Christeen and I loaded up the Ranger last Friday and drove up to the Uinta Mountains to spend a night at Lake Lyman. This is the site of a recreational camp operated by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Dottie and I served a two-week stint as hosts of the camp this summer, and Christeen has been wanting to spend some time there ever since. Her interest in doing this coincided with the annual Perseid meteor shower and a perfectly timed period when no moon would be visible to impact the night sky. So, we packed the truck and off we went to watch shooting stars! 

Our first task upon arriving was to visit with the missionary couple, Ann and Monte Keller, who were currently managing the camp. We delivered greetings and several packages of fresh fruit to celebrate the upcoming end of their stay. They were happy to see us and receive our gift, and we spent an hour or so talking about camp experiences and sharing information about our respective families.  

After our visit, Christeen and I toured the camp to find a good place to park the truck where we could have an unobstructed view of the night sky. We quickly found one and then rearranged the truck bed to accommodate our sleeping gear. We then settled in for a few hours of rest before embarking on the primary goal of our trip - an early morning canoe of the lake to watch the Perseids. We set the alarm for 1:30 am and then slowly dozed off while enjoying each other''s company and the beauty of a night sky shimmering with countless stars and an occasional streaking meteor.      

We awoke on schedule and then enjoyed a wonderful night on the lake. We paddled on and off for several hours and enjoyed our time together, gazing at the stars, oohing and ahhing at the flashes of light from shooting stars and heat lightning, and the eery beauty of being on a mountain lake in the middle of the night. A brilliant, star-filled sky above us, the sounds of our paddles entering and exiting the water, and our conversation were our perfect companions. It was a time we will not forget. 

We retuned to our sleeping bags sometime around 3:00 a.m. determined to continue our watch on the night sky. Alas, we soon sucuumbed to the sweet siren call of sleep and awoke sometime around 8:00 a.m. One last canoe of the lake, a brief swim for Christeen, and then a short hike along the Black’s Fork River concluded our stay in the mountains. Short and sweet perfectly describes our time together.