Tracy Aviary Guided Walk on the Jordan River

We took a walk along the Jordan River with two guides from the Tracy Aviary. They lead this same walk every week in the summer. We met at Roi Hardy Park in Riverton on Thursday at 10 a.m. The temperature was in the '80's but there was a light breeze. 

There is a pavilion with restrooms.

There is a nice playground for the kids. 

Our guides, Ann and Kate, handed out red binoculars to everyone and explained how to use them. 

I had my own binoculars but Bill borrowed a pair from the guides.

This particular walk is far enough from the river that we never actually saw any water. We were in a marshy area but the trail was paved all the way. There was no problem with insects. 

We stopped and listened to a bird singing in the trees. The guide said it was a Cedar Waxwing, named because the wings look like they are dipped in wax. I didn't see it but Bill did.   

The guide said that many birds were probably attracted to the area by the berries at the top of this tree. 

There were barn swallows flying overhead. Their name derives from their insect swallowing capabilities. They fly so fast that I couldn't make out much except that their tails were forked. 

We saw plenty of bindweed which is known as Utah's most hated weed although I have others that I also hate. Many people mistake bindweed for Morning Glory. It has a superficial resemblance. 

The guides gave the children small clipboards with paper and pen so they could draw a picture of an interesting plant. Later, they were supposed to trade pictures so they could guess which plant they each drew. 

We saw mourning doves which are frequent visitors to our yard. We also saw a red headed finch. I have taken many pictures of them in the past when I had a bird feeder. The guide said the males get red coloring from the food they eat. The redder the coloring, the more attractive they are to females. Females don't get the same effect possibly because it would be dangerous to be too visible when sitting on a nest. 

We heard another bird in the bush that the guide identified as a Bullock's Oriole. This picture is from Hogle Zoo in Salt Lake City. Neither of us actually saw it. 

There was ample evidence of beaver activities. 

I expressed my surprise because I thought beavers were always transported away from the river. I know they can't get away with building a dam in the river. The guide said they still overwinter there. The newly planted cottonwood trees are protected from them using wire fencing. 

We ended our walk at an overlook that is built out over the marshy area. 

We looked over the edge at evidence of raccoon and deer prints. Any three pointed paw print is a raccoon print. 

There was a swallow nest under the eaves of the gazebo. 

I thought it was a wasp nest but the guide said it was a swallow nest built out of mud and bird poop.

We had a wonderful time and can recommend this activity to anyone using a power chair, wheelchair, scooter or stroller.

Murray Park Arboretum

We used to live in Murray so I have been to Murray City Park dozens of times in my life. I never knew about the arboretum on the north side of the park. When our kids were young we came to play on the playground equipment or to swim. By the way, the playground has changed completely since I last took children there decades ago. These two girls were playing on outdoor musical instruments.

This is not my picture but you can see it's the same set of drums.

We were more interested in visiting the arboretum this time. It's on the north side of the park and was established on Arbor Day 1961. It's named after the woman who first suggested it, Joan M. Hardle.

This sign is located directly west of the public swimming pool. Once you walk past it, the arboretum section of the park is directly ahead. The word arboretum means trees but there are also other woody shrubs in the collection. There is an online guide to the plants which mentions the following:

Unique and interesting spring, summer, autumn and winter displays are always observable within the Arboretum. These include a cacti garden, hybrid iris bed, water ponds, shrubbery beds, seasonal flower plantings and many varieties of trees with unusual foliage and flowers.

The online site has an index to the plants and a map to guide you. 

As usual, my husband took my picture and I took a few of him. 

I accidentally took this picture of him along with showing my own hand on my power chair controls. I liked it so much that I kept it. I could not do this on purpose if I tried. 

The park was beautiful as usual. Since it was a Sunday morning, there were only a few people around. Two men were filling sand bags in preparation for the flooding that is expected in the next few weeks. The creek is already running full. There are signs highlighting the danger of the fast water.

There is a lake near the south parking area that was new to us. It's probably meant to help with flooding but it provides a home for ducks, also. 

The original arboretum was planted on property previously owned by an immigrant family from Italy.

Unfortunately, the initial design incorporated some small concrete bridges over the rivulets. It's unfortunate because the bridges come to a point at the top. We couldn't cross over them safely. What constitutes only a few steps for an able bodied person can form a barrier to us. 

If the above picture were a video, you could see that the drive wheels on my husband's chair were spinning. That's because the bridge lifted the drive wheels away from the sidewalk.

I considered getting a run on the little bridge in my chair but I was afraid it would pitch me forward sharply on the down side. I can walk a short distance so I got out of my chair and took a few pictures. 

They take Arbor Day seriously here. There is a list of children who won contests in the past.

As we were leaving the area, I noticed one of those miniature neighborhood libraries. This one faces the park so I'm not sure who is supposed to be trading books there. 

It's always fun to discover a new place that we can explore on our chairs. My only wish is that we could look around inside the restricted area. 

Jordan River Parkway Heading North from 7000 South to Murray City Limits

The Jordan River Parkway is an accessible 40 mile long trail in Utah. Until recently, I didn't consider it to be completely safe. Cell phones work there but it wasn't possible to pinpoint your location. Now markers are being installed so that you can call for help and report your exact position on the trail. 

The first of 164 new markers was installed by SLC to make the trail safer. The markers each have a number and letter. They will be placed every 250 feet and will span nine miles of the river. The exact location of each marker is entered into the 911 system. The hope is that all the cities along the trail will install their own markers. 

I asked Google Maps for directions to the trail at 4700 South and got an odd map. When I showed it to Bill he said, "What are those little dots? Do we have to fly over that area?" This map was obviously wrong.

We followed the directions and ended up in a subdivision with a paved trail that was nowhere near 4700 South. It was just south of 7000 South. There was no place to park except on the residential street. The trail looked intriguing so we decided to try it anyway.  

There was a sign warning of sharp curves ahead. We decided to check it out since we were adventuring. Almost immediately, a local resident saw us and tried to say it would be dangerous for us. He didn't speak English but he warned us of a "cliff" ahead. That seemed unlikely but we wanted to take a look. It was indeed a steep descent to the river. 

After taking a good look, we decided we could easily get down the trail but we weren't so sure we could get back up. Going uphill uses a lot of battery power. We have good batteries but we didn't want to get stranded. The resident also told us there was a parking lot nearby and pointed to the east. We went out onto 7000 South and headed east. Shortly after crossing 1500 West, there was a large parking lot to the right. 

There were only a few people out as it was Sunday morning and most people were at church. This trail head also has a big rest area right across from the parking lot. 

This turned out to be a nice little section of the Jordan River Parkway. It started with a bridge over a small stream.  

The trail is close to the river on the east side. There are houses on the west side. 

We saw some tree stumps that were obviously the result of beaver activity. There are no beavers there now. There is no way anyone is going to let beavers build a dam on this river-- which would probably be called a creek in most areas of the country. A beaver dam would cause flooding and major damage. 

We really enjoyed the sights along the river. A couple was walking their baby in a stroller. Several people passed us on bikes. We saw birds but none of them were especially rare or interesting. The trail was blessedly free of dog poop but there was a little goose poop that Bill had to clean off his tires. This is a typical view of the river and the mountains. 

When we reached the underpass into the Murray area, we turned around and headed back. 

Here's a view of the trail on the way back. It's a nice outing and definitely beats sitting in a recliner. We plan to visit and write reviews of other sections of the trail.