buying and eating local

Once late spring/early summer hits, little roadside farm stands pop up all over the place, much like the sno-cone shacks.  The difference is, the farm stands are loaded with melons, raspberries, blackberries, apricots, peaches, corns, cucumbers and tomatoes - all locally grown.  Much seems to be from Brigham City and Springville, but "Green River melons" are touted as well. 

They close pretty early in the evenings so I haven't been able to catch one open until this past Friday.  The friendly girl helped me pick out a deliciously-scented cantelope, some green beans and some sweet corn.  The beans were a little bigger and tougher-looking than the Maine string beans I'm used to, but a little longer in the steam basket rendered them quite tasty.  The corn I plopped on the grill and served Mexican style: with mayonnaise, cheese (I used parmesan) and a dash of ground chile pepper (I used merquen). 

I think I have to say it: Utah sweet corn is not as good as Maine sweet corn.  Now, I don't know how old this corn was - it was a little starchy - and I'm going to try again at another stand for comparison's sake. It's a tall order, I know, trying to beat Maine sweet corn and I want to give it a fair shake before calling it for good.  But as it stands now in the corn on the cob competition: Maine 1, Utah 0.

The tomatoes are from my own plants

the hills are alive

Last Sunday.  Still with the monsoon season but we decided that if we did a shortish and familiar hike early in the day, that would probably still be safe.  Plus Captain Mike had urged us to get our butts up to Albion Basin before all the wildflowers went past, so off to Alta we went.

Pretty!

It was sunny but cool and pleasant (high 60s) up there, and very busy, because clearly other folks were getting their butts up to Albion Basin to see the wildflowers.  We hiked up the trail across some of the ski trails, through both woods and meadows.  It was a lot drier than when we'd been there last, a month ago, but the flowers were certainly out in full force.  It's nearly indescribable, and our photos don't do the scenery justice, but the meadows and creek beds are just bursting with blossoms of all colors.  We even spied a happy hummingbird zooming around the flowers, happy as a fat man at a buffet.

I would call this a "high grotto" more than "high desert"

In addition to being Wildflower Central, it was also Small Mammal Day.  Up at Cecret Lake (the water level has dropped several feet from a month ago, and all the snow is gone from the lake basin although there is still some up in Devil's Castle), we were treated to the company of a very brave chipmunk - glossy-furred and more than twice as big as the chipmunks we've seen previously - who pounced upon a sunflower seed that spilled from the packet when we opened it. 

Not even a little bit afraid

There were other rodents all over the place, ground squirrels and red squirrels and a tiny grey chipmunk, some other species, I guess. And on our way down, we were lucky enough to spot this sleek little guy: an ermine in his summer outfit.

Isn't he adorable?  His tail had a little black tip

frozen treats

On our way west to the Kennecott mine, I mentioned to H (possibly only one or twice but probably more like 3-4 times) that I wanted to get a shaved ice/sno-cone.  Those little stands are all over the valley in shopping plaza parking lots and every time I drive by one I think, "Gosh, I really want to try one of those."  So suddenly H turns into a car wash, pulls up next to a Willly's Shaved Ice and goes, "Go on.  Go get one."

I hop out and peruse the list of flavors, finally asking the girl behind the counter for a recommendation since I've never had one of these before.  And this is part of what I love about Utah: almost everyone is so nice and friendly.  Back east, the ice cream server would be like, um try grape or cherry or whatever, $2.00.  But this girl got a huge smile on her face, and wanted to know where I was from if I'd never had a "snowie" before, and what was Maine like, and hadn't I been buying like tons of lotion and conditioner since it's so dry out here.  Supercute. 

She also told me that "tiger's blood" is the go-to shaved ice flavor: watermelon + strawberry + coconut.  I'm certainly not one to disagree with a professional so tiger's blood is what I got. A $2 medium was huge and a bright gory red that quickly stained my tongue.  H rolled his eyes so hard when I got back in the truck with my treat that I think he saw the back of his skull, but I didn't care.  It was a little sweet (I think I'll try a tart flavor next time) but the shaved ice was soft and the straw had a little scoop on the end so I could spoon up the goodness if I didn't want to wait for it to melt.

You might think that's enough frozen concoctions for one day, but no.  As we headed east again after Butterfield Canyon, we consulted our talking GPS for the closest Leatherby's Family Creamery, an ice cream place that one of H's coworkers had recommended.  We found one at 1872 W 5400 S in Taylorsville.  Although it was closing in on 6:00 p.m., we ignored the actual food side of the menu and focused on the ice cream sundaes.  H ordered a "black and white" with chocolate ice cream and chocolate and marshmallow sauces; I ordered one with chocolate chip ice cream, chocolate chocolate chip ice cream, chocolate sauce and malted whipped cream. 

