Reviewing "A Walk In The Woods"

The lovely picture at the right is NOT on the Appalachian Trail, but here in Utah.  I have done some hiking since we have been out here, and believe me it has been quite an adventure, but nothing like hiking nearly 2,000 miles on the Appalachian Trail!


Went with hubby tonight to see the movie "A Walk In The Woods" starring Robert Redford and Nick Nolte filmed along the Appalachian Trail.  It was very funny! We got a kick out of seeing Amicalola Falls in the movie, as we have actually spent time there. The Lodge there is lovely as are the Falls.  The picture below is of those lovely Falls.

It was the perfect time for me to see this movie, as I have been a bit melancholy this past month.  First there was an abnormal ECG and Holter Monitor (turned out to be nothing serious, just premature ventricular contractions) but brought home the reality that I am no Spring Chicken any more!  Then there was a Gout attack secondary to the stress about the Cardiac thing...geesh.  Then, to top it all off, I went to the eye doctor for new glasses and he put me on glaucoma drops!  Wow! That was just a bit much for one month!

So, the movie tonight was quite appropriate.  It was about two old guys getting together and walking the Appalachian Trail.  Now, that is no small feat!  Their adventures were both poignant and hysterical.  They shared details of their lives.  They shared their fears and their joys.

I don't know how well this movie will play with the "younger" set, but for us who are 50 plus it is definitely a winner. This movie is good for a bunch of good laughs, but it is also a reminder that we need to live each day to the fullest!

For me, well it reminded me that I still have some things I want to do/complete before my time here is up.  I also want to remember every day just how much my family means to me.

So, to sum it all up, this one is a TEN in my book!


PEACE, LOVE & JOY

High Times In the Rockies Continue

My daughter, Melanie, called me early this morning and suggested we take a hike out on Antelope Island.  Antelope Island sits in the middle of the Great Salt Lake and I live close enough to it to see it from my bedroom window.  I have only visited there briefly earlier this fall for a kite show.  I had never explored the entire Island, nor had I done any hiking out there, so it sounded like a fun day!

We carried my brand new snowshoes, but as it turned out our clip on spikes were enough for the climb.

However, before we ever got started on our hike, we were addressed by a DNR official who told us that they would be relocating 200 mule deer today to reduce the size of their 800 head herd.  She just wanted us to know the helicopter would be flying over rounding up the deer and it might spook the Bison who live on the Island.  Okay, we would watch out for running Bison!   We continued down the road and stopped at the Ranch on the Island where they have various displays and information.  There we met a friendly gentleman who told us exactly how this roundup was going to occur.

As it turns out, they use a helicopter to take men called "Muggers" yep, muggers up the mountainside.  When they get to the deer, the mugger jumps out of the copter, wrestles the deer to the ground, and puts him in a net.  Then, as if that is not amazing enough, they put the deer in these net slings and attach them to the helicopter and fly them back down the mountainside to a waiting crew.  This crew includes a veterinarian who checks them out, treats them if necessary and some are tagged before being loaded into trailers to move to a new location.  WOW!

This was like being there while they were filming a show for Animal Planet!

It was incredible.  They had quite a number of men and women participating in this activity.  It is wonderful how they take care of the wildlife out here.

The deer is placed in a sling and thoroughly inspected before being moved into the wiring trailers for transport.

Truck belonging to some of those who participate in this "roundup" adventure.

After watching some of the deer being transferred, we headed out on our adventure around the rest of the Island.  This is one of the many Bison we saw today, and none of them seemed bothered by the helicopter.  

The views on Antelope Island are amazing all the time, but today was really interesting, because snowstorms were rolling in across Great Salt Lake as we were there.

It looks dark, but it isn't rain, it's actually snow! And lots of it! Pictures just don't do this gorgeous part of the country justice!

The snow here is so powdery, it doesn't even feel wet!  I couldn't help playing in it a little!

I made my very first snow angel of my whole life at age 67! LOL…Am I losing it, or what?

Really, isn't this an amazingly beautiful place…and I am one happy Utahn!

 We finally did hike up the Buffalo Point Trail.  It was lovely, and we were the first HUMAN footprints in the fresh snow.  We saw a ton of little fat birds who seem to live up on the mountain.

Googled them when I got home…they are called Chukar's! Who knew!?

 

There are Big Horn Sheep and Antelope on the Island as well, but today they were hiding from us.  There is an abundance of wildlife here on the Island.  Great Salt Lake is the largest natural lake west of the Mississippi.  The lake is actually a remnant of prehistoric Lake Bonneville, which covered more than 20,000 square miles during the Ice Age.  Four distinct shorelines from the lake may be seen from Antelope Island.

Great Salt Lake is currently 75 miles long by 28 miles wide, covering 1,700 square miles.  At this level, maximum depth is about 33 feet.  Size and depth vary greatly with seasonal evaporation and precipitation.

Salinity is too high to support fish and most other acquatic species.  However, brine shrimp, brine flies and several types of algae thrive in the lake and are the primary food sources for millions of migrating birds.

Nearly 80 percent of Utah's wetlands surround the Great Salt Lake, making its ecosystem one of the most important resources in North America for migratory and nesting birds.  The area hosts 250 bird species each year, which represents a significant part of the six to nine million migratory birds passing through the Pacific Flyway.  The lake and its marshes provide resting, nesting and staging areas for birds.

