Twelve Mile Camp - Day 1

It has been a little over a year since we first discovered the Wasatch Plateau while on a hiking expedition with Tom.  Since that time many things have changed:  We sold our 4Runner and purchased a Tacoma; we decided we had enough of tent camping and moved on to a Teardrop trailer; and sadly we lost our dog Chipper.  However, one thing that hasn't changed, over this past year, is the beauty of the Wasatch Plateau (it remained constant).  We are glad that we planned a three-day excursion, to explore and fish, feel the invigorating coolness of the high elevations and to be able to share this with our friends, John & Mary.

We arrived at the campground in the early afternoon

We couldn't help but notice the chipmunks scampering about 

We drove to Emerald Lake but found it difficult to fish because of the moss

Colorful Fleabane and Arnica

Blue Lake was our next stop and it was a good one!
Mary seems determined to jump onboard this homemade fishing dock . . .
 a hop, skip and a jump away! 

Kent & John had fun reeling in some feisty Tiger trout

The water was so clear we could see the Tiger trout . . . 
It almost appears as if it is suspended in air above the gravel!

John's first catch of the day!

Now it's Kent's turn....

The wildflowers were beautiful

Back at camp in time for a late dinner

A beautiful evening . . . what a great way to end our first day!

 

Yankee Benchmark

Several weeks ago, when we hiked the Bunker Creek Loop, we stood atop an unnamed peak and looked north towards Yankee Benchmark.  We knew that the Spruce Trail followed along the rim for many miles and would take us near the benchmark.  And, so, the seed was planted and the planning stages began for a hike to recover Yankee Benchmark and its azimuth.

A beautiful morning for a hike
The Spruce Trailhead begins near the Sidney Valley Overlook

Kent is standing on top of Peak 10632 . . . 
A short diversion from the trail made this an easy ascent

Since Peak 10665 was so close we decided to grab it, too
(There's a faint social trail that leads to the top, for another easy ascent)

On top of Peak 10665, Kent checks his GPS for the Yankee BM coordinates
Then it was a fairly steep descent (not using the social trail) to get us back on the Spruce Trail

Uh-oh!  Now what do we do??
Our first thought was, "Are there any Great Pyrenees guarding this flock?"
(These massive dogs are known for protecting their territory)

¡Hola Señor!  The sheepherder spoke Spanish . . . Kent does not!
 The sheepherder understood Kent and communicated, with his hands,
that there were, indeed, five dogs coming behind him!

Fortunately, for us, the dogs were friendly and let us pass by without even a peep!

Soon after, we cut "off trail" and headed for the rim . . . it didn't take long to find the BM
Yankee Benchmark can be seen just under this spruce tree

The Benchmark was placed here in 1938

The Surveyors tripod was pinned to the ground by a spruce tree that was growing through it
Somehow it escaped being burned in the 2017 Brian Head fire!

Reference Mark #1

Reference Mark #2
Kent is checking his GPS to see where the Azimuth Mark is located

It looks like it should be about one-half mile away to our south . . .
Time to go see if we can locate it (we had no coordinates for the azimuth . . . just direction and distance)

The Fireweed was really pretty . . .
 The name comes from its' ability to grow and spread in areas burned by fire
(You can see what a nice walk and views we had along the rim)

We found the Azimuth!
Most azimuth's point towards true north and are used to help set the benchmark

We had nice views of the Yankee Ponds we hiked to last week
 and Yankee Meadow Reservoir, in the distance

Dog vomit slime mold feeds on decaying matter like this dead tree

Look at how short Kent looks as he works his way through the new aspens
 that have grown since the Brian Head fire 

A 'Horse With No Name" a very unusual find
(Hope you get the pun from America's hit song of the 70's)

We hiked down to find the headwater of Bunker Creek . . .
Too bad the horse didn't find it!

These aspen trees are about to give up their bark

Yellow tree fungi

Back in the aspens again!
This trail must have been something before the fire

We have come full circle . . .
Kent is not far from the trailhead

As we were leaving Sidney Valley, the sheep were grazing
and the sheepherders were enjoying lunch after a hard days work

The Spruce Trail was a really nice path to follow to Yankee Benchmark.  It is not as heavily traveled (no mountain bikers) as some of the other trails we have hiked over the last couple of weeks.  There is minimal downfall and the bushwhacking was minor, whenever we got off trail.  This adventure ended up being six miles (r/t) and with the peaks had a total elevation gain of about 1,200 ft (just some ups and downs that can be avoided, if you stick to the trail).  You never know what you'll come across "once you get out there" and this hike was no exception . . . it will provide us with good memories for many years to come!

Yankee Ponds

Over the last few weeks we've been spending a fair amount of time in the Sidney Peaks area.  While searching, with Google Earth, for some additional hikes that would get us some elevation (and out of the valley heat), we came across several unnamed ponds that looked interesting.  Since all of them were inaccessible by vehicle, and none of them had trails, we used our GPS to plot a course that would make a loop hike to all three.

We began our hike at the south end of Yankee Meadow Reservoir . . .
From here we followed a fence line east for approximately a mile to where it ended at a lush meadow

Finding our way around the wet meadow, we had to ascend a rather steep section to gain the next meadow . . . 
The entire hillside was covered with Fireweed . . . it was amazing! 

Soon we were following Bowery Creek towards its headwater . . . 
Crystal clear & cold, Bowery Creek flows all the way down to Yankee Meadow Reservoir

At the headwaters of Bowery Creek we found Pond #1 . . .
We appropriately named it "Bowery Pond" . . . pretty original, huh?

Yikes, a snake!  It scared Allison, somehow she managed to take its picture

After leaving Bowery Pond we hiked a short distance southeast to Pond #2 . . .
We ended up calling this Yankee Pond, as it sits under a cliff that holds Yankee Benchmark

Such a beautiful spot . . .
Kent was hoping to cast a line in this pond, but there were no fish

We decided to slightly alter our route and headed back to Bowery Pond
That meant descending this boulder field to get back to the headwaters

When we first passed Bowery Pond we had seen some small trout . . .
Time to "wet a line!"

It didn't even take a minute for Kent to hook this Brook trout
All together we caught three . . . and released them

Water droplets left from last nights rain 

This white snail shell really seemed out of place

After fishing for twenty minutes, it was time to head for Pond #3 . . . 
This section of bushwhack was pretty bad . . . we almost turned back . . . but we pressed on

There were a lot of neat rocks . . . this one sparkled in the sunlight

This is why we didn't give up!
Pond #3, which we named Shelter Lake . . .
Somehow, this pond was spared from the devastating 2017 Brian Head fire

Just us . . . getting ready to head back for the fence line

"X" marks the spot or does it?
 Actually the rest of the hike was virtually bushwhack free . . . so yes it does!
(There were game trails to follow through this section)

Monkey flower was prevalent near the ponds and seeps 

A mile later and we were back to the fence line . . . 
We have come full circle!

We really enjoyed this hike!  We liked that we got most of the steepness out of the way early (about 1,400 ft of total elevation gain) and were able to spend the rest of the hike traversing back and forth across contour lines that were all near the same elevation.  There was certainly a fair amount of bushwhacking, over the five miles, but we considered it worth it for all the springs, streams and ponds that we got to see on the hike . . . water is a precious and special thing in southern Utah!