Butler Fork Trail

I wish it were possible to capture and share that sweet mountain fragrance.  Nothing beats the smell of mountain air especially in the morning!  Today I decided to hike a little ways up the Butler Fork trail.  Butler Fork trail begins 8.2 miles up Big Cottonwood Canyon where you will find a small parking area right at the trailhead.  Butler Fork will take you to Dog Lake as well as to the top of Mount Raymond and Gobblers Knob.  I was short on time today so my goal was to hike one mile up to just check out the trail.  And I really liked it!!  I will definitely be repeating this hike!  Check it out . . .

Butler Fork trail had everything you could want in a mountain trail; beautiful pines, lush vegetation, follows a small stream, plenty of aspen, wildflowers and great views.

After about half a mile you will come to a junction with a small sign for Dog Lake on the right and Mill A Basin on the left.  I choose left to Mill A Basin.

A little further up the trail I met a bow hunter coming down the trail.  I worried a little that it might not be safe to hike with hunters in the canyon.  Next time wear my bright orange!  But he was very nice and gave me some good information about the trail.

Again the wild plants were amazing.  Some of the cone flowers and elderberry plants were taller then me.  And the I love the brilliant orange berries of the mountain ash trees.

Before I turned around to head down I got a pretty good picture of Gobblers Knob.

Looking down from Mill A Gulch at the Big Cottonwood Canyon road.  Also a view of Kessler Peak.

Kessler Peak is barely visible.

I enjoyed my hike as usual.  Mother nature rarely disappoints!

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"For myself I hold no preferences

among flowers so long as they are

wild, free, spontaneous!" Ed Abbey 

 Wildflower of the Week

The Butler Fork trail was covered with these Showy Goldeneyes.  The Showy Goldeneye looks like a small yellow sunflower.  It was nice to see wildflowers at the end of August and you will see these by the thousands.

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Peaks Bagged

1.  Grandeur Peak ♦♦ 8299 

2.  Reynolds Peak ♦♦ 9422

3.  South Guardsman Pass Peak ♦♦ 10,420

4.  Mount Baldy ♦♦ 11,068

5.  Mount Evergreen ♦♦ 9,840

6.  Mount Tuscarora ♦♦ 10,660

7. Mount Wolverine ♦♦ 10,795

******Miles hiked tally     

beginning March 22, 2013

115.7

Mount Tuscarora AND Mount Wolverine

Two mountain peaks in ONE afternoon!!  The goal today was to hike to the top of Mount Wolverine elevation 10,795 from Catherine Pass and to accomplish this you must also climb to the top of Mount Tuscarora 10,660 twice (once going to Wolverine and once returning from so technically we climbed three peaks in one afternoon - yadda yadda whatever!).  Mount Wolverine is the highest peak in the area and overlooks both Big Cottonwood and Little Cottonwood canyons.  Needless to say, the mountain vistas were awesome!  Here is a sample.

Mount Tuscarora

Climbing to the top of Mount Tuscarora I saw this little guy already enjoying the view.  I know it's not a lion but . . . . . "In the circle of life, it's the wheel of fortune, it's the leap by faith" . . .  sing along . . . .  (reminded me of the movie!)

From Mount Tuscarora you get a great bird's-eye view of Lake Catherine, Lake Martha and Lake Mary.

Lake Catherine

Lake Martha

Lake Mary

Another impressive view looking toward the Sunset Peak summit.  I will never tire of looking at our amazing mountains!

Mount Wolverine

After a brief picture taking stop we continued on to the top of Mount Wolverine.  You will climb down from Mount Tuscarora a little before making the ascent to Mount Wolverine, but all the hard climbing is behind you and you can enjoy traversing the ridge line.

Martha and I at the tippy top of Mount Wolverine.  Not too bad for a couple of grandmas!  Mount Superior is right behind us.  We shared the top with a couple from Boston, MA who had just brought their son to the University of Utah for his freshman year of college.  The Bostonians said we were "killer high" up!

Friends from Boston heading down.

Just in case you need a little help getting down.  Heaven forbid!

From the Catherine Pass trailhead our hike to Mount Wolverine was 4.5 miles roundtrip and the elevation gain was about 1395 feet.  Once you reach Catherine Pass look to your left and you will find a faint trail leading up to Mount Tuscarora.  It is quite a climb and the trail isn't the greatest but manageable.  Most of the trail books suggest that you climb Wolverine from Twin Lakes Pass in Big Cottonwood so you do have other options.

♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

"For myself I hold no preferences

among flowers so long as they are

wild, free, spontaneous!" Ed Abbey 

 Wildflower of the Week

Wildflower season is all but over :( Makes me sad!!  About all that was left is the bright yellow plant called Tolmie's Owl Clover.  In late summer this plant is commonly seen brightening up the higher elevations.

