Heber Cowboy Poetry and Buckaroo Fair

Heber City’s annual Cowboy Poetry and Buckaroo Fair kicks off with a stake dinner tomorrow evening (Nov 1). Events run through Nov 6. This is the 11th season for the popular event.

Top performers from throughout the region will participate including the Bar J Wranglers, Baxter Black, Sons Of The San Joaquin, Riders In The Sky, Don Edwards, Wylie and the Wild West, Belinda Gale, Curly Musgrave, Gary Mc Mahan, Sour Dough Slim, Rich and Valerie O'Brien, Glenn Ohrlin and Ernie Sites.

Cowboy poetry is a unique art form that is unlike anything else in the world. It is often extremely dry and insightful, and always hilarious. In addition there will be plenty of cowboy music and grub.

The event is staged for the expressed purpose of “promoting the cowboy way of life through music, poetry and art...”

For a schedule and other information see the event’s website.

Utah Accommodations Earn 4-Star Rating

Two Utah lodging establishments and one restaurant have earned a four-star rating in the new edition of the annual Mobil Travel Guide.

The Grand America Hotel in Salt Lake City and Stein Eriksen Lodge in Park City earned the high ranking for lodging. Riverhorse in Park City earned the ranking for dining.

Nationwide, 119 lodging facilities and 140 restaurants earned four stars. Coveted 5-star status went to just 32 lodging properties and 15 restaurants.

The Mobil Travel Guide website explains the rankings and the criteria.

USA Today Features Lake Powell

In its travel section on Oct 24, USA Today featured Lake Powell, describing it as a “...scenic swath of Western landscape along the Colorado River in northern Arizona and southern Utah.”

“What's the big deal about Powell?” the article asks. And then it answers: “The scenery.”

The article provides several recommended websites containing information to help plan a trip to the big lake. And, of course, www.utah.com is listed (not once but twice), along with the official National Park Service website and a few others.

The article recommends people come to www.utah.com to “Read a comprehensive survey of the area...”

Come Watch the Buffalo Roundup

A herd of buffalo roam the open spaces on Antelope Island, in the Great Salt Lake. Every fall state park workers stage a buffalo roundup. Helicopters, horseback riders and four-wheel drive vehicles are used to move the bison from the southern tip of the island to the handling facilities on the north end, where the animals are given health checkups and other maintenance work is performed.

The roundup takes place Oct 29-30, beginning at 8 a.m. The public is invited to observe, from a distance. The best observation spot is Buffalo Point. For more information, please call Antelope Island State Park, (801) 721-9569.

Kane County Rec Road Controversy

This article in New West online magazine describes the beauties found in Kane County, in Utah’s Bryce/Zion area, and then blasts the county for opening roads to ATV use.

The article describes the controversy and the lawsuit the county faces for allegedly ignoring regulations imposed by the BLM and other federal agencies.

It is an interesting read about a controversy that is going to grow more intense over time.

Fall Fishing for Brown Trout

Fishing is great in Utah’s trout streams right now. Brown trout are aggressive and readily strike flies or lures. Traditional streamer flies are working well on streams like the Green, Provo, Weber, Ogden, Huntington and other waters containing browns.

Last Saturday I had the opportunity to fish the Diamond Fork River, located just southeast of Provo (off Hwy 6 from Spanish Fork Canyon). I did very well casting Rapalas, as you can see from the photo. I fished the area upstream from Three Forks.

See our Fall fishing report for more information.

- Dave Webb

Video from our Lake Powell houseboat trip

We have a short video clip showing the fun we had on our recent Utah.com company Lake Powell houseboat trip. It is Flash video that should play on virtually any computer, if you have Flash 6 or later.

Medium quality clip, 3.467 M

We are still experimenting with video. Please contact me if this gives you trouble, or if you have suggestions.

Thanks
Dave Webb

Newsweek Spotlights the LDS Church

The cover story in this week’s Newsweek magazine spotlights The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons), which has its world headquarters in Salt Lake City. This year marks the 200th birthday of Church Founder Joseph Smith. The article explores Smith’s life, and the growing religion he founded.

The Mormon Temple Square in Salt Lake City is one of the most popular tourist spots in Utah. The Mormon Tabernacle Choir gives free public performances at Temple Square.

You can read the Newsweek article here.

Here is an article about the article.

