Feb 19 - Cardiff Fork Trail

Heading to the mountains today for a little snow hiking. Sunny day -- near 50 degrees.

When I arrive around noon there were only a handful of cars in the parking area. I wasn't sure if I'd need my snowshoes -- the resorts got around 7 inches. But after looking at the start of the trail, decided to go without them.

I started down the summer road (now closed) heading to the trail head. Had to stop at the creek crossing and catch a glimpse down the canyon.

Boy are the "plow drifts" tall! (Guess that's what 50+ inch base looks like.) Extremely pretty!

I get my first glimpses of Mt Reynolds.

When I get to the trail head, I take the usual right over the creek (which is flowing) and then up the old mining road. Definitely a lot of snow but it's pretty hard packed (sinking only an inch).

Along the mountain-side of the trail, there are snowballs that have rolled down to the trail in several spots.

The creek along the trail is covered under feet of snow.

I climb the little hill to a fork. I think I'm supposed to go right but there are no snowshoe or footprints (only skis) so I follow the left well-beaten trail thru the snow.

The trail is way too flat - I'm definitely on the wrong path but I'm curious as to where it heads so I follow along.

It heads thru a meadow before heading towards a steep slope. Just before the slope, the trail drops and enters a tiny valley with surrounded by steep slopes.

There is a small stream (mostly snow covered) with a small area of open water. I follow the trail for a bit and see several people climbing up a 30-40 ft snow covered wall (and several people were standing at the top the wall) exiting the little valley. I think I'm almost at Donut Falls -- and although I wouldn't mind seeing it, I'm not climbing that wall. So I turn around and head back to that side trail.

I get there and start heading up; making the first set of footprints!

Finally, I break out into the open so I know I'm almost to the fantastic views (at least they were last year and we only had a fraction of the snowfall).

And then the views!

A little further up the hill.

And the views uphill are great too!

I head up a little more than 1/2 way up the valley before stopping and heading back.

One last stop at the creek looking up the canyon toward Brighton.

Wonderful day!

Feb 13 - Mormon Trail (East Canyon Drive)

Heading for the higher elevation foothills just west of Park City -- specifically East Canyon Rd around Little Dell reservoir. (This is my first time here.)

Another day with sun and near 50 degree temps in the higher elevation. My trail starts around 5700 ft; high enough to be out of the smog of the valley.

I exit off I-80E on East Canyon Rd heading north and go until the road ends (about 3-4miles) at a gate; there is no winter vehicle access on the remaining portions of the road. But it is open to foot traffic (X-country ski, snowshoe, hiking). There is a parking lot just before the end of the road. The lot overlooks a very frozen Little Dell Reservoir.

It's not a sunny morning, still very cloudy but it's supposed to get sunny.

There are a few folks ice fishing on the lake this morning. The lake is very pretty.

It takes me a little while before I find the start of the trail. It actually drops over one side of the parking lot. I head down and a few switchbacks later there's a sign for the Mormon Trail heading to the left.

The trail heads thru the trees and then opens up a bit before heading back into the trees; this repeats several times.

In the open areas, I look for signs of animals but am seeing none so far.

I see blue sky moving in from the north (yea!)

At one point, I start hearing water running. The trail is getting closer to an open stream. I follow a side trail down to the stream. Very pretty.

I find the remnants of a bird kill under a tree - lots of feathers on the ground.

I continue along the trail still looking thru the trees and on the hills. Finally, I see something dark on the hill.

Looks like a silhouette of possibly a moose. I zoom in with my camera and yes! it is a moose! He's male (no antlers) and he's bedded down. I can see him chewing!

I watch him closely as I continue along the trail but I soon lose sight of him because of the trees.

Soon I come upon a footbridge crossing the creek.

A little while later, I pop out on the East Canyon Rd. The creek is now on the left side of the road.

I can cross the road and continue on the trail but decide to just walk the snow covered road for a while - it's heading to Big Mountain. (The sun is fully out now -- blue skies to the north.)

I walk up the road as it ascends to Big Mountain for between 1-2 miles. There's some beautiful sunny high peaks.

And there's a spider on the road. He's alive!!  Never thought I'd see a spider in the middle of winter on the snow.

(I see another on the way down.)

On top of one hill is a couple trees and a dark (non-tree looking) form.

It's a long way off but I zoom in anyway.... it's an Elk!! (A male elk still with antlers!) He is way up there - and looks to be by himself.

I move down the road for a different angle.
(When I get home, I notice a second larger set of antlers under the tree -- there's at least two males up there!!!)

Well that really makes my day -- seeing the moose actually did but the two elk is just a cherries on top!

I turn around and start heading downhill.

When the location is right, I start looking for that moose again but its really hard to see the hills with all the trees alongside the road.

But finally, I see him! He's standing and munching on some small trees. He's slowing heading down the hill.

Oops, he's got forward momentum going and he's running....then I lose him as he reaches the valley. How exciting!

I continue on to my car and enjoy a few last views of the reservoir.

