Wales Canyon Trail Ride

studio, oil, 8" x 16", 'Wales Canyon'

Wales is a town in Sanpete County, Utah. About 13 miles from where I live. Wales has no stores, gas stations nor stop lights. The population in 2012 census was 297. The small mining town of Wales was named for the country of the immigrants that were sent there by Brigham Young in 1854 to mine the "rock that burns". A Native American named Tabison, a prominent Ute, had shown Young a small sample of coal. The Welsh immigrants, having experience with coal mining in the U.K., were sent to the west side hills to set up mines.

The community's original name was Coal Bed, but was changed to Wales in 1857. There once was a railroad depot and it was an important and busy mining center. The mines and train were abandoned when more productive mines were discovered in Scofield, Utah. Many of the present residents are descendants of the original miners.

Wales lies on the west side of the Sanpete Valley, at the foot of the Sanpitch Mountains. 

This is the overlook of the Sanpete Valley on my trail ride.

Remembering the Pioneers

studio, oil, 16" x 20", 'Hurricane Plateau'

Provo River

plein air, oil, 9" x 12", 'Provo River'

Red White and Blue

plein air, oil, 11" x 14", 'One More Year'

This is a fabulous barn located in Midway, UT.  It is almost ready to tip over! I took artistic liberties and made the center pole more vertical for a more pleasing balance but... its demise is sooner than later! 

Wasatch Plein Air Paradise

plein air, oil, 9" x 12", 'Just Cut'

This is the other side of Mount Timpanogos from the beautiful town of Midway in Wasatch County. I just returned from the 9th annual plein air competition with many fantastic artists. It was a pleasure to enter three completed pieces. 

Mount Timpanogos

studio, oil, 10" x 20", 'Timp View'

I looked at this view of Timp this spring as I was driving through Utah County on my way home to Sanpete. It was lite up by the setting sun and seemed to glow. I knew I wanted to do a studio painting!

Here are some interesting facts about Mount Timpanogos.

Mount Timpanogos is the 2nd highest mountain in Utah's wasatch mountain range. Only Mount Nebo is higher. 'Timp', as the locals call it, towers over the Provo, Orem, and Pleasant Grove area and it is a very dominate feature extending almost seven miles in the north to south direction with many of its peaks reaching over the 11,000'. The vast cirques and basins were carved and gouged into this mountain by much more extensive glaciation as recently as 12,000+ years ago. One interesting fact about Timp is that it has the only real glacier in Utah, although it is very small. The glacier is one of the highlights for many of those who summit the mountain, using it as a quick descent route. 

There are 2 main trails that lead to the summit, joining at a gap not far from the main summit. 

My first summer as a student at Brigham Young University in Provo, I hiked to the summit on the Aspen Grove trail. It was exhilarating! Try it sometime!!

Nice and Warm California

        

plein air, oil, 9" x 12", 'San Juan Bautista Mission'

El Camino Real

California’s Royal Road

In 1769 Spain began occupying what is now California. Franciscan padres supervised the construction of 21 missions to convert the California Indians to Roman Catholicism and teach them European agriculture and trade. The military established four presidios (forts) to protect the new colonies. Travel between the settlements was difficult due to the great distances and rough terrain. Establishing a connecting road system was vital to the Spanish success. The Native Californians had developed routes to their hunting, gathering and trade areas. The roads and routes varied with the seasons. The Spanish followed and expanded these existing routes to link the missions, presidios, and pueblos (towns). Some of these routes became the Royal Road, today’s El Camino Real.

Portions of El Camino Real later became stagecoach roads and automobile highways. At the turn of the 20^th century, California women’s clubs began marking the old road with reproduction mission bells. Today the bells still mark the route between the missions.