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| Hiking | 7.26 Miles |
679 AEG |
| | Hiking | 7.26 Miles | 4 Hrs 22 Mns | | 2.16 mph |
| 679 ft AEG | 1 Hour Break | 26 LBS Pack | | |
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| no partners | | Starting from City Creek TH, my wife and I did an out-and-back hike of Pole Hollow Canyon.
On the way out, I chose to follow the drainage / wash while my wife hiked the trail. This added a bit of distance for me due to the winding nature of the wash. I enjoyed walking in the wash, but my wife wanted to stick to the trail, so eventually I joined her. The trail is straighter and mostly easier to hike than the wash.
My wife's opinion of the trail changed throughout the hike. At first she was happy that I was taking her on a hike that actually had a trail. However, there's quite a lot of deadfall along the way and she didn't much enjoy going over/under/around. She also didn't like the short but steep descents into the wash and then the ascent back up the other side. (The trail crosses the drainage frequently.) I told her that we should perhaps join a parkour gym to get better at moving quickly through obstacles. She didn't appreciate this comment.
All in all, I thought it was fine and I enjoyed the small challenges along the way. I wanted to see what this trail was like in case I decide to incorporate it into a loop: Pole Hollow Canyon - North Peak Trail - MDT.
Route finding was mostly pretty straightforward, though I did get a bit confused somewhere around Pole Hollow Spring. I think I started hiking up Hill Creek for a while, which also increased my total distance. Realizing my mistake, I backtracked and then took yet another side drainage, but did not proceed quite as far up that one. Backtracking again, I saw a log that had been cut for the trail and figured out where to go. For a time near the Pole Hollow Spring area, the trail required a bit of bushwhacking. Then, as it neared the Mineral Creek TH, it suddenly opened up and became a double-track again. And, not long after that, I was at Mineral Creek TH. I didn't stay long there because my wife had stopped about half a mile back.
The trail does seem to get occasional maintenance. I saw small trees that had been cut off near the ground. There were also large logs that had a chunk cut out of them where they had fallen across the trail. However, there's also somewhat more recent deadfall that hasn't been cleared. It's been there long enough to show evidence of other trail users making their way over or around these obstacles.
I saw a number of shallow pools near Pole Hollow Spring. The water is certainly deep enough to filter. I was expecting to see bees around the water and was surprised to not see any. Not wanting to get my feet wet, these pools were another obstacle, though not an especially difficult one.
As for the scenery... The area is pretty, though there's also evidence of fire damage. The canyon has mostly gently sloped vegetated walls/banks, though there are several areas with much steeper walls. That said, it's probably not a hike that I'll do again as an out and back. As noted earlier, I might incorporate it into a loop some day. |
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