Fremont Indian State Park, Utah - Camping, Hiking, and Biking

Roger and I discovered a hidden gem in the Utah State Park system over the 4th of July weekend.  We were looking for a camping and hiking trip that wasn't too far from Salt Lake City and wouldn't be too overcrowded on a holiday weekend.  We also wanted a location where we could watch some fireworks on Monday evening.  After a lot of searching, Fremont Indian State Park seemed to fit the bill.  We left Salt Lake City on Saturday morning, passed through Richfield a few hours later, and made our way over to Fremont Indian State Park.

Clear Creek running through Fremont Indian State Park

We stayed in the Castle Rock campground, a two mile drive from the park's visitor center, at the end of a gravel road.  The campground was beautiful and well maintained, and many of the sites were surround by trees and spectacular views of the surrounding rock formations.  It seemed like an oasis on the desert with Joe Lott Creek running through the center of the campground.  Our site was large, but a bit exposed, and it felt more like a parking lot.  We found a more secluded area for our tent and set it up just before a strong thunderstorm moved through.  The rain and hail came down hard for several minutes, and the air was filled with the smell of pine as needles were ripped from the surrounding trees.  After hunkering down in our tent for almost an hour, I emerged to find the ground covered in ice and fog shrouding our campground.

Hail

Our tent surrounded by hail at Fremont Indian State Park

Thankfully, the sun came out and quickly warmed the air, giving us a chance to hike around the campground and explore the castle-like rocks.  Later that evening, we joined a "scorpion walk" hosted by the state park.  After listening to a talk about scorpions in the Utah desert, we were given blacklights to look for the arachnids on a nearby hill.  Scorpions fluoresce under blacklights due to chemicals in their cuticle.  We saw several small scorpions before heading back to camp and calling it a day.

Castle Rock campground at Fremont Indian State Park

Exploring the Castle Rock campground

Dinner at Castle Rock campground

Sunset at Castle Rock campground

Scorpion fluorescing under blacklight at Fremont Indian State Park

  

On Sunday, we drove to the town of Sevier with our road bikes and found the trail head for the Candy Mountain Express bike trail.  The paved trail travels up the canyon, following the Sevier River, and offers great views the entire way.  The trail ends at Big Rock Candy Mountain, an interesting roadside attraction, and the entire round trip back to the trail head was only about 14 miles.  We intended to continue our ride after returning the to trail head, but more thunderstorms were brewing. We decided to return to Fremont Indian State Park and hike some of the short trails in the area for the afternoon.

Big Rock Candy Mountain Express bike trail

Big Rock Candy Mountain

We checked out the interesting visitor center museum while the thunderstorms passed.  As the weather cleared, we hiked a few of the looping trails that surround the visitor center.  While construction was occurring to build Interstate 70, the largest known Fremont Indian village was uncovered in the area.  Many of the surrounding rocks and cliffs contain pictographs and petroglyphs left by the Fremont Indians several hundred years ago.  The noise of cars and trucks from the interstate is hard to escape in the park, but it adds another level of human history to the canyon as a corridor for travel.

Petroglyph at Fremont Indian State Park

Petroglyphs at Fremont Indian State Park

 

Example of a wikiup at Fremont Indian State Park

Example of a pit-house at Fremont Indian State Park

Petroglyph at Fremont Indian State Park

 

On Monday, the 4th of July, we headed into Richfield to watch the town's parade before riding our bikes from Elsinore to Big Rock Candy Mountain and back.  We enjoyed some relaxation time back at camp before checking out the fireworks in Richfield later that evening.  For a small town, the fireworks display was spectacular, and many people were launching their own fireworks in the streets prior to the main show.  It was quite event in Richfield and a great way to spend the last evening of our trip.

Castle rocks

Birthday boy relaxing at camp

Castle rocks at Fremont Indian State Park

As we traveled back to Salt Lake City on Tuesday morning, we made a stop at historic Cove Fort.  It was  built by Mormon pioneers and founded in 1867 and served as a way station and stagecoach stop for people traveling between the towns of Fillmore and Beaver.  It's a great place to learn some interesting Mormon history and tour beautifully restored structure.

Cove Fort

Cove Fort

Peaceful surroundings of Cove Fort

Ouray, Colorado - Hiking

After leaving Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park on Thursday morning, we made the drive south through the towns of Montrose and Ridgway on the way to Ouray.  I've enjoyed blog postings on boxcanyonblog.blogspot.com about the town of Ouray and the beautiful surroundings, and it seemed liked the perfect destination to end our Colorado trip and enjoy an epic 4th of July celebration.

Ouray, Colorado

We arrived before our room was ready at the Hot Springs Inn, so we decided to check out two waterfalls in close proximity to the town.  The short hike into Box Canyon Waterfall was incredible - the thunderous roar of the partially hidden waterfall shook the entire canyon.  A trail leading across the "high bridge" over Box Canyon provides spectacular views and a case of vertigo for anyone uneasy with heights.  The hike to Cascade Falls, visible from Main Street, was also quick and provided access to the base of the falls.

Box Canyon Waterfall

View from the bridge over Box Canyon

Cascade Falls

We planned Friday to be our hiking day and we were overwhelmed with the choices available in the Ouray area.  Mt. Sneffels, a famous 14er near Ouray, seemed particularly awesome, but we figured it was too early in the season and we weren't equipped with good snow climbing gear.  Roger picked the hike to Ice Lake and we headed south on Friday morning to the trailhead near South Mineral Campground between Ouray and Silverton.  We were greeted with low clouds and rain as we began the hike, but no lightning to turn us back.  The trail emerged from the pine forest into a grassy meadow filled with flowers, waterfalls, and patches of snow.

