Wyoming...and it is Rainning?

What?   Raining in the Great Basin?  It is desert for goodness sake.  Well not this year evidently.  We drove up to the Snowys'...drizzle.  We bailed on camping.  Neither of us was too fond of the idea of camping at 11,000 feet in a thunderstorm. 

Yeah we're wussies...thunder that close to you will scare the bejeebers out of you.  Ask Cooper.
Our plan is to see what tomorrow looks like in Medicine Bow...in all likelihood we'll be heading back East.  A week early.  We figure that the weather was bound to catch up to us sometime.  Our luck has been pretty good the last few years...so it looks like we're heading home.

Sunshine...However Briefly

Sunshine

Today we woke to bright sunshine.  Cooper enjoyed his morning nap in the warm sun after the cold night.  After talking about it last night we thought we'd stay one more day in the Uinta Mountains and then pack up to head to Wyoming.   Since it was a nice morning we headed out on a short hike...it was looking like we'd better do it early because rain was in the forecast.  

As luck would have it a trailhead was right at the campground...Crystal Lake.  We chose a short one out to Long Lake (4 miles)...got to save something for the Snowy Mountains.  Along the way we walked past a number of small lakes...Crystal, Cliff, and a few unnamed even smaller ponds.

Cliff Lake lily pads

The trail was pretty even though you could not see much in the way of open vista.  Mountain views were pretty much hidden by the trees.  We did climb to an elevation of 11,527 at Watson Pass...pretty decent, but when camp is 10,000 it really wasn't much of a climb.  Once we reached Long Lake we watched the birds chasing dragon flies for a few minutes, but the clouds started to look more menacing so we packed it up and headed back to camp.

Due to the threat of storms we cooked our dinner early over the fire...just in case the rain prevented a fire later.  The storms started just as we finished cleaning up and packing away the gear. 

California Tortoiseshell

Long Lake

Catching dragon flies

Long Lake

Clouds building

Milbert's Tortiseshell

We spent the rest of our day napping and knitting...tomorrow we head to Laramie and hopefully sunshine.  It is not looking hopeful on the weather front.  We may have to head back to the rain in the East.

The Uinata Mountains..and Rain

Broke camp yesterday and headed out to Salt Lake City for the night...neither of us slept much. We've been going to bed about 9:30 PM or so each night while camping.  In the hotel it was well past 1:00 AM and still neither of us could sleep. We must have missed the outdoors...birds, wind, creek running, or just the silence. The hotel air conditioner wasn't ideal either...while 'on' the room was drafty, then it would turn off and the room got stuffy.  Could not win.

We left Salt Lake and headed out toward the Uinta Mountains...on a road between Park City and Evanston, WY that is closed in winter.  Not as spectacular as others we have driven over the years, but we did find some pretty spots along the way. We made a list of the many campgrounds and their elevations so we could decide how high and cold we wanted to stay.   Ended up choosing a fairly new campground called Washington which sits alongside of Washington Lake at an elevation of 10,000 feet.   The highest elevation we have camped to date until we get to the Snowys' in Wyoming in a few days. Nice large sites with concrete pads...thank goodness as it turned out.

When we arrived it was warm and sunny...within a couple of hours we had heavy clouds, thunder and rain over the next few hours. We spent our time playing Rummy...Cooper slept.  Afterward we took a walk around the lake, caught sight of a small rainbow and sunset.  Tomorrow we hope to get a hike done in between storms.

Only the the Sixth Time

Tonight is the 6th time staying in a hotel since we started the trip.  It has been 3 weeks since we spent a night sleeping indoors.  It feels somewhat odd.  Tomorrow we head off towards a new road...between Wyoming and Utah border.  Looks cool.  One of those "closed in winter" kind of roads.

The weather is threatening to derail camping anywhere east of Nevada...that may be a problem.  We may have to head back in that direction to escape the rainy weather.  Even the so called desert has rain in the forecast. 

We're not quite sure were we'll end up tomorrow night...

Thomas Canyon

Our last hike in the Lamoille Canyon was the one right behind the car…Thomas Canyon.  The trailhead was right in front of our campsite and all we had to do was start walking.   

The climb up started immediately and only leveled off when we’d reached the end of the canyon…a typical box canyon.  Steep rock walls and surprisingly a creek with running water this late in the summer...and water falls.

Breached

Along the way we discovered the beaver dam that Patty, the campground host, mentioned a few days ago.  According to Patty this dam had been in existence at least 20 years until this past Spring when it was breached and torn apart. 

The thing was tremendous…at least six feet tall from the front side and the largest beaver house that you can imagine.  Since the breach the beavers had started to rebuild parts of their dam.  Hopefully they will be able to survive the upcoming winter without their deep pond and huge house.

Beaver House

Bill on top of beaver dam

Glowing tree

There are also a number of trees in the Canyon that appear to ‘glow’ when the sun is shining behind them…weird looking.  Quite a large number of these trees are growing up the hillsides which creates a surreal glow in the morning sunshine.

When we pulled over we could see these feather-like flowers (or seeds) all over the entire branch. These darn things were so neat we spent FOREVER trying to get a shot of the glowing trees.  For whatever reason we found them fascinating.  They are called mountain mahogany.  We had never heard of these trees or have seen them anywhere else.  Maybe we had just missed the seed stage which creates the glow...otherwise the tree is unremarkable in its appearance. 
 

Seed pods

Fuzzy pods

Falls on Thomas Creek

We headed up the stream bed for a bit rather than follow the main trail so we could take in a few waterfalls.  Cooper enjoyed getting his tired toes cooled off in the water…he still wonders why we stop so much.  Surprisingly there was still a good bit of water coming down from the upper canyon. Poor beavers must be going nuts with the sound of rushing water.  Bill even stopped back by the water falls on the return trip. 

