Mount Nebo, elev 11,928' July 2008

I wanted to hike Nebo, the tallest peak in the Wasatch Mountain range, before I moved to St. George. I left Provo and traveled to the town of Payson where I took exit 250 and then took a couple of turns to get to the Nebo Scenic Byway. The Scenic Byway was slow going for the first 8 or so miles – only able to go about 30 mph because of all the winding. But the last 16 or so miles picked up quite a bit and I saw a couple of deer and a lot of cattle that are allowed to roam free across the road.
I arrived at the monument trailhead and continued on the dirt road there for another .4 of a mile until I reached a cattle guard and a little parking area. Another car was in the parking lot so I knew I wouldn’t be alone on the hike. I took to the trail (trail 089) at 7:45.
The first mile or so of the hike winds along a barbed wire cattle fence. It seems that you are frequently losing elevation that you just worked so hard to gain! The trail finally turns north a bit, away from the cattle fence and toward a canopy of pine trees.
The trail meanders through a pretty pine forest all the while going towards a minor ridge heading in a westerly direction. The ridge leads to a drainage that you spend the next little while climbing. About half way up the drainage, the trail makes a sharp turn to the north, across the drainage, and up to another ridge.
Once on this minor ridge, the steep hiking begins. It is obvious from here where you are headed as you can see the main ridge in front and above you. There were still pockets of snow I had to make my way around occasionally veering off the trail a little ways to do so.
Once to the main ridge, the trail turns left (South) and is easy to follow. At one juncture along the way, a faint climbers trail breaks off to the left and continues on to North Peak. I originally had planned to go up and over this peak on my way to Nebo, but a bum knee and limited time helped me decide to skip North Peak. The trail takes you to the west side of North Peak, only 400 vertical feet from the summit (an infuriating close amount) before dropping about 200 feet to take you down to Wolf Pass, a beautiful meadow, at 10600 feet. When I was on the side of North Peak, I could see that the three hikers ahead of me had just reached point 11440.
From Wolf Pass, it’s a steep hike to reach unnamed point 11440. Once there, I saw the hikers climbing the final few feet to reach the summit. From point 11440, you’ll have to descend a bit to reach the final ascent of Nebo. For the most part, you stay just a few feet below the ridge proper on either side as it will speed things up.
The final part of the hike is again steep but primarily class 2 (as is most of the hike). The trail takes you along the north ridge until just about 100 feet below the summit, where you cross to the eastern side and climb the final 100 feet to reach the summit. I reached the summit at 10:30.
On the top, I signed the register which is contained in a black metal container, ate lunch, took pictures, and got a little nervous as I started seeing clouds start to form a short distance away. The forecast had called for afternoon thunderstorms and I didn’t want to get caught in one on the peak or ridge. The hikers I had seen before had continued on to complete the Nebo Traverse and probably hike out via the Andrews Ridge trail (which would require a car shuttle).
I spent 20 minutes on the summit before starting my descent. I hurried down, trying to beat the threatening clouds. I arrived back at my car at 1:05, making my total time 5 hours and 20 minutes to cover 9.07 miles. A challenging and pretty hike!

