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- Dec 23, 2013
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A day if the life of Scatman.
Let me start by saying that April has become a rough month for the Scat. I'm allergic to tree pollen with elm, cedar and juniper being the main culprits. And as I've gotten older the symptoms have become worse. So from about mid-March to around the third week in May, I take a 24 hour antihistamine that helps out quite a bit and lets me get outside to do what I like to do. Today, and for the rest of the week, pollen counts are supposed to be extremely high with elm and juniper topping the list.
That being said, I headed up to the Mount Wire trailhead yesterday morning feeling a little lethargic, and kind of hard to concentrate state of mind. Sheila needed the Subaru for the day, so I brought the old Jeep out of mothballs for this hike.
On the way to the trailhead, I usually cut through the University of Utah Hospital and the Huntsman Caner Center. As I was heading uphill to the U of U, I noticed that the speedometer on the Jeep wasn't working. Stuck on zero when I was doing a good 30 to 35 mph. But once I got past the cancer center, it began functioning again. It's always an adventure with the soon to be 32 year old Wrangler.
Once at the trailhead, I gathered my gear and headed off. I was going to hike up the west ridge this time instead of taking the normal trail that eventually approaches from the north. I was afraid that there would be snow on mud still on the north slope of Wire. I've been down the ridge route many times, but have never hiked up it before. When I got to the top, I ran into a couple, who were kind enough to take my picture, and they told me that the north side was dry, so that was the way I descended.
I struggled on my way up the ridge, needing to stop many times to gather myself as I was feeling light headed and a bit winded due to my allergies. I eventually made it to the summit though, but it took me 2 hours and 5 minutes to get there - my longest time ever to summit Wire. The day was a bit warmer than what I have been used to while hiking this past winter and thus far this spring, so maybe that played a part, but I'm pretty sure it was the tree pollen.
After my hike, I stopped by ARUP to donate a pint of blood, then on to get a pizza for dinner, and finally on to see a group called Larkin Poe at the Depot here in Salt Lake.
Rotating through my Canons, yesterday's hike is brought to you by the Canon Rebel XT, a 8.0 MP sensor that was released in 2005. Also I carried the PowerShot SX150 IS like I did last week, though I only took a handful of shots with it.
Here are some shots of Scatman's day:
Out of mothballs and ready to go. My Jeep near the trailhead
Trees are blooming in the lower foothills
Shrubs too
My hopeful destination
Common storksbill
First vetches of the season
Desert alyssum
Spring parsley
The first arrowleaf balsamroot of the year in the lower foothills
Red Butte comes into sight
Some year old asters
I though this old leaf looked like a bird
So I'm about to leave the main trail and head up the ridge with the two hills on the left of the image
Came across a couple bluebells on the ridge
The highest blooming balsamroot that I saw
Typical of the ridge game trail
Downtown emerges over the west end of Red Butte
This small rocky spine of the ridge is a great place to see rattlesnakes, but it's probably a few weeks off before they are out and about
Slowing down!
Evidence of the real owner's of the trail
Something about curled up leaves gets me excited.
I ran into a couple of forget-me-nots along the game trail
And a lot of snail shells
The summit of Grandeur Peak at the center of the image. I may have to do the west side of that here in a couple weeks so that
I'll be prepared for @Ugly 's death march in May! That is if there is any preparation for it.
This spotted towhee was squawking at me on the way up the ridge.
Juniper berries from the tree that is currently killing me
First spot of the beacon
A cool pile of rocks that orange lichen on them
A cactus along the deer trail
Mount Raymond
Where the game trail intersects with the usual Mount Wire Trail, and it happens to be right next to my favorite mountain mahogany
Different view of my favorite
The beacon above. I think it might be within my reach?
Grandview peak
I liked this shot the lone mountain mahogany on the west slope of Wire with the summits of Mount Olympus and Lone Peak in the
distance. It also kind of looks like I am in the middle of a briar patch.
Made it. Someone has put prayer flags around the beacon
View south along the Wasatch, with Emigration Canyon below
Summit shot
The Rebel XT
Lookout Peak
More parsley
Spring whitlow-grass
Gamble oak as far as the eye can see
More curly leaves
First swallowtail of the year
Longleaf phlox - back towards the bottom
One last balsamroot
Some Oregon grape in bloom
Back at the Jeep!
Donating a pint of Scat blood
What wire looks like from ARUP blood donation center
Vegetarian pizza for dinner. I added red onions, red bell peppers, spinach and Kalamata olives to my half.
And to help wash the pizza down, a Lewis & Clark pint of Scottish Ale.
Then onto waiting in line for the concert. Total of 4.5 hours of standing for this one, which my left knee did not like.
The warmup band was a guy named Parker Millsap and he played for about 40 minutes. I liked him and bought one of his CD's
after the show.
Next up was Larkin Poe (a sisters blues act) who put on a great concert
Got to bed around 11:45ish which is way past my bedtime!
