This is a blog I truly never ever wanted to write. Tonight for reasons only known to God, Dazee May Dalmatian left this earth. I am sitting here numb. My best friend in the whole wide world is gone and it hurts. I don't know what I can write to describe how alone I feel. I am going to miss her. A huge part of my life is now missing.... and I wont be able to replace it. The only good thing about it is she didn't suffer.
Hmmmmmm where to begin? Due to some recent pain I have had in my mouth, I decided to visit my former neighbor, MR Dentist. Former meaning we both grew up in the same neighborhood. Fact is, according to my father, when he was our paper boy, it seems my dads dog Spot bit him! So, I guess now he gets to exact revenge on me with his powerful drill! I got there and was whisked right into the chamber of tortures and x-rayed. He has these new digital x-rays that are cool as hell. The assistant took the shots and immediately they showed up on the computer screen. Cool as hell! He wandered in after that and began to examine my teeth. Of course I don't remember which teeth hurt so he stuck the little pick into every nook and cranny in every tooth. He was getting rather bored with it and told me he had bad news: I had no cavities. Well, that was said just as he started the last tooth. Oops. Seems that the last one he looked at had a tiny one right on the gum line. None of the ones that had been bothering me had any problems. So, since it was an appointment to fix a cavity he took out the big old needle and stuck it in my jaw. Ouch! I swear he put enough sleeping juice in there to numb up my whole face. 
After the mandatory 20 minute wait, he returned to the scene of the crime and began. I really don't mind it except I hate the smell of a drilled tooth and the one drill had to be about 1/8th of an inch in diameter and it made my head rattle. Drives me nuts. So, he drilled it out and filled it with whatever it is they use now a days and that was that. My damn face was asleep and stayed asleep till about 8pm. At this point in time, my tooth now aches and its time for a percocet. OK, I made this sound bad but it really wasn't. I told him that I would write about it on this blog and he should read it. So if your reading it DR R, thanks! You are the best dentist I know! For those of you who need a dentist in the Ogden area, might I suggest DR Val Radmall. The guy is good! Jeep on my friends.
Hi there and welcome to day two of the holiday weekend. I decided to take Sunday off due to the immense amount of rain we received and it was kinda cold too. Yah I know, I'm a wimp. Today I decided to head to the mountains east of Logan and run some of my old favorite trails. Well, to my surprise, all of them were still closed. I went further east and finally found 2 trails that were open and headed out. The temperature was about 45 degrees so I did have the heater on. The first trail I ran was the Beaver Creek trail. This is the trail to the old airplane wreck as well as the one I always see moose on. No moose today. I ran it into Idaho before I encountered a snow drift I wasn't ready to try alone. So, I flipped a u-turn and headed back down. The creek was more like a river and was over flowing in a lot of places. One thing I found very interesting were the beaver dams. 95% of them were holding just fine against the current. Kind of amazing. The foto below shows the creek going over the top but it holding. Dam fine engineers! 
The next trail was the Franklin Basin trail. It was in better shape and I also followed it in to Idaho. The 2nd foto shows a cabin that is up the canyon almost to Idaho. It sits in a quiet valley and would be an awesome thing to own. My only problem with it is the location of the out house. It has to be 100 yards from the house. Now that's OK on a warm summer night, but, on a cold fall or winter night.... its gonna suck big time. I think I would invest in indoor plumbing and a septic tank. Just my opinion though. I continued following the trail till once again I came to a snow drift I wasn't ready to try alone. Someday I would like to find some friends who own 4x4's and love to use them. Oh well, maybe some day. I did talk to a Forrest service rep who told me the good trails wont open till they dry out. Its gonna be a long time happening with the weather we have been having. I guess I will have to learn patience....... yah like that's gonna happen! Jeep on!
Hi there and welcome back. Today marked the beginning of a true 3 day weekend for me and the Jeep, so, I took full advantage of it and headed west to finish the trip Sam and I took a few weekends ago. We began back at the sun tunnels and took some time exploring them and the small ghost town of Lucin. Luck was with me today because I did not get a flat tire! Woo Hoo! I got to take some time and really explore both areas and see what is really out there. The sun tunnels made me wonder about the sanity of some people. It appears that an idiot or two has taken their ATVs and rode the tunnels like a circus act. The tire tracks do a complete 360 in all 4 tunnels. You would have to be crazy to do that. That's my personal opinion and I am sticking to it. Being a holiday weekend, I figured the place would be packed but it was rather quiet out there. We spent some time out there and really took a good look around. I got the living shit scared out of me while walking around the spring oasis today too. The trees there are freakin huge and while walking around one, I took a step and just happened to look down as I did. The ground was moving. After the split second for my brain to add 2 and 2 I realized I was about to put my foot down on a snake. I let loose with a yelp and jumped away as fast as I could. The thought of rattle snake was going through my mind and I figured I was gonna get bit. Lucky for me it wasn't a rattle snake but your just your common snake. It slithered off and I watched it climb into the bark of a tree and hide from me. 
