Pittsburgh Lake 09-14-07

[Meat_]

Joe wanted to hike up to Mineral Basin, after he chickened out on driving the FS truck through the rock garden. I was not going to be doing such a hike.

THAT would be a long hike

Yep, looks the same as it always has. We got a Jeep up there with opened diffs & 33's back in the day, it was a challenge! I've hiked it 4-5 times since it was closed, it made me sad that they closed it, but I agree with Steve... it's good to see how it's taken care of itself. The fishing was never great and that raft is pretty spooky.

Open diff wouldn't be happening now, it's ate down in a lot from run off, nothing dangerous but you wouldn't be going up it without lockers.

atleast you had a cabin to hang out in

I didn't have to hike up anymore at that point so I wasn't worried about getting wet, besides I had a fishing pole to tend to.

The mines you saw Meat are the Uncle Same (later known as the Centennial Mine??) and the Smuggler Mine, the mines above are the Pittsburg Mine and Adit. It would have been really neat to see the mines in their glory years. The Pittsburg Mine had a tunnel that connected to the Alta side of the hill, just so they could transport ore in the winter months, and two aerial tramways moved ore from the mines to the canyon floor, likely near the Bog Mine? I've never hear where it terminated. From there 6 horse teams moved the ore down the canyon, likely to Deer Creek where it was loaded on the train.

Love that trail

Cool. My TOPO map has them both marked as "tunnel" The tramway pictured goes the opposite direction from the bog mine.

see it would be cool if it was fenced with a gate so that limited rides could take place.maybe a once or twice a year closed ride with a limited amount of vehicles .some like short term registration for a drawing for a trip.it would be cool to be able to drive up there camp out for the night and come back down.

That's the only way it would work.... caver style And it would need a tech inspection before anyone went up the road.

 

[NE_Utah]

I like the idea about drawing out or limiting the amount of users.

 

[Kiel]

catch any fish?

 

[waynehartwig]

Sweet pics! I've never been up there, but I've seen pics of it. I'd _really_ like to see it sometime!! Early in the year, I think, when the run off/water falls are going...

I think the tunnel is the Centennial tunnel? Don't ask me though, Kurt obviously knows more about that area then I do!!!!!!!!!! I love hearing the history of places like this, so keep it up!

 

[Meat_]

catch any fish?

I couldn't set a hook to save my life I dunno if the hooks were too big, or if the powerbait was too old (firm).

The first half hour was dead, after that they were hitting like crazy for an hour. I had two out of the water then they let go and swam away, two more were close before they let go... several more held on for awhile then let go... I saw a bunch follow the bait in when I was recasting.

Right after I was being impressed with the little telescoping rod and tiny reel it rats nested on me when I cast... while I was trying to sort that out I got a strong hit, grabbed the line and pulled it in by hand, he let go about 5 feet out. I took the line and tossed it as far as I could, no sooner than I started working on the tangle I got another hit, so I grabbed the line and pulled this one out of the water just to watch him let go when he broke the surface and swim away

I got tons of hits including many times they tried to eat my bubble They are some well fed fishes.... I went through 1/3 of a bottle of powerbait from them nibbling it off

So in short, no I didn't catch any but that was the most fun I've had fishing in a LONG time.... it was close to an hour of steady action before I had to leave because of time.

 

[Kiel]

I bet 2 big of hooks, Most of those mtn truot are pretty small, how big were they. Should jumped in and grabbed them

 

[scoutabout]

As of recent... the US Forest Service. As suspected it was private property when it was closed and for the past years... but as recent as last year it was either donated or land-swapped to the US FS. However, they have very little interest in re-opening it to motorized use. Steve would likely know more about their current standing, but from a safety aspect... its not a road you would want open to the public? Even on quads its a bit steep and narrow to pass.

There are many reasons why the FS is not motivated to open the road even though the private land issue has been resolved.

A few in no particular order:
1. Why would we open Pittsburgh Lake considering all the damage and overuse at Forest Lake?
2. We have a difficult time effectively managing the open roads now, why would we open more miles?
3. The road does not meet the technical requirements of a "road" on FS property (grade, etc), and would need considerable work.

It's not outside of the realm of possibility to expect the road to be opened, but at the current pace it will be 5+ years before there's even a reasonable chance. Peer enforcement, club adoptions, big projects, and joint grants for enforcement are part of the strategy. Getting more than 1.5% of 4x4 users involved in the solution is another hurdle.

see it would be cool if it was fenced with a gate so that limited rides could take place.maybe a once or twice a year closed ride with a limited amount of vehicles .some like short term registration for a drawing for a trip.it would be cool to be able to drive up there camp out for the night and come back down.

We've been trying to soften them up to this idea to allow us to have an arrangement like the cavers. Again, it's a long progress, and we (OHV community) need more people to get involved/donate before it could be a reality.

