Corey
03-17-2008, 06:34 AM
My son is working on his Hiking merit badge so on Saturday we did 10 miles on the BST. We parked at a lot at the mouth of American Fork Canyon and headed north towards Alpine.
It was pretty cold and windy at the mouth of the canyon, but once we got out of the canyon the wind stopped. The trail climbs pretty quickly maybe 200 ft and then you are on the shoreline trail. The first two miles are a little difficult to follow as there are all kinds of deer trail and other footpaths that cross the BST. We ended up crossing someone's backyard at one point, but it was early and it looked like everyone was asleep.
We saw 15-20 head of deer and a lot of big big houses. We did cross an old mine. Being this close to town, I expected that the entrance would be closed, but it was slightly opened. It looked like the heavy snow this winter had eroded the dirt they had placed in front of the entrance. It was too small to get through, but it wouldn't take more than two minutes with a shovel to open it up. It was pitch black in the hole, but I stuck my camera through the opening and flashed a picture. When I got home, that picture looked pretty good and you could see the mine shaft. From the looks of the mine tailings, it was not a very deep hole.
We continued up the BST until my son wanted to take off on a trail up the mountain. We started up towards Box Elder Peak, but after a mile the snow got too deep and we lost the trail. We had gone far enough and headed back down to the car. On the way back we stayed on the main trail and made it back pretty quick.
Overall it was a good hike. The trail has some ups and downs, but is not steep. I think a better hike would be the trail between Alpine and Draper. We may try it next.
It was pretty cold and windy at the mouth of the canyon, but once we got out of the canyon the wind stopped. The trail climbs pretty quickly maybe 200 ft and then you are on the shoreline trail. The first two miles are a little difficult to follow as there are all kinds of deer trail and other footpaths that cross the BST. We ended up crossing someone's backyard at one point, but it was early and it looked like everyone was asleep.
We saw 15-20 head of deer and a lot of big big houses. We did cross an old mine. Being this close to town, I expected that the entrance would be closed, but it was slightly opened. It looked like the heavy snow this winter had eroded the dirt they had placed in front of the entrance. It was too small to get through, but it wouldn't take more than two minutes with a shovel to open it up. It was pitch black in the hole, but I stuck my camera through the opening and flashed a picture. When I got home, that picture looked pretty good and you could see the mine shaft. From the looks of the mine tailings, it was not a very deep hole.
We continued up the BST until my son wanted to take off on a trail up the mountain. We started up towards Box Elder Peak, but after a mile the snow got too deep and we lost the trail. We had gone far enough and headed back down to the car. On the way back we stayed on the main trail and made it back pretty quick.
Overall it was a good hike. The trail has some ups and downs, but is not steep. I think a better hike would be the trail between Alpine and Draper. We may try it next.