My Journey
- Thread starter YukonMontanaTannerTrapper
- Start date
blanketslayer
Member
Amazing pictures and narration as usual! Really enjoyed the volcano hikes and the desire to want to climb all of them.
YukonMontanaTannerTrapper
Explorer
ITTOG.....you're welcome. By the way I enjoyed your write up on climbing Mount Saint Helens. What's your next big climb ?
JD.....yep, it's good stuff.....
Arjan.....thanks. Yea I was actually nervous here with Tanner. Every few minutes there would be a really strong gust of wind which seemed to come from every direction. I still have memories of Tanner being blown off the mountain in Arizona so we stayed close.....
blanketslayer.....thanks & I sure do appreciate your feedback.....the volcanoes became a near addiction. When the weather is almost perfect (and maybe it was perfect), the hiking not too strenuous, where silence prevails & you're able to do what you love most in life.....well, that's a recipe for utopia right there.....
I had been on my favorite climbing site and found a small mountain that I had decided to climb as we continued to move north.....this mountain was located in the Fishlake National Forest, just to the east of Koosharem, Utah.....
Of course there are many mountains to climb in Utah but what resonated with me on this one was when I read this....."the area is prime habitat for some of the largest elk in the country".....well, I was all in after reading that.....
We took the forest service road west out of Koosharem and ascended the Sevier Mountain Range.....I'd guess we climbed maybe 2,000' up a steep & winding mountain gravel road.....
.....before deciding to park the rig at a small campsite at about 8,100' above sea level.....
Later that afternoon we walked for miles up the road climbing higher and higher......
During that preliminary hike we crossed paths with mule deer on three different occasions.....
The higher up we hiked the more excited I became.....this area was nearly devoid of people and the scenery was just incredible.....I was hooked.....we returned to the rig with plans to camp even higher the following day.....
JD.....yep, it's good stuff.....
Arjan.....thanks. Yea I was actually nervous here with Tanner. Every few minutes there would be a really strong gust of wind which seemed to come from every direction. I still have memories of Tanner being blown off the mountain in Arizona so we stayed close.....
blanketslayer.....thanks & I sure do appreciate your feedback.....the volcanoes became a near addiction. When the weather is almost perfect (and maybe it was perfect), the hiking not too strenuous, where silence prevails & you're able to do what you love most in life.....well, that's a recipe for utopia right there.....
I had been on my favorite climbing site and found a small mountain that I had decided to climb as we continued to move north.....this mountain was located in the Fishlake National Forest, just to the east of Koosharem, Utah.....
Of course there are many mountains to climb in Utah but what resonated with me on this one was when I read this....."the area is prime habitat for some of the largest elk in the country".....well, I was all in after reading that.....
We took the forest service road west out of Koosharem and ascended the Sevier Mountain Range.....I'd guess we climbed maybe 2,000' up a steep & winding mountain gravel road.....
.....before deciding to park the rig at a small campsite at about 8,100' above sea level.....
Later that afternoon we walked for miles up the road climbing higher and higher......
During that preliminary hike we crossed paths with mule deer on three different occasions.....
The higher up we hiked the more excited I became.....this area was nearly devoid of people and the scenery was just incredible.....I was hooked.....we returned to the rig with plans to camp even higher the following day.....
I thought the volcano cones looked more less in a line leading up to Humphreys Peak outside of Flagstaff. Turns out the San Francisco Volcanic Field is a string of volcanoes developed because of a "hotspot" or mantle plume, similar to the Yellowstone hotspot and the Hawaiian Islands hotspot. The mantle plume remains in one position beneath the crust and plate tectonics slowly drag crust over it, so a string of volcanoes can be the outcome. I didn't realize there was a hotspot volcano field in northern AZ. Enjoyed the pics and the narrative about rancher Babbitt!
Foy
Foy
ITTOG
Well-known member
Thanks Jerry. Glad you were able to see the photos. I am going to start making them smaller so hopefully it will be even better.
So what is next? Do you want to know what is next in my queue to post about or to actually hike. Unfortunately there is a big difference as I have been lazy about posting my trips. My next trips to post are Monaco, Lake Louise, Johnston Canyon (Banff), Possibly Lake Havasu, and Red Rock Canyon. All of those were the second half of 2019. My next trip is a backpacking trip in late August for a 60 mile hike in the Grand Tetons, assuming it is open by then. The trail is on alltrails, Granite Canyon and Teton Crest Trail Loop. There are a lot of offshoots from that trail so I am hoping to do close to 100 miles over five or six days.