It just kills me. If 10,000 4x4 users in Utah (still only 16% of the market) were active in volunteer projects and donating to land use, we'd have all the mileage we could ask for.

 

[Meat_]

I bet 2 big of hooks, Most of those mtn truot are pretty small, how big were they. Should jumped in and grabbed them

The biggest one I saw was about 10" average was maybe 6"

After thinking about it, I've caught fish there with those same hooks..... so the bait must be a little too firm to let the hook pull through (it's probably 6 years old )

 

[yellowbronco]

cool pics

Ditto!

 

[krazz1e]

nice pics meat looks peaceful.

 

[EZRhino]

I believe the cabin was the assay office. The last time I was there it still had walls. Dumb schmucks keep pulling boards off and using them as firewood. As far as the damage goes (comparing it to Forest Lake) that is just a copout by the FS. Pure lazyness! Put up a gate. Shut the gate. Lock the gate. Problem solved! Actually, any damage done is easily mitigated by an adopting club.

EZ

 

[cruiseroutfit]

I believe the cabin was the assay office. The last time I was there it still had walls..

As per Charmaine you are correct!

 

[high_roller]

thank you for sharing the pictures. It brings back memories

 

[Thursty]

Great Pics. How long did it take to hike the trail?

 

[Bart]

Great pics, they bring back memories. I'm glad I got up there before the road was closed. Don't know if I'd actually hike it, but after seeing the pics, I could get ambitious.

 

[erocrocks]

I believe the cabin was the assay office. The last time I was there it still had walls. Dumb schmucks keep pulling boards off and using them as firewood. As far as the damage goes (comparing it to Forest Lake) that is just a copout by the FS. Pure lazyness! Put up a gate. Shut the gate. Lock the gate. Problem solved! Actually, any damage done is easily mitigated by an adopting club.

EZ

i cant agree more, the damage up there is ont he littel lake, that is never consistant with water level, and also i will agree that the littel pond does look bad sometimes, but i feel that the large lake is ALWAYS repsected, and i dont see ppl going in the big, one, and as far as damage, if you open more trails, then the traffic would lessin do to spreading out more rigs over the area, at that is my thinking.......


i think that more orgainazation is required , but also there should be places to play and places to keep clean, i agree with both sides, but i dont know of where both sides are coming to together.....

maybe i just have not looked into this problem enough.... i would like more input on this if anyone would like to comment on the SHARING of land... and try not get into an argument over it either

 

[cruiseroutfit]

i cant agree more, the damage up there is ont he littel lake, that is never consistant with water level, and also i will agree that the littel pond does look bad sometimes, but i feel that the large lake is ALWAYS repsected, and i dont see ppl going in the big, one, and as far as damage, if you open more trails, then the traffic would lessin do to spreading out more rigs over the area, at that is my thinking.......

The damage that has occured to the Forest Lake trail isn't even remotely limited to driving in the lake. New spur trails, fences wiped out, people driving up the stream, campsites everywhere, etc. I don't think is an unmanageable amount of use, but given the resources the FS has, we are lucky that that trail is still open.

I think safety and user conflicts likely play a greater role in the resistance to open Pitsburgh Lake up... IT would be a dangerous place to be if there were just a couple different groups trying to maneuver the trail. If people could be more responsible, sure... but I've seen firsthand the type of rigs people try to drag through known HARD trails (ie. Constrictor, etc.)

A gate would be great, but they can barely manage to drop off some fence material when we offer to do all the work... I don't think they have the budget to run a permit setup for single trail?? I would love to be proven wrong... I'd run it tomorrow if it was legit.

Unfortunately there are higher priorities in the canyon, for the USFS as well as advocates for access (such as U4, RME, etc.). Miller Hill is a sensitive situation, as is much of Mary Ellen Gulch, etc. We stand to lose more quicker than we stand to gain some. Hence why projects like the NPLD event on 9/29 are so important, it sends a clear sign to the FS, we will work (and fight) for access in the canyon.

 

[Meat_]

Great Pics. How long did it take to hike the trail?

2 hours in (yeah I'm out of shape) 30 min out. I stopped to catch my breath a lot on the way in, but I never stopped long enough to sit.

...Don't know if I'd actually hike it, but after seeing the pics, I could get ambitious.

It's not that bad. :greg:

...A gate would be great, but they can barely manage to drop off some fence material when we offer to do all the work... I don't think they have the budget to run a permit setup for single trail?? I would love to be proven wrong... I'd run it tomorrow if it was legit. ...

We could always go borrow the one from the top of Major Evans

 

[cruiseroutfit]

...We could always go borrow the one from the top of Major Evans

Sure, but there will be a few freinds of mine that would be a bit angry their gate was missing

 

[Meat_]

Sure, but there will be a few freinds of mine that would be a bit angry their gate was missing

shhhhhhhh :greg: