I made two additional trips into the grand Tushar Mountains in September and October of 2006. For the first trip, I felt like a good climb so I started riding from Fremont Indian State Park at about 5800 feet and pointed my bike toward Mt. Belknap and started pedaling.
I encountered all sorts of curious things along the way. Homes built into solid rock and even a graceful, well-synchronized troupe of dancing aspen.
Lots of relics remain from the gold mining days of the 1890s. This is what's left of the Annie Laurie mill just below the ghost town of Kimberly. I would have liked to explore here more but
The old bunkhouse and adit at the Silver King mine.
Only a streak of color here and there, just a teaser for what I would see a few weeks later when I would return. This truly felt like an endless climb. I was still a few miles from the top but I was spent and had to throw in the towel. Final numbers: 32 miles and ~7000 feet of net climbing.
A couple of weeks later I again ventured into the Tushars, this time the goal was to summit 12,137-foot-high Mt. Belknap. I cheated a bit this time starting at Big John Flat up Beaver Canyon at 10,000 feet.
This time, the colors were in full swing.
After winding up this lazy Forest Service Road, I reached timberline and the summit ridge.
On the summit, and with little obstructing my view of Belknap, a put on my hiking shoes and set off. At times I felt like I was walking on the moon.
View from the top.
All in all, a great trip with good weather conditions. Within a week, the first major snowstorm of the season would dump several feet here.
Above: taking a closer look at Blue Lake on the way down. Total numbers: 12 mile/ 1800' gain bike ride; 4 mile/1600' gain hike; round trip time ~5.5 hours.
I bagged another west-desert peak over the weekend. At 9790 feet, Indian Peak is the high point of the Indian Peak Range in western Beaver County. To access the peak from the east you must travel through a State Game management area that used to be a Piute Indian reservation until they abandoned it in the 1930s. Much of the area is closed to motor vehicles this time of year to protect elk habitat. But I was able to throw my bike over the fence and ride to within a mile or so of the peak.
Like anywhere else in the West Desert of Utah, travel on miles and miles of dirt road are required to get anywhere.
I even had to dodge a few towering monsters along the way.
The sad remains of Lund, Utah, once a bustling and important stop on the Union Pacific.
The southern slope of Indian Peak - where old, tired trees come to die.
After several miles of biking and scrambling through some very thick Mountain Mohagany, I finally made it to the top. There is a register in the mailbox but I coudn't sign it - someone stole the pen.
Susie wasn't too happy about me taking the last slice of Bruno's pizza, but I had to reward myself somehow.
Click play above for a 360-degree view from the top.
Posts
