Heritage Park- community fishing pond

In Garden City, Utah they have a new little community fishing area right by Bear Lake.

 

 

Heritage Park.

Since we are not Utah residents, and did not want to get non-resident fishing licenses, we just let the kids run around and play.

 

No fish for us, but the kids sure enjoyed having the time to run around and unwind (for that matter, so did I!)

 

It is a fun spot to spend a few hours out in the beauty of nature.

Nearest City: Location: N° W° Time Needed: Difficulty: Kid Friendly: Additional Info:

Limber Pine Nature Trail

Another stop on our summer Utah adventure was the Limber Pine Nature Trail near Bearlake.  The Clark's nutcracker hides stashes of limber pine seeds.  When a stash is forgotten about a limber pine becomes planted.

 

The hike is a fairly easy 1.3 mile loop.

This cluster of limber pines is over 500 years old.

Further on the hike you are able to catch a glimpse of the beautiful Bearlake.  Sometimes called the "Caribbean of the Rockies".

This trail is an easy hike to get out for a quick and enjoyable morning in the mountains.

Nearest City: Garden City, Utah
Location: N° W°
Time Needed:
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Hiking Uphill Both Ways to Thurston Peak

For two years I lived and worked in the shadow of Thurston Peak, the county highpoint of both Davis and Morgan Counties in Utah.  For two years I said I was going to hike it.  But then I got a job transfer to Arizona, so I didn't.  It's not actually that simple.  I intended to, but the Farmington Canyon Road was closed for most of that time due to some landslides.  I like to hike, but at the same time I can be a little bit lazy (efficient is the name I use when talking to people though).  I wasn't quite up to the task of climbing from the bottom, or driving the 26 miles from Bountiful on backcountry dirt roads just to get to the trailhead near Francis Peak.  So, I told myself that I'd wait for the road to open back up.  So I waited, and before it reopened, I got transferred. 

Two years later, I was back in town for a wedding, so in the interest of doing something else fun, I called up a friend and scheduled a hiking trip.  We had several options, but decided to hike Thurston.  At 9706 feet in elevation, it's respectable, but not terribly high just the same.  Besides, from along the I-15 corridor, it looks like you drive to Francis Peak then have a light stroll over to Thurston with a little bit of up and down along the way.  Hahaha.  Yeah right. 

We drove up Farmington Canyon to Francis Peak.  Our first mistake was parking near the gate to the Francis Peak Radar Domes.  There's a dirt road on the east side that takes you around Francis Peak to the Smith Lakes.  We should have driven down that road and stayed to the left or generally straight ahead for another 3/4 mile or so to cut a substantial distance off of our hike,  oh well.  Hindsight is 20/20.  We climbed under the gate, then summited Francis Peak, then promptly lost all of that elevation descending the other side. 

We then followed the dirt road then the trail after the road ended.  Up along the ridge is part of the Great Western Trail.  I've been past bits and pieces of it as I've hiked various places in the Wasatch Mountains.  This was probably the longest stretch I've done at any given point though.  The trail varies- sometimes it's good, other times it fades.  What was amazing to me was that it's not used more.  It's within 30 minutes of hundreds of thousands of people, but we didn't see anybody out hiking it.  We reached Thurston, and the trail skirted around the west side of it.  We left the trail and climbed straight uphill to the top.  A few pictures of the monument to Thomas Jefferson Thurston, whom the peak is named after, and a few more taking in the view, and we were set to head back to the vehicle.

The Morgan Valley from Thurston Peak.Thomas Jefferson Thurston was an early settler and built the first road along the Weber River into the Morgan Valley.

 Davis County from Thurston Peak.  The houses are sandwiched between the mountains and the Great Salt Lake.

 Looking north toward Ogden from Thurston Peak.

The hike back was pretty uneventful, although it seemed like we started out going uphill, and ended the hike going uphill once again.  Those small height variations visible from below turn out to be quite a bit bigger once you're up at the top!  I love hiking the high elevation meadows. 

 Here's another view along the Great Western Trail looking at Francis Peak from the vicinity of Thurston Peak.  There are several smaller sub-peaks along the way that are all a short distance off the trail if you're interested in ridge walking and peak bagging. 

We made it back to the truck in around 3.5 hours of hiking time, with a trip distance of just over 9.5 miles.  It was a great little hike.  But driving past Francis Peak will definitely make the trip a little shorter.

