Discoveries Close to Home

My wife and I have been spending time exploring places close to home. It's been a real eye-opener. The Indian Trail is literally twenty minutes from our home. We have known about this trial for years. It is one of those places that you always drive by on the way to some other destination and say, "One day we ought to hike that trail." Well, one day finally arrived!I have to throw out a plug to those who have maintained this trail. It is in excellent shape; almost no litter and the bridges, shelter, and stabilized erosion and cliff areas are a nice touch. Thank you!

We decided to start our hike at the trail head in Ogden Canyon and then end at 22nd street. We left a car at the 22nd street parking area and then drove to Ogden Canyon. This would allow us to come out over the ridge looking west toward Ogden valley. If we planned our time just right, we would enter the last part of the trail just as the sun was setting. We hiked quicker than we thought and ended up entering the valley with the sun an hour before actual sunset. Still it was nice. We were able to view Ogden valley, islands and mountains around the Great Salt Lake, and watch a ground squirrel sit on a large rock formation with exact stillness.

I will not give a detailed point by point of the hike. I'm sure that description can be found on other blogs or hiking web sites.

What I hope to do is give you a sense of the wonder and excitement we felt for finding a treasure so close to home. We hiked on a Friday afternoon. We did not run into another person until we came out on 22nd street. The whole time we were in the back canyons and switch backs, we had the trail to ourselves. I was a little surprised by this. Our timing must have been perfect. Most people were still at work. Those who were off work, were probably golfing, swimming, or dining out. I really enjoyed the solitude I felt as we entered the shadowy east facing side hills. In fact, most of the trail was in the shade. It gave the feeling of being in a primitive area. As I hiked I thought about the native Americans (Indians) who used this trail. It is told that they used it because the mouth of Ogden Canyon and parts of the canyon proper were impassable in the spring when Ogden River was full of snow melt. I wondered if they spent the night in the coolness of the canyon or if it was just a means of getting from one place to another.

The area is rugged for the most part. The only place that looked like an area were they might camp was in the small canyon as you start the hike. There's a small tributary that flows down this area and into the Ogden River. As we hiked through this area we saw two tents set up. In front of one of the tents was a sign telling us that the area was reserved for a Boy Scout troop. I thought of how the Scouts would hike into the area, build a fire, cook their dinner, and then tell campfire stories. I love campfire stories (especially the scary ones) and envisioned myself telling the Scouts about the Indians that used to camp on the very spot they were camping. I would tell them that when the white man came the Indians were forced to move higher into the rugged terrain of the surrounding mountains. I would tell them that on occasion an Indian is spotted by a hiker or that sometimes they would come down to people camping and trade. I would tell them that it is best to go to bed when told and stay in their tents--no running through the forest after dark. They never did find the one man who wandered up the trail after dark one night several years ago. All they ever found was his day pack.

Crossing a large rock slide area.

My hiking partner in the foothill area. Her beautiful hair blending with the grasses.

The switchbacks are not bad and after getting to the top of the trail we found the emergency shelter and got a view of the valley through the opening at the canyon mouth. We were now at the highest elevation of the trail, something like 6100 feet. I glanced over to the opposite mountain and wondered how we would cross over it. I could see no trail from this vantage. I guess I wanted to see a trail that just went up the side of the mountain. What I soon realized is that each side canyon had a trail that went back within it and then back out of it on the apposing west side. We went up and out of several of these side canyons as we made our way west toward the city of Ogden. That is what made it possible for us to stay in the shade the majority of the hike. It wasn't until we neared the mouth of the canyon that the trail slipped lower on the ridge and came out in the foothills and sage and sun.

I shared this trail with my wife and we both felt a peace and serenity under the large evergreens.  I also had an awareness of how short our lives are. I imagined that the age of some of those trees was well beyond the allotted time I will spend on this planet. Their size also made me feel small and insignificant to a degree. Oh, I knew a good chainsaw could do some damage, but standing by some of the trunks made me feel powerless.

At one point we stopped for a snack. We could look down and see vehicles weaving their way around a corner on the canyon floor. It gave us a feeling of depth. I will admit, at that place I pondered what it would feel like to fall from such a place. My stomach twisted slightly. Even with that thought, there was never a place on the trail where I felt that sort of danger. I knew that I would have to be horsing around doing something stupid to end up falling.

I'm sure there are days when this trail receives pressure. It has to be a popular hike being so close to Ogden and the surrounding towns. I was glad that we hiked alone. As we came out of the canyons and into the foothills, we paused to look at the man made waterfall at the canyon mouth. It's nice, but because it isn't natural, its appeal is diminished for me. Still we stopped and looked. We took out the binoculars and scanned the valley. Then turned them to objects in the distance. Fremont Island, Antelope Island, Little Mountain, the Promontory Range and Willard bay were all scoped out. That's when we noticed the ground squirrel perched motionless on a large rock. I thought it rather odd that it was so still. Statuette like it looked out over the sage brush hills just above Rainbow Gardens. As we turned to finish our hike down to 22nd street parking area, a red fox walked across the trial. I watched as it walked up into the rocks and brush just ahead of us. I made a few squeaks on the back of my hand and it froze. I could see only its head poking up above a rock. My wife came down to see if she could see it. Eventually, it walked up the side of the hill and into the brush. It wasn't until we got home that it dawned on me that the reason the squirrel was so still is that it was probably watching the fox come up through its territory.

Cliff area.

Looking toward Ogden from the 6100 foot level.

The emergency shelter at the top of the hike.

Large evergreen trunks make me feel small.

There's a red fox in there somewhere.

We drank the last few drops of water and then drove up the canyon to our other car. There was no sunset to see from the foothills. We had worried about hiking in the dark and made a poor estimate on how long it was going to take to complete the hike. Had we known, we would have spent more time in the deep, cool shadows of the canyons. When we met a home, we discussed the thins we saw and the feeling we had. We vowed to do the hike again, with the knowledge we have of just how long it takes to go from one end to the other. While the solitude was nice, we might just share the trail with someone else the next time we go. What do you say, you in?Happy hiking!