From Fires to Squaw Peak Road

We headed out today for an afternoon drive with the two girls.  I had decided that I wanted to go somewhere else, rather than a normal drive.  As I was driving up Hobble Creek Canyon we passed a small fire burning on a hill.  I was tempted to stop, but it a few guys were staring at it, so I assumed they were burning the weeds off the hillside.

A little further up the canyon I came to the catch basin.  There was a fire burning on the hill, and people were rushing up to put it out.  I jumped out of my truck and grabbed a shovel that I had in the back and began to put the fire out with the group.  It took about 15 minutes and the fire department started to show up.  At that point the fire was contained.  The fire under the trees was the hardest to put out.  The oak tree bark had burned, and they were full of hot coals.  If you backed into them, or brushed them you were scorched.  I limb with a red hot spot on it stabbed me in the back of the head, the bright side was that the coal cauterized the wound.

We had to wait until the police and the fire department cleared things up and we were able to start heading up the canyon. I wanted to take squaw peak road.  I had seen it on maps for many months and never taken the time.

We were there about 30-40 minutes in all.  Everything is so dry, it could all go up pretty easily. 

The road was pretty good until we hit our first cache. GC1X3TK Our First Cache

I dug around a bit for that one without much luck. A regular one near a tree or a post.  I was sure that I should find it quickly.  Well I did finally discover it, but it was not a regular but a micro. That made me look far harder than I normally would.

We continued up the canyon. and was having a pretty good ride except for one thing.  This road was rougher than crap.  It was not impassable, just rough.  The road gravel was entirely gone and the stones that made up the mountain were poking through.  That threw us all over.

GC1H24P The Hollow was our next stop. It is always nice to find a nice ammo can.  It was kind of steep to get to.  I was not having any luck at all getting my daughter down to it.  She had worn flip flops (note as a parent to check kids before leaving house).  So stumbling down a steep and rocky hillside for a can hiding in bushes was not one of my best ideas. Thanks Baldin' Eagle for getting it our for me.

One other one was found while on the trip.  GC1E6VJ  Utah Valley View.  It was near the road by Caverspencer.  As we headed up up up.

The road around the mountain finally came to a spot where I thought we could take a break.  We had bounced a few thousand times and we needed a break. 

There I hiked up into the trees with my daughter and placed a cache.  I would have gone farther but one of them got caught by a tree limb and wanted to head down.   So there I placed GC2B6NH Kolob Basin Overlook It was a nice spot and took a while for us to climb up to.  It is at the high point of our trip, at 8700 feet.  I hope to go up and follow this trail to the peak.  Maybe in a month or so I can trick Jac0b or Balding into coming up with me.

After a great little break, a snack and our walk, we headed on down the other side.  Not nearly as steep and a lot longer it was a nice ride.  The girls where upset that we did not find a place with trees.  So I waited until I found a place. And pulled off.

I walked out to a point there.  I was looking for the name of this little ridge and did not have any luck finding it.  It is  one a topo map somewhere, but I did not feel like digging for it.  So way up in the hills is now GC2B6NV What a Knob.  It is a nice overlook of a canyon.  I think it is little rock canyon.  But without the map I will never know.

It was a really sharp edge ridge.  One side protect the aspens on the East side.  The other side is steep. and full of a lot of loose rocks.  I gathered some and made a small pile of stones to put it under.  The places up here need the extra weight to hold the containers down.  I can picture the snow pushing it down the mountain unless I have the stones in place. 

It was a good ride.  Rough and it took more effort than I planned, but it was enjoyable.  the road got better and better as I headed north. Until soon there were cars driving past me the other way.

Well.  Thats it for today.  Enjoy the caching.