Tom said he was planning on hiking Lamerdorf Peak, in the Wah Wah Mountains and thought we might be interested in coming along. We have always wanted to explore the Wah Wah's (which means good clear water), so when Tom made the offer we didn't hesitate to accept. As we were planning our route, Kent noticed some old charcoal kilns in the area, so we incorporated them into our outing.
Part of this adventure was taking Tom's Can-Am, from his home in Enoch, and traveling 40 miles to the Wah Wah mountain range. Once there we made a 30 mile loop that incorporated the Lamerdorf Kilns, Lamerdorf Peak and the Blawn Mountain area. Then another 40 miles to get back to Tom's home . . . 110 miles of dirt roads . . . phew! It was a great day and a grand adventure!
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| North of Lund we saw several small groups of wild horses . . . they look so healthy! |
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We spotted these kilns, in Lamerdorf Canyon, on Google Earth and knew we needed to visit them . . .
Only one was still completely intact |
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| The craftsmanship is beyond amazing! |
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| All things considered . . . can you imagine building one of these?! |
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Tom found the doors, to the intact kiln, laying next to it . . .
Hard to believe they were still there after nearly 150 years since they were last used! |
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Notice the two rows of vent holes . . .
They were used to regulate the burn. By wedging pieces of rock, wood or brick into the vents they could dampen the fires and prevent the burn from becoming too hot which would produce ash rather than charcoal |
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| Phlox were blooming on the hillside |
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Standing the test of time . . . it almost looks like a hoodoo . . .
This is all that remains of an upper portion of a kiln wall |
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| From the hillside we had a view of the kilns and Lamerdorf Peak . . . our next stop |
Before leaving this segment of our route, we thought we'd share a little history on kilns that we were able to obtain from an article called
Charcoal Kilns: A Photo Gallery These kilns, along with others in the area, were independently owned and operated. They supplied charcoal for the smelter in the silver mining town of Frisco (circa 1877) and were used continuously until 1885. Kilns were often built with their backs to wash walls so that wood could be fed through an upper window rather than building a ramp to achieve this purpose. Interestingly, the one complete kiln had this window still in place on its backside.
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| Astragalus in bloom |
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We are now working our way up Lamerdorf Peak . . .
In the distance is Frisco Peak (9,660 ft) . . . at its southern base is the ghost town of Frisco . . .
The Lamerdorf Kilns transported their charcoal twenty miles across the valley to the Frisco smelter. |
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Lamerdorf Peak is directly in front of Kent & Tom
(Click on the picture and it will open for a panoramic view) |
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| Several bunches of Lewisia covered the north side of Lamerdorf Peak |
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| Upland Larkspur |
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Tom taking a break on top of Lamerdorf Peak (8,425 ft)
He (and Ezy) have a knack for finding antlers |
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We're heading back down . . .
Notice the great views we had from the top of the Peak . . .
This is looking north towards the Wah Wah Range highpoint (9,383 ft) |
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| Phlox and King Bladderpod |
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We took a side trip up a wash to Willow Spring . . . this was an especially lush and beautiful place
Tom is already making plans to come back and hike this peak (8,926) . . .
We plan to be with him! |
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Next, we were on to Blawn Mountain, our final destination for the day . . .
We passed by this old mine shaft on our way to the top |
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| That's Blawn Mountain up ahead . . . supposedly there's a benchmark on top |
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On the 'rocky top' of Blawn Mountain . . . unfortunately we couldn't find a benchmark
(Do you see Lola standing by Tom? . . . he likes to say, "She's there hiding in plain sight")
Now it's time to descend and make our 40-mile journey back to Enoch |
What a great day! We can hardly wait to go back and hike a few more Wah Wah peaks with Tom, Lola and Ezy. Our hike to Lamerdorf Peak was only about two and half miles (r/t) with about 600 ft of elevation gain. If you would like to see our route, you can click
here to get Tom's post from Peakbagger.com - by doing so you can view a topo map and download our GPS tracks. Don't miss out on discovering this often overlooked mountain range!
