Picto Diary - 19 to 23 March 2023 - Gunlock Falls

Above: TIMDT and Red. Branson, MO. 21 March 2023.
Bishop 'n Freddie hold down the fort in Ivins while TIMDT attends to family business in Arkansas. Beautiful women. TIMDT has long been one of the most photogenic people I know.

Above: Ivins, UT. 21 March 2023.

AM image looking west from our home.

Above: Gunlock Falls. Washington County, UT. 22 March 2023.

The last time I saw Gunlock Falls was in 2003. The last time Gunlock Falls, before this season, could be seen was in... 2003.

There is no spillway at Gunlock Reservoir. There is only... Gunlock Falls. Gunlock reservoir, a water source for greater St. George, UT, is created by an earthen dam on the Santa Clara River. The Santa Clara River source is in the nearby Pine Valley Mountains. The Santa Clara River flows into the Virgin River, which, in turn, flows into Lake Mead (Colorado River). In past years, not often, though, too-fast the Spring thaw of heavy snowpack, brought about by disproportionately warm Spring temperatures, has caused property destroying floods along the Santa Clara and Virgin Rivers. The river valleys are not flooding now, but I hope local residents, who could possibly be affected by Spring flooding, are getting their sandbags ready. There is still beaucoup snow covering the Pine Valley Mountains, with more snow in the forecast.

During the Spring of 2003 I was riding my BMW K1200 RS motorcycle north from Mesquite, NV on Old Highway 91, destination, St. George, UT. On a whim, I decided to bypass St. George and turn north on a county road which skirted Gunlock Reservoir and Gunlock town, later to intersect with UT SR 18 north, direction Enterprise, UT, to finally connect with I-15 northbound at Cedar City. This would be my first trip through this remote section of southwestern Utah.

North of Mesquite, riding Old US 91 through far northwestern Arizona, I was thrilled to see Joshua Trees, which vegetation continued after crossing the Utah state line. Joshua Trees in Utah, I thought. Amazing. Most conceptions of Utah have to do with the Wasatch Mountains, the Wasatch Front, where three quarters of Utah's population lies, and the Great Basin deserts, from four thousand feet of elevation up to thirteen thousand feet. Little appreciated that part of Utah is also on the lip of the Mohave Desert, circa two thousand feet of elevation, and possesses some of the unique vegetation of that area... Joshua Trees, for one.

Riding north, I was thrilled to see Gunlock Falls. I didn't know then it was a periodic phenomenon, only see-able two or three times in a lifetime, when raging runoff of Pine Valley Mountain snowmelt caused the Santa Clara River to overflow its earthen dam. I was glad to be able to return to Gunlock Falls today, twenty years later, to see this rare occurrence.

Back in 2003, as I continued my motorcycle ride along the northern route towards Cedar City, I stopped at a local Enterprise, UT cafe for lunch. As I sat down at my appointed table, I heard a man call out, "hey Steve!" It was Chip Williams, Park City resident and neighbor. Chip told me he was on a pipeline inspection job for his employer, Williams Pipeline. Chip was a member of the "Williams" family, owners of Williams Pipeline. Meeting Chip in middle-of-nowhere Enterprise was one of those "small world" events that seem to happen more frequently than they should. Chip Williams died last year. Chip was a periodic attendee of LSDM coffee colloquies and speaker days at Wasatch Bagel.

Above: Snow Canyon State Park. Washington County, UT. 22 March 2023

Above: Surinder Singh. RIP. 23 March 2023.

I knew Surinder well. He was an account officer in the Citibank New Delhi branch when I arrived there in 1972. Mehli Mistri, Ajit Grewal (deceased), V. J. Sood, Kantic Das Gupta and Rana Talwar were there as well. All of the above, and their wives, reached out to Margaret and me to make sure that we, the lone gringos, neophytes as we were, felt at home. Surinder's first wife, Devyani (sp?) is a Facebook friend, though our "clicks" and "likes" have been few and far between over the last few years.

Phil Sherman, after doing yeoman's work on the Park Citi List, has returned the task back to me (health reasons), with Tom Dunton (Park Citi charter organizer) as my conscience. We hope to have the Park Citi List fully up and running again soon. Meanwhile, please circulate this as warranted.

Condolences to Surinder's family.

SDT

-----Original Message-----
From: Jerry Rao <[email protected]>
To: [email protected] <[email protected]>; [email protected] <[email protected]>
Cc: Samit Ghosh <[email protected]>
Sent: Fri, Mar 24, 2023 6:15 am
Subject: FW: Surinder Singh

Above: TIMDT. Crystal Bridges Museum. Bentonville, Arkansas. 23 March 2023.

Diego Rivera painting.

Addendum:

Above: Apple Store and Dean.
Image from Apple Store:

Beautifully done, Steve.

For what it’s worth: deer hunting was a major part of the Wilson culture for many years. The annual deer hunt was as much about getting out into nature, away from the wives and camping; killing deer was really a secondary consideration and my impression was that the men in the family really didn’t care if they got a deer or not. My Aunt Ruby (Pose’s wife) once told me the men liked to go on the deer hunt so they could “be naughty.”

I remember going with my dad and grandpa to San Juan County for the deer hunt in 1962 (pic attached of me with Grandpa George F in his safety vest made by Grandma Della). The local economy benefited greatly from the invading California hunters who stocked up nicely at my grandpa’s store, Parley Redd Mercantile. The Californians were known for consuming imported (Blanding is a dry town) gallons of “aiming juice” and shooting anything that moved including cows and horses, so the locals did their best to stay clear of the hunters and protect their livestock during the hunt.

My dad was a sharpshooter in the National Guard and won competitions for his marksmanship in the early ‘50s. The two bucks in this pic he took down at about a thousand yards with no scope. I remember him being elated at the kills (he purloined my grandpa’s tag for the second deer), but after he shot them, he mentioned regretfully that “now the work begins,” i.e., dressing them—which, I assure you, is not fun and really kills the romance of it all for me.

On the deer hunt when I was 15, in my excitement, I mistakenly took several shots with my M1 at several elk meandering through the aspens in Payson Canyon. A stranger gave me a well-deserved Scotch blessing. Haunts me to this day and cured me of hunting—it was so irresponsible.

You are a gifted writer—thanks for sharing.

Apple Store,
Salt Lake City, UT