Moose Encounter, Cabin Clean Up and Memorable Hikes

Rosie, Andrew and I made a quick but excellent trip to Utah last weekend. We had some great time with both the Miller and Johnson relatives and had a very productive day working on the outside of the cabin.

Sunday afternoon, John Stauffer and I went outside to walk around the cabin on a perfect spring day – blue skies and 65 degrees. We walked over to the cave and I heard something through the bushes. I thought it was a person clearing the brush. When I first looked I thought it was a horse but quickly realized it was a moose. I called to John and told him to come and see the moose. We watched him for a minute or so. He clearly looked at us. I wanted a better look around the bush, so I walked a couple of steps closer. At that point we were only about ten yards away from him. Then the moose – a young one with no horns -- broke into a run straight for us.

We ran with everything we had for the cabin which was only about 30 yards away. We ran around the front of the cabin and fortunately the moose went around the back. That was the fastest I have run in many years and maybe the fastest in my life. I had no idea John could run that fast as he was in front of me. The instantaneous effect of adrenaline is remarkable. I have not been that frightened in a very long time. Our hearts were racing but we survived the adventure to live another day. I learned my lesson about getting close to a moose.

The moose came back (I think he was looking for John) on Monday and we got this photo.

Monday was clean up day at our cabin, "Johnson’s Holmstead". Lee, Jeannie and their son, Mike, joined us and brought a trailer full of tools and equipment. Sonja and Robert and their children also came that morning. Kari and Brian, Annie and Nate, Paul and Jill, Rosie, Andrew and I had spent the prior evening at the cabin and were all enlisted for this day of hard labor. We got a tremendous amount of work accomplished as we cleared almost all of the dead brush and trees from the lot. Nate and Brian cleared the culvert under the road so the stream in front of the cabin flowed much better and lowered the level of the stream significantly. Then they enlisted Andrew and built a rock wall for most of its path.

After a long winter the windows were very dirty. Nate handled the hard to reach high windows.
Above -- With my chainsaw cutting some dead wood. Below -- Andrew wheels the wood to the wood pile and fire pit.
Lee got the Captain Ahab award for his relentless pursuit of pruning the big tree in front of the cabin. At one point he maxed out the somewhat wobbly extension ladder and took the chain saw up to cut some branches. The rest of us were praying he made it down without incident. Not many teenagers would do what he did and I know of no other 59 year olds who would even contemplate it.

Everyone worked very hard and helped transform the look of the cabin. It was remarkable how much work was done and we appreciate all who gave their holiday to improve the cabin. Below the transformation is very evident.

Above -- Paul, Jill, Lee, Jeannie, Rosie and Brad take a photo break during the clean up. Below -- the whole crew after a long day of hard work.

Early Monday morning, Paul, Brian, Nate, Rosie and I went over to Guinavah to climb the Crimson Trail. It was a beautiful morning with lots of sunshine and an ideal time to make this gorgeous hike. The canyon and Cache Valley are green as they ever get and the mountains are capped with a beautiful snow top. The views from the top of the Crimson Trail are wonderful as one overlooks the canyon, across to the Wind Caves and down into Cache Valley. At one point on the trail you can even see Logan Temple. It is in many ways the best trail in the whole canyon.

Above -- Rosie and I are high above Third Dam on the Crimson Trail. Below -- Rosie on the Wind Cave on our Friday morning hike.

Below -- On our trip to Utah we stopped in Twin Falls to the very impressive Shoshone Falls.