again the la sals, again steep

Even though the Mann's Peak attempt wasn't a complete success peak-bagging-wise, it was pleasant enough up in the La Sals to go back for round two on Saturday, this time with the dog.  With a 7:30 a.m. start, we pulled into the Warner Lake day-use parking lot around 8:05 a.m.   Milton did pretty well with the car ride: he drooled like crazy, especially once we got onto the dirt road and I put the windows down, but he didn't get sick.  Yay!

Pretty aspen-shaded trail

A short summit hike was the plan today, with the option for a longer exploration depending on trail conditions: Gold Knob, and then possibly into Miners Basin.  After starting gently up through lovely, sun-dappled aspen meadows, the trail went up steeply, alongside a full stream.  At the top of the the gully was a trail junction: left to Gold Knob and right to Mountain View.  These National Forest trails are all signed well so you know which way to go; they often don't include mileage, however, and I wish they did because we might have tacked a Mountain View out and back onto the end of the morning's hike.

Castle Valley and the Porcupine Rim, etc.

We went left, up long and fairly steep switchbacks that wound through more aspens.  It was here that we stepped off the trail to let a group of horse-packing cowboys go by.  Their Australian cattle dog, Rooster, stopped to say hello to Milton.  At the second trail junction, we turned left again to cross the ridge and climb more steep switchbacks up to the summit of Gold Knob (11,048 feet).  Milton appreciated the snow on its eastern face.

M taking in the view

The views from the summit are absolutely spectacular.  To the north, we could see Castle Valley, the Porcupine Rim, the Colorado River, Arches National Park and Canyonlands National Park.  It was a little hazy but still stunning.  We spent a decent amount of time up there since we had it to ourselves, having snacks and enjoying the cool breezes.  A lot of the time, we get to a summit, eat a granola bar, snap a couple pictures and then head back down.  This time, we took the time to enjoy the peak.

Views to the south are good too

When the snacks were all gone, we retraced our steps back down to the saddle, then continued eastwards, hoping to explore Miners Basin a bit.  As we crossed over the ridge to the steep, eastern-facing, pine-forested slope, We found a sign for the trail (below) but the trail itself was buried under at least five feet of snow.  Since the hiking trails out here don't tend to use blazes, there was no way to know where the trail went and turned around, putting a pin in Miners Basin for next time.

Trail?  If you say so ...

The mosquitoes (!!) came out a bit as we went back the way we came but as long as we kept moving, it was okay, and as soon as we came out of the pine woods, they disappeared entirely.  Back at the campground, we took Milton out to Warner Lake to see if he wanted to wade (he didn't).  After parking lot beers, and talking with other hikers and their dogs, we descended back into the heat of the Moab valley - Milton drooling all the way.