We took advantage of a quiet weekend to do a little Utah / Wyoming exploring. Here's a map of our 3-day route. We drove to the Mirror Lake Scenic Byway (paved) and camped on day one - pink route. Then drove to the North Slope Scenic Backway (not paved) and camped on day two - purple route. Then worked our way out of the Wasatch National Forest and into Wyoming for a drive home - via Ogden and a quick visit with Uncle Glen & Aunt Nancy - green route.
Friday July 31 - The first campground we tried was completely full and the camp host suggested we go back toward Kamas and try a couple different campgrounds. He was absolutely certain that all the campgrounds further into the Mirror Lake Byway were all full. So we ended up camping at Taylor Fork OHV campground ($12). And to even park at the campground, you must have a Recreation Pass. We went to the self-service station, but they were out of envelopes. We parked illegally on Friday night, but purchased a recreation pass first thing in the morning on Saturday. The recreation pass is required for parking at all trailheads and roads inside the Mirror Lake Scenic Byway area (another $6).
Taylor's Fork is an OHV campground, so there were plenty of ATVs running around camp. This one was ridden by two young men and Sasquatch. They'd been hiding near the road and jumping out at cars. And finally, after dark, came past our camp - this was the only picture I could get, but James shook his hand when he was sneaking around in the dark near our camp.
Saturday August 1 - I woke up to the sound of clomping just after daylight - a sound like hoof beats near our tent. A little moose! And he passed really close by the tent. When James and I looked out the other window, he'd joined his mother and the two of them were headed toward the nearby creek. We brought James' bike along, but so far only used it to ride up the road to the outhouse.
A really pretty falls that cascaded six or seven different levels. You could hike right down to the water & quite a few people were crossing the river in some of the more shallow areas. Really pretty stop.
Fireweed at the Provo Falls - they begin blooming, from the bottom, at the beginning of summer. The flowers at the top finally bloom at the end of summer. Which parts do you use to make Fireweed jelly?
Along our drive, we came across the Tour de Park City bike race - which could be 50, 100, or 170 miles depending on the course. These racers were biking the "Super Century" course - or the 170-miler!
We stopped at the Bear River Ranger Station at the north end of the Mirror Lake Scenic Byway to get some insight into the North Slope Scenic Backway. Since the roads are dry, they said it would be a great drive (a little bumpy in places) and that there were several campgrounds, or we could choose dispersed camping. Or camp anywhere that someone had already built a fire ring. Dispersed camping is free, but you don't have an outhouse or a picnic table or a metal fire pit...
Friday July 31 - The first campground we tried was completely full and the camp host suggested we go back toward Kamas and try a couple different campgrounds. He was absolutely certain that all the campgrounds further into the Mirror Lake Byway were all full. So we ended up camping at Taylor Fork OHV campground ($12). And to even park at the campground, you must have a Recreation Pass. We went to the self-service station, but they were out of envelopes. We parked illegally on Friday night, but purchased a recreation pass first thing in the morning on Saturday. The recreation pass is required for parking at all trailheads and roads inside the Mirror Lake Scenic Byway area (another $6).
Taylor's Fork is an OHV campground, so there were plenty of ATVs running around camp. This one was ridden by two young men and Sasquatch. They'd been hiding near the road and jumping out at cars. And finally, after dark, came past our camp - this was the only picture I could get, but James shook his hand when he was sneaking around in the dark near our camp.
Saturday August 1 - I woke up to the sound of clomping just after daylight - a sound like hoof beats near our tent. A little moose! And he passed really close by the tent. When James and I looked out the other window, he'd joined his mother and the two of them were headed toward the nearby creek. We brought James' bike along, but so far only used it to ride up the road to the outhouse.
A really pretty falls that cascaded six or seven different levels. You could hike right down to the water & quite a few people were crossing the river in some of the more shallow areas. Really pretty stop.
Fireweed at the Provo Falls - they begin blooming, from the bottom, at the beginning of summer. The flowers at the top finally bloom at the end of summer. Which parts do you use to make Fireweed jelly?
