faint trails

On Saturday, we joined a group from the Wasatch Mountain Club for a "Faint Trails" hike, led by club historian, Charles Keller.  Captain Mike had told us about the hike, which was going up Grizzly Gulch at Alta, and would talk about some of the extensive mining history in the area.  When we met the group - which ended up being nearly twenty people - at the Little Cottonwood Canyon park-n-ride lot, we were pleased to recognize a bunch of folks: my friend Susan from work and her husband, Bob, Captain Mike and three of Captain Mike's friends whom we had met last weekend on the Park City hike, Skip, Sandy and Hope.

The group, heading down an old mining road

The Faint Trails hikes are just what their name implies, covering old and little used trails.  Charles took us along the Alta-Brighton horse path, the Prince of Wales pipeline trail, mining roads that were laid out in the late 1870s, and several other of the myriad trails crisscrossing the upper Little Cottonwood Canyon.  Charles is a historian, author (The Lady in the Ore Bucket, a history of the Little Cottonwood, Big Cottonwood and Millcreek Canyons) and avid hiker.  His knowledge of the area is seemingly limitless and he showed us old stone walls, foundations, tunnel entrances, ruins of trestles, a suspension bridge, pump houses and water towers.  Charles is also 82 and is a prime example of how good an active outdoor life can be for a person.

Our guide, Charles Keller

The day was gorgeous - bright blue sky and sunshine over the golden aspens - the company convivial and the scenery spectacular.  We were out tramping around for about four hours (which was plenty, given the size of the group), covering 3.9 miles and doing about 1,400 feet of climbing.  It wasn't our most ambitious day of hiking but it was very interesting to learn so much about the miners who populated our beloved canyon from the 1860s until about the 1960s.  And it was just so nice to be out hiking around - the snow is coming soon and we won't get too many more days like that this fall.

Blue and gold - can't get enough of it