The End.
Let me start by saying that April has become a rough month for the Scat. I'm allergic to tree pollen with elm, cedar and juniper being the main culprits. And as I've gotten older the symptoms have become worse. So from about mid-March to around the third week in May, I take a 24 hour antihistamine that helps out quite a bit and lets me get outside to do what I like to do. Today, and for the rest of the week, pollen counts are supposed to be extremely high with elm and juniper topping the list.
That being said, I headed up to the Mount Wire trailhead yesterday morning feeling a little lethargic, and kind of hard to concentrate state of mind. Sheila needed the Subaru for the day, so I brought the old Jeep out of mothballs for this hike.
On the way to the trailhead, I usually cut through the University of Utah Hospital and the Huntsman Caner Center. As I was heading uphill to the U of U, I noticed that the speedometer on the Jeep wasn't working. Stuck on zero when I was doing a good 30 to 35 mph. But once I got past the cancer center, it began functioning again. It's always an adventure with the soon to be 32 year old Wrangler.
Once at the trailhead, I gathered my gear and headed off. I was going to hike up the west ridge this time instead of taking the normal trail that eventually approaches from the north. I was afraid that there would be snow on mud still on the north slope of Wire. I've been down the ridge route many times, but have never hiked up it before. When I got to the top, I ran into a couple, who were kind enough to take my picture, and they told me that the north side was dry, so that was the way I descended.
I struggled on my way up the ridge, needing to stop many times to gather myself as I was feeling light headed and a bit winded due to my allergies. I eventually made it to the summit though, but it took me 2 hours and 5 minutes to get there - my longest time ever to summit Wire.
The day was a bit warmer than what I have been used to while hiking this past winter and thus far this spring, so maybe that played a part, but I'm pretty sure it was the tree pollen.After my hike, I stopped by ARUP to donate a pint of blood, then on to get a pizza for dinner, and finally on to see a group called Larkin Poe at the Depot here in Salt Lake.
Rotating through my Canons, yesterday's hike is brought to you by the Canon Rebel XT, a 8.0 MP sensor that was released in 2005. Also I carried the PowerShot SX150 IS like I did last week, though I only took a handful of shots with it.
Here are some shots of Scatman's day:
Out of mothballs and ready to go. My Jeep near the trailhead
Trees are blooming in the lower foothills
Shrubs too
My hopeful destination
Common storksbill
First vetches of the season
Desert alyssum
Spring parsley
The first arrowleaf balsamroot of the year in the lower foothills
Red Butte comes into sight
Some year old asters
I though this old leaf looked like a bird
So I'm about to leave the main trail and head up the ridge with the two hills on the left of the image
Came across a couple bluebells on the ridge
The highest blooming balsamroot that I saw
Typical of the ridge game trail
Downtown emerges over the west end of Red Butte
This small rocky spine of the ridge is a great place to see rattlesnakes, but it's probably a few weeks off before they are out and about
Slowing down!
Evidence of the real owner's of the trail
Something about curled up leaves gets me excited.
I ran into a couple of forget-me-nots along the game trail
And a lot of snail shells
The summit of Grandeur Peak at the center of the image. I may have to do the west side of that here in a couple weeks so that
I'll be prepared for @Ugly 's death march in May!
That is if there is any preparation for it. This spotted towhee was squawking at me on the way up the ridge.
Juniper berries from the tree that is currently killing me
First spot of the beacon
A cool pile of rocks that orange lichen on them
A cactus along the deer trail
Mount Raymond
Where the game trail intersects with the usual Mount Wire Trail, and it happens to be right next to my favorite mountain mahogany
Different view of my favorite
The beacon above. I think it might be within my reach?
Grandview peak
I liked this shot the lone mountain mahogany on the west slope of Wire with the summits of Mount Olympus and Lone Peak in the
distance. It also kind of looks like I am in the middle of a briar patch.
Made it. Someone has put prayer flags around the beacon
View south along the Wasatch, with Emigration Canyon below
Summit shot
The Rebel XT
Lookout Peak
More parsley
Spring whitlow-grass
Gamble oak as far as the eye can see
More curly leaves
First swallowtail of the year
Longleaf phlox - back towards the bottom
One last balsamroot
Some Oregon grape in bloom
Back at the Jeep!
Donating a pint of Scat blood
What wire looks like from ARUP blood donation center
Vegetarian pizza for dinner. I added red onions, red bell peppers, spinach and Kalamata olives to my half.
And to help wash the pizza down, a Lewis & Clark pint of Scottish Ale.
Then onto waiting in line for the concert. Total of 4.5 hours of standing for this one, which my left knee did not like.
The warmup band was a guy named Parker Millsap and he played for about 40 minutes. I liked him and bought one of his CD's
after the show.
Next up was Larkin Poe (a sisters blues act) who put on a great concert
Got to bed around 11:45ish which is way past my bedtime!
The End.
