Beartrap Fork - Big Cottonwood Canyon

Beartrap fork is located up Big Cottonwood Canyon. to get to the trail head go east on  Big Cottonwood Canyon Rd.(7200 S.) 10.5 miles up the canyon past the spruces campground. The trail head is on the North side of the road, there is a small gate in front of an old access road, the trail starts behind the gate.
Click here for directions to the trailhead. 

The first part of the trail is a little difficult to follow it follows an old jeep trail with a couple of switchbacks and then intersects with another old jeep trail. Stay on the main path and you should make your way to the first stream crossing. We found the water running really high and fast so be careful as you cross. the trail then heads up the canyon mainly following the stream.

One of the many Stream crossings

Joel crosses an old dead tree

Ski lift from the Canyons Ski Resort in Park City

A view of Park City from a distance

A Beautiful view of the Ridge dividing Salt lake and Summit counties

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Neffs Canyon

Neffs Canyon is one of my favorite hikes.
We hiked this trail on June 21st 2011, normally most the snow would be gone by then but, due to a very wet spring, we had to do much of the hike in snow. As we usually do we began early (around 6:30) the trail is very well maintained and easy to follow. Because of all the snow and excessive runoff we had quite an adventure trying to find our way around parts of the trail that were flooded.  The hike is moderate with the last .25 mile or so becoming strenuous. Much of the hike is through the Mt. Olympus Wilderness area. We stopped at the meadow, the trail continues from there and can be a great way to explore the many trails in the wilderness area.


    


Total Distance: 3.4 mi 
Total Time: 2:42:06
Moving Time: 1:15:25
(one way) 6.8 miles round trip


Max Speed: 11.67 km/h (7.3 mi/h)
Min Elevation: 1685 m (5528 ft)
Max Elevation: 2385 m (7826 ft)
Elevation Gain: 876 m (2874 ft)
Max Grade: 5 %
Min Grade: -1 %
Recorded: Tue Jun 21 06:30:02 MDT 2011


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Lake Blanche

Frozen Lake Blanche covered in snow, rare for June.

The Lake Blanche trail starts about 4 miles up Big Cottonwood Canyon. Parking is on the right side of the road just before the "S curve" at the Mill B parking area. On our way up the Canyon we saw a large moose standing right next the road blocking our turn into the parking area. We waited for him to cross the road and proceeded to the trail-head. What a great way to start of the morning.

For Directions to the trail-head click here.

The Stream was flowing high

The trail starts on the East end of the parking lot and follows the Creek on a paved walkway for the first 1/4 mile. The trail  splits off to the right just before a bridge that crosses over the creek that flows down from the lake.  The well maintained dirt trail to Lake Blanche begins on the west side of the bridge and is signed.  From here the trail is easy to follow and leads directly to the lake. The trail is a very manageable climb for an intermediate Hiker until the final climb before the lake.  The last 1/2 mile is a little more difficult especially for us because the ground was covered in snow. When we arrived at the lake we found it frozen and covered in snow. Located just to the west of Lake Blanche is Lake Florence and Lake Lillian. 

Looking back down the trail towards Mount Olympus.

The setting around Lake Blanche is Beautiful, the perfect alpine setting. We found complete solitude which isn't normal for this time of year. 
 (I did this hike on 19June2009 and it was crowded on the way down the trail.) As I sat down to take in the scenery and enjoy a granola bar I was greeted by a few Potguts (ground squirrels) that seemed to know what I was eating. I guess they are no strangers to human interaction.


 One of the great draws of the lake is the abundant wildlife and today was now exception in addition to the moose at the trail-head we also had a close encounter with one on the trail. The 2nd moose stood up about 15 feet away from us  as we headed up the trail. We also saw mule deer and many birds, I'm sure this hike would be a bird watchers paradise. 

Sundial Peak above lake Blanche

Overall distance on the hike was just over 6.5 miles round trip we had a total hiking time of 4 hours maybe 3.5 of that actually moving. The map below is of the Mill B trail-head up Big Cottonwood Canyon.



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Bells Canyon Waterfall

Bells Canyon is a wonderful hiking spot easily accessed from Sandy, Utah. There are 2 main trail-heads on located on Wasatch Blvd. about 10200 south. Click here for directions to this trail-head. Parking is on the East side of the road and the trail starts at the north end of the parking area. The second trail head is off Little Cottonwood Canyon Rd. Click here for directions to this trail-head. The parking for this trail is located on the south side of the road and the trail starts at the East end of the parking area.




View Bell Canyon 6-10-11 in a larger map

Grandeur Peak from Church Fork

Click to enlarge panorama atop Grandeur Peak

Grandeur Peak from Church Fork
Church Fork is the easiest and most accessible trail-head to hike Grandeur Peak. The trail head is at the end of the Church Fork picnic area about 3.2 miles up Millcreek Canyon on the North side of the road. if you reach the Millcreek Inn you have gone to far. For directions click here. The gates to the picnic area are open from 7 am til 10 pm during the summer. On the day of our hike the gates were closed do to excessive spring runoff in the canyon. If the gates are closed hike the additional 1/4 mile through the picnic area. The trail-head is well maintained and there is parking available. Don't park in the picnic area.

