Show Mount Evans ascent a Rocky Mountain high Outdoors report Hawk watching Bridgerland Audubon Society will host a fall hawk watching trip for beginners on Saturday There should be lots of migrating hawks around Cache Valley so join us for a mostly driving trip around the valley Bring binoculars and a field guide if you have one Meet at 8 am at the parking lot between the Logan Fire Station and the Straw Ibis (50 B 150 North) in Logan Caipooling will be available We will plan to be back around noon For further details call Dick Huiren at (435) a pika suns itself on a rocky ledge during sunrise on Mount Evans: The palmsized mammals collect and store food throughout At left the summer t Wildlife viewing on Mount Evans often occurs at extremely dose ranges At right this mountain in ‘ 734-265- 3) Road ride 4 the goat process of shedding his winter coat greets visitors to the area near the summit parking lot whefe Denver University ' houses the workfs highest operating The Cache Valley Veloists will ” host a ride on Sunday with the route to be determined the day of the ride Meet at the northwest corner of Merlin Olsen park at 10 am If you have questions call Hal 2 Cain at “show-n-go- observatory ' 713-021- i Stewart cleanup The planned cleanup of Stewart Nature Park has been rescheduled for r Saturday at die park 100 S 700 East Logan Coordinated by the Utah Conservation Corps volunteers are needed to spruce up the park Those attending will work from 5-- 6 pm and then relax and listen to live music from 6--7 pm Volunteers should bring gardening tools for the work session and a picnic dinner to enjoy during the entertainment For information call Saundra Schim- ext 4 melpfennig at (435) 797-096-4 Dugway tour The Logan Alliance for Community Trails (Logan ACT) is sponsoring a free walking tour of the proposed 400 East “new dugway” project All interested persons are to meet at 10 am Saturday at the Gardener’s Market The walk will be about one hour and will review the current design proposals The group along with the USU Outdoor Recreation Center and the Langdon Group is also a public open house to review and comment on design ideas of the dugway project from 11 am to 2 pm Sept 18 in the International Lounge Taggart Student Center Utah State University Bicycle and pedestrian advocates are especially encouraged to attend and give feedback on the project For information go to wwwIoganactorg BL Rendezvous Bear Lake State Park and die Ogden Valley Muzzle Loaders Association will host a Mountain Man Rendezvous through Sunday Visitors are welcome to tour the encampment and view die activities Competitions and events include black powder pistol shooting Dutch oven cook-oshooting hawk and knife throw hawk trail walk and a shooting trail walk Fix camping reservations call 1 0 or contact Bear Lake (800) State Park at (435) ff The Summit Lake area at 12800 feet provides an opportunity to explore tiny am- tic plants found rarely outside the Arctic Circfe The area also serves as (railhead By Jared Thayne 322-377- 946-334- 3 Firewood program The Logan Ranger District is extending its firewood program to sell permits through Sept 18 at the Logan District Office Permits are issued for a minimum of 1 cord and a maximum of 5 cords at $10 per cord and must be purchased in person Only one permit per person may be purchased and only one permit per household will be allowed Firewood gathering will be allowed through Sept 30 in die Slideout drainage located six miles down the Sinks road (FR 055) Firewood is available from slash (Mies left from die Slide-otimber sale No odier down tx standing wood may be taken Entry into the ateais for firewood cutting only The road into the cutting area is dirt road with turnouts a single-lan- e drive is advised If wet ’mon C’mon C’mon” I whispered as I impatient- ly endured the buzz of my camera’s motor rewinding yet another roll of film My right index finger nervously beat my tripod My jaw took ihyth- mic punches from the growing pulse inside my throat My knees felt as though they’d been injected with helium and Would soon need to be tethered My brain seemed to quiver unable to hold a thought as if it were simply a blob on a centrifuge about to succumb to die forces of physics John Denver