February 5, 2025

2021 Wasatch Wildflower Festival (Alta Ski Area)

On July 18, 2021, we drove up Little Cottonwood Canyon to attend the Wasatch Wildflower Festival at the Alta Ski Resort. The last time we were up here there was a lot of snow, no flowers and it was cold. This time it looked completely different! We signed in for a guided walk, picking the “moderate walk”, led by David T., a volunteer with the Cottonwood Canyons Foundation. This moderate walk went from the Albion Base Area to the Albion Basin Campground, 2.8 miles, round trip, from the base and 1,100 feet higher. We went further (4.2 miles, round trip, …

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Golden Spike National Historic Site (23 January 2021)

Since moving to Salt Lake City, this is one of the places I wanted to visit. Sometime, over the last 10 years, I read Stephen E. Ambrose’s Nothing Like It In The World, about building the transcontinental railroad between 1863 and 1869. This year, we decide to drive the 1.5 hours for a visit. Even with the bad weather on the way and the cold, blustery winds at the site, it was well worth the trip. We will go back in better weather, but this time we almost had the entire site to ourselves. The Golden Spike National Historic Site …

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Around Salt Lake City (January 2021)

Pat and I moved to Salt Lake City in November, 2020. Although we have done several hikes at the end of 2020, I’m starting the New Year documenting some of the places we have visited in January, 2021. We love this area for hiking and enjoying the outdoors. City Creek Park, Memory Grove Park and the Freedom Trail On January 1, we decided on an urban hike, starting near the Utah State Capitol. This hike was found using AllTrails, a phone app describing trails around the world. The start was only a few miles from our new home. City Creek …

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Red Butte Skyline Trail Hike (11/15/2020)

Our Utah family decided to take us for a hike in the nearby mountains. This was our first hike since moving to Salt Lake City on November 2, 2020. The day was overcast, but there was no threat of rain or snow. We parked near the Museum of Natural History and hiked the Red Butte Skyline Trail. We weren’t sure how far we would go, considering whether Pat and I had acclimatized to the new altitude (we now live above 4,500 feet – the previous 2 years we lived near sea level). The hike took us 3.45 miles in 2 …

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Western U.S.A (01-30 Sep 2017)

We’ve been traveling the world for the last several years (England, Singapore, Argentina, Chile, Australia, Japan, Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, Indonesia, Denmark, Germany and France), so it was time to see more of the U.S.A. and some National Parks. Pat’s cousin Susan lives in La Conner, WA (an hour north of Seattle), we set out for there on the first day of September; but first a long, Labor Day weekend in Franklin, TN, visiting friends we had met in Singapore. When we moved to Singapore in 2014, Susan and Woody took us under their wings to introduce us to life out …

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