Late Autumn Hike 2018

Autumn color is past. The brilliant reds of Rocky Mountain Maples and warm golden glow of aspens have come and gone, always, it seems, in too much of a hurry to go. Grays, ochres and russet tones dominate the landscape in this season.

Of course, any season can be good for hiking in the Wasatch Mountains. Last week I went for a hike in a nearby canyon. The weather that day was very pleasant, a little cool but not really cold. Higher up there was frost on the ground and small patches of snow in parts of the canyon that never see the sun this time of year. The higher peaks are snow capped.

When hiking, I try to always carry a few things I might need with me in a day pack. Things like water, snacks, compass, flashlight, knife, warmer clothes for when the weather turns colder, etc. These days, one of the things I try to always have with me is a camera. The images in this post were all taken during last week's hike.

First Meadow, Left Fork

Up near the top of the canyon the trail forks. Following the right fork, I came over a rise to see two large, dark animals in the path. Two cow moose blocked my way. When I took a couple more steps toward them, the larger moose laid her ears back. That's when I decided it was no longer my path and retreated a few steps. After one more look back at the moose, I decided to hike back the other way, away from the moose!

Moose

In case the above photograph isn't clear enough to easily see the moose, I've added something in the next photo to help point them out to you.

Returning to the fork, I then went up the left trail to a favorite meadow. There I ate some snacks I'd brought with me, drank some water and refilled my water bottle at a spring in the meadow. Wandering around the meadow I found a broken tine from a moose antler. I wondered if it had been broken off in a savage fight between two adult bull moose. 

Broken Moose Antler

A few years ago I was in this same meadow when I heard a loud grunt off to my right. I turned to see a huge bull moose coming off the mountainside and into the meadow. The moose was walking straight towards me! The moose would take a few steps, pause, then move a few steps closer. As He approached, he slowly tilted his head back and forth as if to draw attention to the massive antlers that adorned his head! Not waiting to see if and how the bull moose intended to use that rack, I quickly surrendered the meadow and headed back down the trail walking at a fast pace. 

There were no moose in the meadow when I was there last week, so I took my ease and enjoyed exploring the place. As I wandered around through some aspen trees I discovered some extensive carving on a couple of them. This one stated,

"I WILL CROSS THE GREAT DIVIDE    GARY TAYLOR   1871"

I can't verify the date carved at the bottom, nor do I know anything about the rest of the carved statement, but it was a mildly intriguing find.

A nearby tree had an even more extensive text scrawled into the bark. I'd imagine that any comment that began with the word "Yea" might be important. Unfortunately I couldn't make out what most of it said, so that Wasatch Mountain prophet's message is lost to me. Good luck if you think you can make it out. If you can, let me know in the comments, OK?

These three little figures were carved on the same tree. Maybe they have something to do with the message carved on the tree?