Days Fork to Eclipse Mine (Moderate 7 miles round-trip)

Description:   This is a scenic, not-crowded hike through beautiful alpine forests and meadows. I hiked it on Labor Day  weekend, and only saw 3 other people.

Trailhead:  From the bottom of Big Cottonwood Canyon (The 711 store) drive 9.7 miles up the Canyon and look for the Spruces Campground on your right. During camping season you have to pay to park there, so I just parked on the road and walked in.  I thought I knew where the trailhead was, but I didn't, and since I am one of those guys that doesn't like to ask for directions, I added an extra mile to the hike, walking around the campground!  From the toll booth, go to your right then enter the one way road, and go to your left past some restrooms. Look for Group Camp area 1 (not single campsite 1!)  Just past this you will see a baseball diamond. The trailhead is just past the baseball diamond, and is well-marked.  (GPS Coordinates N40* 38.456' W111* 38.307')  

The Hike:  The first 1/4 mile is fairly steep.  As it levels off, you will see a trail to your left which goes to Greens Basin. That is a nice hike,  (See post http://talesfrommytrekkingpoles.blogspot.com/2012/11/greens-basin.html) but not the way to the Eclipse Mine.  The trail is easy to follow, and goes straight for a while, then has some steep switchbacks to your right, where you pass an old mine that was not on my topo map, then levels out somewhat and eventually comes to the Eclipse Mine (GPS Coordinates N 40* 36.151' W111* 38.295')  This is a cool area with lots of old mining equipment. I then headed back the way I came.

I would love to get this old gear home, but I think it would take a helicopter!  It is about 5 feet in diameter.

More old mine equipment.

Why I love this hike!

Giant old trees

Trailhead sign near baseball diamond

Beginning of the trail.

Lambs Canyon to Lambs Canyon Pass ( 4.5 miles round-trip, easy)

Description: This is a beautiful hike on a well-maintained trail, easy to get to from Salt Lake City, and no fee to pay.  I have hiked the Millcreek Canyon side of this trail (Elbow Fork)  many times, but this was my first hike from the other side.  Another hiker described this trail as "almost magical," and it has a different, very pleasant feel to it.  It is shaded much of the way, goes along a small stream for quite a while, has some great views near the top, and the trail does not have a lot of roots, almost no rocks, and is just one of those trails where you can't resist seeing what is around the next bend!  I did this hike on August 7, and there were patches of delicious ripe raspberries along the way!  There are several geocaches along the trail, although most of them are just far enough off the trail to make it a challenge.    Rain was in the forecast, but I did not let that stop me.  Two minutes after I started hiking, the first drops fell, then the drizzle turned into a downpour at the top, then the rain abated enough going down to get my camera out and snap a few pics.  I saw only one other person, a runner that had started from the Millcreek side.

Trailhead:  From Salt Lake city, drive about 7.7 miles up Parleys Canyon (I-80) and take the
Lambs Canyon Exit. From here, go to your right, and drive up the canyon 1.5 miles. The trailhead is on your right, and would be easy to miss if it were not for the restrooms and small parking area on the left.
(GPS coordinates: N 40* 43.275' W 111* 39.475.')  Once you park your car, the trail sign across the street will be obvious.  The trail is easy to follow, and you don't have any decisions to make until you get to the sign at the top, 2.23 miles from the trailhead.
(GPS coordinates N 40* 42.373' W 111* 40.540.') At the pass, you can go back down the way you came, or continue straight, and end up at Elbow Fork in Millcreek Canyon,  (2 miles from the sign at the top), or hike along the ridge. (Left goes to Millvue Peak, right goes eventually to Grandeur Peak).
Maximum Elevation: 8115 Feet
Ascent: 1636 Feet
No dogs allowed

Geocaches:
 Out on the Lamb: http://www.geocaching.com/geocache/GC30KXX_out-on-the-lamb?guid=8c267dd0-d5e7-4af3-97d0-3ab77c3bd73b
Two Trails Diverged in a Yellow snow wood...: http://www.geocaching.com/geocache/GC4A6XM_two-trails-diverged-in-a-yellow-snow-wood?guid=024a4bee-8ca2-4afb-b6d0-eb35002ea965
Always up for a Pone Tree Cache #6: http://www.geocaching.com/geocache/GC4A6WY_always-up-for-a-pine-tree-cache-6?guid=74fe074c-5c5f-4136-b83a-db33fa6f506b
#46: http://www.geocaching.com/geocache/GC4A6WC_46?guid=1898b08c-8f5c-4b1e-a5b3-304ad0230954

The sign at the top of the trail.

