Deseret News Columns

I've been writing a biweekly column for the Deseret News for a little over a year now.  You can find most of them archived at this link.  I also repost them after they have appeared in print at Econosseur, which is a blog jointly run by Rick Evans, Jason DeBacker and myself.

Cliffhouse Arch

I recently put up some photos on Photosynth from my earlier hike down the Escalante River in 2008.  This is a really cool way to look a scenery, especially rock art.

Here is the link for this set of photos.  For more of these, especially rock art, try this link.  Enjoy!

Good Samaritans

Who says all strangers are selfish?

A Facebook post from an old friend quoted below.  He works for the towing service.

Maria sat crying, holding her 6month-old baby in Chisholm trail park in Plano as the last light of this chilly Sunday faded. Felecia and her two young daughters driving by, noticed the weeping mother, stopped and asked what was wrong. Maria had locked her keys inside her car and with her dead cell phone being of little use and having no money, sank into despair in the gathering gloom. Felecia called the Plano police and was patched through to Signature towing seeking help for Maria. She was quoted $85.00 for the lockout service and agreed to pay. I arrived to find them all safe and warm inside Felecia's van. A few minutes later Maria's car was open and her keys located. Felecia tried to pay me but I just couldn't accept her money. After all, how frequently do you meet a true good Samaritan?

Shooting Photos through Welding Glass

I got a piece of welding glass in the mail recently to use as filter for long exposures.  It seems to be working pretty well, but does require a few adjustments.

The first issue was how to mount it in front of the lens.  I've seen blog posts where some people have taped the glass to a screw-on UV filter.  This means you can only use it for lenses of the same size as the filter.  Another option was to use a tulip lens hood reversed and hold the welding glass in place with rubber bands.  This will work for any size lens providing it has a tulip lens hood.  I had a flat lens hood that fits onto my EFS 18-55mm zoom via a bayonet mount, rather than the filter screw-in.  so I taped the glass to the lens hood with electrical tape.  It mounts and unmounts easily with a quick twist.

Report on My Android Phone

I got a Samsung Galaxy S III a little more than a week ago.  Here are some quick thoughts.

1)  The Android system is a bit clunkier that iOS, but not much.  It just needs some getting used to.  Some of the slick features of the iOS are missing from Android; things you don't miss until they don't work the same.

Not Going to Zion

Evan, Alan, Joan and I were going down to Zion today to do some day hiking and camping.  However, the Weather Service says rain is coming.  And not just showers, but 70% chance of a half inch of rain tonight and tomorrow.  So we are staying home.  I am bummed out, but I really hate camping in the rain.

Probably going to Goblin Valley and Little Wild Horse Canyon next weekend with an out-of-state visitor next weekend though.

Report on Muddy Creek

I got back from hiking the Chute of Muddy Creek last night a little after midnight.  I left on Friday afternoon with three students from my Econ 581 class at BYU: T.J. Canann, Chase Coleman, and Huang Ruidi.  Ruidi and I drove our 4WDs down.  We went via I-15, through Scipio to Salina and then along I-70 to the Temple Mountain Road turnoff at milepost 131.  We camped that night at the Hidden Splendor Airfield which was the end of our hike on Saturday.  We had several hundred people for company as the Utah Wilderness Alliance was having a "Roundup" there this weekend.

Off to Muddy Creek

I am off to hike the Chute of Muddy Creek this weekend with two of my BYU students.  This is a long day hike that Rick Evans did about 18 months ago during a lull in the water flow in early April.  The water flow was 15-20 cubic feet per second up at the gauge in Emery then.  It's running at about seven right now, so the hike shouldn't be overly deep and wet.

We'll be leaving on Friday afternoon, dropping a shuttle car at the Hidden Splendor airfield, camping at Tomsich Butte and hiking down the Chute on Saturday.  Hope to be home late Saturday evening.  Rick says it's a gorgeous hike.

Here's a preview - http://climb-utah.com/SRS/thechute.htm.

Taking a Trip to Italy

I'm off to Italy on Friday. It's my first trip to Europe, so I'm a bit excited. I'm coauthor on a paper being presented as part of a conference at Bocconi University in Milan next Monday and Tuesday. Yeongmi is coming with me and we'll be spend two days in Florence and three days in Rome after the conference is over.

The whole thing happened rather suddenly. I was intending on skipping the conference, but funding appeared at the last minute. Should be an interesting ten days. Leaving on the 9th, returning on the 19th.

Not Just Another Rainy Day in Seoul

We've had some wild weather here in Seoul in the past 24 hours (Tuesday & Wednesday).  Thursday update - Looks like it will continue today, already raining heavily this morning here in Anam, near Korea University.

