Monday, November 26, 2012
Sunday, April 1, 2012
April Fool's Snowfall
Last day of March was 80F, which means Spring is officially here, right? Wrong. Mother Nature brought snow on April 1st.
I hiked the "zigzag trail" above Centerville to continue my training for summer hiking and to see what the Mahogany trees looked like in snow. It was worth the effort.
Looking south over Bountiful, you can clearly see the snow line, and also the trees and some lawns turning green, thinking it was spring.
The Mahogany grove on "The Saddle", looking E-SE
From the summit, looking west past Mahogany and Scrub Oak to Antelope Island
I hiked the "zigzag trail" above Centerville to continue my training for summer hiking and to see what the Mahogany trees looked like in snow. It was worth the effort.
Looking south over Bountiful, you can clearly see the snow line, and also the trees and some lawns turning green, thinking it was spring.
Looking west past the ridge to Antelope Island.
The Mahogany grove on "The Saddle", looking E-SE
From the summit, looking west past Mahogany and Scrub Oak to Antelope Island
The sun finally broke out over Antelope Island while snow squalls stayed over the Wasatch
From the top, looking north you can easily see the main runway at Hill AFB. Notice how the rubber marks (from tires making contact at landing) is concentrated on the north end of the runway - planes rarely land at HAFB coming from the south.
I waited & waited for the sun to come out & give some stunning light to the landscape; it never did, but there were a few decent shots anyway.
Saturday, March 31, 2012
Mount Wire
Last day of March, a beautiful day, nice & warm, upper 70s.
I planned on going to a U of U spring football practice, but driving up to the stadium it became apparent I messed up the schedule & there was no practice. No problem, I decided to hike Mount Wire, a 2000 vertical foot workout just east of Research Park, part of my quest to get ready for hiking season. Didn't bring the camera, so these are from the phone-camera.
Looking west from the top, the U of U, Rice Eccles Stadium and downtown SLC are all getting drenched in sunshine.
Windy as hell that day - really, really strong winds from the south portending a nice little April Fool's surprise snow storm the next morning.
I planned on going to a U of U spring football practice, but driving up to the stadium it became apparent I messed up the schedule & there was no practice. No problem, I decided to hike Mount Wire, a 2000 vertical foot workout just east of Research Park, part of my quest to get ready for hiking season. Didn't bring the camera, so these are from the phone-camera.
Looking west from the top, the U of U, Rice Eccles Stadium and downtown SLC are all getting drenched in sunshine.
Windy as hell that day - really, really strong winds from the south portending a nice little April Fool's surprise snow storm the next morning.
Sunday, March 4, 2012
"The Sentinal" - Antelope Island
On the south end of Antelope Island there is a very level ridge that stands out from a distance. It was part of the old Lake Bonneville shoreline, a distinctly level part of the north-south spine of ridges that make up the island. In the middle of this 1 or 2 mile level-line is a spike that emerges (actually probably 2/3 of the way north of the spine) called "The Sentinenl".
On a sunny March Sunday I decided it was time to see what the view from this perch looked like, so I drove out to Antelope and parked some miles north on a trailhead mostly intended for horse riders. Heading south and gradually climbing the east bench of Antelope toward The Sentinel it wasn't long before I encountered Buffalo (Bison) and a couple of Antelope. The Bison are a lot like cattle. They're curious to see what's coming near them, but they'll scatter when you get close.
I also learned the hard way that winter had made my camera batteries seem more charged than they really were, so these pictures were all taken with a cheap phone camera.
Buffalo urgently moving away from guy with phone camera:
Looking east at Frary Peak from the east bench:
A couple of groups of Buffalo from higher on the bench:
Nearing the top of The Sentinal, looking west toward Stansbury Island
Looking south from on top
Hiking back to the car, through lots of yellow grass, with the Wasatch in the background to the east
On a sunny March Sunday I decided it was time to see what the view from this perch looked like, so I drove out to Antelope and parked some miles north on a trailhead mostly intended for horse riders. Heading south and gradually climbing the east bench of Antelope toward The Sentinel it wasn't long before I encountered Buffalo (Bison) and a couple of Antelope. The Bison are a lot like cattle. They're curious to see what's coming near them, but they'll scatter when you get close.
I also learned the hard way that winter had made my camera batteries seem more charged than they really were, so these pictures were all taken with a cheap phone camera.
Buffalo urgently moving away from guy with phone camera:
Looking east at Frary Peak from the east bench:
A couple of groups of Buffalo from higher on the bench:
Nearing the top of The Sentinal, looking west toward Stansbury Island
Looking south from on top
Hiking back to the car, through lots of yellow grass, with the Wasatch in the background to the east
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