Jeep Outing - Brighton to American Fork Canyon

June 28th LuJean and I packed a picnic, climbed into Smokey and headed for Brighton, with a stop at the Silver Fork Lodge for breakfast.

From Brighton we drove up to Guardsman Pass, than down to Midway, and then up Snake Creek Canyon to the ridge above the North Fork of American Fork Canyon.

Left is the clearing on the ridge while the photo on the right is the road coming down                     American Fork Canyon.

On the right is a view of Mount Timpanogos with Tibble Fork Reservoir.  When we arrived at Tibble Fork we did a side trip that took us up to Silver Lake Flats (above) where we had lunch.

It was a welcome break for the valley heat, although the roads were often rough and dusty but better than in the 1960s when Tom and I explored the area.  It was good to see access to Mineral Basin and Mary Ellen Gulch remains open.

This would be a fine loop in the autumn.

A Visit with Matt & Christy in Oregon

We have a new gallery that features photos from our June road trip to Oregon for a family get together with Matt, Christy, and their family.

The site address is:  Friends & Family > Christy's Album > 2018 Birthday Visit 

E-mail me if you don't recall the password.

Spring Adventures

Early June ended with several short Jeep excursions near Moab. Pictures from the trip are in a new gallery at:

Outings> Jeep Trips> 2018 Moab



After years of renting, we ordered a 2018 Jeep Wrangler on March 7th.  It  arrived on April 27th - a very exciting day!

 Definitely a hit with the kids...









In March we joined Matt, Julie and the grand kids for a get away in St. George.  We had a fun time hiking to a slot canyon where ancient rock art was hidden in the shadows.

Happy New Year!

For us, the holiday season started with Star Wars and ended with the 2018 Auto Show

Along with re-engineered Jeeps, the Auto Show included a droid repair shop -- how fitting!

The 2018 Auto Show gallery can be found at:

>Friends & Family>Rob & LuJean

Summer Odds 'n Ends...

Along with the eclipse, August was the month the city started replacing our street.  This was a big deal for me since I had been lobbying for a new street beginning in 2013 and had presented a capital spending request to the city budget committee.

The project started with the replacement of the old water line connections followed by removal of the pavement.

Meanwhile, we had our roof replaced and we removed the old redwood hot tube.  This was all done in record heat, but Julie and the kids somehow managed to have a good time anyway...

Here we see the old hot tube in the background during Christy's visit in June.  That was about the same time we rented a topless Jeep and took the kids on a tour of Park City and Brighton.

This photo of the street project shows the morning an excavator hit a live gas line.  You can catch a glimpse of the fire truck on the left. There was tension in the air as well as the smell of natural gas.

 

We also spent a warm but pleasant weekend with Beth and the kids at Bear Lake.




In October we flew to Portland for a fun visit with Matt, Christy, and the kids.

Meanwhile the street project was nearing completion.  It was exciting when the concrete was poured, however everyone got plenty of exercise walking to their cars which were parked on nearby streets.  It took seven days for the concrete to cure.

In September I enjoyed a beautiful afternoon hike up to Lake Blanche.  It was nice to be back on the trail after the summer heat.

It was a good summer that left us with a new roof, no hot tube, great memories, and an awesome new street.

2017 Eclipse

As excited guests prepared to watch the solar eclipse on the west deck of the Jackson Lake Lodge, LuJean and I found a less crowded spot with an amazing view.  Here's our report on the events of the morning of August 21 as recorded in an e-mail shortly after the eclipse:


"We hauled Julie's folding soccer chairs to the top of Lunch Tree Hill and set up on the ridge overlooking Jackson Hole. The weather was perfect with clear blue sky and even the smoke from prior days was gone. Something of a miracle to begin with.

My head is still spinning a bit, but it was an amazing experience I might compare to walking inside St. Peter's in Rome or peering over the edge of Toroweap - only far grander.

It seemed everyone was caught by surprise. We had been using our glasses as the sun became a sliver, the temperature had been dropping, the light on the mountains was fading and then suddenly people let out a gasp and it was dark. It was strange but a lot was happening.

The most spectacular part was the sky. With the sun now gone there was a bright silver corona that was much larger and impressive than I expected.  It was like a ring of molten silver, while not far away Jupiter was shining brilliantly in a black sky.


On Lunch Tree Hill the view was eerie. South toward Jackson the horizon had an orange glow, as did the northern horizon looking toward Yellowstone. It wasn't pitch black but more like late dusk.  The mountains stood in towering stark silhouette back-lit by light from Idaho. The most remarkable earthly feature was Jackson Lake which reflected strange shimmering silver light from the glowing corona. It was really haunting and beautiful - brings tears to my eyes trying to describe it.

The minute and fifty seconds ended quickly but not without one last galactic splash. As suddenly as it began the light reappeared but it was like an indescribably bright stage spotlight. It was quick and utterly amazing as Jackson Hole was immediately back in day light.

Not something you see everyday - or ever.  Wow!"

For more photos and comments see our gallery at:
>Outings>Photo Field Trips>2017 Eclipse

41st Anniversary in Telluride

 Thanks to an enticing promotion, we enjoyed our anniversary at the Hotel Columbia at Telluride.  A most welcome break from the summer heat!