Red Top and American Fork Twin Peaks, elev 11,400' & 11,489' July 2008

We move to St. George in only 3 weeks, so I knew I needed to get all the hikes in that I could. I decided to get the highpoint of Salt Lake County – American Fork Twin Peaks in before we left.
To get to the trail head, I drove up Little Cottonwood canyon to the second snowbird entrance and parked just to the west of the Snowbird Resort Center. From here, I read that I was supposed to take a small footbridge, but I couldn't find one so I crossed a large bridge even more west of where I parked and started up the hill.
I crossed a paved walking trail, I believe called the Dick Bass Highway Trail and crossed under the Wilbere Ski lift. Eventually the road/trail petered out into a large grassy slope with a very faint sign of a road continuing upwards to a noticeable road ahead. I continued climbing until I got to the road.
Here was my first adventure. The book I had told me to take a right when the trail split and to continue climbing. If I took a right, though, I would have to loose elevation. But I did see another break-off trail about 100 yards down the right fork, so I thought I’d try it. I walked up that trail and it dead-ended into a ski lift support. So I backtracked down that trail and continued down hill. I saw signs for west 2nd south skil lift and little tiger and something like thunder bowl. If you happen to see these signs, you are heading the wrong way!
To make a short story longer, I should have taken a left at the first fork and gone up hill, not a right. After I had gone about a mile off course and added about 500 feet of elevation gain and loss to my hike, I was back on course.
Soon after the trail forked the first time, it forked again. This time there was a sign, though. It said the Gad valley trail was to the right and the Peruvian Gulch trail was to the left. The book said that I wanted to take a right, so I followed the Gad valley trail. I believe the Peruvian Gulch trail goes up to hidden peak and engages the knife ridge to get to the AF Twin Peaks. I decided that I wanted something a little more tame, and also wanted to climb Red Top on the way.
Not too long after the second fork, I made it to Mid-Gad Restaurant, which is open in winter, and tried to figure out what to do from there. I could basically see that I needed to gain the ridge to the right of the peak, which was now visible. I started from the restaurant by hiking under the ski lift up a grassy ski run (it started out being a little swampy because of all the snow run off). From here, I just followed what I believe is the Election ski run up hill until I came to the top of the Gad 2 ski lift and a ski patrol hut.
Just past the hut, I saw a service road and took it down hill for about 50 yards until I came to a break in the trees. I then left the service road and started boulder hopping over loose rocks. My target was a small break in the trees/brush quite a bit up the hill. The left over snow pockets made me have to choose my route extremely carefully because I didn’t have the equipment to climb up the snow. This part of the hike was perhaps the most unpleasant.
I could see AF Twin Peak in front of me the whole way, but knew I had to go around to the right before I could get to it. Once to the ridge, my first goal was Red Top. I turned left and headed for the summit. The smoke in the air from the many wild fires in California and Nevada made me loose my breath faster than normal and I found my self needing more rest stops than normal on the steep ascent.
Once to Red Top, I looked over at the north ridge to Red Baldy (a class 4 ridge) and was happy I didn’t have to go that way. But the view over to AF Twin Peaks looked like it would take all the remaining energy I had to reach. I started over by dropping down about 170 feet to the saddle and then started climbing all over again to the summit.
The views of the peaks to the south west were amazing – and they are my favorite peaks in the wasatch to date – especially Pheifferhorn. I was hoping to catch a glimpse of the Uintas since I’m planning a trip there in a couple of weeks, but the smoke didn’t allow me to see them.
I stayed on the top for a while taking pictures and eating a quick lunch. Then, as it was about 5:00pm (I got a late start), I thought I better head back down. The only wild life I saw was on the way down and they were little Marmot looking animals that were not very afraid of me.
Overall, it took me about 6 hours and was about 9 miles, even though I don’t know for sure because my GPS had trouble keeping an accurate log of my trip. This was one of the more physically demanding hikes I have been on, but I’m glad to have two more eleveners down!

