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Show ! , ' Vernal Express Wednesday, September 3, 2008 C1 ikers enjoy the West Fork of the Wh iterocks By Gary Lee Parker Guest Writer On 11,440-foot high Fox Queant Pass, in Utah's High Uinta Wilderness Area, the air is thin. But I had just finished a good lunch and was full of energy and invigorated by the spectacular spectacu-lar views. "I'm gonna climb to the top!" I said, as I hopped up and grabbed the camera. "I'm gonna take a nap," said my brother, lethargically. "Wake me when you get back." "I will." As a veteran backpacker (I went on my first real trip at age eight) I should have had no problem working my way up the gently sloping scree and brush of the unnamed peak to our North. I made it 20 vertical feet. Whew, was I winded. So I decided I'd rather take pictures of the snow instead. I'm a bit of a wimp. Besides, Be-sides, we'd already hiked more than seven miles that day and climbed more than 1,000 vertical verti-cal feet from the valley below. It turns out I was a bit pooped. We'd parked, hoisted our 1 - V. tJ- ;' . . to - , . f .. . J - packs to our backs, and begun this trek at the well-maintained and horse-ready West Fork Trailhead the evening before. We followed the gurgling West Fork of the White Rocks River past picturesque meadows and massive mas-sive boulders seemingly laid out for our personal pleasure. The first two miles of the trail split off shortly after the trail head, with backpackers shepherded to the left and horses urged to the right. Horses tear up rocks and leave ruts that can easily turn the ankle of an unwary hiker, so I was grateful for this reprieve. Once the trails reconnected, we had to be a bit more cautious. At about four miles we crested a hill just in time to catch the sunset over a magical world of meadow and hillocks reminding me of glacier country. The West Fork River, more a stream at this point, meandered through the shallow valley, and the clouds were awash in crimson and gold, giving everything a heavenly glow. "We'd best find a campsite soon," said my brother. "I don't want to set camp in the dark." I agreed heartily. We camped ahalf mile later, by elk droppings and a squirrel with a chip on his shoulder, in a hollow near a beaver dam that forms an unnamed pond, the first 'lake' along the trail. I ate my military M.R.E. meal of pressed pork in tomato-noodle goop atop a small hill to our south and enjoyed the Hi,', r ' 1 in. i,,niairi),(j,jaiJif,il.,-.i. alpenglow as millions of stars found their voice. At more than 10,000 feet, and with so little light pollution, the night sky is a spectacle to behold. I drank it in. The next morning we rose early to watch the sun's daily birth on the eastern horizon, in hopes of catching a photo or two of the fiery red rocks of the mountains surrounding us. The architect of the dam was lazing about idly watching for breakfast to slide by in the inky water. Fish jumped everywhere creating creat-ing small rippling circles in the mirror-perfecfpond. Birds cooed and flowers opened to catch the first rays of the morning sun, and two brothers sat on the hillside watching it all in awe. After breakfast we shouldered our day-packs and headed up the trail toward the pass. Late in the morning we reached a fork, with the trail to the right heading toward Queant Lake, and the trail to the left favoring Cleveland Lake, a beautiful blue gem at one end of a long, open meadow. We traveled this route past the lake and up the meadow toward the pass. The climb toward the pass wasn't as arduous as I'd feared, with the trail climbing gradually and steadily through several wooded stands punctuated by alpine meadows with outstanding outstand-ing views of the surrounding peaks. Around noon we stopped for a brief respite beside a small snow-fed lake amid boulders and filled water bottles in anticipation anticipa-tion of our push to the top. Here the trail turned ugly, winding it's way vertically through a broken landscape of stone upon stone to the pass 790 feet above. After a long and rest ful lunch with exquisite views from the pass, and after my abortive attempt at-tempt at mountaineering, we turned tail and fled an afternoon thunderstorm off the mountain and back to the safety of the valley floor. Two hours later we picked up our loaded packs at camp and wound our way back toward to-ward the trail head several miles to our East. As we were loading our gear into my brother's truck the skies parted and the rains let loose. Timing is everything. The Road From Vernal, take State Highway 121 west past Lapoint (or from Roosevelt take U.S. 40 east). Turn North on 4500 East and drive througkiha town of SEE HIKING on B5 A spectacular view looking south out over an unnamed body of water from the FoxQueant Pass, above timberline at 1 1 ,460 feet. There is still snow in this area. BASIN and UINTAH ARTS-COUNCILS PROUDLY PRESENT 3H A beautiful, unnamed beaver pond located about 4.5 miles in along the trail reflecting the mountains to the south looking toward where the Rasmussen lakes are located at the foot base of the cliff. Ute cheerleaders earn coveted spots on the UGA All-Star squad .. -r , - ' - i , IS' ' ' ; ' - 1 " ' j S - ! ;.v r DIRECT FROM BRANSON, MISSOURI! Monday, September 29, 2008 7:00 pm Roosevelt Jr. H.S. Auditorium Versatile on many instruments, The Lowes offer an amazing blend of show-stopping classical, Broadway, Irish, jazz, bluegrass, spectacular dance, 6-part harmony, gospel and more! Adults -$13 Youth-$8 - Family of Five -$48 Tickets: Davis Jubilee (in Roosevelt & Vernal) DON'T MISS THE EXPERIENCE OF A LIFETIME! www.TheLoweFamily.com Uintah High School cheerleaders cheer-leaders Jordann Murray and KC Honeycutt were chosen to be part of the United Cheer Association's Asso-ciation's Ail-Star Cheer Squad. The students, both juniors on the varsity cheer squad, were among many participants at this summer's UCA Cheer Camp. . The girls will travel to London to perform in London's New Year's Day Parade, which is expected ex-pected to fill London's historic and renowned thoroughfares with an audience of more than one million people. Both girls say they are proud to have been chosen to represent UHS and the UCA in London and that they are excited about cheering in the parade. KC and Jordann would like to thank the many sponsors that have already donated funds. Anyone interested in makinga donation may contact Mountain America Federal Credit Union co Jordan Murray or Kirstie Honevcutt. Jordann Murray and KC Honeycutt, cheerleaders at Uintah High School, have been selected to represent the-United Cheer Association As-sociation and will perform in London, England's, New Year's Day parade. , - ,-., .-. i II ii.ii il w ijii. u.i i uijn.il jjil, uM,,,mi JLJUunnu mujj.i ji j. . j.uimu w 'lliMJlJJlWJgu-jLi.,,. j. ng muim ii jjii iji i . , ,.,.. . m . WW CDCDCDSB ' ' i I j t I O Nokia 6310 Ultra Slim Design 2 GB microSD card included WAS219M NOW JUST 113 M GetaFRtE mutlc gift cjrd good torup to JO FRIE music downlo.ids when you purchase the Nokia 5 3 1 0 - while (ippics tost. 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