Rainy hike to Ice Lake

Waterfalls in every direction on the way to Ice Lake

Columbines on the way to Ice Lake

As we reached Ice Lake, just under 4 miles from the trailhead, the skies began to clear.  The scenery was quintessential Colorado - absolutely spectacular.  We spent quite a bit of time at the lake enjoying the sunshine and the spectacular views before heading back down the trail.  Along the way, we were passed by a parade a backpackers heading up to the lake.  I imagine it was quite a crowd up at Ice Lake for the 4th of July weekend, and the campgrounds around the trailhead were overflowing when we returned.

Approaching Ice Lake

Approaching Ice Lake

We made it to Ice Lake

Ice Lake - full of ice

Views around Ice Lake

River crossing on the Ice Lake Trail

We had a good dinner at one of the livelier places on Main Street, the Ouray Brewery, and I was particularly excited about the quart sized beer cans available for purchase - the perfect size for post-adventure refreshment.  Wholesome Roger is not interested in beer, but he could not resist the sweet temptations of Mouse's Chocolates across the street!

Hiking reward

The 4th of July is a big deal in Ouray, like Christmas Day in Whoville.  The day started with a fundraising pancake breakfast and the Ourayce 10K, followed by a parade and water fights in the street, music in the park, and a great fireworks display to finish off the evening.  It was a fun way to celebrate the 4th of July and a fantastic finish to our trip through Colorado.

Finishing the Ourayce 10K

Happy Birthday America and Roger!

Ouray 4th of July parade

Ouray 4th of July parade

Ouray water fights

Ouray water fights

Ouray water fights

Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming - Hiking and Kayaking

Roger and I spent the Fourth of July holiday weekend camping in eastern Idaho and exploring parts of Grand Teton National Park in nearby western Wyoming.  I have passed through Grand Teton several times and spent time in Jackson Hole, but this was my first opportunity to travel within the park and explore this spectacular mountain range.  We left Salt Lake on Wednesday morning and made our way to the Falls Campground in Swan Valley, Idaho, located within the Targhee National Forest.  After setting up camp, we made the quick trip over to Fall Creek Falls and the spectacular overlook of the Snake River Valley.

Camping in Swan Valley, Idaho

Fall Creek Falls and Snake River Valley

My preference is generally for desert scenery and red rock canyons, but the view of the Teton Range was breathtaking as we drove into the park on Thursday morning.  We headed to Colter Bay Marina and rented a kayak to paddle around a part of Jackson Lake for a few hours.  This was a ton of fun and the views of the Teton Range were even more spectacular than the drive in, with the added benefit of total solitude in an otherwise bustling national park.  We finished our paddling just in time to avoid a late afternoon thunderstorm that rolled through the valley.

Roger kayaking on Jackson Lake

Enjoying the paddle on Jackson Lake

Great views on Jackson Lake

On our way back to Grand Teton National Park on Friday morning, we passed through the town of Victor, ID just in time to enjoy their Fourth of July parade.  It was a much larger event than I expected given the small size of the town and the street was covered in candy.

Famous Idaho potatoes

Tall Uncle Sam

We spent the rest of the day hiking around Taggart and Bradley Lakes, enjoying the endless views of the Grand Tetons and the rainbow of wildflowers that filled the lush fields surrounding the lakes.  We had a late start, but managed to hike the entire loop along with a portion of the Amphitheater Lake trail before a bear sighting made for a good stopping point.

Views of Grand Teton

Bradley Lake

 Roger enjoying the views of the Tetons

Wildflowers

Wildflowers

Taggart Lake

To top off a great Fourth of July, we stopped in Jackson for dinner and a bit of wandering around the main square before driving up to Teton Village to enjoy some beverages at the Mangy Moose Saloon and watch the fireworks display.

Happy Birthday, America and Roger!

We decided to try a more challenging hike on Saturday after reading that Table Mountain, on the west side of the Tetons, offered one of the best views of the mountain range.  We knew that it was early in the season for high elevation hikes so we brought along our snowshoes and microspikes, but ended up not needing anything as the trail was packed down in most places.  Hiking poles, however, came in extremely handy on the slippery snow for most of the hike.  It appears that there are two routes to the summit, with one being less-official, shorter, and steeper.  We chose the longer, more traditional route and enjoyed the trail very much with it's ever changing views of forests, mountain peaks, and streams.

Roger crossing a stream - this bridge was nearly under water on the return trip down

 On the way to Table Mountain

Grand Teton in the distance on the way to Table Mountain

Table Mountain

Lots of snow near the summit

The view from the summit of Table Mountain was spectacular and well worth the long hike through mud and snow.  Grand Teton looked close enough to touch, and the panorama of snow covered peaks in all directions was an unusual sight in July.

At the summit of Table Mountain

Grand Teton from Table Mountain

Roger on Table Mountain

At the summit of Table Mountain

The three days that we spent around the Teton Range were spectacular and a reminder that "green" places can be just as enjoyable as the canyons of southern Utah.  One of the best parts of the trip was having four nights of camping, giving us ample time to actually relax and enjoy the experience instead of just collapsing into the tent after an exhausting day of adventuring.

Evening light while relaxing at camp

Sunset on another great adventure