The Great Salt Lake Nature Center: Winter

 

I have been wanting to get out and do more adventuring during the winter time because I hate winter and usually hole up until it passes. That and the fact that we had a small storm last night that cleared out all of the haze made it perfect to go out.

We have been here before, hoping to see bald eagles, but I think we came too late in the year last time. Also, dogs are allowed September 16th – February 29th so we could bring Roxy with us.

It is pretty easy to get here, take i15 toward Farmington. Take exit 322. Take the first right and follow it around the curve to the frontage rd. Turn right onto Glovers ln. Drive 1.6 miles to 1325 w, and there is the small parking lot on the left before the gate. If the visitor center is open the gate will be as well and you can drive right up to it. If not, you can park here and still hike around by going through the access opening.

Which is just left of these signs that tell you everything I just did. The visitor center in usually 8-4:30 mon – fri and sometimes sat and sun. You can see additional hours on their website. Now, onto today's adventure!

The first thing I noticed is that the road was plowed so we didn’t have to trek through snow.

And here is the Visitor Center which has recently been renamed to The Robert N. Hasenyager Great Salt Lake Nature Center. Whew that is a mouthful. it was a short trek in. Like last time, it was closed, but it does have a nice deck with sitting areas that offer a nice view.

The Wasatch Mountains.

Antelope Island. Also a fun adventure.

Last time we were here there were quite a few nests on these poles. Nothing this time. Might be too early.

There are a few roads you can drive through around the dikes and ponds that offer better bird watching, but I wasn’t going to risk it today. (Little car, dirt roads, icy)

Well… we saw a bird today!

There are a few little representations of birds you might see hanging on the buildings.

We originally planned on walking some of the trails they have but Roxy was already acting cold so we decided not to make her tromp through the snow. Sigh, no eagles again.

Nice view of the mountains.

Another pretty mountain shot.

As we were heading back, my eyes were drawn to the tree covered in small birds.. and then I noticed something else.

Well hello there, we found a bald eagle!

Even with a 300mm lens it is still a bit far away.

Here is a cropped image. Beautiful bird.

I wonder if the smaller birds know it is there.

After watching for a while, and hoping it would fly we decided to take the dike road to see if we could get closer.

Meh, not much closer.

Another crop.

Well I came here for the bald eagles and I saw one! I am a little concerned he didn’t move much the entire 15 or so minutes we watched, I hope he doesn’t have the Avian Flu that has been killing the eagles off recently, but I don’t know a lot about them. As far as I know he was just looking for lunch, and am just worried because of the news hype of the deaths. Anyway, success! What a fun little adventure!

Not going to give it a squirrely rating today, we didn’t do much, but I will say I think this is a great family friendly, easy to do winter adventure. We saw fewer birds this year than last time, but we did finally see an eagle this year. I would recommend it! Oh, and if you are going this time of year, I would recommend a truck to adventure further out into the bays. Those dike roads are a little intimidating in a little sedan.

As for difficulty, for what we did definitely a DR2. Some of the dirt trails I would even rate DR2 (without snow anyway) and others maybe a DR3, and even some DR1 if you drive around the dike roads.

Return To Stone Creek

I just recently hiked Stone Creek, but I missed the trail and followed the dirt road a little way up. Today we wanted to try and get at least one last adventure in before the weather turned, as well as get Roxy out again so we decided this was the trail to do.

From the parking lot. Gross! We haven't even hit winter yet and have a blanket of smog. oi.

Some pretty color already.

Yea totally taking the trail this time, which actually appears to be an old 4 wheel trail. It is pretty easy to overlook, but it is right about where the pavement ends. If you want something a little easier, you can keep following the road a little higher up. There are quite a few side trails back down to the trail if you change your mind as well.

Some wildflowers.

The creek, surrounded by leaves.

Old pipe with a bunch of bullet holes.

Pretty trees and mountain sides.

I am starting to get why this is called Stone Creek. Lots and lots of boulders to climb over and around.

Roxy needed some assistance over that slick rock.

Some nice color and the creek.

Lone pine.

Got passed by a random cowboy on a horse, which Roxy promptly decided to follow. I don’t know what her plan was if she ever did catch up to it!

Another boulder.

Some cliffs above, below it there was a dam that I didn’t get a shot of. I think that is where the dirt road ends.

Boom color!

First creek crossing. I lost track of how many times we had to cross.

Giant rock outcropping. Kind of looks like a face from this angle.

Nice and scraggly! Some of those outcroppings are hanging pretty precariously.. someone should knock em over for safety! No seriously, screw those guys. I honestly believe they did it for the sake of knocking over a boulder over the safety of other people. Why film it and act like jerks if that was not the case? (If you can’t tell this is a small rant about the idiots that knocked over one of the boulders in Hobbit Land). If you are concerned about something, talk to a forest ranger. Super easy.

A couple shots of the creek. Fall is really just about over.

Strange red band in the creek. I couldn’t tell if this was a plant, or some human caused garbage.

I picked up a couple hitchhikers. The trail was getting pretty thin, and it is starting to get dark.

Landis and Roxy decide the best way across the creek.

Leaf littered ground.

Speckled leaves.

Starting to reach the sunlight again. This particular canyon is pretty deep, and turns so in the waning sunlight of fall, it is pretty shaded once you pass a certain point.

I love sun lit forests in fall.

Illuminated seed pods.

More forest.

Back down to were the cliffs and the little dam are there are some climbers on the cliff face.

The little dam.

Some wonderful yellows.

This part of the trail was a little tougher.

Nice little cascade here though.

More seed pods.

Some more lovely colors.

Hillside.

The smog layer again. Just, yuck.

And a view back up the canyon we just came out of.

Old spillway. It seems this may have been a reservoir at one point but that is no longer the case.

This trail is thin, wild, and rugged. I LOVE these types of trails that are obviously not used as much by others. We ran into a couple people before the dam, but after that not a single soul it wasn’t too steep and had quite a few things to see and explore. I kind of wish I had explored this canyon earlier in the season as losing light for most of the hike wasn’t particularly happy. Obviously I will need to return in the summer.

Final rating 9 out of 10 Squirrels.

As for difficulty. hrm. I guess I will go with a DR3 there were a few rough spots, but none that were too terrible, actually, I have to bump that up to DR4. This is not a well maintained trail and required multiple creek crossings.