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Peaks Bagged

1.  Grandeur Peak ♦♦ 8299 

2.  Reynolds Peak ♦♦ 9422

3.  South Guardsman Pass Peak ♦♦ 10,420

4.  Mount Baldy ♦♦ 11,068

5.  Mount Evergreen ♦♦ 9,840

6.  Mount Tuscarora ♦♦ 10,660

7. Mount Wolverine ♦♦ 10,795

******Miles hiked tally     

beginning March 22, 2013

113.2

A Tale of Two Trails

First trail:   Elbow Fork to Terraces picnic area.  The Elbow Fork trail is located about 6.4 miles up the Millcreek Canyon road.  From this trailhead you have four hiking options; Mount Aire, Lambs Canyon Pass and Burch Hollow to the north and our trail choice to the Terraces picnic area to the south crossing the stream on a nice footbridge.  We used a shuttle car for this hike parking one car at the Terraces and another car at Elbow Fork so we only hiked the trail one way which is 1 3/4 miles.  This makes for a nice short hike through dense stands of tall fir trees and is only a little steep at the very beginning.  I got the feeling that this isn't one of the more popular hikes in Millcreek.  Didn't see a lot of traffic on this trail.  In some areas the vegetation was very overgrown and then you pass through extremely dry sections of the trail which felt like desert.  It was interesting and here is a sample of the hike with pictures.

Begin trail by crossing this bridge.

Hang gliders?  Really?

Very lush forest in some spots!

This rock looked like an African ant hill.

Can you see the two bonsai trees growing from rock?

 

Looking into Porter Fork

Second Trail:  Bowman Fork to White Fir Pass.  Bowman Fork beginning at the Terraces picnic area was hands down the more enjoyable of the two trails.  You walk along a lovely stream for a good portion of the trail which is so nice and cool.  And the vegetation was amazing, a sampling of nature at its finest.  It was all about wild berries!  There were red berries and white berries and blue berries and orange berries and purple berries and brown berries and pink berries and yellow berries.  Best only to have a look!!  No eating!!!

This is a Thimbleberry.  Looks like a Raspberry.

There were so many interesting things to see on this hike!  Bowman Fork trail will definitely make my repeat list!

The bees loved this Goldenrod flower.

Looked like Christmas!

The Bowman Fork trail begins at the Terraces picnic area which is about 4.7 miles up the Millcreek Canyon road.  You will drive across the bridge and up into the picnic area where you will find parking spots at the end of the road.  To White Fir Pass is about 1.5 miles.  We hiked a little beyond this point for a total hiking today of 6.2 miles according to my phone app "MapMyHike" and my aching feet.  Be prepared to share this wonderful trail with many of our furry canine friends.  We passed more than a dozen dogs on this trail.  The Bowman Fork trail also takes you to Baker Spring, Baker Pass and all the way to Gobblers Knob or Mount Raymond if you so desire.

♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

"For myself I hold no preferences

among flowers so long as they are

wild, free, spontaneous!" Ed Abbey 

 Wildflower of the Week

This whimsical looking wildflower is called a Lions-Beard.  It starts out as a dark purple flower with petals hanging downward quite inconspicuous and then turns into this funny looking plant after it has gone to seed.  Very unique!  You have to look very closely to find these in lush vegetation.

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Peaks Bagged

1.  Grandeur Peak ♦♦ 8299 

2.  Reynolds Peak ♦♦ 9422

3.  South Guardsman Pass Peak ♦♦ 10,420

4.  Mount Baldy ♦♦ 11,068

5.  Mount Evergreen ♦♦ 9,840

******Miles hiked tally     

beginning March 22, 2013

108.7

Mount Evergreen

My little spontaneous hike Sunday morning took me to the top of Mount Evergreen.  Mount Evergreen is the forested ridge directly north of Twin Lakes in the heart of Brighton Ski Resort.   Once you reach Twin Lakes dam you will find a trail on your right which takes you above the lakes and eventually joins one of the ski resorts service roads passing along an old retaining wall built with railroad ties (see picture below).  The old road takes you to a saddle which is Mill F South Fork.  From this point you can continue straight ahead for Twin Lakes Pass or stay on the service road to the right and drop down to Lake Solitude which makes a nice loop hike.  And that's exactly what I did with a little detour to climb up Evergreen Peak (9,840). All I had to do was follow the ski lift sign pointing up.  I seriously can't believe anyone would ski this!  A double black diamond!!  It doesn't look daunting until you start to climb up and even worse climbing back down.  But that's what I did.  Go ahead, call me craZy!  The path reminded me of Angels Landing in Zion National Park.  Very steep cliffs on both sides but without chains to hold on to.  I won't repeat climbing Mount Evergreen.


NO KIDDING!!

Steep drops on both sides.

Pennies were tossed into the hollow of this old spruce tree.  For good luck I suppose.  I didn't have a penny to contribute, darn.

Mount Evergreen gets its name from the Englemann Spruces that crown the summit.  Some of the spruces were old and gnarled yet really beautiful in my opinion.

You do have beautiful views of Twin Lakes, Mount Millicent and Mount Wolverine from this height.

 This is looking down on Lake Solitude from the service road as I completed the loop hike.

The old retaining wall built with railroad ties mentioned above.  The total loop hike, Twin Lakes to Lake Solitude was approximately 3 miles with an elevation gain of about 1000 feet.

♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

"For myself I hold no preferences

among flowers so long as they are

wild, free, spontaneous!" Ed Abbey 

 Wildflower of the Week

This wildflower is called a Showy Daisy.  It is bright purple with dark yellow centers and grows abundantly in the canyons and mountains of the Wasatch. Showy Daisies have a very long blooming season so when all other wildflowers are gone you will still see these cheerful wildflowers.

♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦

Peaks Bagged

1.  Grandeur Peak ♦♦ 8299 

2.  Reynolds Peak ♦♦ 9422

3.  South Guardsman Pass Peak ♦♦ 10,420

4.  Mount Baldy ♦♦ 11,068

5.  Mount Evergreen ♦♦ 9,840

******Miles hiked tally     

beginning March 22, 2013

102.5