Road Trip - Day Two

The second and final day of the road trip we got up early and were on the road shortly after six am. We drove south out of Hanksville on highway 95 for about 10 miles, then cut off on a dirt road to the west. There are several ways to get where we were going and we eventually ended up on Sawmill Basin Road which leads into the heart of the Henry Mountains. The road is pretty rough at first, the soil has been washed out by recent rains leaving mostly rocks. As you climb higher the road improves and so does the scenery. The bare Mount Ellen ridge line loomed above us, bathed in sunlight as the sun rose behind us. It looked awesome. The vegetation changed from desert to Juniper and Pinion, to pine and aspen lush with grass.

As we reached the higher elevations we began to see deer in abundance. At first it was does and fawns, then bucks! The first group of bucks had 6 ranging from small to medium. They were only 50 or so yards off the road and they ate and glanced at us without fear as I got out and took pictures. Further along we saw more bucks. Some far away on the top of the ridge looked large as they raised their heads to show off their huge antlers. Rounding a corner we came upon another herd. This group had 13 bucks, some of them nearing trophy size.

Another bend or two in the road and we reached our destination, the Mount Ellen trail head. We parked and loaded our pack and headed out the ridge. The hike was fairly easy though you could tell the air was thin at 10,500 feet. Around another bend we spotted another herd of bucks, 14 in all. There were some monsters in this group. I watched them through the binoculars for a while, took some photos, then continued on up the trail. We also saw two coyotes, a couple of marmots and a horny toad!

Arriving at what we thought was the high point, Ellie decided to wait rather than risk turning an ankle on the loose rock. I went on to fine that actual high point was two more peaks to the north, about 1/3 mile further. I quickly hiked over to it, took some photos, signed the log and joining Ellie returned to the vehicle.

Our road trip continued, leaving the Henry Mountains by continuing on the same road to the west which eventually lead us to the bottom and a junction at a place called Sandy Ranch. Here we took the Notum Road to the south for about 20 miles where it meets the Burr Trail. We are back in Capitol Reef National Park for a few miles, and they are spectacular. The road here makes the switchbacks to the Zion Tunnel look like kid's stuff, and this is a dirt road! It winds through awesome rock formations and where it finally leaves the park we find asphalt again. About this time Ellie is thinking we should call this a Dirt Road Trip!



The Burr Trail is about 40 miles of road winding through a spectacular part of the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument and ending up at highway 12 in the town of Boulder. Highway 12 from Boulder to Escalante is equally spectacular. It is 30 miles carved through mostly solid rock, and in places there is just the width of the road with drop offs of several hundred feet on both sides.

In Escalante we stopped at the telephone office and visited with a friend Brant Barton. We wanted to also say hello to Mark Mclemore but I guess he heard us coming and disappeared. After lunch at the local park we paid a visit to old friends Dan and Lois Spencer, then headed on, passing through Henriville, Cannonville, Tropic, Bryce Canyon and Red Canyon, eventually connecting to highway 89. We went down 89 to Todd's Junction and took highway 14 over Cedar Mountain to Cedar, then I-15 to exit 24 and highway 144 back to New Harmony, arriving

around 8:00pm.

If you have read this far you are probably fairly bored with all the highways and directions, I guess I included that as much for my memory as anything. I thought it was a great trip. We got to see a lot of new country, I got to bag a couple of county high points, and we were able to do it together. I especially loved seeing the bucks and am now trying to figure out how to get a tag and someone to hunt there with me. (Joel, hope you read this). Watch for another blog in the near future with some 'big buck' photos.

Road Trip - Day One

Ellie and I just had what I consider to be a fantastic mini-vacation. It probably wouldn't be her first choice, but she is a good sport and went along, and In fact I think she actually enjoyed most of it. She said that next year she gets to choose and we will be going to BYU Education Week. I guess we'll see how good a sport I am.

I am a peak-bagger. For those of you that don't know what that is, it is a person that likes to see how many mountain peaks they can hike. I enjoy hiking, it is a great motivator to stay in shape. I do not do technical climbing. I don't take ropes, pitons or caribeaneers. Most peaks in Utah don't require technical climbing. I set a goal in 2003 to hike the highest point in every county in Utah and now have twenty done, with six to go. If you are really astute you will say, "Hey dummy! Utah has 29 counties" and you would be right. However there are only 26 high points because some of them are right on the county line and are the highpoint for two counties. If you are interested in this challenge you might want to check my web page at http://www.vernile.com/Hiking/Hiking.htm.

Anyhow, I wanted to bag a couple of peaks and talked Ellie into going with me. We left early Thursday morning (8/28) and headed north. We drove up I-15 to the Buckhorn Flat, then took highway 20 across Bear Valley to highway 89. From there we went north through Circleville, and a few miles further north took highway 62 to Koosharem. We took the Brown's Lane cut-off to highway 24 and on into Loa. After consulting with a friendly employee in the Forest Service office we continued out South Main onto a dirt road which leads to the Aquarius Plateau in the Boulder Mountains. The drive into the mountains was through semi-arid low land which changed to pinion pine and juniper, then to quaking aspen and pine. A little over an hour on the dirt road and we were parked about a quarter mile from Blue Bell Knoll, the highest point in Wayne County.

The short hike to the top of Blue Bell was easy, though your lungs could tell you were at 11,000 plus feet in elevation. At the high point we found a rock pile and a container with a log book. All the higher peaks have this. We spent a little time looking through the logs and taking pictures, then headed back to the car. On the way back down the mountain we stropped in a shady place and made sandwiches from our cooler.