He bushwhacked upstream to a particularly difficult spot trying to get the perfect blurred out photo of the falling water.  The sun was not being particularly helpful since you really need clouds or no sun shining on the water to be effective, but he gave it 200 shots to get a good one.

 

Cooling off
 

On the return back down to our campsite Cooper decided he’d had enough of the heat and stretched out in one of the beaver pools to cool off.   

Too bad the rest of us could not do the same, but the water was really quite cold.  He didn’t seem to notice as he laid there waiting on Bill to catch up.

We really enjoyed our time here in Lamoille Canyon…hope to come back in Spring and catch the snow melt which brings with it more water falls.  Tomorrow we work our way toward Denver…first stop Salt Lake City.  We cannot wait to see what craziness the drivers do this time through Utah.

Yellow warbler

Yellow Rumped Warbler- female

Mountain Mahogany

The end of the canyon

Shaking out the burrs

Ruby Lake National Wildlife Reserve

It appears to be true that Nevada has a large marshland called the Ruby Lake National Wildlife Refuge in the Ruby Mountain area.  Actually two lakes make up the marsh…one that stays wet 100% of the time and the other that slowly dries out as the summer heat progresses.  Both are fed only by snow melt and the over 200 springs in the valley…there is no outlet for the water except by evaporation.  

Blue Heron

 We were able to drive through a small section of the wetlands via the raised roadway through the marsh.  Along the way we found numerous ducks, a couple of Trumpeter swans, a Blue Heron and a hawk.  The marshland draws migratory birds from the Pacific and the Central Flyways during the Spring and Fall migrations…over 200 species of birds make their way here every year.  We’re sure that would be a spectacular sight to be able to see that many birds in one area.  Another reason to return… Spring water falls, snow, and migratory birds.

Canvasback ducks

Trumpeter Swans

On the return leg we headed through the Secret Pass…elevation was only 6300 feet.   We’re pretty sure it wasn’t a secret as to the location of the lowest spot to cross the mountains because the spot was right where the Ruby Mountains no longer existed.  Lunch was eaten at the Pass…along with the hot sun and constant wind.  Cooper still recovering from his hike yesterday so he spent his time hanging out in the car resting. 

Tomorrow is our last hike in Lamoille Canyon…right by the campsite too.  It’s called Thomas Canyon and we may have to take turns if Cooper’s toes still ache.  Poor thing should have listened about those pesky rocks and remained on the dirt trail…he’s kind of hard headed when thoughts of Chip and Squirrel run through his head.

Lamoille Canyon Hike

Everyone feels much better after our day spent doing next to nothing.  Cooper is feeling frisky again so off we headed to the end of Lamoille Canyon road.  Looking at the map we chose to head towards Lamoille Lake…2 miles out.  We thought if we all felt good we could extend the hike up to Liberty Pass and if we felt really good go on to Liberty Lake.   The hike started at an elevation of 8400 feet in the parking lot.   At Lamoille Lake we reached an elevation of 9740 feet and once we reached Liberty Pass we were at 11,032 feet.  Liberty Lake then dropped back down to 10,0039 feet.   Mmm, sounds a bit high doesn’t it?

It was pretty neat to hike up out of Lamoille Canyon and meander our way via the MANY switchbacks up the canyon walls.  The views back down towards the roadway were incredible.  Steep granite walls and bright blue sunshine…spectacular.    

We made our way to Lamoille Lake and Cooper made his way into the lake to cool off and get a drink.  He normally only goes out up to the belly, but this time he misjudged the depth and had to swim or sink.  He lasted only for a second, but we’ll count it as his first actual swim in the last 2 years. 

At the Pass

After wandering around the lake taking shots of the wildflowers and the surrounding canyon walls we decided to continue the hike up to Liberty Pass.  The elevation climb wasn’t too bad considering how high in altitude we were…the views were pretty awesome.  During one of our water breaks we noticed an orange spot across the way…it was a tent perched on what appeared to be the edge of a cliff.  A dude was sitting outside his tent shaving.  You never know what you’ll see…at least he was fully dressed.  Of course we didn’t realize a dude was sitting there until we looked at our pictures back at the campsite.

Lamoille Lake

Liberty Lake

Once we got up to the Pass and looked down below towards Liberty Lake Bill decided he just had to get closer to the lake which was a gorgeous blue.  It was a mile down to its shores and Cooper stayed behind with Cindi...sitting under a shade tree until Bill returned.  We all turned back and retraced our steps back down towards the parking lot.  

 Another detour was made by Lamoille Lake so Cooper could ‘swim’ for his biscuits…he really does need practice on retrieving  his biscuit and swimming at the same time.  Poor thing almost sank trying to do both things at once.

Views from Liberty Pass

Everyone made it safely down. Cooper immediately started his 3:00 PM nap since we were a bit past that getting down the trail…blaming the dog because he kept trying to find friends, Chip and Squirrel.  Each and every time he was off leash he headed for these gigantic rock piles to sniff…ignoring us until we started moving down the mountain.

We headed into town for ice and a few groceries…a grilled shrimp dinner was our reward for getting another 6 mile hike (Cooper and Cindi) and 8 mile hike (Bill) done without any mishaps.  Tomorrow we’re going to try and find the local marshland in the Ruby Mountains…in Nevada of all places.

Lamoille Lake

Looking for Bill

Chipmunk food

Lamoille Canyon

 

Beaver