| Roadtrips/Vacations Richfield, Central Utah Fishlake Mountains |
| I visited my friend Tracy in the central valley town of Richfield, Utah. I flew into Salt Lake City and they picked me up for the weekend. My stay was short, so I was only able to see a few things. We went up into the Fishlake Mountain and we also spent an evening in Richfield itself. Many thanks to Tracy for inviting me for a visit, the mountains are very beautiful, but also very different from where I live. The trip was an awesome experience! |
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| Above: Looking NW at Tracy's house with the Northern Pahvant Range of Mountains in the background. Below: Tracy and I at 3am when it was time to drive back to the airport for my early flight back to WI. |
| Above: I'm looking at an information board talking about area around Fish Lake in the Fishlake National Forest. At the foot of the hills is Widgeon Bay of Fish Lake. Fish Lake is a graben lake (down-folded valley) with a depth of 160 feet. It is 6 miles long and 1 mile wide and covers an area of 2,500 acres. |
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| Left: This is a picture of Zedd's Mountain in the Fishlake National Forest, not very far from Fish Lake. Mapsource says that the peak is at an elevation of 10,109 feet above mean sea level. The road where we are standing is at about 8700 feet amsl. |
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| Right: This is me sitting on a stump. (after which I was told to keep an eye out for poisonous snakes... imagine how happy I was). Behind me is Highway 25 that cuts through the Fishlake Mountains by Fish Lake. On the other side of the highway is the Fremont River in the green valley. A mile up the road the Fremont River starts at Johnson Valley Reservoir before its long journey to Lake Powell and the Colorado River. |
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| Richfield, UT has a 1990 population of 5593 and is at an elevation of about 5300 feet amsl. It is located in the Sevier Valley, where understandably, the Sevier River flows N/NE between mountain ranges on its way out to the dry desert. Left: A picture looking out across the valley at the Fishlake Mountains on the east side of the valley. |
| On the west side of the Sevier Valley is the Northern Pahvant Range. A few quick measurements on Mapsource gave me a valley width of 10 to 14 miles. The valley has many fields with irrigation canals where corn was growing. I also saw many haybales stacked along fields and herds of cows grazing. |
| Legend of the Aspen Heart |
| The Aspen Heart is a grove of aspen trees located above the old lodge at Fish Lake. It is naturally shaped like a heart and is the largest grove of trees on the hill to turn bright in the fall. This is most ususual since Aspen leaves turn yellow, not red. It is also the first grove of trees to start to change in color and the first to lose its leaves. The legend of the Aspen Heart dates back to when the Paiute Indians roamed the Fish Lake area. As the story goes, a Paiute brave fell in love with the chief's daughter which was fortunate for the Paiute princess for she was in love with him also. However, the chief had plans of his own for the daughter and they did not include the brave his daughter loved. The two lovers disobeyed the chief and would sneak away at night and meet at a place high on the hillside above the lake. There, under the bright full moon, they made plans to run away with each other and live happily together, far from the chief and the people of the tribe. Before the young couple could put their plans into action, the tribe went to war with a neighboring tribe and the young brave was called to fight. Long after the battle was over, the brave did not return to the Paiute princess. Heartbroken, and sure that the brave was dead, the princess climbed the hillside to their special place and waited for her brave to come to her - either in life or in death. She refused food, shelter and comfort and there she died from her broken heart. The chief and his people buried her there at the lovers meeting place. A short time passed and the Paiute brave did return to claim his princess. He had been delayed in returning because of wounds he had suffered in battle. But the wounds from battle were nothing compared to the pain he suffered when he heard what had happened to his princess. He went to her grave and there he also died. Whether he died of his battle wounds, or a broken heart, who is to say. The chief and his people buried the Brave beside his beloved princess. It is said that the Aspen Heart grove grows upon the spot where the two lovers were buried and that every fall the leaves remind us of their love and devotion to one another. Origin: Retold story by Stephanie Lewis Moulton Fish Lake Lodge and Resort |