Soda Springs

A Thanksgiving week afternoon

The name of the spring that is the source of the soda water for which Soda Springs is known is actually this one... Hooper Spring. We got there minutes after it snowed again. It was so cold that we layered our coats and sweaters and I wore hat. 

Here you can see the the fountain and the bench around it.

You can see the outlet from the spring along with the water troubled by the bubbles.

Here is my partner and travel companion. The one that makes the trip worth taking and has for 38 years.

My Artwork

Here are a few of the drawings that I was selling at the Peach Days fair. They are the results of several years of work and mostly have an archeological theme. My artwork is one of the two serious aspects of my magnificent life. The other is my family, who make my life magnificent. And who tolerate the long hours that I spend on the artwork. So, enough of that.

The first one here is of the gate to the stairs that lead up to the Temple of the Sun in the ruins of Machu Picchu, Peru. It was done with the stippling process, which is making several million dots of ink to look like what you wanted to portray. It took about two months to complete. Oh, and by the way, prints of all of these are for sale. If interested then email me at archaeoart@xmission.com.

Red Rock Pass

Today, Evelyn and I took a trip north into Idaho to visit a place called Red Rock Pass. I’ve wanted to visit this place for nearly two decades, but never knew how close it actually was. I have known about this pass since I did a paper on Lake Bonneville back in my college days. This is the approach to the pass from the south along highway 91.

The fame of Red Rock Pass comes from it being the location where Lake Bonneville emptied into the Snake River at the rate of a million cubic meters of water per second. Within a month the lake level had dropped three hundred feet to a level equal to the new elevation of the pass after it being breached by this unequaled flood of water. It took that long because of the great size of this prehistoric fresh water lake. In many places in Utah you can see the level of the lake because of the wide flat bench of gravel and rock that, in some places, is a thousand feet above the valley floor. I regularly hike along one such ancient roadway not far from my home in Brigham City. This sign may explain a few things. If you  can read it.



This is a stop on the side of the road in the middle of the pass. The stairs take you to the top of the windy knoll and to a memorial to a very brave man. I have forgotten the particulars of his fame but remember that he was part of the handcart company “A” coming to Utah. This is important because it was thought that this should be the northern boundary of the state of Utah because all the water north of it empties into the Columbia River and to the Pacific. All the water south of this point drains into the remnant of Lake Bonneville, the great Salt Lake. On the other side of the hill is a cemetery in an enclosed fence. I never checked on the names though. Maybe next time.

Here is Evelyn working her way to the top of the stairs to see all that can be seen from there.

We went north from here to see the boulder fields that I had read about, but we never found them. These rocks and boulders are said to be from the size of cantaloupes to the size of a car. They were pushed up into wide mounds by the tremendous force of the flood. We never found them. We ended up getting some treats at a truck stop and heading for home by the back roads. This has been a day well spent.

Bear Lake

Swim anyone?
In a heartbeat

On Columbus Day, we went to Bear Lake. It was a beautiful day and we wanted to enjoy it to the fullest. So we headed out to the lake, seeing the sights that we could along the way.

One of the places we stopped at is a place called Rick’s Spring. We’ve been there before, but this is the first time that I could actually see the spring because of the angle of the sun. It was cool and clear and, on a warm day, very much a temptation to take a cool dip. But we didn’t. Not enough daylight.

We went on to Tony Grove and the day went from great to wonderful. The wind off the lake was as welcome as the forests surrounding it. I walked around to the picnic area to see if we wanted to eat there. But we didn’t. There were cows behind the foliage in most directions. I don’t know how many there were but enough to make a picnic crowded. They were probably waiting to be herded down to lower elevations for the winter. It was tempting to stay anyway.

Rachael collecting plant specimens.

The forest smelling of pine and earth was spotted with sunlight, dazzling against the dark trunks of the tall trees. And we were very nearly the only ones there. We took our pictures and gathered plant (Rackael’s ) and rock (Evelyn’s) samples and left.

This was our first sight of Bear Lake. What a beautiful body of water. This was only a stop on our way to get some raspberry shakes down in Garden City, a tourist stop that pretty much closes down after Labor Day. From there we went north along the western edge of the very full lake and rounded through Idaho back home. It seems that the trip back home is never as exciting as the trip out. Did you ever notice that? So this is the end of the great Bear Lake adventure. Or at least our latest adventure.

