Tuesday, August 15, 2023

A Tribute to the late Chuck Gates

 


  Charles "Chuck" Joseph Gates, Jr., 66, passed away on August 9, 2023 in Ogden, Utah.

He and I first crossed paths in 1981 and initially, we talked a lot about dating problems with current and past girlfriends, as we were both single then. We created a bond early on.

 Chuck always seemed so cool and calm, someone special to respect and look up to. We worked at the same place for some 27 years. He was one of my bosses for 15 of those years. We both eventually got laid off just a few months apart. He wanted me to invest in a possible business with him a few weeks after I was let go. I said no, as it seemed too risky.

On the other hand, I don't think anyone else had ever trusted me enough to partner in a business adventure. We both eventually landed on our feet, got other jobs and moved on. With his passing, I wonder more and more how that business venture might have gone?

Chuck died followed an accident -- he fell off the roof of his house and went head first into the ground. He had to be put into an induced coma to have any hope of recovery, but after three days, there was no hope and all plugs were pulled. Apparently, the edge of his roof collapsed, which resulted in his fall. 

(This is at the least a stern, first-hand  reminder to always be careful when atop roofs or ladders!)

His funeral service proved we had more in common than I thought. And, surprisingly, he had years ago moved northward, from south Salt Lake County, to northern Weber County. I wish I had realized that and got some connection going again, as I had not seen or talked to him for some 11 years, even though he lived just 9 miles away for almost the past decade, instead of 50 miles or more for the previous years.

This should be a lesson to myself (and those who read this), to not let relationship lapses go on, or you may regret your lost chances one day!

Chuck was a deep thinker, very innovative, a great writer and editor. He always treated me fair. I felt a better person for his friendship and wish I had not not let it go inactive.




Sunday, March 26, 2023

Is Lagoon Park too expensive?



IS Lagoon Park in Farmington, Utah too expensive?

It is tricky to compare all parks and their prices, as some parks' prices vary by month, time of the daily entry, the season or what's included.

Look at the basic rankings/dollar numbers below for the regular adult admission and you decide this query (as of April 2023 prices):

1. Disneyland. Single park/single day pass from *$104 and up; Three park/1 day hopper pass $209; Season pass $400 to $1,600; Parking $30.

2. Lagoon: Single day pass **$101.69; Season pass $207.79; Parking $20.

3. Knotts Berry Farm. Single day pass $89.99; Season pass $145; Parking $25. Soak City water park is separate $56.78; Season pass $145.

4. Six Flags Magic Mountain. Single day pass $85.91; Season pass $114.99, plus tax; Parking $40.

5. Silverwood, N. Idaho. Single day pass $79; Season pass $221-$715; Parking $10; (Boulder Beach water park is separate admission with a season pass.)

*Varies by day/season, by which park, Disneyland or California Adventure.

**Does not include any discount offers.

-----------------------------------------

Recommendation:


-Lagoon should return to what it originally did -- Separate the cost for Lagoon-A-Beach, as its own individual entry price. This would significantly reduce the cost for a day pass for rides only. This is only fair, because in summer doing the "Beach" reduces the number of rides a patron can do; and in the pre-season (April and most of May, plus fall), Lagoon-A-Beach is NOT even open.



Saturday, August 7, 2021

Hello West Point Utah High School -- Coming Soon?



                            The view looking southeast into the larger, 50.76 acre school property.

                                        Another view of the future high school site.

A PREDICTION----

SOMEWHERE  in the near future, welcome to the new West Point Utah High School.

The next new high school in Davis County (No. 10) will may well be in West Point.

The Davis School District owns a total of 84.16 acres in the extreme northwest corner of West Point. That's near the intersection of 4500 West and 1800 North.

In fact, the school district owns land on three of the four corners there, with only the northwest corner not belonging to their property cluster there.

Why would the District buy this much land, unless it has big plans there? And, there's way too much land for just an elementary and/or junior high school there.

