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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 Stats And Directions
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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