Udink
05-12-2006, 09:34 AM
Mount Cardwell was my first real county high point, hiked in early October 2003, and also my first big hike using my GPS. We started out from West Valley somewhat early in the morning, and drove through some pretty thick fog along I-80.
Wasatch County is unusual in that the highest point in the county is not on a mountain peak, but rather it's on the side of a mountain right on the county line. Luckily, the highest mountain peak is very close by, so we hiked to both on the same day. We started out parked on the side of the Mirror Lake Highway and hiked to the high point first. After the high point, there's a short jaunt over a boulder field to the high peak.
After reaching the high peak, we walked a short distance off the backside of the mountain and found the geocache up there, Cardie's View (GCG9GF) (http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?wp=GCG9GF). This was only my 13th geocache find ever, but now I'm quickly approaching 400 finds.
A thunderstorm began rolling in, so we high-tailed it out of there and back toward the car in a straight line. I kept getting disoriented because in those thick pines it's difficult to see any landmarks, but instead of following my instincts I followed the compass arrow on my GPS and it led us directly back to the car.
The drive along I-80
http://www.udink.org/pictures/10052003/157-5724_img.jpg
Matt, Mike, and me at the high point
http://www.udink.org/pictures/10052003/157-5725_img.jpg
View of the high peak from the high point
http://www.udink.org/pictures/10052003/157-5727_img.jpg
The boulder field
http://www.udink.org/pictures/10052003/157-5734_img.jpg
Mike, me, and Matt at the high peak
http://www.udink.org/pictures/10052003/157-5743_img.jpg
Rolling rocks down the mountain, with Murdock Mountain in the background
http://www.udink.org/pictures/10052003/157-5739_img.jpg
Wasatch County is unusual in that the highest point in the county is not on a mountain peak, but rather it's on the side of a mountain right on the county line. Luckily, the highest mountain peak is very close by, so we hiked to both on the same day. We started out parked on the side of the Mirror Lake Highway and hiked to the high point first. After the high point, there's a short jaunt over a boulder field to the high peak.
After reaching the high peak, we walked a short distance off the backside of the mountain and found the geocache up there, Cardie's View (GCG9GF) (http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?wp=GCG9GF). This was only my 13th geocache find ever, but now I'm quickly approaching 400 finds.
A thunderstorm began rolling in, so we high-tailed it out of there and back toward the car in a straight line. I kept getting disoriented because in those thick pines it's difficult to see any landmarks, but instead of following my instincts I followed the compass arrow on my GPS and it led us directly back to the car.
The drive along I-80
http://www.udink.org/pictures/10052003/157-5724_img.jpg
Matt, Mike, and me at the high point
http://www.udink.org/pictures/10052003/157-5725_img.jpg
View of the high peak from the high point
http://www.udink.org/pictures/10052003/157-5727_img.jpg
The boulder field
http://www.udink.org/pictures/10052003/157-5734_img.jpg
Mike, me, and Matt at the high peak
http://www.udink.org/pictures/10052003/157-5743_img.jpg
Rolling rocks down the mountain, with Murdock Mountain in the background
http://www.udink.org/pictures/10052003/157-5739_img.jpg