Ode to Wet Rocks

 Last night we had a humdinger of a rainstorm, with lots of lightning and intense downpours. We hardly know what rain is, since we usually only get about 6 inches a year! We probably got close to an inch of that last night. Afterwards Desert Girl was eager to get out and jump in puddles.

Today we went for a hike with visiting family up to the bristlecones in Great Basin National park along the bristlecone trail. When we set off from the valley floor at 5300 ft, the mountains were enshrouded with clouds and we didn't know what would we encounter. Fortunately the clouds lifted and we had beautiful hiking weather.

The recent rain really brought out colors in the Prospect Mountain Quartzite. I don't remember the rocks ever looking so beautiful! Here's a sampling:

(and some limber pine needles thrown in for good measure)

We had to take quite a few breaks for Desert Girl, but she hiked all the way up and back. The promise of lunch at the cafe made for a no-complaining trip.

Desert Girl spotted this cool mushroom:

Before too long we were getting close to the bristlecone grove.

The bristlecones are always magical, and it was neat seeing them with the clouds drifting nearby.

The trail even had a few puddles, which reflected the bristlecones nicely.

We were really glad we made the trek despite the threatening weather. We heard a few rumbles of thunder, but didn't get rained on at all.

Definitely recommend checking out the wet rocks near the Wheeler Peak Campground!

Post-fire Regrowth

We joined some friends for an outing up Lexington Canyon, where the Black Fire burned last year. The weather wasn't exactly promising when we started out, but we decided to go anyway. I'm glad we did, because the contrast of the newly sprouting plants with the charred trees and white snow was stunning.

Desert Girl was happy to hike because her friend Rose was along.

The diversity of species was interesting. American vetch (Vicia americana) dominated much of the ground cover where we were, but we also saw lots of other plants, like lupine, this yellow violet (below), Packera multilobata, Indian paintbrush (Castilleja chromosa), Descurainia sp., heartleaf twistflower (Streptanthus cordatus), phlox,  and much more.

The American vetch was like a carpet in places, with its purple blooms livening up the forest floor.

I find burned areas fascinating. You can see how the fire progressed and ponder why one area burned and another different. The resulting patterns of burned areas have a strange appeal.

Despite the high intensity of the fire in this area, many of the plants are regrowing, including these chokecherries.

A gate is supposed to go in here now, but for now a sign warns people to be careful of falling snags and other hazards. A flood that came after the fire washed out this road.

Even in areas that had both burned and flooded, plants grew.

Gradually the clouds floated away, allowing the sun to warm the charbroiled land.

Desert Girl was fascinated with all the flowers.

Hopefully more people will get to experience the rejuvenation of the land after a forest fire. It is truly amazing.

Climbing Pahvant Butte, the Volcano South of Delta, Utah--with Kids!

 Continuing on our Volcano-themed Weekend, after we finished with Sunstone Knoll and Clear Lake, we headed toward the big volcano. That's when I realized I didn't have much of a plan for what would happen next. I had read that the volcano was hikeable, but I didn't know where to start. So we headed down the marked road and eventually saw a track up the Lake Bonneville shoreline. We headed towards that track, but when we got to it, it was too steep for the truck. However, there was another track that entered the canyon.

What an adventure! The track twisted and turned up the narrow ravine, and the cinders were like driving in deep sand. I knew if I stopped, we'd be stuck, so I kept my foot on the gas and we kept going. Fortunately no one was coming the other direction. Then we popped up into the middle of the volcanic crater. (The white line in the image below is the driving line, the red line is the hiking route.)

The inside of the crater surprised me. I was expecting to see lots of black lava, but instead we saw lots of orangish rock. This orangish rock is a tuff, a combination of basaltic lava the size of sand and gravel.

One of the things that is so cool about this volcano is that it started erupting underwater about 15,500 years ago, when the Pleistocene Lake Bonneville covered the area. As the volcano erupted, it grew taller, eventually emerging from the lake. The parts of the volcano that were under the lake still have the black lava, and the lake interactions made a cool formation on the northwest side called the Lace Curtains (which we didn't have time to see this trip). For more about the geology, check out this Utah Geological Survey page.

