July 21 - Silver Fork

Meeting in the parking lot at the usual time, we knew that our choices were somewhat limited: We could pick a nice, cool high-altitude hike such as Clayton or Sunset peak and risk being rained on and possibly struck by lightning, or we could pick a lower-altitude canyon-level hike and just risk being rained on.

We chose the latter - Silver Fork, specifically. (As it turns out, we didn't go to Silver Fork in 2009.)

So, we piled into vehicles and started up the canyon.

Riding up the canyon with Tim, we (Bruce and I) were just a bend or two short of the terminal moraine when Tim said "Uh oh!" and at that moment we experienced the sense of deceleration as we coasted to a stop on a wide part of the shoulder. What had happened was that the engine in Tim's Tahoe had just quit - a problem that he attributed to using ethanol-added gasoline and subsequent vapor-locking. After communicating our situation to the others via radio, they pulled over just short of the Donut Falls turnoff and waited to see if additional transportation needed to be arranged. As Tim had hoped, after about 5 minutes of cooling, the engine re-started - albeit running rather poorly - and we resumed our climb up the canyon. Again, I got on the radio and informed the crowd that "We had 'Vroom' again" to which Elaine asked "Do you have 'Vroom' to spare?"

As it turned out, we didn't.

Just as we reached the Solitude parking lot, the engine quit again and we coasted silently onto the shoulder just a few feet up-canyon from its entrance. Since we were going to Silver Fork via Solitude anyway, Tim just parked there.

Piling out of the vehicles, we donned our hiking gear and started the long trek across the asphalt parking lot, eventually reaching a hiking trail which crossed a gravel road, leading us to... more asphalt. We followed this road until it reached the mouth of Silver Fork at which it turned into a two-track dirt road and entered the tree canopy. Eventually, we came to the "Silver Fork" informational sign and a locked gate intended to keep vehicles out - but was not so-posted for those who were content to hike along the road.

The hike up Silver Fork is, for much of its distance, a rather gradual grade, passing alternately through wooded areas and avalanche run-out zones. After a while, however, the road turns, crossing to the east-ish side of the stream and at this location there is a rather obvious area of prior excavation near the portal of the Alta Tunnel. A dozen or so years ago, one could witness a curious phenomenon at this spot if one chose to linger: The roar of water emerging from the portal would, over a period of minutes, ebb and flow as its rate of discharged seemed to slowly oscillate up and down. We never really knew of the cause of this, but our (uneducated) guess was that it was, in essence, a slow-motion "glug-glug" effect where the draining of the mine would cause a vacuum that slowed the discharge of water and when the level dropped, breaking the vacuum, air would rush in, allowing the flow to increase again and the process would repeat. Now, however, this phenomenon - if it still persists - can no longer be readily witnessed as the portal and the water emerging from it immediately go into a cistern and is piped away.

Past this point the old mining road becomes less-distinct and the canyon starts to narrow. By this time we were happy to let Bruce take the lead as the occasional sprinkles had wet the leaves and we were willing to let him knock most of the water off as he passed by. It was also at this time that we became more-acutely aware of something else: Mosquitoes. As the trail steepened and the canyon narrowe, they seemed to become more numerous and voracious, attempting to feast on us whenever we happened to stop - something that Sam, Chris's son, seemed to be most bothered by: Perhaps it was his small size that meant that, in proportion, they were stealing more blood from him than the rest of us... Eventually, we succumbed to their persistence and we slathered ourselves with DEET - and they (finally) stopped pestering us.

At about this same spot Chris suggested that, instead of the mine, that we go to the "West Bowl" (note its mention in the picture of the informational sign, above) while pointing at a faint road cut that went up the opposite side of the gorge diagonally. For whatever reason (probably because the rest of us present were "sticks in the mud" as he put it) we decided to continue to our traditional haunt. To be sure, however, it would be interesting to explore some of those old road cuts some day...

After more climbing and grunting we reached a wide meadow and crossing it, reaching a lunar-esque landscape of mine dumps, reaching the portal of the Wellington Mine. There, we re-hydrated, ate some snacks and waited for the rest of the group to arrive while Chris and Sam poked their head a few feet into the portal. After a few minutes, they emerged and Sam was seen climbing up and over the top of the portal and exploring a bit uphill from our location while Chris would occasionally reign in his enthusiasm to keep him from going too far.

Eventually, the rest of the group arrived and briefly relaxed. As it continued to approach sunset we decided to take the obligatory group picture and as we did so while a brief sprinkle of rain passed. As soon as the obligations had been completed, part of the group started back down-canyon in an effort to navigate the steepest part of the trail while there was still enough natural light to do so. Packing up my gear, I left the mine with Bruce, Ron and Elaine and we started a rather leisurely descent, also managing to get through the worst part before it was dark enough to require flashlights.

The rest of the hike back down Silver Fork was pretty uneventful. In the past we have often seen deer or moose during our visit to this area, but aside from catching a tell-tale whiff of herbivore, we saw no evidence of any of them. As it got darker, the clouds started to break up, revealing a waxing moon toward the south and east - just in time for us to enter the tree canopy. At about this time Dale appeared on the radio reporting that he was nearing the Solitude parking lot and asked us where we were, to which we relayed our approximate position - walking along a road, in the trees, with rocks nearby - a useful report, I'm sure...

We soon passed the gate and in the distance, through the trees, appeared a light from one of the cabins. From there we followed the road back to the trail that took us back to the parking lot and there we could see (and hear) a waiting vehicle. As we approached in the darkness we recognized the "Tim-mobile". Choosing to walk across the parking lot (to complete the journey) rather than get in the car right there, we wandered back to the main road (the parking lot gate not having been closed yet, obviously!) where we piled into our vehicles and went uneventfully back down-canyon to the parking lot where we went our separate ways.