Delicious wild raspberries along the trail.
(Considerably slows the hike, but well worth it!)

This pine tree was over 150 years old.

How can you resist a trail like this?!

Bridge near trailhead.

Trailhead sign.

Maybird Lake (8 miles round-trip, Moderate Difficulty)

Description:  This is a beautiful small alpine lake in Little Cottonwood Canyon. It is a way to find solitude even on a holiday weekend, once you split off of the popular Red Pine Trail.  There were hundreds of hikers on the Red Pine and White Pine Trails, but on the Maybird Trail, I saw two  Forest Rangers coming down after doing some maintenance work, and one solo female hiker as I was headed back down, and that was it.   When I make a list of my favorite top 10 hikes, this will be on it!  I did this hike on July 25, and the wildflowers were amazing, especially at the 9000 foot level.  The wild raspberries were just getting ripe.  I ate a couple and they were delicious.  The trail is shaded much of the way, and offers  magnificent views of Snowbird, the Salt Lake Valley, the Pfeifferhorn, Sundial Peak, and Salt Lake Twin Peaks.  There are a couple of perfect places to pitch a tent shortly before you reach the lake.   I recommend 3 liters of water, and there are several good places to filter water. The elevation gain is 2, 247 feet over the 4 miles. This was the Hike of the Week in the Salt Lake Tribune for July 23 2015.  In that article the mileage is incorrect for the Maybird Junction.  There are several geocaches along this trail that I have done previously, but I did not have time to look for any this trip.

To get to the Trailhead:  From the bottom of Big and Little Cottonwood Canyon, (The 7-11 Store), go South up Little cottonwood Canyon for 9.3 miles.  Turn into the large parking lot for the White Pine/Red Pine trails, or park on the road if it is full.  (gps coordinates N 40* 34.528' W 111*40.862'). There are trailhead restrooms, and the trail starts right behind the restrooms. You will quickly cross a large  bridge and head West. This is a good place to look for wild raspberries.
     At 1.4 miles you will come to a junction.  The dirt road to your left with the missing sign goes to White Pine Lake.  Just past this is a large sign with directions to either lake. Past this sign is the trail up the hill to  Red Pine Lake. This is the trail you take to get to Maybird Lake.  Follow this trail for another 1.2 miles to the 2.66 mile point.  (GPS coordinates N 40* 33.190' W 111* 41.729) Here you will see a small wood bridge on your right, and a wood sign on the left of the trail that points to Red Pine Lake.  At this point you have already climbed over half of the elevation gain.   Cross the wood bridge, and you are on your way to Maybird Lake!  From here it is 1.66 miles to the Lake.  When you get to the lake, you will see there is actually an upper and lower lake.   The upper lake has a small island covered with pines.  The coordinates to the upper lake are:  N 40* 32,700' W 111* 42.224.'  

View of Twin Peaks across the Canyon

Indian Paintbrush

View of the Pfeifferhorn as you approach Maybird Lake

Pfeifferhorn

Sundial Peak across the Canyon

The bridge to peace and solitude!

The sign by the bridge to Maybird Lake (2.66 mile point)

View of the Salt Lake Valley

No campfires here.

