Richards Hollow

I went on a hike at Richard Hollow with Cache Hikers yesterday. It's a 5.5 mi hike listed as moderate. I can see doing it as a mountain bike ride. There are some sections near the beginning that look pretty tough, but most of the trail looks pretty approachable. We did run into several people on motor bikes.

Richard's Hollow starts out from Left Hand Fork in Black Smith Fork Canyon. It goes through a fairly deep canyon before coming out into meadows. There's a nice waterfall near the beginning. You canget to the bottom of it by taking a short steep side trail.

We didn't make it to the top of the trail. We decided to stop for lunch and turn around near a series of Beaver pools. It was very serene. I had no idea that Beavers could have such an impact. There were a series of pools one after another that were quite large.

There were lots of wildflowers blooming. I had bought a field guide for the purpose of identifying them. I hoped that there would be a single comprehensive field guide that would have most of the flowers I was looking for. But I don't think there is such a book. Luckily, the Cache Hikers I was with yesterday were a great resource. They made the hike an enjoyable educational field trip.

I thought the most exciting wildflower find was the Sego Lily, near the trailhead, but we didn't see notice it until we were on our return. There were several on a sunny east facing slope.

List of wildflowers we saw (I didn't take the pictures in the links)

• aster - purple daisy-like
• monkey flower - yellow
• mountain bluebells - these are the ones that are waist
• flax
• sticky geranium - pink, five radically symmetrical petals, maple like leaves
• wild white geranium - look just like the sticky geranium, except white.
• white columbine
• indian paint brush - bright red at top of plant, very distinctive
• scarlet gilia - red tubular flowers on an elongated stem
• horsemint -
• yarrow - clustes of tiny white flowers with fern like leaves
• woodland star - white, dsitinctive shaped petal, I thought it looked like a snowflake
• wild sweet pea -
• cow parsnip - clusters of tiny white flowers look similar to yarrow, but the leaves are very different
• larkspur - purple, also called delphinium
• western salsify - I had been assuming that the giant dandilion puffs around here were from giant dandiloins, but they're from salsify

Temple Fork Sawmill Trail

I returned to Temple Fork, figuring it would be a lot dryer than a month ago. The Logan Ranger Station report is saying that it’s muddy in the shade, but there were only two muddy spots, just enough for Mudpuppy to feel like he was living up to his name.

Look for the sign on the right side of Hwy 89, between Right Hand Fork and Tony Grove. The gate is still closed on Temple Fork Road, so you have to take a gravel road on foot or bike about 2.5-3 miles to the trail head. I would think that the boredom of the road would deter hikers, but there was still some foot traffic. Follow the sign to Spawn Creek Trail Head and look for the Temple Fork Sawmill trail head.

On the gravel road, I noticed a rainbow just hanging in the sky. I noticed something similar on the juniper trail yesterday, but it was so faint when I took my sunglasses off, I couldn't see it. This one was also a lot more distinct with my sun glasses on, but it was visible to the naked eye. I did enhance the picture a little to make it stand out a bit more.

It’s a single track. Right away you can choose between a right and left single track option. The left one is a little more difficult. It's also the one to choose if you're worried about mud. It was dry on May 3rd when the right option was a mix of mud and snow. They meet up pretty quickly. It’s a gorgeous ride along the stream with wildflowers and aspens.

The trail isn’t steep, so I think it would be a pretty mild hike. About two thirds of the way it turned into a bit more technical bike ride. Mudpuppy and I had our most impressive fall to date. Even though it wasn’t too steep, I walked the bike a bit.

At the end, there’s a little sight commemorating the sawmill with a historical marker. Overall, it was a great ride, the perfect amount of difficulty for where I am. Mudpuppy got a bath in the car wash when we were done, so he’s had a pretty good day.