End of October

End of October
The sleepy brown woods
Seem to nod down their heads to the winter

A line from a favorite old ('75) song (Old Tennessee) by a favorite old musician of mine(Dan Fogelberg) and such a wonderful description of this time of year!



Saturday was a great weekend to enjoy a last fall hike. As you can see in the pictures, the woods are indeed nodding their heads to the winter. At least I was smart enough to wear hiking shoes, instead of my usual Tevas as the snow level is getting low in the mountains. Daisy and I hiked up Neffs Canyon until the trail was steep and icy enough that I knew I'd be miserable slip sliding my way back down. Daisy loves the snow so it was a great day for her! Neff's is a small canyon at the top of a nearby neighborhood; it leads to the Mt Olympus Wilderness area. Earlier this year I found out an interesting thing about Neff's Canyon. There is a cave up there, somewhere, that for a long time was thought to be America's deepest cave. It seems funny to me that nobody around here seems to know about Neff's Canyon Cave. There is an interesting story on the web about it's exploration. It's now locked up because it's a very dangerous cave. Maybe that's why no one seems to know of it. I'm curious where exactly the entrance is. I't love to peak in, but so far I've not seen sign of it on my hikes!

On Sunday we took our traditional pumpkin picking pilgimage. We head up north, stop at Jeremiahs in Ogden for breakfast (Voted Best Breakfast in Utah), head to Crystal Hot Springs for a nice soak, then stop at one of the farm stands along Fruit Way . The kids aren't so hip on this tradition any more, probably because it's a long drive, about 60 miles, to the hot springs, and takes most of the day, and they would rather be hanging around with their friends. I'm just glad that they humored me one more time; Matt's a senior this year so it may be the last family fall pumpkin pilgrimage. Breakfast was yummy, the hot springs delightful, and this year, probably because it's two days before Halloween, the pumpkins puny!

My husband Bob, my son Matt, daughter Sarah (in the middle) and her friend Neeka Pickin' Puny Pumpkins!

The pools at Crystal Hot Springs.

Man made pools, but it's a natural hot spring, which in addition to many other minerals has a high lithium content. I've always wondered if soaking there is fun way to self medicate undiagnosed manic depression! Maybe that's why the water feels so good!