Hidden Signs and People Sightings

Last weekend, we drove to a trailhead leading to several large parks in the High Uintas.  (Corral Park with Marsh Peak in the background is shown above.)

The parking was a bit gnarly:

The trail was faint and rugged in places: 

And the Forest Service signage was well-hidden by trees, never to be seen unless you knew exactly where you were going to begin with:

But the parks (not city-type improved parks, just big open meadows in the mountains)

were beautiful, once we found them.  Boss surveys Big Park:

And Mischief looks pretty at the entrance to Corral Park:

Elephant head, one of my favorite wildflowers because of its unique shape) bloomed in the marshy areas:

Surprisingly, we saw some other riders!  They had pack horses and must have been out for a few days over July 24th (big Utah Pioneer Day holiday) weekend. 

We spotted their little dog first. The pup tried to jump up on my stirrup. When his owner came along, we found that the dog expected to be lifted up into the saddle for a ride.  Here they are riding away after our encounter near Fish Lake: 

Daisy didn't care about fishing, but she did opt for a swim.

The Climb

Our friend Mike wanted to go with us on a mountain hike.  After some discussion, we decided to ascend Marsh Peak (12,240 ft/3100 m), north of Vernal.  The trailhead is at 10,000 ft, so the climb is relatively easy. 
Here are the guys:

Here are the guys conferring on the route:

Did I say easy?  I must have forgotten about the rocks...

We made it, though, with Daisy's help:

Here's Mike exhalting in his success:

From the top, we looked down at Twin Lakes in the Dry Fork drainage,

and off toward the Uintas, hazy in the distance.  (We had smoky air from surrounding fires that late August day, so the views weren't as clear as they might have been. 

Here's a striped gentian, which I thought was unusual: 

And some harebells, growing among the rocks:

And, of course, there was the requisite mystery flower:

In all, we hiked almost 10 miles and 2200 feet elevation gain and loss.  Mike might have gotten more than he bargained for, but I think we all enjoyed the day.

For more sky views from all over the world, click here.