Van Cott Loop - September 27, 2025

[scatman]

This could potentially be my last hike of the year. I may get a short one in this Thursday if the government shuts down or I am fired due to the shutdown.

Sheila, Katie and I completed the Van Cott Loop yesterday. Not too much to report, but we did see two small horned lizards near the top. A few wildflowers/shrubs were still blooming,, and the golden grasses on the way up and down were just gorgeous. Not many colorful leaves in the foothills though as it has been so dry this past summer.



Gumweed


Rabbitbrush


Sunflower


On the Shoreline Trail


Looking up at the summit of Van Cott


Scat and the fields of gold.


Goldenaster


A little red in the tree above


Snakeweed


red leaf and dirt


Gordon was here recently I see.


Same tree but closer


The northern foothills


Arnica


Gordon Blair himself. He is now in his late eighties and does Van Cott a couple of times a week. Putting the Scatman to shame.
What an inspiration.


Dried up mule-ears


Katie, way out ahead of slowpoke


Aster


Black Mountain


Mount Van Cott Trail


Sheila, making her way along the trail


Faded reds


Group shot just off the summit


The BCP greeting


Valley and Wasatch Front shot - kind of hazy



Tools of the trade for the hike


Showing off the Krakatoas!


Mount Wire to the south


A small Horny Toad


View up Red Butte Canyon


Heading down the Red Butte side of Van Cott. It took me an hour and fifteen minutes to descend to the road in Red Butte.


View down Red Butte Canyon towards the valley


Look back at the south side of Van Cott



Just love all the gold.


A view of a cumulus cloud up the ravine. I needed a zoom lens for this that I didn't have.


Back at the Sube


We went and picked up a pizza, and this is the view of Mount Van Cott from Sugar House with St. Ambrose Catholic Church in the
foreground.


The End.

 

[regehr]

Good luck Scat!!

Also I'm about 85% sure Gordon Blair is the fellow I came across napping beside the Van Cott trail I think last summer. Had to check on him to make sure it was just a nap!!

 

[The Trout Whisperer]

Th flowers were colorful, but your outfit stole th show!

 

[Pringles]

I'd like to see a horny toad. I know (believe) we don't have them here. I can find a range map, but if I get to a place that has them, what kind of habitat do they like? Do you look for them, or do they just happen to be spotted?

Bold outfit you have on there. You give those fall colors a run for their money.

 

[scatman]

Good luck Scat!!

Also I'm about 85% sure Gordon Blair is the fellow I came across napping beside the Van Cott trail I think last summer. Had to check on him to make sure it was just a nap!!

This is the fifth time that I have run into him over the last few years. I may be hiking Van Cott too much.

 

[scatman]

Th flowers were colorful, but your outfit stole th show!

It was a pink and black kind of day.

 

[Ugly]

Good luck on both job and knee.
Both are Really LAME and stressful.

If you end up hiking Thursday, make sure to get up into the aspens somewhere. They are pretty great right now.

 

[scatman]

I'd like to see a horny toad. I know (believe) we don't have them here. I can find a range map, but if I get to a place that has them, what kind of habitat do they like? Do you look for them, or do they just happen to be spotted?

Bold outfit you have on there. You give those fall colors a run for their money.

They just run as you approach and it's easy to spot their movement. I've seen them as high as 8700 feet before, but I'm not sure how high they go though.

Yeah, if it turns out to be my last hike of the year then I needed to go bold.

 

[scatman]

Good luck on both job and knee.
Both are Really LAME and stressful.

If you end up hiking Thursday, make sure to get up into the aspens somewhere. They are pretty great right now.

Not sure I've got what is takes to reach the aspen now. I might make it up to them, but wouldn't make it back down.

 

[scatman]

Hey @Ugly, I see there is a fire burning up above the U of U this morning. It was probably the sparks from my knee bones grinding together that started it on the Van Cott hike.

 

[Ugly]

Hey @Ugly, I see there is a fire burning up above the U of U this morning. It was probably the sparks from my knee bones grinding together that started it on the Van Cott hike.

I noticed the double smoke plumes from my house.
Some of the foothills seem so dry that just the static electricity of say, flannel rubbing together, or the maybe grinding knees could spark something.
It did sprinkle on me this morning though, so hopefully it is short-lived.

I think last night we can say I am about even with the Pfieff, right?

 

[scatman]

I noticed the double smoke plumes from my house.
Some of the foothills seem so dry that just the static electricity of say, flannel rubbing together, or the maybe grinding knees could spark something.
It did sprinkle on me this morning though, so hopefully it is short-lived.

I think last night we can say I am about even with the Pfieff, right?
View attachment 145231

Gorgeous shot! Are you heading up Superior for this view?

 

[Rockskipper]

Beautiful shot, Ugly. (Something about that sentence doesn't quite compute.)

 

[Ugly]

Gorgeous shot! Are you heading up Superior for this view?

I am looking towards Superior/Cardiff Pass, but I am on a different trail. The ridge is called Flagstaff, so I always called it Flagstaff trail.
Just a short jaunt after work with a coworker to see the leaves.
The aspens at Alta always have a range of orange, red and yellow, so I usually stop by there in the fall.
About the only sunshine we had was a few minutes at the beginning in the parking lot before clouds came over, and then Superior and Hells Gate shaded us out.

Beautiful shot, Ugly. (Something about that sentence doesn't quite compute.)

I guess it is just Ironic?