Extra spring runoff flowing from church fork

The beginning of the trail is a moderate hike through a heavily forested area of the canyon after a short distance it intersects with the Millcreek Pipeline trail, make sure you continue heading north across the other trail. The trail is very easy to follow until you get closer to the peak. A little over a mile into the hike the trail turns to the left and climbs out of the wooded area through a series of switchbacks. The surrounding area is now primarily scrub oak and exposed rock. There are a few areas on the trail where the rock has slid onto the trail but it is easily navigated. About 2 miles into the hike you reach the ridge looking over into Parleys Canyon. From here the trail heads Southeast toward the summit, about a 1/2 mile away. The climb gets a little more difficult and heads up a false summit. After the false summit the trail then goes around to the west side of the mountain, although there is a path up the more difficult east side. The final ascent has some very minor scrambling but is less than difficult.

Bret (in the bushes) and Joeh on ridge just before the final stretch

The peak offers wonderful views of the Salt Lake Valley to the West Mt. Olympus directly to the South, Emigration Ridge directly North and Mt. Aire to the East. The return trip is back along the same trail. The only problem we encountered was for some reason our GPS didn't log the hike correctly. Thankfully because of the many times I have hiked this trail I know that the total distance round trip, from the road, is 7 miles. it took us less than 2 hour to get to the top and about an hour and ten minutes to get back down.



Click here for a larger map: Grandeur

Total Distance: 6.9 mi
Total Time: 3:33:01
Moving Time: 3:07:28
Average Speed: 4.83 km/h (3.0 mi/h)
Average Moving Speed: 6.54 km/h (4.1 mi/h)
Max Speed: 10.80 km/h (6.7 mi/h)
Min Elevation: 1730 m (5676 ft)
Max Elevation: 2523 m (8278 ft)
Elevation Gain: 984 m (3229 ft)
Max Grade: 19 %
Min Grade: 0 %
Recorded: Tue Jun 07 06:32:25 MDT 2011
Activity type: -

Little Black Mountain

Click to enlarge panoramic view

Little Black mountain is located Northwest of Downtown Salt Lake City and is easily accessed from the Salt Lake Avenues. There are many trail-heads that will lead you to the mountain (as long as you are headed in the right direction). The trail-head we chose is located on Richland Dr. just off of North Bonneville Dr. located in the Salt Lake Avenues. For Directions to Richland Dr. click here.

The first part of the trail starts out up a well traveled hill very popular with mountain bikers. After descending the first hill there is an intersection of trails, continue heading East up a small ridge and then turn to the left and follow the ridge to the top of the hill. This is the first "Hill" along the ridge that heads to Little Black. After each hill the trail descends slightly and then climbs up higher with then next one. The second hill top also leads to the Avenues Twin Peaks. To summit Twin Peaks continue heading south up to the top of the first Twin Peak. Twin Peaks has some nice views of the Salt Lake Valley but not nearly as breathtaking as Little Black.

Looking towards Little Black Mountain

View from one of the Avenues Twin Peaks

Head back to the Northeast and continue along the ridge toward the final destination. There are a few more small climbs till you get to the final climb up to the top. The last mile or so is quite difficult as you make your way to the summit. Once to the top take a look around the view extends North from Ogden and Ben Lomond Peak all the way South to Utah Lake and Mount Timpanogos, From the Uinta Mountains to the East with Deseret Peak and the Great Salt Lake to the West.

Snowy final stretch

Joeh on his way up the last bit of steep terrain

It took us a while to catch our breath before heading back down. Don't forget to sign the register at the top. If you want more of a hike the ridge continues on to Lookout Peak, we decided to turn around. On the way back there are several branches in the trail that head back to various trail-heads. We missed the trail that brought us up the mountain and ended up heading down "The Bobsled" which is a popular mountain bike trail. The Bobsled trail was more step with many curves, fun for bikers, it made us glad we were going down the trail as it would have been a difficult climb up. The total trip took us just under 4 1/2 hours and we hiked for about 9 miles round trip.

Geological Benchmark (no elevation engraving)

Geocache register

View Little Black Mountain 5-25-11 in a larger map


Total Distance: 15.56 km (9.7 mi)
Total Time: 4:25:56
Moving Time: 3:21:21
Average Speed: 3.51 km/h (2.2 mi/h)
Average Moving Speed: 4.64 km/h (2.9 mi/h)
Max Speed: 11.91 km/h (7.4 mi/h)
Min Elevation: 1564 m (5132 ft)
Max Elevation: 2376 m (7794 ft)
Elevation Gain: 1167 m (3830 ft)
Max Grade: 1 %
Min Grade: -2 %
Recorded: Wed May 25 06:46:23 MDT 2011

