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- Dec 23, 2013
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Gobble, gobble, gobble! That can only mean one of two things: One is that there are turkeys lurking about, the other is that I have decided to hike up Gobblers Knob.
I started my hike around 6:15 in the morning, and chose the Bowman Fork route in Millcreek Canyon to reach Gobblers. Taking the Bowman route, makes it about 6.2 miles to the summit, so roundtrip, just under twelve and a half miles. I always mentally break this hike into segments. First, is Bowman Fork which has its own microclimate, kind of humid, cool with thick undergrowth. It kind of reminds me of hiking in the Smoky Mountains a bit. The second segment begins as you start climbing out of the fork itself, and this part of the trail runs through a conifer forest that is very shady and pleasant. Third, one hits what I refer to as the "dry segment." The trail is more exposed once you've crossed White Fir Pass and make your way along Yellow Jacket Gulch. As you make your way out of Yellow Jacket there is an unnamed highpoint (elev. 8272) that makes for a good place to take a break. At this point, you get a good view of the north side of Mount Raymond. I ate half a Cliff Bar and put some sunscreen on while enjoying the view. Fourth, as you begin hiking again above Pole Canyon, the scenery changes to aspens until you reach Baker Spring. At this point you climb up a small ridge before hitting the fifth segment which traverses the lower slope of Gobblers Knob all the way to Baker Pass. There are expansive views along this stretch. The sixth and last segment is just the climb up the ridge of Gobblers. Once on top, you'll find that the views were worth the effort to get there.
Now once again, the wildflowers were spectacular right from the get go, and lasted all the way to the summit. So in this report you are going to see a lot of pictures of wildflowers. I'm sorry, I just can't help myself.
I ended up taking over 800 pictures on this hike. I hope you enjoy at least some of them.
I did get drizzled on while making my way up Bowman Fork, and on my return, when I entered Bowman aging it began the thunder and lightning. I almost made it back to the main road up Millcreek Canyon before it started to rain. Once I arrived at my car, it really started coming down, and when I got inside my car is when the hail started. I ended up pulling off the road for about five minutes on my way down the canyon as my wipers couldn't keep up with the deluge.
Anyway, enough of me yacking, here are the shots from my hike.
Hike overview map
They are working on the road in upper Millcreek, widening the road in spots and upgrading some of the trailheads.
Right off the bat I knew the weather might be iffy, but this rainbow by Grandeur Peak was worth the drizzles up Bowman
Take a right for Bowman Fork
Bowman Fork
Typical of the trail down in the Fork
Crossing over into the Mount Olympus Wilderness
Wood rose
Thimbleberry
Streambank globemallow
A bumblebee taking shelter under some cow parsnip during a drizzle. This reminded me of a Bob Dylan song called "Shelter From
The Storm," which was then stick in my head for the rest of the way up.
More Bowman Fork Trail
Cow parsnip
A monkshood bloom that is not quite there yet. This was the only monkshood that I saw on the entire hike
Fall colors already?
Now in the conifer section of my hike
A rust or fungus on these maple leaves?
Columbine are plentiful along this stretch
So pleasant through here
Once you hit White Fir Pass the views become bigger
Lupine
This was the best looking mule-ears that I saw on this hike. They are definitely past their prime now.
Common yarrow
Skyrocket
Grand Colomia
A view of what I refer to as the "dry section"
Diamond clarkia
Rosy paintbrush
Sticky geraniums
Fleabane
American vetch
Wyoming paintbrush
A bumblebee on some spreading dogbane
Richard's geraniums, ninebark and lupine, along with some horsemint
Lupine
Bumblebee navigating a sticky geranium
Horsemint and some American vetch
Another wood's rose
Jacobs ladder
Larkspur. I only saw two of these on the hike.
Side shot of some columbine
Few-flowered pea
Columbine
Sticky starwort
Trail crew please.
A gathering of large black ants on the trail
Mount Aire (where I was last weekend) across the canyon
The aspen section
Rosy paintbrush and columbine
Rocky Mountain dwarf sunflowers
Mount Raymond and some dwarf sunflowers
Mountain ninebark
Ragwort
I'm heading to Baker Pass
Through these aspen stands, the cow parsnip was numerous. I took a lot of shots to try and capture the feel of it, but this one
turned out to be the best of the bunch, and it still doesn't quite do the trick.
