Middle Canyon; Unnamed Trail

 

We met up with some friends that have recently moved to Tooele to get a hike in. You know, The mountains in Tooele are pretty, but there doesn’t seem to be much to them so I was not expecting much. Boy was I wrong, as this was quite a pretty trail.

So we traveled up middle canyon, past where the pavement ends just after mile marker 6. The dirt road takes its first sharp switchback, and you can see the creek to the left this is where our hike started.

The long drive out to Tooele. The Great Salt Lake was a pretty shade of blue today. (DBP album)

Old hotel in Tooele, all boarded up and looking rather pathetic.(DBP)

First glimpse at the canyon. (DBP)

I guess this might classify as a hairpin turn.

Some pretty bluebells.

The creek.

Random mattress. I loved that this trail was quite a bit more wild and rugged than most others, what I really did not like was the amount of garbage I saw up here. If I had known there were going to be this many beer cans, etc, I would have brought a garbage bag up with me to clean up as much as I could.

Back to the trail. It pretty much follows the creek up this little side canyon. You have to cross multiple times, but its not very deep so it’s not really a big deal.

Sometimes you need to make the stream your trail. But there are usually enough stones or logs to cross without getting wet.

Some gorgeous scenery.

I’ve decided I really enjoy hiking creek beds. There is just something magical about it. For others see, Deuel Creek, Provo River Falls, and well in Oregon Sweet Creek.

My friends determining the best way to cross.

Just absolutely beautiful!

Loads of wildflowers up here too.

And a lot of butterflies too! Although most wouldn’t let me get close enough.

Mossy log.

I like all of the little cascades up here.

I don’t know what these are but I like them.

Lots of log debris.

Pretty flower.

Moss and water.

More cascades.

Man made waterfall.

Nice and green.

Some more little cascades.

What is this? Some vehicles.

And they are also riddled with bullet holes. Like the cars we found in Farmington Canyon.

I like to pretend I am driving them.

It’s not marked as a watershed, but if it is, I think they have more to worry about than people stepping in it.

To me, it looks like this caravan drove up the creek and got stuck, but Mike informs us that there is a road above that kind of abruptly ends, so they all probably tumbled down. We’ll get to that soon.

There is a third truck up just a little further.

Cool spider web in the wheel well.

I don’t know why I am so fascinated by car wreckages in canyons, they are likely tragic stories but they are just so darn cool! I guess it really is just the whole, well this doesn’t belong here, and the wanting to understand what resulted in it ending up here.

Lots of wildflowers on this hill.

Cute little waterfall.

A little side creek here.

Nice place to take a break.

This nice little area was as far up Erika had been before, but we decided to push on a little further.

Some Snapdragons and something else.

Here the creek, and trail split.

A look up the left fork.

A look up the right. We decided to try the right fork.

We made it oh, i don’t know, 30 feet or so up and Erika determined that the little one probably couldn’t handle much more. Looking back, she had been hinting that since our last break. I tend to just want to keep going until I find something or am done, gotta be more blunt, which she finally was.

More wildflowers.

I like this last parting shot.

I quickly scrambled up the other fork and snapped this shot. Still can’t decide which is the better trail, and have no idea what lies up either. So obviously 2 return trips may be in order.

This is the Landis, are you coming look?

Mike started leading us up a side trail. I assumed it eventually led back to the creek at the moment, but no matter, some more pretty wildflowers.

At first I thought this was Indian Paint Brush, but it doesn’t look quite right. Ultimately I decided it is just in younger form, but I am still not sure.

Some nice views of the canyon.

Ah, we are above the wreckages now.

The little side trail eventually turned into a very thin dirt road. I now see it is quite likely someone (or 3) were cruising down too fast and ran out of road.

The other direction. See, now no longer a road. Mike informs us this side road eventually leads back to the main dirt road about a mile above where we parked. I was happy we came up, but we all agreed we’d rather go back down the way we came than eat dirt kicked up by cars going up and down the dirt road for a mile.

Nice shots of the wildflowers on the trail.

Back to the nice spot we rested at.

Coming back down. Yup, the kid was done and had to be carried back down.

Pretty shot back down the canyon.

Nice rock.

Back to the wreckages.

View up towards that side road we were on.

Part of the creek now.

Random art. I like the creative way of painting around the bullet holes.

Additional debris.

Pretty little forest shot.

More debris provides a nice little bridge for us.

Nice shots back down.

Back to the little dam.

With a moss covered pipe.

Lots of butterflies, but most don’t let you get very close.

Pretty shot down.

Trees and sky.

Navigating our way down.

Back to the broken tree.

Just some pretty greenery.

Getting close the the road.

Back at the trail head this butterfly was not shy at all, and let me get really close.

So did this one.

View back up.

This was an absolutely amazing hike! I think it is about a mile, maybe a mile and a half to the fork, add about 2/10’s of a mile for the random side trail we did and lets just round it out at about 3 miles today.

Driving back down we saw this random mine. (dbp)

And exiting the canyon all you can see is the great salt lake. It’s kind of like a coastal canyon. pretty cool. (dbp)

I was really pleasantly surprised by this hike and really enjoyed it. Another carload showed up just as we set out, but we never saw them, or anyone else again. It was primitive, rugged, and absolutely beautiful! I think it gets a perfect 10 from me.

 

Now as for difficulty, I really must go with a DR4. Its fairly easy, and has a slight elevation gain, but it is rocky, and wet, you must cross the stream several times.