Today: the Pinnacle of Spring

Taken from my front porch. This morning.

SPRING is positively a glorious season for hiking the canyon.
Today I sacrificed my house chores for an extended hike. Wouldn't you?

With my Casio pocket camera purchased under $100,
I effortlessly snapped a $1,000,000 view at the mouth of the canyon.

Even managed to capture a Monarch resting on a native Utah oak.

Oh, the stunning colors of those newly-born leaves, not to mention the sweet butterfly!

Just last month, the riverbed was bone dry.

Now it's raging with the spring run-off.

If you look closely at the photo below, you can see remnants of the open irrigation trough on the other side of the river,
originally built by the Mormon pioneers to bring water to their crops.

Over the years, I've been witnessing the process of it crumbling away as it gradually returns to nature.


Notice how my dog, Chica, is posing in front of some hefty boulders on the trail?

Quite recently, these geological giants plungde from the high cliffs of the canyon.
More of them come down in a wet year.
This year.

Here and there, a brave little tree manages to grow right in the middle of the river bed.

Will it survive the flood season? I'm not sure.

BELOW: These tree logs were violently ripped from their roots on the mountain, crushed and broken from the weight of snow, then carried down into the riverbed during a thunderous avalanche. They occur every winter in this canyon with it's steep cliff walls. One year, a troop of boy scouts perished here. Fairly near this very spot. Wow, they are powerful! I've only experienced ONE as it was happening and, oh my goodness, the sound of it was like nothing else. Caused my dog to turn and run all the way home.

As for the river itself, it does not gurgle. It ROARS.

Turn up your speakers and listen:

The river hasn't peaked yet, by any means.

When it does, I'll video the humongous rocks tumbling downstream in the torrent.

Now THAT is an experience!