Patterson Hollow

August 15, 2018

How long does it take for a name carved into a tree to become interesting or of historical value?  10 years after the act, 50 years, or only after the carver has kicked the bucket! Or Never?, all it does is de-value a pristine natural setting. This is a topic I want you to contemplate while you hike a 7 mile loop into Patterson Hollow from the Birch Lake area where names on trees span every decade from 1890 to the present.  The trees out there in the Forest are not yours to carve into, and when you do it, you are a vandal, spraying graffiti like markings on community property. I am certainly not innocent myself, I have left my initials in a couple spots in the Tushars and part of my job on trails crew is to cut blazes on tree trunks to help guide hikers and horsemen through the woods.   Something comes over us out there in a beautiful setting though, like at a trail junction, at a scenic overlook, or where we camped. The smooth white bark of an aspen is an inviting canvas, especially when others before have left their mark there, it justifies it in our mind that they also thought this was “The Spot To Remember”, so we whip out our blade and claim that aspen as our own.  While cleaning trails, my new thing is to cut out little pine trees that hide old trail blazes on really old aspens. Occasionally some interesting names and dates are revealed and I think it’s fun to see what’s been hiding, considering that aspen trees may live to 150 years. See if you can spot these examples here along trail #235: EFA-Layton, Utah 1932; Loran Patterson July 9. 1942 “the year of the war”; J. Bradshaw Sheep Camp; Will Sorenson 1928 FTNG; (possibly) Jay Johnson 1899; Gib Yardley Sept. 29 ‘69; J+M Riley ‘89, or K. Jordan 2007.  

To get going on this walk through time, drive up Beaver Canyon to mm10 and turn right on F.R. 137.  In 3.5 miles, Birch Lake T.H. will be on the right, just below Tushar Lakeside Campground. Park here and hike up F.R. 625 which takes you right to Birch Lake where you head west along the shoreline.  Then hike out of this basin to the west where you’ll turn left on the 066 a.t.v. trail. In just half a mile, you can get off the steep and rocky a.t.v. route because you’ll find the junction for trail #235 and two of the cutest little wooden signposts anywhere.  Head west on the 235 towards Kane Spring and you’ll pass all the names on aspens mentioned earlier, some huge dead douglas firs, and a few raspberry patches. The trail enters open sagebrush and heads downhill towards a cattle watering hole. 70 yards before this water hole, turn south and head for the low saddle in the horizon.  There is another watering hole here, dry of course this year, and you’ll stay left down a steep and rocky draw that takes you into Patterson Hollow. Carsonite signs are present here to confirm you found Patterson Hollow and the intersection with trail #236. Turn left onto the 236 and head back uphill to the east, realizing most maps are incorrect, showing the trail staying higher on a ridge, but on the ground, the trail stays in the bottom of a draw to the north and goes past several beautiful and enormous ponderosa trees.  Trail 236 is quite steep through this draw, but then moderates just before it intersects with the 066 a.t.v. trail. Once on the 066, head left again back past the 235’s cute signs and uphill to Birch Lake and down towards Tushar C.G. and your car where your A\C and stereo will bring you back to the comfort of our modern times! So whether you feel no tree should ever suffer being carved upon by defiant youngsters, or you know it is unhealthy for the cambium, phloem,and xylem, I feel it at least makes us remember our predecessors and marvel about how they got up in these hills to work without gasoline engines.   I never saw Robert Patterson’s name in this area, the Lumberjack from 1880 whom this hollow is named for, but Loran Patterson’s marks could be his offspring. So refrain from marking up every tree in the forest, but enjoy ghosts of the past as you ponder, wander, and read your way “Into the Tushars”.