On Tuesday, Lloyd, Mac and I drove up to Pine Valley Recreation Area in Utah. It is a beautiful valley located behind Pine Mountain, the 10,000’ peak that is the backdrop for the city of St. George. The valley up there reminds me of Big Bear in Southern California or maybe some nice place in the Black Hills of South Dakota.
It’s been hot here in Mesquite (high 100 to 110, low 80), so not much fun for hiking. Up in Pine Valley, where we started our hike at elevation 6,800’, the temperature was 48 degrees at 8:30 a.m.
Sweet!
We hiked up to and then along an old earthen canal in the woods that the original Mormon settlers built about 150 years ago. Back then, they did a lot of lumbering in the Valley and Lloyd said that some of the old growth Pine trees were used to build the Mormon Tabernacle in Salt Lake. The canal originated at the head of a damned-up canyon and the water was used to power the sawmill.
(An interesting thing: many of the walking and hiking trails in the Valley are named after those early pioneers. I was amused by the old first names like Ebeneezer, Hezekiah, Ezekiel, and so forth: first names that no one uses today unless they’re Amish farmers in Pennsylvania. Lots of women’s first names have disappeared as well: Mildred, Gertrude, Edna, and my grandma’s Pearl. Time moves on, I suppose.)
We walked through the Pine forest for six miles and then stopped for lunch alongside a creek that had some Rainbow Trout in it. (Quite a beautiful valley, it is, and they have a campground there (no hookups) that accommodates Class A rigs. So, Charlie and I are thinking about going up there from time to time for a few days. Pine Valley is located only about 90 minutes from out home, so it is convenient.)
On our way back to Mesquite, we stopped for a minute at an old stagecoach rest stop (actually an old mine entrance that people could go into to get out of the heat adjacent to the Old Spanish Trail (which has been replaced by Highway 91). I went into the mine entrance about 30 feet but didn’t have the cojones to venture deeper: who knows who’s napping back in that cool lair!
Later that afternoon, Lloyd, Charlie and I went over to Casablanca Hotel and Casino for dinner and a spot of gaming. Dinner was good (General Tsao Chicken and Rice) and the gaming was even better, as I hit a Straight Flush on a video poker machine and won $76.25.
Sweet!
Today, I get to visit a dermatologist about a little growth just inside my right nostril. I hope he can snip it off or zap it with liquid nitrogen or something and make it go away. Tomorrow, I have an appointment with my tattoo artist up in St. George. And then, Thursday thru Sunday, Lloyd and I are going to enjoy the U.S. Open golf tournament on TV.
Happy Fathers’ Day to us and to all other fathers!
