Church Fork Peak - July 19, 2025

scatman

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Before doing this hike, I was going to write this up in the Members of BCP thread, but I had to do an about face when one of the three rules for automatic trip report was met. Remember, if you see a snapper, a grizzler or a rattler, then there must be a trip report.

So yesterday, Sheila, Katie and I headed out to summit Church Fork Peak. Church Fork is the next named peak east of Grandeur, and we accessed it from Millcreek Canyon and the Burch Hollow Trailhead. You have to hike along the Pipeline Trail for a couple of miles before you reach the junction with the Burch Hollow Trail. From there we climbed up to the top of the ridge and then made our way west along for the most part an elk trail until we reached Church Fork.

We left early enough in the morning to beat the heat and it remained overcast for the most part until we reached the summit of Church Fork. Once on top, the clouds cleared and it was a hot early lunch and decent back to our car.

The wildflowers for the most part have changed, at least on this route. No longer do the Rocky Mountain dwarf sunflowers, mule-ears, and geraniums dominate along the trail, but instead have been replaced with goldenrod, showy goldeneye, and tall ragwort.

Here are some shots of the hike:

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Overview map

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A bit blurry due to no light. What about keeping Scatman close? :scatman:

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Goldenrod

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Showy goldeneye

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An early morning view up the road to the Terraces Picnic Area with Gobblers Knob and Mount Raymond looming above

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Feverfew

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Catnip

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An aster getting ready to bloom

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A little sunshine in the valley - mouth of Millcreek canyon

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Interesting what the hooker's onion looks like when it dries up

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Made it to the Burch Hollow Trail

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Something has caught the ladies attention on the way up Burch Hollow

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Oregon grapes

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Mount Raymond across Millcreek Canyon

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(L-R) South and north summits of Mount Olympus

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Tufted fleabane

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View down into Birch Hollow. We were probably about halfway up the hollow at this point

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Sulphur buckwheat

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Top of the ridge ahead. The trail switches back to just below the rock formation top, center, right

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The horsemint is past it's prime, though we did run into some in an aspen grove that
were still thriving

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Only saw a couple of lupine heading up the hollow. This one was trying to hide from me. :) There was more lupine once we
crossed over to the north side of the Millcreek Ridge.

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Grand collomia - the only one we saw

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Diamond clarkia

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Skyrocket

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On the top of the ridge now with a wide angle view down Burch Hollow with Wildcat Ridge to the south

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And a wide angle view to the north with Mount Aire Canyon directly ahead

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Sheila, approaching the top of the ridge

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I forgot to mention that I forgot my water bottles on this one - left them in the fridge. :(

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Black bear scat on the ridge between Burch Hollow and Church Fork - 67mm lens cap

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Katie, working her way along the ridge

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Can just make out the large cairn on the summit of Church Fork

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Just follow the elk trail

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Grandeur Peak and the Church Fork yurt finally come into view as we continue west long the ridge

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The yurt and the summit cairn

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A bumble bee on some tall ragwort

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Rosy paintbrush

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The tall ragwort was abundant along this section

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A horned lizard near the yurt

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The yurt

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Almost there

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The cairn at the summit of Church Fork Peak with Grandeur as a backdrop. Do you notice anything else in this shot? I didn't either
until I started to walk around the north side of the cairn.

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This guy startled me pretty good. It was a reasonably sized rattler

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Rattlesnake shots

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After getting a few shots of the rattlesnake, we went off to eat our early lunches

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Some Scat blood on this one. Just after I took this shot, I was stung by a bald-faced
hornet on the back of my arm - that little devil. :mad:

After eating our lunches, I went back to the cairn to see what the rattlesnake was up to.

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I stirred up another horny toad on my way back to the cairn

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The rattler had moved, but I found it. It then proceed to head back into the cairn.

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Summit shot

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Extra wide angle shot to the west, from Olympus on the left, Grandeur in the middle, and a very faded hard to see Ensign Peak on
the far right


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Extra wide angle shot to the north

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Extra wide angle shot to the south

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Extra wide Scatman in an extra wide angled shot. :)

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Mount Aire, slightly northeast

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East side of Burch Hollow. If you look closely you can make out the switchbacks in the trail heading up to the ridge

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Only saw two geraniums and both were on the north side of the ridge

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A lizard checking me out

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A view down Burch Hollow with some sunshine this time

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A butterfly

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Another shot of the mouth of Millcreek Canyon, this time in the afternoon

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Back at the Sube

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It was our "Beer Night" again last night, and I started off with a nice Scotch Ale which was quite good, especially after a hot day
hiking. Those Jacobites were rabble-rousers @Rockskipper . :D We had twenty people show up this time, which is a pretty good crowd for us.

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The pizza that I ordered was called, "From the Earth." I added some roasted turkey to it and it was excellent.

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To help wash the pizza and some of Danny's nachos down I ordered a Drekker The Mother
Of The Ruler Of The World Imperial Stout. With a name like that, I just had to order one.



The End.
 
Last edited:
You did do this with not much water? To prepare for next months trip?
That is what I was thinking Bob. :)

After eating our lunches, I went back to the cairn to see what the rattlesnake was up to.
I don't know how far away from the cairn you were when eating your lunches, but there is no way it would not have been in my field of view with that snake in there!

The pizza looks good. If I were to drink those two beers you would have had to carry me home!
 
Remember, if you see a snapper, a grizzler or a rattler, then there must be a trip report.

I don't like your foreshadowing, since I know you aren't going to see a grizzler on your dayhike. Other than that, looks like a pretty nice day :)
 
I don't know how far away from the cairn you were when eating your lunches, but there is no way it would not have been in my field of view with that snake in there!

They sat in the grass to eat and then he went back to the cairn. I'm surprised that he didn't stick his hand in the rocks just to see what happens. :)
 
I think it would make a swell trip report if you could do the bikini pose with a rattler in each hand. Or even just in one hand. Kind of disappointed you didn’t do that, to be honest since you had the opportunity here. But I guess the cool pictures of the rattler made up for it. Kinda.
 
I think it would make a swell trip report if you could do the bikini pose with a rattler in each hand. Or even just in one hand. Kind of disappointed you didn’t do that, to be honest since you had the opportunity here. But I guess the cool pictures of the rattler made up for it. Kinda.

I'm definitely not that brave, but as far as the stupid-meter goes, I tend to register on the higher end. :D
 
If those holy rollers down south can play with snakes, then an intrepid BCPer shouldn’t have any trouble at all, right?

How long do I have to get to a hospital after being bitten? :thinking: Or perhaps if I just have a bald-faced hornet sting me on the rattlesnake bite it will all cancel out, right?
 
How long do I have to get to a hospital after being bitten? :thinking: Or perhaps if I just have a bald-faced hornet sting me on the rattlesnake bite it will all cancel out, right?
If you get bit enough times, you'll develop an immunity and won't be bothered by it at all. I think that's what I would go for, personally.
 

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