Intermountain Trails
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Intermountain Trails USDA Forest Service—Intermountain Region August 2014 Volume 3, Issue 6 Forest In Focus: Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National Forest Forest Supervisor—Dave Whittekiend In this issue: The Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National Forest Forest in Focus 1 was recently recognized as the National Volunteer Program Unit of the Year. The Forest Supervisor Message forest hosted over 12,000 volunteers for a total of 83,196 hours of work. This volunteer Trail Stories workforce accomplishes a wide variety of work on the ground, from naturalist walks to Trail Stories 2 Notch Mountain trail construction and maintenance. Without Capitol this dedicated unpaid workforce, many of the Improvement Uinta-Wasatch-Cache Forest Supervisor, services our public expects and enjoys would Project Dave Whittekiend not exist. This incredible volunteer program is made possible by the dedicated and passionate National Public 3 Lands Day employees of the Uinta-Wasatch-Cache. Our volunteer coordinators are continuously making connections with people and projects. It could be linking Safety Tip dedicated hunters to a guzzler installation or showing a prospective Eagle Scout a Mount Naomi 4 trailhead in need of improvement. The UWC volunteer coordinators and the rest Wilderness of the employees on the forest are always willing to figure out how to include volunteers in managing this incredible resource we call the uinta-Wasatch-Cache National Forest. Uinta‐Wasatch‐Cache Wellsville 5 NaƟonal Forest Mountain 857 West South Jordan Parkway Wilderness South Jordan, Utah hƩp://www.fs.usda.gov/uwcnf/ High Uintas 6 Wilderness TRAIL STORIES Notch Mountain Capitol Improvement Project-see page 2 1 Notch Mountain Capitol Improvement Project Trail Stories Through the use of a State of Utah, Recreation Trails Program grant, the Heber-Kamas Ranger District has made significant improvements to the Notch Mountain Trail in the first year of the multi-year grant. This trail is one of the most popular trails within the state of Utah. It is not uncommon to see over 1,000 people a day on the lower sections of the western end of the trail. We were successful in accomplishing half of the work within the project area during the summer of 2013 with the other half planned for summer of 2014. Improved the tread from Crystal Lake Trailhead all the way to the Main Fork of the Weber Cutoff (Approx. 4 miles), except a quarter of a mile before Wall Lake. Improved approximately the first mile of tread from the Bald Mountain Trailhead. “Before” photo of trail work. “After” photo of trail work. Throughout the Bald Mountain Trail we created numerous rock structures such as steps, overlapping steps, crib walls, and causeways. Within this four mile section, we also enlarged every switchback to make them climbing turns. During the period of very wet weather in September 2013, we had some extra gravel from another project that we used for the first 700 ft. of trail. In 2014, five corduroy bridges were completed. “Before” photo of trail work. “After” photo of trail work. 2 National Public Lands Day The Pleasant Grove Ranger District is lucky to have hundreds of volunteers engaged with the Forest Service each year. We have a large variety of volunteers on our district including dedicated hunters, backcountry horseman, eagle scouts and boy scouts, trail adoption groups, road adoption groups, schools, and individuals. Every year there are multiple National volunteer days. This year Pleasant Grove has planned projects on National Trails Day on June 7th and National Public Lands Day on September 20th. In past years these days and other projects have been a great success. These contributions help the Pleasant Grove district accomplish priority work that may not have been met otherwise. Safety Tips: Don’t Feed the Animals Feeding wild animals can condition them to expect or depend upon food from humans, as well as endanger the ones doing the feeding. 3 Mount Naomi Wilderness The northern most ranger district of the forest is the Logan Ranger District. With spectacular alpine scenery, Mount Naomi Wilderness lies between the Logan River and the Utah-Idaho state line and towers over metropolitan Cache Valley, Utah. The Wilderness encompasses 44,523 acres of spectacular beauty and rugged landscape. On its eastern border the wilderness is home to Naomi Peak, the highest point in the Bear River Mountains of northern Utah and southern Idaho, and several other peaks towering above 9,000 feet. While the limestone range is not very high it is extremely rugged, and the views from the top of Naomi Peak are outstanding. On the western side several access roads meander up the deep, scenic canyons, originally built by early settlers to access timber. One road, High Creek Canyon, terminates at the trailhead accessing the Mount Naomi National Recreation Trail (NRT) that crosses through the wilderness, offering visitors a kaleidoscope of wildflowers, trees, wildlife