Big Baldy in the morning

Scott and I attempted to see if we could hike Big Baldy ‘before work’. Though the south ridge is an option (see this), Scott wanted to go up the maintained forest service trail which is at least a mile longer but less steep. The plan was to meet at the Dry Canyon trailhead at 5am sharp. Apparently to Scott, "sharp" means 15 min after the specified time.
We left the parking lot at 5:22. I tried to set a pace that would punish Scott or his tardiness but he stayed on my heals the whole way. I stopped only to point out a few landmarks we had discussed in the past, less than a minute total on the way up. We reached the peak at 7:14. We spent about 10 min at the peak, unfortunately the haze and lighting conditions made photography suboptimal. Coming down we shaved 8 min off the time going up.

Depart Trailhead:  5:22am
Arrived Summit:    7:14am
Depart Summit:     7:24am
Arrived Trailhead: 9:08am
Elevation Gain:    3278 ft

GPS Tracks: kml gpx
Google Maps: Terrain

Robert's Horn Ridge

Nope, I didn't hike Box Elder for a third week in a row. Instead, Nutmeg and I did an overnighter in the Alpine Loop area on Robert's Horn Ridge. We parked at the "Summit" trailhead, about 8000 ft, hiked up, mostly on established trails, to about 9000 ft where we made camp. In the morning we bushwhacked part way up Robert's Horn ridge to about 10,400 ft and visited all of the high points on the eastern half of the ridge. In total we hiked about 7 miles.

GPS Tracks: kml gpx

Indian Road-Cactus Hill-Squaw Peak Overlook-Pole Canyon-BST Loop

The Paxman, Nutmeg and I did this loop before work this morning. Scott wanted a nice 8 miler to start the day off. I threaded together the following:

• Indian Road Trailhead
• Bonneville shoreline Trail Connector
• Cactus Hill (ATV) Trail
• BST To Squaw Peak Road Connector
• Squaw Peak Overlook Ridge Trail
• Squaw Peak Road
• Hope Campground
• Pole Canyon Trail
• Bonneville Shoreline Trail (Smith Ditch section)
• Return to Indian Road Trailhead

Came out to just under 8 miles which we did in just under three hours. There was about 1700 ft of elevation gain, the highest point is the front gate to Hope Campground.

GPS Tracks: kml gpx
Google Maps: Track

Box Elder Peak

Nutmeg and I left the trailhead at about 8:20am on trail 043. The weather was very pleasant for the first leg, 3.6 miles to the saddle which we reached about 10:30am. Over the next hour the sky became overcast and dark clouds could be seen in the distance. I had seen a single set of footprints from a hiker in front of me all morning. There were only a few small snow patches on the trail as it approached the saddle. I saw the foot prints again after we left he junction with the Dry Creek trail so I knew they was also headed up to the Peak since the only other trail in that direction was blocked by steep snow fields on the north face of Box Elder.
After another 35 min of hiking along the ridge which is more or less level, we reached the start of the climb to the summit. There were several large snow banks that were easy to cross since they were mostly flat. The initial section of the climb was covered with snow because it was shaded from sun by tall conifer trees that grew along the west side of the ridge. The going was very slow on the steep snowy ridge. There were a few sections that were bare but a lot of the climb was in deep snow of varying softness. Neither YakTrax nor snowshoes helped much. We eventually caught up with the other hiker. He had left the trailhead 2 hours before me and was moving pretty slowly. We had to leave him behind if we had any chance of making the peak. This 0.6 miles section took me over an hour and a half to climb.
The ridge merged with another at about 10,300 ft for the final section. At point where they merged there was a tall snow bank that was the final obstacle. There weren’t any more conifers to shade the ridge so it was bare to the summit. The only problem was the weather. A storm started to move in over the peak. We kept going for another 25 min but then the storm hit us. Between the snow pelting us and distant thunder, we were forced to retreat just a quarter mile from the top. We were very exposed on the ridge and I didn’t want to become a lightning strike statistic.
The decent went much faster of course, what had taken over two hours to climb to only 40 min to undo with the help of a few short glissades. The other hiker had turned back before me but was making progress down nearly as slow as up.
I ate my lunch on the saddle and then waited for the other hiker to catch up. I wanted to make sure he was OK before we began the final decent to the trailhead. Joe said he was fine and had food, water and gear.
Of course to spite me, the weather teased me all the way down mocking my failure with glimpses of blue sky between the snow flurries. The drop to the trailhead took me an hour and three quarters. In the words of MacArthur, “I will return!” I’m not so sure about Nutmeg, this was her longest hike ever and she is getting kinda old.



GPS Tracks: kml gpx
View in Google Maps

Grandeur Peak from Church Fork in Mill Creek Canyon

Planned on an 'easy' hike with Ione, Bean and Ione's friend Jon. It was a little more of a climb than I expected but the cool weather helped get me to the top. Since it was off-leash day in Mill Creek Canyon the trail was thick with dogs, Bean made many new friends. I was feeling the previous day's hike in my legs on the way up. We starting getting some rain and put on jackets (except Bean, he wore his coat the whole way) for the final half mile or so. The trail was mostly smooth red soil with a few talus crossings and could of knee-high scrambles over bedrock. I was expecting very low visibility from the peak with all the rain, clouds and mist. We were very happy to have a great vista from the summit. The rail cleared out just about the time we got there. After chatting with a few other grounps at the top, a cold air mass moved in and chilled us. We departed quickly, I had to stay back to shoot a quick panorama. The trip down went by quickly, lot more dogs and more muddy.

GPS Tracks: kml gpx
View track in Google Maps

Sundance & Stuart Falls

I took advantage of the first nice day in a long time to walk from the base of Sundance to the top of the Arrowhead lift and had lunch on the deck of the Bear Claw Cabin. I hiked down and over to Stuart Falls (Cascades) and then on to Aspen Grove Trailhead.

GPS Tracks: kml gpx

At Stuart Falls

Sugarloaf & Mount Baldy (Wasatch 11ers)

Awesome epic hike that bagged two 11ers. Here is the raw GPS data and stats:

Parking lot     :  8:44am -  8,749 ft - 0.0 miles
1st saddle      : 11:45am - 10,790 ft - 2.9 miles
Sugarloaf Peak  : 11:58am - 11,058 ft - 3.1 miles (11 thousand 58 ft at 11:58? hmmmm)
2nd saddle      : 12:30pm - 10,538 ft - 3.5 miles
Mount Baldy Peak:  1:16pm - 11,074 ft - 4.0 miles
Parking lot     :  3:40pm -  8,749 ft - 6.5 miles

Total distance: 6.5 miles
Moving        : 3:53 hrs:min for 1.7 mph
Total         : 6:56 hrs:min for 0.9 mph

GPS Tracks: kml gpx
Google Maps View: track

Lunch Hike 5-19-2009

Kirk and I took about an hour and 10 min hike at luncn today from Canyon Glen to up above the Bonneville Shoreline Trail. The weather was perfect.

GPS Tracks: kml gpx

Big Baldy South Ridge Loop

This was a nice strenuous spring hike up the south facing ridge of Big Baldy from Dry Canyon. Justin, Nutmeg and I left the trailhead parking lot just before 10:00am. The first mile is a warm-up on the normal Dry Canyon forest service trail. There is an unmarked side trail 1.0 miles up to the north.
The next section is a mile long and varies between quite steep and insanely steep. 2427 vertical feet in 1.3 miles, bring a ladder, there are no stairs. This unmaintained trail has it all; switch backs, steep washouts and reasonable sections. There are a few spots where the trail is a little hard to follow. There are a few juniper trees where you can stop and rest in the shade. We passed a group of three on the way up, Justin stopped to take a photo for them. This trail tends to be hot and dry once the snow is melted, so bring plenty of water.
There was snow around the flag pole at the front (lower) peak. Nutmeg enjoyed laying on and eating the snow, Justin and I had a bite to eat. After a short rest we moved on to the true peak before the other group arrived. We skirted a deep snow bank (3-6 ft high) on the way to the summit. We had a little bit more to eat and drink before heading down the popular trail towards the saddle.
The trip down to the saddle was mostly on the snow bank. The snow was soft enough to sink your heals for footing but not so soft that you sing in up to your knee. There were a few muddy spots between the snow banks but nothing too messy.
We met an older man at the saddle wearing a full backpack. He said he had come up Battle Creek and that only the last 500 feet was snowy. There was more snow to cross on the way down from the saddle on the Dry Canyon side.
I never been a big fan of the Dry Creek trail especially going down, I normally recommend going down Battle Creek, it is a much nicer trail to descend. I took a nice panorama of the snow on the CCC terraces, stay tuned to the blog for a link to the picture. We chatted and greeted several other hikers coming up Dry Canyon. We made it back to the truck about 3:00pm.

Distance: 5.8 miles (2.33 mile up)
Moving Time: 3:20 (1.7 mph)
Vertical: 3365 ft

GPS Tracks: kml gpx
GMaps: Terrain Satellite

Hope Campground to Buffalo Peak

This was a late afternoon hike to enjoy the beautiful weather on a spring evening after working on the car. I wanted to explore the hiking trail that run through the back of Hope campground that I had discovered on Tuesday when I went hiking at lunch. I parked on the road just outside the campground entrance and walked into the campground. This section of the trail starts from the south end of the campground loop, there are two different trail that lead out, one from the southwestern most campsite and one from the southeastern most campsite. The trail eventually merge as shown the map and tracks. There are orange ribbons marking the trail that look fairly recently placed, probably this spring. The trail winds through the trees roughly paralleling the Squaw Peak Trail road but far enough away that I didn't hear cars. There are a couple of stream crossings that were no problem, I suspect these will dry up in the summer. The trail ends by interesting the road where it most closely approaches the overlook at the top of Little Rock Canyon.
I decided to hike on to the top of Buffalo Peak by bushwhacking up the north ridge. It wasn't particularly difficult bushwhacking but I wouldn't suggest it unless you enjoy pushing through thick brush. The terrain wasn't too steep, if there was a trail cut through the brush it would be very enjoyable. I came upon a odd shack made of plywood. It had some plastic and metal pipe nearby but I can't think of why it was built. It didn't look like it was built by kids but it did look like kids had used it in the last few years. Once I was on the ridge where I could see down into the valley the going was fairly easy.
After spending a few min on the peak I followed the established trail down to the Little Rock Canyon overlook. I then backtracked the trail to Hope Campground. I chatted with the camp host. He did not know the name of the hiking trail but told me it was part of the Provo marathon.

