Temple Fork to Right Hand Fork, 16 June, 2019
Nine hikers turned out for the Temple to Right Hand Fork hike on Sunday; Teresa, Jane, Deanna, Kathy, Bree, Dave W, Dave P, Brent and Dan (the leader). We left two cars at Right Hand Fork trailhead and continued up to our starting point at Temple Fork, heading out on foot about 9:20am.
We followed Temple Fork creek, crossed at the second bridge and followed the poorly defined "Temple Fork Cutoff 3" trail to the south. After climbing slowly and being passed by horses and bikers we came to the Hunsaker Corral trailhead and the Temple Fork Road above Mud Flat, 1.5 miles from the beginning of our hike.
We followed the gravel road down into Mud Flat, where we were pleasantly surprised to see a field of blue camas flowers in the wet meadow. After a steep easterly climb we turned south onto a two-track dirt road toward Hunsaker Spring. Although we walked along the road for 2.3 miles, we only encountered a couple of vehicles (we planned this hike for a Sunday to avoid the larger number of vehicles expected on a Saturday). We enjoyed a lunch break in a shady spot not far from Hunsaker Spring, surrounded by meadows of blue larkspur and yellow bigleaf balsamroot flowers with views of snow covered peaks of the Bear River Range to the west.
After lunch we continued south to meet the Ephraim's Cutoff trail. This trail descends to the west with more great views and an impressive trailside sink hole. Eventually the trail meets the Willow Creek trail, the Right Hand Fork of Logan River, the trailhead and our cars.
We saw quite a few (spawning?) trout swimming around the gravel beds of the Right Hand Fork here, evidence that recent efforts to encourage the native Bonneville cutthroat trout have been successful.
The finish time was about 4:20 p.m. We had hiked 10 miles and climbed 1600 feet.
Trip Summary:
- Participants: Teresa, Jane, Deanna, Kathy, Bree, Dave W, Dave P, Brent and Dan (leader)
- Drove 14 miles to the Right Hand Fork trailhead, left two cars there and drove 9 more miles to the Temple Fork Sawmill trail
- Started hiking about 9:20, with a stop for lunch 12:25 - 1:00, arrived Right Hand Fork at 4:30
- Blue skies, calm winds and comfortable temperatures
- Hiked about 10 miles with 1600 feet of ascent and 2000 feet of descent
Thanks to Dan for the narrative, photos and GPS data and Dave W., Kathy, Bree, Jane and Brent for photos. .
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| The second bridge over Temple Fork and the beginning of Temple Fork Cutoff 2 trail | |
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| Riders on the Temple Fork Sawmill trail | We followed the faint Temple Fork Cutoff 3 trail southward past this beaver pond to the Hunsaker Corral trailhead |
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| This map section shows the Temple Fork, Temple Fork Cutoff 2 and Temple Fork Cutoff 3 trails with our track in blue | |
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| Which peak is Mt. Jardine? | |
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| Looking northwest over Mud Flat toward the snowy peaks of the Bear River Range | |
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| We walked along roads for 2.3 miles | Lunch near Hunsaker Spring |
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| Meadow with larkspur, bigleaf balsamroot and Wasatch desertparsley | |
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| The mulears flowers were just starting to bloom | |
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| An impressive sinkhole along the Ephraim's Cutoff trail | An interesting rock formation on the Willow Creek trail |
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| Larkspur | Fuzzy caterpillar |
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| Scarlet gilia | Serviceberry |
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| Someone doesn't know how to spell "Ephraim" | Chokecherry |
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| Valerian | Onions |
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| Our GPS track shows about 10 miles with 1600 feet ascent and 2000 feet of descent | |
You can look at our route using Google Earth or download our GPS file. |
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