Hidden Valley Camp

The Indian Trail was used by native Americans get through Ogden Canyon when the river was high. The trailhead is at the top of 22nd street. There are two trails that split off of the Indian trail: the Coldwater Canyon trail, and the Hidden Valley trail. While I've been on the Coldwater Canyon trail before, but I've had a heck of time finding the Hidden Valley trail. I've look for it several times, but it has always eluded me. Three weeks ago, I found it. The sign marking the trail was above eye level, and off to the right. Here's a photo of it:



Yeah. I didn't see it at first either. The Indian trail is at the left of the photo, and Hidden Valley trail is, well, those rocks. Here's a closer look at the sign for anyone that wants to find it:



The name "Hidden Valley" gave me the impression that it was in a valley between the mountains, and I thought that the hike would go around the mountain into a small canyon or something. Knowing from maps that the Hidden Valley trail was short (less than two miles), I headed up. It's unfortunate that maps don't fully convey the steepness of a trail, because the Hidden Valley trail is a beast! It was a valley between mountain, it was a valley at the top of the mountain. Further, I was hiking in the afternoon, and that side of the mountain is hot and barren. There wasn't enough water in my sports bottle to quench my thirst.

At the top of the mountain, the dry rocks faded into a lush forest. Wildflowers were in bloom and insects swarmed the valley. The mosquitoes were so bad I ran through certain areas to get away from them.

The trail ended at some campsites. Miraculously, I had cell phone service (I think it's pretty miraculous anytime I get phone service). I've been working on making a vintage style canvas tent, and I saw this as the perfect opportunity to test it out. I gave Staci and call from the campsite, and begged.

Two weeks later, I was headed back up the trail; this time with a heavy canvas tent strapped to my pack. Now, the tent is called a "Hinkley Tent-McInstry Model." I got the pattern out of a 1950 Explorer Manual. One of the reason I chose it is that it only uses 11 feet by 6 feet of canvas, making is smaller (ergo, lighter) than other canvas tents. Another reason I chose it was because I could not figure out how the heck the thing worked! Naturally, I had to build it. Here's a picture of the tent from my Explorer Manual:



And here's the tent I ended up with:



And from the side:



It's not quite the same as the picture in the book,is it? I started out with the poles placed just as they are in the picture, but the tent was sagging--a lot--so I moved things around to give me the most room inside. As you can see, the tent doesn't close...which is part of the fun! Remembering the mosquitoes from my last hike, I brought along insect repellent, but I didn't need it. The valley was still full of insects, but one of my favorite bugs had joined the swarm.



I love dragonflies. I love the way they swoop through the air like World War I aces in their Sopwith Camels, gunning down those pesky, bloodsucking Fokkers. None of the other insects bothered me, like this little bee who spent his time chillin' in a flower:



I imagine this bee felt the same way I feel when I hunker down with a bag of avocado chips to watch old movies.

One of the supposed benefits of the McInstry Model tent, is you can put a little reflector fire just outside the opening to keep it warm. I can testify to the truthfulness of that. The tent got freakin' hot. The flame was was one of the smallest I've made while camping, and I had to put it out before it made my tent too hot. Still, my little setup looked mighty cozy.