                        A makeshift map showing acreage that the Davis School District owns,

Eighty-four acres is more than enough for a new high school and then some. An elementary school and a junior high could also be built there, along with the high school. (Elementary schools usually require 11-13 acres of land and junior highs a little more than that.)

How much land is needed for a new high school? Layton High sits on 36 acres; Northridge High boasts 48 acres and Farmington High has about 43 acres. So, the West Point cluster has about an extra 36 acres.


                                        Another view of the 50-plus acre school parcel.


Davis County started buying this land back in about 2012. The Syracuse Islander newspaper reported in 2013 that the Davis District had purchased 30 acres there, in West Point, at that time -- and desired at least another 20 acres. So, it has now surpassed that by some 34 acres.

Ironically, just to the west, as the 1800 North Street (Utah Highway 37) curves northward, that area has been nicknamed "Pig Corner" for more than 70 years. That's because a fragrant pig farm used to exist on the corner.


       The southeast field that could easily house a new junior high, or elementary school.

  The northeast field that could easily house a new junior high, or elementary school.


What would the mascot be for West Point High?  Cadets is a very suitable choice. That's the West Point Naval Academy's alternate nickname, with "Black Knights" being their primary mascot.

Since the three tracts of land straddle the 4500 W-1800 N intersection, some parking and/or the school's stadium may have to be built across the street. The main school buildings would be on the 50.76 acre site, the largest of the three sections, on the southwest corner of the intersection.


                                                      Still another 50-acre property view.

1800 North is a main corridor in northern Davis County and will also likely have its own I-15 freeway exit and entrances one day.

4500 West Street is main north-south corridor, going from Antelope Drive north.

One shortcoming is that the 4500 West intersection at 1800 North doesn't squarely line up with its continuation northward, as there is a slight deviation required to the west. That means that a traffic signal for the intersection cannot be a standard one, unless the intersection is widened to create a more direct path.

Clinton City missed out on an LDS Temple, as neighboring Syracuse landed that asset. And, it looks as if Clinton will also miss out on its own high school -- and likely most Clinton residents are probably going to eventually attend this new high school.

The view looking northward from 5000 West Street. The Davis School District's 50.76 acre parcel of land is on the right (east) side of this narrow roadway.

NOTE: This article is based on the author's opinions, taken from factual property ownership searches. The author is not affiliated with the Davis School District and does not speak for the District.


Thursday, January 14, 2021

The legacy of the Grand Canyon’s Roaring Springs – Water salvation from a giant cave


Roaring Springs, as it appears from the North Kaibab Trail, 4.7 miles from the North Rim.


ROARING SPRINGS is the reliable source of water that keeps visitors quenched at both the North and South Rims of the Grand Canyon.

Today, if many people think of a cave in the Grand Canyon, they may actually envision Grand Canyon Caverns, located along High 66, southwest of today’s Grand Canyon village.

However, “Cave of vast size is found in Grand Canyon” was an April 11, 1928 headline in the Tucson Citizen newspaper.

This cave was actually Roaring Springs.

Three workmen employed on building a water pumping station for the new lodge being built atop the North Rim went inside the cave for an estimated two miles. They only turned back, because a boat was needed to go deeper inside the mountain.

“Roaring Springs emerges from openings in the cliffs and the water cascades down in falls,” the story stated.


    Driving south on the Kaibab Plateau, toward the North Rim of the Grand Canyon  in mid-May. Is there an actual huge lake of water beneath this plateau? Some believe there is.

One of the apertures is large enough to permit a man access and Bill Denson of South Dakota went inside with a small flashlight. Seeing vast spaces and tunnels inside, he returned outside to tell co-workers, Mack Jensen of Toquerville, Utah and Paul Swain of Salt Lake City, what he had seen. The three secured gasoline lanterns and extra fuel bottles and went exploring inside for four hours.

