Trip Report: Co-Organized Exploratory Loop Hike - Porter Fork to Thaynes


Co-Organized Exploratory Loop Hike - Porter Fork to Thaynes
By Paula McFarland
HIKE 08/29/2020 MOD+

Imagine hiking in Millcreek Canyon on a Saturday in late August and not running into any other hikers. That was our experience for most of the day on this beautiful trail.

We started at 8:00 a.m. and shuttled up to the Porter Fork parking area after leaving a couple of vehicles at the Desolation trailhead. The trail starts at the gate down on the main road and we walked along the road for about 1.25 miles until reaching the end and starting up the dirt trail. The trail follows a steady uphill path to the upper canyon to the junction of the Desolation trail. The trail was shaded much of the way and the light morning cloud cover helped to keep things fairly cool.

After joining up with the Desolation trail, we traversed across Porter Fork with views of Mt. Raymond and Gobbler's Knob behind us and Mt. Aire to the north. We enjoyed great views all the way and passed a couple of beautiful meadows where the flowers had passed, but were likely spectacular earlier in the year. Prior to reaching Thayne's, we headed down some fairly steep switchbacks and stopped for lunch in a nice shady spot before continuing on to our destination. From the point where we joined the Desolation trail, we only encountered a few other hikers the entire day until we reached the more heavily trafficked Thayne's Canyon trail.

An option to summit Thayne's peak was discussed at the junction, but the group decided to pass and we headed down the canyon. Overall, we covered around 12 miles in approximately 6.5 hours.

Many thanks to Julie and Cassie for organizing this wonderful trip. It's definitely one to do again.



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