We took a slightly different route when we hit the flat land and ended up catching highway 24 just east of Bicknell. We backtracked just to take a look at the town that is the home of Wayne High School, then turned around and headed east again. We passed through the beautiful little town of Torrey, gateway to Capitol Reef National Park, and then on to the park itself. We stopped at some of the points of interest, took photos and reminisced about a family vacation there many years ago.

Back on highway 24 we continued east through the park, through the town of Caneville and on to Hanksville, where we had reservations at the Whispering Sands Motel. Before checking in we stopped at the local BLM office and got a map and some local tips for our trip through the Henry Mountains on day two. They have a very interesting waterwheel and mill that they have moved out of the mountains and re-assembled behind the BLM office. It is worth looking at.

We checked into the motel and rested a while, then went to dinner at a local restaurant. It wasn't much to write about except that they had a dinner special for $6.99, which we tried and it was okay. Probably great for the price. Later at the motel we met up with John Spevak, my sister Claudine's husband, who is working near there and staying at the same motel, and had a good visit.

You thought a blackberry was...what?

It's blackberry season! No, I'm not talking about those electronic PDA's that you use as a phone, an alarm clock, a calendar, a camera, a radio, and has a lot more memory than you do. I'm talking about blackberries. Fruit. Berries that are black. No discrimination intended.

We have a whole fence covered with blackberry vines just to the north of us. It must be about the length of a football field. If you are familiar with the fruit you know how those vines are. They have a lot of thorns! Particular to the way these vines grow seems to be that underneath the old vines die and on top new ones grow. New vines are thorny, but the old ones have hard thorns that can really tear you up! The photo above makes picking the berries look easy. What deception! The berries seem to grow best right in the middle of all the thorns. You reach in and get a fat juicy berry or two in your hand and as soon as you start to move them toward your mouth, or your picking bucket, a thorn jumps out and grabs you and you drop everything in your hand. Sometimes you reach way in and just as you touch a fat juicy one it drops into the depths of the thicket.

I have my own unique style for picking blackberries. I try to get out there before it gets too hot because I wear a long sleeve shirt to protect my arms. I wear a good hat and safety goggles just in case one goes for my head or eyes. I wear heavy boots to protect my feet and lower legs from thorns (and rattlesnakes that might be trying to sample the fruit). I wear a heavy leather glove on my left hand and I have a pair of pruners in my back pocket. I have a picking bucket on a strap over my sholder adjusted to waist high. That's about it. Then I go to picking.

The easiest picking is when you see a nice clister of berries and you grab it with your gloved hand and bring it out in the open and remove the berries with the other hand. Problem is, their arent too many like that. Most of them are hiding well beneath the surface of the tangled mess of vines you can see in the photo below. This is where the pruners come in handy. I'm not too concerned about next year, they always seem to grow back, so I take the pruners and start cutting. Once you get the first few layers cut away the picking is quite easy. Not to say you don't get a little wounded. I have to wait two or three days between picking for my hands to heal so I can pick again.

Of course you have heard the term 'low hanging fruit'. In the context you heard it, it probably wasn't even talking about fruit. Anyhow, the idea is that the best fruit always seems just out of reach. I have tried various methods of getting at the higher stuff. The first day I backed my four wheeler as far into the bush as I could then stood on it and picked. The next time a friend brought his Kubota and I picked from the loader. Last time I took a ladder. Doesn't matter which method, the biggest, plumpest berries are always just a little out of reach. I always end up taking a few steps out onto the vines. Those old dried vines are generally pretty sturdy, but sometimes not. Once I fell clear through. I felt like 'Brer Rabbit' in his 'laughing place', cept I wasn't laughing.

I don't know why I even pick these darn things. Maybe it's because they make such good pie. Or maybe it's the jam on a piece of buttered toast. Or maybe it's the cobbler I plan to make in the dutch oven. Maybe it's that I just can't stand to see them go to waste. No, I think the greatest reward is the look on someone's face when I give them a bucket full. You can tell right away if they have ever picked blackberries.

Ayla's Birthday

Last Friday night We were invited, along with any other relatives in the area, to Ayla's birthday party. Ayla is Clay and Lori's baby girl that just turned two. They decided to come to Salt Lake from Rexburg and have her party at one of the neighborhood parks. Ellie and I happened to be close by, at Darin and Suzanne's house, so we all decided to go.

The party was fun. Almost all the grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins were there. The kids enjoyed the playground and we all enjoyed pizza, soda and birthday cake.

Chokecherry Syrup anyone?

We discovered Chokecherries in our back yard and decided to pick them and see what we could make. I wanted jam, but my cook said no, not enough pulp. That meant jelly or syrup. I don't particularly like jelly because it doesn't spread, and I also like the chunks of fruit in jam. So, we got syrup.

These photos pretty well tell the story. About a half gallon of fruit made just over four pints of syrup.

I knew the Chokecherries were there. It's hard to miss the fragrance of their blossoms when they are in bloom. It's kind of like having a perfume factory in your back yard, except the fragrance is much nicer than anything man
can make. They aren't too hard to pick and we had around a gallon in about 30 minutes. Probably the hardest part was picking the stems off which you can see Ellie is really good at. That's why I let her do it.

So now my mouth is watering for Ellie's delectable pancakes with Chokecherry syrup. Doesn't that sound delicious? If you show up at our house and stick around to have breakfast, If you are really lucky it might be pancake day!

Ellie's Chokecherry Syrup

8 cups of Chokecherries
8 cups of sugar
1 cup white corn syrup

Clean cherries and remove stems. Place cherries in a pot and just cover with water. Boil until fruit is soft and separating from pit. Strain juice. You should have about four cups. Add sugar and corn syrup to juice and boil for ten minutes. Pour into jars and seal.

It's going to be tart, and perhaps a little bitter for some so you may want to mix it with another kind of fruit syrup to enhance the taste.