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

  1. I think it’s adorable how you enjoyed the chipmunk so much! If there were more people whose heart was as gentle and kind as yours, then there would be greater hope for this planet. Your camera is a paint brush in your hands, Inese — glorious “paintings.”

  2. Such a lovely place with golden tones. I love how you blend landscape with portrait, vast and intimate at the same time, Inese. Thank you. : )

    1. Thank you so much, Francis! I am trying to keep my blog schedule, and post something new on weekends, but I don’t have time for driving around these days… Good to have a stash of photographs to choose from 🙂 These were taken in September. Thank you again for stopping by!

  5. Thank you for your blog…Just want to wish you the best in upcoming year of 2017, and Happy Holidays. Great success in your work….

  6. I noticed an amusing illusion in the next to last chipmunk photo. At first glance, it looks as if the chipmunk has jumped straight up from the rock in the foreground and whacked a volleyball back over a net (out of view to my left). Chipmunks are common where I live, but I have yet to see them play volleyball.

    1. Thank you for your comment! It does look as you say 🙂 I took so many photographs of this chipmunk, that if I lined them up I could make a ‘moving pictures’ book 🙂 He was all over that rock, and he sat still only when he ate 🙂 Up and down, several times. It was quite a show.

  7. What a gorgeous place! Love the “Tale of the Sandwich”.
    The chipmunk is soo cute.(maybe a chipmunk got the sandwich?) I have never seen one in real life. I want to, but all I get is squirrels, mostly grey, sometimes brown and on rare occasions a reddish tone.
    Thank you for all the great pics!

    1. Thank you Sheldon. It is a massive forest, and a great hiking area for those who are fit and fearless. I am neither, unfortunately, so I only admire it all from the car window 🙂

  12. Lovely tour. The Upper Provo River Falls might have been less impressive than they might have been, but look at that lovely rock structure! Who did cut that rock? (You can’t leave us hanging like this)

  13. Breathtaking scenery, Inese, especially cloaked in those vivid, autumnal colours. A wonderful list of species, too, and its probably for the best you didn’t come head to head with a few of them! Like you in Ireland, chipmunks are a novelty to me, and they certainly get up to some antics, as shown in your photos. The story of Steve is very touching. His life out there must be tough in the winter and it’s lovely that people (including your little granddaughters) take him sandwiches. And I’d loved to have heard your explanation about who cut that rock!
    Such an interesting and informative post, and your gorgeous photos bring it to life.

    1. Thank you so much, Millie! Some chipmunks learn to beg, and take food from your hands. Last year I posted a picture of such bold chipmunk we met during our Bryce canyon hike.
      The sliced rock looks very intriguing. May be Paul Bunyan did it?

      1. Ha ha. Paul Bunyan would certainly be strong enough, as well as having wonderful skills with an axe!
        Chipmunks are very cute and I’ll have to take another look at your last year’s post.

  15. I truly enjoyed this walk in the woods of Utah, Inese, and I chuckled at the fun series of the chipmunk. I could watch chipmunks all day, they’re so playful and quick and rambunctious. And then I came to my blog referral link at the bottom, and what a pleasant surprise that was. thanks so much, my friend. I am honored to be among the wilderness links. and now, I’m going to Part I.

    1. Thank you so much for loving the chipmunk 🙂 I think he was posing me purposefully, because the other chipmunks kept their distance and were running around with the speed of light 🙂

      1. It was very nice of the chipmunk to pose for you like that 🙂 I enjoyed all the photos, especially the sunny spell after the storm.

        1. Thank you so much! The weather can change rapidly in the mountains. I enjoyed the drive and a short hike, and of course the little Chipmunk 🙂

  17. Both your posts from Uinta-Wasatch-Cache are lovely! I have never been to Utah so this was a nice introduction for me – beautiful scenery. I love the chipmunks as well, they are so cute and curious creatures. We don’t have them in Norway either so it was a treat experiencing them in Canada. I have like a million chipmunk photos:)

    1. Thank you so much, Inger! I am so happy to hear that you have a million of chipmunk photos 🙂 It means that you know how excited I was watching this little guy 🙂

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