Middle Fork

The closer this trail gets to the summit, the more serene, pastoral, and smooth it becomes. The closer it gets to Manti Canyon Road, the more gnarly, winding, rutted, and rocky it becomes. This can be falsely alluring if you are dropping in from Skyline Road. I passed a new suburban that was stuck in the middle of the trail facing downhill. Having come from below, I could see that there was no way it could have made it to the bottom, but seeing where it had come from, I could see how the driver might have felt like this was a viable route off the mountain.