Kevin – Monday. It’s the last section of trail today – part hike, part bike. Denny and I are being joined by David and Tera Day, Brent Holladay and Mark Woodbury.
We meet at Big Mountain Pass (UT-65) parking lot a few minutes after 7 AM, have a prayer for safety, take a few photos at the pass, then start down the hiking trail.
This is all downhill hiking about 4-1/2 miles. Not terribly steep in most sections but a definite downhill which can be hard on toes, calves, thighs and backs. Prophylactic pain medications are something I believe in. Keeps the inflammation down so a couple pills after breakfast is warranted for days like today! Yeah, I’m a whimp.
It’s obvious at the outset that the modern hiking trail is NOT the original wagon route. Yes, they’re in close proximity to each other, but not the same. That prompts us to start looking for the expected swales and other evidence off to the sides of our hiking trail. Only Brent Holladay hasn’t been with us in a remote section where we could show the ropes of finding trail evidence. The first upper section of the hiking trail didn’t seem to have much to show at first. I’ll have get with a local trail expert to discuss where the original downhill off the pass went.
As you hike a little further, the ‘approved’ trail descends lower into the canyon and we begin to come across short sections of original trail. In fact, shortly after we start noticing evidence, we come to an ‘official’ trail marker.
After all, the canyon isn’t very wide so there’s not a lot of mystery to where they HAD to go. You just have to look for and recognize the trail remnants. As in other places, erosion, road construction and time have wiped out a lot of original trail, but here and there you catch glimpses of flat spots, gentle depressions and sections where they HAD to go. Often the hiking trail IS the original trail. If you’re in a hurry to hike the distance, you miss the details. You have to slow down, stop sometimes and look with pioneer eyes to see where they were.
Some text claimed the pioneers had to cross the small creek some 40 times as they descended from the pass. That could easily be true as the streambed crosses back and forth in the small bottom.
You may recall that a few days ago on the east side of Big Mountain, Denny and I had an interesting few minutes with a bull moose. You may also recall that just prior to that, Denny and I had discussed what to do if confronted by a cougar or bear.
Near where the photo above was taken, our little group had moved off the trail to allow an uphill biker to pass. To my left and slightly downslope could be heard some huffing, grunting and then a low growl. I yelled ‘QUIET!!!’ Again came the unmistakable noise of a bear. Yup. It was close by, just down towards the creek bed but completely hidden by the shrubs in which it was rustling around. Was it coming closer? Moving away? Couldn’t tell. Others in our group distinctly heard Yogi Our Bear. We decided to hasten our downhill progress.
The flora was much less intimidating than the fauna. For trees there were firs, spruces, poplars, scrub oaks, and a few pines up higher. Plenty of flowers. One of the delightful finds were small shrubs with big wide leaves and small red berries that kind of looked like raspberries but weren’t. Didn’t know what they were but the fruits were tasty. The berries were much ‘flatter’ than raspberries and the leaves looked more like a maple tree leaf which was all wrong for a raspberry bush. And, there were no thorns like a raspberry bush. After we got home the search engine revealed them to be thimbleberry plants.
There were a couple of confusing places due to signs for the hiking trail departed from what would have been the logical wagon route. And, to reduce the erosion in some places it looks like the original wagon trail has been ‘chopped up’ by a backhoe. Think of large washboard ridges and dips a few feet wide. Not a smart preservation strategy by whatever National Forest supervisor decided to make this abomination. There were other options they could have used.
About 10:45 we arrived at the parking area for Little Dell Recreation Area. The Day’s had to leave. Work, work, work!
The remaining four of us drove a mile up to the crest of LITTLE MOUNTAIN, not to be confused with Big Mountain. Because hiking along Emigration Canyon Road is kind of dangerous, we had decided to bike down. Mark Woodbury had brought his bike and an extra for Brent Holladay. Denny and I had our trusty steeds. At the parking area on Little Mountain pass is where the pioneers crossed one last mountain. We saddled up one last time and headed downhill.
We quickly arrived at This Is The Place Heritage Park (a Utah State Park) and sought out Tresha Kramer, the Public Relations Director for the Park. She took some photos of us at the monument to document our arrival and we had some conversation about the upcoming seminar and encampment on Thursday the 24th.
