Last Rays of Summer

Summer officially ends on the 23^rd of September. For most children summer ends when school starts at the end of August. I think I’m safe to say that for most adults summer ends on Labor Day. It’s really one of the last holiday weekends when a grown-up can plan on taking a long camping trip or boating adventure. After Labor Day it’s pretty hard to find a good, long weekend when the weather is still somewhat warm for any summer activities. Once autumn hits, the temperatures will drop and the weather will become much more wet, making hikes and campfires all but obsolete.

So what do you plan on doing with your last long summer weekend? Catch up on all the television shows you’ve recorded on your DVR over the last few weeks? Or do some fall cleaning that should have been done in the spring, but you’re just getting to it now? Or perhaps you’re hopping in your car and you’re headed out to the Great Salt Lake to enjoy some peace and quiet out by the Spiral Jetty? I hope you don’t pick the last option, because that’s my plan and I don’t want anyone else ruining my peace and quiet. But I do hope it’s something similar, such as heading to a lake to fish or following the instructions on a map that your grandfather left you that leads to a legendary stash of bandit loot somewhere in the desert.

Whatever you do and wherever you go I truly hope you soak up the last rays of the summer sun. A person like me, despite my love for the wintertime, can still appreciate the summer and the activities that go along with it. I am excited for the weather to become cooler and the air to become crisp, but that doesn’t mean that I can’t look back on the last few hot months with a fondness for their warmth and the refreshing effects of a river. Now that I can look back, the unbearably hot days seem like a bad dream, and I am left with a handful of happy memories: a walk around Mirror Lake; watching shooting stars; hopping across large rocks to cross a raging river. The sole regret I have is that I did not have time to do more.

Labor Day affords me one last big chance at engaging in one more fun, summery adventure. That is until next year. The seasons are great like that: whatever you wanted to do this year that you didn’t get around to because a family reunion got in the way or the weather was terrible the weekend you were planning on an extra-long hike, you can plan for the next year. In a way, the ends and beginnings of seasons are like miniature New Year’s Days. You look back at the previous months, decide what you wanted to do, and make a resolution to do it the next year, as well as look forward to the coming months and resolve to do certain things this year.

As the wind blows through tall, dry, yellow plants and shimmering mirages reflect across an expanse of glaring white salt, I’ll be scribbling a few plans down for next year’s summer in addition to envisioning how I will take full advantage of this year’s fall and winter. Gazing out at the unnatural (though composed of natural materials) spiral that stretches out toward the beautiful, blue sky, I will remind myself how time marches forward and I must choose to either spiral outward and expand my horizons or be sucked in by the spiral’s pull and wind up in the center, swirling in place, going nowhere. I am certain I will choose to broaden my outlook and learn to enjoy more of what this earth has to offer. What a wonderful world.

Mountains Aren't Just For Hiking

As man evolves, so do his toys. Used to be a person wouldn’t even dream of trying to take a bicycle up a mountain trail. Bikes now have shocks and all kinds of fancy gadgets that could make them fairly float down a cliff side. I imagine there were a few boys back in the day that attempted to take their old, rickety, banana-seated hunk of metal with two wheels up a mountain, but after losing the fenders and the chain, they stuck to shooting varmints out in the fields.

When I was a lad, shocks were the big technology when it came to mountain biking, but I couldn’t afford them, so I stuck to shaking myself near to death every time I came down a mountain trail on my bike. The shocks and absorbers that are available nowadays make my mouth water when I realize that almost every bump and jarring motion would disappear with their use. I have upgraded to a shock on my front fork, but it doesn’t feel like it’s doing much after 15 minutes of riding. Someday I’ll stop being so cheap and upgrade all the way so I’m comfortable.

Besides shocks, there are also advances in the brake area. I had a bike once that only had front brakes (the back brakes had simply broken and I hadn’t fixed them). As I was coming up to a traffic light, the light turned red and I clamped down on my brakes, but the front brakes snapped with rust and wear. Luckily, there was only one car waiting to go through the light and I wasn’t killed in the cross traffic, but I had to find a way to slow myself as I careened down the hill I was on. Eventually I had to employ my shoes to act as stopping agents.

But shoes are not the advance I am talking about in the brake area. Disc brakes are. The first time I experienced disc brakes, I wound up on my face and elbows with my legs somehow tangled in the bike frame. Disc brakes stop a bike much faster than regular rim brakes, and that takes some getting used to. All it takes is a little, tiny, teensy-weensy, baby squeeze and disc brakes begin some serious slowing. Between shocks and brakes, life on a bike has become a little more efficient.

Unfortunately, disc brakes are not the only thing that will send you face first into the dirt. Large rocks will, for example, or ditches, or even badgers. Try to remember that mountain biking is not as easy to escape without injury as regular road biking. Take a simple first aid kit with you to bandage up the small lacerations caused by whipping branches. And also remember that your face and elbows may not be the only victims of mountain biking’s savagery: your wheels may suffer punctures. All experienced cyclists, whether on a paved road or mountain trail, take along a flat repair kit, unless their wheel-technology has advanced past the need to worry about flats, which is very possible.

