csa summer: sixth, seventh and eighth boxes

 Summertime produce in full swing (even if I think H is correct and the boxes seem slightly less full than prior years).  Our sixth box was on August 7: kale, cabbage, small watermelon, corn, beans, zucchini and summer squash (of course), garlic, white bell peppers, nectarines and some donut peaches.  The nectarines were quite tasty but I'm not a huge fan of donut peaches.  They smell divine, almost perfumed, but the taste doesn't match up, in my opinion.  We ate the corn and beans the first night - and the corn is on its way out, I'm afraid - and sliced up the melon for both fresh eating and freezing for frozen margaritas.  The cabbage and peppers got sliced up for gochujang noodles; the little squashes languished in the crisper for a bit.

#6

The seventh box (8/14) contained more watermelon, corn, green beans, more zucchini and summer squash (jeesum crow), brocolli (!!), green and purple bell peppers, hot peppers, a couple of regular peaches and more donut peaches.  We got two meals out of the brocolli: steamed one night and served with rice and BBQ seitan; and in a stir-fry with some of the peppers another night.  We froze the fruit and shredded and then froze those squashes.  The freezer is getting full.

#7

The eighth box (8/21) had what is surely the last of the corn, plus big tomatoes, little tomatoes, two eggplant, a couple of pears, nice peaches, a big sweet onion and a medly of peppers (anaheim, jalapeno and serrano).  We had the corn the first night (and it's still sweet but starchy enough to stick to your teeth), with sauteed peppers and onions, and brown rice and lentils.  I gave away the bigger eggplant and made baigan bharta with the smaller one, using some onion, tomatoes and a serrano pepper there too.  The rest of the tomatoes and the onion, plus an anaheim pepper, went into a marinara sauce for the freezer, and I snuck a half cup of shredded zucchini into there too.  And I achieved a tasty breakfast smoothie with one of the peaches and half a summer squash, plus some Trader Joe's frozen mango, fresh squeezed lime juice and a bit of coconut milk.

#8

wildflower wow: snowbird version

 Much to Milton's dismay, I did not take him on a Dimple Dell walk Sunday.  We got up early and did our medium length neighborhood walk (twenty minutes or so) but then I abandoned him (in his mind) and drove up to Snowbird to see how the wildflowers were doing there.  I did this exact hike last August but the wildflowers were a little further behind because of the snow.  And every time I do this hike (and post about it), I complain about how dang steep it is.

Rose-colored

The route is a lollipop: up the Peruvian Gulch trail to the Peruvian Cirque trail, then down the Peruvian Gulch access road to reconnect with the PGT again.  It is so steep: a quad-buster on the way up and a knee-buster on the way down.  It wasn't nearly as loose underfoot as it ofter is, however, because Saturday evening brought some rain to the Wasatch Front.

Almost lavender

I started at 7:10 a.m., with a delightful 60F temperature.  Since the Bird is steeper and less accessible than Alta for summer trails, it gets a lot fewer hikers.  I got passed by two trail runners and one guy was following me up but never caught me.  I passed two hikers at the start of the PGT and then went by them again as I was heading down the access road ... and they were still coming up.  After 9 a.m., there were more hikers coming up but not the hordes that Alta gets.  The solitude was welcome.

Cream/blush

And the flowers were just spectacular, especially in the bowl of the Cirque and the upper part of Peruvian Gulch.  I decided to do a paintbrush study, to see how many color variations I could find; the results (as shown in this post) were impressive, although I didn't see any white ones, which you can sometimes find at Alta.

Orange

When I got back to the car at 10:24, my knees were hollering at me a bit (see above re: steep).  Cars were rolling in at a steady pace but it wasn't crowded yet.  That'll all change when Snowbird's Oktoberfest starts so I'm glad I got out amongst the flowers when I did.

Pink, plus some Lewis's monkeyflower

because I love them

wildflower wow: alta version

The Alta/Snowbird days of the Wasatch Wildflower Festival happened when we were in Moab, which was more than fine because anymore that's just too many people to deal with for me.  The following weekend, however, I really wanted to see how the wildflowers had progressed.  On Saturday, after Milton and I did our 6 a.m., 1.5 hour Dimple Dell walk (two friendly dogs and one rabbit that M did not see; we also did not see H, who was out there doing a ten mile trail run), I headed up to Alta for my Catherine's loop*.   