Nearest City: Farmington, UT
Location: N° W°
Time Needed: Several Hours
Difficulty: Moderate/Strenuous
Kid Friendly:
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Catching Frogs at Hidden Lake

We had a quick trip to Utah to attend my sister's wedding.  While we were there I was able to get out and do some hiking in the Uintas.  We debated between going to Hidden Lake and catching frogs, or going to Smith and Morehouse to play in the water, go fishing,  and find wild raspberries.   Either option sounded great to me, and that was the case with pretty much everybody else, so we packed a lunch and went to find frogs at Hidden Lake. 

Hidden Lake is located above a private cabin area up Weber Canyon above Oakley.  It's closed to the general public, but since we have friends who live in the cabin area, they've invited us to come up a couple of times during the summer.  (During the winter, they have to take snow machines in because the roads aren't plowed).  We hiked in to the lake, but it's accessible by a 4-wheeler trail for those with the bigger toys. 

Hidden Lake is a small lake, maybe a couple of acres.  We had a picnic on the shore, then wandered up and down the banks looking for frogs.  We found and caught a lot of frogs- with up to 4 being in temporary captivity at once.  A lot more of them jumped into the lake and swam away to defend against getting caught.  We even found a small snake.  We'd hold the frogs, then let the kids hold them and turn them loose into the water.  It was a lot of fun. 

Toward mid afternoon we could see some storm clouds gathering, so I took a quick hike around the lake to look for wild raspberries.  Typically I've had the best success finding them right around Labor Day, so even though it was early for them I still wanted to look.  I found a nice patch just south of the lake and a quick canvass turned up about a dozen red raspberries.  It was still a little early, but those few berries were sure good!  When I got back from my 0.4 mile (according to the sign at the NW side of the lake) hike around the lake, we packed up and headed down the hill.  A couple hundred yards before the cars the rain started to come down, so we picked up the pace and were glad we'd made it back just in time to escape one of those classic summer deluges the Uintas are known for.

Nearest City: Oakley, UT
Location: Hidden Lake Association up Weber Canyon from Oakley
Time Needed: a couple hours
Difficulty: moderate
Kid Friendly: yes
Additional Info: Hidden Lake is a private home/cabin owners area.  No Trespassing without permission.

What's going on at the Fairy Forest?

Friday night was another night in the tent- this time in the Uintas.  We woke up Saturday morning to another beautiful day, although it was a little chilly early on.  We enjoyed the beautiful leaves, although they are falling off the trees and will leave bare branches behind pretty soon. 

I especially love the red aspen leaves.  The yellow ones are pretty, but the red ones are so unique!  It was beautiful along the Mirror Lake Highway as we drove to track down the Fairy Forest. 

The Fairy Forest is south of the Shady Dell Campground at MM17.  If you're not camping, there's a pulloff right at the milepost, with the trail leading south from there.  We crossed a small dry streambed, then 50 feet further down the trail headed off to the west to find ourselves in the Fairy Forest.  

I really don't know what to say about the fairy forest.  Words fail me.  It's kindof cool, somewhat wierd, and a little bit creepy.  How would you describe lots and lots of rocks arranged into rows and patterns in a forest?  Paint has been liberally applied to many of them. 

There are countless areas that are sectioned off, each having a theme.  Fairytropolis, complete with several rocks painted out as hotels, stores, airports, etc-  Check.  The pot of gold at the end of the rainbow- Check.  Witches cauldron with rats and skulls- check.   Bowling Alley- Check.  LDS Young Women Values- Check.  Family reunion tributes- check.  Memorials to dead pets or friends- check. 

 Rockhenge- check.  Plus, there are many more ideas and themes, all carried out with painted rocks. 

The Fairy Forest is an interesting and unique place.  I've gotta conclude that some people have way too much time on their hands.

Nearest City: Samak, UT
Location: South of the Shady Dale Campground and Mile Marker 17
Time Needed: 30 minutes
Difficulty: Easy
Kid Friendly: Yes
Additional Info:

Driving the Scenic Nebo Loop in the Fall

After camping at Maple Canyon, we took a small detour on the way home to drive the Nebo Loop Scenic Byway.  We weren't in a hurry to get anywhere, and the kids needed a good nap. 

 The Salt Creek end of the byway has some pretty cool rock formations visible from the road. 

Pretty soon, we started getting into the bigtooth maples and their fiery fall finery.  We did the drive the 2nd to last weekend in September, and it seems to me that that's probably about when the best time to see the fall leaves is. 

 Most of the maples were on the south half of the Nebo Loop, while aspens were up on top, and the northern half was a mixture of a lot of different kinds of trees. 

 I love fall!

Nearest City: Payson and Nephi, UT
Location: N° W°
Time Needed: 1.5 hours
Difficulty:
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Camping on Antelope Island

Friday I went camping with the scouts on Antelope Island.  We camped in the Whiterocks Bay Group Campground.  It was fun to get out camping, but I really wasn't impressed with the facilities. 