Along our drive, we came across the Tour de Park City bike race - which could be 50, 100, or 170 miles depending on the course. These racers were biking the "Super Century" course - or the 170-miler!
We stopped at the Bear River Ranger Station at the north end of the Mirror Lake Scenic Byway to get some insight into the North Slope Scenic Backway. Since the roads are dry, they said it would be a great drive (a little bumpy in places) and that there were several campgrounds, or we could choose dispersed camping. Or camp anywhere that someone had already built a fire ring. Dispersed camping is free, but you don't have an outhouse or a picnic table or a metal fire pit...
The North Slope road was dirt and was usually graded and good road. But some places were super-washboard and one section (we only saw ATVs and a couple Land Rovers on this section) was so rocky that we drove 5 mph most of the way. We saw several of these old Tie Hacker cabins along the way. Tie Hacker's lived in the mountains and made their living by hacking pine trees into rail road ties. Most of them were fairly broken down, but we did find one with a roof.
We also stopped at the Hewinta Guard Station. It was built by CCC workers and was used by them as a main camp, but now is a storage place for fire fighting supplies.
We camped just off of a very bumpy dirt road, on a logging road with plenty of wood chips and dead pine needles - a one match fire for certain! We had pork chops and potatoes and sausage in tinfoil dinners and enjoyed sitting by the fire until dark. And I discovered that (even from a distance) coyotes sound VERY spooky at 3 o'clock in the morning.
Sunday August 2 - we had to work our way back to a main highway and home again, but we stopped for a little leg stretch and for James to actually use the bicycle that we hauled along with us through the woods.
His trail went up the hill and into the trees and down the hill and into the marshy lake land - James said it was more of a cow trail (including pies) than anything else, but it was still a good exploration.
I spent my time exploring little Marsh lake - notice all the dead pine trees? They were everywhere. Some ridges had more dead trees than live trees. A fire would go up hot and fast in this area - and kill all the beetles!
I waded into the lake for a couple pictures of the lily pad flowers - as long as I stayed in the grass near the shore I was fine, but if I stepped out of the grass into the mucky mud I came close to losing my crocs! Then I sat in the sunshine to dry my legs/feet/crocs and read a book. Pretty close to Heaven.
We left Utah and wandered into Wyoming for a bit, and as soon as we came out of the Wasatch National Forest we had a view of a forest of wind turbines! James counted over 60 before giving up.
A closer view of the wind turbines from the highway.
We also stopped at the Hewinta Guard Station. It was built by CCC workers and was used by them as a main camp, but now is a storage place for fire fighting supplies.
We camped just off of a very bumpy dirt road, on a logging road with plenty of wood chips and dead pine needles - a one match fire for certain! We had pork chops and potatoes and sausage in tinfoil dinners and enjoyed sitting by the fire until dark. And I discovered that (even from a distance) coyotes sound VERY spooky at 3 o'clock in the morning.
Sunday August 2 - we had to work our way back to a main highway and home again, but we stopped for a little leg stretch and for James to actually use the bicycle that we hauled along with us through the woods.
His trail went up the hill and into the trees and down the hill and into the marshy lake land - James said it was more of a cow trail (including pies) than anything else, but it was still a good exploration.
I spent my time exploring little Marsh lake - notice all the dead pine trees? They were everywhere. Some ridges had more dead trees than live trees. A fire would go up hot and fast in this area - and kill all the beetles!
I waded into the lake for a couple pictures of the lily pad flowers - as long as I stayed in the grass near the shore I was fine, but if I stepped out of the grass into the mucky mud I came close to losing my crocs! Then I sat in the sunshine to dry my legs/feet/crocs and read a book. Pretty close to Heaven.
We left Utah and wandered into Wyoming for a bit, and as soon as we came out of the Wasatch National Forest we had a view of a forest of wind turbines! James counted over 60 before giving up.
A closer view of the wind turbines from the highway.
As usual, a weekend is just too short to do everything we would like to do. As usual, we enjoyed every minute of our exploring and can't wait for the next one!