Hiking and Four-wheeling: American Fork Canyon

The Moon was Beautiful low in the eastern sky

I have been on vacation this week and with our original plan of spending two nights in Colorado canceled, I figured I could hike twice this week. Today was the first one. On the agenda was the Tibble Fork Loop hike, which I had heard a lot about, but never done.
I got up early, hoping to see the sunrise while I was up there, and actually I got up there a lot faster than I thought I would and sat back in the new Tibble Fork parking lot to try and get some pictures of the little smile of a moon that was rising in the eastern sky.
Once it started getting light, I headed over to the dam as that was where the trail head was supposed to be. I parked down below it, on the pull out area between the road and the dam. Once I crossed the dam I could see the trail, or what I believed to be the trail, heading up the side of the hill. There were a couple of spots of yellow ribbon around the base of the trail.

I went back later and took these two pics of the trailhead when it was light.

Same picture, but from a distance back on the dam.

I wasn't quite sure that it really was the trail because A) there was no sign indicating so, and B) there was a trail going off to the left, as if it was going to circle the reservoir. I decided that the one going along the side of the lake was not the trail, so I skirted the ribbon, trying to avoid the eroded areas, and worked my way up the trail.
Once on the trail I found that someone had cut trees and branches and put them across the trail.

They had to cut down a lot of scrub oak to cover this trail.

It was definite that someone was trying to discourage hiking on that trail, but I kept going--mostly because there hadn't been a sign at the trail head indicating that the trail was closed. After a while of climbing over the branches, the trail met another one angling in from the left and the branches and small trees no longer covered the trail.

I was able to get up high early enough to catch the light on nearby
peaks.

I made my way up through scrub oak and maple, and then gradually, found myself amongst the quakies and pines as I climbed in elevation.  At about this point it dawned on me that I had forgotten to pay the fee that is charged for doing anything in American Fork Canyon. I had heard of some people who had gotten caught for that and had ended up paying a hefty fine, and I debated heading back down the way I came. But I decided I would just hike fast instead. In a few minutes, I found a junction and one trail headed left over to Mill Canyon, the other part of the loop was that way.

The trail to the right led to Mud Spring. I turned and looked at the other side of the sign, as if I was coming up from the Mill Canyon side and saw that the trail I had come up had officially been closed.

Yep. I had come up the closed trail. Oops!

I had actually been surprised by all of this because it seemed like I had seen several trip reports from people hiking this loop, and none of them had mentioned the closure. Maybe it has been very recently that they have closed it. And there was no actual sign on the Tibble Fork end that noted the closure. I felt bad, but there was really nothing I could do at that point.
I still wasn't sure I was on the right trail though because I hadn't really studied the map and didn't actually know the name "Mill Canyon" so it didn't really mean anything to me on the sign. I met two women coming up and they confirmed that I was on the trail that looped back. One of them was wearing something that to me looked like ranger clothing so I was a bit worried that I might get in trouble for hiking up that way I had. But there had been no badge, so I figured that her hiking clothing just kind of resembled ranger gear and that she was just another hiker.

In the midst of peace and contentment, there are still signs of civilization.

You can still find pockets of color.

The reds are hard to come by now.

Up there at the top, the trail meanders through some large meadows. There wasn't a lot of color left--just patches really---but it was still Beautiful. There is another fork in the trail and it was pretty self-explanatory.

The next sign I saw showed me the way back to Tibble Fork where I was parked.

And it smelled so good and clean up there! I made my way down Mill Canyon, taking pics along the way, still a bit worried as to whether or not I'd have a ticket waiting for me on my windshield.

Looking north 

Stream crossing for motorcycles and bikes.

This looked like a ladder in the sky to me.

Once back, there wasn't a ticket and I breathed a sigh of relief then headed to the fee station to pay my fee so I could be legal for the rest of my stay. I had decided that I wanted to do a little driving on dirt roads, so I headed up to Silver Lake Flat. Along the way I noticed that the Granite Flat Campground had a hand-scrawled sign that you could have a picnic in there, but you had to pay $8 and your canyon fee didn't count. I decided that there were probably better places to have picnics and that my canyon fee would suffice for those other places.

Not that I was stopping to eat. I had jammed down my peanut butter sandwich shortly after getting back to my vehicle and wasn't planning on eating again until I got down out of the mountains. I had promised Ann that I would get home early because I had gotten up at the crack of dawn. There are certain pleasures that only can happen as you are awaiting the sunrise, and I wanted those perks, but that would be at the expense of not staying as long into the afternoon. Part of being a caregiver.
I drove through the stream that gurgles into Silver Lake and headed up the dirt road toward Red Baldy and the other peaks up that direction.

