Oct 21 - Cardiff Mine (Big Cottonwood Canyon)

 Sunny day with highs in the mid-60s.

My plan at the beginning of the week was to hike up to  Red Pine Lake. I would love to the Pfeifferhorn all covered in snow. It looked possible as there was no rain/snow in the long term forecast. But guess what, the mountains got snow again. Yea for the mountains, but boo, for my hike.

I looked this morning on Alltrails and someone reported no trail from the 2.5 mile mark up. He post-holed up so there's no a trail but too rustic for me. Need alternative plan.

Heading up to the Cardiff Mine instead. The mountains will have snow but the trail should be pretty good. And hey, I've always wanted to get up there when the mountains are snowy.

I arrive just after 8am, gear up and start up the road. There's snow on the ground but the road is clear.

I stop at the bridge to watch 2 Dippers enjoying an early morning swim.

Looking for moose/deer on the way to the trail head but nothing.

I reach the actual trail, cross the bridge and start up the dirt road. Lucky for me a truck/backhole has gone up the road and now I have packed snow to walk up when the trail is snow covered; it's actually a mix of open dirt and various levels of snow.

It's so quiet;  just my footsteps making noise. 

Some people have been skiing the trail already - got to be difficult with the patchy snow.

Soon I reach the meadow

I continue thru towards the mine tailings.

There's a huge puddle, so I decide to try the ski trek at the bottom of the tailing pile so I wouldn't get my feet wet. First couple of steps it was a good idea; the rest I was knee deep or higher snow. But I make it past the water and continue up to the mine

I get my first glimpses of the snow covered mountains and it's incredible with the dark blue skies.

The views get more impressive as I get closer to the mine.

The mine is still in the shade when I get there but still awesome! Scratch this off my list!

Time to head back down.

Instead of post-holing around the mine tailing, I skirt the water's edge and I stay dry!!

Despite the sunny day, there's only a short period time on the way down when I'm actually in the sun and it feels good.

Any hey, I actually meet a lady heading up when I reach the meadow again.

Fun hike -- good day!

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