Good grief: these sundaes were ENORMOUS.  Next time, remind me to order a little bitty one.  H's was really good and while I didn't much care for the regular choc. chip ice cream, I did think the choc. choc. chip was very good.  By the time I finished - and I did finish, calories be damned - I was shivering and shaking, the vast quantity of ice cream that I had consumed having actually lowered my body temperature.  Needless to say, we had to just sit for a while once we got back home (ice cream coma) and we did not find it necessay to eat dinner that night.

kennecott country

We're in the middle of monsoon season currently and what with the imminent threat of afternoon thunder (and lightning) storms, have been less motivated to get up and hiking deep into the mountains.  So we got a slow start on Saturday, by which I mean H took a 36 mile bike ride while I weeded for two hours.  After that we needed something to do since you can't just stay home on a Saturday.  We eyed the accumulating clouds and decided that this would be a good day to go west a little bit, to see the hugenormous Kennecott Copper Mine that sprawls across the eastern slopes of the Oquirrh Mountains, and then also to try to find a route over the Oquirrhs.

Kennecut Utah Copper's Bingham Canyon Mine is one of the largest man-made objects on the planet - it can be seen from space by the space shuttle astronauts. The open pit is 2.75 miles across at the top and 3/4 of a mile deep; the giant haul trucks, with their 13-foot high tires and their 320 ton haulage capacity, are smaller than Matchbox cars as they lumber down the winding roads to the bottom of the pit. Since its beginning in 1906, this mine has produced 18.1 million tons of copper, more than any other mine in history.

Where's AAA when you need them?

The busy visitors' center at the mine is open 7 days/week, from 8 a.m. - 8 p.m. ($5 entry fee per car, all proceeds donated to charity). Perched at the lip of the pit, you can watch the mining activity below as well as stroll through the exhibits inside the center. The wind was howling (as the afternoon's monsoon was moving in from the west) as we stared down into the giant hole in the ground - reminding me of the pit mine from that Stephen King book, Desperation, where the mining company digs too deep and unleashes some horrific beastie. It is way far down to the bottom and they plan to be another 500 feet further down by 2015. Watch out for horrific beasties, boys.

That's a helluva hole in the ground

The Bingham Canyon mine is right around the corner from Butterfield Canyon which, according to our gazetteer, has a paved road (and then a dirt road and then a paved road again) that actually crosses the Oquirrh range - and might possibly be the only way across the Oquirrh range - to Tooele on the other side.  The road is only open in the summer so we thought we should give it a shot.  We went up and up as the road got narrower and narrower and the weather got darker and stormier. 

Road to nowhere.  Truly.

When the pavement ended, we had a choice: up and to the right on the drier, more travelled road*, or down and to the left on the muddier road.  We picked up and to the right, following a black Jeep who looked like he knew where he was going.  We picked wrong: the dirt road stopped at the very top of the mountain (about 9,000 feet and with a temperature of 49F) at an impressive overlook of the mine, but did not in fact go through to Tooele.  We turned around and headed back down as the rain picked up, pausing to look at the down-and-to-the-left option.  It was slick and muddy looking and we decided to leave that exploration for another non-monsoony day.

All the better to hear you with, my deer

Despite not succeeding in our attempt to cross the Oquirrhs, we were glad to have gotten up Butterfield Canyon.  It was quite pretty, with steep walls and lush vegetation.  We saw a bunch of deer and also human recreators: bicyclists, ATVers, motorcyclists, cowboys, campers.  Next time we'll make it through and see what's on the other side.

* When I said "drier, more travelled," I didn't mean it was actually a good road.  In many places, it wasn't wide enough for two vehicles to pass and it was rutted and washboarded and washed out with 1.5+ foot ruts.  It wasn't the worst or scariest dirt road we've ever been on, but it was a bit nerve-wracking in spots nonetheless.

conehead

Poor, poor B.  She's had a sore at the corner of her left eye - which we think may have begun life as a bug bite - and it just won't heal because she paws at it and rubs her face along the carpet or the furniture.  I finally got tired of cleaning up smeared blood so I took her to the vet to get fitted for a cone collar.  Ten minutes and $20 later, she was all decked out and in full pout mode.

It took her approximately 1.5 days of misjudging and running into the doorways (which is really, really funny, btw) before she broke it, so H had to repair the darn thing with a piece of milk jug and a bunch of duct tape.  She just hates wearing it so hopefully her eye will heal up soon. 

Hey - how's the reception with that thing?

filler

Sorry about the shortage of postage here.  We just haven't been doing much: working; riding (H)/going to the gym (A); meeting a friend from back east who was in SLC for work for beers; being duly impressed by the crazy-ass lightning storms that have lit up the mountains all week.  B is not enoying the thunder and lightning so much (scaredy-chicken) but it really is impressive weather.  And yesterday evening, in between the afternoon thunderstorms and the nighttime thunderstorms, there was a complete double rainbow outside our front door.

It's supposed to be a great weekend, though: cooler (high 80s), drier and clear, so we should have some fun outdoorsy stuff to report soon.  In the meantime, my morning glories - which I started from seed - are up! 

lazy sunday

No hike on Sunday.  It wasn't planned that way, but that's how it ended up.  We got up late but still packed up for a hike in Millcreek Canyon.  Then H had to run in to the office for a few minutes and then I wanted to go to breakfast.  I had my eye on a new (to us) place, one that has been on my to-go-to breakfast place list for months and one that was also recently featured on Food Network's Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives:  the Blue Plate Diner.

Located right in SLC at 2041 South 2100 East, the Blue Plate Diner has a younger, hipper, more citified clientele than many of our more oftenly frequented diners.  The joint was jumping when we finally got there - after 11:00 a.m. - but we didn't have to wait too long for a table.  Completely forgetting my recent vow to stay away from big eggy and cheesy breakfasts on hiking days, I ordered the huevos rancheros with green salsa while H, staying true to form, got the pork chile verde omelet.  These breakfasts were HUGE (and I had to make another vow: to order my breakfasts sans potatoes from here on out) - way too big, even for H.  He thought that his chile verde was a little bland; the green salsa on my huevos was plenty spicy and flavorful, but instead of corn tortillas, the base of the dish was a thick, unsweetened, well-done, black bean griddle cake.  Tasty enough, and easier to fork through than corn tortillas, but a little dense.

By the time we rolled on out of the diner it was after noon and really hot.  We looked at each other and decided that there would be no hiking today: too full.  So we dragged out our Utah gazetteer and found ourselves a state park not too far away: Rockport State Park, a medium-sized reservoir just south of Wanship.  We flashed our state park pass and cruised on in, easily finding a quiet covered picnic table on the east side of the reservoir.  The overnight camping areas were pretty full - or were, as people were starting to pack up and head home, their weekend over - but most of the day use sites, like the one we found, were empty.  There were lots of watercraft buzzing about, towing waterskiers and tubers and fishing lines; the water was pretty nice and we immediately wished we'd thought to throw our swim suits in the car.  Next time.

Rockport Reservoir

After a few hours we drove through Browns Canyon to Park City - and a beer at the No Name Saloon - and then back home.  Not our most active day by a long shot, but a pleasant one nonetheless.

white pine lake

We've been wanting to do some longer hikes lately, needing to build up our endurance if we're going to hike Timpanogos in September, and the While Pine Lake hike (trailhead up Little Cottonwood Canyon) fit the bill.  A 9.8 mile roundtrip out-and-back with 2,452 feet of elevation gain - topping out at 10,150 feet - this trail is an easily-followable old mining road so the ascent is not nearly as steep as many of the other hikes we've been doing.  That being said, H noted that "it's not that steep, but it's relentless," climbing steadily ... and then we found some steeper sections too.

Getting his feet in snow makes H very happy

The very first part of the trail we'd done already, way back last fall when we climbed to Red Pine Lake.  But once we turned onto the WPL trail it was all new, climbing up through forests, alpine meadows and a rocky glacial bowl, and crossing innumerable streams and creeks.  Much of the hike was shaded, which didn't really matter since the day was fairly cloudy; we were actually grateful for the clouds when we got to the glacial bowl because it is completely exposed.

Such colors!

Not much wildlife: chipmunks, squirrels and my first sighting of a wild pika - aDORable, like a baby rabbit but with little round ears.  But the wildflowers were absolutely spectacular, the best we've seen this summer.  I still have no idea what the names of any of them are called but the colors included white, yellow, lavender, purple, blue, pale pink, magenta, fuschia. Just stunning.