Rosy paintbrush
Columbines
Sticky cinquefoil
Bluebells
Few-flowered peas, columbine, lupine and some paintbrush
View across Porter Fork toward Grandeur Peak, with Thayne Peak in the foreground
Lewis flax
Tons of bluebells
Canada violet
Baker Spring. I stopped and refilled my water bottle here on the way back down
Wasatch beardtongue
Another look north towards Mount Aire
Mount Raymond as I get closer to Baker Pass
King's flax
Skyrockets
Yellow jacket on some king's flax
Mountain coyote mint
Bumblebee and an ant enjoying some beardtongue
Paintbrush, geraniums and lupine
The Millcreek Rudge from L-R - Grandeur Peak, Church Fork Peak, Birch Hollow, and Mount Aire
Horsemint
Sticky cinquefoil
Blue stickseed
Mount Raymond
Monument plant
Desert parsley
Currant
Summit of Raymond
Wild buckwheat
Zoomed in on the summit of Grandeur Peak
Looking up at the false summit of Gobblers
Mount Raymond to the west as I begin my climb of Gobbles Knob
Dwarf sunflowers
Zoomed in on Broad Fork Twin Peaks
Mount Raymond to Broads Fork Twins
Still making my way up the ridge, with plenty of paintbrush to keep me company
Majority of Wildcat Ridge, unfortunately Mount Olympus is out of view
The Cottonwood Ridge
Clematis
Summit of Raymond
Zoomed in on the Robinson's Couloir for the Robinson's Variation of summiting Broads
Fork Twin Peaks
False summit ahead
Wasatch beardtongue
Zoomed in on Mount Aire and unnamed peak 8490
Zoomed in on the summit of Church Fork Peak. If you squint, you might be able to see the yurt on top.
Tuber starwart
Western wallflower
Paintbrush galore
True summit ahead
Bikini pose on the summit
Some wide angle views now from the summit.
And now back to our regularly scheduled programming.
View down into Porter Fork
Geraniums on my way back down
Group of rosy paintbrush
And beardtongue
My favorite wood's rose shot of the hike
Spreading fleabane
These were biting flies, and they drove me nuts on the way down
Canon Rebel T7i for this hike
More columbine
Fireweed
Solomon's plume
Heart-leafed Arnica
Richard's geranium back in Bowman Fork
Thunder clouds are building up
I got just around the bend of this road when it started to rain
No access to the upper canyon
I had to hide the t7i under the car while I put my gear away.
The End.
I started my hike around 6:15 in the morning, and chose the Bowman Fork route in Millcreek Canyon to reach Gobblers. Taking the Bowman route, makes it about 6.2 miles to the summit, so roundtrip, just under twelve and a half miles. I always mentally break this hike into segments. First, is Bowman Fork which has its own microclimate, kind of humid, cool with thick undergrowth. It kind of reminds me of hiking in the Smoky Mountains a bit. The second segment begins as you start climbing out of the fork itself, and this part of the trail runs through a conifer forest that is very shady and pleasant. Third, one hits what I refer to as the "dry segment." The trail is more exposed once you've crossed White Fir Pass and make your way along Yellow Jacket Gulch. As you make your way out of Yellow Jacket there is an unnamed highpoint (elev. 8272) that makes for a good place to take a break. At this point, you get a good view of the north side of Mount Raymond. I ate half a Cliff Bar and put some sunscreen on while enjoying the view. Fourth, as you begin hiking again above Pole Canyon, the scenery changes to aspens until you reach Baker Spring. At this point you climb up a small ridge before hitting the fifth segment which traverses the lower slope of Gobblers Knob all the way to Baker Pass. There are expansive views along this stretch. The sixth and last segment is just the climb up the ridge of Gobblers. Once on top, you'll find that the views were worth the effort to get there.
Now once again, the wildflowers were spectacular right from the get go, and lasted all the way to the summit. So in this report you are going to see a lot of pictures of wildflowers. I'm sorry, I just can't help myself.
I ended up taking over 800 pictures on this hike. I hope you enjoy at least some of them.I did get drizzled on while making my way up Bowman Fork, and on my return, when I entered Bowman aging it began the thunder and lightning. I almost made it back to the main road up Millcreek Canyon before it started to rain. Once I arrived at my car, it really started coming down, and when I got inside my car is when the hail started. I ended up pulling off the road for about five minutes on my way down the canyon as my wipers couldn't keep up with the deluge.
Anyway, enough of me yacking, here are the shots from my hike.
Hike overview map
They are working on the road in upper Millcreek, widening the road in spots and upgrading some of the trailheads.
