October 7, 2010

Path of the Padres

We've had stormy weather this week, but we didn't want to miss the last of the aspens.  
We drove through raindrops
up to Strawberry Ridge, west of Strawberry Reservoir:
In 1776, the Dominguez-Escalante Expedition traveled through the Strawberry River Valley (the river is now dammed into the reservoir, but the padres called this Valle de la Purisima, valley of the purest), then rode up Strawberry Ridge (from which I took these photos), and hurried helter-skelter down the other side to camp in the valley shown below:
The reason for the rush?  Their Ute guides feared that hostile "Comanches" (according to John D. Barton, Utah State University professor of history, in this article, http://ocw.usu.edu/History/History_of_Utah/Utah_History__ute_lands_and_people.doc , the hostiles were most likely Shoshones) were in the area and might attack.  
The expedition of Spanish padres made the transit without incident, reaching the Wasatch Front near Utah Lake, seen in the distance here: 
We stopped for a short walk to a spring, but another storm cell sent us scurrying back to the truck:
We haven't explored any of the area west of the ridge, so as you can see from the panorama below, we have a lot of work to do:
(Enlarge for a better view.)

17 comments:

  1. Wow, nice research.

    Looks like you have a lot of work left to explore. Another "Rough Ride" book maybe?

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  2. another beautiful spot Janie...

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  3. It's obvious you have a lot of wide open space to explore. I hope the weather allowed you to see some of the aspens.

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  4. Love that panorama. What did you use to stitch it? As boring as the cows are, I guess its better than running into hostile Comanches instead!

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  5. Beautiful country. I am always amazed by the photos you post. I think we need to take a trip to Utah one of these days and see for ourselves how gorgeous it is.

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  6. Love hearing the history, Janie. Thanks!!!! Sorry the weather was so rotten for you --but you did get some fabulous pictures. Hope you have time to explore more of the area west of the ridge before winter gets there...

    Thanks for a great post...
    Hugs,
    Betsy

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  7. We've been rained on very heavy also and the park was without power for almost 24 hours.

    I love your high views looking down into the valleys patched with the colorful aspens.

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  8. What a spectacular spot - even in the rain!

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  9. This is an amazing sight...huge vistas and an ominous sky.
    Love the history less here too Janie.
    Have a great weekend!

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  10. many days of riding ahead for you . . . be careful out there during those lightening storms. We had a really good storm yesterday. The kids were thrilled. They all had to run out and pick up some hail.

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  11. I don't think getting caught in that rain would be much fun.

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  12. Very interesting! And the photographs are gorgeous.

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  13. The landscape of beauty or the beauty of the landscape!

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  14. Love the history lesson as well as your beautiful pics and country side. I envy the way you write your blog...you do an excellent job.
    Thank you for taking the time so we all can enjoy...it makes my day!

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  15. Just home from a trip to NM and catching up, Janie. I love seeing your fall vistas and colors (beautiful even in the rain!).

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  16. Beautiful. I long to visit this type of landscape one day.

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