Looking toward Mt. Timpanogos from the Silver Flat Lake Road

Looking north, toward Red Baldy, etc.

From the road above Silver Lake Flat

From the trailhead parking just above Silver Lake.

I didn't spend a lot of time up there, just enough to give my hubs a workout, and to get a few pics of the peaks and remaining colors. And, as always, to leave myself feeling a little bit unsatisfied, so I would be sure to come back. I found a few more trails to take and a few more roads to drive. What more could a man want? I thanked God for letting me have a great time in his world, and headed back down to civilization.
The adventure was over, but another one is just around the corner. I can't wait.

I had a great time. Wish you were here!

Hiking and Four-wheeling: Timpanogos/Sagebrush Flats

I knew I had a hike coming up this week, but I hadn't yet decided where to go. I wanted to go somewhere that I'd never been before. These days, since I am a caregiver for my wife, where I go and how long I stay is pretty much dependent on her. Once she and I talked about how long she felt comfortable with me being gone today, I decided that I wanted to go to Sagebrush Flats, up near Mt. Timpanogos. The thing is though, I had no idea what it was called, so I jumped onto the Facebook page "Hike the Wasatch" and started asking questions. It didn't take long before the good folks there had me up and running.
I found out that the name of the place I wanted to go was "Sagebrush Flats" and the name of the mountain I could see in front of Mt. Timpanogos was "Mahogany Mountain". I also found out that there are at least three ways to get there. There are two trails (that were mentioned) that begin at the base of the mountain, and there's also a road that goes into Sagebrush Flats. I decided to take the road, thinking that once I got there, there would be some hiking that I could do. There were two reasons I chose the road instead of hiking the entire distance.

The first reason was that with my limited time today, that sounded like the most effective way to use it. The second reason was that my owner's manual says that I need to drive my 4runner in four-wheel drive for ten miles once a month. Since my time hasn't permitted me to go four-wheeling often enough to meet the suggested amount in the owner's manual--and since I love four-wheeling nearly as much as I love hiking, that was enough to sway me into using the road. I figured that I could always come back and hike up the trail some other day. Although I didn't really need my four-wheel drive, except for one mud puddle where I would have gotten stuck in two-wheel drive, high clearance is a must on this road. As it was, it turned out nearly perfect.
The road begins up American Fork Canyon. You pass Timpanogos Cave National Monument, then pass the turnoff to Tibble Fork, and continue on up the Alpine Loop Road to the turnoff for Timpooneke Campground. As you continue up the campground road,  you will pass the parking lot for the trailhead to the top of Timpanogos. This one is appropriately named Timpooneke Trailhead as opposed to the other popular trailhead at Aspen Grove.
Once past the trailhead you continue on up the paved road which soon becomes dirt. Well, dirt, rock, and since it had been raining nearly all night, mud and mud puddles! These are some of my favorite places in my 4runner. On the way in, I drive through the puddles somewhat cautiously, but on the way out, once I have driven through them safely, I hit the gas hard. If you have never done it, I suggest it. Make sure you close the windows--or leave them open on whomever you'd like to soak!
Part of every expedition I go on is scouting for future outings and on this trip I found plenty of camping, hiking, and picnic opportunities.

After about five or so miles on this road, a left fork headed toward Utah Valley, and the right fork, headed straight toward Mahogany Mountain. I took the right fork as it looked like my hiking for the day was going to be up onto the mountain in front of me. The road ended in a loop with a trail heading off to the west. I took the trail and headed up. At that point, the trail was pretty much heading straight up, with no switchbacks. I had to stop and rest frequently, and the views of the surrounding land were amazing. Low clouds hung around the peaks, and I could see down into Utah Valley on one side, and Salt Lake Valley on the other. Wildflowers were in abundance.

Continuing up the trail, I noticed very quickly that there was no way I was going to stay dry. The undergrowth was soaking wet from the rain that had fallen overnight--the rain that looked like it could come back any minute. My shoes and socks were soaked through in the first five minutes of hiking, and once I got into the higher grasses and brush, my shorts became soaked as well.
The trail tops out on a little knob with incredible views before plummeting downward into another part of the flats, and then up again through quakies until it reaches the ridgeline. At least, I think that's where it goes. As I entered the part of the trail that went through the quakies, the underbrush got higher, and I realized that I soon would be soaked from head to toe if  I continued much further. Looking at my watch and noting the time, I thought that there would be no way to make it to the top, or even the ridge before I'd have to turn around anyway, so instead of getting soaked with no hope of getting to a place with any better views, I headed back down.

Looking northwest toward Salt Lake County

About halfway back the rain started again. lightly at first, so I left my rain jacket in my pack. The closer I got to the trailhead, the harder it began to rain. I stuck my camera under my arm a bit and decided I could make it the last quarter mile without having to put it in the plastic bag that I always carry for that purpose inside my pack.

When I got back to the vehicle, I decided that I'd like to drive down the other fork in the road for about five minutes or so, but on the way back to the fork I spotted a female moose and two calves. I couldn't get close to them (and didn't really want to because mama mooses can be dangerous) and I had left the big zoom lens at home, so I took the best shot I could with the equipment I had.

Mama moose and two babies.

After that,  I drove down the other fork a ways, including through a thrilling mud puddle, before deciding that I would one day come back and follow that road all the way. I turned around and drove back down, hitting the puddles along the way, a smile on my face.

The cliffs of "Timp" shrouded in clouds

Thankfully the mud puddles were more water than dirt.

The adventure was over, but once again, it had left me with more places to go and more things to find out. I would be back some day, but until then, there were so many places to explore, that I knew I would never run out.

One thing I'm always on the lookout for is a nice picnic area.

This is Make Out Rock. No further info provided.

Rarin' to go

I sit here at my computer, wanting desperately to be doing something active. I'm dreaming of future hikes, backpacking trips, road trips, visits to places I've never been, and just doing things. My heart longs for the places of openness, for feel of the wind in my face and the rain trickling down my neck, my sodden clothes clinging to my body--for the smell of evergreens and the sound of sprue needles catching the breeze.
I long to be skiing, driving on dirt roads, taking pictures of mountains.
I want to be out in the garden feeling the warmth of the soil in my fingers, and the sun on my back. The call to adventure and life is ever strong. And now I face such adventure in the need to care for another. It isn't as thrilling as scaling a peak, or watching a river cascade down through the rocks, and my dream has never been to be stuck at home caring for someone. But right now, it is the thing I must do. And I have decided that I may as well be happy about it rather than sad.
I am happy and grateful that I still have a wife. She could have died a few times already. I am happy and grateful that God has blessed me with good health and a strong body, so I can be up to the task. I am happy and grateful that I was born with an optimistic spirit, that I always believe there's a light at the end of the tunnel, and that my will to survive and win is as strong as ever.
This won't be the last adventure I face. I'm hoping that most of them are a bit more exciting and thrilling. I'm hoping that this one ends happily. Most of all, I'm hoping that through all of life's adventures that I always remember God is the one in control.

Exploring Utah's Stansbury Range

This past Friday, I enjoyed a few hours exploring South Willow Canyon, parts of North Willow Canyon, and the Deseret Peak Wilderness area. I began hiking at the Medina Flat Trailhead at just around 5:40 am.

The trail begins off of a spur road that leaves to the right of the main canyon road (South Willow), and leads to a small parking lot where an outhouse and the trailhead are located. It begins steep, but after fifty yards or so flattens somewhat. This trail is part of the Stansbury Front Trail, which leads from South Willow Canyon over to North Willow and Davenport Canyons. I'm fairly certain it leads at least part way to Hickman Canyon to the south as there is another trailhead within the campground that's off to the left of the main canyon road (called "Boy Scout"). That trailhead is clearly labeled "Stansbury Front Trail"

It was the second time I had been on the Medina Flat Trail within the past three weeks. I was hoping to see the sunrise and get a few good pics of it. It was light enough to see as I began hiking, the first pale light of dawn lightening up the sky in the east. I knew I'd have to hurry to get any good shots at all, and probably should have arrived a half hour earlier. As it was, I left my house in West Valley just slightly after 4:30.

The sun began to rise as I was hiking, and I knew there was going to be a small peak in between the eastern horizon and me when it got at its best. It wasn't one of the spectacular ones that we see every now and then, but it was kind of nice. If it had looked like it was going to be one of the all-time great sunrises, I would have stayed down lower on the trail to make sure I got an open shot. It did have a best time though, and that little peak was right in the way.

I continued up the trail to where it crosses Mining Fork Road. Nearly three weeks earlier, I had followed this road for a ways, not knowing what it was called, nor where it led. I had wanted to go back to where I had eaten lunch that day and take some pics, so I followed the road again. The forest closes in around this road and I kept thinking that I'd like to find out how to access it and drive up it to see where it goes. Eventually, it becomes Mining Fork Trail and leads to South Willow Lake.

