The plan was to do a fall fishing trip to Boulder Mountain. Having once been snowed on during a July 4th trip on Boulder the snow should not have come as a surprise in October. We had watched the weather and snow was in the forecast for the Boulder area, but predictions were up to 6 inches at 10,000 feet, not the 10 inches we ended up getting. We were twice woken up during the night when quaking aspen, still loaded with stunningly colorful leaves, broke under the weight of the snow and fell against the trailer.
Determined not to let it stop us from fishing the next morning, we started the short drive to the trailhead and did not get very far. We pushed a couple of small trees out of the way and then got to a strapping aspen stretched out across the road. We attacked it with handsaws and wrapped a chain around the obstacle. The snow was wet and quickly turned to ice under the truck tires, making the attempt to pull the aspen out of the way a slippery event. Realizing there were likely more trees across the road on the way down the mountain, we decided we were trying too hard and headed back to the trailer.
While three of our party worked on getting the trailer ready, two of us grabbed the handsaws and started down the road to clear a path for the trucks, one of them hauling the 5th-wheel trailer.
We had cleared about 20 trees when we came across the grand daddy of all aspens. I probably would have had a hard time wrapping my arms all the way around it. We removed our jackets and set about sawing the beast in two places. About that time we heard a truck coming up the road. Without saying a word, two guys jumped out of the vehicle, went to the back of the truck and hauled out a chainsaw with about a 30-inch blade. It was like a hot knife through butter. The Escalante locals then chained the tree and hauled it out of the way. They had cleared another 20 or so trees out of the way on their way up. Getting down the mountain was easy after that.
We had planned on fishing four or more lakes on the trip, but only made it to two before snow chased us off of Boulder Mountain. Still, the scenery was amazing and the fishing, although a little slow, was worth the effort. Here's a link to two stories from the trip. One a general story about fishing the Boulder and the other about a delayed project to restore a native remnant population of Colorado River cutthroat trout on the mountain. The video was shot during our trip. Another video will be posted later this week.
While the fishing was limited, I did get a chance to cast the new ONE rod from Sage. I'm not easily smitten by new rods, but I have to say I was impressed. The wind was howling our first day of the trip and I was still able to lay down a straight and effective cast. The ONE was lightweight, but strong and helped me stick to fishing with a fly rod while others turned to spinning rods. It flung dries and streamers with the same efficiency. I'm a fan.

The photos were taken by Francisco Kjolseth of the Salt Lake Tribune. Reed Sherman shot the video.