Great Basin-Utah

Utah's
Great Basin

*Click photos to enlarge*

From our property in the outskirts of Enterprise and entering the National Forest, Gum Hill's peak is our destination. The first image has snow but we usually don't hike up our home-made trail till it's melted
		Ancient kiln off the dirt road (left); up a little further about 1/2 mile is an attempted man-made reservoir for cattle, now our peak is "hidden" (right)
	Facing what we just hiked and the start of the trail we made is behind me (left); venturing on upward as the views get more spectacular of this basin (right)
		Taking a breather on the ridge. Depending on our energy level, R-T to here & back is about 2 hours
		Pretty desert flowers along the way to the peak
	A longer rest with a snack on the peak. This complete hike is about 3 hours R-T

Hiking an alternate route looping around the peak
Below the peak, a view of Hwy 18 to the south		Interesting agate rocks along the way

Holt Canyon down the road from our property, a great spot to hike and cool off in the summer (especially during the week when no one else is around :))
	Eagles are seen in winter usually on the Bench Road east of Enterprise
Our "barn" on the property
		My solar tanning booth that works even in the winter! as long as the wind isn't from the south or west (left); and finally our garden (right)
		Snow-shoeing up to the trailhead (left); and obviously, the full moon (right)
		Open iron ore pit (how deep is it?) & iron ore mine off of Hwy 56 (left); sunset in Enterprise (right)
"Lone" Table Butte centered in the basin north of Enterprise (per Google Earth in the Beryl-Newcastle area)
Image taken from Hwy 56 near Enterprise in winter (obviously)		Hiking up and around the butte

		Driving away from Table Butte
Historical Page Ranch's pond & tree house on Pinto Road on our scenic route to the challenging Stoddard Mountain		Interesting sandstone formation, sort of like a turtle head with its mouth open (or an alien?)
	This was by far the worst hike I let my husband take me on but he had a goal to do it. Constant scratching & whipping of high brush--I was not a happy camper
This was the most fun part of the hike, crawling on all fours up the scree, quite steep I might add. Needless to say we did not descend this way		Views from the top, or rather as close to the highest point the rugged rocks & brush allowed us to go. See the columnars, Newcastle Reservoir below and Cedar City beyond
		View from Hwy 56 showing the scree in snow
Mount Elenore is west of Modena and a few miles east of the Nevada border. These are some interesting specimens found along the dirt road that leads up to the base of the mountain. It is obvious that ancient Native Americans have worked on the obsidian shards in this area
	This is a bit steep and lots of loose rock
Zooming in on the cargo train passing through Modena, heading to Los Angeles from Salt Lake City. In the past as a passenger train, Modena was the northern end of the line		Just below our high point destination is an alcove of obsidian in the volcanic rock
		Interesting little "cave"
Larger amounts of obsidian
	Beyond this high point (about 2/3 up and very satisfying) is an extremely rough, rugged hike to the summit
Cricket Mountains off of Hwy 257 west of Fillmore, Jim tries to explain the geology to me as we looped up & around a couple peaks

North Wah Wah Mountains, west of Milford and north of Hwy 21 (Ely Highway). The image below is our favorite and framed at home :)


Colorful finds, especially the quartz
Looking up at the rugged high point, and viewing west through the basin to the Mountain Home range east of Nevada
	Flowers & butterfly along the highway at the Wah Wah Mountain range

Our Property Stoddard Mt

Cross section of Big Mountain

Back to The Great Basin and Basin & Range