Birthday Celebration in the Gorge – February 2022

Winter camp south of St. George, Utah

Clifford and I are camped in the desert south of St. George, Utah, for this winter season. Although it is warmer than Montana, which is now our home-base and where family is, it is definitely winter in this very northwest corner of Arizona. There are some days when we can sit outside to play music, many days when I go for solitary walks, and days when Clifford sits outside to review Carnicom Institute research. However, there are nights that are in the low teen and days when all projects are done indoors.

Grateful for a warm place to spend cold days.

On my birthday we join forces with our friend David and a couple he met camping here at Black Rock, and we pick up more trash from the campsites and the parking area at Black Rock Road. David has arranged for a dumpster to be delivered and on the delivery day, other folks join in and a large dumpster is filled to the brim with all the trash we have picked up.

Waiting for the dumpster
The trash picker-uppers

Picking up trash wasn’t what I had in mind for a birthday celebration, so we watch the weather and wait for a forecast of a sunny day with mild temperatures. A few days later when the right conditions materialize, we head to the Virgin River Gorge, about ten miles away, for a picnic outing to celebrate. I want to go to Cedar Pockets, the campground in the Virgin River Gorge but it is still closed for repairs. So, we take the overpass to the other side of I-10 and drive up the dirt road to a spot that works for a picnic.

Finding a place in the Virgin River Gorge for a picnic

We pick up trash using our “grabbers,” before we set up a table and spread out the picnic.

Birthday picnic in the Virgin River Gorge

After eating, we play music – Clifford with his dulcimer and tongue drum and me with the fiddle, playing fiddle tunes.

Music in the Virgin River Gorge

While we are there, a woman who had stopped to walk her dog stops to chat because we are such an unusual sight, a couple fuddy-duddies having a picnic and playing fiddle music in the middle of the Virgin River Gorge. We exchange contact information before she goes on her way.

After picnic and music, Clifford and I hike up the ridge behind us, enjoying the sunshine on this winter day and the view of the mesa on the other side of the gorge from where we are.

A short hike in the Virgin River Gorge

The gorge is grand, rugged, and scenic and I am grateful that the weather cooperated to allow us to have such a fun outing.

The Virgin River Gorge is grand, rugged, and scenic
Hiking to a plateau on the picnic side of the Virgin River Gorge
The Virgin River Gorge is grand, rugged, and scenic
Hiking on the plateau near sunset

Later in February, Lori, the woman we met on the picnic day in the Gorge comes to play music with us, as she also has a tongue drum and was eager to play with us. So fun to have a new-found friend in the desert.

Lori and Clifford playing tongue drums

One other outing in February is to the town of Colorado City on the border between Arizona and Utah to have dinner with a friend and while we are there, we go to Maxwell Park for spring water and the opportunity to take photos of the red cliffs, which look to be part of the same geological formation as that of Zion National Park in Utah.

View of the red cliffs from Maxwell Park in Colorado City
View of the red cliffs from Maxwell Park in Colorado City

A new activity that is fun and engaging for me is experimenting with making creative composites using photos that I have taken on my walks as well as photos in my gallery. I like the process of using photos that might not be anything more than snapshots and coming up with an image that is creative and unique.  I call these images BeCreative. They are a good stretch for me from my usual documentary style photos.

BeCreative Rosemary
BeCreative Ivy
BeCreative Dried weeds
BeCreative Butterfly

In addition to playing music, Clifford always has a focus on the ham radio and improving the antennas. He is also using portable scientific instruments to do some research on a topic that is coming to his attention.

Daily I watch the sunrise and sunsets, finding great pleasure in the light and colors that are special at that time of the day.

February Sunrise
February Sunset

 

Snow Canyon, Utah – February 2023

Chilly Morning on Black Rock Road.

Yesterday we woke to 14 degrees outdoor temperature where we are camped on Black Rock Road in northwest Arizona. That’s a bit chilly for Cougar, our RV, but we turn on the heat and once the sun comes up, it doesn’t take long for the outside to warm up also. Our friend David comes for coffee to compare how our RV’s held up to the cold temperature last night. Pipes froze, but soon thaw as the sun does its job.

Brrr……

David, Clifford, and I, along with another couple that he recruited, have been picking up trash from the desert every day. People coming into the large parking area and those camping on the little dirt side roads have left literally tons of trash. It is wonderful to return the desert to its more natural state, but a big job and so much more needs to be done.

David Picking up Trash on Black Rock Road

As part of my birthday celebration week, a couple days after picking up trash, we (Clifford, David, the other couple, and I) go to a beautiful scenic canyon just a ways outside St. George, Utah – Snow Canyon.

Overview of Snow Canyon

Going to Snow Canyon was what I wanted to do for my birthday and it was the perfect day for it.

Carol and Clifford at Snow Canyon Overlook
Rick and LeeAnn at Snow Canyon Overlook

We hike and enjoy a really good picnic thanks to LeeAnn. I walk barefoot up one of the towering petrified sandstone dunes, feeling the rough stone under my feet, knowing that even in my 70’s, I can do this.

Clifford Hiking on the Petrified Sandstone Dune
Hiking Barefoot
Snow Canyon

While the men relax, LeeAnn and I go hiking across the road from the picnic area. Such an interesting scenic place!

Hiking with LeeAnn in Snow Canyon
Snow Canyon
Snow Canyon
A Great Day with Friends

On the way back to the campsite, we stop at a shop in Santa Clara where Clifford and David buy a stain glass butterfly for my birthday.

David, Clifford (reflected in the window), and Carol in Santa Clara
Stained Glass Butterfly

Once at camp, I discover that Rick and LeeAnn have given me a string of solar lights – dragonflies that light up the night. What a great day!

Dragonfly Lights from Rick and LeeAnn

 

MORE SNOW CANYON