Moments in Dirt and Ink

Utah Division of Wildlife Resources ( map link ) Out near the edge of miles and miles of flat flat flat desert is a bit of water. A pond. A pool, really. A fairly deep pool, in fact. Deep enough to attract scuba divers. I saw some with an electric pump that only allows them to go about 15 feet deep and others with actual tanks to go all the way, 60 feet down. They came with little spears and fishing poles to get fish. There's even scuba classes that come out to the lake. Sign for the little piece of state land among a lot of Bureau of Land Management and Air Force land Follow the boardwalk from the sometimes muddy large parking area Saffron winged meadowhawk Blue Lake becomes visible I found distractions among the plants beside the boardwalk as it approaches the water, especially in the big pods from the milkweed that were letting their seeds disperse.

Wells Field Office BLM ( map link ) I wanted to hike something at the edge of that vast, salt covered desert, so wandered down US-Alt-93 to access the Goshute Mountains with particular thoughts of hiking Goshute Peak itself. I missed that turn, but got the turn for my second choice, Pisgah Mountain. There's a geocache at the top of it including a description gushing about a grand experience with the folks from HawkWatch International that inhabit the top at certain times of the year. The road is best found by the wildlife viewing sign and highway maintenance station. From there, it's 5 miles of dirt road and 3 miles of trail. Turns out, the first part isn't suitable for my extra disabled Scion pulling a trailer, and the last mile or more isn't suitable to the Scion at all. (I couldn't get enough grip to climb the hill with the extra weight and it gets very rough at the end.) I turned onto a random bit of very old paved road (a piece of original Lincoln Highwa...

( location ) I meant to have a look at the Great Salt Lake as I drove by, and how could I not? I-80 rides right on top of it for miles. But I came across in the dark in a torrential rain. When the 18 wheelers passed, I couldn't even see the road in the splash. I could smell it. Oh, what a stink. I read about the Salton Sea before I started this trip in February, how it comes and goes and when it goes, it is a ecological disaster as it becomes too salty for the fish that somehow came to it. This seems like at least a little of that stink, which is odd because I thought it was too salty for fish. So having not seen the lake again, I got up with the first of the light and started heading west across the first stretch of desert with the sun rising in my rearview mirror. I stopped for breakfast at the rest area about ¾ of the way between ranges. (Compare and contrast wandering across most of the desert before breakfast with Mark Train's account of coming across a very similar ...

Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National Forest ( map link ) I wanted one more leaf peeping stop, so pulled into the Yellow Pine Trailhead. I must admit, the canyon had looked a bit grander where the trails tend to be built for ATVs, just a little before getting here. This is another trailhead that requires a Mirror Lake Recreation Area permit to park. There were quite a few vehicles parked there already, but many of them were actually there for a recently completed Slate Creek Trail, a one way loop trail for bicycles. I pondered it and discarded it. (Hikers are allowed, and even may go the wrong way.) With expectations of plenty of rain in the afternoon, my plan was simply to go until the rain started, then turn back. It would be really cool to get to either Yellow Pine Lake or Castle Lake, but it's not quite so nice when the views are grey with rain. A good place to start I decided to set both the GPS and the phone (using the Peakbagger app) to track the hike so I could compare an...

Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National Forest Provo River Falls ( location ) The sign for the falls seemed to be pointing at an iffy turnout, so I ended up hitting the brakes hard to make the actual turn into a paved lot with a bathroom. The parking requires a recreation pass for the Mirror Lake Area. (The turnout would not, though.) There's a couple signs about the importance of the area as a water source. The falls aren't a far walk, but there is a hill and some rough patches to get there. It's paved, but not accessible. Upper level of the Provo River Falls Patterns of erosion in this rock by the Provo River More of the upper falls, including parts hidden above I was expecting hard rain sometime in the afternoon based on weather I'd managed to download near Ruth Lake and again on Bald Mountain. The clouds seemed to already be getting set up for the deluge. It certainly wasn't ideal for photographs. Still, being there, I might as well keep going. There'...

Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National Forest ( map link ) Lofty Lake Loop was just too alliterative to pass up. The trailhead requires a permit for the Mirror Lake Highway Recreation Corridor like much along UT-150. I decided on a counter-clockwise direction because that would get me most quickly to the "ice caves" someone marked on OpenStreetMap. There's a big kiosk of information at the parking lot, but the Lofty Lake Loop trailhead is only marked with a little sign. The exceedingly clear trail climbs steadily toward a pair of lakes and Camp Steiner, which absolutely everyone actually calls "the Boy Scout Camp", some with an acknowledgement that the designation is out of date. Trails and an old road come up from the camp and all of these are marked with little metal signs. The casual hiker should be able to make all the correct turns even without a map. Picturesque Lake and a pond at its south end and "East Lofty Peak" rising behind But first ...

Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National Forest ( map link ) Parking at the trailhead for Bald Mountain requires a permit for the Mirror Lake Highway Recreation Corridor. There's a pair of trails that leave from it, but I was planning on the one that most the other cars were also there for. Trail on the right with other choices to hike (Notch Mountain) to the left. It's not the end of the flowers! There's still a couple harebells among the wispy dried remnants. Autumn colors on the Provo River's valley. I headed up. There were people ahead, people behind, people passing frequently on their way down. I didn't want to take too long because the weather wasn't all that cooperative at the end of yesterday. So far it didn't seem to be making any threats.

Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National Forest ( map link ) Parking at the trailhead for the Main Fork Bear River Trail at UT-150 does not currently require a Mirror Lake Highway Recreation Corridor permit, but it does require high clearance. I parked in a turnout across the highway on nearby Gold Hill Road. There's no signs on the highway for these. You need to already know where they are to get to them. I wasn't sure what to expect of the trail. The Forest Service topo indicates it crosses from Hayden Fork to Main Fork, where a road almost reaches the trail. The trail then continues upward to Hell Hole Lake. OpenStreetMap has the very different idea that it connects with a road and more trail continues after about 2 miles from the last river crossing. I would see. My plan was to get to the Main Fork, at least, and check out the leaves on the way. Forks of Bear River. The near crease is Hayden Fork and the far crease over the ridge is the Main Fork. I easily rock hopped across...

Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National Forest ( location map ) I meant to have one more short hike for the day along the Main Fork Bear River Trail. This is another that does not require a permit for parking. Not yet anyway. It does require high clearance to get to the trailhead. I was almost lured in by the first 20 feet being paved. Instead, I parked across the highway and a couple hundred feet south on a turnout at the bottom of Gold Hill Road. This is another 4x4 road, but it has a turnout next to the highway and a staging area further up that are accessible to a small car. It started to rain as I drove down and as I tried waiting it out, it just rained harder and threw in flashes and rumbles for good measure. When it was done, it was an hour to sunset and probably less to full shadow. I decided to at least check on what the crossing of the Hayden Fork of the Bear River looked like. The area was stunning with the season and I can be excessive with the photos, so I've decided to incl...

Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National Forest ( map link ) It's along the Mirror Lake Highway (UT-150), but no permit is yet required to park at the trailhead for Whiskey Creek Trail, across from Sulphur Campground. My map shows a 4x4 road going up to a spring that provides the camp with its water, but little is visible of this. The trail follows its own route from the edge of the highway. I wasn't yet noticing that because the aspens had become a little more abundant and were resplendent in their autumnal dress. A scattering of yellow aspens among the pines heading up the Mirror Lake Highway Then I started up the trail. It's a bit of a climb. Certainty in starting granted by a sign Kletting Peak across Hayden Fork Bear River The trail doesn't spend much time actually by the creek, but it does stop by it. Just past the first look is a short spur to a bench over the water. I took a moment. Why not?

Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National Forest ( map link ) Parking at the trailhead for Ruth Lake requires a permit as part of the Mirror Lake Highway Recreation Corridor (UT-150). It even had a fee tube with a note that Saturday was a fee free day even if I ended up charged for it. (Grrr!) The trail rises its way from the highway to Ruth Lake in 1 mile, then continues upward to connect to Lofty Lake Loop on the ridge above. I had plans to visit Ruth and a few more lakes which have use trails visiting them. Where to start for Ruth Lake A little water makes a little waterfall There's a couple generic ecology signs along the way to make it an interpretive trail. Trees make oxygen, animals live here. If you take in such things often, you'll learn nothing new. Pooling water in a meadow along the way There's an old junction early on. I got to wondering where it might have gone once, but didn't get to exploring. There's plenty other space I was already planning ...

Ashley National Forest Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National Forest (pink line, map link ) DAY 1  |  DAY 2  |  DAY 3 I woke up to another frosty morning, at least outside the area of the trees. I tried to follow trail out from the established camping area north of Pine Island Lake, but it hits a downed tree and runs out. There's no hint at the trail that people walk that way. Still frosty in the shade on the way out from Pine Island Lake. The trail crosses another bit of rock smoothed by glacier. Along with the trail signs at the north end of the Palisade Trail, I found a notice about "boreal toads", which it says have been vanishing. I think it looks like a western toad except that surely those aren't endangered. Well, it is the subspecies found in Utah and Colorado and they are endangered. (All of my observations of them have been in California and presumably the subspecies referred to as California toad. They're not endangered. Yet.) I wondered why th...