So what is next? Do you want to know what is next in my queue to post about or to actually hike. Unfortunately there is a big difference as I have been lazy about posting my trips. My next trips to post are Monaco, Lake Louise, Johnston Canyon (Banff), Possibly Lake Havasu, and Red Rock Canyon. All of those were the second half of 2019. My next trip is a backpacking trip in late August for a 60 mile hike in the Grand Tetons, assuming it is open by then. The trail is on alltrails, Granite Canyon and Teton Crest Trail Loop. There are a lot of offshoots from that trail so I am hoping to do close to 100 miles over five or six days.
YukonMontanaTannerTrapper
Explorer
Foy.....I'm betting that the Babbitt family is a real legend in that area of Arizona.....they certainly should be as seen through these eyes.....
ITTOG.....the Grand Tetons trip sounds like a good one. I'm hopeful that you'll post a trip report assuming that you aren't eaten by the bears.....they are plentiful.....
Saturday May 09, 2020
Miles Hiked: 17.68 Total Elevation Gain: 3,030'
Indian Peak: 9,830'
The following morning we moved our camp up higher onto a plateau and our particular campsite was nestled amongst large stands of sensational cottonwood trees. And it was from here that we started our hike to the summit of Indian Peak.....
The beginning of our hike was along the pleasantly silent forest service road.....
We passed by this small fenced in area.....
The two stones of course made me think that this was more than likely a small cemetery from decades passed.....
Further along the dirt road we came to a fork in the road.....our route took us to the northeast.....
I was amazed at the amount of work that was involved in building the log fencing.....I can't begin to imagine the number of hours that are spent collecting wood and constructing these things.....works of art to me.....
Further along the road we passed by this small, simple cabin.....
Yes of course I thought I'd love to live here.....
Eventually we left the easy hiking of the forest service road and began our bushwacking to the summit of Indian Peak.....there is no trail to the summit of this one.....
ITTOG.....the Grand Tetons trip sounds like a good one. I'm hopeful that you'll post a trip report assuming that you aren't eaten by the bears.....they are plentiful.....
Saturday May 09, 2020
Miles Hiked: 17.68 Total Elevation Gain: 3,030'
Indian Peak: 9,830'
The following morning we moved our camp up higher onto a plateau and our particular campsite was nestled amongst large stands of sensational cottonwood trees. And it was from here that we started our hike to the summit of Indian Peak.....
The beginning of our hike was along the pleasantly silent forest service road.....
We passed by this small fenced in area.....
The two stones of course made me think that this was more than likely a small cemetery from decades passed.....
Further along the dirt road we came to a fork in the road.....our route took us to the northeast.....
I was amazed at the amount of work that was involved in building the log fencing.....I can't begin to imagine the number of hours that are spent collecting wood and constructing these things.....works of art to me.....
Further along the road we passed by this small, simple cabin.....
Yes of course I thought I'd love to live here.....
Eventually we left the easy hiking of the forest service road and began our bushwacking to the summit of Indian Peak.....there is no trail to the summit of this one.....
Last edited:
YukonMontanaTannerTrapper
Explorer
As we descended from the forest service road I glanced to the west and noticed yet another fenced in area that was much like the other one but there were no headstones within the limits of this one.....
A forest fire had once burned along this mountain ridge and the lower areas were thick with new young growth.....
Further up the mountainside it thinned out quite a bit....and here there were fresh signs of elk nearly everywhere we placed a foot.....no doubt this was prime habitat for the elk.....
Eventually we hiked out of the burned out forest and climbed a rocky ridge.....
Remnants of snow remained and Tanner took full advantage of it.....he rolled in it to cool off and he ate it to quench his thirst (as I did as well.....well, I didn't roll in it).....
The weather was perfect that day.....
For me this would be described as a perfect day in my life.....
This day was unusual as I had filled my pockets with dog treats and even brought myself an energy bar. I'd guess we spent 30 minutes up there.....eating our treats and cooling ourselves with mouthfuls of snow.....
With all that's happening in the world today, I never forget to be thankful each and every day.....
A forest fire had once burned along this mountain ridge and the lower areas were thick with new young growth.....
Further up the mountainside it thinned out quite a bit....and here there were fresh signs of elk nearly everywhere we placed a foot.....no doubt this was prime habitat for the elk.....
Eventually we hiked out of the burned out forest and climbed a rocky ridge.....
Remnants of snow remained and Tanner took full advantage of it.....he rolled in it to cool off and he ate it to quench his thirst (as I did as well.....well, I didn't roll in it).....
The weather was perfect that day.....
For me this would be described as a perfect day in my life.....
This day was unusual as I had filled my pockets with dog treats and even brought myself an energy bar. I'd guess we spent 30 minutes up there.....eating our treats and cooling ourselves with mouthfuls of snow.....
With all that's happening in the world today, I never forget to be thankful each and every day.....
