SILVER HELMETS RIDE AGAIN

By

Bonnie Glee

On the return ride over the Main Canyon loop in Utah’s Wasatch National Forest, the only visible snow (compared to the earlier jaunt) was in the shadowed crevasses of Mount. Timpanogos.  The entire trail was marked “OPEN”. Smells from the early spring ride were now covered by a musty odor of fall leaves shriveling all over the forest floor.  My only sign of moisture was during a panoramic view from the peak of the dusty trail of Strawberry Reservoir on my left and Deer Creek Reservoir on my right.

I watched as a thunderhead lifted from an autumn colored valley below. I was at the controls while Joe eyed nature’s wondrous beauty.  As I maneuvered over trail of boulders, Joe tapped my left leg, pointed to the right where the dark cloud loomed close, too close; then he pointed quickly to a cluster of pines just off to our left which I lunged under just in the nick-of-time.

An umbrella of pine branches protected us from the heavenly cloudburst.  Mountain Blue Jays, Woodpeckers, Robins and others chirped as they perched deep within the protection of evergreens, providing a melody to lunch by. I munched my ham sandwich, tasting the first couple of bites repeatedly; it needed Colby cheese really bad (I made a mental note for the next excursion). The squall dissipated but the thunder-head kept roaring as it rolled toward the next valley. We resumed our trek.

Were my city girl eyes deceiving me – was this trail lined with oodles and oodles of raspberries? Wild raspberries? I slowed down for a better look.  Sure enough the rain had washed off the layer of camouflage-dust. Their constant movement in the wind enticed me to pull over just short of the next horse-shoe bend.  I ate like a starving pioneer girl who had never tasted such delicious fruit. I kept blinking because they surrounded me and I just knew it couldn’t be true; that my eyes were deceiving me. The ride continued and so did the layered rows of berries until just before the loop was completed, where suddenly mounds of dandelions promenaded to greet us. Dandelions in the mountains are so beautiful, while in the city, a nuisance. 

Bonnie Glee Thomas

3570 Summer Hill Drive

Salt Lake City, UT 84121

801-733-0429 – Home

801-541-5353 – Cell

801-523-0100 – Work

Bjthomas8@juno.com

377 words