Special events will be held at Church Headquarters this fall and winter to commemorate Smith's birthday. They will be open to the general public. Watch the Church website for details.

LA Times Article Says Utah is Alive With Fall Colors

“...Once outside the park (Zion), Utah 9 connects to U.S. 89 and Utah 14, which work their way through Dixie National Forest, past the log cabins of quaint Duck Creek Village, to Cedar Breaks National Monument. The natural rock amphitheater — about 9 square miles and 2,000 feet deep — is wrapped in bright colors. The Paiutes called it "the circle of painted cliffs." And indeed, it is a work of art: a gallery of spires, natural arches and ledges carved by snow, wind, rain and patience.”

See the article and view the accompanying photo gallery.

General Deer Hunt Begins Oct 22

The general-season rifle buck deer hunt is the most popular hunting event in Utah and about 60,000 hunters are expected to participate this year. There may still be permits available for Utah’s northern region. Other regions are sold out.

If weather conditions are favorable, hunter success is expected to be good because the deep population is up. "The number of deer in Utah is continuing a slow but steady climb," said Craig McLaughlin, big game coordinator for the Division of Wildlife Resources.

Range conditions have been good this year and so animals have been spread out. But most mountain areas picked up heavy snowfall early this week, and more is expected to fall Saturday and Sunday. The snow may push the deer off the mountain peaks. It may also concentrate them and make them easier to locate and track. Scouting just before the hunt will be particularly important this year.

A major storm on opening weekend usually reduces hunter success.

Utah Mountains Pick Up Snow

The first winter-like storm of the season dumped about 10 inches of snow at Alta Ski Resort. Other mountain locations also picked up snow. Valleys statewide received substantial rain.

Another storm is expected to hit this weekend, bringing more rain to valleys and snow to mountain areas.

Ski enthusiasts are ecstatic. If weather conditions continue to develop as expected, our ski resorts will open well before Thanksgiving and we’ll have another great season.

Meanwhile, it is still early fall and most days will be mild, with plenty of sunshine. Indian summer is a delightful time in Utah. Hunting seasons are underway. This is the best time of year to a our desert canyons. Fishing is very good in most of our lakes and streams.

Fall colors will be tapering off now at high elevations in northern Utah, but are still spectacular in southern Utah, and at lower elevations in the north.

Trail of The Ancients Scenic Byway

The Trail of The Ancients was formally designated a National Scenic Byway on Sept 22 by the U.S. Department of Transportation and Federal Highway Administrator.

The route in located in southeastern Utah and southwestern Colorado. It was one of 45 routes named on that day as National Scenic Byways or All American Roads. (See the complete list.)

Utah now has one All American Road
- Highway 12

And 6 routes designated as National Scenic Byways
- Dinosaur Diamond Prehistoric Highway
- The Energy Loop: Huntington & Eccles Canyons Scenic Byways
- Flaming Gorge-Uintas Scenic Byway
- Logan Canyon Scenic Byway
- Nebo Loop Scenic Byway
- Trail of the Ancients

Trail of the Ancients circles through the ancient Puebloan (Anasazi) Country of southeastern Utah, providing opportunity to view archaeological, cultural and historic sites, as well as Natural Bridges National Monument.

Fall colors and Strawberry trout

With fall colors peaking, I snuck away from the office early Friday afternoon to take some pictures. As I drove up Daniels Canyon (US-40 east of Heber City), I was delighted by the beauty of the aspen trees – ribbons of gold woven into the deep green of the pine forest.

My photos turned out great – I was pleased.

I couldn’t resist driving on into the Strawberry Valley. And, since I was in the area, I figured I might as well try fishing for a few minutes. I just happened to have my boat with me; I quickly assembled my gear and launched from the Renegade ramp.

It was late afternoon and the fish were ready for supper. We trolled small lures in the bay adjacent to the ramp and caught cutthroat trout every few minutes for the next two hours. The fish were big, running from 18-25 inches. They were fat and healthy – still are, since we released them all.

On previous trips to Strawberry I’ve had faster action, measured by total number of fish caught. But I’ve never seen so many big fish caught in such a short period of time. It was great, one of my best trips ever.

Fishing at Strawberry should continue to be very good through the fall. The fish and colored leaves combine to create a great excuse to get out of the office.

Incidentally, special regulations govern harvesting fish at Strawberry. See the latest proclamation for details.

-- Dave Webb