even made perfect sense I felt alive Free Euphoric It was happening a pinnacle cross-o- ff moment a life-liI’d paid my dues I’d done the homework I’d been awake when the alarm went off at 4 Still I couldn’t believe it I had mountain goats above timberline corralled in my viewfinder and I was sharing their miserly rations of thin premi- um air Nervous giddy ed I was everything at once st light-hea- ‘ “C’mon C’mon I ' reload the film!” I thought But I was all thumbs I couldn’t oven get the next canister out of my pocket I consciously tried to take a deep breath but somewhere— about halfway up my trachea— something got snagged I panicked I’d experienced the feeling before I was about to faint And then in a brief moment of clarity I realized it couldn’t all be ’blamed on adrenaline: I was more than 14000 feet above the earth’s oceans but little more than an hour removed from Colorado’s mile-hig- h capital My ascent had been too fast I needed to sit down drink some water take things more slowly I was alone on the tundra of Mount Evans courtesy of the high- -' est paved road in North America The Road to the Stan ' Designated a Colorado State Scenic and Historic Byway in 1991 Highway 5 began in 1915 part of a wild — and at die time not feasible — dream to link Longs Peak (14255 ft) in present day Rocky Mountain National Park and Pikes Peak (14110 ft) to the summit of Mount Evans which at 14264 feet lies above 40 percent of the earth’s atmosphere1 It is a place where lungs minds and bodily systems are regularly taxed “regardless of fitness level’’ as a sign near the summit warns " Winter sports show Construction - 2 (801)571- ' -9011 in— ii- -i m Photo by JaradThayna Blendng in with its surroundngs a white-tailptarmigan In summer plumage birds turn uses a boulder above treeline as cover In winter the feather-foote- d completely whits except for the orange eye patch black beak and feet ed of die highest por-- tion of the road from Echo Lake to the summit parking lot didn’t actu- ally begin until 1924 when Survey- or Drcxel Lacey declared: “This portion of the road will open to the public a wild and nigged country unsurpassed for scenic grandeur" Another interpretive sign tells of how “workers used rope to pull themselves and their equipment up and down the steep cuffs of ML Evans” perhaps all the while antici- pating the looks of wonderment that would surely befall the faces of the uninitiated once the substantial task was complete in 1930 In 1993 die highway received National Forest Scenic By way sta- tus another — woefully inadequate — attempt to label its vistas But for all the attention “The Road to the Stars” itself demands (you drive after all to a point on the globe some 500 feet higher than the uppermost pebble on Wyoming's ' Grand Teton) its curious inhabitants deserve even more 3 life-alteri- ng £ - 4 thd 2003 models of snowmobiles trailers accessories and fashions to enjoy the Greatest Snow op Earth in Utah will be on hand at the annual Snowmobile Winter Sports Show & Sale at die South Towne Expo Center ' Guests will be Friday Sept 20-2able to preview 2003 models of snowmobiles ATV’s BMX bikes and motorcycles Admission is only $6 for adults $4 for seniors and children under 12 are free For information call NJLC Group Inc at ' ‘ d- ut ' and resting place before the final push to the Mount Evans summit at 14264 feet above sea level : ' Life Above theTYees ' 2 Life is harsh above the line at £ which trees surrender Still a num-- £ ber of species thrive among the '£ lichen covered boulders and fragile tundra of Mount Evans making it £ perhaps Colorado’s premier wildlife! viewing opportunity £ After leaving behind a colony of £ 2 000-yeold bristlecone pines I £ wondered what tort of creature - S might be the first to appear on the B £ seemingly shelterless landscape where summer lightning is a con- - 5 stant threat ami temperatures fluctuS ate wildly Almost immediately a S trio of mule deer bucks appeared inS the predawn pastels the velvet of £ their antlers accentuating individuaH rays of light that must have cheated? the official start of sunrise I was 8 able to quietly escape my vehicle 8 and stabilize my tripod but I knew 8 the photographs I was taking woulcfi ar i 2 See EVANS on C3 — n m |