After that we headed back towards the main road when I noticed what looked to be the remains of an old stamp mill on the side of the mountain. Of course I had to explore this so I drove up to the top of the mountain and got a birds eye view of the remains. I am not sure what mineral they used it for or if it was just a mill to make base rock for the railroad. I am currently researching to see just what is actually was. After this, we headed across the valley over to the devils playground to see what was happening there. We went to the hidden cabin only to find it some what occupied. I made a quick entry in the journal that I was there and left. I wonder if the occupants will freak when they see an entry in it while they were staying there. HA HA! Next stop was the mine and I had came prepared. I loaded the flashlights with new batteries and headed in to explore I have often wondered what was on the wall in side this mine. It looks like melted candle wax of some sort but upon close inspection I have decided that it is dried bat shit. You can see it in the foto and make your guess too. After that we headed for home. The clouds had been turning black during the day so I wanted to make it home before I got wet. We stopped for dinner in Snowville and during dinner, all hell broke lose. The rain began to pour and I knew it was going to be a cold ride home. It wasn't too bad of ride but I did have a few problems with rain on the inside of the windshield. I had to use napkins to keep it as dry as I could so I could actually see out. We made it back to town, emptied the supplies out and put the trail cover on. So tomorrows project will be to clean up the mud and crap that is on the inside of the Jeep. Fun fun! All in all it was a great day. I am fried with a gnarly sun burn but who cares? Like I have said before. I would really love to have a job where I got paid to Jeep.Hopefully i can take another adventure to a special spot real soon... Until my next adventure, Jeep On my friends.
Well the the news came back sooner then expected. Fact is, it took less then 24 hours. And the answer is....... No Hole. Good news huh? Now as to what this foto has to do with it..... not a damn thing. So why did I put it on here? Just for shits and and giggles. Truth be told, this rock is one I call balancing rock. It just sits there. Half a rock and the other half is no where to be found. This is another one of the oddities of the Devils Playground. I ain't made it out there yet this year but i hope to make it soon. The last two weeks have been busy doing things other than wheeling but what the hell. Well, that's about it. Maybe next weekend. Jeep on!
Today was my echocardiogram on my heart. I arrived at the hospital mid afternoon and checked in. I was shown into the room by a nurse who preceded to start an IV in my wrist. I have never had an IV in my wrist and it was kinda interesting. I have had them in my hand and arm but never my wrist. Anyway, I sat there and watched as the tech spent the next 40 minutes looking and recording my heart. It's kind of like when they do it on a pregnant woman to look at the baby, just this time they were not looking for boy or girl parts. It was interesting to watch my heart beat. After taking all sorts of measurements they sent a syringe full of bubbly saline into my vein and within 2 seconds it was at my heart. It was very interesting to watch. Now comes the part that drives me nuts. I am sure she knew what she saw but she refused to tell me anything. Thus the foto today. I couldn't find one that said no waiting so I chose the no loitering. I now get to wait and hear it from my DR sometime in the future. I hate to wait. It just freaking sux. Anyway, enough bitching. I sit and wait. And it sux!
Hi and welcome to a rerun of sorts. Yesterday was so fun I decided to do it all over again. OK, let me clarify the reason. The new tires preformed very well yesterday but my foot print was too small. Root cause, over inflation. The cure, air them down. So, I bagged the good camera and took the new phone.... long story there, and headed south again. At the base of the mountain, I aired the tires down 10 lbs and headed back up to Jacob City taking the main road. I took the main road so I could scout the Dry canyon trail from above. The trail was moist and that made for some dust free wheeling. There were a few tiny spots of snow but nothing like the march trip. I didn't even hesitate when I reached the trail into town. I plowed into the mud and went directly to the town. Once down there I played in the mud and snow to see how the air down worked. It was better, but still not what I want. While there I met Moose the Marmot.
That's a foto of him above. He was quite kurius about what I was doing so we sat and chatted for a few minutes. After about 5 minutes, he went back into his hole not to be seen again. The south side of the town still has a lot of snow but from what I could see, the Dry canyon trail looked ready to be run. So, that's going to be another adventure coming soon. Anyway, I left the tires at the lower pressure for the trip home and the ride improved drastically. Ya gotta love the time you spend out Jeeping. Not a whole lot in this world is better! I wish I could do it for a job.... now that would be KICK ASS! Jeep on my friends
Today was my day to escape. It's been a long 3 weeks since I got to go out in the Jeep and play so, I did it today. Of course the weather folks said it would be a shitty day, and it was. I headed out to Ophir Utah in a rain storm from hell. It was pouring down like crazy. The highway was a wee bit nerve-wracking with all the water on it but I made it OK! The first thing I did was head up Ophir canyon to see how the new campsites turned out and of course, play in the mud. I wasn't disappointed. The road was greasy as hell and a blast to plow thru. While up there, I followed a trail I had never followed before. I left Jeep in 2 wheel drive just to see how it did. It was quite the ride to where I finally decided to turn around. 
I came to a turn in the road that was high banked and quite muddy so I stopped to see if I should go on. Well, the moment I stopped the Jeep sunk into the ground about 4". You ought to know that that is not the best feeling to have. I'm up a narrow canyon on an ATV trail in my Jeep. OOPS! I threw the Jeep in 4 high and slammed it into reverse and headed up the side of the canyon wall so I could hopefully turn around. I am so dumb. Why did I ever doubt the Jeep. It pulled itself right out and didn't even flinch. The bottom foto is that stop on the side of the canyon. Notice the snow in the back ground? It was really a heavy rain snow mix at that time so I decided to head down the canyon and go over and see what was up in Dry canyon. The minute I hit the bottom of Ophir , the sun came out and it was rather nice. I headed up the trail to the mouth of the canyon when I noticed the purple flowers. I thought they looked great so I snapped a foto. 
I sat out in front of my favorite mine to play in, which is gated shut..... you bastards......and watched the clouds come across the valley. It was so quiet and peaceful, I didn't want to move on but I did. Dry canyon is at best a dry creek bed and then an ATV trail. But yah, we all know I have Jeeped it before so blah blah blah. I went up about 2/3 of a mile , climbed a smaller ATV trail and parked in front of another mine. This one is even higher then the other so I just sat there and listened to some tunes and thought about life. It was nice to sit there, alone, and think about anything and everything. After a few minutes I noticed the storm was coming back in so I headed down and called it a day. I am happy now and think I may have enough in me to make it another week before I go again. Anyone wanna go? Ciao and Jeep on!