and deep, yawning canyons. There is a major creek crossing at the start of the NRT (where the bridge was removed). Naomi Wilderness Mount Naomi Wilderness has about 12 system trails totaling approximately 73 miles. If you are hiking in late July or August you will also be able to enjoy another highlight of the Bear River Range – wildflowers. A colorful profusion of geraniums, paintbrushes, columbines, lupines, daisies, and mountain sunflowers stretch for miles, and several flowers and grasses are unique to the area. You’ll find large populations of moose, elk, and deer. Beavers are well established in several streams and occasionally black bear and mountain lion have been spotted. Those seeking solitude and a breathtaking view can meander through the wilderness on foot or horseback. The United States Congress designated the Mount Naomi Wilderness in 1984. Naomi Wilderness 4 Wellsville Mountain Wilderness In Logan District: Extending along the high, steep, north-south ridge and both sides of the Wellsville Mountains for about 14 miles, the Wellsville Mountain Wilderness located in Northern Utah southwest of Logan, Utah encompasses extremely rugged and picturesque terrain. The Wellsville mountains are one of the narrowest and steepest ranges in the Rockies, averaging only about five miles wide at its base and rising to its tallest summits, the Wellsville Cone at 9,356 feet and Box Elder Peak at 9,372 feet. Wellsville Mountain Wilderness Hikers can enjoy views of Cache Valley extending north into Idaho, west past the Promontory and Raft River Range and south to the Great Salt Lake. Canyons cut into the mountains from the east and west. The water that runs out of the Wellsville mountains is enough to supply many small Utah communities. The people who live below the Wellsville Mountains should be remembered for their valiant efforts in the late 1930’s to save their beloved mountains. At that time the grass-covered bridges were suffering from decades of overgrazing, and much of the vegetation in the lower canyons had been burned off. In 1941 a few concerned citizens lead by Robert Stewart of Brigham City and John Howell of Mendon formed the Wellsville Area Project Corporation, and soon, private contributions to save the mountain began to accumulate. The money was used to purchase land, which was then deeded over to the Forest Service for protection. The Wellsville project was a huge success, and in 1984, the U.S. Congress, with the creation of the Wellsville Mountains Wilderness Area, paid a final tribute to its participants. These 23,850 acres of wilderness stand today as a monument to a group of people who, seventy years Wellsville Mountain Wilderness ago, cared about their environment and their children’s heritage. Once devastated by overgrazing, the wilderness is on the road to recovery and now supports populations of deer, moose, and mountain lions. Raptors use this mountain range as a major flyway and Hawkwatch International used to come to the range annually to record observations. There are only a few system trails in this wilderness area and access and trailheads are limited. Seventeen miles of system trails exist in the Wellsville Mountain Wilderness. 5 High Uintas Wilderness High Uintas Wilderness: The United States Congress designated 456,705 acres as the High Uintas Wilderness in 1984. Today it is administered jointly by the Ashley and Uinta-Wasatch- Cache National Forests. Located in northeastern Utah, the Uinta Mountains were named for the Uinta Indians, early relatives of the modern Ute Tribe. The High Uintas Wilderness envelops the wild core of this massive mountain range. Characterized by the highest peaks in Utah, countless lakes, and a unique alpine ecosystem, it is among the nation's most outstanding wilderness areas. The main crest of the Uinta Mountains runs west to east for more than 60 miles, rising over 6,000 feet above the Wyoming and Uinta Basins to the north and south. Massive secondary ridges extend north and south from Red Castle in the High Uintas Wilderness the crest of the range, framing glacial basins and canyons far below. This rugged expanse of peaks and flat-top mountains is the largest alpine area in the Intermountain West and is the setting for Kings Peak, the highest peak in Utah. The Uinta Mountains rise from 7,500 to 13,528 feet at the summit of Kings Peak, offering diverse habitat for a wide variety of plants and animals. Above tree line, plant communities thrive in the harsh climate of the highest altitudes. Thick forests of Engelmann spruce, sub-alpine fir, and lodge pole pine blanket the land below tree line. These forests are interrupted by park-like meadows and lush wetlands. In the lower elevations, aspen groves and countless mixed evergreen species offer contrast to the scene. This wilderness boasts 545 miles of trail (54 trails totaling 204 miles on the Uint-Wasatch- Cache), which may be accessed from a number of trailheads surrounding the wilderness near the gateway communities of Duchesne, Roosevelt, and Kamas, Utah and Evanston and Mountain View, Wyoming.