Lone Peak - 2013

Every summer, since 2005, I have taken a backpacking trip somewhere in Utah. This summer was no different. Last year, I went to the Uintas all by myself because my stalwart backpacking partner, Christopher Davis, was in London for a mission. This year, I convinced Christopher's little brother, Andrew Davis, to go backpacking with me.  

Andrew Davis

Both of us grew up at the base of Lone Peak. That fact, combined with the rumor of being the deadliest peak in Utah, creates a kind of irresistible appeal. Although I have summited the peak twice before, Andrew had never been up there. So last Monday, at 5 AM, we started up the mountain.

There are several trails that go up the mountain, but because I am me I decided to go up the steepest, longest, and toughest one, Cherry Canyon Logging Trail. The advantage of this trail is that it gets you to the top of the mountain quickly. The disadvantage is the steepness of the trail, especially with a 40 pound backpack. As is always the case putting one foot in front of the other got us up the 4,000 vertical feet to our campsite at 9,100 feet.

Getting to camp with Lone peak in the distance.

My tent at camp.

Andrew's tent and myself about to eat dinner at camp.

We made it up to the campsite by 9:45 AM and went about setting up camp. A requisite amenity that had to be found was a source of water. I was relatively confident that there was water 5 minutes of the trail. Unfortunately, this was not the case. After searching though, we were able to locate running water, it was 10 minutes up the trail. We spent the rest of the day in and around the camp taking it easy, we even took a nap.

The next day was the main event, summiting Lone Peak. From the camp we had quite a ways to go to get to the summit, not to mention the 2,000+ foot elevation gain. 

Looking down to northern Utah County from a huge granite slab we had to cross.
Micron can be seen below Andrew's finger.

Looking up the small canyon leading to the cirque.

Looking down from the top of the same canyon. Utah Valley is getting smallers! 

Approaching Lone Peak.

I feel it necessary to give a warning here. If you have a fear of heights or are apprehensive about your balance, you should NEVER attempt this summit. The approach is very much exposed and one false step could be your last.

Having done Lone Peak twice before and not ever seeing a single person on the approach, I was surprised to see three different groups on the approach. One group, two young couples, were on a precipice right below the summit. I was waiting for them to continue to the summit. After a few minutes I asked them if they had any intention to go to the summit. They 'informed' me that the precipice they were on was technically the peak as it had this geological marker.

I then informed them that the higher peak 10 yards to the south had a geological marker also and was indeed the peak. They seemed not to believe me so Andrew and I continued on. We then got a picture of the real Lone Peak marker.

Here are a few pictures from the summit.

Where lookin down becomes sage advice!

Looking toward southern Salt Lake County. Kennecott can be seen  in the distance.

Looking toward northern Salt Lake Valley.

Looking down the north side of the summit.

Me taking it easy on the summit with Upper Bell Canyon below.

I was a bit apprehensive about getting down, but the descent was relatively uneventful. 

The next day we took a hike to the Allen Brother's Cabin in an upper drainage of Little Willow. 

Allen Brother's Cabin

Looking inside. Someone must have been there recently cleaning up and maintaining the cabin.

We then took an impromptu hike on a trail we found by the cabin. It quickly became apparent that the trail was to merge with the main trail that leads to the peak. We decided to stay by the neat granite rock formations on the ridge and follow that to just below Lone Peak.

Neat rock formation.

More neat formations.

The granite spires towering at the top of Big Willow.

Looking down Big Willow.

That night we climbed Enniss Peak, adjacent to our camp. where we watched residents of both Salt Lake and Utah counties celebrate the 24th of July with fireworks. We were so high that we looked down on the tiny exploding fireworks, which we knew seemed large from the valley floor.

The next morning we packed up camp and descended the 4,000 vertical feet to the trailhead. The steep trail made the descent very quick. When we looked back up at the mountain, we were very proud at what we had accomplished.