Shingle Mill Peak, elev 10,690' Sep 2007

The hiking season is rapidly coming to a close but I wanted to get another peak in. Although not an "elevener," I had wanted to climb Shingle Mill Peak for some time because of it’s proximity to Cascade Mountain and Freedom Peak, and also because of it’s appearance from the freeway. I love the pyramid look to it, and the erosion terraces beneath it set it a part from many other peaks.
I took my trusty 2-wheel drive Pathfinder on the trip because it has a higher clearance than our other cars and Squaw Peak Road can be rather rocky past Rock Canyon Campground. I arrived at the trail head (on the left side of the road shortly past Rock Canyon Campground and marked with a post with trail #60 on it - the Dry Fork trail) at about 8:20 in the morning and got started soon thereafter.
The morning was chilly and I stopped a couple of times just to warm my hands in my pockets because they were getting cold on my trekking poles. The first two miles have most of the elevation gain in them, gaining about 1000 feet in each mile.
The ridge line is visible early on in the hike and looks a lot closer than it really is. But this was a good thing for me because it kept my hopes high that I would be there soon and back soaking in a hot bath in no time.
The trail was very well maintained and led through some pretty aspen trees, pine trees, and meadows. The one frustrating part of the trail was the constant switching back below the summit. Many times it looked SO much shorter to just climb straight up the ridge to get to the saddle rather than switch back and forth so much.
In fact, much of the switching back is just level walking, as you only gain about 400 feet in the 3rd mile. But I had read a report about a failed attempt trying to do what I had thought looked easier - hiking straight up the side to get to the saddle, so I decided to stick with the trail.
Just before arriving at the saddle, I looked back and noticed four tents that I had basically walked right by and not even seen because they were in a perfect camping spot just above the trail and surrounded by a few small pine trees.
Once at the saddle, there is a sign labeled with Big Springs Trail #59 pointing north, Dry Fork trail #60 pointing south (the way I had just come) and Shingle Mill Peak trail #57 pointing East, the way I was headed.
Once on Shingle Mill Peak, the trail is less defined but marked well with cairns by a Boy Scout for his Eagle Project. I followed the cairns with relative ease getting lost once in a while but finding the cairns not much later. In reality, it would be pretty easy to route find your way to the Peak on your own.
The trail ends up on Shingle Mill’s south ridge as it takes you to the summit. I arrived at the summit at 10:50, after about 2 ½ hours of hiking. Since I forgot to pack a lunch or even a snack for that matter, I decided to take pictures, try to call my wife (unsuccessfully - no cell coverage), and head back down. The views of Freedom Peak were great. I had no idea how rugged of a peak that is. Climbing it next year will be a challenge.
I headed back down, surprisingly having not seen any wild life at all on the whole hike other than the occasional bird that flew out of a bush that I had come upon which got my adrenaline pumping.
The whole hike took 4 hours and 12 minutes and was about 9.1 miles. It was a pretty fall hike and a good "easy" hike after a short time off from hiking, my last hike being Superior and Monte Cristo a month to the day earlier.

Mt Superior & Monte Cristo, elev 11,040' & 11,132' Aug 2007

With my wife still in California, I have a lot more time to go hiking. Just a few days since my assault on Red Baldy, I thought I better get another 1 or 2 down. I couldn’t get anyone to go with me for this hike, so I was on my own.
Having never looked for the Cardiff Pass trail head before, it took me a little time to figure out where to start from. One book I have said to park just East of the Alta Fire Station and to walk down .1 of a mile to a paved road where the trail starts. I did this, but there was no paved road after .1 or .2 of a mile. I tried to get information by stopping in the information center (located on the east side of the fire station) but they couldn’t help.
Finally I decided to continue walking down the main road and after about .26 of a mile I came to a paved road that came in from the north. I figured out that I think the Alta Fire Station the book was referring to was the old fire station because there looked to be an old fire station looking building where the road came in. For future reference, park next to the Mile post 12 sign and walk down the road for about .1 of a mile until you see the paved road come in from the north.
The paved road splits - take the road that heads right (or east), as the left fork goes to a house. The paved road winds around a building and turns into a dirt road. The dirt road switches back again and then an ATV road comes in from the left (the main dirt road continues straight). Take the ATV track to the left.
At about 9000 feet, a trail breaks off the ATV road. Take it. The trail will eventually reconnect with the road (not sure if it’s the same one) which you will once again follow until about 9300 feet. This is where a trail again breaks off from the main road on the left (north). The trail heads north about 10 yards, then crosses the road you were just on because the road switched back, and then continues on the other side of the road. The trail heads parallel to the power lines overhead but stays to the south of them at first.
The trail climbs at a steeper grade here and after a little while splits. Both ways end up at the same place so it really doesn’t matter which one you take. They both take you to a pretty little meadow with small pine forests mixed in. From here, if you look up to the ridge, you can see a power pole on top of the ridge. This is Cardiff Pass - what we are aiming for.
Once on top of the ridge at about 10,000 feet, turn left (west) and start for Superior first. The first big summit you see (which has some sort of weather station on it) is most easily bypassed on the north side, although a faint trail also leads around the south side towards a cave. I took the south route on the way up and the north (recommended) route on the way back.
Once past this summit, the trail stays for the most part on the south side of the ridge, sometimes 50-100 feet below it. I made the mistake of staying too close to the ridge which made the going harder and in some places more technical than I was comfortable with.
You’ll bypass another minor summit on the south and then come to a small spur ridge (barely noticeable) off of Superior’s south east side. The final 400 or so feet to the top are Class 3, sometimes maybe low class 4 due to poor route finding (personal experience). Before I started the climb, I left my trekking poles so I could use my hands for hand holds on some of the more difficult spots.
I came upon Superior’s summit much faster than I expected and looked over toward Monte Cristo and the large Cairn that marks it’s summit. The ridge between Superior and Monte Cristo is much easier than the ridge you have to negotiate before Superior.
The route is obvious, but you start by descending about 50 feet or so, continuing on towards Monte Cristo on level ground - at one point even coming to a pretty little grassy area which was a very welcome sight since all I had been hiking on for a while was rocks - and then finally coming to the final climb.
The final climb is relatively tame. It is about a 60 foot climb which was easier than most of the stuff I had already done.
I reached the summit and enjoyed the views of the many peaks on the ridge to the south. Also beautiful was the wilderness down to the north of the peak. I have never ventured into that area yet, but pan to do so next year.
After snapping some pictures, eating some crackers and calling my wife, I headed back down because some afternoon thunderstorms looked like they were starting to develop. On my way back to Superior, I spotted a hiker coming up to Superior from the South ridge. We talked briefly on Superior’s summit. He said that it was class 4 or 5, which is a bit out of my league at the moment. He left the summit for Monte Cristo, and I headed back down also.
Not long after I left Superior’s summit, I saw a small brown fox running from the trail down into some small pine trees. Other than one very sketchy spot that required a class 4 move, the descent went good and I was back to the car much faster than it took me to go up.
This hike, although not nearly as physically demanding as Box Elder or Lone Peak’s south summit, was way more technically challenging. It is definitely not for those scared of heights as much of the trail is narrow while hugging a big rock on one side with not much but air on the other.
In total, the hike was 5.5 miles and took me 4 hours and 20 minutes to complete.

