Rain in the Uintas

We spent the 4th of July in Midway this year.  Dinner was at the Homestead on the front lawn.  There were several fun activities for children set-up, but I guess Eric didn't feel like participating this year.  It may be his age or even more so it may be that he is 6 feet tall and bigger than most adults.  The fireworks on Memorial Hill were good, but only one small fire was started on the hill side and the fire department was on top of it very quickly so no dramatics there.  I think the days of celebrating the 4th of July in Midway might be coming to an end.  Several factors have come together that may lead to this conclusion.  Midway continues to grow and the small town village atmosphere is going away one building at a time. Our family continues to grow with a few of us brothers having grand children and families of our own.  It was almost 30 years ago that my parents moved to Midway and the tradition of celebrating the 4th of July in Midway began to be a family event.  While Debbie and I with Eric were celebrating in Midway the rest of our children and grandchildren were celebrating together in our home back in St. George. In St. George there were twelve people from my clan and that is soon to grow.   It will become more difficult for all of Lowell & Marilyn's posterity to convene upon their small home in Midway and celebrate together. Midway is the best during the summer and I enjoy the lush mountain valley atmosphere.  After the 4th of July celebrations we headed up to the Uintas to Ruth Lake to backpack, fly fish & rock climb.  It is sort of a yearly tradition for our family, but often other things dilute the experience.  For instance, last year it was "snowed out".  We literally couldn't get up there because the road was still closed from heavy winter snows.  This year the snows were long gone, but people's schedules prohibited complete participation and the fact that Dad can no longer hike far enough to make it in there with us.  Even so, there were several of us ready to go on the day after the 4th.  That is when the rains began.  After 38 days of no rain and hot dry weather, the thunderstorms arrived to the mountains.  We abandoned our attempt at the Ruth Lake trailhead while standing around our trucks in a steady rain.  The next day some of us made a 2nd attempt.  The day started out great, with beautiful sunshine and warm temperatures.  It was myself, Deb, and Eric.  Nick soon joined us as well.  Everyone else had to bail.  For the next two days we rock climbed, fly fished, hiked and visited around a campfire.  We just had to wait out the daily thunderstorms and time the activities.  Once again I was reminded of why we keep coming back to the Uintas.  The lakes, meadows and forest are so beautiful up there and the climbing is very good and the fishing can be quite fun.  Nice mountain temperatures compared to hot St. George as well.  Certainly something to think about.