July 10, 2010

Yellowstone of the Uintas

Yellowstone Creek in Utah is not to be confused with the river that runs through Yellowstone National Park, but it is beautiful in its own right. 
At the trailhead, we found a couple of new signs.
This one for the Boreal Toad is appearing at all the trailheads this year. I guess these toads must be becoming rare.  We've never seen one.
And Swift Creek trail is closed all summer due to work on returning several dammed (damned) reservoirs in the High Uinta Wilderness Area to their natural lake level.
Good thing we weren't planning to travel that way. We did cross Swift Creek, which was running strong on its way to join the Yellowstone:
Not far down the trail, this garter snake was crossing the trail:
Note the bulge in his middle.  Apparently he's recently ingested a meal.  A frog, perhaps.
Daisy sniffed her way through a meadow covered in golden peas:
And found herself a nice tasty elk head:
A bear had found it first:
Fortunately, all we saw of the bear was his scat.
On one of the cliffy parts of the trail, we noted this phenomenon:
The process of erosion will soon erase this path.
An adjoining area has already sloughed off and been washed away by the river, as we observed when we descended to river level for a better look.
As usual, Steve had a little nap after lunch:
Daisy, never one to rest for long, insisted on waking him up:
Places to go, things to do, Dad, she says. She was right.
We saw lots of wildflowers on this hike.  I'll post about them soon.

12 comments:

  1. That looks like a beautiful spring hike. Thanks for bringing us along.

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  2. Beautiful hike, Janie... That must have been a pretty big bear to have eaten that elk. Yipes!!!!

    Swift Creek was really 'swift' wasn't it????

    Glad Daddy had a little rest --even if Daisy didn't want him to...

    Thanks for taking us on your hike... Can't wait to see the wildflowers.
    Hugs,
    Betsy

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  3. That does look beautiful Janie.
    Well, aside from the pile of scat!!
    So, I suppose you did not see any of the frogs on this hike; maybe next time.

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  4. what a fun day...Daisy got a head...your husband got a nap..and you got great photos...

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  5. What a great way to spend a Saturday, hiking in the beautiful Utah wilderness!
    I am missing the early morning hikes here in Vegas.....had a mole removed from the bottom of my foot....blah!

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  6. Amazing to see the changes that can take place in a familiar place. That erosion area is a little spooky. As is the bear scat. Hope Daisy didn't get into that.

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  7. A lovely and very interesting walk. I enjoyed all your photos but especially loved the last one.

    Thanks also for stopping by and wishing me a happy birthday the other day. I appreciated it very much.

    An English Girl Rambles

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  8. Interesting toad - a shame if it becomes extinct. I smiled seeing Daisy in the river - water is irresistible!

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  9. Nice hike! I hope the snake didn't eat one of those toads!

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  10. that is a pretty part of the Uintah's. We've camped close to the yellowstone a few times. I hope Daisy enjoyed her snack and Steve didn't mind her breath too much while he napped.

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  11. Janie, that was a great hike and I'm not even tired. It is sad to see all the erosion going into the river. That's not a good sign and neither was the scat but at least it wasn't a bear.

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