Frolf

There are many of you out there who couldn’t care less for the game of golf. But who doesn’t like Frisbee? Golf is frustrating whereas Frisbee is somewhat relaxing and laid-back. Thanks to some people who wanted to make golf less nerve-wracking and Frisbee more challenging, we can enjoy the sport of Frolf, otherwise known as disc golf or Frisbee golf. The really cool thing about Frolf is you can play it virtually anywhere. As long as there is something to hit, you’ve got a target. If you are new to the sport, you may want to focus on the broad side of a barn for starters.
Frolf actually introduces a new type of sporting equipment, which is very similar to a regular Frisbee in design (flat and round), but differs in weight and size. The discs are typically smaller and much heavier, making them ideal for throwing long distances. Another similarity between the two is the outrageous colors that they are available in: bright pink, sparkly clear, eye-searing blue (makes your disc easier to spot after you completely missed the mark and it flew into a blackberry bush). A normal Frisbee tends to wobble quite a bit even when an experienced Frisbee player throws one, but a Frolf disc, because of its dimensions, is much more accurate and easy to control. There are also different types of discs, much like golf clubs – each is designed for a specific purpose: long distance, putting, all-rounder, etc.
As previously mentioned, Frolf is a very portable sport. You can go to the park and simply pick out a tree as your target. For more of a challenge, you could pick out a specific part of the tree, like the part that is most likely to trap your disc so you will have to climb the tree in order to retrieve your disc. Makes the game much more fun. Trust me. Plus, you get a little extra exercise. Trees make good targets, but moving targets, such as people or their dogs, are much more challenging and unsurprisingly add an exciting element of danger to the whole sport.
Another Frolf danger factor is losing your disc, which is what makes golf so frustrating, but at least the discs in Frolf are easy to spot because of their coloring and size. My little brother, Jonny, and I were playing disc golf in Liberty Park a while back and Jonny decided to prove his superior Frolf skills by launching his disc as high as he could into the air. Unfortunately, we were standing near Tracy Aviary’s perimeter fence and his disc, although well-thrown high into the air, did not fly straight and it banked toward the bird refuge. After narrowly missing a flamingo’s scrawny neck, the disc came to rest on the Aviary’s cement pathway. And there it sat, in all of its blinding yellow glory, literally four feet away from us. We considered hopping the 10-foot fence, but decided against that. Luckily the nice person at the ticket booth allowed us to retrieve it at no charge.
Disc golf is great for families as well as the single player. If you want a more formal Frolf experience, Utah has plenty of disc golf courses for your enjoyment. Most of them are free to play. The courses usually have metal “baskets” that you aim for, instead of you having to pick out a target, so it makes the game feel a little more professional.
If it ever stops raining/snowing, you can soon go Frolfing without worrying about disappearing in your local park/swamp. Enjoy the game and make sure to duck often!

Adopt-A-Trail

Have you ever been on a hiking trail and come across a log that was smack-dab in the middle of the trail? As you found your way around it, did you think to yourself, “Why doesn’t someone come and take care of this obstacle?” And as an afterthought you mused, “Gosh, if I had an axe or a chainsaw, I’d take care of it for sure, but I don’t, so oh well…” If you fit this description, mark June 4^th as the day you pack your handy-dandy hatchet and make good on your intentions to make a trail a more pleasant experience.

“Why June 4^th?” you ask? Because it’s National Trails Day 2011, silly! There are a few activities happening all over Utah in honor of this day. You don’t have to participate in an organized event, but you may want to. If you’re the lone wolf type and you’re like me (obsessed with keeping the outdoors litter-free), you can simply take a hike on your favorite trail and carry some helpful tools with you, such as a bag to throw trash into. Or you could take a shovel or rake to clear the trail of loose rocks and excessive dirt.

Most people love to hike because they can get away from civilization and into the beauty of nature. Nobody likes an unkempt trail, though. A beer bottle can quickly change your mood while hiking, just as easily as a washed-out trail. Humans and nature alike can wreak havoc on trails. However, nature doesn’t care; nature wants nothing more than to reclaim the bit of trampled path that cuts through her otherwise beautiful landscape. Humans, on the other hand, want easy access to those beautiful vistas and hidden meadows, and so we need to continue to take care of the trails if we want that easy access.

