Trail Pictures

Tracy breaking trail

Uintas

That was MUCH harder

to make than it looks

Uintas

Snow

Tracy

Limber Flag Yurt

Limber Flag Yurt

Limber Flag Yurt

        Utah Area Trails The Needles The Maze Burnt Fork Leidy Peak Burnt Fork Granite Highline Causey May 11 Green River Buck Canyon Antelope Apr 11 Smith Fork Grizzly Ridge Yurt Moab Arches Bear River Moab Flight Snowbasin Art Nord Moab Rim Zion Dry Fork Naturalist Basin Timpanogos Cave Meteor Shower Yellowstone Creek McCoy Park Ostler Creek Granddaddy Causey Southern Utah Coyote Gulch White Canyon - Moqui Canyon Tetons - Cabin Southern Utah Wildhorse Canyon Snowbasin Great Salt Lake Snowbasin Robber's Roost Deep Creeks Farmington Canyon Nine Mile Canyon Fish Lake - McCoy Park Harris Wash Antelope Island Moab Southern Utah Log Hollow Moab Lake Powell Wasatch Buckskin Gulch Deseret Peak Pine Valley Logan Canyon Causey Reservoir China Meadows Haystack Lake Cow Park Highline Grandaddy Lakes Amethyst Basin Uintas Cat Canyon Southern Utah Southern Utah Glen Canyon Swett Canyon Antelope Island Uintas - Yurt Pebble Creek Robbers Roost Antelope/ Lost Creek N Fork Provo River Capitol Reef Pine Valley Wilderness Uintas Stillwater Reservoir Grandaddy Mountain Logan Canyon Canyonlands Arches Twin Lakes Kabell Lake Amethyst Basin South Cedar Ridge Canyon Hurricane Wash Middle Fork of the Ogden River Moab Cat Canyon Crack Canyon Causey Reservoir St George Log Hollow Canyonlands Steam Mill Canyon Row Bench Rubies Highline Causey Reservoir Flat Tops Grand Daddy Lake Antelope Island White Pine Lake Brown Duck Flaming Gorge Snowbasin Swasey Lakes Spooky Gulch White Rock Bay Grand Gulch Cat Canyon Moon Lake Antelope Island Antelope Island Long Park Grand Daddy Lake Hades Pass Tom's Canyon Just arrived

The weekend of 1 Feb 08, Tracy and I braved the weather in the mountains of eastern Utah

and headed up to the Limber Flag Yurt (Google Map) in the Uintas of the Ashley National

Forest.  We had tried a few weeks earlier to do the same thing, but a bad winter storm had

come through and we weren't able to make it to the trailhead...despite driving 6 hours to get

there.  But this time the weather cooperated a little more...not much, but a little more.  We

started out by starting from the wrong trailhead.  That's not a big deal when there's less than 5

feet of snow, but after going half a mile in 5 feet of snow before realizing the mistake, we were

already off to a good start.  But we got back to the right trailhead, and started out following the

tracks of someone who had cross country skied before us.  That made the going pretty easy,

and we made about 2 miles in just over an hour.  And then the cross country ski tracks

stopped.  This was not good.  We were only about a mile from the yurt, so we figured it wasn't

a big deal.  Three and a half hours later (yes, that's ONE mile in THREE and a half hours!) we

made it to the yurt.  The snow was well over 5 feet deep in most places, and it was very

powdery.  We spent most of the time in snow up to our waists despite the snowshoes.  By the

time we made it to the yurt we were completely and positively exhausted.  The yurt was pretty

nice...it had two queen-sized bunk beds and a wood stove.  But the stove as barely enough to

heat the place, so it took us several hours to get warmed up.  About 7 pm I turned on my little

weather radio to see if the forecast had changed.  It had.  There was now a winter storm

warning with up to 20 inches predicted for where we were within the next 12 hours, and 40

mph winds.  That sucked.  So we went to bed about 8 pm to try to recover some energy, and

we woke up about 1:30 am to the sounds of howling wind.  Luckily the sky was still clear, so we

packed up and headed out in the dark.  As soon as we started out the wind dies down, the

clouds moved in, and it started snowing.  But for the most part we could still see our trail we

had cut the day before, and we didn't have trouble walking with our headlamps.  The snow was

blowing too much to see far in front of us, but that wasn't a big problem...until we came on a

big, open field where snowmobilers had obliterated our trail doing doughnuts.  That was bad.  I

couldn't see any trail markers because of the snow, and I couldn't see our trail anymore.

Somehow, mostly dumb luck, I assume, I was able to keep up with our trail and pick back up

with our tracks in the trees.  Tracy said later she figured we were going to get lost there.  It

would have been horrible to lose the trail because it would have meant breaking trail for a mile

back to the truck...and we already knew how much that would suck.  But we made it back

without incident, and just drove VERY slowly back down the switchbacks of the mountain, and

eventually back home.  It was a good trip.  I really enjoyed hiking in the middle of the night...I

need to do more of that.  Tracy doesn't like it at all, but I'm trying to show her that it's not as

scary as she thinks it is.  Anyway, the yurt is a good idea, because it gives you a chance to stay

out longer than you normally could by just dayhiking in the winter, and you don't have to camp

on the ground.