Several weeks ago, when we hiked the
Bunker Creek Loop, we stood atop an unnamed peak and looked north towards Yankee Benchmark. We knew that the Spruce Trail followed along the rim for many miles and would take us near the benchmark. And, so, the seed was planted and the planning stages began for a hike to recover Yankee Benchmark and its azimuth.
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Kent is standing on top of Peak 10632 . . .
A short diversion from the trail made this an easy ascent |
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Since Peak 10665 was so close we decided to grab it, too
(There's a faint social trail that leads to the top, for another easy ascent) |
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On top of Peak 10665, Kent checks his GPS for the Yankee BM coordinates
Then it was a fairly steep descent (not using the social trail) to get us back on the Spruce Trail |
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Uh-oh! Now what do we do??
Our first thought was, "Are there any Great Pyrenees guarding this flock?"
(These massive dogs are known for protecting their territory) |
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¡Hola Señor! The sheepherder spoke Spanish . . . Kent does not!
The sheepherder understood Kent and communicated, with his hands,
that there were, indeed, five dogs coming behind him! |
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| Fortunately, for us, the dogs were friendly and let us pass by without even a peep! |
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Soon after, we cut "off trail" and headed for the rim . . . it didn't take long to find the BM
Yankee Benchmark can be seen just under this spruce tree |
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| The Benchmark was placed here in 1938 |
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The Surveyors tripod was pinned to the ground by a spruce tree that was growing through it
Somehow it escaped being burned in the 2017 Brian Head fire! |
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| Reference Mark #1 |
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Reference Mark #2
Kent is checking his GPS to see where the Azimuth Mark is located |
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It looks like it should be about one-half mile away to our south . . .
Time to go see if we can locate it (we had no coordinates for the azimuth . . . just direction and distance) |
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The Fireweed was really pretty . . .
The name comes from its' ability to grow and spread in areas burned by fire
(You can see what a nice walk and views we had along the rim) |
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We found the Azimuth!
Most azimuth's point towards true north and are used to help set the benchmark |
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We had nice views of the Yankee Ponds we hiked to last week
and Yankee Meadow Reservoir, in the distance |
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| Dog vomit slime mold feeds on decaying matter like this dead tree |
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Look at how short Kent looks as he works his way through the new aspens
that have grown since the Brian Head fire
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A 'Horse With No Name" a very unusual find
(Hope you get the pun from America's hit song of the 70's) |
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We hiked down to find the headwater of Bunker Creek . . .
Too bad the horse didn't find it! |
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| These aspen trees are about to give up their bark |
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| Yellow tree fungi |
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Back in the aspens again!
This trail must have been something before the fire |
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We have come full circle . . .
Kent is not far from the trailhead |
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As we were leaving Sidney Valley, the sheep were grazing
and the sheepherders were enjoying lunch after a hard days work |
The Spruce Trail was a really nice path to follow to Yankee Benchmark. It is not as heavily traveled (no mountain bikers) as some of the other trails we have hiked over the last couple of weeks. There is minimal downfall and the bushwhacking was minor, whenever we got off trail. This adventure ended up being six miles (r/t) and with the peaks had a total elevation gain of about 1,200 ft (just some ups and downs that can be avoided, if you stick to the trail). You never know what you'll come across "once you get out there" and this hike was no exception . . . it will provide us with good memories for many years to come!