“There is a regular labyrinth of tunnels in there,” Jackson said. “And, we didn’t try to explore all of them.”

They found four connecting tunnels.



                            A sign highlighting the importance of Roaring Springs on the North Rim.


“At the place where these four tunnels come together, there’s a big river coming down one of them, dividing among the other three. These divide again and again, so that all the waterfalls you see in the canyon that we call Roaring Springs are just the ends of smaller tunnels. The one big creek supplies them all,” Jackson said.

One place, the walked along the river on a narrow ledge and estimated the water below to be at least 20 feet deep.

Finally, two miles in, they came to a large room filled entirely by the river.

“As far as we could see, the cave and the river got bigger and bigger. The river is too deep to wade and too cold to swim, or we would have gone further,” he said. “The inside of the cave is very beautiful. It is filled with stalactytes and stalagmites …”



                             A sign along the North Kaibab Trail, just above Roaring Springs.

The story concluded that since the caverns of Roaring Springs are so vital a natural resource to the area, that the National Park Service may prohibit future exploration inside.

It appears that is the case, about a century later.

The story also said some believe that there is a huge underground lake beneath the Kaibab Plateau and that is what fuels Roaring Springs.

There are no streams on the Kaibab Plateau, north of the Grand Canyon, and none on the South Rim either. 

That’s because the limestone rock below and many sink holes absorb almost all the surface water and take it underground.

Some tests in the 21st Century have shown that as little as six days is all that was required for some rainwater on the Kaibab Plateau to exit through Roaring Springs.

A section of the trans-canyon pipeline from Roaring Springs, as it appears above Indian Gardens, along the Bright Angel Trail. Note how vulnerable the pipeline is.


The 12 or so miles of pipeline from Roaring Springs to Phantom Ranch suffer frequent leaks and breaks, whereas the pipeline across the Colorado River and up the South Rim are much more stable.

Roaring Springs supplies a vast majority of the water for both the North and South Rims.

Even as recent as the early fall of 2022 there was a brief stint of rationing water on the South Rim, when some breaks in the trans-canyon pipeline diminished the outgoing water supply.

 

Wednesday, April 1, 2020

Some forgotten history of Supai, Arizona



                               The view from Hill Top down.
                                                                            -All photos by Ravell Call
                                Horses coming up the trail from Supai to Hill Top.

SUPAI in the Grand Canyon is a unique place of both beauty and serenity. Indeed, it has been called the Eden of Arizona, a Shangri La.
Located west of Grand Canyon Village and about 90 miles northwest of Flagstaff, Ariz., this Native American Village has only three ways of access -- by foot or horseback, or helicopter. The hiking or horse trail at Hill Top is located 68 miles off of the historic Route 66 highway. Then, it is eight miles of trail to the village of Supai. No day trips are permitted there -- visitors must camp in the campgrounds or stay at the lodge and pay all required entrance fees.
One of the first newspaper mentions of Supai, or the Havaupai people was in the Weekly Journal-Miner of Prescott, Ariz., on Aug. 27, 1890 when a California man wandering the area stumbled across the tribe. 


                                   Typical residence in Supai.

His newspaper account is: 
"The chief of the strange tribe in the Grand Canyon is an old man of 60 years named Captain Tom, a name given him by *John D. Lee, the Mormon who escaped from Utah and for six years lived in hiding with the red men," the newspaper stated. "He was the first white man the Yavi-Supais had ever seen and he taught the chief the whiteman's language
and use of fire-arms. The Indians live in small houses woven woven from young willow trees. They are a simple and harmless people, totally unacquainted with civilization. The young men are experts with bow and arrow and can kill birds in the air and rabbits on the run with the greatest of ease. The old chief met our party with two warriors as bodyguards. They were decked up with paint and looked fierce enough.
"I found these Indians in a starving condition, living on cedar berries and grass seeds."
The man then proceeded to get government aid for the natives.


