Happy Graduation!

Despite being remote, Snake Valley has a good system of schools, and like many schools throughout the country celebrated commencement exercises this week. EskDale High School had a graduating class of one student. In the photo above you can see the junior and senior high choir performing during the graduation.

Even though only one student graduated, there was a great turnout for graduation. Out here there is definitely more of a "It takes a village to raise a child" attitude. No child slips between the cracks in school--if a student wants to play hookie, everyone knows about it. Teachers go to extra lengths to help prepare the students for the future and are able to provide a lot of personal attention.

There are definitely some downsides to not having bigger schools, like lack of sports teams, fewer classes offered, and some very quiet class reunions. However, the students that graduate tend to do very well as they go off into the bigger world.

We hope that Nakia has great success in her future endeavors. Congratulations!

New Plants

Ready to learn some new plants in Snake Valley? Every day a new one is featured on the blog A Plant a Day.

So far this isn't as spectacular a wildflower year as last year, but there are still quite a few beautiful flowers out right now, including these Nakedstem Sunrays (Enceliopsis nudicaulis).

The Desert Indian Paintbrush (Castilleja angustifolia) is really lighting up sagebrush areas, providing sparks of color.

So pop on over A Plant a Day if you'd like to see what else is blooming and learn a few plants.

Snake Valley Festival Coming in July

We are planning for a big party July 23 and 24. Those are the dates of the Snake Valley Festival, a fun-filled event for all ages!

We're going to kick off Friday at noon with a workshop with Linda Hussa, a nature writer from Reno who successfully helped fight off a water grab in the western part of Nevada. Transitioning to our water battles here, the workshop will be followed by a water tour to see some of the places in Snake Valley that would be impacted if massive amounts of water are piped to Southern Nevada. For those wanting to stay in air-conditioned comfort, there will be a film festival showing off news clips about the issue and movie clips from movies filmed in the area. At 4 pm there will be a short silent auction, with only an hour to bid on your favorite items. Then at 5 pm there's a potluck dinner at the Garrison LDS church to celebrate Pioneer Day. It's always delicious and fun to visit with folks.

Saturday morning starts off with more food, a pancake breakfast. After you've filled your stomach, check out the community yard sale, booths with a variety of things for sale, and get ready to watch the parade. Then there are kid games, entertainment, a silent auction, a food court, and more. We might not be a big festival, but we have something for everyone! At 6 pm head to the Border Inn for a barbeque dinner, raffle drawing for a cow elk hunt, jewelry, and mountain bike, an auction, and a dance. If you still have some energy left, head up to the Lehman Caves Visitor Center to check out the night skies through some powerful telescopes.

Proceeds will go to the Great Basin Water Network. For more information about the festival, here's a link to the schedule. We're still looking for auction donations, parade entries, booths, and help with various events, so let us know if you can help!

See you at the Festival! Be sure to bring your family and friends!

April 29 Snow

Along with some warm spring days, we've had plenty of windy days and even a few snowy days. We had a good snowstorm on April 29, leaving about five to six inches of snow. It made for a mess, but it was also really beautiful.

The main street in Baker looked refreshingly crisp.

And the desert shrubs were buried. By the afternoon, much of the snow had melted off, giving a welcome bit of moisture to help the vegetation green up and grow.

Spring Migration

An unusual bird visited EskDale this last week, hopping around in the gravel and grass in the middle of the community. It's quite a striking bird, with the long pink legs, straight, long bill, and black and white coloring. It frequently bobs its head. Know what it is?

If you guessed black-necked stilt, you're correct. It's certainly an appropriate name, with the black neck and stilt-like legs. A couple killdeer were following it around, providing some good spring entertainment.

One of the best places to observe spring migration is Fish Springs National Wildlife Refuge. The oasis attracts thousands of birds, providing an important feeding ground on their migration. It's also fun to see what pops up in the backyard. I always like to think about where the migrating birds have come and where they're going--it's a bit like being an armchair traveler, with different birds inspiring thoughts about different trips.

Pivot at Twilight

Some of the pivots have recently been turned on, beginning the spring irrigation. They have nozzles that come down close to the ground to reduce evaporation. The snow is melting up in the mountains, increasing the stream flow that feeds many of these pivots. It appears that snow pack is slightly above normal, so we are hoping it will be a good water year.

By the way, the center pivot irrigation systems have lights that blink on and off at night, so if you're driving and see a light seemingly coming from a place that doesn't have roads, that could be what it is.

Spring is coming

The recent precipitation is really making things green up. I haven't had a chance to get photos of that yet, but figured I should get these end-of-winter photos up soon! Above is a really nice entrance sign for Warm Creek Ranch, by Gandy.

These covered stacks of hay by the Flat (north of the Border Inn) are slowly growing smaller as the hay is shipped to those who need it. It will only be a couple of months before the first crop is harvested and we begin the cycle again.