Due to a few hiccups in the planning for the guys' "Living off the land" trip, we weren't able to make it happen this past weekend. We're tentatively rescheduling for another weekend next month. So instead, Lydia and I decided to spend some time with her family up in the Spruces campground up Big Cottonwood. We left Thursday right after work and stayed til Sunday morning (with only a few trips back down to the valley).
So instead of putting my miles in on the road over the weekend, I decided to take it to the trails instead. Friday consisted of a few separate hikes, totaling about 6 miles for the day. My dad and I are trying to get some good hikes in to prep for hunting season, but I decided not to do anything too aggressive since I had a longer trail run planned out for Saturday. So instead, he and I went to a well known area and did a little scouting. Later in the day, Lyd and I went on a couple shorter hikes as well.
And then there's Saturday... I did a little research and thought I had the total mileage for my run pinned down. Turns out I was off by 3 miles or so! I awoke Saturday morning, drove down to the Mill B North trailhead and proceeded to make my way up the trail. It had rained the night before, so the vegetation was really wet. Needless to say, I was soaked once I hit the thick stuff about a mile and a half into it and stayed that way until the end of the run. I made it to the Porter Fork junction in about 1 hour 25 minutes or so; my best time to date.
I proceeded into Mill A Basin along the Desolation Trail and stopped to watch some deer feed. No big bucks though! I moved along around Mill A at a pretty decent clip, only falling once! The overgrowth on the trails was starting to get a little annoying though as my shins were getting trashed, not to mention I was now soaked up to my chest.
I eventually hit the junction for Butler Fork and continued along the Desolation Trail. This section was a mystery to me; I couldn't find anything on the web about the distance, and I'd only hiked it twice before in my life, the most recent being about 4 years ago. So I guessed it at around 2 miles. Turns out it was probably closer to 4! And the overgrowth was unreal!!! There were points where I couldn't even see the trail and I'd have to stop and walk it to avoid snapping one of my limbs. Good times! After nearly 50 brutal minutes, I made it to Dog Lake.
I've been to Dog Lake a few times over the years, but always on an out-and-back. So when I got there, I had no idea where to go since I was going on a through route. I followed my instincts and made my way down a trail. After about 10 minutes though, I realized I was not going the right way and was most likely heading down into Millcreek. Turned around and went down another way... Dead end! By this point I'd lost about 20 minutes, so I finally asked someone who pointed me in the direction I was looking for... Mill D. I flew down the .6 mile section in about 3 and a half minutes, then turned up the steep incline towards Desolation Lake.
I've spent plenty of time on this section so I knew what to expect, except for the mountain bikers. I think because it was the 24th holiday weekend, a larger number of people were out than usual. I saw at least 25 mountain bikers in that 1.9 mile section up to Desolation Lake. When I got to Desolation, I saw a few more and 15-20 people sitting at the lake, something I've never seen before.
The rest of my run was completely new to me. I knew I had to end up on the South ridge of the Desolation Lake cirque, but wasn't quite sure the best way to tackle it. I headed down the west side of the lake and noticed a small trail that went up in a southern direction. Turns out this was the right trail to take as it got me to the southern ridge, but I might as well have been scaling a mountain... It was steep! The views from above were worth it though (too bad my camera was out of commission).
Once at the top I dropped down into Beartrap Fork. I didn't know what to expect having never been here before, but the canyon was peaceful. The first third was steep, the second third was moderate, and the final section was a slight downhill. Since the canyon was still mostly in the shade though, I continued to get soaked (just as I was starting to dry off too). Could've done without that and the hoardes of nettle that pummeled my now open shin wounds... It felt amazing! (notice the sarcasm).
Once I hit the road it was another mile or so to The Spruces and I was finished. An estimated total of 17.5 miles which took me about 4 hours 45 minutes. The aftermath: two raw shins, one bloody heel, nettle stings, a few new blisters, wet drawers and a big smile! Onto my first 50 mile week!!!
