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| google earth image |
The Tushar mountain range is a fantastic little gem of high altitude(by Utah standards) 12000' peaks located east of Beaver and west of Marysville. Common access points are via the Eagle Point ski resort from the west side(Beaver) or the Beaver Creek/Bullion Canyon roads on the east side(Marysville). This range is a former mining metropolis so buffed out dirt roads with miles of high use ATV traffic are the norm, rather than miles of singletrack like in some ranges. Nevertheless, there is a plethora of good quality "running" to be had off the dirt roads and away from the motorized traffic should one so desire, which I do.
While visiting my in-laws down in Monroe it was a short 30 minute drive to Miners Park where I was lucky enough to get out on a much needed alpine adventure after being in the dreaded flatland for so long. I had outlined a very ambitious plan(for me at least) that involved a 35 mile loop with 12k' of gain and 4 12000' summits. Needless to say halfway through the adventure my feeble Florida lungs and body had all but shut down so I had to make some on the fly adjustments. Nevertheless it turned out to be a fantastic day and motivated me to return someday and tackle what I couldn't accomplish this go round.
In short, I hiked up the dirt road(2wd access) from Miners Park leading to the Edna peak area which involved close to 3k' gain. Then I traversed across Edna, Brigham and Delano peaks and then made my way over to the Piute ATV road, bypassing Mud Lake and following it to Bullion Pasture TH. From here I did an out and back up Belknap Peak and then headed down the 4 mile Bullion Creek ST back to the car. Very fun day. Highly recommend anyone looking for an alpine adventure off the beaten track to plan a trip down there. Didn't see a person all day. I think any non-weekend day will result in little ATV traffic, though the majority of my route was off trail or non-ATV access anyway. See caltopo link below for possible iterations of cool runs I had thought about. Largely inspired by the Grand Circle Trail Series race in the Tushars.
https://caltopo.com/m/KCC0
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| Top of Edna looking toward Brigham and Delano |
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| San Juans? Nope, tushars |
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| First High point of the loop with mt Baldy behind |
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| Beautiful tundra running towards next objective, mt Belknap |
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| Tons of scree. From afar it doesn't look like there is a very easy route up Belknap |
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| 2nd high point. Baldy behind. The ridge traversing to Baldy look cool. Another time |
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| Blue Lake below. |
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| Perfect scree skiing for days if you wanted it. |