It's all about Me

My name is Harold Eaves and I am 24 years and 422 months old. I have all my teeth except one and have a  hairline that recedes to the back of my head. I have been married 38 years and have 6 children and 6 grandchildren. I enjoy movies, pecan pies, music, more pecan pies, a new pen and blank paper, my scriptures, and the word “coooool”. Some things that concern me are horses, mean people, cliff edges, grey anything, spandex, and New York City. I have moved 43 times in my short life, spent 10 years in the U.S. Nuclear Navy and another 6 years in college. Being in small spaces makes my palms sweat and elevators are a blind hole in the building that has the poor breeding to move.  My vision of heaven is the home and hell is being a patient in the hospital with no escape. I have a bucket list that includes scuba diving and spitting in the Grand Canyon. I have a medical condition which really means that I become very interesting if I fail to take my medication. I have worked as a computer systems administrator for 20 years. And finally, I work on Hill Air Force Base and won’t talk about my job. These are the boring facts, the background. I wanted to get them out of the way.

Presently, as I've been working on my preparations for presenting my art work at Peach Days, my house and yard have developed that ‘Back to Nature’ look about them. And as we are already headed into autumn and the growing season is over, it now becomes a priority to batten down the hatches and rig for the coming winter. I love the first of winter when the snow is still fresh and bright. I hate the last of winter when everything is cold and wet and gritty. That’s just me.

I love adventures, and the best ones are those that you survive to talk (see’ brag’) about. I no longer swim with the alligators or chase bears out of my camp. Instead I take the roads that I don’t know and that aren’t on the map. Or I repair a fixture and it doesn’t explode.  Or I skip the deodorant to see who my real friends are. Not as exciting as falling from a cliff or picking leeches from my underwear, but it will do.

Have you ever wondered how a people without the calculator, a written language, an engineer, or an espresso machine made multistoried housing complexes that have lasted over 700 years? Me too. But they did and they are beautiful. The structures that is. Well maybe the people were too. Probably were. And it’s that rugged beauty that fascinates me. I want to share it with others, even those views where I have used a little ‘artistic license’. Some have a LOT of artistic license and some have dropped the pretense altogether and are outright lies. But pretty ones. Ones that I enjoy and hope others will too.

So now you are all caught up with the rest of us. This is a small window into some of my history and who I am and what I’m about. I hope it helps you understand a little better when I shoot my eye out trying to use the grownup words in my blog.

Sunny Summer Picnic

This last weekend we went on a picnic. In North Ogden there is a spring that comes from a stump of fiberglass (it replaced the old cottonwood stump.) The water is very pure from this spring and it is tested twice a month to make sure it stays that way. We filled up our water jugs there.

Doesn’t this just look delicious? It makes me want to take a drink even when I’m not thirsty. And it’s cold even though the day is very hot. If it was allowed and if I had brought my bathing suit, I would be sorely tempted to just lay under the flow of water until I needed the sun again to warm me up.

We then went on a picnic above Hardware Ranch. We found a large meadow and set up our little folding table with all the makings of an exceptional lunch. Evelyn and I sat in the shade of the car and ate while Rachael wandered here and there taking samples of the interesting plants she found. She went as far as the other side of the meadow and into the woods on the other side of the road. Evelyn collected some rocks that she thought looked interesting. I was happy with the view and the food.

We stopped occasionally on the way home so that our botanist could collect more samples. We all had a great time and discovered even more places to have picnics in the future.

Peach Days

This is the first time that I have had a canopy at the Peach Days fair. I learned a great deal and plan on showing my art again next year. Or selling it. That is if I have anything new to show. I think that working to sell anything is like sparing in the boxing ring. You can practice all you want but you will never actually know how good you are until you are in the ring. For an artist selling to the public, you are given an idea of what other people value... color or black and white, large format or small, print or the more expensive originals, inks as opposed to water color as opposed to paint, etc. It was exciting to get that look into the collective public mind. I kinda felt like a voyeur, looking at someone and seeing their emotions when they looked at my work. Sometimes it was a very pleasing and other times it wasn't. But it was always an adventure.

Another thing that I learned was how much work it was to set up and later take down the site. The canopy and all that was in it. I also learned that most people are window shoppers like me. They are curious but aren't really looking to spend any money. I spent six times more on selling than l sold, but that will greatly improve next year because I now have the large expenses out of the way. And the adventure itself is worth a great deal.

Anyway, I had a great time and look forward to returning next year.

This was our setup. It was a great location but there was no breeze or shade and the inside of the canopy was hot and still. So we brought a fan.



My daughter Rachael, the main reason I made any sales.