The snow has stayed on the mountains, this year, far longer than years past. Some years I have made it to Lone Peak by the first week in June but this year has been very different. Now it’s June 12th and the snow level is still between 8000 and 9000 feet depending on what side of the mountain you are on. By 10,000 feet, on steep slopes, the snow is slick, hard and very treacherous to cross. I have stayed on the south slopes so that I might be able to climb higher before I get into the snow. I have never hiked the south side of Big Cottonwood canyon and used this opportunity to see as much as it as I could.
Mill B north fork looked like a good place to start and my intentions where to hike to Mt Raymond and Gobblers Nob, and to see as many of the trails as I could. The days before it had rained every day and just dumped large amounts of water and was unseasonably cold so as I prepared for my hike I expected to get a little wet and wore warmer clothes than I normally do. I started hiking at 6:00am at the S-curve in Big Cottonwood canyon and headed up the north fork. It was a beautiful morning and a gorgeous forest that the trail crossed through; it followed up stream and through an old growth pine forest. As the trail climbed nearer the ridge, the pines gave way to scrub oak and maple trees. The oak and maple grow close to the trail and the foliage hangs into the trail and every thing was dripping with water. I put some Gators on hoping to keep a little dry but it took only a few hundred yards before I was completely soaked. My pants were saturated, water was running down my legs and filling my shoes, this continued through out the hike.
The trail climbs fast; it gains 1000 feet every mile for the first three miles. I enjoyed every bit of the climb; the trail is easy to follow and the canyons and ridges it crossed where full of beauty. I saw a few deer in the pines above me as I crossed through one canyon. The quakies all had new leaves and they had a golden color with dark green pines on the slopes and as the sun rose the light shimmered off the water that covered everything. At 3.6 miles
the trail crested a ridge over looking Maxfield basin. I was so impressed with this basin, being there was the highpoint of the hike. There were cliffs above and big pines shading the forest floor; it made the perfect little bowl to hang out in and relax. I didn’t stay long though because I wanted to reach the peaks. Less than a quarter mile up the trail there is a saddle and the first trail intersection which had a sign, and facing the sign, to the left was Porter fork to the right was Mill A basin and behind me was Mill B north fork; Mill A basin was the way I needed to go to access the peaks.
The trail stopped climbing as it traversed around the south side of Mt Raymond for about .75 miles. I got my first look at Gobblers Nob from the southeast ridge of Mill A basin; I also could see the more impressive view of Mt Raymond and the ground I would need to cover to reach both peaks. So far there hadn’t been any snow fields to cross but as soon as I crossed the ridge to the north face all the ground was covered with snow. The snow was so hard I couldn’t kick steps into it and the slope was to steep to travel across. I soon had to turn back and tried following the ridge to avoid the snow. This also failed because the ridge soon turned to cliffs and progressively became worse and finally forced me down the face. This was very concerning to me because there was no safe options. I was lowering myself down ledges on to hard snow and if I slipped I had no way to stop and would slide and fall until I was stopped by a tree or a big rock, either way I would be hurt. I went really slow and managed to get to safer ground with out incident.
At the north side of Mill A basin just a few yards from the saddle there is a sign indicating the Bowman fork is up and over the saddle, Butler fork trail is northeast and traverses the south face of Gobblers Nob and this is where the Mill B north fork trail ends. At the saddle I realized I would have to find a new way down because of the snow on the north side of Mill A basin and I knew there wasn’t time to summit both peaks so I decided to go for Gobblers Nob, it being the highest at 10,245. From the saddle to reach the top the trail climbs over 1000 feet in less than a mile and then follows the ridge to the north east peak, this is the high point. It took me 3.5 hours to reach the top and the trail was 5.75 miles long and 5140 feet of climb. The view was very cool; I could look at the entire Big cottonwood ridge and all of Mill creek ridge both of which I have hiked the distance. Alexander basin was below and looks very fun for a future hike, it is so impressive to see how much area there is to explore and I feel lucky to live so close to it all.
Butler fork is the way I chose to go down because there was no snow that direction. The going was fast compared to the climb up to the peak because it was relatively flat as it traversed around Gobblers Nob at 8500 to 9000 feet. From the saddle it steadily dropped and after 1.25 miles I reached another fork; the way I was going, traversing around the mountain, would lead to Dog Lake and if I turned I would go down the trail to the trailhead. I thought it wouldn’t be too far to go to Dog Lake and continued around the mountain. The trail wound in and out of canyons following the contour of the mountain as it passed through some very beautiful country. At times I had trouble staying on the trail as it was not well used, sloped, and fairly narrow but it made for a fun run. I followed this trail for another 3.25 miles, a total of 4.5 miles from the saddle, and ended up not seeing Dog Lake because I had come to the trail that would take me down to the road and had to go around one more canyons to get to Dog Lake.
I liked this next trail because it was fast and steep and not to rocky. Just a few 100 yards down the trail I got a good veiw of Mt Raymond and Gobblers Nob and the entire mountainside I just ran.
The trail wound through stands of trees and crosses a number of streams and as only 2.75 miles to the top of this trail. It is the best way to access Mill A basin and the peaks above. The shortest way to the basin is to take the left at the fork, and sign, which is a mile from the trail head.
5 hours and 41 minuets I made it back to the road; the problem that I ran into was when I came to the road my car was 4 miles down the canyon. My feet where sore and wet and running down the road wasn’t very fun after 2 miles I took my shoes off and ran barefoot; I find this helps me keep running when I don’t want to because my feet feel lighter and different muscles are being worked. After 42 minuets I made it to my car, tired but very satisfied and happy with all I just did.
