Exploring – Wheeler Creek Trail

Posted on April 8, 2015 by Kim Halloran-Fry

I fell behind logging some of our hiking adventures. In retrospect now though Wheeler Creek is probably my favorite trail so far. It is just outside Huntsville, UT and runs 11 miles. We didn't see all 11 miles, mind you, but probably got a third of the trail explored.

The nice thing about this hike is that the trail – at least from the trailhead up about 3miles – is so wide. Though it is a steady incline it is also regular walking the whole way, not too much actual climbing. After the last few hikes which entailed a fair amount of actual climbing and hoisting and well, sucking air for some of us, this one is remembered fondly.

The trail wound up the canyon with views of the mountains all around and the stream running alongside. There were mountain bikers and the occasional fellow hikers but by and large it was much lower traffic than many of the other trails we have hit. Making a note to self to return especially as the trees turn in the fall.

of steers and spurs

Posted on March 31, 2015 by Kim Halloran-Fry

Few things make Colorado girls feel like they've come back home like a night of college rodeo. It's about as iconically American West as it gets and it never gets old. When we found out we had arrived in time for the regional college rodeo we sure as heck weren't missing it. At $4 a head it was half the price of your average movie ticket.

Every place has a story. This one is reading really well.

There's a story behind those chaps. I'm tellin' you. There's gotta be. You don't sew that into leather for nothing.

Aidan said if he was ever to do a rodeo event it would be steer wrestling.

His sisters pointed out that you don't get to pad up like football for steer wrestling…

So much fun. But I'm pretty sure we are all gonna be saying, "Son of a gun!" for the rest of the week now at least. Have I mentioned the emcee?

awesome

Exploring – Snowbasin

Posted on March 27, 2015 by Kim Halloran-Fry

It was so warm in town we figured we would venture up to a trail near Snowbasin ski resort. When we got there the trail was still pretty soggy and as you can see there was still plenty of snow. We decided to backtrack down the mountain a little way and hiked through the canyon but not without looking around the area a little.

Exploring – Great Salt Lake

Posted on March 24, 2015 by Kim Halloran-Fry

From the looks of it our east coast friends got buried again. Not sure how it happened but in this neck of the woods it was sunny and 70s. We took full advantage of that and headed to the beach. In March.

Wild

It is super fun right until you get salt in your eyes. Lunch restores good humor in record time though.

The lake and the mountains have become my landscape, my real world.

– Georges Simenon

at the cabin

Posted on September 4, 2014 by Kim Halloran-Fry

This has been home-away-from-home during my absence in this space lately. Mornings spent reading with steaming mugs nearby. Days spent hiking. Evenings full of exploring all the nooks and crannies of the eco-friendly farm which surrounded us.

Our host was a fascinating man with a heart for adventure. Quintessentially British, he sported a mop of curly untamed ginger hair and wore a button down shirt with rolled sleeves, glasses, and belted trousers tucked into gum boots. He welcomed our crew enthusiastically and showed the children all the possibilities waiting for them on the farm – bikes, badminton, ponds, and a real treehouse. He explained why the farm was a proper nature reserve and not just a vacay spot. He then showed us where the best hiking was and where to find the ponies I had my heart set on seeing.

Before embarking on the guest farm adventure he had spent many years in Africa as a safari guide. We swapped stories of travel and military life. He had fond memories of US Marines who shared music and cola and conversation in a far away place in the days before computers and ipods. His feet are planted on English soil again but he said Dartmoor was his wild. I get that. I need my wild too and we found it on this trip for sure, thanks to his maps and inside tips.