I love feeling the cool mountain air rush past me on my way down a mountain on my bike. It’s fun to maneuver corners and jumps and experience the adrenaline rush of narrowly avoiding colliding with a tree. My absolute favorite part of mountain biking, though, is blasting through puddles after a rainstorm. Some people like to get their vehicles dirty; I like to get mud on my face. Makes me feel like a human, like I’m alive. So get out there and get some dirt on your face, or some cuts and bruises on your legs. It might even be fun to use your feet as brakes. Happy biking!

Fleet Feet

Over ten years ago I was part of my high school’s cross-country running team. I wasn’t anything exceptional, but I typically finished in the top 40 percent. Eventually I quit running because I suffered from shin splints. In the last ten years I’ve gone for a run maybe two or three times. It’s quite sad, because I loved the adrenaline rushes and sense of accomplishment after each race. Last week I started running again, and I’m committed to keeping it up. Especially since most of the people around me continually mention how a person suddenly begins gaining weight after the age of 30. I definitely need to start a good exercise habit now; otherwise I know I’ll regret it.

When I experienced shin splints the first time many years ago, I thought I simply needed to stretch my legs more. Come to find out, the shoes I was wearing were not optimal for the sport of running and they were quickly ruining my shins. Who knew a bad pair of shoes could cause so much pain? I went from running ten miles per day, easy, to less than a mile before the shin splints would kick in. This time around I’ve bought a pair of shoes designed for running. Not cross-trainers or tennis shoes. Running shoes. Makes sense, right?

Some of my fondest cross-country training memories include the mountains. Our coach would take us up into the mountains, sometimes to a ski resort, sometimes to an obscure trail in the middle of nowhere, and he’d turn us loose. I’m surprised that, out of a bunch of high school kids, none of us went missing. I really liked running ski resorts in the summer, because the air is cleaner and cooler in the mountains and the flora and fauna are always beautiful and fun to see. The only downside to running the mountainous trails was Tim. Tim somehow always wound up in front of me, and his sweaty body reeked something foul. If I tried to pass him, he took it as a challenge and sped up. If I tried to hang back, he would slow down too. It was as if I were his only competition. Luckily Tim hasn’t showed up in my latest running exploits, so I’m safe for now.

Here’s some important information about me: I can’t stand mornings. I am not a morning person. Sure, I’ll wake up early if I need to, to go on a fishing trip or start the campfire for breakfast, but I’m rarely in a good mood those mornings. When I go running it’s at night. There is something magical about the nighttime, with its cooling breezes, its subdued lighting, its ability to relax and calm after a hard day’s work. Perhaps someday I will learn to appreciate the morning, but until then my affection for the night will continue. Plus, all the energy that I didn’t use during the day can be burned up at night, setting me up for a generally good night’s sleep.

If you’re a runner, stay safe out there. Runners who prefer running in the dark should be as bright as possible. If you’re considering running as a hobby or necessary exercise, you have my admiration. I know how hard it is to pick the sport back up after ten years. And if you’re suddenly assaulted by the smell of rotting hamburger meat, congratulations, you’ve had an encounter with Tim. Happy running and watch out for those nasty shin splints!

Food and Grass

There are some forms of art that are slowly dying or have died in recent years. I’m not talking about fine art, rather arts such as the art of porch-sitting, or the art of going-outside-to-do-anything-other-than-take-the-garbage-out. Even the art of fine dining inside the home is becoming extinct. Some people don’t know how to prepare food if it’s not microwaveable or easy to pull out of the box and shove into the preheated oven. Technology has given us more free time and what do we do with it? I don’t know about you, but I’ve taken up the hobby of not going insane.

Have you ever stopped eating in the middle of a meal and realized that nobody is talking, the television is on and little Billy is mindlessly putting vegetables (which he never eats) into his mouth as he watches one of the many crime investigation shows? If it doesn’t bother you, by all means, continue not talking with your family members and let Billy put hair on his chest. If it does bother you (the not talking or interacting part), go on a picnic. It’s simple, refreshing and you might have a good conversation with your family. Not to mention most picnics involve fun activities before and after eating, like Frisbee or catch.

Picnics are the perfect way to get in touch with a lot of things. Family, for one; the world outside your home, for two; and the beauty of nature, for three. The list doesn’t stop there, of course, but I’ll allow you to complete the list of items that you enjoy doing as you sit on a blanket in the grass and munch on a crisp piece of celery and watch your children beat each other up because Billy threw the Frisbee into the nearby stream and it has disappeared.