Consider adopting a trail this year on June 4^th. Think about which trail you like best: the short one near the waterfall; or the long one that takes you deep into the red rocks. After making your selection, decide what you’re going to do that goes above and beyond simply enjoying that trail: look into creating a stairway to make it easier for less capable hikers to access a particularly steep part of the trail; or help encourage revegetation by placing signs near trampled sections that aren’t part of the trail. After doing that you’ll have to think about when you want to reveal to the trail that you are actually its adoptive caretaker. Don’t worry about a major freak-out; most trails will be happy to have someone who cares about them. You may have to explain to the trail that you will die well before it will, but that you will try to ensure that there will always be someone there to care for it. All that matters in the end is that someone cares enough to keep the trail beautiful for others.

I hope you find a trail that is compatible with you. June 4^th should not be the only day you show it some special care. Think about that day like New Year’s when we all make those resolutions to be better people for the rest of the year. June 4^th can act as a resolution-creation day for outdoor goals. Enjoy the trail you choose and remember to never stop loving it.

For more information on National Trails Day 2011 and some activities and ideas visit: http://www.americanhiking.org/national-trails-day/

World on Fire

As the floodwaters recede and the sun heats up, Utah’s landscape is going to be one big wildfire waiting to happen. It’s inevitable. Every year dozens of fires pop up all over the state, some due to natural causes, and others because of the carelessness of one person. Perhaps someday everyone will take Smokey’s words of wisdom to heart: “Only YOU can prevent forest fires!” But until then, all we can do is continue to fight the fires and hope that we’ve done everything we can to stop a fire from igniting.

Fire’s ability to highly entertain the human mind probably has a lot to do with how easily wildfires start because of carelessness. Who hasn’t wanted to throw an aerosol can into a campfire and watch it blow? Or build a ten-foot tower of wood and light it on fire? Or hurl a Molotov cocktail at a tank as it rumbles through the city streets? Fire is amazing and it creates quite a spectacle, but the fun and games can turn deadly at the drop of a hat.

I attended a bonfire party a couple nights ago, which took place in a wide open area with no way for the fire to reach any other flammable material. The wind was quite strong and the flames were reaching about ten feet sideways, but the hot ash was blowing much farther than that. In a dense forest setting, that bonfire would have most likely caused some destruction. Like alcohol, fire should be enjoyed responsibly. It has destructive powers that far outweigh the entertainment value when not handled with care.

Take care this summer that you don’t unexpectedly (or expectedly, for that matter) cause a fire that quickly becomes uncontrollable. Any campfires should be completely doused, and when I say doused, I mean drowned. Create a small pond over where your campfire used to sit, and name it if you like. Using your family name is always a good choice: “Eberhard Pond.” If you’ve got kids, send them out to find some wood so you can erect a sign that indicates you’ve claimed the pond that was made on top of your campfire. Believe me, pouring a gallon of water on some hot coals will appear to put the fire out, but those coals are alive and well and they will survive your pitiful attempt to snuff them out. You’ve got to drown them like unwanted kittens.

Many fires evolve from a spark. A tiny little spark can cause a huge fire, whether the spark comes from a bullet glancing off a rock, or a cigarette butt hitting the ground, or a chain hanging from a trailer that strikes the road. Such a small thing has such a big potential for destruction. Treat anything fire-related with respect and you will never have to worry about causing an accidental fire. Fires will continue to rage all across the world, but we can always reduce the number of fires by simply preventing them. Once again, enjoy fire responsibly and treat it with respect!

State Park Bonanza

It’s finally starting to warm up, which means for many of us we will be planning campouts and vacations aplenty. When I was young, my mother had her hands full with me and my siblings, and so, when school got out for the summer, she would take us to libraries and parks to keep us busy and out of trouble. I don’t know which I liked best, because both were equally enjoyable as a kid, and my memory is chock-full of the different books I read each summer as well as my favorite parks. Despite the fact that I haven’t had a proper summer vacation in over ten years, I still find time to visit the library and a park or two before summer’s end.

