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Now this trail and its trail head was about the most elusive one to find of all the trails I hiked this summer. I passed the trail head a couple of times before I finally found where to start. There is a Forest Service sign “BEAR TRAP FORK” 11.2 miles up Big Cottonwood Canyon. Next to that sign is a small road that leads to what once must have been a Bear Trap Fork lodge, (It says that on the front of it too), it looked abandoned to me. I met two of the property owners who were also hiking up the fork, and they showed me the way.
We bush whacked our way up a small hill covered in aspen to the first hill top. This gave the first view of the other side of the canyon, as well as opened up the trail. They wanted to rest there, so in general fashion, I moved on by myself. Up this little incline that looks as though the run off from the winter thaw runs down here. It has a couple of stream crossings, and then climbs an incline. Into a forest of aspen it takes you, and then curves to the right.
You come to an amazing little meadow, with an opening in the canopy to the sky. Up this little hill and you come to a dense forest of pines and aspens. I then climbed out of there and made my way to the next ridge top. The bowl leading to the pass was now more open, and the trees were a little more spread out. Now this part of the trail begins to look like something out of The Lord of the Rings, the aspens with gigantic granite stones, it looked so medieval. On I kept pushing to the pass, through more aspens, then the trail begins to climb north in the fork. This brings you to the pass overlooking Desolation Lake, and to the south, Desolation Peak. It was a bit breezy that day, and after taking some pictures I pulled the fleece jacket out of my pack. This overlook has great views of Millcreek, Big Cottonwood, and even American Fork Twins in Little Cottonwood canyon. If the day was not fading, I would have liked to hike down to the lake, but I needed to head down the trail to get out before dark. This hike was worth hunting for, I am glad I found it because I will be back to hike this again.
Trail Information:
Big Cottonwood Canyon- Trail Head- Sign- 11.2 miles up the canyon
Distance to Desolation Lake Overlook- 2 miles
Elevation Gain- 2240 feet to 9800 feet
Hiking Time- 2hrs 20min
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