I am ready for a picnic at the drop of a hat: there is always a blanket in the back of my Jeep. You don’t even need a basket, though it does help if you want to keep plates and utensils in it. Most of the time, my picnics are pretty whimsical. My wife and I will stop at the store, grab some chicken and potato wedges, and we’re off to enjoy lunch in some shady grove in the foothills. Or if we’re feeling French, we’ll buy a small loaf of artisan bread, a triangle of Brie cheese, dipping oil, and maybe some lunchmeat, then go find a picturesque place to dine. Simple, yet flavorful and fun.

What’s really nice about picnics is that you end up spending some quality time with your family and friends. Conversations happen, the kids get exercise, the food typically isn’t microwaved, and there are rarely any dishes to wash up. Clean-up consists of mom and dad each grabbing a side of the blanket and flipping the crumbs off for some lucky bug to find. The time you saved with not washing dishes you get to spend finding out just how much more energy everyone else has than you.

If you are one of the great people in this world perpetuating the art of picnicking, I salute you. There are so many problems in this world that affect a person’s well-being negatively, but you are doing something active that promotes a healthy lifestyle, both mentally and physically. And what better way to enjoy Utah’s outdoors than with food? Nothing beats watching the sun set behind the Wasatch Mountains as you devour a homemade Shepherd’s Pie on top of a grassy knoll.

Should you find yourself wishing you had more time or energy for picnicking, just do it. Throw some foodstuffs into a sack, hop in your car, find the nearest park, and eat! It doesn’t get any easier than that. I wish everyone “bon appétit,” especially if you are eating Brie on bread, and I hope you have some great moments as you combine food and the outdoors.

Lions and Tigers and WHAT?!

When I was a little boy my mother and father took us camping with a large group of girls every year. I didn’t really care that I was one of ten to fifteen males among what seemed like a million girls at a Girls’ Camp in the Uintahs. All I cared about was finding the next stick to poke into the fire.

One memorable day as I stared into our campfire, my trance was broken by the shrill cry from one of the girls in the camp. Before I knew it, dozens of screams and shrieks assaulted my ears and I thought for sure the man with the hook hand had arrived; you know, the guy who goes lurking around the mountains looking for young people to help him create the perfect horror story. Anyway, I was pleasantly surprised to find out that instead of the hook-handed man, the girls were merely frightened of a bear cub that had wandered into the camp and climbed up a tree. I couldn’t understand why the men in the camp seemed to be just as scared of the cub as the girls, until my dad explained that “where there’s a baby, there’s a mama.”

Bears, cougars and the occasional rattlesnake seem to be the main villains in any outdoor setting here in Utah. While these animals are certainly dangerous, let’s turn the clock back a few years to the time of the dinosaurs (some of you can probably still relate a few good stories from those days). Imagine hiking up to Stewart Falls and you’re suddenly face to face with a velociraptor, or you enter a cave, only to find out that what you thought were stalagmites and stalactites were really the teeth inside a T-Rex’s mouth…and by then it’s too late.

Luckily we don’t have to worry about giant reptiles ruining our fun; instead they can be part of it. Vernal lies two-and-a-half hours away from most of you and the landscape surrounding it is teeming with the remains of dinosaurs. If you’re willing to drive 20 more miles east of Vernal and part with $10, you can take your carload of friends and/or family members into Dinosaur National Monument. There you can hike, camp, raft, and explore, all while in the presence of harmless prehistoric monsters buried in the rocks. Take care, though! Just because the dinosaurs can’t bite doesn’t mean smaller reptiles and bugs won’t. (Side note – the quarry at Dinosaur National Monument is presently closed, which means that the majority of fossils and bones will be inaccessible. That not to say that there’s not a chance that you could stumble on a stegosaurus spike on a hike somewhere, though.)

Vernal isn’t the only hot spot for dinosaur lovers to meet. Utah is home to numerous museums that display replicas of the dinosaurs found here. My all-time favorite dinosaur is the Iguanodon, though I’m not sure whether he’s a Utah native. I just like how he’s always giving the “thumbs-up.” That’s probably how the species survived among larger terrors like the Tyrannosaurus Rex: as the T-Rex approached the Iguanodon, he’d flash his thumbs, as if to say, “Hey, man, it’s cool. Everything’s groovy,” and suddenly T-Rex would feel a little less aggressive and wander away.

Next time you see a bear or cougar or rattlesnake up close and personal, I doubt you will shrug and think, “Could be worse. Could be a dinosaur.” But once you’ve gotten yourself out of your predicament, I hope you can appreciate the fact that dinosaurs were as real a threat on earth as any living animals are today. Let’s hope that there aren’t any meteors headed our way, though; otherwise people in a few thousand years will be digging up moose and elephant bones and wondering what the heck they dug up. If you take the time to go see what people are digging up nowadays, have fun imagining and learning about the earth’s past and don’t go in any caves shaped like dinosaur mouths!