Dave and Jan were planning to head up I-15 to the small town of Beaver three weeks ago for a three day camping experience, but Jan came down with a “bug” for two or three days, so their plans were changed. They did go to Beaver for a one-night stay in a motel when Jan was feeling better, but they still wanted to camp east of Beaver, so they made plans for another trip – until it occurred to Jan that she had committed herself to join some other ladies in the neighborhood for a joint birthday celebration (four ladies in their immediate neighborhood were born in August). So Dave decided to try a solo camping trip to the area.

Little Cottonwood forest service campground was a very pleasant stay. Just seven miles east of Beaver, it is located along the Beaver Canyon scenic highway beside Beaver Creek. Though it was raining lightly on Thursday evening, Dave rode his mountain bike down the highway for an interesting ride on the Mammoth Crossing trail up into the hills east of the city of Beaver. On Friday morning Dave drove up scenic Highway 153 to the turn off for Big John’s Flat – a dirt road which travels for many miles among the peaks of the Tushar Mountain range. Like Highway 14 into the mountains east of Cedar City, Highway 153 is already a scenic treat in itself.

The dirt road from Big John’s Flat to Marysdale, 23 miles away, is narrow, rocky and twisted, but it offers beautiful views of the many mountains and valleys in the Tushar Mountain region.

When Dave’s Toyota Highlander, a two-wheel drive vehicle, could not go further because of a muddy section in the road, he parked off-road and hiked further up the road and onto a trail which headed up toward Delano Peak, the highest peak in the Tushar Mountains – over 12,000 feet high. Mud Lake was soon fading away as the elevation increased.

At the summit of the road it became evident that clouds could present an obstacle to visibility up higher.

As the trail up the mountain diverged from the dirt road, a sign of things to come appeared on the trail.

The man who first told Dave and Jan about the Tushar Mountains had mentioned that it was possible to see Mountain Goats with binoculars in the region. Dave was privileged to see them without binoculars, and a telephoto lens and the advantage of editing software brought them up even closer.

A picnic lunch spot at the rocky precipice of a deep mountain gorge included a cool dose of stinging hail!

Continuing up the mountain, the peak Dave was headed for became so obscured in a cloud that he couldn’t tell which route to take, as the trail had become very intermittent and even the immediate surroundings were obscured in deep fog, so arriving at the top of Delano Peak will have to wait for another day – but it was a very enjoyable attempt! And there were some very cheery mountain flowers to enjoy along the trail.

Psalm 104:18 (NASB) tells the reader that “The high mountains are for the wild goats; The cliffs are a refuge for the shephanim.” Whether there are any “shephanim” in the Tushar Mountains or not, the sound of pika (probably a similar animal) could be heard along the trail. As he enjoyed the beauty of the mountains Dave was thinking, along with the psalmist, (Psalm 104:1 NASB) “Bless the LORD, O my soul! O LORD my God, You are very great; You are clothed with splendor and majesty”!