Ace Brown
Retired Ol’ Fart
Great picture of Tanner, but what’s with that weird flagpole?
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Sierra Valley
Wander
Those small enclosures are more likely protecting a rare plant to keep the cattle from grazing it. We have lots of those on the Tahoe National Forest.
tgil
Well-known member
I was wondering the same, then I remembered it was called Indian Peak. It looks like a marker of sorts, from the Native American culture to me?
Sent from my SM-G975U using Tapatalk
YukonMontanaTannerTrapper
Explorer
I came across this poem by Rudyard Kipling this evening and I thought I'd share it with the people that follow our travels.....and I combined it with some pictures I took while camped high up in the mountain forests. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.....
The Explorer.....Rudyard Kipling
"THERE'S no sense in going further - it's the edge of cultivation,"
So they said, and I believed it - broke my land and sowed my crop -
Built my barns and strung my fences in the little border station
Tucked away below the foothills where the trails run out and stop:
Till a voice, as bad as Conscience, rang interminable changes
On one everlasting Whisper day and night repeated - so:
"Something hidden. Go and find it. Go and look behind the Ranges -
"Something lost behind the Ranges. Lost and waiting for you. Go!"
So I went, worn out of patience; never told my nearest neighbours -
Stole away with pack and ponies - left 'em drinking in the town;
And the faith that moveth mountains didn't seem to help my labours
As I faced the sheer main-ranges, whipping up and leading down.
March by march I puzzled through 'em, turning flanks and dodging shoulders,
Hurried on in hope of water, headed back for lack of grass;
Till I camped above the tree-line - drifted snow and naked boulders -
Felt free air astir to windward - knew I'd stumbled on the Pass.
'Thought to name it for the finder: but that night the Norther found me -
Froze and killed the plains-bred ponies; so I called the camp Despair
(It's the Railway Gap to-day, though). Then my Whisper waked to hound me: -
"Something lost behind the Ranges. Over yonder! Go you there!"
Then I knew, the while I doubted - knew His Hand was certain o'er me.
Still - it might be self-delusion - scores of better men had died -
I could reach the township living, but ... He knows what terror tore me...
But I didn't... but I didn't. I went down the other side.
Till the snow ran out in flowers, and the flowers turned to aloes,
And the aloes sprung to thickets and a brimming stream ran by;
But the thickets dwined to thorn-scrub, and the water drained to shallows,
And I dropped again on desert - blasted earth, and blasting sky....
I remember lighting fires; I remember sitting by 'em;
I remember seeing faces, hearing voices, through the smoke;
I remember they were fancy - for I threw a stone to try 'em.
"Something lost behind the Ranges" was the only word they spoke.
I remember going crazy. I remember that I knew it
When I heard myself hallooing to the funny folk I saw.
'Very full of dreams that desert, but my two legs took me through it...
And I used to watch 'em moving with the toes all black and raw.
The Explorer.....Rudyard Kipling
"THERE'S no sense in going further - it's the edge of cultivation,"
So they said, and I believed it - broke my land and sowed my crop -
Built my barns and strung my fences in the little border station
Tucked away below the foothills where the trails run out and stop:
Till a voice, as bad as Conscience, rang interminable changes
On one everlasting Whisper day and night repeated - so:
"Something hidden. Go and find it. Go and look behind the Ranges -
"Something lost behind the Ranges. Lost and waiting for you. Go!"
So I went, worn out of patience; never told my nearest neighbours -
Stole away with pack and ponies - left 'em drinking in the town;
And the faith that moveth mountains didn't seem to help my labours
As I faced the sheer main-ranges, whipping up and leading down.
March by march I puzzled through 'em, turning flanks and dodging shoulders,
Hurried on in hope of water, headed back for lack of grass;
Till I camped above the tree-line - drifted snow and naked boulders -
Felt free air astir to windward - knew I'd stumbled on the Pass.
'Thought to name it for the finder: but that night the Norther found me -
Froze and killed the plains-bred ponies; so I called the camp Despair
(It's the Railway Gap to-day, though). Then my Whisper waked to hound me: -
"Something lost behind the Ranges. Over yonder! Go you there!"
Then I knew, the while I doubted - knew His Hand was certain o'er me.
Still - it might be self-delusion - scores of better men had died -
I could reach the township living, but ... He knows what terror tore me...
But I didn't... but I didn't. I went down the other side.
Till the snow ran out in flowers, and the flowers turned to aloes,
And the aloes sprung to thickets and a brimming stream ran by;
But the thickets dwined to thorn-scrub, and the water drained to shallows,
And I dropped again on desert - blasted earth, and blasting sky....
I remember lighting fires; I remember sitting by 'em;
I remember seeing faces, hearing voices, through the smoke;
I remember they were fancy - for I threw a stone to try 'em.
