Why are there car keys on this board?
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After a week or two of "normal" summer temperatures, we decided to find out for ourselves if enough snow had melted off some of the higher-altitude trails. For this test, we chose a traditional hike, the Mill-D to Butler (via Dog Lake) loop. In years past, we knew this to be passable, even if there was still some snow left.
Piling into cars (and Bryan on his motorcycle) we headed up the canyon, stopping first at the Butler Fork trailhead to leave Bruce's car: Because the finish was some distance down the canyon from the start, leaving the extra vehicle allowed us to cram ourselves into the remaining cars to go to the Mill-D trailhead while providing a way to ferry those car's drivers back from the Mill-D trailhead when we were done.
Once we'd done this and reassembled ourselves at Mill-D, we headed up the trail. As usual, there was quite a bit of mountain bike traffic - but in this case, it seemed only to be in the upward direction, requiring us to step aside as the bikers went past, usually at a speed that was only slightly greater than our own.
It turned out that we'd timed our assault on this trail fairly well as it wasn't until we'd passed the Desolation Lake trail junction that we saw our first bit of snow - and most of this was off-trail, in the trees. Upon arriving at Dog Lake, we were greeted with a familiar scene: The setting sun casting warm, yellow rays across the lake, clouds of gnats swarming around causing glowing clouds to hover above the water, and wheezing hikers (and bikers) trying to catch their breath after the final slog up the trail to the lake.
Pausing at Dog Lake for a while to re-hydrate, re-fuel, and "re-wind" ourselves, we watched the sun disappear into the trees and then behind the nearby ridge, leaving only glowing tips of gold. At about this time, we decided to assemble for our traditional "obligatory group picture" before heading on.
Just above Dog Lake is another trail junction: In one direction the trail can be followed down into Mill Creek canyon while another trail traverses near the top of the ridge, eventually reaching (and branching again) at the top of Butler Fork. Following the latter path we made our way across the trail - having to cross a few large snowbanks - and eventually descended into Butler Fork, having to negotiate the usual minor mud bogs and streamlets from the still-melting snow.
At the bottom of Butler Fork, we paralleled a noisy stream that grew in intensity as we worked our way down the canyon. The trail crosses this steam several times, but fortunately, doing so is practical with the aid of appropriately-placed logs or rocks and, for some, with the additional help of a walking stick. Fortunately, no-one had any "incidents" and everyone managed to escape with little more than a wet or muddy shoe.
The forward group popped out of the canyon before it got dark enough to require a flashlight, but were content to wait for the rest: As it turned out, Bruce's car was there, but Bruce himself was in the trailing group, making their way down the canyon (and across the stream) in the waning light.
Eventually, the entire group re-united and the drivers piled into Bruce's car, returning a few minutes later with their vehicles. Another few minutes found the lot of us heading back down the canyon to the parking lot, where we went our separate ways.
In the early days, Mill-D north fork was the source of a lot of timber for a mill established near there in 1855 or 1856: The actual mill was located along the main stream in the canyon, near the south end of the present-day Spruces campground. Interestingly enough, this mill apparently used a "sash saw" (a reciprocating blade) rather than a circular saw and its "rep rate" was supposedly about 200 per minute. Driving this machinery was a 9 foot diameter waterwheel fed with a penstock with a 23 foot head. In about 1861 Brigham Young - for reasons unknown - sold off the the assets of the Big Cottonwood Lumber Company and the different portions (one of which was the sawmill at "Mill-D") went to different investors.About Butler Fork:
As it turns out, after this sale, much of the output of the Mill-D sawmill was sold by its own lumberyard (owned by various people over the years - including a Charles Bagley and the once-mayor of Salt Lake, Francis Armstrong) in Downtown Salt Lake and its operation continued until the late 1870's. Apparently, the remains of the sawmill could be easily seen at least until the early 1900's
It would seem that very little prospecting or mining was done in Mill-D North fork.
The body of water called "Dog Lake" is one of two so-named lakes Big Cottonwood canyon. It derives its name from the presence of Salamanders that the early explorers and inhabitants of the canyons had noticed: The common name for Salamander at the time was "Dogfish" - hence the name.
This fork was named after the Butler Brothers - one of whom was named Philander Butler (yes, that was his name...) - who operated a mill in Mill-G fork, along with many other similar properties in later years, including a steam-powered mill in Butler Fork in 1877. The next year, they operated their mill near the mouth of the canyon.
This information is from the book "The Lady in the Ore Bucket" by Charles Keller.
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