The sign at 1.4 miles

Jack's Mountain Mailboxes (Moderate, 3.2 Miles round-trip)

Description: This is a fun hike I found in the Salt Lake Tribune Hike of the Week archives from May 28, 2010.  This hike is not on standard topo maps but is listed as Jack's Mountain on a Wasatch Front Trail map that I purchased at REI.  Two mailboxes were placed on a mountain peak in 1995 as a memorial to a toddler named Jack.  The mailboxes are full of Journals containing comments of people who have done this hike.  The hike starts above Foothill Blvd, near the 'H' on the mountain (for Highland High School) I expected the hike to be just rocks and sagebrush, but after the first 1/2 mile, there are beautiful meadows and abundant wildflowers,( at least in the Spring!)

I also expected to see lots of snakes, as there have been reports of many snakes this year on other trails. But I did not see a single snake. Perhaps they were all over in Rattlesnake Gulch for a convention!  I did see one jackrabbit though.  I would recommend avoiding hiking in the afternoon, because the heat would be unbearable in the summer, although the lights of the city would look awesome at night, so a sunset hike might be nice.  There are no trailhead restrooms. Dogs are allowed on leash. Max. Elevation 6, 475 Feet.

Directions to trailhead:  If entering Foothill Drive from I 80, turn right at I think the second stoplight, Thunderbird Drive (About 2200 South).  Drive .2 miles and turn right on Scenic Drive, then left on Lakeline Drive and continue to the end and park in the cul-de-sac.
 (GPS coordinates N 40* 43.738' W 111* 48.379')

The Hike:  Enter the Bonneville Shoreline Trail from the Northwest part of the cul-de-sac. Follow the trail West for about .3 miles until you see a large black post, (GPS coordinates N40* 43.762' W111* 48.677) Near the post, take the steep trail to the right that will take you up above the rock 'H' on the mountain.  There are a few trails at this point, but take the one that goes northeast about .2 miles where the trail takes a sharp right. (GPS coordinates N40* 43.891' W111* 48.565") Follow the trail up to the ridge and continue along the ridge to the large Communications Tower. (GPS Coordinates N40* 43.976 W111* 48.141) The tower is painted camo, but trust me, you won't need the GPS coordinates to find it!  From here, the trail goes downhill for a short distance, then climbs up to the summit, which is 1.6 miles from the trailhead.  Just before the summit, a trail goes off to the left to the mailboxes.  (GPS Coordinates N40* 44.262 W111* 47.748).  

I did not spend a lot of time at the summit, as thunderstorms were rolling in, so I got off the ridge and took a different way back on a trail below the ridge to the South.  I came out in Carrigan Canyon, very near where I started, but saw a sign on the way out that said this was private property.
Geocaches I found:
Peak Above Beaniebabies: http://www.geocaching.com/geocache/GCHYJ9_peak-above-beany-babies?guid=eb2dc212-4152-4adf-9e3e-3d3480387d5f
The Ten Commandments: http://www.geocaching.com/geocache/GC2X9M4_the-ten-commandments?guid=9f0943da-2013-43e8-b7c2-602a158ba390

Side view of the 'H' on the mountain.

These wildflowers apparently turn pink as they wilt.

One of many views of the Salt Lake Valley.

I had to laugh when I saw this camo-painted tower. maybe it is harder to spot by enemy aircraft?

Sego Lilly.  (One of the few flowers I could name!)

You can't beat nature's own flower arrangements!

Two mailboxes full of interesting journals.

These flowers made me hungry for buttered popcorn.

A hand-made journal with hand-made paper inside.

South Willow Lake (8 miles round-trip, moderate difficulty)

     My brother and I had intended to hike to Deseret Peak, but the road to the trailhead was closed due to a rock slide, with threats of a $5000 fine for entering the area, so we parked at another trailhead, started doing some geocaches, noticed a small lake on the gps map, and ended up at this beautiful alpine lake with an elevation high enough to look over the Ocquirrh Mountains and see Twin Peaks, Lone Peak, etc. in the Wasatch Mountains.

