This is part one of a 12-day RV camping trip to Skyline Drive. My brother-in-law Mark and niece Ashley had been camped in the area since the weekend before, but Traci and I stayed home until our youngest son’s 21st birthday (boy, is that a phrase that makes me feel old). We stayed in town for Bradley’s birthday dinner and then the three of us drove up Huntington Canyon and met up with Mark and Ashley. We arrived around 8:00 PM and set up camp and then just went to bed early.
Wednesday evening at camp
I worked remotely Thursday and Friday. On Thursday after work I drove to the South Skyline Drive turnoff and found that the gate was locked. Most of my hiking plans for the next couple of weeks were along South Skyline so that really interfered with those plans. North Skyline is a little over 9,000′ elevation, but South Skyline is well over 10,000′, and there are more trails in that area, so it was a huge bummer to see the gate locked. I walked down Skyline Drive a short distance and I thought I could see where a snow drift was blocking the road. I walked back to the highway along the crest of the ridge and there were a lot of snow drifts hanging on.
South Skyline Drive gate closed
Large snow drift covering the road in the distance
Candland Mountain
Watermelon snow
Moon through the trees
On Saturday I had to skip South Skyline Drive, and Mark and I hiked down Gooseberry Creek from UT-264. I brought Delta along but left Boulder at camp with Traci because she can’t hike very far at 11 years old. We hiked downstream until a side canyon came in from the north, then turned up to check it out. There were several sandstone overhangs but nothing much to see in any of them. In one place I stepped into a fox or coyote den, hitting my shin hard on the edge of the opening, and it still hurts now more than two weeks later as I write this. There were a couple of picturesque waterfalls along the spring-fed stream in the side canyon, but otherwise nothing much to see. We returned to Gooseberry Creek and continued downstream until the trail faded away into a bushwhack, then turned back and returned to to the truck.
Gooseberry Creek
Carpet of tiny white flowers
Gooseberry Creek
Ferns in an overhang
Sandstone overhang
Small waterfall
Deep overhang
Small waterfall
Our turnaround point
Gooseberry Creek
Almost back to the truck
On Sunday Mark and Ashley went home, and the rest of us drove a few miles to Beaver Dam Reservoir to cool off in the water.
Delta at Beaver Dam Reservoir
Beaver Dam Reservoir outlet
Beaver Dam Reservoir
I worked again on Monday and Tuesday, and after work on Tuesday I went for a hike directly from camp. I dropped into a side canyon off the Left Fork of Fairview Canyon and followed it down to its confluence with the Left Fork. I passed a Snotel station and then reached the Left Fork and turned up into it. The stream was running stronger here and there were more carvings in the aspen trees, most dating to the 1950s. I don’t think Highway 31 existed until the mid-1960s, so these guys were likely on horseback.
Larkspur blooms
Our camp
Water in upper Fairview Canyon
Possibly an old road
Snotel station
Snotel station
Broad valley at the junction with the Left Fork of Fairview Canyon
Shooting star
Creek in the Left Fork of Fairview Canyon
Left Fork of Fairview Canyon
1953 Von Gull aspen carving
1956 aspen carving
I continued up the Left Fork of Fairview Canyon to the very top, then looped back to camp. On top I saw more aspen carvings from the 50s, 30s, and even one from 1913. The larkspur was blooming like crazy, just huge fields of purple that were pleasing to walk through.
Left Fork of Fairview Canyon
Fun guy
Larkspur
Larkspur
Glen Gull, August 30, 1954
S\M 1934
I have no idea what this says but it looks old
1913 aspen carving
On Wednesday and Thursday it rained a lot. I’d never spent much time in this area and didn’t know that when the dirt got wet it was a sticky, muddy mess! Traci and I could avoid the mud easily, but we still had to take the dogs outside to go to the bathroom and that caused a lot of mud to get tracked into the trailer. Luckily we had plenty of cleaning supplies.
Heavy rain
On Friday the rain was gone and things had dried out a bit. After work I went to Gooseberry Creek below Gooseberry Reservoir to check out the failed Mammoth Dam. I had read about the dam before but didn’t realize so much of it was left behind, including parts of the dam, the intake tower, and outlet tunnels.
Gooseberry Creek flowing into Gooseberry Reservoir
Mammoth Dam
Mammoth Dam
Mammoth Dam
Gooseberry Creek below Mammoth Dam
Mammoth Dam outlet tunnels
Mammoth Dam
Mammoth Dam intake tower
Mammoth Dam intake tower
Mammoth Dam intake tower
Mammoth Dam intake tower
Mammoth Dam intake tower
Mammoth Dam intake tower
Mammoth Dam intake tower
I also hiked well below Mammoth Dam, and along the Gooseberry Reservoir dam to the spillway. While driving out of the area I noticed a U.S. Forest Service sign along what the USGS calls Japanese Creek, but the sign said Charley Creek. I’m not sure why the Forest Service changed the name but I’ve been unable to find more information about the name.
Gaging Station survey marker
Gooseberry Creek
Gooseberry Reservoir
Gooseberry Reservoir spillway
Charley Creek sign at Japanese Creek
Later that evening we drove back to the South Skyline Drive gate and found it still closed and locked. I debated whether I would let that hamper my plans for another weekend…
Fairview Lakes
L-R: Spanish Fork Peak, Mount Timpanogos, Provo Peak
Photo Gallery: Skyline Drive and Gooseberry Creek