First Harvest

I arrived from Alaska this morning. The first thing I did was take a stroll back to the garden. I was happy to see that my tomato plants had survived my abandonment. The next thing I noticed was the weeds trying to reclaim their old stomping grounds. 10 days and they'd nearly taken over the spinach bed.

The spinach was fighting back though. I hadn't gotten around to thinning it before I left, not being ready to pick winners and losers yet. Today that couldn't be put off any longer - if for no other reason than to make it easier to weed. The result is a much neater looking row of spinach, with plenty of room to allow growth. AND a bowl of baby spinach leaves - enough for a handsome dinner salad.

Logan City Online Utility Bill Pay

For some reason, Logan City isn't including the website for online billing on their bills anymore. The web site is: https://secure.loganutah.org/UtilBillPay.cfm. You'll need your account number handy and amount of the current bill.

Crimson Trail Hike on Sunday

Meet at 10 at the ranger station to carpool with members of the Logan Social/NewComers club. Deatils here.

Veggies in the Ground

On the Sunday hike, someone mentioned that we were at the 50% frost date - there was a 50% chance that there wouldn't be any more frosts. Then I looked at the 10 day weather forcast and there's not going to be a frost for another 10 days.  I took a chance and started throwing plants int he ground as quick as I could.  

I didn't drive home immediately after the hike, but made a beeline to Lowes where I bought a bunch of herbs.  I torn out a bit of sod near one of my new pear trees, not far from the weed patch and threw in an herb garden. Yesterday, I went nuts at Home Depot and bought 11 tomato plants, 3 peppers, 2 cantalopes, a zuchinni, a yellow squash, a tomatillo and a water melon. They're all in the former weed patch. I'm a little obsessed with tomatoes. 

Tomorrow I'm headed to Alaska.  I feel like I'm abandoning my children. I got a babysitter, but these aren't toddlers. They're infants. The kind that you don't leave with a stranger.  Probably they're biggest threat is still frost, but I'm feeling lucky. There's no frost predicted out to May 14th and the 10% frost date is May 20. If the forecast is right, surely there can't be more than a 20% chance of frost now. Here's hoping...

Envision Cache Valley Town Hall Meetings

Join your neighbors at an upcoming town hall meeting. Get involved today!

At the Envision Cache Valley Town Hall Meetings, Cache Valley residents will learn about the four growth scenarios developed from ideas explored by the public at the workshops. Residents will weigh their potential impacts on air quality, infrastructure costs, water consumption, housing affordability, and other measures that affect quality of life. Participants should plan to attend the entire 75 minute event, so they have time to review the scenarios, hear the presentation, and express their preferences through wireless technology. Feedback will be used as the basis for the draft Cache Valley Vision, a set of principles and implementation suggestions to serve as a voluntary guide for long-term growth decisions.

Envision Cache Valley Town Hall Meetings

Tuesday, May 19:

• Hyrum 2:00 p.m. - Hyrum City Building, 83 West Main Street, Hyrum
• Smithfield 5:30 p.m. - Senior Citizen Center, 315 East 600 South, Smithfield
• Preston 5:30 p.m. - Robinson Building, 186 West 2nd North, Preston
• North Logan 7:30 p.m. - North Logan Library, 475 East 2500 North, North Logan
• Clarkston 7:30 p.m. - Clarkston City Hall, 50 South Main, Clarkston

Wednesday, May 20:

• Richmond 2:00 p.m. - Pepperidge Farm, 901 North 201 West, Richmond
• Dayton 5:00 p.m. - Westside High School, 775 N. West Side Hwy., Dayton
• Nibley 5:30 p.m. - Nibley City Council Room, 625 West 3200 South, Nibley
• Providence 7:30 p.m. - Elementary School, 91 East Center Street, Providence
• Cache County 7:45 p.m. - Historic Courthouse, 199 N. Main, Logan

Thursday, May 21:

• Wellsville 5:30 p.m. - Tabernacle Theatre, 75 South 100 East, Wellsville
• Millville 5:30 p.m. - The Pavilion (Providence S. Stake Center), 360 East 450 North, Millville
• Mendon 7:30 p.m. - Mountainside Elementary School, 235 East 125 North, Mendon
• Logan 7:30 p.m. - City Council Chambers, 255 North Main Street, Logan

Trail Report

The trail report at the Logan Ranger District hasn't been updated in a while, but I imagine as the season progresses, you'll find it updated more often (check the date at the top). The trails are listed near the end of the report. 

First Hike of the Season

For some reason I want to blog about all the hikes I do this season. Mostly, I want to get to some of the hikes that you can't easily get information on and provide some record of them. Wind Caves is not one of those. It's one of the most well known in the canyon.

The trail was muddy from all of the rain we've had recently. In places it was hard to get traction to walk up and/or get down without sliding. The weather was drizzly when we started, but cleared up about the time we reached the caves. I was happy to have my ankle high gortex boots for the one stream crossing we had to do. It's always easiest to stomp through rather than trying to balance from one rock to the next.

It was all in all a good first hike of the season. I thought the rain might make us cold. But I think everyone - including myself wore enough clothes to keep warm. Typical me in Utah: I prepared for the cold and ended up hot - so the rain was actually refreshing. The rain let up just in time for the hike down. The clouds were particularly neat, quickly moving through the canyon, building up in pockets against the mountains and then dissapating.

There's plenty of green, but not too much is blooming. There were lots of these little yellow buds around though.

I also learned a new bit of information today. There is also a trail called Wind Cave Way. The split off for it is at the brown verticle "Wind Caves" that's about 1/2 the way to the caves: go right at the split. It was built by Cache Valley Hikers and goes to the ridge. My guess is that it probably meets up with the Preston Valley trail that comes out of Green Canyon to the same ridge.

A fellow hiker also mentioned a hike that goes up a ridge, starting on the north side of the mouth of green canyon. I'm assuming it's from the parking area directly to the left of the Shoreline trail as you enter the canyon. He said there's a picnic bench a little bit up the trail and the trail continues at least 4 mi up. You can probably follow the ridge a ways further and perhaps meet up with Cherry Peak.