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Coldwater Spring Loop Hike, July 7, 2013

Eleven people came on this hike.  Dave P. (leader), Ron, Chris, Gary W., Dave W., Terry, Jane, Alex, Florence, Vivian, and Ben hiked the entire loop.  Kathy and Reinhard opted for a shorter hike past Coldwater Spring to the Smithfield Canyon trail.

The trails were thick with wildflowers including Indian paintbrush, Jacob’s ladder, and big-leaf balsamroot.  In the forest were huckleberries and coralroot orchid.  The ridge between cottonwood canyon and blind hollow had owl’s clover, scarlet gilia, and biscuitroot.  The Hansen “pond” spring was still flowing well forming a small brook that extended to Blind Hollow.  Coldwater spring was also flowing well.  A few scattered raindrops hurried us along so we arrived back at the cars earlier than expected, before 3 pm.

The tread was generally in good condition, although many logs were down across the trail (we counted 14, several of which were too high or large to step over).   Signs were missing or damaged at almost every trail junction, so hikers should be prepared with routefinding skills and tools (map, compass, and/or GPS).  Our GPS track showed just over 7 miles total hiking distance, with 1800 feet of elevation gain.

Thanks to Dave P. for the narrative and Dave W. for the photos and GPS track.

Cache Hikers in a field of mule's ears and biscuitroot, on the Cottonwood Canyon Ridge
These huckleberries should be ripe by August!	Whipple's penstemon
Starwort	Yellow coralroot orchid
One of many damaged signs	Owl's clover

GPS track for the July 7, 2013, Coldwater Spring Loop Hike

View the GPS track using Google Maps or Google Earth