Moominmama's Adventures

  In which Moominmama hikes the PCT (3 miles of it) and views (for now) dormant volcanos... Mount Shasta, pictured above, dominates the skyline in northern California. Apparently, it can be seen as far as Redding to the south, and Moominmama saw it faintly on the horizon from Crater Lake to the north.  Driving in California, the mountain has a way of popping up over the pines as you turn a corner, and in many spots, it towers over the landscape like here at Siskiyou Lake beach. At 14,179 feet, it has a lot of presence! Unlike the granite peaks of Castle Crags or the sedimentary rock of the nearby Klamath Mountains this is a dormant stratovolcano.  One of Moominmama's favorite hikes this week was along the southeastern flank of Mount Shasta, a hike that took her up to tree line, where the volcanic rock is still plainly visible despite the snow. The most recent confirmed eruption dates back 3,500 years, but Shasta is part of the so-called "Ring of Fire" that follows the edg...

Wherein Moominmama travels over a thousand miles to get from one mountain range to another and sees the strange remnants of former lakebeds... Photos don't always tell the entire truth. Take the photo above, a lovely sunset over Utah Lake near Provo. Moominmama made arrangements to stay overnight at Lake Shore RV Park, next to the Lindon Marina. Sounds nice, huh?   I was parked in a boat storage lot, along with several sun-scorched and road-weary old RVs. The water behind us was soupy and smelled bad. Mosquitos and other bugs were numerous, as were the spiderwebs seeking to capture them. In a stroke of marketing genius, this town is called Vineyard! Besides cottonwoods and pond scum, the only plants I saw were a natural gas plant and a solid waste treatment plant. When Moominmama has to get from point A to point B, she often doesn't research closely but makes snap judgments about where to stay along the route. After the cool of the Rockies, it seemed wise to get somewhere with...

In which Moominmama snaps photos of cooperative critters and comes face to face with the latest presidential order on a bathroom door... Rocky Mountain National Park has been a national park since 1915, and the animals here are accustomed to its protections. Moominmama can't find any other reason to explain how she got a photo of this yellow-bellied marmot!  Of all the wonderful things I see in our national parks forests and preserves, wildlife is the hardest thing for me to photograph. Lifting up my phone camera basically guarantees the birds take flight or the critters scamper off.  But not only did this marmot pause to check me out as I crouched on the trail, a mule deer expressed only minor concern as we crossed paths in my campground this morning. Moominmama has been doing some spectacular hikes in this national park, which includes snow-capped peaks and alpine tundra.  One third of the park is above 11.500 feet, where the marmots scurry and elk wander. It can look s...

In which Moominmama enjoys being surrounded by spring flowers and greenery, and gets wet at a bluegrass concert... After three months in deserts of one sort or another, being in an environment with riotous green and bright flowers takes Moominmama's breath away. In the desert, the color green marks tiny oases, and the flowers are always striking against the sand. I'm not used to being surrounded by growing things all competing for my attention. Vega State Park in western Colorado is on a plateau on the Grand Mesa. It's near Collbran, a big farming and ranching area, with vast fields of fresh green grass that look good enough to eat. And the cows and horses are busy doing so. Vega State Park is home to the Vega reservoir created to benefit all those green fields around Collbran.  Moominmama is soaking up the colors in between running errands and reconnecting with friends in Grand Junction in the valley below.  This time of year, it's also home to afternoon thunderclouds....

Wherein Moominmama volunteers at the Mike the Headless Chicken Festival and sees snow, spring green and summer heat all within 50 miles... Highs are hitting the mid 90°s here in Fruita, just west of Grand Junction, Colorado, but Moominmama volunteered for a shift at the 25th annual Mike the Headless Chicken Festival so the heat just had to be endured! Mike the Headless Chicken is one of Fruita's claims to fame. The story goes something like this: In September of 1945, Fruita farmers Lloyd and Clara Olsen were preparing a batch of chickens for market, hacking off their heads and plucking their feathers after they fell over.  Except Mike, a rooster, never fell over. Despite the absence of a head, he was still running around the barnyard the next day, and Lloyd decided to feed him via an eyedropper inserted into his gullet. Word got round, and folks stopped by to see this strange miracle. Someone eventually persuaded the Olsens to have scientists examine the bird. They concluded that ...

In which Moominmama considers those who lived in Utah's canyons long ago and learns more about cryptobiotic soils... Gettings to the Needles District of Canyonlands National Park requires crossing through Bears Ears National Monument, also public land but run by a different federal agency and receiving a lower level of protection, one that gives weight to economic and recreational needs. Among other things, that means that a lot of this land provides open range for cattle. While I've often seen cows grazing, this is one of the first times I've seen actual cowboys moving a herd. I came around a corner in my car as this group was crossing and got to watch the two cowboys and their dogs direct this herd down the slope on the other side of the road.  Bears Ears is the focus of a fight involving the Trump administration, which previously shrank its size to open it up for more uranium mining only to have Biden reverse the move.  That reversal is unlikely to hold now, but I want t...

Wherein Moominmama evicts a family of mice and explores the goblins of Goblin Valley State Park... Moominmama is driving around with the windows down, at least for a few more days. It turns out she picked up a mouse somewhere in her travels, a mouse that chewed up part of her cabin air filter to create a nest under the engine cover. She then gave birth. Moominmama spent the better part of a day in Baker, Nevada, evicting the family before crossing into Utah. Mama mouse had not been wise in her choice of accommodations, and three of the babies died. Fortunately, she shoved them out of the engine compartment and dropped them on my passenger-side floor where I could easily remove them. Three others, I chased out by lifting up the car hood and banging on the interior and roaring like a lion. They ran out the same passenger-side exit, and my new friend Robert sucked them up with his shop vac. Six mice total. More banging and roaring later, while Robert took apart areas under the glove box a...