The lore is: when the fireweed blooms

to the top, summer is over

Because I did the long walk with Milton first, I didn't get started until 8:30 a.m., which is just way too late (per our standards) on a Saturday in the height of summer.  So many people: I passed 37 uphill hikers on my way up and didn't bother to count downhillers.  Catherine's Pass itself wasn't too busy but it would be, so I didn't linger.

Teeny tiny blossoms on the coneflowers

Critter-wise it was a pretty good hike.  I saw a mule deer doe with two fawns, a cow moose enjoying a marshy spot in Catherine's Area and tons and tons of hummingbirds.  The wildflowers have kicked it up a notch too.  While the lower Albion meadow was getting pretty crispy, there were definitely more flowers up higher than there had been.  There was fireweed in bloom and gentian spires that were just beginning to blossom.  The coneflowers were blooming now too.  I only took a few photos, trying to get varieties that I didn't get last time, but the wildflowers were definitely going off at the start of August.

Paintbrush meadow

* Trail data from 2015 says this loop is over seven miles (including an out-and-back to Sunset Peak, which I didn't do this time).  Can it really be that long?  I did it in under three hours this time.  Here's our map from back then, anyway:

heat management

By careful management of working hours, we put together a three day weekend in Moab at the end of July.  Was it hot?  Yes, in the low 100s, but that was pretty much how hot Salt Lake City was that weekend so it wasn't like we were missing a cold front or anything.  Because of the heat, however, we had to be smart about outdoor recreating.  Both Friday and Saturday Milton and I got up early and did our Millcreek hike, getting to the trailhead around 6 a.m.  The water in the creek is down but still flowing, so there was plenty for him to drink and splash around. 

The Main Street/Millcreek underpass 

On Friday, after the Millcreek hike, and on Sunday, a little earlier because there was no Millcreek hike, H and A did road rides on the bike path.  They've gotten most of the bike path cleaned up after the floods earlier in the summer - there's only a short section by the veterinary hospital that is still blocked off, unsafe because the creek washed the embankment away from under the paved path.  The photo above this paragraph is from July 6 and shows A standing in the tunnel under Main Street on top of all the sand the flooded creek left behind.  The photo below shows A in the exact same spot twenty days later, after they removed all the sand and debris.  (Literally wearing the exact same outfit both times.)

I'm five feet tall so I was on

about three feet of sand before

The Saturday 21-mile bike ride was a little different in that A did it solo.  You see, H didn't really feel like riding after he did a HALF MARATHON distance trail run!!  We all got up around 5 a.m. and drove out to Moab Brand Trails.  And while A and M did their Circle O loop, H ran 13.1 miles in 2:20:00.  He looked really good at the end of it too.  There wasn't much of a crowd to cheer him on, but Milton ran that last little bit with him across the parking lot.  So proud of him!

The boys charging to the finish

csa summer: fifth box

 I can't believe I'm saying this: I'd rather get zucchini than beets in our CSA box.  Zucchini is much easier to hide in recipes than beets - easier and less messy to work with too.  And at this point, I have five or six beets waiting for me to pay attention to.  I keep ignoring them.  They're root vegetables - they'll keep a while.  So what else did we get, besides beets?  Lacinato kale (a/k/a dinosaur kale), two boxes of the BEST blackberries, green beans, a couple ears of corn, lots of apricots, a little zucchini, a little summer squash and a big cantaloupe.

We ate the corn and half the green beans the first night, along with curried lentils and quinoa that also used up the kale.  The blackberries were too delicious not to just eat, although I put some in my morning oatmeal.  The melon was really good too, so we just ate that; I did put some into a smoothie with half that summer squash and some frozen mango.  Any too-ripe apricots got frozen and we've been working our way through eating the rest of them.  

csa summer: fourth box

 Our fourth Tagges CSA box arrived on July 24, which is a state holiday, Pioneer Day, celebrating the arrival of the Mormon pioneers to the Salt Lake Valley in 1847.  Or, if you are not of the Mormon persuasion, it's Pie-and-Beer Day and a day off from work.  (Unless you are H, whose East Coast corporate overlords were all, "Pioneer what?").  I had the day off and spent it walking Milton, weeding, putting away laundry, making black beans in the Instant Pot and catching up on a little work.  And when the CSA folks texted me before noon, saying that the box was ready and they'd be closing for the holiday at 4:30 - could I pick it up before then? - I drove right down and picked it right up.