                                               The store in Supai.


                                        The restaurant in Supai.


                                     The Supai Village Lodge.

Others too knew of Supai. There were mines in the area and a miner named Mooney had lost his life in the canyon below the village when his rope broke above a cliff. (Today, one of the waterfalls is named in his honor.)
"Havasu Falls" is also not the original name of the largest water drop below the village of Supai. According to the Weekly Journal-Miner of Sept. 12, 1894, "Bridal Veil Falls" was its original title.
The story also mentions Mooney Falls and states, "A view of these alone is worth the trip there, as they are magnificently grand."
One of the first affects of the white men to this isolated village centered on the dead. The tribe had always traditionally burned the bodies of the deceased, as well as all of their belongings. The white man taught them to bury their dead and then make use of their possessions.
Two of the deadliest of enemies to the Supai Village were severe weather, particularly floods and disease.
"Supai Villege destroyed" was a Jan. 7, 1910 headline in the Conconino Sun newspaper out of Flagstaff. "Not a house was left standing. One of two Indians are missing. There was a twenty foot breast of water that came down in a flood," the paper reported.
Another big flood hit Supai in September of 1952. Then, one struck in August 2008, that totally reshaped the main Havasu waterfall. Then, floods came again in July of 2018 and December of 2019.
(There were likely other floods too, as the narrow canyon is very prone to them.)


                             A look at Mooney Falls, from the tunnel access to it.

-Jump back to 1941 and "Measles killing Indians" was a United Press story of Sept. 10, stating that two natives had died and 35 others were ill from the disease.
Medical care was a key issue in the village at that time. "Indian boy dies despite physician's efforts" was a Sept. 17, 1941 headline in the Salt Lake Telegram. The boy's mother had "defied tribal medicine men" to put him under the care of a doctor.
Jumping back to the mid-1920s, the Morning Sun newspaper of Yuma, Arizona published the account of "Arizona Charlie" Meadow's visit to Supai in its Sept. 4, 1923 edition.
Meadows reported there were some 250 members of Supai at the time. However, they knew little of their history and that nothing beyond the last half century was known to them. The tribe claimed to have been prosperous decades earlier in cattle and sheep, but they were robbed by other tribes of Indians. They grew corn, watermelon and peaches now.
"But very few of their number have ever been out of this place, and know of no country, no land, and no home except the valley of this narrow canyon."
The winter of 1933 was brutal for the village of Supai. "Rangers carry food to the Havasupai Indians" was a Feb. 3, 1933 headline in the Williams News of Williams, Ariz. Some 200 Indians were reported to almost be near starvation because of heavy snowfall. The Grand Canyon Park rangers led a rescue crew carrying food as they broke through six-foot-high drifts of snow.
By 1932, another newspaper said the tribe was fast becoming extinct.
The Williams News of May 17, 1935 reported that 31 college students from Flagstaff visited Supai and camped in the area just before Mooney Falls (today's campground area). This story described the Indian tribe as "rapidly diminishing." The students began their hike down from the "Hill Top," a same-named location today.


                                        A Supai rider on the trail.

The Provo, Utah Daily Herald of May 12, 1940 carried the headline, "Herd of 'Dwarf Horses' discovered in isolated Grand Canyon valley." Les Clayon, a veteran Arizona cattleman, confirmed the existence of some 50 horses just 30 inches tall and weighing only 20 to 90 pounds. Clayton and his men had to use ropes to lower themselves into a small canyon where the horses were a box-like valley.
Clayton said the Indian legend for the horses was that centuries ago the chief of the Supai tribe hid horses there to prevent them from being stolen by plundering Navajo Indians. Then, the animals were never able to get out and apparently the Havasupai Tribe forgot about them. 
Clayton theorized that inbreeding and a lack of food led to their small nature of the animals.
(No later mention could be found of the dwarf horses.)
After World War II, Supai had its first church and even a post office. Eventually, the tribe was able to reclaim land in the surrounding area that it held before being forced into reservation status in its small canyon in the 1880s.
A big milestone came too in 1954.
"Tribe finally hangs out welcome mat" was an Intermountain News Network story carried in the Ogden Standard-Examiner of Utah on Oct. 21, 1954.
The tribe was now ready to welcome visitors and they soon became its biggest industry and one that has led them to become self-sustaining.
However,  in 1954, the only electricity there was from a gasoline powered motor for the town's movie projector, so that it could show Hollywood movies.