Directions:     To get to the trailhead from Salt Lake City, take I-80 West to the Grantsville Exit (Exit 84). Head to Grantsville on UT138 for 9.5 miles.
Turn right on 400 West and continue for 5 miles to South Willow Canyon.
Go West on South Willow Canyon road  for about 5 miles to a place where a Boy Scout Camp is to the left, the gate (closed, in our case) that leads to the loop campground is straight ahead, and the Medina Trailhead is to the right.
Turn right, and go a very short distance up a hill and park at the Medina Trailhead.
(gps coordinates  N 40* 29.754' W 112* 34.618')
The trail starts to the right of the outhouse.
 Follow this trail, and after about 1/3 of a mile, you will come to an old mining road.
 (gps coordinates N40* 30.160' W112* 34,787')
Turn left (West) and follow this road which becomes a trail as it enters the Deseret Peak Wilderness Area.
Enjoy the beauty as you ascend for a few miles, and don't forget to look back occasionally at the view of Tooele Valley behind you!
You will arrive at a wooden trail sign (gps coordinates N 40* 29.541' W 112* 37.130').
 Follow the trail to the right that leads to South Willow Lake.
 
     The lake is at the base of the steep cliffs. We went off trail in places to avoid some deep soft snow.  The lake is small but beautiful, and a great place to take a rest.
Near the lake is an incredible spot with a rock campfire ring, where you can look West at the lake and feel like you are deep in the wilderness, or look East at the Tooele Valley, and see the beautiful Wasatch Range in the distance, above the Oquirrh Mountains.
We went back down the way we came.
Our gps said we had gone 7.8 miles, so we continued down to the Boy Scout Camp to find another geocache, to make this an 8 mile hike, almost the same distance as the hike to the top of Deseret Peak will be once the road is open!  

     Geocaches I found were: 
Medina Trail Cache:http://www.geocaching.com/geocache/GC305TJ_medina-trail-cache?guid=e910f185-419c-4057-8857-e68fac0c485b,
Take a Break: http://www.geocaching.com/geocache/GC4BXWB_take-a-break,
By the Boy Scout: http://www.geocaching.com/geocache/GC3GFAK_by-the-boy-scout

The lake is at the base of the cliffs about 3 miles ahead.

Entering Deseret Peak Wilderness Area.

South Willow Lake still a bit icy.

View from the lake with the Wasatch Mountains behind the
Oquirrh Mountains.

View from Mormon Trail Road, about 8 miles from
the lake. South Willow Lake is at the base of the
large snow area.

Parrish Canyon Trail (Easy, 5 miles roundtrip)

     This was the "Hike of the Week" a couple of weeks ago in the Salt Lake Tribune.
 This is a fun, relatively easy hike that you can do with dogs or  mountain bike, with lots of wildflowers, and the destination of a beautiful meadow or  a very nice fire ring with plenty of firewood and a place to sit and enjoy the view!

     The weather has been so rainy that I had not hiked for a couple of weeks. Rain was forecast again, but I woke up early, peeked outside, and it was not yet raining, so I decided to go for it.

Directions:  Drive North on  I -15 from Salt Lake City, and in less than 20 minutes, take the Parrish Lane Exit and head East. At the top of Parrish Lane, turn left on a narrow paved road that takes you to the trailhead (gps coordinates N 40* 55.337' W 111* 51.970').

The Hike:  There is a large wooden trail sign on the North end of the parking area. This is the beginning of the trail.  At .15 mile keep going straight across the firebreak road.  Follow switchbacks up the mountain. At times you will see and hear waterfalls from Parrish Creek on your North.  Be sure to take frequent rests and admire the great view of the Great Salt Lake and Antelope Island.  At about 1.7 miles you will come to a fork in the trail. Either one will work, but I stayed to the right, which provides the best view of a rock outcropping that looks like the profile of a dog's face.  Just past the dog face, the trail steepens and fades, but soon rejoins the main trail that you would have been on if you had taken the left fork.  At just over 2 miles, you come to a beautiful meadow rimmed with Mountain Mahogany trees, and a beautiful view of a canyon of pine trees. But don't turn around yet, keep going for another .4 miles and you will be rewarded with a great resting area complete with a very nice fire ring, places to sit, and plenty of dry firewood  to roast marshmallows and make S'mores!  (The gps coordinates are: N 40* 55.339' W 111* 50.598')

      I was sorely tempted to start a campfire, but the promised rain was arriving, so I  headed back to the car, but made a mental note to make this an evening hike sometime, and roast marshmallows before returning by the light of the moon or headlamp!  I had not loaded Geocaches into my gps but had scribbled the coordinates of one that I thought would be near the trailhead, so I found that one before heading back home.