We got our gear and started our hiking trip. Our basic plan was to walk around the top of the volcano. It didn't look too bad from the bottom, but as we started up the steep slope to the south summit, I started having doubts of how far we could go.

We could see the pillars up on the south summit, remnants of a 1923 windmill project. Some say that it was a scam, as it was never finished and the project was rather odd, with no power lines in the area. Others say it was an early renewable energy project, which put Millard County ahead of the times. Overall, there doesn't seem to be much documentation about it. The old structures make for a rather odd  but intriguing sight.

They also make for a well-visited site. We found 8 OHVs on the top of the south summit. They had taken a road up the east side.

After a long snack break, we continued towards the main summit, following an easy ridge. We took a little detour to find a geocache.

Indian paintbrush,  phlox, and more were blooming, adding some extra color to the hike. I was delighted to see the hummingbird moth near the cryptantha.

As we got higher, we faced some interesting obstacles, where the volcano rim had weathered away, leaving steep cliffs. We had to do some backtracking to find a way, but we eventually did. Here and there you can find a bit of a social trail, but overall this volcano is pretty wild and untracked.

We kept seeing different groups of OHVs arrive at the south summit (lots of people were camped in the area for the holiday weekend), but no one else was hiking. The kids were doing an excellent job. It probably helped that I told them that the reward for not whining was going to the Delta swimming pool later that afternoon.

Soon we saw the triangular metal structure at the summit get larger and larger. We were almost there! The summit is at 5,751 feet.

A rock wren greeted us. We took a long time trying to find a geocache without success.

The views were outstanding, looking out at the Sevier Desert. I was a bit surprised when I saw there was no road directly to Delta. I think the old lakebed will bog down vehicles, and it looks like the Sevier River still flows through that area. We had a good view of Clear Lake to the southwest and the Pahvant Range and Tushar Mountains to the east.

Desert Girl hiked the whole way by herself. (She knew she had to, which is a big motivator.)

After rehydrating and eating and enjoying the view, we started heading around the rim. I was a little more nervous about this part, because I wasn't sure if we'd reach some difficult obstacles. We had one part that was a little steeper than I like, but the kids are good rock climbers and managed fine. We found that it was a lot easier to descend, especially when we reached a section with cinders that made going down feel like running down a sand dune.

I estimate we hiked about 2.5 miles, taking about three hours. It was really cool to be on the top of a volcano, and now every time we go to Delta, we will have a special appreciation of that volcano to the south. And the kids got to go swimming, which was the best part of the trip for them.

Pahvant Butte from Highway 6 & 50 west of Delta.

Sand Springs, near Kanab, Utah

 On our way to and from the South Fork Indian Canyon Pictographs, near Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park, we passed a huge hill of sand. This was the northeast side of the sand dunes, a place called Sand Springs. No one was there, and on our way back from the pictographs, we stopped to play in the sand. Desert Boy was the first to leave some tracks up the big hill.

 Old tracks had been blown over. It was quite a steep hill, steep enough that it was easier to go up on all fours than walking.

But once you got to the top, the fun began: running and jumping down the dune.

Desert Boy went really fast, leaping, and bounding.

I guess he went a little too fast!

 Fortunately he was fine and repeated his running down the dunes many more times (with just one more face plant).

To access Sand Springs, you turn off the Hancock Road, which connects US89 near Kanab, Utah to Coral Pink Sand Dunes, and take a 4WD road a couple of miles. The turnoff is not marked, but does have a stop sign. The 4WD road has one part that is really deep sand, right below the big play area. It's best to go fast through here.

The spring of Sand Springs still runs. It's to the north of the big sand hill where the corral is located. The spring has been improved so water runs into a trough all the time.

The kids continued to climb and run while I looked at the spring. At the beginning the hill had no fresh tracks. At the end, it was covered with tracks. I'd say we got our exercise!

The joys of a sand dune! We managed to take home just a little sand with us.

If you have the right vehicle to get to this spot, I highly recommend it. We were lucky not to have anyone else there during the hour we were there, and it was so much fun to have a big dune all to ourselves. Camping is available in the same area, but it's primitive so you need to bring everything.