Temple Fork 2016

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Temple Fork Sawmill, 13 August 2016

Nine Cache Hikers hiked to the Temple Fork Sawmill on this fine Saturday; Nikolai, Jane, Dave W., Dave P., Jeremiah, Elena, Gordon, Harry and Alex, the hike leader. We admired the beaver dams and signs of recent beaver activity along the way. Upon arriving at the sawmill site, Jeremiah, Nikolai and Alex decided to extend the hike by heading south to the Temple Fork Road. The remaining six hikers headed back, stopping for a shady lunch near some beaver dams. After lunch they continued down the trail, enjoying late summer wildflowers along the way, arriving at the the trailhead about 12:55. This was a hike of 5.5 miles with about 750 feet of uphill travel.

The other three hikers followed an animal path most of the way to the Temple Fork Road, where they stopped for lunch. They hiked about an hour on the road, passed through Mud Flat and came to the Hunsaker Corral trailhead. They left the road here and hiked down the trail to Temple Fork Creek and followed the Sawmill trail back to the trailhead. They described their extended hike as pleasant, for a total of 10.2 miles (including 3.5 miles on roads) and 2000 feet of ascent.

Trip Summary:

Organized car pools and drove 19 miles up Logan Canyon to the Temple Fork Trailhead
Started hiking about 8:50, arriving at the sawmill site about 10:40
Six hikers returned the way they hiked in
- Lunch 11:25 - 11:55 near beaver ponds
- Back at the trailhead at 12:55 and Logan about 1:30
- 5.5 miles with 750 feet of ascent
Three hikers extended the trip
- Lunch at the Temple Fork Road
- Back at the trailhead about 2:30 and Logan about 3:15
- 10.2 miles with 1800 feet of ascent
Pleasant weather - clear skies, moderately warm temperatures and calm winds

Thanks to Alex for the narrative, and Dave W and Nikolai for photos and GPS work.


At the beginning of our hike

Beavers in this area are protected!		Many beaver dams along the way

Signs of recent beaver activity, including drag marks across the trail and freshly cut branches in the water

This gushing spring near the sawmill is not shown on maps

Sawmill monument	Pieces of equipment from the old sawmill

This interpretive sign has seen better days		This footbridge is missing a few boards

Lunch near beaver dams		Is this how beavers eat?

Monkeyflower	Aster	Goldeneye	Yarrow

Why were these trees logged out? There were a few old Rocky Mountain Junipers scattered through this area, but now only stumps and branches remain - the trunks have been hauled away! Virtually all the Rocky Mountain Juniper trees have been eliminated from the Temple Fork drainage, including Spawn Creek. The less attractive and much more common Utah junipers have not been logged.

Hunsaker Corral trailhead, where the three "extended" hikers were able to get back on a trail

Six hikers went 5.5 miles with 750 feet of ascent on the Sawmill trail, while 3 others extended their hike for 10.2 miles with 1800 feet of ascent
You can look at our route using: Google Earth, the various map and aerial views of Google Maps or download our GPS file.