Red Baldy, elev 11,171' Aug 2007

Another day off from work, another hike. A friend of mine, Trevor, agreed to go with me. Because this was his first hike of the year and his first "Elevener" I thought I better make it one on the easier side of the scale. Little did I know, the information I had on the Red Baldy hike was a little off.
We arrived at the White Pine trail head up the Little Cottonwood Canyon at about 8:00 and started down the trail about 8:05. I had hiked the first mile of the hike only a little over a week earlier on my way up to Red Pine lake and Pfeifferhorn.
Once we arrived at the split in the trail (straight ahead leads to Red pine Lake and left to White Pine lake), we followed the trail which makes a sharp switchback to the left. It appeared that there used to be a sign here as witnessed by a log post sticking up out of the ground with a notch for a sign. But no sign was present. The first part of the trail heads in an easterly direction and follows an old mining road.
The road switches back through Pine forests, meadows, and boulder fields, and crosses a few streams, some of which run down the road for a few yards.
After about 4 miles and walking thought a large boulder field at 10,000 feet, you leave the road and route find the rest of the way up to a spur ridge that runs up to the main ridge. One marking that helps know where to turn off is an overgrown road that breaks off briefly on the left and switches back until it ends not far after it begun into a small drainage.
You actually want to start up the drainage and, once past a steeper section off to the left, you want to head left, aiming for the last bunch of trees way up near the Red Baldy ridge. This last part of the hike is considerably more steep, covering 1100 feet in about a half a mile. Once there, it’s a short hike over stable black rocks to the summit.
We made it to the summit at about 11:20 (including an accidental .5 mile excursion to White Pine lake. Note: if you can see the lake from the road, you’ve gone too far. You won’t see it until you’ve started the final ascent up the drainage).
After a few pictures, a couple of granola bars, and a total of 30 minutes taking in the views, we decided to head back down. We made it back to the car about 2:15 just as some afternoon storm clouds appeared to be blowing in.
It was a challenging hike that had pretty scenery and a somewhat challenging final ascent to the summit. In total, it was 10.3 miles and took us 6 hours and 17 minutes to complete.