Big Mountain

So I thought my hiking days were over for the year with winter darkness coming on fast, but I was able to squeeze in one more hike last night. I wanted to climb Mount Van Cott directly behind the University of Utah hospital, but after driving around for a half hour I couldn't find a parking place that didn't require a permit. I was a little bummed, and more than a little frustrated. Fortunately I had a backup plan: Big Mountain.

Unfortunately, even though I had a plan I didn't have details of the plan. I like being prepared when I go out hiking. Most people would say I go out too prepared. I like to have a track in my GPS showing me exactly where the trail is, I like to have examined the trail on Google Earth to see if there are any surprises, and I like to know the specifics of the slope of the trail throughout the hike. It's just easier to convince yourself to keep going if you know what's coming up around the next hill.

For anyone who doesn't know where Big Mountain is (like I didn't), it's right near Big Mountain Pass. If you don't know where Big Mountain Pass is (like I didn't), it's about tennish miles up East Canyon (that canyon off to the left as you head up Parley's Canyon. One really nice thing about this hike is that it starts at about 7400', so there's only a net elevation gain of about 1100', most of which comes in the first half mile.

It's really steep for the first little bit. Much steeper than I like trails to be. But at the top of the climb it levels off and makes for some great hiking in a beautiful area. In the picture above you can see the road winding its way up East Canyon.

Also at the top of the climb there are a ton of trees. It would be nice to go through the area with the leaves still on the trees, but walking on the fallen leaves was fun, too. This picture was taken right near where I had my encounter with 3 cows (I hope they were cows) on the way back.

Because of my frustrating drive from one end of the U of U campus to the other, I started hiking about an hour later than I would have liked. I started hiking at 5:50pm. Knowing I only had about an hour before the sun set, I ran up the trail as fast as I could. In the picture below you can see the trail as it follows the ridge down the hill and back up around to the right.

As pretty as this area was in the fall, it would be just as nice in the spring. I'll be sure to come back.

About 2 miles in, the trail started going around the side of the peak, missing it entirely. Had I been prepared I would have known the trail didn't actually go to the peak. It stays about 300 vertical feet below the west side of the peak. As far as I could tell there wasn't actually a trail to get to the peak, so I just climbed up the steep, steep slope through the prickly bushes.

The whole last climb to the peak was littered with some sort of animal droppings. It looked like a whole herd of something had recently been in the area. Then, right near the top I looked to the right and saw at least 200 sheep!

They were all staring at me, wondering who this weirdo was climbing up their mountain right at sunset. I didn't think I was in much danger from them. I've never heard of a sheep stampede.

Right as the sun dropped below the horizon I reached the top of the peak, took a quick picture of the little stack of rocks at the top (I guess it's to show where the peak is, but it was pretty easy to determine where the peak was when I ran out of hill to climb), and headed back down. I would have liked to stay at the top for awhile, but it was getting cold already and I had a quarter mile to go to get back to the actual trail. I don't get nervous at all hiking in the dark when I'm on the trail, but it's a little scary to be that far off the trail (in an unfamiliar area) when the sun goes down.

I made it back to the trail, switched my sunglasses for my headlight, and ate an energy bar. The hike back was pretty uneventful, except for the encounter with the cows. I was just walking along, minding my own business, when about a hundred feet ahead of me I saw what appeared to be a couple other hikers with dim headlights on. As they got closer, I realized they weren't headlights; they were EYES. There were three big cows right on the trail, right at a point in the trail on a steep hillside where there are thick trees on both sides.

The funny thing about cows is they look pretty wimpy and ridiculous when they're just standing out in a field somewhere, but when they're standing 50 feet away on a mountain in complete darkness and all you can see is their giant eyes staring back at you they're a bit intimidating.  Especially when they start moving around and you feel the ground shake beneath them. The snorting's a bit intimidating, too.

I wasn't quite sure what to do. We just kept staring at each other. Finally I told them in my best "cow" to get off the trail. Actually, I just talked in English, but they seemed to understand that just fine. They moved about 20 feet below the trail in the trees and stared at me as I passed them. It was a little freaky, but probably not all that dangerous. I'm looking forward to seeing them again on my plate sometime.

In all, it was a beautiful hike. The trail is part of the Great Western Trail and continues on for miles past the peak. I'd like to continue on the trail someday and see what else is out there. I ended up hiking 4.63 miles and climbed nearly 1500' (the trail does a lot of up and down). I would recommend the trail to anyone.

Mount Wire & Red Butte Peak

Just when I thought I was done hiking for the year, Annie called me at work and let me know that I probably shouldn't come home tonight. No, not because we're fighting or anything like that, but because she had her sisters and their kids over to play cards all evening. So in an effort to keep myself sane I picked out a hike that I thought I could do before it got too dark and cold.  That left just a few options within easy driving distance of home: Red Pine Lake up Little Cottonwood Canyon, Dog Lake (either one) up Big Cottonwood Canyon, or Mount Wire up above the University of Utah.  I didn't really feel like driving up any big canyons, and instead decided to make the drive up to the University of Utah.

Apparently, though, there was an accident on the northbound freeway so I got stuck in some pretty heavy traffic.  I decided to get off at 9000 south, but as I started exiting I noticed that traffic was flowing just fine from there on.  But it was too late to get back on, so I made my way up to I-215 the long way. That probably cost me fifteen minutes.

I arrived at the trailhead pretty easily after that.  It wasn't so much a trailhead as a small trail off the side of the road in Research Park, but the coordinates were in my GPS so it was pretty easy to find.

This was a hike I planned to do earlier this year when the higher peaks were still covered in snow.  Mount Wire is only 7100' or so, so it's one of the first peaks available to climb in the spring.  In my rush to get out the door and beat the sunset I didn't have time to refresh my mind on the particulars of the trail. I always like to have a clear idea of the terrain, any trails branch off the main trail, and the average slope of each section of the trail.  That would have been great information to know...
The trail started out pretty flat and even.  It even crossed a tiny little creek just a few hundred meters in.  After a bit, it joined up with the Bonneville Shoreline trail.  What I would have known, had I taken the time to refresh myself on the trail, is that there are two trails that head up from the Bonneville Shoreline trail, only about 50' apart.  The moral of the story: Choose the Right (trail). I took the left.

The trail I took paralleled the right trail really close (on the GPS) for quite awhile, close enough that I thought it was possible the GPS was giving me wrong information (if you're in a deep canyon, which I was, it can put you a bit off where you actually are). Looking at the topography, it looked like the trails would meet up in a bit, and looking ahead, it looked like I could see where both trails pushed up on top of the ridge between the two trails.

At one point, I saw a trail that looked like it connected the two trails, and followed it for quite awhile, but it was steep downhill, and I knew if it didn't connect to the other I'd have to re-climb all that elevation.  I would find out later that I was within about 50 feet of the trail when I turned back. Another 10 minutes lost.

Finally, after more than a mile of hiking, my trail came to a sudden and abrupt end. It just ended right there, and the slopes all around me were steep. Very steep.  I saw a "trail" heading up to the right (the direction I needed to go) and saw two people coming down the real trail high up above at the top of the ridge (about 200' up).

So my choice was to either backtrack a mile, losing almost 1000' of elevation and preventing me from arriving at the peak before sunset, or climb up the near-vertical slope through scratchy bushes.  Had I not seen the 2 guys on the real trail, I probably would have just turned around, but knowing that the trail was there (and that the GPS was right after all) I climbed up the hill, scratching my bare legs to pieces and splitting open a finger.  But I made it to the real trail, and probably only lost ten minutes climbing through the bushes.

The trail (the real trail) was beautiful. Seriously. I was so amazed at how pretty it was. From the valley, it looks like a bare, ugly mountain, but when you actually get on the mountain it's covered in trees (which were all yellow and red).  If you're wondering which mountain is Mount Wire, it's the one with those two big white squares on its south slope, straight East of Salt Lake City.

There's also an old tower up on top of the mountain. If I remember correctly, this tower was part of the Airway Beacon System that guided airplanes at night for a few decades starting in the 1930's or so.

The last half mile was difficult.  It got really steep in a lot of places, and I almost turned back a dozen times. I kept taking pictures of the sunset thinking that that would be as high as I'd go. Then, after resting a minute, I'd decide to keep going a little further, and eventually made it to the top.

I didn't get to spend any time up on top.  As soon as I got there the sun dropped below the horizon and a mass of cold air blew in. It got dark really quick and the temperature dropped at least 20 degrees. I put on my jacket and giant headlight, drank some water and headed back down the steep trail.

On the way down I decided to make the short detour to Red Butte Peak (about 100' from the trail).

It took me 1.5 hours to get to the top, and just an hour to get back down. It was completely dark when I got to the bottom, but a bit warmer at the bottom than it had been at the top.

Overall, I climbed 2200' in 2.25 miles, stood on top of two peaks, drank 1/2 liter of water, ate 1 Clif Bar, and drew blood in 4 places.  It was a success!