Trail markers at the Bowman/Elbow/Terraces trailheads.
Click on an image for a full-sized version.

Images (.JPG format):

• SDIM0752 - Tim, caught off-guard near the trailhead.
• SDIM0753 - A view toward the top of Bowman Fork, showing that there was still plenty of snow yet to melt.
• SDIM0755 - What is believed to be a right footprint from a large cat.  Here is a web site that details the difference between dog and cat prints.
• SDIM0756 - From White Fir pass, a view of the ridge.  A similar view is #758.
• SDIM0766 - All along the trail, there were many examples of this particular fungus.  See also #761.  According to Brett, N7KG, our resident amateur mycologist: 
  
  "The mushroom is Caloscypha fulgens and is very common. The exterior bruses more bluish when handled. Also, it has a very unique characteristic:  If you pick it up and gently blow across it the spores will be released as a wisp of white smoke - It's fun to do once. There is another species that looks similar, but much smaller and grows in clusters on wood. That species distinct characteristic is that the edge is fringed with eyelash looking hairs, thus, it bears the common name 'Eyelash cup.'"
• SDIM0768 - This is a ridge at the top of Yellowjacket Gulch - still laden with snow, as can be seen in #788, where we stopped and turned around.
  
• SDIM0791h - The obligatory group picture.  It seems as though the long time exposure (6 seconds) and the lack of exact focus conspired to make everyone a bit blurry... L->R:  Tim, Mike, Gordon, and Clint.

• Bowman Fork Pano 1 - A wide-angle view of the end of the traverse just above White Fir pass.  (5.8Meg .jpg)  There is also a quarter-size version here - only 611kB.
  

• A detailed map with the GPS track of the hike (plus surrounding landmarks, 792 kB)  There were some discontinuities in the data owing to unreliable GPS lock due to tree cover, north-facing slopes, and poor satellite geometry.
  
• The elevation profile of the hike - This shows the ups and downs of the trail.  There were some discontinuities in the data owing to unreliable GPS lock due to tree cover, north-facing slopes, and poor satellite geometry.

Because this is still quite a bit of snow in the mountains - and additional snow was deposited since the last hike - we, again, chose a trail that we figured would be relatively clear of snow and with a southern exposure - such as Mount Aire.  As we proceeded up Mill Creek canyon, we could see hoards of bicyclists and their vehicles along the lower destinations.  We eventually got to the gate and found it to be closed:  Not wanting to hike the extra mile-ish along the road to the Mt. Aire trailhead, we decided, instead, to head toward the Bowman Fork trailhead at the top of the Terraces.

Arriving at the end of the road at the trailhead, we found the last, remaining parking space (the majority of which seemed to be occupied by picinicers rather than hikers) and started up the trail.  Before too long, we ran into our first patch of snow.  We then ran into more snow - and still more snow, making progress rather difficult at times:  Unlike our originally-intended destination, this trail was on a shadowed, north-facing slope, so there was plenty of opportunity for large patches of snow to remain.

After paralleling the stream for a while, the trail pealed off to the left and began a set of switchbacks.  Because these weren't quite as deep as the area along the stream, there was far less snow on the trail and before too long, we found ourselves at White Fir Pass.  Tim and I decided to press on, following a south-facing traverse that ran toward the southeast.  This trail was completely snow-free until we got to the end, where it crossed Yellow Jacket Gulch, at which point the northwest-facing slope was covered with enough snow as to make the trail's path difficult to follow.

Shortly before Tim and I arrived at the end of the traverse, Mike and Gordon had made it to White Fir pass, enjoying the sunset.  Because the official "closing of the gate" occurred at 10 pm, we wanted to return to the trailhead before then, so we headed back.  Before too long, the entire group was reunited and we continued down the trail, once again slogging through the snow-covered trailbottom below the switchbacks.  Stopping briefly to take the obligatory group picture, we made it back to the vehicles with plenty of time to spare.

After an uneventful trip down the canyon, Mike, who was driving, made his way to the parking lot at Olympus Hills - where the rest of our cars were parked - but we first stopped at the Rocky Mountain Pizza Company for salad, pizza, and bluegrass music.

According to Keller, Bowman Fork was named after one Isaac Bowman who'd been on his way to the California gold fields in 1850 when he decided to stay over the winter.  By the next spring, he'd become "Mormonized" and stayed around doing such things as teaching school, clerking, and building and establishing a sanctioned toll road in Bowman Fork in 1853 for timbers being hauled out.  He died in 1895 at the age of 65.

This information is from the book "The Lady in the Ore Bucket" by Charles Keller.

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Comments about pictures taken by Clint:

• All images taken using a Sigma Digital SLR camera and were taken using the lens noted in the EXIF data.
• Because all of the images were originally taken stored in raw binary format, they have been down-processed to .JPG for web posting:  If requested, different color/contrast/brightness may be applied and/or higher-quality uncompressed versions may be available for most of these images.
• 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 numbered 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 most of the images, showing time, date, and precise exposure conditions.  Recent versions of Irfanview will show this in the "View->Image Information->EXIF" tab.
  
• Note that cropping/noise reduction required the use of another program which may have removed some/most of this EXIF data.
• Images suffixed with "h" (if any) are half-size.  This was done for images that were somewhat out of focus (due to misfocus or camera/subject movement associated with long shutter times) or those that required some extra noise reduction and had lost some detail anyway.
• If you took some pictures of the hike and send them to me, I'll post them - and give you the blame!
  

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