Backpacking the Mosquito Laden Wasatch-Cache

Usually when I embark on a backpacking trip the drive to get there alone takes up a day or two, so I was not too disappointed when our girls weekend in the Grand Staircase turned into me, Kim and K-So in the Mt.Naomi Wilderness (I was however bummed that most of the "girls" ended up not being able to make it...next time). I think Kim best summed up the trip when within the first 2 miles we had to stop and consult the map through a cloud of mosquitoes, we had lost the trail, it was hot and humid, we already had about 20 bites each and Kim says "I can't figure out why no one wanted to come with us". I laughed.

Ellen (who would have been with us but sprained her ankle) dropped us off at Tony Grove. We hiked up and over some hills, past Mt.Elmer, out Green Canyon and into Kim's yard in North Logan. We spent three days on the trail hiking, talking, reading, ooohing over scenery, swatting mosquitoes and eating. It was a fabulous 4th of July weekend.

Before we hit the trail I stopped by the forest service office and asked the information woman about the trail conditions in Naomi. She looked at me like I was an idiot and told me I would need snowshoes; that they had just plowed the road to the Tony Grove campground and left me with a "good luck let me know if you make it out" sort of speech. We took our snow boots and shoes to the trail head and after seeing hardly any snow in Tony Grove we left the snowshoes but took the snow boots just in case the woman was not crazy...well, we didn't need them. Not even close. We encountered a few steep spots in the trail that still had snow which made crossing those sections slightly difficult (first photo, K-So looking at the steep rocky canyon below in which we could have plummeted to our deaths) but there were very few of those. At one point I tried to slide down a snowbank and onto the trail (to save my knee) but failed to stop when the snow did and slid down the snow and through the mud...but landed on the trail (second photo). I don't advise doing that. Rocks hurt to slide on.


The mosquitoes were thriving up there. Yes, Joe recommended a mosquito net and bug spray but I thought "how bad can they really be" (mind you the forest service lady made me think it was still winter there). I had no idea. They were the worst at the top of Green Canyon; at a critical moment when the trail was nowhere to be seen; we literally would have been eaten alive had we stopped to look at the map. I glanced at the map and saw we need to be on the east side of the canyon so without finding the trail we took off running. Kim looked like Pig Pen, she had this black swarm all around her and I could feel I had the same. What was also bad was what running strait down a canyon does to ones already fragile knee (I lost my trekking pole on day 1). Ouch. We eventually "ran" into the trail and luckily ditched a large percentage of our mosquito onteroge. This is Kim's hat once most of the mosquitoes were gone, and this is also Kim who was smart enough to bring a head net.


We had expected more of the springs to be running but that was not the case; therefore we melted and filtered snow. It worked out well considering we had to keep a fire going at all times to smoke out the mosquitoes...and the fire came in handy for cooking when ones stove decides to quit. I know, the fire doesn't exactly meet "leave no trace" standards but trust me, when we left the fire was nowhere to be seen.


We found a really great place to camp on the second night. A horse camp complete with a fire pit, chairs and flat ground for the tent. You can tell by the photo Kim was really happy about it.


The snow also came in handy when it was hot. We would put it in our hats as we hiked, and wallowed in it when we were hot. Thanks K-So for the great idea.


Kim in the foreground near Mt.Elmer. Naomi Peak and Magog (?) in the background.


Here are a few photos from the trail. Ok, there's more than a few...there's a lot. It was just so pretty, all this great country right in our backyards. There are not many places where one can be dropped off 30 minutes from home, spend 3 days in the back country of a wilderness area, never see anyone until you hit Green Canyon and hike strait to your house! I love it here.