My biggest problem with the campground is the lack of shelter.  There is absolutely no shade or shelter in the whole campground.  I'm glad it was mid-September instead of mid-summer.  You would absolutely roast out here in the hotter months!  I also saw 3 black widow spiders in the pit toilets.  

Other then that and the occasional mosquito, we had a good time cooking dinner, visiting, and working on scout requirements.  After dark, the coyotes occasional serenaded us from afar.

Saturday morning we got up early to get an early start on the Frary Peak Trail.  We watched a beautiful sunrise from the trailhead then headed out.

Along the way we spooked several flocks of chukars, saw a herd of bighorn sheep, and had a good hike.  It's just over 3 miles to the peak. We made it 2.5 then turned around.  I wanted to press on, but turned around with the group.

Nearest City: Syracuse, UT
Location: N° W°
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Additional Info: Antelope Island State Park Website

Spawning Salmon at Causey Reservoir

Our twighlight stop at Porcupine Reservoir over the Labor Day weekend really got me pumped up about looking for salmon, so Friday night we went camping up Monte Cristo, then got up early and drove down to Causey for another dose of cherry kokes. 

We took the Causey Estates road across the dam to the trailhead at Causey's south bay.  We cooked blueberry pancackes for breakfast,  then started hiking the Skull Crack Trail to the inlet for the South Fork of the Ogden River.  The sign at the trailhead said it was 2.3 miles, which my GPS verified as being accurate.  There's a climb at the beginning, and decent at the end, but most of the trail is just the gentle up and down grades of trying to find the best route while staying reasonably at the same elevation. 

We finally reached the steep decent for the last 1/4 mile, and reached the stream.  Nothing.  We didn't see any fish in the clear water.  We walked further upstream and found a pool with several dozen spawning kokanee salmon

This first pool happened also to be the best place to take pictures of them.  The red kokanee salmon stood out in the calm still water, where in the quicker water they looked blurry and distorted.

Some of them were pretty decent sized- about 18-20 inches long is my guess.  It was fantastic just watching them.  The run happens every year during September.  

We walked upstream for a ways and saw more salmon in other places, some of them chasing other salmon off, some of them doing their mating dance, and others just resting before they pushed further upstream.  It's really quite amazing.  I think I could do this every year. 

After a quick picnic lunch, we headed back down the trail toward home and a family cookout.

Nearest City: Huntsville, UT
Location: N° W°
Time Needed: A half-day plus
Difficulty: Moderate
Kid Friendly:
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Porcupine Reservoir Kokanee Salmon Run

Saturday evening we drove up to Bear Lake to enjoy the Labor Day weekend.  On the way we stopped at Porcupine Reservoir to see the kokanee salmon spawning.  As we drove up the canyon, a rainbow played peek-a-boo with us in the rapidly fading light. 

The kokanee salmon make their spawning run every September.  They turn bright red, then head upstream to spawn.  The Utah DWR has implemented restrictions to protect them, closing to fishing the tributaries they spawn in from August 15 to September 30.  

At the top of the reservoir, we ran down the hill to the East Fork of the Little Bear River.  Bingo!  The peak of the spawn is usually mid-September, so we were pretty excited to see the little red salmon already in the creek. 

The light was fading fast, but we got a few mediocre pictures.  Most of the fish were about 12 inches long.   We walked up and down the bank looking for fish until it was too dark to see.  I'm glad we made this stop! 

Nearest City: Avon, UT
Location: N° W°
Time Needed:
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Kid Friendly: Yes
Additional Info: Kokanee Salmon Info

Bear River Bird Refuge

We took a drive through the Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge.  It's been on the list for a while, but there always seems to be things that become higher priority.  It's a great place for a Sunday afternoon drive, or anytime for that matter.  We took the Forest Street exit in Brigham City, turned west, and drove what felt like forever.  Finally we reached the loop road in the heart of the refuge.

The loop road is dirt and one-way.  We saw countless birds, some of which looked pretty neat.  I'm not a bird person, so I can't tell you what kind they were other than some kind of ibis, some pelicans, seagulls, etc. 

 It was really cool too when the blue herons would fly away as you drove along. 

 The bird refuge is home to more than just birds- we saw this nice young buck hiding in the grasses.

Nearest City: Brigham City/Corinne, UT
Location: Forest Street Exit, drive west
Time Needed: varies, at least an hour
Difficulty: Easy
Kid Friendly: Yes
Additional Info: Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge Website