Weather:  Mostly cloudy - a few sprinkles, but no downpour.
Present were:  Mike, K7DOU and friend Nancy;  Gordon, K7HFV;  Clint, KA7OEI;  Randy, KG7GI;  Ron, K7RJ
Intended Destination:  To Catherine Pass - taking the alternate trail past Lake Dog (not to be confused with "Dog Lake"  which is at the top of Mill-D, North Fork.)
Comments:  We'd all been to Catherine Pass before, anyway...
Question of the day:  "Where's Gordon?"  Once again, this question arose.  This time, however, only Gordon had made it to the (intended) destination while the rest of us stumbled around in the wilderness trying to figure out where we were and how to get there... (Read more below.)
Total distance:  Approx. 3.23 miles - if you went exactly where I'd gone (not recommended...)
Times:  Depart Vehicle:  1850;  Arrive at waterfall just below Lake Mary:  1911;  Arrive at Lake Dog:  1914;  Arrive at old mining road:  1923;  Began climb of ravine:  1938;  Began traverse at top of ravine:  1949;  Top at end of traverse (also, approx. time that Gordon arrived at Catherine Pass):  2002;  Rejoin trail/meet Mike and Nancy:  2016;  Arrive at turnoff from Lake Dog trail (the turnoff that we'd missed on the way up):  2031;  Arrive at waterfall below Lake Mary/Mike and Nancy depart:  2035;  Gordon rejoins group:  2057;  Return to vehicle:  2116
Altitudes in feet ASL (approx):  Parking lot:  8776;  Waterfall below Lake Mary:  9368;  Lake Dog:  9331;  Base of ravine:  9665;  Top of ravine:  9948;  Top of ridge:  9961;  Meeting of Mike/trail:  9820;  (Catherine Pass:  10200)
Elevation gain/loss (approx):  It depends on where you went:  For most of the group, this was about 1044 feet.  For Gordon, it was closer to 1424 feet.
Local sunset on this date:  8:10 pm (11 minutes lost over the past week.)
Images (158-2500k each, .JPG):

• IMG01269 - Lake Dog and cirque, approaching from the north side.
• IMG01270- Lake Dog, as seen from the east side.
• IMG01272 - Lake Dog, from the south and west (and on the ridge.)
• IMG01274- Building ruins near the side of the Big Cottonwood Mine.  and Similar is #1273.  (Yes, I know that it looks like a bunch of trash on the ground...)
• IMG01275 - Site of an avalanche that killed two teenage snowboarders (near the Big Cottonwood Mine.)  This incident is detailed in the Utah Forest Service 2001-2002 Avalanche Report, pg. 23 and the Accident Report. (Closeup of the marker: #1276.)
• IMG01278 - Remains of a cabin near the Big Cottonwood Mine.  Similar is #1279.
• IMG01281 - Remains of a building - likely near the portal of the Big Cottonwood Mine.
• IMG01282bw - Attempted monochrome artistic shots of the same building.  Also see #'s 1283bw and 1284bw.
• IMG01285h - Ron, K7RJ, talking to Mike on the radio, trying to figure out where everyone else is.
• IMG01286 - Lake Dog, from a ridge above the Big Cottonwood Mine.  Similar are #'s 1288, and 1289.
• IMG01291 - Clayton Peak, backlight by clouds (just before sunset, during the "golden hour.")
• IMG01293 - Several views of the cliffs in the Pioneer Peak area.  Also see #'s 1292, 1294, 1295, and 1296.
• IMG01297 - Ron and Randy heaving into view after having traversed the steepness at the base of the cliffs.
• IMG01298 - Clayton Peak (again) - but with more alpenglow!  See also #1300. #1299 shows similar, but toward Guardsman Pass/Scott's Peak.
• IMG01301 - Sunset from the ridge above and between Lakes Mary and Martha. Similar are #'s 1302, 1305, and 1306 - take your pick.
• IMG01304 - Sunset-lit clouds above the Tuscarora/Woverine ridge.  Similar, but not as sharp, is #1303.  (Would that be the "Tuscarine" or "Wolvarora" ridge?)
• IMG01308 - Lake Martha with cloud-lighting from above the "Tuscarine" ridge. Similar is #1309.
• IMG01312h - Mike's friend, Nancy, on the ridge between Lakes Mary and Martha. (Similar - but slightly blurred, is #1311h.)