Great day!

Feb 12 - The Mountains...FINALLY!

Well, today is the day for my first trip to the ski areas for some hiking!

Escaping the foggy/smoggy/orange air quality day for the sun and near 50 degree weather up Little Cottonwood canyon at the Alta Resort. The plan, simply walk the Alta Summer Rd which leads into the Albion Basin.

The valley is nasty this morning (as it has been since Wed), dark, foggy/smoggy nastiness. But as I drive up Little Cottonwood Canyon, I exit the smog into a color of blue tinge everywhere, and then, there is blue sky and sun (yea!)

The drive is wonderful - love snowy peaks/mountains.

I drive thru the ski resorts and to the end of the road.

Lots of folks already up here at around 9:30am. Plenty of kids too - must be off due to President's Day week-end.

Not wearing snowshoes today -- the road is groomed and hard packed.

It's so pretty out!!

I start up the road and soon find a short cut up to the next switchback. In the summer, the area is flowers/grasses and some smaller trees. Today, nothing but snow. It's very steep but I trudge on up.

I reach the next section of road.

From here, there's a nice view down the canyon to the smoggy valley - and yes, I can see the smog layer.

I continue up another "short-cut" to the final stretch of road.

To my left, I see another section of groomed trail continuing upwards; I believe this will take me to Twin Lakes Pass (which is on my list) but today I'm just checking things out as it's my first time here in the winter.

Ahead, I can see/hear the ski lifts and skiers as I continue up the road.

It's so clear, crisp and wonderful!

I reach the ski lift area and have a look around. There's Devil's Castle,

and the rest of the mountains surrounding the basin.

Cecret Lake is under Sugarloaf and I'm supposed to be able to continue across to Lake but again, for another day.

Time to head on down.

One last parting shot....

Awesome day!

Feb 6 - White Rock Trail (Antelope Island)

Heading to Antelope Island today. Supposed to be a sunny day with temps in the mid-30s.

I arrive on the Causeway with the sun shining bright. There's an inversion in the valley so the sun is not only bright but a hazy bright. Lots on snow on the Farmington Bay side from the recent storms. I see a couple of Kestrels perched on road signs but as I approach they fly. But there's one Kestrel that doesn't fly...and the reason is because he has breakfast clutched in his talons!!

Shovelers and Gulls are swimming in the open water further along the Causeway.

As I reach the island, I turn left to head to the Ranch. Immediately I see a herd of deer (at least 8) on the uphill side behind the Visitor's Center. Pretty hard to see from my position but I turn into a pull-off on the other side of the road for a somewhat better look. There's are some smaller deer, must be the ones born this year. (Based on their location, I don't think many people are going to see these deer today.)

Well, my plan was to head down to the Ranch before my hike but since there are already 4 cars ahead of me, I'll just go straight to the White Rock Trail head.

As I round a curve in the road, a bison is a few steps from finishing crossing the road ahead of me. I stop to watch. I see two of bison and they are walking towards the Visitor's Center.

The road to the trail head parking is snow packed and there's a good number of cars already parked. Definitely much more snow here than last time I was here (which was New Year's Day).

I gear up and take off thru the snow following 2 trail runners and 5 people on horses.

There are no animals anywhere to be seen.

Lots of snow to slog thru on the trail -- mostly 2-4inches - hopefully it'll get less in the more sun exposed areas.

When I get to the intersection of the upper loop, the runners and horses went in the clockwise direction (my normal way) so I head counter-clockwise just to be different and hopefully see some animals (before they are scared off).

Traveling this direction, I'm walking thru a very rocky section of the hill looking West/Southwest; and that means looking at White Rock and the western mountains. Very hazy out.

This is the western exposure and as such, gets the most sunlight. This means I get to walk on dirt for a bit instead of snow. There's plenty of snow off the trail. On the ground I see many rabbit tracks and Chukkar tracks.

And I see several Chukkars on the rocks above me.

I reach the end of this stretch and now start heading east following the curves of the hills towards the ridge. I have a full view of the snow covered White Rock valley. I cannot see any animals in the valley.

Back to walking thru snow.

I'm seeing very small paw prints - too small for a coyote so they might be fox (not sure).

About 1/2 way to the ridge, I see bison tracks and some fresh-ish bison scat but no animals around.

I'm seeing/hearing birds though - mostly Horned Larks.

I finally reach the ridge and look over and down to Farmington Bay - it's the theme of the day, no animals nearby

I complete the final "up" section and have lunch on the bench overlooking White Rock valley and Frary Peak. It's such a beautiful day!

Time to finish the loop and head back to my car.

I finish the hike and decide to head down to the Ranch.

Perched in a tree by the water is a beautiful grey hawk.

I see a porcupine in a tree conveniently near a pull-out but there's a car there -- I'll stop on my way back. A little further along is another porcupine.

I finally see bison near the Frary Homestead trail -- it's the same area they've been for over a month now.