Geocaches I found:
 WizMedic's Quickie Cache UT: http://www.geocaching.com/geocache/GCMTQW_wizmedics-quickie-cache-ut?guid=8c305fb0-2cc2-4987-a2de-91d02f16eeee

Trailhead Sign

Great views for most of the hike

Parrish Creek

Can't get enough of the view!

Vibrant wildfolwers

Dog Face Rock

Mountain Mahogany and Meadow

Fire Ring. A good Destination!

Holbrook Canyon 6 miles round trip, Easy to Moderate Difficulty

I read about this nice hike in yesterday's Salt Lake Tribune. It is the "Hike of the Week."
It is scenic, fun, and you can make it longer or shorter, depending on how much time and energy you have.  There is a nice little stream the entire hike, and you cross several little bridges and log/rock crossings.  It is relatively safe and not too difficult for small children, as I met several on my way back down.  The wildflowers are beautiful and there are some very large pine trees, especially 2 to 3 miles up.   The Tribune hikers went up the canyon 2.5 miles and were stopped by snow. I made it around the snow, and went another half mile before the wind picked up, and the predicted storm looked like it was rolling in. I am anxious to explore this canyon farther in the future!
     To get to the trailhead, take I 15 to the Bountiful 400 North Exit, and head East. This road will take you up to Bountiful Blvd. without making any turns until you see the Bountiful LDS Temple on your right. The trailhead is just past the Temple, and you turn into the well-marked parking lot on your left. Gps coordinates are:  N 40* 52.898' W 111* 50.660'.  There is a restroom with flush toilets at the trailhead.  Dogs and horses are allowed. Wheeled vehicles are not.
     From the parking lot head downhill and follow the stream uphill as far as you feel like going.  About .43 miles up, you will come to the first stream crossing.  I had to laugh at myself, because I crossed on logs and rocks, then saw the nice bridge  just around the bend that I could have taken.  So when you get to the first crossing, just go up the bank a little way and you will see the bridge!
     There are many places to rest and relax, and several places where you could backpack in and spend the night if you desired.  Nothing better than falling asleep next to a bubbling stream!
By the numbers:
Distance hiked: 6 miles
Hiking (moving) time: 2 hours 43 minutes
Stopped time: 2 hours 3 minutes
Total feet ascended: 1868
Max. elevation: 6670 feet
People seen on the way up: 0
People seen on the way down: 16
Dogs: 4
Bridge crossings: 6
Log/rock crossings: 5
Extremely large bucks: 1
snakes: 1 (small, greenish gray, smooth)
bumblebees: 1
Geocaches found on this hike: 3 (http://www.geocaching.com/geocache/GCWH2E_a-hike-for-you?guid=cd3c869e-4b77-47f2-a657-ee2773a0cc44, http://www.geocaching.com/geocache/GCY90A_rivendell?guid=83ce2bcf-e298-4ff2-bded-767bf111c675
http://www.geocaching.com/geocache/GC57C89_above-rivendell?guid=514421c5-b0f1-4456-b94c-0c5c818542a6
Deep thoughts while hiking: Do Rolypoly bugs enjoy a beautiful spring day as much as I do?

One of the bridges

3 miles up. End of the trail for this day.

How did this lone  Fall leaf survive the winter?

Lots of interesting rock formations

A geologist would like this hike

Nice trail most of the way.

Many wildflowers in early Spring

The creek is along the entire trail.

I used to know the name of these.

More wild flowers.

The hill back up to the trailhead.

The parking lot