We're back! It's hard to believe that Allison was in the ICU for
open-heart surgery just five weeks ago. While she isn't at full strength yet, her doctor cleared and encouraged her to resume hiking, with no restrictions on high elevations. So, we planned an easy hike for her to test her strength and endurance. Since I had been looking at benchmarks near Panguitch, we decided to take a drive, hike to a benchmark, and check out the fall colors as we passed through Cedar Breaks. Oh, and we invited our friends John & Mary to come along!
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While it doesn't look like much, South Benchmark, turned out to have some very nice views . . .
One thing we enjoy about locating benchmarks is that they "force" you to go to places
you might normally skip because they seem uninteresting |
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Milk Thistles
You can see Little Creek Peak (10,145 ft), right of center, on the horizon . . .
It has a benchmark and an intact tripod on it's summit . . .
We would like to hike it some day, but understand it is a real "bear" (according to Tom)
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| This is the first time we have come across Prairie Coneflowers on a hike! |
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After a short half-mile hike the forest gave way to a rocky lava knoll . . .
We're expecting to find the benchmark on top of it |
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Sure enough, there it is . . .
As you can see, the small lava knob provided some great views! |
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South Benchmark (1957)
(We'll send in our observations to NGS and get the station condition updated) |
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| Mary, John & Kent on top of the "knob" |
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It was fun to find a copper nail & washer,
instead of the metal medallions that are used for most reference markers |
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| Looking northeast towards Panguitch and the Sevier Plateau |
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Kent spent time searching for the second reference mark . . .
In 1957 it was said to be cemented in a rock that was very loose . . . he never did find it |
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| A selfie to show that our photographer is back and doing well! |
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Some of the wire the surveyors used to keep the tripod (which is no longer standing) in place . . .
It makes us wonder who was the person that tied this piece together . . . Are they still alive?? |
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| "Mr. Flexible" heading back down |
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| Blue Flax blooms in the morning and drop their petals by the late afternoon |
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Looking northwest towards Sandy Peak (9,537), which we hiked with Tom in 2021 . . .
Man, that was a long hard hike . . . still can't believe Tom did it a second time with us! |
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| Scarlet Globemallow |
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| As we were heading home, the sun broke out from the clouds and gave us a nice view of the Fall colors near Cedar Breaks |
While this hike was only 1-mile (r/t) with only 200 ft of elevation gain, it served as a "benchmark" for Allison's recovery. She won't be back to full strength until early next year, but she's on the mend and good days lie ahead! Thanks for the prayers and support . . .
it's good to be back!