First sight of White Pine Lake

Also stunning: White Pine Lake.  As we rounded a switchback, the lake lay out in front of us, a dark turquoise blue, ringed with stony cliffs.  It's hemmed in by a rock dam and fed by a pretty mountain stream that rushes down a lush grassy slope.  We didn't linger because we were keeping an eye on the weather (smartly, as the afternoon thunderstorms did eventually roll in) and H and I decided to come back up to White Pine Lake on a perfectly clear day so we could explore, fish (they were jumping!) and basically sit around and stare at all the beauty.  Our guidebook says that WPL is one of the prettiest lakes in the state and I can't see how it couldn't be.

We'll go back and get another shot when the sky is clear

It took us 2 hours to go up and 2 hours and 2 minutes to come down (book said 5-7 hours so we obviously kick ass).  The only bad part about this hike is the footing on the trail.  It's very rocky and loose in sections, so even though it wasn't that steep, the descent took us longer than we expected because we had to watch where you stepped.  Still, some stubbed toes were a small price to pay for the scenic jackpot.  I can't wait to do it again.

gone fishing

To give our aging knees a break, last Sunday we didn't go hiking.  Instead we trucked on up Emigration Canyon to Ruth's Diner, sat on the shady patio and had a Mexican omelette (H: gorgeous color but kind of light on the purported chorizo, but still tasty) and a "Patio Parfait" (A: granola, vanilla yogurt, raspberries, blueberries and strawberries which I pretended was healthy but am sure it wasn't light yogurt).

Then we wound our way past Little Dell Reservoir, through the rolling hills and to East Canyon State Park - getting good use of our state park pass, you see!  This state park is on a reservoir that is open for fishing, swimming and boating, and has picnic and camping areas as well as these cool yurts for rent (even in winter time as they have heat).

It was cooler away from the Salt Lake Valley and we just had a mellow time of it, fishing (not catching), reading, snoozing, people-watching.  There was a light breeze so you could actually sit in the sun for a bit (or a bit much, in my case) and we had snagged a covered picnic table which gave us shade when we needed it.  After watching all the boaters, we realized we'd have to add another piece of to-be-purchased equipment to our list*: another little beater aluminum boat just for excursions like this.

* Working list includes:  mountain bikes, powder skis, camping/backpacking gear, beater beer fridge, Jeep, teardrop trailer ...

o pioneer day

Our first ever Pioneer Day has come and gone.  First of all, wicked nice to get another long weekend in the summer!  Second, while we didn't avail ourselves of all the available Pioneer Day festivities, we did attend a couple of them.  This is what we didn't do/see/attend: the All-Horse Parade in Sandy; Liberty Days festival at This Is The Place Heritage Park; Commemoration Concert by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir; Days of '47 Pops Concert; Brother Brigham's Ball (an old-timey costume dance); 5K/10K/marathon; the Sunrise Service; the Days of '47 Parade (or the float preview party); the big fireworks display (although several of our neighbors put on their own shows, much to B's dismay); or the First Encampment Hike.  All of these events/performances took place throughout the month of July - Pioneer Day is BIG here!

What we did do was go to a neighborhood breakfast at one of the parks within walking distance of our house.  Although it was put on by a local ward, our across-the-street neighbors went out of their way to let us know that we were welcome.  We walked down to the park, travel coffee mugs in hand, and were immediately introduced around to many, many people, most of whose names I did not retain (I am terrible at names).  Everyone was super-friendly; we had scrambled eggs, excellent thick cut ham and a fruit salad; and when I finally glanced at my watch, I couldn't believe we'd been chatting with folks for an hour.  Nobody asked us about our beliefs or tried to push theirs on us - not even the ward's bishop! - it was a neighborhood function and they were all just happy to meet us.

The other PD thing we did was go to the final night of the Days of '47 Rodeo.  We got great seats (thanks to my work for the free tickets) in the fifth row, right next to the chutes where the bulls and broncs come out bucking.  We got to see a little of everything, the five or six finalists for each event: barrel-racing, bulldogging (steer wrestling), tie-down roping, team roping, saddle bronc riding, bareback riding and bull riding.  The bull riding wasn't much to write home about as only one of the finalists finished his 8 second ride.  But the saddle broncs were pretty exciting - plus a Utah cowboy won the event!  Nothing like a local boy making good to get the crowd loud.

And yet he managed to stay on

We took a bunch of pictures at the rodeo but, as you see, they're pretty blurry what with all the bucking and jumping and twisting and running and hopping around.  You may not care for rodeos, but you have to admit that these cowboys (and the barrel-racing cowgirls) are good athletes.  And the ones that ride the bulls - they're just plain nuts.

Can you imagine NOT wearing a helmet and

then getting on one of these bulls?