Ahead I see a car stopped on the side of the road. I slow down and find what he is looking -- it's a herd Pronghorn! I notice the two standing and nearest the road first but there are at least 15 more behind them.

I'm pretty sure I would have missed them if the car wasn't stopped - very hard to see especially heading south (like those deer earlier). I'm sure I'll have no problem finding them again heading back north.

Well, I've seen bison, deer, and pronghorn; only need to see a coyote to complete the "big 4". :)

When I get to the Ranch and start heading back north.

Find the pronghorn again -- very easy to see now. Many of the pronghorn are bedded down.

I continue and see a Kestrel in the tree.

I see the one Porcupine and stop in the turnoff to view the 2nd. But he's no longer there. Wonder if he got scare off by the other car.

I continue driving when I see something on the edge of the road (in my lane). Several cars were ahead of me by just a few minutes, maybe it's some vegetation. As I get closer, it's a coyote!! Not sure where he came from that all those cars passed him by but he's standing on the edge of the road looking into the brush. He may be hunting (i.e., listening for critters). I stop a decent ways away, I can't wait to see what happens.

Unfortunately what happens is a car coming the other direction. I'm hoping the car sees me stopped and slows down - and happily he does. When the other car stops, the coyote turns around, crosses the road and disappears into the landscape. Very exciting!

Continuing on, I see two bison that I didn't previously see.

As I approach the Visitor's Center, I see 3 bison, looks like they replaced the deer. Plenty of people watching those bison.

I drive by the bison and some rocks and then I see the deer are still there! I only see a couple of heads and some big ears. No people are watching them.
 
Those deer found the perfect spot to feed in peace. :)

Awesome day!

Feb 5 - Jeremy Ranch

Today I'm going hiking but after the snow last night (which was unexpected) I'm not sure whether to go up into the mountains (Big Cottonwood is the choice as it got only 5 inches; Little Cottonwood got about a foot) or head to Antelope Island. It's a perfect day; partly sunny and mid-30s.

In my gut I know the choice should've been Antelope Island (no snow to deal with) but I really want to head into mountains so I went.

The road is wet; the canyon is gorgeous with snow covering everything. My problem is the parking areas weren't plowed and I spin tires just getting in one; it is sadly time to head back down as I don't want to get stuck. :( (I need to be patient a little longer.)

Oh well, I'll just head into the mountain area near Park City; specifically I'll just walk/snowshoe the unmaintained dirt road out to the Mormon Trail. I've driven that road a lot; now I'll get a closer look at this wonderful ranch land.

The road is plowed but snow covered. Everything is white -- the road, the hills, even the sky (it's only partly sunny) -- and quite beautiful.

On the sides of the road, the plows have left drifts close to 4ft high. I climb a top many times along the way down the road to see what's on the other side. Mostly, it's a stream winding thru the valley that I'm really interested in. The stream is ice free today.

And has lovely igloo reflections in spots.

I see ducks swimming. There's a bunch of Mallards

and a few Common Goldeneye.

It's really quiet out.

I'm looking for Elk, deer or moose but not finding any tracks (except dog).

The stream crosses to the other side of the road and continues winding thru the landscape.

My plan is to only walk about 2 miles (I think) to a little area close to the stream with a lot trees.

When I get there, I can here the calls of Chickadees and actually see a few.

I continue just a bit further before turning around.

Not too far from where I saw the Chickadees, I see a Belted Kingfisher on a branch overlooking the stream.

I also meet another walker and his dog. He asks me if I see the two female deer above on the hill and tries to explain where they are. I look and I can't see them. I even walk down the road a bit further (several times) to get a different angle but I never see them. I take several photos hoping maybe I'll spot them on the photo when I get home.

He also tells me that his dog scared up a yearling elk (no Mom) and I should keep an eye for it. You bet! I've never seen a UT elk; that would be so cool!

I continue along the road and finally along a windy bend of the creek under a tree is an Elk!!! Yea!

He's standing right next to the creek and I startled him when I climb up the snowdrift to get a better view. He knows I'm there -- how can he miss me I have on an orange fleece. Probably thinks I'm hunter (which may be why his Mom is not around).

After a bit, he slowly wades into the stream,

looks around before coming back on shore.

I continue down the road to get a different angle on him. As I peek over the snowdrift, he's looking in my direction.

I decide to give him some peace so I continue along until I hear barking. I turn to see the Elk crossing the stream and dog running/barking/heading towards the stream. Fortunately the dog stops at the bank not willing to cross the stream. The elk is still in the water; there a huge drift to climb to get out of the water on that end. Its a standoff for about a minute before I hear the owner whistle and the dog comes bounding back.

I continue on leaving the poor elk standing in the water against a big pile of snow.

I'm just about back to my car when I see another Kingfisher!

Well I finally got into the mountains (even though it was a backup plan), saw a couple of Kingfishers and my first UT elk. Awesome day!

(And my photos of the hill; there were no deer. I saw tracks. Guess I was just looking in the wrong spot.)