~The moon was full last night (10/24/18). Didn’t capture a good photo, but I like the leaves in front of the moon in the photo.
oOo-Wasatch Mountain State Park
We took a ride from Jordanelle State Park to Wasatch Mountain State Park one day. It is a beautiful, older state park, established in 1961, and it even has a golf course. It is located in the northern part of the state within the Wasatch Range on the north and west edges of the Heber Valley in Wasatch County near the city of Midway. The Wasatch Rangeis a mountain range that stretches approximately 160 miles from the Utah-Idaho border, south through central Utah in the western United States. It is on the western edge of the greater Rocky Mountains. (some info was taken from the Web)
Didn’t see any RV sites in Wasatch Mountain State Park that would accommodate big rigs, so plan carefully if you want to visit this area. I would highly recommend Jordanelle State Park, but not in the busy summer months.
oOo-Midway, UT
The town of Midway was settled by Swiss Mormons and its Swiss architecture is prominent today. More information on the history of the town here – Midway, UT
There are several Bed and Breakfast places to stay in Midway all portraying the Swiss influence.
Blue Boar InnMidway Town HallMidway Post OfficeAppeared to be a private home in Midway.Wasatch Mountain State Park
However, we did find some Toms hanging out with a few ladies on the golf course in the state park.
Showing off its beautiful tail feathers.
I am so glad the birds finally found the feeders I hung out. There are Western Scrub Jays, Black-capped Chickadees, Mountain Chickadees, Downy Woodpeckers, American Gold Finches, House Sparrows, Black-billed Magpies, and a wonderful surprise, several Cassin’s Finches. I don’t ever remember seeing so many at one time before.
American Gold FinchDowny WoodpeckerBlack-capped Chickadee
I have seen lots of hawks in the area, some probably migrating through, but haven’t been able to identify them with certainty. I saw a flash of a white-ban on a hawk today and I think it was a Northern Harrier.
Today was mostly sunny and cool. A walk, bike ride, and a geocaching excursion filled the day. The geocaching was a fun experience and a first of this type.
The geocache “course” is made up of ten total finds. You write down the coordinates at each station and it leads you to the next one. You probably guessed you find the sun, the eights planets, and Pluto. For more information, you can visit this link – Solar System.
In the end, you retrieve a coupon from the ammo box, bring it up to the ranger station and get a prize. I believe this Solar Geocache Course is a great learning and fun experience for kids. And, perhaps for adults as well.
Here are a few photos from around the park today.
Beautiful autumn colors just after sunrise.
Picnic pad, table and fire ring at each site.Driftwood.Rocky shoreline.Pretty autumn colors.Coots, I believe swimming away from the shoreline.Jordanelle State Park Nestled in the rolling mountains north of Heber City, Utah sits the beautiful Jordanelle Reservoir, fed by the Provo River and impounded by the Jordanelle Dam. (from their web-site)~~
I hung a bird feeder out yesterday, but didn’t have any visitors. Today, two Western Scrub Jays and a Black-capped Chick-a-dee finally found the feeder. There are lots of Magpies here and I am hoping to capture a nice photo of one.
Late this afternoon we received a brief thunderstorm, which included small hail. As I type this post, the wind is blowing and it is starting to rain again. Low tonight – 36F.
Traveling all day in the sunshine you would know that once we arrived at Jordanelle State Park, north of Heber, Utah, the skies over this beautiful Wasatch mountain range turned gray. However, the aspen, cottonwoods, and grasses, although past their peak, are still pretty.
A patch of blue sky. The sun moved in and out of the dark clouds.
The Jordanelle reservoir is fed by the Provo River.
Site 29, with full hookups.
You can find information about this beautiful Utah state park here – Jordanelle
Today, September 22, 2018, the Sun crossed the celestial equator and marks the first day of autumn. We celebrate two equinoxes, one to mark the beginning of Spring and one to mark the beginning of Autumn. Equinox literally means “equal night.” And during the equinox, most places on Earth will see approximately 12 hours of daylight and 12 hours of night.
On Sept. 22 at 9:54 p.m. EDT, the sun will cross the celestial equator, or an imaginary line that projects Earth’s equator into space. At this exact moment, the Northern and Southern hemispheres will receive an equal amount of sunshine, and the length of day and night will be approximately equal around the world — hence the term “equinox,” which is derived from the Latin phrase meaning “equal night.”
To learn more see Astro Bob’s Blog at Fall. Some of this information was taken from Space.com Space. Also go out to wikipedia to learn more. Click here: September Equinox
OoO-A few photos I took today while on a bike ride, while enjoying this first day of Autumn. What did you do today to celebrate the September Equinox?
Canada Geese enjoying a rest. Some are probably getting ready to migrate.
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A guess some will stay.
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Mehaffney Park. Fall colors haven’t arrived yet at 5,000 feet. Our home sits on the hill in the background.
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A bug enjoying the warmth of the sun on this first day of Autumn. Taken in my backyard.
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This bush is showing some cooler weather changes. Our lows have been in the mid 40’s.
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Easing into fall.
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Some bushes are announcing their fall arrival.
Welcome to Autumn. Enjoy!
And, here is what Scrubby is doing on this first day of Autumn:
[See information here Backbone. You can view the website to see what it looks like when the sun is shining.]
Howard and I decided to take a walk this morning after breakfast. We knew the day was going to be cloudy with a chance of rain, but we headed out anyway. It has been raining in Loveland almost everyday, which is usual but welcome. Our high temperature today was forecast to be 77 degrees. Nice, cool!
Howard purchased a new camera and he wanted to try it out. It is the new Sony RX100 VI. It is very small, but powerful. I am so excited that he has once again become interested in taking photos.
I had my Cannon 70D with me and took a few photos. I just wish we would have had a little sun to show off our normally clear, blue skies.
A tiny purple flower.Howard trying out the Sony.Howard taking a photo of me taking a photo of him.The Devil’s Backbone nature area.
Pretty yellow flowers.
Perhaps a blue bird house.Just to the east and outside the boundary of the nature area is a subdivision, about eleven, big, beautiful homes sit back behind this hill. They get to enjoy the views all the time.
Our house sits to the east, about two miles down highway 34, just over the ridge you see above.
Enter a captionAnother purple flower.Part of the Devil’s Backbone on the left.A short walk from the car to the trail.Walking along.Howard’s photo, trying out the Sony.The BackboneHoward along the trail.Some of the trail is rocky. Need to be very careful of rattlesnakes in this area.More flowers.
We didn’t get to walk very far, because it started to rain and thunder so we headed to the car. People were passing us heading up the trail even though it was starting to rain. Perhaps they were tourist and didn’t know any better. Lots of open space, right at 5,000 feet, rain and thunder – hmmm.
The header photo was taken during a previous visit to this area.
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