            Swimming in Havasu Falls. The falls look different now, altered in the 2008 flood.

The story stated that the women loved gambling and their cards, while the men favored a game with a ball and poles.
"There is no formal law enforcement," the 1954 story stated. "And no marriage certificates. To marry, the boy moves into the wickiup of his intended. If not chased out, he gives presents to her parents and stays ... Every man and boy has a horse, and learned to ride it, and swim in pools beneath their three beautiful waterfalls, even before they learned to walk," the story stated.

*John D. Lee was blamed for the Mountain Meadows Massacre of 1857 in Utah. He was executed in 1877.

NOTE: All photos are by Ravell Call, from April of 2004.
]

Sunday, January 5, 2020

A Tribute to the late Robert "Bob" Waite -- Kaysville's non-general authority version of J. Golden Kimball

                        Bob Waite at his floral shop in Kaysville, Utah.

ROBERT D. "Bob" Waite of Kaysville was a unique person, to say the least.
He died on December 30, 2019, at age 72.
Bob was a walking contradiction and someone you would not forget after having encountered him even just once.
In some ways, he was kind of Kaysville's non-general authority version of J. Golden Kimball, a legendary leader in the LDS Church in the early 20th Century, sporting colorful language and an unforgettable personality.
A staunch Democrat, Bob could make friends with anyone, including the most die-hard of Republicans.
I co-authored a book with Bob in 2012, "Evergreen Tabletops," with Gibbs Smith as the publisher.
Bob had a well-known floral shop (now razed and gone) in Kaysville, Utah, Designer Associates, and that was a passionate hobby of his. He had also had a successful career as a civil employee at Hill Air Force Base, ending up as the Base's housing manager.
He could talk to anyone and those who conversed with him would walk away with a good feeling, as Bob cared about everyone.
Bob especially loved his cats, but also delved into history (his college major).
He loved the community of Kaysville and especially all his neighbors.
I will always marvel that BYU-TV's "The Story Trek" show somehow managed by pure chance to knock on his door in 2015 and ask if he had a story to share. He did and the episode was titled, "The Cat Who Saved My Life."
I'll never fully understand how he was so likable to so many, or how he radiated so much unconditional love to others. However, I'm a better person for having known him and he will be missed.
I'd like to be a little more like Bob, but certainly without his colorful language.

A Tribute to good old Bruce Davis, so upbeat and caring




BRUCE Davis of Layton, Utah was the most humble, upbeat and caring person I have ever had the pleasure of having personal contact with.
Despite having such a common last name, Bruce was a very, very uncommon person.
Bruce passed away on Sunday, December 8, 2019, after a short illness, at age 65.
He had a successful teaching and administrative career at Weber State University, was on many different business boards and served as a Layton City Council member. He was also faithful to his church.
He was also extremely level headed as an administrator and council member. He also always seemed to donate to the campaigns of his political rivals and was so easy going when he didn't make it through the primary election for Layton mayor.
I had attended Roy High School with Bruce (and his twin brother, Brian, who passed away in 2013).
Bruce served as senior class first vice president and ran track and cross country for Roy. He was also so upbeat and happy then and add 47 years to that and in his 60s he seemed even more cheerful and caring than ever.
If I can be half as happy and caring as Bruce was, I will be a much better person.
I will surely miss Bruce (and his twin) and I'm proud to have been associated with them.