It was difficult to retrace my steps from the earlier trip, and I thought I knew where I had left the road to climb into the rocks above, but I wasn't sure. I had taken my GPS with me the previous hike, but had failed to check the batteries, so had been unable to mark my coordinates because the batteries had been dead. I walked past the place where I had gone up, thinking I wanted to see where the road went anyway, and to make sure that my point of departure from it hadn't been further up.

The place where I ate lunch three weeks ago.

It's just a little spot, up in the cliffs, using a rock as a tripod.

Eventually, I returned and made my laborious way up to the cliffs where I had taken my lunch the last time. Just a little place to sit and enjoy the view. One thing I really liked about this place was that there were fossils in many of the rocks on the way up. This time, I picked up a small one to take home.

This kind of fossil was found all over up in the Mining Fork Road area.

I've been doing a lot of experimenting over the years with using large rocks in lieu of a tripod, so I don't have to pack the weight. This time I had my tripod with me and began setting it up, but halfway through I spotted a large rock in a great location and decided to use that instead.

I struggled and slid back down to the road, noticing for the second time in a month how dangerous hiking can be, because I spotted a prickly pear cactus hidden amongst the lush undergrowth--something I had remembered from the earlier hike.

Those sharp needles hide themselves very well amongst the foliage. Notice, there are some in the lower left of the picture too.

Once on the road, I headed back down to where the Stansbury Front Trail crossed it. I decided this time to continue down the road on the other side of the trail to see if I could tell where I could begin driving on it. The road ended up going up a sidehill to the small peak that had obscured my view of the sunrise earlier in the day. It took a hairpin turn and headed down to the north at that point. I decided to climb the peak so I could get a good view of the surrounding area. It took less than five minutes from where I had left the road, and was worth the time it took.

View from the small peak, looking south.

New cones on the trees.

I retraced my path, back to the trailhead, noticing the scenic wild flowers along the way. It was only 9:30 at that point, so I thought I'd give the Deseret Peak Trail a little time. The trailhead for the hike to the top of Deseret Peak begins at the Loop Campground, which is actually at the end of the South Willow Canyon Road. To get there, just drive to the far end of the campground. There are restrooms and the Mill Fork Trailhead is right next to them.

A view of Deseret Peak

The path through a sunny meadow filled with flowers.

I started up the trail and was immediately amazed at how beautiful it was. I had thought that the Stansbury Front Trail and Mining Fork Road had been gorgeous, and this was just as fabulous, or even more so. I set a time limit of 11:00 to turn around, having told my wife I'd be home about three, and wanting to do some other things before I left the area. Before 10:30 though, I made it to the stream crossing and it was raging. There were some wet logs and rocks that I probably could have crossed, though I would have felt much better about it had I remembered my trekking poles. The way it looked was that it was likely I would slip and endanger my camera by falling in. In no way did it appear to have enough water to have swept me away and killed me, so I'm thinking that if that's its peak at spring run-off, people would likely be okay around it. Just watch your kids.

It was simply magnificent up there.

Taking a few pics of the stream, I then turned around and made my way back. I was noticing all of the old dates carved in the aspen trees. I saw some from '43 and even older. Of course, someone could've carved fictitious dates into the trees, but looking at some of them, I felt they were legit.

Apparently lovers have been up here too.

I got back to the 4runner with still plenty of time to drive up North Willow and look for the beginning of Mining Fork Road, which I felt must originate over there, for I had found no such roads near South Willow. I drove up the only available side road in North Willow and it quickly became a bed of rocks, very slow going, and I decided that this couldn't possibly be it. Of course, later on, I checked the links above and found that Mining Fork Road does indeed begin near South Willow, so I have some more exploring to do.

And that isn't the only thing left to explore. All in all, the Stansbury Range has a lot to offer in the way of adventure, and I think I've only managed to see the tip of the iceberg. I anticipate spending many days in the future discovering its secrets.

My time was soon up. I stopped and took a pic of myself hanging out in the 4runner, this time, the camera on the tripod. It was at a place lower in the canyon that has special meaning for me.

Ready for adventure? Let's go!

My last stop was lunch in Tooele. I've always liked a burger joint called "Dairy Delight". It's a great place for lunch or dinner after a hard day's hiking or other outdoor activities.

I was going to get home about a half hour early. Ann would appreciate that. And I had left a lot on the table to be explored later. I guess that's what keeps me going back out--because the adventures are always out there waiting.