Moon Rise Over the Wasatch in October

Just a few shots of the full moon as it peaked through the clouds coming up over the mountains.

Remembering 1983: The year of the floods in Utah

Starting in the Fall of 1982, Utah–particularly along the Wasatch front–had record or near record rainfall and precipitation every month from September of that year through June 1983. The mountains in early June looked more like the mountains do in March of a typical year with deep snow still halfway down the slopes. These photos were taken between March and the first week of June in 1983 in Spanish Fork Canyon, Provo, and Salt Lake City. So, as we struggle through the dry years, remember that the wet ones can be just as bad, or worse, in their own way.

In late February or early March 1983, the first sign of the trouble to come was the reactivation of a small landslide in Provo labeled on the geologic map as the Easter Cross landslide. Developers, with the blessing of the city, had allowed lots to be drawn up for sale on the old landslide. I am standing near the active toe of the landslide as it crept ever closer to a home that had just been build on one of the lots.

Up in Spanish Fork Canyon, to the south of Provo, an even bigger landslide started moving. Initially, the railroad folks tried to dig up their rails, smooth things out, and relay the rails over the slowly moving landslide. But when it kept moving, they eventually gave up. Here the slide has grown to a huge size, dwarfing the large earth moving equipment that was called in to stabilize the slide. The Spanish Fork River was now dammed and backing up behind the slide creating a serious hazard. If the water rose far enough to top the slide and wash it out, severe flooding would occur downriver.

The lake backing up behind the Thistle Slide covers U.S. Highway 6 and has drowned most of the small town of Thistle. One building stands on higher ground, but it too will succumb to the lake in another few days.

By June the slide had stopped moving, and the lake has expanded to reach its maximum size. A drainage tunnel was installed to prevent the water from over topping the landslide. Today, only a faint shoreline, like a ring-around-the-tub, is visible to those who look for it.

City Creek, which flowed through Salt Lake Valley when the Mormon Pioneers arrived, had been long buried underground in conduits under the city. But in June 1983, the creek could not be contained in its underground path and was directed down through the avenues and out onto State Street along the roads.

At North Temple and 2nd Avenue, City Creek was turned to the south by a high wall of sandbags holding up concrete barriers directing the flow onto State Street in Salt Lake City.

City Creek turned to the south past the LDS Church Office Building onto State Street.

City Creek flowing down the east side of State Street and under the Eagle Gate.

Temporary pedestrian bridges were built along State Street to allow people to cross the river now flowing along the pavement.

In Provo, Utah, the normally dry creek that flows out of Rock Canyon flooded neighborhoods in the area around the Provo LDS Temple. Here Rock Canyon Creek flows down the road on the south side of the Provo Temple toward the Missionary Training Center.

As the flow approached the Missionary Training Center, it was diverted onto 9th East, although by the time I took this photo, a break in the main sandbag channel was allowing some of the flow to head directly toward the MTC.

Farther down 9th east at the corner of the BYU Campus, the water was spread out acoss the entire road and was only a few inches deep on this particular day. And check out that red car. You won't see one of those on the road very often these days.

You can read more about the Thistle Landslide at these sites:

• Utah Geological Survey
• Simon Fraser University
• Utah Rails
• BYU-Idaho Thistle Video
• National Geophysical Data Center
• Venita
• Cal-Poly Pomona

The Mountain in Our Backyard -- Mount Timpanogos

Here are a few shots I have taken over the years of one of nature's most beautiful mountains: Mount Timpanogos in the Wasatch Mountains of Utah. Even though Timp is only 11,752 feet high, it rises abruptly from Utah Valley, with an elevation difference of over 5,000 feet. The upper parts of the mountain were glaciated during the last ice age, carving the top into its present form.

Most of the mountain is comprised of the Oquirrh Group, a series of Pennsylvanian-Permian age limestones and sandstones that were deposited in the ocean about 300 million years ago when Utah was at the edge of the North American continent. The rocks have since had an interesting history including deep burial, uplift, and erosion to form them into the current spectacular mountain. Several of the photos here were taken from my backyard and others as I have traveled around the mountain.

Late Summer in the Garden

Now that my ankle has finally healed up from surgery in mid-June, I was able to get out and take a few photos of the garden. Even though I couldn't do much in the middle of the summer and even though there were a few more weeds allowed to grow this year, it was still one of the best summers for gardening in Utah. 

 Flowers in the front garden. Zinnias were planted from seed and petunias from hothouse starts.

 Hollyhocks blooming for the second time in September after being cut back in late July.

 Jalapeno peppers have added flavor and heat to our summer salsa.

Marigolds grown from seeds extracted from last years plants bloomed just as profusely this year.

These zinnias were also grown from seeds taken from last years plants and gave me lots of variety with tall ones, short ones, singles and doubles.

 Petunias have thrived in the rich compost we added to the soil this year.

 Fall raspberries are better usually than the ones that ripened in June. They seem to love the cooler nights of the late summer.

 2012 will be remembered as the summer of the best tomatoes in our garden. They were planted earlier, produced earlier, and tasted better than any I remember.

Romas also produced well this year. This variety tend to ripen pretty much all at once and give a nice crop for making sauces.

 The grape vines produced a heavy load this year. Unfortunately, with all the racoons and birds we have around the yard, we never seem to get to eat any ourselves. This bunch is just starting to get sweet and before they fully ripen will be devoured by the critters before we can pick them.

 One of my favorite crops...tomatillos. They are so easy to grow and make wonderful salsa and soup. I never have to plant them any more. I just let a few sprout up from last years seeds that get tilled under in the spring.

 The bees were going crazy out in the garden the day I took these pictures. They are obviously storing up for the winter ahead.

 I'm going to have to adjust the water that gets to my blackberries because they are a little bit small. But they are very sweet, nonetheless.

 My two crops of corn planted about a month apart meant that we had corn out of the garden from mid-July until September. Both crops were delicious, but I'd have to say that the second crop was the best.

I planted my cucumbers in a pile of compost and they went crazy this year. These English cukes are so sweet, without even a hint of bitterness, that I don't even bother to peel them most of the time.

The Iris Are in Bloom!

It's always nice when the iris bloom.

Lavender iris with a touch of gold in the center...one of my favorites.

This orange iris is a new one in my garden this year. I got a start of it from one of my wonderful neighbors.

A shot of Mount Timpanogos from Charleston, Utah across Deer Creek Reservoir taken in April 2012.

Another view of the orange iris. These are beautiful, but don't have a strong scent.

White iris.

Mixed colors of iris along the south wall.

Deep purple iris.

Johnny Jump Ups under the oak  trees.

Purple fringed iris...smells so good and beautiful as well.