Trail mileage sign, Desolation Trail, Mill Creek Canyon.
There is no mention of Boreal toads.
Click on an image for a full-sized version.

Images:

• SDIM3649 - The gathering at the trailhead.  Also, DSCN2243
• Along the trail, one passes a drainage that is bridged by a log.  Of the group, only Chris was "brave" enough to attempt a crossing:  DSCN2244, DSCN2245
• Misc. pictures at the overlook:
• SDIM3651, SDIM3652, SDIM3653, DSCN2243, DSCN2252, DSCN2254, DSCN2255, DSCN2257, DSCN2258, DSCN2260
  
• SDIM3655 - The obligatory group picture.  L->R (back):  Elaine, Ron, Mike, Bruce, Brett, Gordon, Josh.  L->R (front):  Chris, Clint.  Similar is #3654.
  

Pictures with "DSCN" in the filename were taken by Elaine.

Notes:

Since this was written about 2 weeks after the event instead of the day after, I'm a bit short on some of the specific details about who did what...

Being the first "official" (whatever that means) Wednesday Night Hike of the 2010 season, we chose a rather traditional "low altitude" destination - one that we knew would be free of snow and would also give us an idea of what conditions might be like at higher elevations:  Salt Lake Overlook.

Meeting at the traditional place - the park'n'ride at the mouth of Big Cottonwood Canyon, we departed again just after we met, re-convening at the Olympus Hills mall parking lot to further-reduce the car count, cramming into as few cars as possible.   Before too long, we found ourselves at the parking lot at the base of the trail where we re-introduced ourselves - including Josh, who was on his first Wednesday Night Hike (hence the question of the day.) After a few minutes of milling around and deciding upon whether or not to make a decisions, we finally started our way up the trail.  (I think that it was Elaine that made the first, bold move trailward.)

Characterized by seemingly endless switchbacks, this trail winds is way up and around - mostly through trees - and is typically being one of the more verdant hikes of the season - still green after the recent snowmelt.  Being one of the more-popular trails, we often encountered groups coming back down - not to mention runners and their dogs as well.

As was typical, the group broke up into at least two segments:  Those who were in the lead, and those that were half-slow - with me being in the former group, but the two maintaining radio contact to keep each other apprised of their progress.

Eventually - after several misprouncements of "this" being the final switchback, we arrived at the overlook - a ragged spine of rocks that extended a short distance to the west and north of the trail, providing a number of awkward spots on which we could attempt to recline, awaiting the arrival of the rest of the group.  After about 10 minutes or so, they showed up, requiring a rearrangement of everyone to accommodate our number.

After lounging lugubriously for a while, we organized ourselves for the obligatory group picture, after which we began our saunter back down to the vehicles, made our way uneventfully down the canyon (watching for deer) and we went our separate ways.

• None this time

• None this time

None this time

• A detailed map with the GPS track of the hike (plus surrounding landmarks)
  
• The elevation profile of the hike - This shows the ups and downs of the trail.  Due to ratty GPS signals, only the "downhill" portion is shown.
  

The Salt Lake overlook was named after Phineas Overlook, a failed opossum trapper that wandered the area in the mid 1880's.  After failing at trapping, he prospected for merconium, which he believed to be valuable - only to be arrested and jailed for his attempts to carry out such activities.

(If you believe that, I have a bridge for sale...)

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Comments about pictures/video/audio taken by Clint:

• All images taken using a Sigma Digital SLR camera and were taken using the lens noted in the EXIF data.  (Usually, an SD-14.)
  
• Because all of the images were originally taken stored in raw binary format, they have been down-processed to .JPG for web posting:  If requested, different color/contrast/brightness may be applied and/or higher-quality uncompressed versions may be available for most of these images.
• If you want one (or more) of these images and wish some sort of adjustment (color, brightness, exposure, etc.) please let me know:  All of these image have been processed in some way.
• These images are numbered in chronological order.
• No-one ever said that all of these images (or any of them) were good.  Some of them may have definite focus/exposure "issues."
• EXIF data is present for most of the images, showing time, date, and precise exposure conditions.  Recent versions of Irfanview will show this in the "View->Image Information->EXIF" tab.
  
• Note that cropping/noise reduction required the use of another program which may have removed some/most of this EXIF data.
• Images suffixed with "h" (if any) are half-size.  This was done for images that were somewhat out of focus (due to misfocus or camera/subject movement associated with long shutter times) or those that required some extra noise reduction and had lost some detail anyway.  Additional suffixes of the image file name may include "sh" to indicate that some "de-blurring" was done, "mb" for correction of motion blur, and "crop" denoting that the image was cropped.
  
• If you took some pictures of the hike and send them to me, I'll post them - and give you the blame!
• The video clips, if any, were shot using a Panasonic DMC FZ-8 digital camera, have been re-compressed, and are of lower quality than the originals.
• Audio clips, if any, were recorded using a Zoom H-2 audio recorder.
  

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This page maintained by Clint Turner, KA7OEI and was last updated on 20100615 (Copyright 2010 by Clint Turner and those credited above.  All rights on images and text are reserved.)