There is so much neat about this amazing Island, and about so much of Utah that I haven't even seen yet.  We are going to do a lot more exploring, so I'm gonna have to stay in good shape!  

For now, sweet followers, I wish you all…

PEACE, LOVE AND JOY!

Fly Fishing, Trail Walking and Ogden's Beautiful Gardens

 We awoke to a beautiful, breezy morning here in Ogden, so I decided it was time to introduce Kevin one of the beautiful walking/biking/hiking trails here in Ogden.  This particular trail head starts just steps from where we will be living when our Town Home is completed, and runs right alongside the Ogden River.

The trail is paved and therefore works well for casual walking, running, biking and strollers.  There are all kinds of beautiful places to stop and take a break, and there are benches, picnic tables, grills and areas where we can walk down to the river.

Part of this gorgeous trail takes you right by the Ogden Botanical Gardens.

These meticulously maintained gardens have a huge variety of flowers, fruits, vegetables and trees which will make you Oooohh and Aaahhhh with their beauty and fragrance. 

I couldn't resist taking dozens of pictures, so this blog today is more of an pictorial essay than a true blog...forgive me...just couldn't help myself!

 I hadn't seen this type of day lily before and loved the way their heads hung down like trumpets.  Lovely and that is actually a HUGE plant.

Part of the fascination with this garden, is the constant change as new vegetables and fruits come into their own each week.

Can you think of a more beautiful location for a Botanical Garden?  I can't!  The mountainous backdrop is amazing.

 I haven't a clue what type of Thistle this is, but found myself compmletely fascinated with the lavender stems!

 Huge splashes of color abound everywhere you turn in the garden, from dahlias, and zinnias to cone flowers and daisies...beautiful....

 The mountain air was clean and fresh and there was a great breeze this morning as the suns rays reached down to wake the flowers.

 A Japanese garden area offers some beautiful displays of Japanese Maple and other lovely trees.

There was a lady sitting on the ground beside this group of flowers with a special lens on her camera taking close up photographs of the lovely selection of blossoms here.

Flowers flowers and more flowers everywhere you look!

 Ash and Liv love the lovely Blue spruce trees they call Christmas trees.

 Makes you want to reach out and touch them doesn't it?

 I loved these beautiful deep pink zinnias with white edges...so lovely.

 I enjoy the contrast of the different plants and flowers growing aside each other.

 And then there is the rose garden...

    wish I had smell-a-vision...asaaaahhh.

 Amazing color isn't it?

 Some of the roses are hybrids, some are heirloom varieties...the heirloom varieties tend to have the best smells.

Just another beautiful reason we love Ogden so much.

 I almost hated to leave the beautiful Rose Garden...it is such a peaceful place...

 Isn't it lovely here?

 Nasturtiums...brought me back to my childhood.  I remember getting a seed packet full of them one summer and planting my own special little flower bed.  They are a nice edible flower to put in salads too.

 A huge Sunflower..

         one of God's lovely creations.

 I am just amazed with the variety of flowers available in the garden.

 I'm not sure if this was a giant (as big as my head) hibiscus or Rose of Sharon...beautiful isn't it?

 There are lovely covered pavilions with nicely maintained picnic tables all along the trail...this is one of many...

Many of them have charcoal grills available for use.

 So we were back on the trail again, walking along the lovely Ogden River where we spotted a fisherman fly fishing.

I want to try that soon.

 The trail is paved and has a white line dividing it so that there is a kind of "passing lane" for bikes and runners...

Moving toward the mountains...

 Another little break to walk down to the River's edge to look for some trout...

 If you look hard you can see a rope swing in the center of the picture hanging from that outstretched branch..

 We found a stump where a beaver had chewed off a medium sized tree in an attempt to create a dam.

The view of the mountains here is absolutely breathtaking...

We walked about three miles today, but I am anxious to get a bicycle and travel the entire 9 miles available on the trail.

There is talk of connecting it with another which will make it a total of 23 miles!  Each vista is more beautiful than the next and I never get tired of exploring it.  I can hardly wait for the seasons to change here to experience even more of the West.

Isn't this a beautiful open meandow..I love the sun streaming down through the trees...

 We walk continuously along the river and stop periodically to take in some of the beauty afforded and the cool breezes off the mountainsides.

 You can see the edge of one of the nice benches alongside the path which are available for viewing the river and just relaxing as you hear it roll over the rocks and falls below..

 Aren't these gorgeous?

 I love the glass like quality of these red berries...

 This tunnel passes under the highway between Slackwater at the trailhead and the continuation of the trail...Note the beautiful orange flowered vines trailing down over the rocks.

 The tunnel has whitewashed walls where local artists are encouraged to ply their arts..Wow...

Ogden encourages arts and artists as is evidenced by such groups as "Nuture The Creative Mind," and RAMP (Recreation, Arts, Museums and Parks).

 The Cottonwood trees here are incredibly huge and beautiful ..


We were really taken with this Knarly Dude!  I have no idea how this was formed, but I couldn't resist the picture.

And so another hike ends and we go back to fix a nice lunch from the lovely fresh vegetables we bought from the Farmer's Market last weekend.

Aaaaahhhhh, sweet Ogden!


PEACE, LOVE & JOY

    from God's Country!

Linda