GPS Tracks: kml gpx
GMaps: Terrain Satellite
Photos: Flickr

Spring Snowshoeing at Aspen Grove

An epic ridge trek on the east side of the alpine loop. The weather was constantly in flux but no significant rain came down until I was a few minutes from the truck at the end. Explored lots of new ground. The chute I came down was steep, probably too steep to walk up comfortably I'm sure but with snowshoe it was a fun decent.

GPS Tracks: kml gpx
Raw Photos: Flickr Slide Show
 

Snowshoeing 4-4-2009

I've been thinking about climbing the hill on the east side of the Alpine Loop just above Aspen Grove for at least the last month. The snow conditions were not great but I did make it up a fairly steep side of the hill. There is quite a bit of flat terrain up there. I headed towards a large meadow named Pine Flat on my GPS. I followed a drainage with a gentle slope down to the North Fork Provo River where it is just a trickle along the Alpine Loop highway. I picked my way off road down the 'river' back to the trailhead.

GPS Tracks: kml gpx

Snowshoe Tracks: Winter 2008-2009

Here are the tracks for most of my notable snowshoeing outings in the Aspen Grove trailhead area this winter. I've had a blast, I had only been snowshoeing once before on boring flat ground. The most recent trip was March 29th, it was stormy weather for some of the day but really pretty snow falling for most of it. The screen capture is OK but open the kml file into Google Earth for a nice view.

-Mike

GPS Tracks: kml gpx

Big Baldy from the south ridge

An early spring assult on Big Baldy from the south ridge. I made it to the front peak but snow and bad weather prevented me from getting to the true peak.

GPS Tracks: kml gpx
GMaps: Terrain Satellite

Powerhouse Mountain

Trailhead: Mouth of Hobble Creek Canyon
Length: 6.6 miles
Height: 3037 vertical feet
Notes: 90% bushwhacking and game trails
Photos: Flickr
GPS Tracks: kml gpx

Ether Peak

Length: 4.6 Miles

GPS Tracks: kml gpx

Sundance-Arrowhead Lift from Provo Canyon

I've wanted to hike up to the top of Sundance from Provo Canyon for a long time. With information in the book "Climbing and Exploring Utah's Mt. Timpanogos" and cross referencing the crude maps with Google Earth I planned a trail from a spot in Provo Canyon just west of Vivian Park. There are several bands of trees near the bottom that have reasonable passages (use the 'down' tracks from my GPX or KML) though the upper band is quite painful if you pick the wrong spot like I did on my way up. I recommend trying to stay on the crest of the ridge when possible and tend to the west side when needed. For much of the hike there are game trails that crisscross the crest of the ridge which can be used as switchbacks. On the flatter sections on the top half, there are game trails on the west side of the ridge which make for easier hiking. 3350 vertical feet in less than 2 miles is very steep. A cell tower is visible for most of the hike which marks the southwest corner of the ski resort. The top of the Arrowhead lift is only about 100 yards away.

GPS Tracks: kml gpx

Looking down at Provo Canyon

Indian Road to Rock Canyon via Buffalo Peak

Length: 8.3 Miles
Vertical Climb: 3100 ft
Time: 4 hrs 45 min

This hike involved plenty of mud and snow. I didn't encounter any other hikers until I reached the Squaw Peak Trail under Buffalo Peak. The snow wasn't deep and was fairly hard and actually easier to hike on than the muddy sections of trail. The bushwhack down the southwest side of Buffalo Peak was fairly soft but not as muddy as I feared.

GPS Tracks: kml gpx

Late fall storm over Timpanogos

Sundance Ski resort today

Intuit walkers

Big Baldy Peak - Dry Creek to Battle Creek

I'm so backlogged I don't have time for descriptions.

GPS Tracks: kml gpx

Nutmeg and me on the summit of Big Baldy

Mount Olympus Peak

Special off-site IUHC event with Kirk and Jeffry.

Trail Head: 4884 ft
Peak: 9030 ft
Time to peak: 3 hrs

GPS Tracks: kml gpx

Mike on the peak of Mount Olympus

Jeffry doing paperwork on the summit of Mount Olympus

From the top of Mount Olympus

SLC from the summit of Mount Olympus

Good view of the Mount Olympis peak

First sight of the peak of Olympia

Kirk & Jeffry on the trail

Sun on Oak-erz

SLC lights

Stream crossing on the Battle Creek Canyon trail