Flaming Gorge, The Little Hole Trail by the Green River & Spirit Lake, Utah (8-26-15)

The skies were overcast on the first morning Lupe ever spent in the state of Utah.  They remained so all day.  After the hot drive across NW Colorado on the way to Utah the previous day, Lupe and SPHP were glad.  Day 18 of Lupe’s great Summer of 2015 Dingo Vacation was beginning up in the Uinta Mountains under much more tolerable conditions.

Lupe’s day started out with a visit to the Flaming Gorge dam on the Green River.

Near the E end of the dam, there is a winding paved access road down to the Green River below the dam.  SPHP had been there before, years ago, and taken a half day raft trip down the Green River to Little Hole about 6 miles downstream.  SPHP remembered the raft trip as a pleasant, easy float with only a few small rapids.  The Green River itself had been beautiful, cool and clear as it passed through the lower end of Red Canyon.  Juniper-dotted red cliffs rose as much as 1,000 feet above the river.

Lupe wasn’t going to get to go river rafting, but SPHP thought she would enjoy the Little Hole Trail alongside the Green River.  Things had changed since SPHP had been here before, though.  It used to be free to just drive on down to the boat launch next to the river.  Halfway down there is now a parking lot and a fee booth.  It costs $5.00 to park or go down to the river.

After parking the G6, Lupe and SPHP left the parking lot along the Little Hole Trail.  The first thing Lupe came to was a big sign with a bunch of bureaucratic regulations, a couple of which neither Lupe nor SPHP had ever encountered anywhere else before.

The first short section of the Little Hole Trail wound its way down the steep hillside.  There was a lot of cactus around, so Lupe had to be careful.  Soon Lupe was down next to the Green River.

Once down to the river, Lupe and SPHP followed the Little Hole Trail downstream.  No one was rafting on the river, but there were lots of  boats with people fly fishing from them.

Lupe didn’t follow the Little Hole Trail all the way to Little Hole.  She only went a couple of miles downstream at most.  SPHP thought it might be fun to take Lupe upstream to the boat launch area below Flaming Gorge Dam.

Lupe waded in the shallow waters of the Green River near the boat launch.  She had a good drink.  She watched big birds circling up in the sky near the dam.  She watched fishermen getting ready to launch their boats.  Then she was ready to go.

Lupe seemed content with her visit to Flaming Gorge dam and the Green River below it.  Now it was time to complete her Flaming Gorge experience by taking a look at the reservoir from the cliffs above.  Lupe and SPHP left the Little Hole Trail.  After a picnic at a pond called West Green Lake, where there were ducks and a heron, Lupe arrived at the Red Canyon Visitor Center & Lookout.  Lupe couldn’t go in the visitor center, but she could go take a look at Flaming Gorge reservoir from the high cliffs at the lookout.

The views of Red Canyon and the Flaming Gorge reservoir were impressive from way up on the high cliffs.  The cliff tops were interesting, too.  There were big cracks and deep fissures in the rocks.  It wasn’t hard to imagine some pretty big chunks of the cliff crashing to the bottom some day.

After seeing Red Canyon from above, Lupe was ready to move on.  Her next destination was Spirit Lake on the N side of the Uintas.  Lupe and SPHP took Hwy 44 to the Sheep Creek Geological Loop.  At the SW corner of the loop was a turn off onto gravel USFS Roads.  It was a fairly long drive, somewhere close to 20 miles from the pavement, to get to Spirit Lake.

Lupe and SPHP stopped first at the N end of Spirit Lake at a pullout near the outlet stream.  Lupe enjoyed getting out and exploring the area.  SPHP was more relaxed about letting her enjoy herself, too.  There weren’t any big cliffs around, just the lake, stream and the forest.

The sky grew darker and the wind started blowing.  Pretty soon it started to rain.  The wind hadn’t bothered Lupe, but Carolina Dogs know enough to come in out of the rain.  She hopped in the G6 and took a nap, while SPHP read.  After about half an hour, the rain quit.  Although the wind and rain were over, the sky was still leaden.  Before it got too late, SPHP thought it might be a good idea to check out Spirit Lake Lodge and the trailhead at the S end of the lake.

The Spirit Lake Lodge had a number of very rustic looking cabins.  Each cabin had its own name taken from an early western explorer.  Only one or two of the cabins appeared to be rented out for the night.  From outside, most of the cabins looked like they needed maintenance.   The lodge was open, though, and a sign said they were serving meals.

Lupe went down to check out the dock on Spirit Lake.  There were a few small boats available for rent there.

On the way back from the dock to the G6, a moose wandered through between the cabins, apparently quite at home here.  It headed out across a field in front of the Spirit Lake Lodge.  How cool is that?

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