Tuesday, November 24, 2015

Burch Hollow Trail - Millcreek Canyon, Millcreek Utah


Introduction


This past Sunday I was looking for a hike to do.  Of late, I've been exploring Millcreek Canyon.  It tends to be a little lower elevation and thus should have a bit less snow.  Also, this is the time of year to venture into it on account there are generally less people willing to put up with the cold temperatures.  The canyon seems to be a super busy place for runners and hikers alike.

I made the 15 minute journey to the canyon and drove another few miles to the Church Fork Trailhead parking lot.  The parking lot is about 4 miles from the entry gate and is clearly marked.

A few weeks ago I did the Church Fork Trail that took me to Grandeur Peak.  This time, I took the trail east on the Pipeline trail for about 1.5 miles.  I then had to take another spoke for another 1.5 miles before taking another 2 mile hike to the top.  I definitely could've parked in Elbow Canyon and gotten a lot closer.

Either way, the Pipeline portion and the spoke trail are reasonably flat and were suitable for running.  In fact it was still fairly busy with a variety of runners and dog walkers.  Once I jumped on the official Burch Hollow Trail, it became a bit more arduous.  With the elevation climb, the trail got thinner and I saw less and less people.

Despite the 28F degree weather at the start, I quickly tied my jacket around my backpack.  I certainly didn't need it on this hike as I was working up a pretty good sweat.

The trail was muddy as we've had some snow in the past few days and the sun had melted most of it.

The view from the top was worth the effort it took to get up there.  I got some awesome views of Gobbler's Knob and the canyons on the other side of I-80.  There is definitely more areas to explore up there but it was snowed in and I hadn't really brought a lot of supplies up for that long of a hike (I had anticipated about a 5 mile hike one way).

Coming down was a joy and I managed to run / walk most of it.

Enjoy the photos!

The View from the top -- looking at East Canyon

The View from the top -- looking at East Canyon


Typical segment of trail




The tough ascension part






The View from the top -- looking at East Canyon

The View from the top -- looking at East Canyon

The View from the top -- looking at East Canyon






Looking at Gobbler's Knob from the Burch Hollow Trail




1 comment:

  1. Looks great! Congrats on your running year, you may have set a record for number of marathons!

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