Uinta-Wasatch-Cache II

canyon road

This is my last post about our Uinta-Wasatch-Cache trip.

Some of Aspen, Gambel Oak and Maple trees started turning red and yellow early in September. Scenic canyon roads that run through Wasatch and Uinta mountains repeat the U-shape of the glacial-carved canyons characteristic for Wasatch range. There are seven such canyons. Little Cottonwood Canyon takes you to the Snowbird and Alta ski resorts, and Big Cottonwood Canyon – to Solitude Mountain resort and Brighton ski resort. If you want to visit famous Park City, home for the very successful 2002 Winter Olympic games, take the equally famous historical Lincoln Highway from Salt Lake City, and turn right at Kimball Junction. If you drive from the airport, it will take you about 40 minutes.

All the ‘bald’ spots on the mountain slopes in the picture below are the future skiing tracks, when they will be covered with the best snow in the world. The Park City Base Area was opened on November 18 ( some other areas on November 23), and it will be close for the summer  season on April 16 2017.

wasatch mountain state park

On our way to Uinta Forest we took the Mirror Lake scenic drive that parallels Provo River. If you don’t know it yet, Steven Shaw resides in the cabin high in the mountains. He is hunting and gathering wild berries, but he loves to have a sandwich now and again, and kind little children always bring with them a sandwich for Steven, and leave it on a rock.

provo river

Steven Shaw is very shy. He won’t show himself and you won’t notice him come and take your offering. We admired Provo river deep beneath our feet, and when we turned around, the sandwich was already gone. True story 😉

Provo River

After driving another few miles, we stopped at the Upper Provo River Falls. With seven rainless weeks, there was very little water flowing, but we could imagine how impressive  this three-cascade waterfall might look.

Upper Provo Falls

We drove to the campgrounds. I have no idea what is this mountain. All of a sudden the sky darkened and the colors became unusually saturated in the low sun. I rushed to take a picture.

uintas

The storm was short living, and after a couple of minutes it was warm and sunny again.

The wildlife in Uinta is abundant with species like Moose, Mountain Lion, Bear, Lynx and even Wolverine, but we didn’t see any of it. In my previous blog I posted two pictures of Mule Deer, and here is another wild beast – a Chipmunk.

chipmunk

I won’t tell you how many pictures of this Chipmunk I brought home. For many of you it is a waste of time and disc space, but it was a stellar day for me. We don’t have chipmunks in Ireland.

Look what he was doing! I didn’t know they eat flower seeds.

chipmunk

chipmunk

chipmunk

chipmunk

chipmunk

We had a great time and answered many questions like Who has cut the rock??

uinta

On they way back, most of us were sound asleep 🙂

2016-08-28-228

And here is my last picture. After taking off, our airplane made a turn, and we flew over Antelope Island  I wrote about last year. How cool is that 🙂

antelope island

Thank you for traveling Northern Utah with me. I am linking this post to the blogs that feature wildlife photography: NATURE IN THE FOREST OF DEAN AND BEYOND, Travel and Wildlife Adventures and Victor Rakmil Photography. Please visit and follow these blogs!

inesemjphotography Have a wonderful weekend!

128 comments

  3. That’s a great shot of the chipmunk jumping up for the seeds. We came home this summer with loads of chipmunk pictures too, including one running up my back!

      1. I was sitting on a rock at the top of a mountain. I think he was used to people feeding him, he seemed to be begging at my feet, then the next thing I knew he was running up my rucksack onto my back. You can see him on my Twitter profile!

        1. That is so fun. ‘My’ chipmunk didn’t beg, but he obviously knew that there is always food at the camps. I will check out your video 🙂

    1. Isn’t he cute! And he wasn’t afraid of me. It was so fun to watch him go down, pick up seeds, and go back to the rock to eat them. 🙂

  6. Ms inese, these photographs remind me of the two years of tech school I attended in Denver, Colorado back in the seventies …Thanks for bringing up so many colorful memories.
    g

  7. Beautiful photos, Inese. I love the little one in pigtails in the platinum grass with her frog (?). The sandwich story was great too. And chipmunks, ha ha. They are cute and entertaining. We do have lots of them over here. They love sandwiches 😀

    1. Thank you so much, Diana. I have no idea where this story comes from. I guess it is my Son-in-law family folklore, but the girls take it very seriously 🙂 The pigtailed owner of the frog learned to speak very early, and is a storyteller in the family 🙂

  8. That was an amazing journey for you…the true story is especially fascinating.

    I hope to be around the same places in a week’s time (actually, covering Nevada and Arizona) 🙂

  9. I remember the big worry about the Olympics being in Utah was the quality of the coffee! Mormons aren’t supposed to drink anything caffeinated. The Wasatch mountains are lovely though. Nice pics!

    1. Thank you so much! There are many non-Mormons in Utah, so I guess they have a stash of coffee 🙂 That shouldn’t have been a worry :). I remember that the snow was a big concern indeed. My daughter was there during the Olympics. I still keep the souvenirs, and her interpreter’s badge. The Salt Lake Olympics had fewer sponsors than any other games, but they were very successful economically, and all the buildings and other structures are still used. I would say that every third family there has a skier or a snowboarder 🙂

  14. Wonderful photos, Inese. I love the chipmunk! I don’t remember ever seeing them anywhere else I’ve lived, but we have them in DC. Crystal loves to watch youtube videos of them! Her favorite is The Family of Chipmumks. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UM8-ZMEe6CM
    She even smacks the TV (apparently they are misbehaving).
    Oh, by the way, I’m giving you a shout out next weekend at my 1920s party. Put on your gladrags and bring your dancing shoes. Mega hugs.

    1. They are common in Siberia and other countries in the region, but I guess they never venture anywhere else. I was so delighted to see one that close.

  19. Another gem to conclude a series we shall miss. A little gentle satire did occur to me when reading that in Ireland there are no chipmunks. At the time I was thinking that St Patrick only got rid of the snakes; hadn’t realised it was the chipmunks as well! Forgive me!

      1. Me too. No wonder you took so many photos. I’d go klicking mad … 😉
        Beautiful post from a wonderful landscape!

    1. Thank you! I have to find an old picture we took in Idaho years ago. A mountain road was blocked because of the deep snow, and it was in May 🙂

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