Real mag

R e a l

Real Food ~ Real People ~ Real Places

Contents Real Food

Ahhh Tomato!............................................................pg. 4 Real People

The Many Faces of a Mom.........................................pg. 6 Real Places

Exploring Logan Canyon.........................................pg. 10

Real Food ~

Ahhhhh Tomato!

Nothing tastes better on a cool spring day, than warm, home-bottled tomatoes, sprinkled with fresh parmesan cheese. Just add a little salt and pepper and some toast and mmmmmm.........enjoy!!

Real People ~

Faces

TheDifferent

of

a

Mom

The Face of a young woman becoming a mom for the first time, discovering a love she never knew existed.

The Face of a young mom as she starts to see what she can accomplish in life, the strength that is hers.

Her face as her life changes forever, and becomes something richer, deeper and more meaningful.

Her face at the beginning of the journey to becoming a mom; innocent. A child about to grow into a completely different dimension in life. This road she has set her feet on will change her forever and she will never regret it.

The

Many

Faces Of

Love

Real Places ~

Exploring

Logan Canyon

I don’t know why, but canyons

have held a fascination for me since I was very young. Canyons, caves, mysterious lake monsters.... these are all things that captured my imagination and brought a thrill to my wanderings. All these things are included in the drive up through Logan Canyon of Northern Utah.

hawks, falcons, and early in the year, the glimpse of the dignified Bald Eagle is a not an uncommon occurance.

Nestled against the eastern mountain is

the city of Logan, Utah, where the first thing ones eye is drawn to is the Mormon Logan Temple, standing like a majestic

So, the kids and I loaded up the car

with treats and blankets and headed out on a beautiful, if somewhat chilly Sunday afternoon to experience, what for us, has become a family tradition to be enjoyed at all times of the year, rain or shine. Or snow for that matter. It’s the 40 mile journey through Logan Canyon with the beautiful deep blue-green waters of Bear Lake as the final thrill of our trip.

Even

before reaching the canyon, there is Cache Valley, a panoramic vista of snow topped mountains, wetlands, forests and the miriads of wildlife that come with this kind of scenery; ducks of all kinds, canadian geese, egrets, swans, pelicans, cranes,

guardian to the entrance of the canyon.

The

canyon experience starts at the entrance, where the logan river pours into an idyllic lake full of

trout and waterfowl. A small park invites visitors to sit and enjoy the beauty of clear water and wildlife.

We

enter the canyon. Steap rock walls extend skywards on either side as the road winds through the narrow entranceway, and as we continue, it opens up to the grandeur of the rugged Cache Mountains, sweeping before us.

We drive past beautiful campgrounds, rushing water and ponds where fishermen enjoy the pristine landscape and plentiful fishing of the Logan River.

We pass areas where rock climbers

granite cliffs climb high and disappear into the pine covered mountain tops.

Then,

just a few miles into the canyon, we come around a corner and there ahead of us, partially hidden by foliage, about 100 ft up from the canyon floor, looms Logan Cave.

From the time I was a little girl, visiting Utah to see my grandparents, I’ve been fascinated, and maybe a bit spooked by the dark mouth of this large, deep cavern.

Logan Cave, now blocked up to preserve it and to protect the habitat of the Townsend large-eared bat whose colonies make their home in the cave, used to draw spelunkers from across the state and other areas, to explore the more than 1200 feet of very wet, yet fascinating tunnels and caverns winding through the mountain.

Of course, we stop and head up the

scale sheer walls of grey-orange rock, wooden bridges cross the river, swollen with winter runoff. And all the while the eye is drawn upward as the

hint of a path leading to the dark maw yawning above us. We get our feet wet, wading through the water falling down the mountain from the cave as we meander up the steep incline.

At the mouth, we are stopped by the huge bars of the cage wall blocking the entance which are strong and narrow enough to keep out the curious, but wide enough to allow the cold, crystal waters that run through the caverns to escape and cascade down the mountain to the river below. And of course, wide enough to allow the bats who make their home in the confines of the cave, to go in and out at will.

We

peer through the bars for

awhile, wishing we could do more, and then make our way down to the car to continue the journey.

It takes another 20-25 minutes before we reach the top of the mountains where we get our first glimpse of the deep blue waters of Bear Lake.

I

have found over the years that no two experiences of this lake are alike.

The waters are so changeable. At times grey, at times blue and at times a deep aqua green that is absolutely breathtaking to see. They say that there are certain minerals in the lake that cause this phenomenon, but the way I see it, these waters have a personality all their own. Moody and fascinating, this

giant body of water can go from placid as a mirror to choppy with foam topped waves breaking violently on the shore in a matter of minutes. At it’s calmest, a person can see the bottom in thirty feet of water and at it’s most violent, be completely obscure.

Bear Lake also has it’s monster stories, which, of course, fascinate the imagination, and cause us to, against

our better judgement, for a few moments, believe completely in the possibility of the fantastic and unbelievable.

One

such story happened fairly recently as far as accounts go, in the year 2002. A man by the name of Brian Hirschi, who owns a boat shaped like the monster which he uses to fer-

ic of some extremely interesting conversations between my children and me.

Unfortunately,

ry tourists around the lake, came forward with a story of his own about an encounter with the elusive animal.

According to Animal Planet: “Brian Hirschi, a local business owner recalled seeing two humps just above the water’s surface while out on his boat one summer day.

Hirschi said the humps disappeared, and then he suddenly felt his boat move. The monster reappeared right next to his boat and Hirschi came eye to eye with a creature he described as having “dark green, slimy skin and beet red eyes.” As quickly as the monster appeared, it disappeared. Bear Lake residents weren’t sure what to make of Hirschi’s tale, but they all agreed on one thing: The Bear Lake Monster continues to be good for business.”

Whether

true or not, stories like these bring a mystery and excitement to the waters of this lake, and also become the top-

as we find our favorite spot and emerge from the car, the weather is a bit too cold and windy to enjoy splashing in the lake like we’d normally do, but, I am able to take some beautiful pictures and we all enjoy watching the waves swarm to the beach like small replicas of the snow topped mountains behind us.

Today the mood of the lake is an in-

tense blue-green that is apparent from the first glimpse we had at the top of the mountain and becomes even more apparent as we are standing on the sandy, shell strewn beaches. Even cold and uncomfortable, there is still a peace and beauty that comes from the scene that invigorates and energizes the soul, as

we watch gulls sweap over us in hopes of a handout, clouds above us building and moving across the sky tossed with all shades of blue, grey and white.

When we are too cold to

As we are enjoying the scenery, a man

stops by to inform us of a large elk herd just up the river from us that we could go see. So a few of us jump in

get any more enjoyment from the lake, we all pile back in the car and head back up the mountain.

On our way back down the

canyon, we stop at another favorite spot; Rick Springs.

This “spring” which actually isn’t one, but rather a tributary of the Logan River, is dry during the winter and only starts welling up through a large, cavelike opening as the first spring runoffs start to appear.

This

day, the waters are coming strong, and the kids and I enjoy climbing around on the cliffs above the spring and exploring a small cave just to the left of the entrance.

the car and head up the road a bit to see these very large, majestic animals as they forage on the mountains above us. It is a beautiful sight, and I find myself, not for the first time, trully regretting not having a good telephoto lense for my camera. It is with a sigh of re-

gret that I give up trying to get a good picture of them, and head back to the spring to get the rest of my children.

We head home feeling a sense of re-

freshment, relaxation, and togetherness after once again experiencing the incred-

ible scenery of this beautiful canyon. ~