This summer can provide a similar, yet unique experience due to a partnership between the libraries in Utah and the State Parks. You can visit your local Wasatch County Library and, with your library card, check out a State Parks pass that allows you to bypass the fees to enter any of Utah’s 43 state parks. If you have any questions about how the pass works, you can ask the librarian for more details. It’s a great way to get out and explore Utah while saving a little cash in the process. And who doesn’t like saving money?

Just think, you could go to the library and check out a few books on Antelope Island or Goblin Valley, and then visit those places and be a sort of mini expert on the park because of what you read. I know a guy who reads all kinds of books about his next vacation destination, whether it’s Chicago or Rome, and then goes and enjoys it more because he has a small bit of background on that location. I’m the type of person who figures I’ll learn about the place as I explore it, but I’ll admit it would be nice to know more about an area before I go.

The last time I visited Antelope Island, I was surprised to find out that people actually lived out there at one time. I thought it was a desolate island in the middle of a salty lake that had random bison living on it. I had no idea how the bison arrived on the island. That wasn’t really something I had thought about before, but after leaving the park I knew a little bit more about our state’s unique history. Not only was the trip highly informative, but it also gave me a chance to see some wonderful scenery and wildlife.

Utah is known for its National Parks, but the State Parks are no less interesting and even breathtaking at times. And there is a variety of activities that the various parks offer, from boating to hiking to digging for dinosaur bones. If you’re really ambitious, you could visit three or four of the State Parks within one day, but the ability to “rent” a park pass from the library makes it easy to visit the parks at your leisure. It’s the perfect educationally entertaining and engaging program if you have children. There is so much to learn from Utah’s landscape, and discoveries are waiting for you and your family to happen upon them.

Blue Thumbs

This past weekend I mowed my lawn for the first time since last September. Some areas had a reasonable amount of grass, but other areas were ridiculously long and I had to mow over those areas three times before the vegetation was properly tamed. The long grass had grown through the winter and I felt sort of bad for cutting something down that had fought so hard to thrive during the bitterest part of the year. But it was starting to look silly, like an odd tuft of hair on an otherwise hairless scalp. So away it went.

I wish I could grow a garden like I was able to grow my grass. Last year, I planted a bunch of vegetables in pots and set them in my front yard. They began sprouting and producing very small versions of peppers and tomatoes and peas, until the sunlight they were receiving wasn’t enough. My yard is really shady (not drug-dealer shady, but tree-shade shady), and the vegetables were fine while they were small and getting an hour or two of sunlight per day, but they required a lot more as they began to grow.

What could I do? Chop down two trees that had already existed for half a century so that twenty tomatoes, six peppers and fifty peas could grow? I tried moving the pots into the traveling sunlight each day, but that became impractical since I wasn’t always home to move them. I eventually gave up and watched as my plants struggled to survive. The tomato plant did the best and ended up producing four tomatoes. The peas never did anything. The pepper plant spit out four baby peppers that approached adolescence before they decided it wasn’t worth the effort and they wasted away to nothing. It was sad and pitiful. Truth be told, my thumbs were very blue, instead of green as they should have been. But at least my grass was growing.

Too bad grass isn’t as nutritious as other plants. All of us would be saving money like mad grazing on our own lawns, rather than buying produce from the grocery store. But that’s the way life is: if you want something that is good for you, you’re going to have to work for it. I can’t just throw some seeds on dirt and hope that in three months I can harvest hundreds of vegetables. I’ve got to make sure there is plenty of sunlight, the right amount of water, maybe a little fertilizer to help things along, and, according to some, loving words of encouragement to help the plants feel self-worth so they want to grow up big and strong.

I think I’ll try again this year. My typical response to failure is, “If at first you don’t succeed, give up.” But I love watching plants grow, especially vegetable plants, and I won’t feel good about myself if I simply forget about trying to grow a garden again this year. My poor blue thumbs need a pick-me-up, and a successful plant or two is just what they need to become green again. Give me three months and we’ll see if I can’t apply what I learned from last year’s failure.