South Fork of the Provo 2017

On Sunday I organized a loop hike into a couple cirques high above the South Fork of the Provo River. It was a gorgeous but typically warm day at the end of July.

We started at the Shingle Mill trailhead at the end of the South Fork road, and used trail #211 to cross over into Big Springs Hollow. The trail mostly runs through pleasantly shady forest, and it picks up the main trail #059. This trail, a segment of the Great Western Trail, climbs steadily through (mostly) deciduous forest before suddenly climbing quite steeply for the last 1000 ft of elevation to the ridge. There are some switchbacks, but it's still a struggle.

At the ridge, we got a glorious view north toward Cascade Mountain and Timp, and an equally wonderful view south toward Provo Peak. After a break for lunch, we hiked south and upward to the junction with trail #057. We took in Peak 10006, then backtracked to the Carsonite sign directing us down a ridge on the west side of the Shingle Mill Creek cirque. We walked through a lovely forest, staying on the west side of the ridge, until reaching a saddle. The trail makes a hard right and contours into the draw, then follows the right side of the draw down to the intersection with the Great Western Trail #058. The trail is covered with gravel and cobbles, and it's quite awkward footing. This year, it is also very overgrown and passes through large patches of nettles. Ouch.

We turned left and followed the GWT back to the trailhead. This proved to be a very long walk, contouring high on the west side of the valley above private property in the bottom. The bad footing continued, reminding me of rubble on the Aspen Grove trail on Timp. The trail alternates between cool forested sections on north-facing slopes and drier, hotter sections on south-facing slopes. It seemed to take forever to get to the bottom, because the trail surface was so bad and the temperature was very warm.

Round trip was about 12.4 mi with perhaps 4000 ft of elevation gain. A respectable hike.

go to the South Fork of the Provo gallery