With an upcoming trip in the works, I've been thinking about Utah a bit. The trail to Naomi Peak, in the Bear River Mountains above Logan, Utah, is a nice, relatively easy hike--or it was when I was in better shape, anyway. Naomi Peak is at 9,980 feet elevation, providing a fabulous view of Cache Valley, which is at around 4,700 feet. The first time I hiked up there, I trudged through deep snow in July. I'm such a flatlander that I kept asking myself what those red splotches were in the snow. It finally dawned on me that there are bears and other carnivorous animals running around up there.