Scott Card
06-13-2009, 02:36 PM
Bagged the idea of fishing in the Uintas last week and chose to take my 7 yr old sone and 9 year old daughter to Little Wild Horse/ Bell canyons while my wife was with my other two daughters at an LDS girls camp. We pulled up to camp at Goblin Valley but they were full so we headed around the butte just outside the State Park and set up camp. Just a few sprinkles at night. We got up cooked breakfast and off we went. We passed one small family at the first up climb and then passed a scout troop coming down LWH about 2/3 the way up. There were several overweight leaders. They must have not got the memo. They mentioned we would hit water soon. HUH???? Sure enough, there was a lovely pool. I looked for an alternate route around but didn't see an obvious one that didn't require a bit of climbing. I decided against that with my kids. So, off went the pack in exchange for my kids, one at a time. I piggy backed them through the pool. The water was mid-belly deep on the left LUC and breath takingly cold. It was deeper to the right and in the middle. I know. The kids wanted to get in but the temps that day were not that warm and they were in cotton clothes. Bad idea, so against their protests I said no. The rest of the hike was as expected. The trail is well signed at the junction of Bell and LWH and at the top where you head west and again at the junction Bell and the 4WD track. The kids had a great time and we were out in about 3 1/2 to 4 hrs. I did keep the pace up through LWH due to my concerns with rain but once I had a clear view of the sky from the top my fears went away. Sorry no pics. I was too concerned with all the details of the trip that I forgot my camera. I just thought that if you were considering LWH, you may want to know about the pool. I darn near wore a pair of new hiking boots and I am glad I didn't. I opted for my Canyoneers and all synthetic clothes which dried nicely before Bell Canyon.