Donut Falls Part 2

For details of this hike, see my March 3 post. I did this hike again, this time a little earlier in the day, and with my son . We had a blast and got some cool pics:  The entire hike took an hour and a half.

Lots of fresh powder, and still snowing hard

My trekking poles playing around

The entrance to the cave

A lot more sunlight today, so didn't need a flashlight

A cool silhouette

Climbing out of the cave.

Pipeline Trail Burch Hollow to Elbow Fork

This is another Millcreek Canyon snowshoe hike. Since it is a South-facing trail, the snow is disappearing quickly in spots.  The hikes starts 3.8 miles past the toll booth. Park on the left side of the road. (The Burch Hollow sign is on the right side of the road just before the parking area). Head up the trail. It is not particularly steep.  After about 1/2 mile, you will get to a sign giving you the option to head left toward the Grandeur Peak Trail or right to Elbow Fork. The sign says it is 2 miles to Elbow Fork, but this is way off!  It is actually 3.23 miles to Elbow Fork, or about 2.75 miles from this sign!  The entire hike from the parking area to Elbow Fork is only a 750 feet gain in elevation, so not bad at all.  There are some nice big pine trees, especially at the beginning and at the end of the trail.  When I arrived at Elbow Fork I hiked back down the road to my car.  The total hike was 5.15 miles and took a leisurely 2 1/2 hours. I wore a light jacket but took it off at the .5 mile point.  Things I pondered about: What percent of dog owners do not clean up after their dog?  My guess is 5%.  That adds up to a lot of mess.  Why can dog feces be smelled from 50 feet away, but deer scat is odorless at 3 feet away?  (Carnivore diet?)

Trailhead

Looking across the canyon to the Terraces road.

Sign at .5 miles with incorrect mileage info.

Sign at about 2 mile point. I want to explore this trail soon.

Plenty of deer scat around.

Getting close to Elbow Fork

My trekking poles taking a rest at Elbow Fork

Looking down at skiers almost to Elbow Fork

Donut Falls Snowshoe Hike

I had a busy day yesterday and was not able to get out until late in the day, so I grabbed my gear and headed up Big Cottonwood Canyon. I drove 8.8 miles up the canyon and parked on the right side near the locked gate. This is a popular tubing area, and there were several people leaving, as it was getting dark. There was a guy next to me named Don, so we shared hiking stories on the way up the trail. He had been many places that I had been (Wind Rivers, Coyote Gulch, local hikes) so it was fun.  This is an easy hike, 1.6 miles each way, but there is a spot that you have to climb down or slide about 5 feet, no big deal. This spot is maybe 100 yards from the falls.  We met a couple of groups coming down, and there was a group just leaving as we got to the falls.  Don did not have snowshoes on, and did not want to worry about slipping on the short steep last 50 feet, so he turned around.  This part is actually easier in the winter than summer, as most of the rocks are buried in snow.  It was easy to climb down into the cave with my snowshoes on.  The waterfall pouring down through the ceiling of the cave was almost completely frozen, and even though it was pretty dark outside, light shown down through the falls like fiber optics!  I shined my wife's very bright little flashlight on the falls and took a few pictures.  Then I headed back to the car by starlight. It was beautiful. Just as I saw the first stars, I heard the hoot of an owl, and I thought of my late father, who loved owls, and was a night owl himself, and thought he was perhaps saying "hello" to me. I had 2 headlamps and a flashlight, but did not use any of them.  A short way back down the trail, I saw a branch off to the right that goes to the Spruces Campground.  Two couples headed up to the falls with headlamps on were glad I had my gps to tell them they had .75 miles to go.  The entire hike took me 1 hour and 20 minutes, and was a fun little hike!

Not much daylight left as I parked at the trailhead.

A lone pine standing guard over the small
Big Cottonwood creek.

My trekking poles content to stand guard at the cave entrance.

I was surprised how much light shined through the
frozen falls this time of evening!

A beautiful evening for a hike!

I was not tempted to swim or wade tonight!