"Something lost behind the Ranges" was the only word they spoke.
I remember going crazy. I remember that I knew it
When I heard myself hallooing to the funny folk I saw.
'Very full of dreams that desert, but my two legs took me through it...
And I used to watch 'em moving with the toes all black and raw.
Last edited:
YukonMontanaTannerTrapper
Explorer
But at last the country altered - White Man's country past disputing -
Rolling grass and open timber, with a hint of hills behind -
There I found me food and water, and I lay a week recruiting.
Got my strength and lost my nightmares. Then I entered on my find.
Thence I ran my first rough survey - chose my trees and blazed and ringed 'em -
Week by week I pried and sampled - week by week my findings grew.
Saul he went to look for donkeys, and by God he found a kingdom !
But by God, who sent His Whisper, I had struck the worth of two !
Up along the hostile mountains, where the hair-poised snowslide shivers -
Down and through the big fat marshes that the virgin ore-bed stains,
Till I heard the mile-wide mutterings of unimagined rivers,
And beyond the nameless timber saw illimitable plains !
'Plotted sites of future cities, traced the easy grades between 'em;
Watched unharnessed rapids wasting fifty thousand head an hour;
Counted leagues of water-frontage through the axe-ripe woods that screen 'em -
Saw the plant to feed a people - up and waiting for the power!
Well, I know who'll take the credit - all the clever chaps that followed -
Came, a dozen men together - never knew my desert-fears;
Tracked me by the camps I'd quitted, used the water-holes I hollowed.
They'll go back and do the talking. They'll be called the Pioneers !
They will find my sites of townships - not the cities that I set there.
They will rediscover rivers - not my rivers heard at night.
By my own old marks and bearings they will show me how to get there,
By the lonely cairns I builded they will guide my feet aright.
Have I named one single river? Have I claimed one single acre ?
Have I kept one single nugget - (barring samples)? No, not I !
Because my price was paid me ten times over by my Maker.
But you wouldn't understand it. You go up and occupy.
Ores you'll find there; wood and cattle; water-transit sure and steady
(That should keep the railway rates down), coal and iron at your doors.
God took care to hide that country till He judged His people ready,
Then He chose me for His Whisper, and I've found it, and it's yours !
Yes, your "Never-never country" - yes, your "edge of cultivation"
And "no sense in going further" - till I crossed the range to see.
God forgive me! No, I didn't. It's God's present to our nation.
Anybody might have found it, but - His Whisper came to Me!
Rolling grass and open timber, with a hint of hills behind -
There I found me food and water, and I lay a week recruiting.
Got my strength and lost my nightmares. Then I entered on my find.
Thence I ran my first rough survey - chose my trees and blazed and ringed 'em -
Week by week I pried and sampled - week by week my findings grew.
Saul he went to look for donkeys, and by God he found a kingdom !
But by God, who sent His Whisper, I had struck the worth of two !
Up along the hostile mountains, where the hair-poised snowslide shivers -
Down and through the big fat marshes that the virgin ore-bed stains,
Till I heard the mile-wide mutterings of unimagined rivers,
And beyond the nameless timber saw illimitable plains !
'Plotted sites of future cities, traced the easy grades between 'em;
Watched unharnessed rapids wasting fifty thousand head an hour;
Counted leagues of water-frontage through the axe-ripe woods that screen 'em -
Saw the plant to feed a people - up and waiting for the power!
Well, I know who'll take the credit - all the clever chaps that followed -
Came, a dozen men together - never knew my desert-fears;
Tracked me by the camps I'd quitted, used the water-holes I hollowed.
They'll go back and do the talking. They'll be called the Pioneers !
They will find my sites of townships - not the cities that I set there.
They will rediscover rivers - not my rivers heard at night.
By my own old marks and bearings they will show me how to get there,
By the lonely cairns I builded they will guide my feet aright.
Have I named one single river? Have I claimed one single acre ?
Have I kept one single nugget - (barring samples)? No, not I !
Because my price was paid me ten times over by my Maker.
But you wouldn't understand it. You go up and occupy.
Ores you'll find there; wood and cattle; water-transit sure and steady
(That should keep the railway rates down), coal and iron at your doors.
God took care to hide that country till He judged His people ready,
Then He chose me for His Whisper, and I've found it, and it's yours !
Yes, your "Never-never country" - yes, your "edge of cultivation"
And "no sense in going further" - till I crossed the range to see.
God forgive me! No, I didn't. It's God's present to our nation.
Anybody might have found it, but - His Whisper came to Me!
Last edited:
ghostdancer
Member
Nice. Pretty much sums up western expansion and manifest destiny.