After last weeks enjoyable hike to Birch Creek Mountain, we
discussed going back and making a loop of areas we hadn’t explored on
Circleville Mountain (one of our favorite peaks). When completed, we would be able to say we had hiked
most of the major peaks of the southern Tushar Range. Early in the week, Tom came up with three options and we all decided #2 would be best for us and the dogs – and so off we went
on our seven-mile adventure!
It was a great plan, but a couple of “hiccups” occurred
early in the hike that ended up making it more difficult for Kent than he
expected. Namely, he found he was experiencing effects from a Covid shot he got the night before, and then there were
the hornet stings, both he and Tom, suffered early in the hike – combined they caused
him severe achiness and a “sinking feeling,” with each step, that he wouldn’t
complete the hike. Thankfully, with Tom
and Allison’s assistance (and some very slow moving) he was able to make a
slightly shortened version of the loop.
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| We started our hike on the Anderson Meadow Trail #167 |
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| Mushrooms started to appear! |
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| This one resembles a pineapple |
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| These almost look like flowers with their unique split petal caps |
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| Ouch! We had to do a little bushwhacking through some Wild Mountain Currant bushes |
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Tom and his dogs, taking a break, and enjoying the views
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| Ezy standing on the ridge that will lead us to the mountain's plateau |
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| The monsoon rains have sprouted varieties of mushrooms we have never seen before! |
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| It was a nice surprise to come across Fireweed . . . it's something we don't see too often |
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| Even with a little smoke in the distance we still had great views |
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There's a lot of volcanic rock on Circleville Mountain . . .
But, oh my, the views are great all along the ridge that falls away to the east! |
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| Pretty Columbine growing along the ridge |
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| The Tushar Mountains are captivating . . . so much to see! |
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| The high peaks of Mt. Baldy (12,122) & Belknap (12,137) could be seen to the north |
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The top of Circleville looks flat (that's it in the distance),
but we had a steady incline to reach the summit
Tom made it to the top . . .
Allison waited with Kent, in a meadow, while he rested before we all headed back down |
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| These flowers remind us that summer is waning |
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| Time to head back down off the mountain . . . Kent was more than ready! |
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| We chose the path of least resistance . . . it was the shortest, but steepest, way down! |
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| 2021 will be remembered for mushrooms! |
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| Fly Agaric or Amanita muscaria is probably the most recognizable mushroom |
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We could see Anderson Meadow Reservoir from the top of Circleville Mountain . . .
now we have come full circle |
Circleville Mountain is a very enjoyable and rewarding hike! There is no trail, but there are various routes one can take to get to the top. For the path we took on this hike you can see Tom's Peakbagger.com post by clicking
here. For another route (and certainly the easiest) you can click
here and the link will take you to a previous hike he did two years ago. Both will give you topo maps and GPS tracks.
