Bullion Canyon, Gooseberry & The Great Western Trail in the Fishlake National Forest

We rode to Miners Camp in Bullion Canyon and stopped along the way at a beautiful waterfall.

There are many miners camps in the area. Some claims are still current and mining for gold continues

There is another RZR on the trail!

Tim and Steve added the accessories

Ten of us went to Gooseberry and the Great Western Trail. Riley made sure Steve and Becky fit through the first 50 inch gate.

And away they go!

I love Becky's stories of her family growing up in the area; from a pet coyote playing in the yard; to a pet crow that learned to talk; to sitting on throne rock.  Some of her stories are shocking, me being a city girl and all; them being cowboys and hunters.  I've enjoyed her family very much. 

The guys were talking about the worlds largest living organism being the forest of aspen trees where we are riding. This is what I found on the internet about it:

"In the Fishlake National Forest in Utah, a giant has lived quietly for the past 80,000 years.The Trembling Giant, or Pando, is a enormous grove of quaking aspens that takes the “forest as a single organism” metaphor and literalizes it: the grove really is a single organism. Each of the approximately 47,000 or so trees in the grove is genetically identical and all the trees share a single root system. While many trees spread through flowering and sexual reproduction, quaking aspens usually reproduce asexually, by sprouting new trees from the expansive lateral root of the parent. The individual trees aren’t individuals, but stems of a massive single clone, and this clone is truly massive. Spanning 107 acres and weighing 6,615 tons, Pando was once thought to be the world’s largest organism (now usurped by thousand-acre fungal mats in Oregon), and is almost certainly the most massive. In terms of other superlatives, the more optimistic estimates of Pando’s age have it as over one million years old, which would easily make it one of the world’s oldest living organism."

We went through several creeks and over many rocks for 6 hours and lots of miles

We're in Butch Cassidy country and look the part as banditos

The alpine flowers were so colorful. 

We saw doe that had just given birth. Her fawn was well hidden in the brush.

Tom and Helen celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary and we were invited to the party.

I kinda like this picture of me. All happy and smiling.

Tim and I drove back to Bryce Canyon to meet with  Janan and Mike Dini. It is really fun to see friends on the road.

And their poochies are really cool too, but they didn't get in the picture.

Bryce Canyon and Marysvale, Utah

We're back with our friends Steve and Becky to do some serious 4-wheeling in the high desert of southern Utah. Daytime temps are in the mid-90's cooling to the 60's at night for good sleeping.

        

There are mining camps everywhere. Without the off road vehicles we would miss so much beautiful scenery and history of the area

These rail tracks were laid to move ore and tailing

Then in the middle of no-where, red rock appears

Billy and Maggie traveled with us a couple of times. 

Becky, her sister Georgia and nephew Bucky

Her brother Tom has a camp up here for horseback riding. 

Ten horses, 8 dogs, and 3 men

This nearby beautiful piece of property is for sale

Becky went for a short ride while we were there

Some ghost towns are dolled up for tourism

On my birthday we went to Bryce Canyon

This is the view from Rainbow Point

Steve just about caught this raven

Survival of the fittest in this picture. You can see the fire looming in the background. They use to be called controlled fires. You can't control a fire though; now they are referred to as prescribed burns.

We took a walk to the bottom of the canyon. Here you get the majesty of the hoodoos up close

We saw some fearless deer and a snake; possible a baby rattler

The paths were well groomed and wide although steep on the incline and decline. If you're not accustomed to the already high elevation it could be a problem.

A horseback riding trip would be enjoyable like these folks took

Hydrate, Hydrate, Hydrate

We drove the Hwy 12 Scenic-Biway Loop from Bryce through Escalante to Torrey. At some points the Hogback ridge is no wider than the road itself with 500 feet below. 

In Boulder we stopped at the Burr Trail Grille for some lunch and homemade pie. We shared chocolate whiskey and spiced cherry.

Mmmm Mmmm Good

This is the view from the South-Forty RV Park where we staying. The skies were always blue and you could guarantee on a strong afternoon breeze. Daily temps were in the 90's but cooled into the 60's for a good nights sleep. We are in beautiful high desert country