Trip #2 Search for the GOLDEN TROUT

Trip #2 July 2-4 Murdock Basin Road—Search for the Golden Trout—Echo, Joan, Blizzard and Gem Lakes. PURPOSES: Friends Dean Mitchell and Roger Wilson at the DWR informed me there are Golden trout in the area. Need to catch , photograph and display on my website this most colorful of trout. It is out of the Wilderness area, but very important. Fri- Sun =..3 days……………………………………..6 miles

Remember, if you are interested you can track me on the SPOT Messenger website at: SPOT TRACKING  10 of you will receive Check-in messages via email once or twice a day and can click on the link to go to Google Earth seeing exactly where I am.  Each of you can forward this to others who might be interested.

You can also listen to KSL OUTDOORS RADIO Saturday morning from 6:05 to 8:00 a.m.  My time slot is about 6:35 a.m. if I get a good signal on the satellite phone.  Of course you can listen online at:  KSL ONLINE

The bulletin board at REAMS SUPERMARKET has a related sign up you see below:

NOTE:  Due to the economic situation and my work I have had to make some shifts in my summer backpacking schedule.  I will post the updated schedule next week once I return from my “SEARCH FOR THE GOLDEN TROUT.”  But if all goes well, I will always be at some exotic location each Saturday for KSL OUTDOORS until the end of August

See you on the trail!.

NEW WILDFLOWERS IN THE GALLERIES SECTION

The total varietes now comes to around 238 between Flowers of the Foothills to Alpine Wildflowers–right up to Kings Peak.  I’ll insert one new foothill variety below.
It is the PURPLE SALSIFY, Tragopogon porrifolius.  Yellow Salsify is very common in the foothills, originating from Europe.  The purple variety is a bit rare.  The two species hybridize creating variations. Trapogogon  is Greek for “goat’s beard.”  To see the common yellow and this rare purple variety go to SALSIFY.
 

The High Uintas Wilderness Project

Exploring the High Uintas Wilderness

The 456,705 acre High Uintas Wilderness is the heart of the Uinta Mt. range, well known as the most prominent range in the lower 48 states that goes from east to west. It is an alpine wonderland with over 1,000 lakes that is next to the San Juan Mountains of Colorado with the most contiguous above timberline area in the Continental U.S. Its area of  “alpine flora surpasses all of the alpine areas in the Intermountain West combined.”  (INTERMOUNTAIN FLORA magazine ) We could add that in biodiversity it surpasses all of Utah’s National Parks in addition to providing 90% of Utah’s water. It gives me great pleasure to share all of this with you and provide a few tips to help all enjoy it safely.


In the summer of 2003 I launched myself into exploring and photographing this incredible  Wilderness.  After a couple of short warm-up backpacks, I  began a 27 day  no re-supply backpack I call an “expedition,” and logged 236 miles.  In the first hour along the famous Highline Trail, I met Pulitzer Prize winning author, Philip Freadkin, who a year later in the second edition of his book, SAGEBRUSH COUNTRY, wrote:
“A mile or two down the trail I met Cordell Anderson.  He was about my age and, although smaller, was carrying eighty pounds of food, clothing and equipment….The distinctive border of the most recent issue of NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC stuck out of his red backpack.  He planned to write articles for that publication and others like it, and hopefully a book about the Uintas.  Knowing something about the writing game and what he faced alone on the trail, I wished him luck on his planned 27 day sojourn.”


In November of that year (2003) Fradkin, in an email to me said:
“Congratulations on a remarkable achievement.  To tell you the truth, I didn’t think you would make it when I encountered you on the trail the first day, but you must have remarkable stamina and will power.  The difficult part will be putting words to your adventure, but I am sure that you will also master that.”


By the end of  2009 season I had 1,327 miles under my belt, and would have done more and  finished the project, but there have been glitches along the way–2 cancer surgeries, several radiation treatments, operations to cope with my “football ankle,”  and  “motorcycle knee,”  several tough survival experiences, and a heart attack.  My reconstructed ankle is held together with 3 screws, and a transplanted tendon.  My knee is now titanium.   A fantastic off-season job at Reams Supermarket in Springville has had my 18 year old irregular heart beat, and high blood pressure ALL GONE, and I’m preparing for a 200-250 mile summer in my 75th year to get to the last remote and exotic areas to complete my photographic collection of all aspects of the Wilderness, plus images of  all the adventure loving “Uinta friends” I meet on the trail.


I will be posting many updates on this website as I continue to share with all interested the majestic beauty of Utah’s greatest wilderness.  As I persist towards my goal I will also continue to be a correspondent for KSL Radio’s Outdoor Program each Saturday morning from 6:00 to 8:00, calling in during my backpack explorations to the program via satellite phone provided by my good friend, Russ Smith at Skycall Communications.

New website

Because of issues with FTP and Blogger we have been forced to create a new website.  This website will be easier for Cordell to edit and do as he pleases without the need of a “tech guy”.

Posted by Jesse B Andersen