• GPS track of the hike. The recorded GPS track of the hike - at least where Clint went.
• Elevation profile of the hike.  The elevation profile of the hike.
• A more detailed GPS track - A more-detailed map with the GPS track of the hike (the path that Clint took...)
• Mike and Nancy's track - GPS track from Mike's receiver.
• Annotated aerial photograph showing the approximate tracks of the wanderings around Lake Dog.  (Image updated 8/30 to reflect Mike's GPS track)

More about the hike:

First off, we all agree that it was Gordon's fault!  (Maybe Gordon doesn't agree, but he wasn't there to defend himself.)  It was his suggestion that we try a less-traveled approach to Catherine Pass (for at least part of the journey) and take the trail that departs from the Lake Dog area, attains a ridge, and then goes toward Catherine Pass.  Unfortunately, none of the rest of us turned out to be familiar with this path - a fact unknown to Gordon.

Ron and Clint followed the trail (and old mine road) up to the Big Cottonwood Mine.  After looking around for a while we decided that we really should get to "that ridge" (above us) that would (presumably) take us to the trail that we'd been promised existed.  So, just past the large, collapsed, building (see picture #1282bw) Ron and Clint headed up a ravine toward the cliffs.  Ron, having been lost in this general area years ago, was understandably reluctant to strike out into unfamiliar, steep territory with less than an hour before sunset.  Randy soon joined Ron (after Clint had continued up the ravine, toward the cliffs) and they jointly decided to carry on, having observed that Clint hadn't yet met his demise.

Meanwhile, Mike and Nancy (who'd arrived several minutes later under separate cover) had more-or-less followed a similar route until striking up a course that was "two ravines" farther north than the one being climbed by Ron & Co.  Even though our groups were in constant radio contact, we had no idea where, specifically, everyone was.

After a while, Mike and Nancy attained the top of the ridge and found a well-worn trail and waited for Ron & Co.  By this time, Clint had attained the ridge alive and directed Ron and Randy to a lower route across the face that allowed us to reunite.

At about this time, Gordon appeared on the radio - from Catherine Pass.  He was surprised to learn about our (lack of) progress in our trek toward the pass.  As it turned out, he'd (naturally) assumed that he'd been in the rear - and was surprised to find that he had seemed to be the first - and only - one (of our group) to reach the pass.  Understandably concerned and confused by this unexpected development, he dug out his radio to find out what had happened to everyone else.

We explained our situation to him, noting that the trail(s) that we had found were terrible and at that point it became clear (to all of us) that he'd been the only one that had actually known where he was going.  Shortly after this, Ron & Co. met on the trail with Mike and Nancy and started down the now-obvious trail while Gordon prepared to depart Catherine Pass.  (Before departing, Gordon captured this picture of Last light of sunset from Catherine Pass.)

After a while, we (sans Gordon) arrived at Lake Dog (familiar territory) and noted that the last 10's of feet of the trail that we were on sort of petered out among some rocks:  Had we been expecting a trail there, we would have likely seen it, but we'd all agreed (probably to save face) that it was nearly invisible to the unsuspecting.

Mike and Nancy continued downward and returned to their vehicle while the rest of us waited for Gordon.  Sure enough, we began to spot his unmistakable green and orange LED flashlight on the ridge coming toward us. After a while he arrived confirming that we had, in fact, returned on the very trail that he thought that we'd already known about.

The rest of the evening was relatively uneventful:  A leisurely hike back down the the car;  a drive back down the canyon to the parking lot, and then on to Pizza and Bluegrass at Rocky Mtn. Pizza Co.

(And Gordon never did see Mike and Nancy on this trip...)

A bit about the area:

The Big Cottonwood Mine yielded copper-bearing ores such as Bornite, a few silicates such as Ephesite, a few lead ores, minerals such as "Ludwigite" (a Magneseium Iron Borate that probably compels one to compose music and causes deafness...) and even a mineral called "Clintonite" - a calcium phyllosilicate that the author should probably avoid...

(I have been unable to determine when this mine was worked.)

Comments:

• If you want one (or more) of these images and wish some sort of adjustment (color, brightness, exposure, etc.) please let me know:  All of these image have been processed in some way.
• These images are 158-2500k in size, .JPG and are in chronological order.
• No-one ever said that all of these images (or any of them) were good.  Some of them may have definite focus/exposure "issues."
• EXIF data is present for many of the images, showing time, date, and precise exposure conditions.  Recent versions of Irfanview will show this in the "View->Image Information->EXIF" tab.
• All images taken using a Sigma SD-10 camera using the 18-50mm zoom lens.

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