Brookies, Grayling, and Sideburns

Todd has been working as a wilderness ranger in the High Uintas Wilderness this summer so we decided to go up and give him some company the last few days. He has been enforcing the new camping and fire regulations and I think he decided to grow the scariest facial hair he could just to drive his point home with all of the maximum impact scout troops he talks to.

The Uintas always reminds me of my first long backpack trips and catching fish on flies and a bubble. It is where so many Utah kids get their first taste of big wilderness.

Farney Lake

A big Brookie that River caught at Rainbow Lake

Overlooking the Rock Creek drainage and Brinton Meadows with Ranger "Wolverine"

Rivers first fish, an Artic Grayling, we ended up eating it and we were quite surprised how good Grayling tastes

Lunch on Fish Creek

Tyler casting on Rainbow Lake with Mt. Agassiz in the background

Ranger Camp in Grandaddy Basin

Beauty

Sometimes the landscapes of the Colorado Plateau are so stunning that I literally have to turn away and then look back after I gather myself. Everett Ruess explained it best when he said that the Plateau county had "such utter and overpowering beauty as nearly kills a sensitive person by its piercing glory"

Yesterday I felt the piercing glory watching the sun set on Arch, Butts and Texas Canyon from Butts Point. Photo is from Butts Point looking down Arch Canyon. Comb Ridge is in the background fading into the Navajo Country.

Bears and Big Browns

Last weekend we headed north to visit family and scare the kids with a Mexican clown (see the family blog). Ty, Nate, Dad, and myself went to a new section of 6th Water to try it out. We ended up hiking quite a ways in which usually means better fishing. I think everything is better the farther you are away from a road. Tyler caught several very big browns and I accidentally deleted the photos so you will just have to believe me. Maybe Nate will post the photo of his big Rainbow he caught for verification. We ended up losing my Dad, we were pretty sure he had fallen somewhere and broken a leg. We searched for him for about three hours. He ended up being back at the truck sleeping in the shade. I'm putting a tracking device on him next time.

Yesterday I took the scouts and River up on the mountain to rebuild a barrier on the edge of the Mount Peale Roadless Area. This is the second time I have rebuilt it since I came here. It is a continuous frustration of mine that people think they literally need to drive everywhere--get out and walk. We have hundreds of miles of roads and trails open to motorized vehicles, and people still have to create new roads. I hope gas goes to $10 a gallon maybe people will walk more.

We saw three bears on the way up so the kids were worried all night that one was going to come into camp.

River in Laurel Meadows contemplating life or maybe just looking at a bug

Porcupines and Beavers

Porcupine Rim

Today we finally rerouted the Porcupine trail to avoid impacting the Golden Eagle nests on the cliff faces and the large Archaic habitation site on the rim. It has taken a long time finding a route that all the specialists were ok with. The sites on the rim are pretty amazing we found a lot of different projectile points and hundreds of other tools, several rock shelters, and a very old petroglyph panel.

Beaver Basin

Yesterday we drove up into Beaver Basin to check a trail head and trail. It is a beautiful alpine basin. Several large avalanches had come down across the road this past winter so there was a lot of downed timber. Four wheelers have pushed the road way beyond where it is supposed to be closed so we tried to block it off. The peak in the back of the photo is Manns Peak , last year I climbed it with Ty, Creed and Nate.

Thunderstorms

After work yesterday I took the boys up towards Mount Mellenthin and hiked into some meadows. Moab has been cooking all week and the mountains are always such a nice respite from the brutal heat. Thunderheads build almost everyday over the La Sals and yesterday we saw some good ones. The lighting did not look real as the sun was coming in underneath the clouds.

Mellthin is named for Rudolph Mellenthin the first Forest Ranger killed in the line of duty. He was shot by a WWI draft dodger and is buried in the Moab cemetery a block from our house.