Pioneer Day produce

We got a TON of green beans, five ears of corn, sixteen apricots, two cartons of blackberries, a big bulb of garlic, a zucchini and some rainbow carrots with the tops.  Obviously, we ate half the beans and corn that night, demolishing the rest the next day.  The apricots were on the underripe side so they rested until ripe and then got frozen for future baking projects and overnight oats.  The zucchini was, of course, shredded and frozen; the carrot tops made into more pesto (gosh we love pesto so much - all iterations).  And the carrots themselves: while I don't find the rainbow variety all that tasty (I like regular carrots better), I've got a new ginger-carrot-miso salad dressing recipe so they won't go to waste.

wild: flowers and life

This isn't so much a real post as it is the chance to share additional Alta wildflower photos.  On Sunday, I did the same thing I did Saturday (although H did not do another twelve-miler: he got on his bike to take a spin and found his legs rather heavy (understandably so)).  Milton and I walked, and then I double-sessioned up at Alta. 

Alpine death camas (my inner goth loves these)

I had to tamp down on some rage at the Instagrammers/family photo shoots who were literally ducking the ropes in order to get good flower field photos trample the flowers for their own gain.  But I did chat a little bit with another hiker, former Utah resident, now living on the east coast but back to do some hill climb training, and he was very nice - and then he waved me on ahead, saying I was setting a "good pace."

Columbine in the campground

Very quiet across the top of Catherine's Area.  As I started down the cat track, I kept hearing what sort of sounded like a pika call, except that area is wooded and not pika habitat.  I looked around and found a fox (!!) watching me, making those little meep noises until I went past and he deemed it safe enough to continue on his way.  I also saw a big mule deer doe when I got back to the Summer Road: she was thinking about crossing but ultimately decided against it.  And I also saw some elephants up close and person ... or at least elephanthead wildflowers, in the wet area under the Supreme lift between the camprground and Alf's.

Elephantheads! This whole spire

is about two inches long

The most "exciting" "wildlife" encounter, however, took place just as I was starting up from where I'd parked.  A Cadillac SUV rolled into the line of cars waiting to get up the Summer Road (parking restrictions and entry fees now in effect), with an Alta Marshal right behind him, lights a-blaze.  As I walked past, the marshal was walking back to his vehicle with the Caddy driver's license in hand.  I gave him a wave and he gave me a huge grin and a "good morning" right back.  Moral of the story: When the Alta speed limit says 25 mph, they mean it.

the wildflowers cometh

Here come the wildflowers!  While H was ridiculously busy Saturday morning - twelve mile trail run (his longest yet), lawn mowing, laundry and a short road ride (what the heck) - Milton and I had a repeat of our last weekend.  The dog and I got out of the house before 6 a.m. for our Dimple Dell loop.  When we got home (after pausing to watch the four resident neighborhood hawks for a while), Milton got snacks from our neighbor and then I headed up to Alta.

Orange paintbrush (great color)

The traffic on the canyon road was not as heavy as the previous Saturday, but there were still hundreds of cars at the White Pine trailhead (I can't even imagine trying to hike with all those people) and I had to park a little further up the road when I got to Alta.  Once hiking, it didn't seem quite so busy although I counted at least three photo shoots going on.  It's wildflower season, you see, and although they haven't hit peak bloom, the flowers are much better than they were last weekend.  And with the flowers come the hordes.

Horsemint

I was startled when I reached Catherine's Pass: I have never seen so many people at Catherine's Pass before.  And most of them seemed to be coming up from the Brighton side.  I didn't linger and ground out that last bit of up, trying to keep ahead of people.  At the Sunset Peak intersection, I turned towards the Supreme lift, which was great since most of these people seemed to be going to Sunset. 

Sulfur buckwheat (a favorite of mine)

I came out through the campground, then took the Home Run trail through the Sunnyside meadows instead of the main trail: this Home Run looks to have been built for MTBs as it is not as steep, packed dirt and with nice switchbacks.  The flowers are not quite as good along Home Run but there were fewer people.  So we'll call that a win.

Scarlet gilia - except it's in Little

Cottonwood Canyon so it's almost white

Sure do love the Wasatch wildflowers.  In addition to the ones pictured here, I saw bluebells, Wasatch penstemon, Lewis's flax, geraniums, showy daisies, silverleaf phacelia (just getting started), anemones (also just getting started - love these), columbine, king flax or maybe tansy mustard, sunflowers and western coneflowers (not blooming yet).  And I think I saw a bunch of elephantheads but it was from a distance and I couldn't get close enough to confirm.

Lupine and paintbrush