Saturday, June 1, 2013

Grouse Creek Mountains, NW Utah

West-Northwest of the Great Salt Lake about 80 miles are the Grouse Creek Mountains, which run north & south about 25 miles.  They top out around 9000 feet and don't have a lot of foliage, but there is some.  The view from the top of the Grouse Creeks is, not surprisingly, pretty nice.  (This is a recurring theme in my trips to the desert.:) )

From near the top of Inghram Peak, looking SE with the Newfoundland Mountains in the distance:



Near the top of Inghram Peak, there are lots & lots of these little circular cacti, at about the 8500-9000 foot level.  I'm not an expert in cactus, but I thought they were pretty cool:


Benchmark, Inghram Peak, but with no elevation stamped:
 
 
Looking south from the summit, with Pilot Peak on the right, and the Silver Island Mountains distance in the middle.



Looking NE, the Raftriver Mountains run East-West, about 20 miles away:


There are some stands of pine in some of the west-facing canyons, and a few small creeks that supply the small community of Grouse Creek, Utah with water:



As sunset gets closer, some better lighting emerges.  Looking SE toward Desert Peak and the Newfoundland Mountains: