long weekend: clark lake loop

We were out Saturday morning a little before 8 a.m., heading up to the La Sals with Milton for a hike.  Once again we drove up the increasingly-rutted Geyser Pass Road (the shuttles for the Whole Enchilada go up and down a lot, and quickly, which doesn't help the road's condition) to the Squaw Springs trailhead.  This time we crossed the road to the Boren Mesa trail, which would take us to the Clark Lake loop.

Cornering quickly

As soon as we got away from the road, we took Milton off-leash.  He was pretty stoked about that but was good about coming back to us when called and checking in when he got too far ahead.  We did put him back on the leash when we encountered range cows, just to keep everyone safe.

How now, black cow?

The trail was pretty beaten up by the aforementioned range cattle.  We followed it through aspen groves, mountain meadows, short stretches of dark forest and across a couple of creeks.  Right before we saw our first (and remarkably brave) cows, we heard an elk bugle off in the distance. 

Old log / new life in Clark Lake

After crossing the mesa (more cows), we came to the trail junction with the Clark Lake loop.  We went right, doing the loop counter-clockwise, descending through more aspens to little Clark Lake.  (All the "lakes" in this area - Clark Lake, Oowah Lake, Warner Lake - really seem more like ponds to me.)  There were lots of fish jumping.

The boys at Clark Lake

As we descended further - realizing that we would soon have to climb back up all that lost elevation - into Oowah Lake, we started to see other people.  Oowah Lake has campsites so it is accessible by car, so it is a lot busier than where we'd just been.  We didn't linger long there, having been spoiled by the quiet solitude up on the mesa.

View from Boren Mesa

The climb out of Oowah Lake was steep but soon enough we were back at the trail junction where we bore right to retrace our steps on the Boren Mesa trail.  This time, as we crossed the mesa, H caught a glimpse of an elk before it shyly disappeared into the gambel oaks.  We don't see them very often as they're leery of people.

Getting his new harness dirty

Back at the truck, Milt took a power nap in the dirt.  We didn't linger long over our post-hike beers, however; what with all the range cattle traffic (and leave-behinds), there were too many flies.  We dusted off the dog and went back to town.

When H got back from his evening MTB at Moab Brand Trails, we put some dinner and beers in a cooler.  We drove up to the Sand Flats Recreation Area and parked at the Slickrock trailhead lot, climbing into the back of the truck to watch the sun set and the stars come out.  It wasn't quite as peaceful as we had hoped: there was a lot of traffic on the Sand Flats road with ATVs coming off the slickrock, light bars blazing; and there was a ranger who kept circulating, politely telling us that no camping was allowed in the parking lot.  Star gazing was allowed, though, and once the light had gone out of the sky, the stars were amazing.

Sunset over the Sand Flats

Hike stats: 6.87 miles; 2:33/2.7 m.p.h. moving average; 3:17/2.1 overall average; 1,550' elevation