Hard to believe we didn’t do a post for July – it’s not that
we weren’t busy – but our activities didn’t take us outdoors and into the
mountains. So, when Tom suggested we do
Birch Creek Mountain, in the Tushars, we were more than ready! Birch Creek Mountain is a hike that we have had on our lists and today seemed like a “golden” (as Tom likes to say)
opportunity to go and get it done.
This turned out to be an enjoyable hike. We followed an old logging road to a
beautiful little meadow with a small spring.
Then it was up a short, but steep trail that took us to a saddle on the
ridge. From here we followed another
less traveled trail to the top. As you
will see there were some good views, but the most remarkable thing was the
assortment of mushrooms that sprouted up all along the forest floor!
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We had never heard of the Big Twist before . . . it turned out to be a really nice trail!
(Big Twist, as we found out later, is actually a drainage on the west side of the mountain) |
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| Within minutes we came across this cool mushroom! |
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| This one was huge, it's possibly a Bolete . . . although we are not fungi experts |
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| It was so refreshing to come across this lush green meadow |
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| In the meadow were clusters of Austroboletus mushrooms |
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| Hard to miss this trail marker! |
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| Amanita Muscaria are colorful & poisonous |
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| Mushrooms emerging from the soil |
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| Clear skies provided a great view of the northern Tushars |
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| So many cool mushrooms . . . a UFO or Spaceship? |
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| Kent spotted this spike elk antler |
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Shaggy Mane or Lawyers Wig mushroom
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| Views looking south towards Parowan |
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| This Shingled Hedgehog looks like it was under the broiler for too long! |
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We were surprised to find this Forest Service Survey Marker
(It was the first of it's kind that either Tom or us had seen) |
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| This mushroom looks like a Pretzel Roll |
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| The trail was not well-trodden, but it was easy to follow |
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| These look like pancakes! |
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The dogs enjoyed a cool drink from a spring in the meadow
before we made our final push back to the trailhead |
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| Birch Creek Mountain (10,738) provides a nice backdrop for Tushar Lakeside |
Please click
here for a topo map with GPS tracks from Tom's Peakbagger.com post. Round trip was just under six miles with approximately 1,200 ft gain of elevation and took us about four hours to complete.
