Das Bristlecones

Wondering and wandering with some of the oldest and wisest organisms out there...

GRBA: Backpacking Baker Creek

At the risk of sounding distastefully literary and unabashedly over-dramatic, I'll attest that this summer held the best of times and the worst of times. In the awesome column, we have my summer seasonal position as a friggin' NPS PARK RANGER, a dream come true and long, looong work-in-progress. To paint a picture for you, this summer I got to hike a mile and a half up a mountain every morning and spend most of my days in a wondrous cave system with interesting new people--totally cool. In the 'ugh' column, though, my workdays left me pretty pooped each evening and my schedule was quite hardline--no Saturdays or holidays off for this freshman ranger. All that being said, I creatively squeezed in some rad adventures this summer. I've already posted about flyfishing day trips and suicide-night-hike-one-point-five-day-backpacking runs in the nearby Uinta Mountains. Now check out a a chronicle from the semi-miraculous opportunity we had in August to play in Eastern Nevada's Great Basin National Park! (GRBA had been on our list all summer and multiple failed attempts made this successful backpacking-bristleconing-caving outing all the more sweet.)

Baker Creek Loop: the Beginning.

 

The Ascent, from below.

The Ascent, from above.
(I take a lot of breaks disguised as photo opps.)

That there's a pretty great basin!!
(PS The poses took lots of trying and a measurable amount of convincing--heh, heh.)

He's a pretty great one, too.

Early twentieth-century mining camp refuse.

The fanciest-pants pack meal I've ever accomplished.

IT'S OVER!

PS

My boyfriend is a nut who likes to decorate me with local specimens of shrubbery.

(Please note that I, as Ranger Jones, do not condone this practice.) 

Awww...

High Uinta Summer

Salt Lake City is good for a good many things. Like farmers markets, sunsets, free/cheap outdoor music, festivals, microbreweries, excessively casual nightlife dress codes (more often than not, your outfit doubles as night hiking attire), parks, dog-friendly establishments, growingly interesting cuisine, blessedly plentiful coffee options (a right Utah miracle), satisfying iced sweet treats (another Utah date night must), and of course, dramatic vistas provided by the Wasatch range to the east and the wonderfully weird Salt Lake to the west.

That said, Salt Lake City leaves something to be desired in its July temps. These dog days of summer prompt us to spend time each weekend scrambling up to 10K ft. Luckily, perhaps Salt Lake City's very best feature is its location, location, location. I've blogged plenty of pics from winter days spent soaking up desert rays. Here now I give you images of our summertime respite. From May snow hikes and quick ski tours to birthday backpacking in the dark and fishing among the wildflowers--ladies and gentlemen, the High Uintas.

 

 

 

The Great Northern Roadtrip

What do you do with three days, a rented compact car with 75 miles on it, and hundreds of miles of lakes, bays, rivers, and seashore to explore?