Cathedral of the Pines

Last minute, "Want to go for a Ranger Ride"? - of course we said YES :)
Wow - they all look super excited, right?   I just don't think I said "smile", haha. 

We are headed to the Cathedrals, or "The Cathedral of the Pines" - it's right there just right of the middle.  It's the smaller mountain with the white bald spot on top.  You would think that behind the mountains in the back is Bountiful, right?  Wrong.  That large mountain (to the left) is Gold Ridge, and if you go over it, you are actually in a "valley", with another mountain behind it.  

We are getting closer. Wish I could "draw" on this picture to show you just where we were headed.  If you look to the right, you can still see the thin line of white on top of the small ridge.  Just below that thin line is four distinct pine trees.  

The trail was extremely rocky, but not too scary.  I didn't scream once :)

At one point we parked, and headed up the trail on foot, just to make sure that it was passable. 

Thatcher with his wranglers and boots - ready for school, going "cowboy style aka Grandpa Roger style" this year. 

Looking North - you can see the backside of the Hogsback, with Francis Peak in the far distance.  

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See that big rock in the back ground?   More on that in a minute. 

Another view of the back of the Hogsback, with Durst mountain in the background to the far right. 

We made it - we are on top of the bald ridge at the Cathedral of the Pines.  I wondered if I would ever get here again.  We used to always come every year once or twice on snowmobiles, and once quite a few years back we came on four wheelers, and brought mom and dad (I need to check to see just when that was).  This is also where my Grandpa Reed and Dad and all the Uncles used to come deer hunting.  You can access if from the Richville Range, or through Hardscrabble.  It is actually on property owned by the US Government.  I can vaguely remember coming on one of those hunting expeditions when I was a very little girl, probably under 5 years old.  I remember piling on big trucks and wagons, and treking out through the hills in back of Grandpa's house, and I remember around the campfire, and smoke blowing in my face, and all the adults laughing.   In the very background of this picture, you can see a Morgan City, although with the poor air quality, you can't see it very well in this picture.  It's between Zac's and Roger's heads. 

CJ fixed some sandwiches to eat. 

Look West from the bald ridge - you can see why they call it the Cathedral of the Pines

Remember that Rock I told you about earlier?  IT IS HUGE !!! 

CLOSE UP

PUSH !!!

Wouldn't it be scary if it moved ?? 

It was hot and dusty and bumpy (resulting in needing to clean the Ranger) - but totally worth it.