An Old Softy

This large, Florida softshell turtle was by the road to the lighthouse.

They look so prehistoric to me.

Red Knot

While there is a shorebird called a red knot, that is not the kind of animal we saw in the road near our garden. This dead red rat snake was twisted into a stiff knot.

What beautiful patterns they have!

We have seen noticeably fewer snakes this summer. We saw none on our trip West, which was actually kind of disappointing.

A Pond Visitor

This adorable baby box turtle appeared to be stuck in our little pond. While box turtles can swim, they are mostly landlubbers. B removed him and released him in woods across the cul-de-sac.

It's a Wrap!

The evening after we made our little day trip to Mirror Lake, we began to prepare to wrap up our vacation and head home to humidity. We found a campground host who would like to have our tent for his son to sleep in when he visited. We had planned all along not to bring it back. It had not worn well, despite its brand and price. Holes are not such an issue in the desert as in the southeast where we camp. I found a single mom car-camping with her two young children. I offered her a tub full of items, including the tub. Much of it we had picked up a Dollar Tree, for a dollar each. She was thrilled. It was not until the next day when I learned that oh, yeah, she was Mormon and I had given her coffee. She said she knew who to share it with.

We were able to make everything fit into the one suitcase and bags we were carrying.  We decided to take another scenic drive to get back to Salt Lake City. It is called the Alpine Loop and was about as narrow and steep and winding as we have driven. Hence, there are no pictures. There were no pull-outs and I am sure it was beautiful, but it was not as enjoyable as Mirror Lake because of the concentration required for driving it. It took us through Robert Redford's Sundance Resort of 5,000 acres on Mount Timpanogos. (Jeremiah Johnson was filmed there.)

Near the end of this wild road was park and this sign showed that bighorn sheep were around. We were able to pull over and use the binoculars,  but we saw none.

Back in Salt Lake City, we popped into Ikea and then had a fabulous lunch at a local icon called The Red Iguana. We turned in our rental car with 2600 miles logged in the two weeks. We got a shuttle to our hotel and had a decent night before our flight home in the morning. 

The owner of the hoodie below was our seat mate. She teaches ESE and plays roller derby. The name on the left is her derby name.

Mailbox Monday: Green Gator

My sister sent me this one with the following comment: 

"I assume he was green with envy, for the FSU football team."

It's a Sign

I was just intrigued that the drive-in on Mirror Lake Road had listed halibut first---followed  by footlongs, tacos and ....fish? Isn't halibut fish?

The world's best?  Could they possibly be full of their own self-importance?

Or did we miss the opportunity of a lifetime?

Mirror Lake in the High Uintas

 Mirror Lake is 53 acres in size and sits at an elevation of 10,000 feet. Because of the shape of the lake, it is bigger than it first appeared. Snowmelt made for a squishy hike on the trail that encircles the lake. Some of the trail had boardwalk, but sometimes, even it was covered in puddles. (Should have worn my boots!)

That same moist soil supported thousands of mid-June "spring" wildflowers.

We recognized the ones above as the same trout lilies we so admire in a woodland in south Georgia.

The lake is home to three kinds of trout: rainbow, brook and tiger.

There were large, noisy squirrels in the woods around the shoreline.

And  birds we did not know. My best guess is this is one of the 940 different sparrows that popped up on a search.

This one was a flicker (woodpecker) but has orange on its tail feathers. Ours have yellow.

 Little streams rushed in to to replenish the lake's cold water.

 

While the weather conditions did not create the mirror on the lake, it was certainly a scenic and beautiful place. At one time while we were hiking, the wind came roaring in a rather alarming way, since we were on the far side of the lake from our car. It was calm as quickly as it had come.