Ashdown Wilderness backpack

Ashdown Gorge Wilderness backpack, Utah, July 3-4, 2015

High Mountain trailhead, Brianhead, Utah, elevation 9.600 ft

Kona is ready for a beautiful hike through meadows

many aspen groves along the mountain sides

Cedar Breaks National Monument sets the background for this area

Sandy pulls up the rear though the aspen

Several lakes along the trail

Aaron leads the way

Amazing views of Cedar Breaks

Gorgeous wildflowers

Sandy, Kona, and Kylee in the flowers

Another meadow crossing on our descent of 2.000 ft

Finally at the bottom in Lake Creek, our first creek crossing--elevation 7,600 ft

Crossing Rattlesnake Creek to get to our destination one mile away

Destination accomplished--Ashdown Creek was a welcome relief

Our camp about 8 ft above the creek on a bank

Aaron filtering water to drink and Kylee exhausted from the 6 mile hike in

Sunset on the cliff of Cedar Breaks, Ashdown Creek in the foreground

Hiking up Ashdown creek on July 4, 2015

Ashdown Creek at normal flow--about 8 ft wide and a foot deep, view from our campsite

Same view during the flash flood, around 2pm MT, flow is at top of bank--about 7 ft high and 40 ft wide

Flow is going into gorge where the walls narrow to 15 ft, the water constricts and rises to 15-20 in the narrows 

About an hour after the initial flash flow is lower but debris is still coming down the river

The hike out was a six-mile alternative route that got us to highway 14