I got soaked to the skin on my 10-minute walk up the hill to my apartment Tuesday afternoon, but at least I am alive.  Things were much worse in my neighborhood Wednesday morning.  I wore my rain gear and my waterproof  hiking boots on my walk down the hill this morning, but the boots didn't do much good.  The waterproofing just kept the water inside.

Comparing Yeongdo in 1980 with 2011

I served in the island of Yeongdo as an LDS missionary from May through November of 1980.  I served with Glenn Leewright, Peter Stewart & Jed Hill as companions.  Other missionaries that lived in the same house at the same time were: Chris Morin, Jim Falconer, Dan Mitchell, Charles Cook & 김학수.

I went back this week with copies of some of the photos I took then on my iPhone.  I went back to many of the same places and took photos of what they look like today, after 31 years.  Here a some of the comparisons.

Train from Provo to Denver, January 2011

Back in 2005, when I first came to Seoul to teach, I met Eddy Berry, a professor at Utah State University.  She told me about taking Amtrak from Salt Lake City to Denver and I decided if I ever got the chance I was going to take the trip too.

Since the annual American Economics Association Meeting were in Denver this last January, I decided that Yeongmi and I would get there by train.  The trip was a lot longer than driving, but the scenery was fantastic.

Korean Baseball Game

On Tuesday I got to attend a baseball game here in Seoul.  The Korea University ISC staff arranged for the professors to attend the evening game between the Dusan Bears (the home team) and the Lotte Giants who are from Yeongmi's hometown of Busan.  Our seats were on the 10th row or so, in the 3rd-base section with all the Giants fans.  We were in the lower section, right below the stage set up for the Giants cheerleaders.  Yes, they have baseball cheerleaders.  And yes, they need a stage.

Trip to Ulleungdo, July 2011

Ulleungdo is a small island 75 miles off the east coast of Korea. It is a fairly popular tourist destination in Korea, though the island only holds about 2000 tourists at any one time. The native population is about 8000. The name Ulleungdo is based on Chinese characters and it means “Island of Tree-Covered Hills”.

Crack Canyon 2011

I'm in Korea now teaching and in my spare time I'm trying to catch up on my blogging.

This last April and May I made two trips to Crack Canyon in the San Rafael Reef.  The first was on April 14th with my family: Yeongmi, Alan, Joan and Joan's friend, Sophie.  The second trip was with the ventures in our ward on May 6th and 7th.

A Nifty Way to View Rock Art

I just discovered Photosynth, a photography software package and online gallery from Microsoft. It turns out to be a really good way to display rock art. It stitches all the photos together for you, and allows you to zoom in on details. The whole panel or gallery of rock art can potentially be linked together and it gives you a good context for seeing how the whole is laid out, while still allowing you to look at the details if you wish.

I put up several "synths", but a good example is the one from the Grand Gallery in Horseshoe Canyon.

Camping and Hiking at Muddy Creek, April 2010

Last April during Spring Break I took a group of friends and family down to Muddy Creek in the San Rafael Swell. We drove down on Thursday, April 8th after my classes were over at BYU. The group was myself, Evan, Lynn, Jarom, Alan, Joan, Sophie White, her brother Zack, and my colleague, Mark Showalter. We took my truck and Yeongmi's CRV. We met Sophie's dad, Johnny, in Salina on the way down.

Backpacking to Neon Canyon, May 2010

Last May, my brother Kendall, my son Evan, and I backpacked into Neon Canyon for three days and two nights.

Neon Canyon is a box canyon tributary to the Escalante River and is accessed from the Egypt trailhead off of the Hole in the Rock Road, south of Escalante, Utah.

Trip to Horseshoe Canyon, October 2010

I have fallen far behind on this blog, so here is an attempt to report on a trip from last fall.

I went with all four of my children and my son-in-law to Horseshoe Canyon during the Fall break for the local (Alpine) school district. Lynn, Joan and I did this hike back in September of 2006 on one of our Daddy-Daughter Campouts, but my camera was in the shop and we only got mediocre photos. This time, I took the digital SLR and a tripod. We left home on the morning of Friday, the 15th, and arrived at the trailhead around 1:00 p.m. We hiked down into the canyon and visited all four pictograph sites: The High Gallery, the Horseshoe Gallery, the Alcove Gallery, and the most impressive one, the Grand Gallery.

Petroglyphs in Provo Canyon

I went hiking near Johnson's Hole in Provo Canyon with my son, Alan, on Saturday and we finally found the petroglphys there. Back in Fall of 2005, my neighbor, Don Roberts, and I hiked through the same area looking for them, but couldn't find any. I've been through the area again several times, but never stopped to look seriously.