2024 Utah Adventure

 Sunny day with highs in the low 50s and I'm going to watch day 3 of the Long Track World Cup at the Olympic Oval. I've seen 3 Short Track Olympic Trail for the US of course but this is my 1st international long track meet. Countries from all over the world, Germany, Norway, Netherlands, Korea, China, Poland, etc with their top athletes; it should be fun. I arrive and follow 2 Canadian male athletes to the door. These are big guys. Some how I got the impression its a smaller guy sport. And then after walking by male athletes from Norway, Korea, China, nope, this is a big guy sport. And for the first time, they had metal detector wands checking everyone. Guess with all the world athletes one has to take precautions. The other thing I was impressed with is how the Oval changes between short and long. So very different. I got there just before 11am. Just missed the early events - the B athletes. The A athletes didn't start til noon so I walked around the track. It was warm up ...

 Cloudy morning with sun coming out later in the day with temps in the 40s is the forecast. It's cloudy and 36 degrees when I leave my house heading to Antelope Island this morning. And it's a hiking day today!! We've had warmer temps, no sun, and rain so most of the snow should be melted. I arrive on the causeway and there's a lot of water around because of the still ice and the melted snow. Lovely to see all that wet. A few hawks cruising along the causeway and I find 2 Bald Eagles on the ice in different locations.  I was wondering if they'd still be around with the warming temps and melting ice. And a couple are!! On the Island there are at least a couple of bison directly behind the Visitor's Center. Across from Frary Peak, I see a large hawk and a Porcupine. After the potty, I spot a little herd of bison in the distance and as I roll up to take a photo I'm surprised to find the larger part of the herd literally right in front of my nose not far from th...

 Heading up to Antelope Island and again hoping for a hike. Temps as I leave are in the low 30s and there doesn't seem to any or much of a wind but there's no sun. I arrive on the causeway and find cloudy skies, little wind, and more sun than Sunday. Not far from the gate, I spot something small and crossing a grassy strip surrounded by snow. Hey! It's a coyote!! As soon as I stop, he reverses direction and starts running east. He seems to be hopping but he's just trying to get thru the 4-6 inches of snow on the ground. He only stops briefly to check on me and then he continues east. Awesome start! Farther down the road, I see my 1st Bald Eagle on Farmington Bay. He had breakfast this morning. Still farther along, I spot another single Bald Eagle on the ice. I can't see any breakfast. But I wait long enough for 2 other Eagles to fly in next to him; one adult and one juvenile. Soon another flies over the 3 and lands a little behind them. Five eagles so far! I'm a...

 Storms are finally gone and it's sunny but it's only 23 degrees when I leave my house. Still hoping for a hike; I have all my gear.  I reach the Island and they've got more snow than I did. SLC missed the 6-16 inches because the temps unexpectedly stayed above freezing; we only got rain - yea! Mountains got pounded with 84 inches for the storm (over the week I think). Looks pretty frozen out there with the sunny 21 degree temps. Oh! The winds is blowing from the north. There will be no hiking today. :( As I cross I see a V-formation of swans flying south. More than 1/2 way across, I see 2 white head of Bald Eagles. As I pull up, the one flies. As I stop the other, with duck in mouth,  flies as well. Not sure why they both flew I'm 1/4 mile or so. The Salt Lake is rough again today. And the huge Teal flocks are gone. I arrive on the Island and south towards the Ranch. There are a couple of bison before the fence. And very slippery conditions in spots do to drifting. In ...

Happy to see the forecasted snow disappeared this morning so I'm heading up to Antelope Island for hopefully a hike. It all depends on the depth of the snow because it's supposed to be around 30 degrees which is the warmest we've seen in a week. (I need to enjoy because there is a big snowstorm coming in for tonight/Sat and Sun. The forecast is for 6-16 inches in the valley and over 4 feet in the mountains. Wahoo! And another Wahoo! because I can take the new West Davis Hwy today. Opened last week-end and it will drop me off about 2 miles from the gate. No more stoplight hopping on Antelope Drive; no more heavy traffic...I love it! Lots of new stuff to look at along the drive. To the west is mostly Salt Lake flats with grazing cows and horses. To the east, I'm surprised by the number of new homes (probably happy to have a highway in their backyards) but there are still small farms with cows and horses. When I arrive at the gate, the flag is almost blowing straight so al...