Lone Peak (not my picture, from Dean on SummitPost)

Backpacking Bryce Canyon

I went to Bryce Canyon with my good friend, Christopher, to go on my obligatory summer backpacking trip. I think that backcountry backpacking is my favorite thing in the world. We left Sandy at 4AM to ensure that we caught the park shuttle to the other end of the park, to Rainbow Point. The plan was to take the ‘Under the Rim trail.’ This is a one-way 23-mile trail that extends through the entire park, almost. The problem with backpacking here is water; there are only two reliable water sources, that is the two places we camped. The first day was rather simple; from where we were dropped off, at Rainbow Point, we only had to go 4 miles to our campsite (Iron Spring). Shortly after we got there it started to rain. Considering that we were in the desert, it was a pretty healthy rain but short lived. There was a reliable water source, Iron Spring, but it had lots of minerals and silt in it the clogged the filter rather quickly. We hiked up close to the top of the ‘rim’ where there were some pretty neat rock formations. We then went down to where we heard water flowing and followed it up to find what I’m sure was the head of Iron Spring. Unfortunately fires are not permitted in the park so when night came we didn’t spend too much time talking, we went to bed rather quickly as it got fairly cold. A strange thing that I will not forget is the quiet that accompanied the night at Iron Spring. There was no wind, no crickets, no noise at all; it was kind of eerie.

The second day was a lot more grueling than either of us had expected. We had to go 13 miles to our next campsite. We had thought, ‘yeah, we can do 13 miles, no problem.’ It was almost as if we had failed to figure in the fact that we had 35 LBS on our backs. We started around 10:30 AM and didn’t get to camp until 7:30 PM. This stretch of the trail had no water to speak of. We had filled all our water at Iron Spring, it turned out that that amount was barely enough to carry us through the 13 mile trek. We were dead when we finally made it to the second campsite, Yellow Creek. There was another group at this site from Belgium. Luckily the ‘creek’ was right next to camp. After we filled our water bottles, we cooked dinner, setup camp, and went to bed. It was a very grueling day and we were exhausted!

The next day we took it easy and stayed around camp to allow our bodies to recover. We spent time talking, diverting the creek, damning the creek, bathing, etc. At one point we decided to follow the creek upstream. Well, the bugs up river had another idea. We got to one point where then coordinated an attack on us, it was horrible! So we quickly got away from the creek and made our way back to camp. The next day we packed up camp and walked the last six miles to Bryce Point. This was a very different portion of the trail. We went through a desolate sagebrush field, thick scrub oak, and finally a steep accent to Bryce Point. The accent was neat as we finally got to see those strange hoodoo formations that Bryce Canyon is famous for. We made it back, took the shuttle to the car, and drove back to Sandy.

All and all, it was a great backpacking trip. This was very different from the backpacking trips that I usually take as it was in the desert. Luckily it was the high desert so it never got too hot. Christopher and I had a great time together; it was just the two of us. I’ll have to find a new partner for next year as Christopher will be on his mission.

View from Rainbow Point, the start. We followed those cliffs that you see in the distance.

Starting Down the trail. (me)

Starting Down the trail. (Topher)

Pink cliffs, no pink ladies though :(

A cool chasm!

On the trail.

Starting to get in the hoodoos on the last trail.

Getting to the end of the trail. (me)

Getting to the end of the trail. (Topher)

Getting to the end of the trail. (random hoodoos)

Bells Canyon Backpacking Trip

I have been very busy getting ready to move to NC an wrapping up things in my lab. Besides that I have no excuse for not posting anything. :) I start the long drive this Wednesday!

I have been at my parent’s for the past couple weeks and have been doing a lot of hiking. This past Monday I started a backpacking trip up Bells Canyon here in Utah. Bells Canyon is probably the most beautiful canyon along the Wasatch, but I am not biased at all:). There is abundant amount of water year round. There are even bogs up there. It is so green that those not acquainted with the Wasatch would hardly believe that they were in Utah.

I went up with three young friends; Christopher Davis, Austin Duncan, and Bryan Miners. We started hiking at 6 AM Monday morning. We had packs ranging from 35 to 45 lbs. The trail is said to be 4 miles (it feels longer though). There is a 4400 foot elevation gain; so the trail is rather steep. We made great time; we were at Upper Bells Reservoir (were we camped) just after 11 AM. We spent three days swimming, hiking, and just goofing off. We came back Thursday. Here are some pictures from the trip.

Upper Bells Fall

This is a meadow above the Upper Reservoir

This is The same meadow as above

This is a stream in the meadow

This is looking down on the Upper Bells Reservoir

Me in a meadow further up from the first meadow

Christopher In the upper meadow

A stream near the upper meadow

A stream near the upper meadow

The upper meadow

Decending from the upper meadow

This was a solo hike I did (the boys were pansies and didn't want to climb the extra 1,750 vertical feet to the top). This is on top of South Thunder Mountain.

Looking at the back side of Lone Peak from South Thunder Mountain.

Looking south from South Thunder Mountain. Box Elder peak is in the foreground and Mount Timpanogos is in the background.