Thursday, November 21st, 2019

A Hike into Deep Canyon

Left the house about 9 AM the weather was overcast, windy and cool. The temperature was about 37 deg. F with a wind of 10 mph. Once inside the canyon the wind was barely noticeable. Deep Canyon is in the Wellsville Mountain Wilderness just a couple of miles above the town of Mendon, Utah.  There was some snow and ice in spots along the trail, on my way down I put Yaktracks on my Teva sandals to keep from slipping around.

Inside the canyon was quiet and peaceful the only sound was my feet crunching in the snow. As usual it was nice to get into the mountains and enjoy the solitude which I am liking more and more as I get older.  The hike was a little over 4 miles round trip and an elevation gain of about 1700 feet. It took just over 2 hours; should have went further up and stayed longer. Old age is showing in my walk and flexibility so it's good to keep getting out and pushing the comfort zones!

Paddling my Kayak on Hyrum Reservoir

Thursday, November 14th, 2019

Decided to go paddle the kayak in Hyrum reservoir today. Hyrum reservoir is in a northern Utah Cache valley. It's been a while since I've done this and recreational paddling is one of my passions. Then there is always the birds; you just never know what you might see out there on this reservoir. It was a very cool November morning as the sun was just rising and there were very few people or boats; a peaceful quiet morning.

Great Blue Heron

Elusive Belted King Fisher!

A bike ride into Spawn Creek

Tuesday November 19th, 2019. Been wanting to take a bike ride into Spawn Creek all summer but was just to busy to do it until now.  Spawn creek is in Logan Canyon above the city of Logan. The last time I was up there was many years ago when there was dirt/gravel road going up the creek. There were some pretty cascading falls up there. Now this area has been shut off to motorized travel and designated as a habitat restoration area for native trout (Bonneville Cutthroat and Brook Trout) along with the beaver. The beaver dams have pretty much covered the cascading falls.

Today was a little cold with an icy gravel road to start the ride and a muddy and wet trail up Spawn creek. Got my bike muddier than ever before. I would suggest leaving the bike home and just hiking if someone wants to do this trip right now!