Right off the bat I knew the weather might be iffy, but this rainbow by Grandeur Peak was worth the drizzles up Bowman
Take a right for Bowman Fork
Bowman Fork
Typical of the trail down in the Fork
Crossing over into the Mount Olympus Wilderness
Wood rose
Thimbleberry
Streambank globemallow
A bumblebee taking shelter under some cow parsnip during a drizzle. This reminded me of a Bob Dylan song called "Shelter From
The Storm," which was then stick in my head for the rest of the way up.
More Bowman Fork Trail
Cow parsnip
A monkshood bloom that is not quite there yet. This was the only monkshood that I saw on the entire hike
Fall colors already?
Now in the conifer section of my hike
A rust or fungus on these maple leaves?
Columbine are plentiful along this stretch
So pleasant through here
Once you hit White Fir Pass the views become bigger
Lupine
This was the best looking mule-ears that I saw on this hike. They are definitely past their prime now.
Common yarrow
Skyrocket
Grand Colomia
A view of what I refer to as the "dry section"
Diamond clarkia
Rosy paintbrush
Sticky geraniums
Fleabane
American vetch
Wyoming paintbrush
A bumblebee on some spreading dogbane
Richard's geraniums, ninebark and lupine, along with some horsemint
Lupine
Bumblebee navigating a sticky geranium
Horsemint and some American vetch
Another wood's rose
Jacobs ladder
Larkspur. I only saw two of these on the hike.
Side shot of some columbine
Few-flowered pea
Columbine
Sticky starwort
Trail crew please.
A gathering of large black ants on the trail
Mount Aire (where I was last weekend) across the canyon
The aspen section
Rosy paintbrush and columbine
Rocky Mountain dwarf sunflowers
Mount Raymond and some dwarf sunflowers
Mountain ninebark
Ragwort
I'm heading to Baker Pass
Through these aspen stands, the cow parsnip was numerous. I took a lot of shots to try and capture the feel of it, but this one
turned out to be the best of the bunch, and it still doesn't quite do the trick.
Rosy paintbrush
Columbines
Sticky cinquefoil
Bluebells
Few-flowered peas, columbine, lupine and some paintbrush
View across Porter Fork toward Grandeur Peak, with Thayne Peak in the foreground
Lewis flax
Tons of bluebells
Canada violet
Baker Spring. I stopped and refilled my water bottle here on the way back down
Wasatch beardtongue
Another look north towards Mount Aire
Mount Raymond as I get closer to Baker Pass
King's flax
Skyrockets
Yellow jacket on some king's flax
Mountain coyote mint
Bumblebee and an ant enjoying some beardtongue
Paintbrush, geraniums and lupine
The Millcreek Rudge from L-R - Grandeur Peak, Church Fork Peak, Birch Hollow, and Mount Aire
Horsemint
Sticky cinquefoil
Blue stickseed
Mount Raymond
Monument plant
Desert parsley
Currant
Summit of Raymond
Wild buckwheat
Zoomed in on the summit of Grandeur Peak
Looking up at the false summit of Gobblers
Mount Raymond to the west as I begin my climb of Gobbles Knob
Dwarf sunflowers
Zoomed in on Broad Fork Twin Peaks
Mount Raymond to Broads Fork Twins
Still making my way up the ridge, with plenty of paintbrush to keep me company
Majority of Wildcat Ridge, unfortunately Mount Olympus is out of view
The Cottonwood Ridge
Clematis
Summit of Raymond
Zoomed in on the Robinson's Couloir for the Robinson's Variation of summiting Broads
Fork Twin Peaks
False summit ahead
Wasatch beardtongue
Zoomed in on Mount Aire and unnamed peak 8490
Zoomed in on the summit of Church Fork Peak. If you squint, you might be able to see the yurt on top.
Tuber starwart
Western wallflower
Paintbrush galore
True summit ahead
Bikini pose on the summit
Some wide angle views now from the summit.
And now back to our regularly scheduled programming.
View down into Porter Fork
Geraniums on my way back down
Group of rosy paintbrush
And beardtongue
My favorite wood's rose shot of the hike
Spreading fleabane
These were biting flies, and they drove me nuts on the way down
Canon Rebel T7i for this hike
More columbine
Fireweed
Solomon's plume
Heart-leafed Arnica
Richard's geranium back in Bowman Fork
Thunder clouds are building up
I got just around the bend of this road when it started to rain
No access to the upper canyon
I had to hide the t7i under the car while I put my gear away.
The End.