Rattlesnake Gulch to Church Fork

This is another Millcreek Canyon hike that starts about one mile past the toll booth. Park on the left side of the road and head up Rattlesnake Gulch. At .7 miles there is a sign for the Pipeline Trail. Go to the right. From this point, there will be some more switch backs, then the trail is easy and quite level. You will have a nice view of the Boy Scout Camp, Camp Tracy.  After a couple of miles, the trail will drop down into a gorgeous area of large pines.  At this point you will see a sign pointing to the trail to Grandeur Peak to the left, but I went down to the right and through the Church Fork picnic area. When you get down to the main road of Millcreek Canyon, you will have gone 3.3 miles. From this point I took off my snowshoes and hiked down the road to my vehicle. This was 1.7 miles, and I had gone exactly 5 miles total.

A large fin of rock just before the switchbacks begin.
I was told it is a remnant of an ancient stream bed.

Along the Pipeline trail

It snowed the entire hike, but the sun
peaked out occasionally.

I went to the right today.

One more chance to go to the left.

I just couldn't stop taking pictures
on this gorgeous snowy day!

Remnants of pipeline straps.

For some reason I had a hunger for raw carrots
after seeing these icicles.

An apparent alien buried in the snow!

Getting close to Church Fork

Glad I had my sunglasses today

Top of Church Fork area

This sign tells about mining claims donated
to the Boy Scouts in 1919. 

Silver Fork Snowshoe Hike

This is an easy hike and a nice get-away. You can find details on this and other hikes on a cool website:http://www.snowshoeutah.com/Table-of-Contents.html  I drove 12 miles up Big Cottonwood Canyon and parked in the lowest Solitude parking lot. I then followed the road in the lower right side of the lot. This goes past a bunch of cabins. One was for sale for  $1, 750,000.00!  When you can see that the road is ending (about .9 miles from the parking lot), look for a trail off to your right. Where the trail forks, stay to the right.  This is a beautiful area with lots of large pines.  At about the 2 mile mark (from the parking lot) you get to a blocked-off mine. My gps map identifies this as the Alta Tunnel.  There are some conduits coming out of it, hooked up to a couple of solar panels. I wonder what this is for. Perhaps some kind of monitoring equipment or maybe water pumps?  I considered crossing the gulch and making this a loop hike, but the powder snow on the north-facing slope was so deep that I sank to my knees even with my snowshoes on. Maybe next time I will wear the tails on my shoes for more buoyancy.

If you want to use this outhouse you will have
to shovel out a couple of feet of snow!

Nice large pines

Trekking poles ponder the saying, "Curiosity killed the cat."

Mouse tracks remind me of stitching on
a baseball.

The snow on this fallen log looked like a giant mouth, complete with a white uvula in back!

A busy woodpecker

Blue Jay on tree right next to woodpecker

Rattlesnake Gulch Snowshoeing

This morning I drove up Millcreek Canyon, just under one mile from the pay booth. I parked on the left side of the road near a sign that said Pipeline Trail.  It was still dark, so I took my time putting on my snowshoes, so I would not have to use my headlamp.  I headed up the gulch following some large switchbacks on a moderately steep trail.  I remember hiking this trail with Lizzy one summer, and we took a "shortcut" that was almost impossibly steep and difficult to get up. It took us near a cave entrance that smelled very strongly of dead animal, and we did not go in there, not only due to the odor, but due to the fact that this is mountain lion country, and I suspected that may be a mountain lion den.  I  stayed on the main trail today, but saw mountain lion tracks in the snow crossing the main trail toward the cave.    About .7 miles up the gulch I came to a sign pointing to Grandeur Peak to the right, and Pipeline Trail to the left. I went to the left. At this point the trail levels out and follows the old pipeline bed. There are a few pieces of pipeline fittings along the way. There is also a very sturdy old metal sign with the lettering long-gone. Perhaps it said, Do Not Walk On Pipeline?  The cool thing is if you hit it with your trekking pole, it sounds a great gong, exactly like a church bell!  You can hear it reverberating for about 20 seconds.
     As I continued along the trail, the sky was gorgeous in the East with the rising sun.  Just as I rounded a curve in the trail, the sun struck the Oquirrh Mountain peaks across the Salt Lake Valley, illuminating Kennecott Copper Mine.  The entire hike took me about 2 hours and was 3.5 miles long.

Map at trailhead

Trekking poles resting after steep hike

trekking poles had a competition
to see which could make the
loudest gong!

Still dark enough to see the waning moon

I saw 7 mule deer

rounding the curve

Kennecott Copper Mine to the West

Sunrise in the East

Interesting geological formations, look like geodes