we headed down to the Escalante area to hike to Coyote Gulch via the Jacob Hamblin Arch Trail. The main goal of the hike was to see “the tree” at Swiss Cheese Falls as the green foliage was just popping in Spring. The goal of the Fall hike was to see the same tree but in Fall colors. We decided not to take the shorter trail we had already experienced – it required that to be safe we carry a rope for the descent into the canyon and we wanted to be “Light and Fast.” We opted for the longer Hurricane Wash Trail.
After camping near the trailhead, we took off in relatively cold weather. Soon after we were layering down as the daytime temps began to rise. Like a lot of the trails in and around the Southern Utah canyons, even if the footprints disappear, you just follow the river or stream. There were a lot of stream crossings which were a bit chilly!
We made good time, found our giant alcove camping spot, set up the tent and Joel was off to get his photos. Great contrast between the spring and fall shots …
The hike to Reflection Canyon in the Glen Canyon National Recreation Area has been on our “To Do” List for several years. The main reason that we didn’t go before this Fall was that there was the general consensus, online and through conversations with the Escalante Visitor’s Center, that the area was unreachable unless you had GPS coordinates (and a functioning GPS.) We simply didn’t want to cough up $400 to get a GPS unit for one hike.
Enter Bob “Bobcat” D. to the rescue. He said, “Use the Gaia app for your phone, it is free.” Free is good. We downloaded the Gaia GPS app, downloaded and saved a few offline maps and GPS coordinates and we were able to use or phone to navigate (after Alison figured out three miles from the parking lot that she had to turn the “Location” button on for the tracking function to work…long story …) And, while it is true that there is no marked trail, enough people visiting over the last several years have actually put in a nice trail.
The main instructions to get to Reflection Canyon are that you drive 50 miles on the miserably slow and rutted 4-wd Hole in the Rock Road, park, hike about 7 miles to the southern end of Fifty Mile Point and take a left at the squared off cliff face. The trail is mainly sand with a lot of ups and downs as you go over a lot of washes that are coming down from the cliff faces. Then the last mile or so is simply navigating towards the river on slickrock. We only saw a couple people, reinforcing our philosophy that mid-week, shoulder season is the only time to visit Southern Utah!
Be yourself; Everyone else is already taken.
— Oscar Wilde.
According to a study by the Stanford University School of Medicine jogging is effective in increasing human lifespan and decreasing the effects of aging with benefits for the cardiovascular system. Jogging is useful for fighting obesity and staying healthy. And further … A Danish study released in 2015 reported that “light” and “moderate” jogging were associated with reduced mortality compared to both non-jogging and “strenuous” jogging. So there you have it, you could die if you run too fast. I didn’t come in first but I didn’t die. The last 2.5 miles were uphill so I did feel like I was going to die but I continued “light” jogging and placed 2nd in the 50 – 59 Female Age Group.
The Jeep, on the other hand, decided that dying in the middle of nowhere was a great idea.
Had the choice of an $800 tow to Farmington, NM where the closest Jeep dealer was located or $275 to Kayenta, AZ where there was one parts store (closed) and one mechanic. I spent 2 days at the Hampton Inn in Kayenta watching tv and eating. It is actually a really nice motel with really friendly staff and a full service and very tasty restaurant.
It is difficult to ascertain exactly how a replacement alternator was found for a 13 year old vehicle in the middle of nowhere. When I asked the mechanic if it was a new alternator he said ,”No, but it is a GOOD one.” It did get me home without any issues but the next step will be to take it to the Jeep dealer to make sure that there was no “modifications” made on installation …
Joel and Alison's Excellent Adventures 