Activity type: - Hiking

Emigration Ridge Line Trail

Click Image for panoramic view

Although the original intent was to climb to the top of Perkins Peak starting from the West and following a small and poorly marked ridge-line trail, our plan was spoiled by the abundance of "no trespassing" signs and "intruders will be prosecuted" signs found at what we thought to be a perfectly good trail head. We instead drove to the summit of Emigration canyon and started the trek from there. The trail starts from the south side of the road and when you get above the dirt parking lot you are able to see two of the higher points along the ridge-line trail. This hike was much different than any of the previous hikes in that the beginning seemed to have as much down hill as it did up hill as the trail made its way along the ridge. after the first few peaks and valleys the trail turns from an old double track jeep trail to a progressively steeper single track game trail. after you reach the top of the first large summit "the beast" (informally named by me) the second is a much more manageable climb to the top.

up "the beast" the first of two large summits

The trail has a continuous view of both Parleys canyon and Emigration canyon and there is a constant hum of the distant traffic from I-80. When you reach the higher of the two peaks there are 360 views to Salt Lake City, Mt. Wire, Mt Olympus, Grandeur Peak, and panoramic views to the surrounding snow topped mountains.

View of the last stretch along the snowy ridge

We turned around at the second peak, however the trail continues along the ridge-line and eventually takes you to a couple higher peaks before dropping back into the valley between Emigration and Parleys canyons.(if you are sneaky enough maybe you can get off the west end of the trail without being prosecuted)


View Emigration ridge-line 05-12- 11 in a larger map



Total Distance: 12.34 km (7.7 mi)
Total Time: 2:33:42
Moving Time: 1:57:55
Average Speed: 4.82 km/h (3.0 mi/h)
Average Moving Speed: 6.28 km/h (3.9 mi/h)
Max Speed: 10.06 km/h (6.3 mi/h)
Min Elevation: 1817 m (5961 ft)
Max Elevation: 2243 m (7358 ft)
Elevation Gain: 733 m (2404 ft)

Mt. Wire (Big Beacon)

Photo courtesy of Jared Winston

Mt Wire has many access points the trail we decided to hike I would suggest is the easiest to the top. The trail-head is located just off the Bonneville Shoreline trail (BST). Parking can be found along Colorow Rd. behind Fort Douglas near the University of Utah. (check the map for directions)

 The Trail has a few different sources that all stem from the BST. We accessed the BST just to the north of The Huntsman Corp. headquarters along a small creek bed for spring runoff there normally is not much water along the trail, be sure to bring plenty of your own. The trail heads to the East directly behind the Huntsman building. the first part of the trail has a gradual climb in elevation after about a 1/2 mile the trail makes a turn to the north and becomes more steep. The majority of the climb is along a canyon on the north west side of the mountain the trail is engulfed by scrub oak which can keep the trail nice and cool especially on a early spring morning. The top of the canyon is about 3 miles into the hike the trail then turns to the Southwest and climbs up the first of three ridges the third and final ridge is the top of Mt. Wire. At the top there are wonderful views of downtown Salt Lake to the West and South, Mount Van Cott to the Northwest, Emigration Ridge to the East, and Grandeur Peak to the Southeast.

For the hike down we choose to descend the Southwest side of the mountain. This route is much more steep and more strenuous. Beginning hikers should take caution, don't be in a hurry one false or rushed step could cause injury.  The trail down branches in many directions but by staying to the right at each fork you it will lead back to the BST not far from where the trail began.
Some of the Hiking Statistics:

Total Distance: 11.63 km (7.2 mi)
Total Time: 3:14:34
Moving Time: 1:42:53
Average Speed: 3.59 km/h (2.2 mi/h)
Average Moving Speed: 6.79 km/h (4.2 mi/h)
Max Speed: 10.80 km/h (6.7 mi/h)
Min Elevation: 1510 m (4955 ft)
Max Elevation: 2171 m (7123 ft)
Elevation Gain: 832 m (2730 ft)
Hike to Mt Wire (Big Beacon) 5-May-2011









View Mt Wire Hike

Mount Van Cott loop hike

       We did this hike on April 28th it was a fairly cool day but warm enough for this nice spring hike. The trail-head is located on the North side of Red Butte Gardens near the University of Utah.  Parking can be found on the south side of Red Butte Canyon Rd. right before the gate.
      The trail-head is across from the parking area on the north side of the road. the first part of the trail can be a little confusing because there are many trails along the foothills. If you stay to the right at each fork you will continue up the canyon parallel to Red Butte Canyon Rd. (behind the gate) After about 1/2 mile the trail veers to the left and starts a steeper climb up the mountain. The climb is still fairly easy. There are 2 gradual switch backs on you way up the trail, after the second you approach a false summit. After the false summit the climb to the top of Van Cott is a little more difficult but manageable (even for a beginner or out of shape hiker). Once reaching the top the views are wonderful. To the West and South is downtown and the whole Salt Lake Valley, to the North is Grandview Peak and to the Southeast is Mt. Wire and Mount Olympus.

       At the top there a many intersecting trails don't forget to head to the right (NE) where there is a pile of rocks marking the highest point of the peak. Instead of heading back the way we came we opted to head down the west side of the mountain, This gave us some different views and some better looks at Downtown Salt Lake and the University of Utah. The trail down was a little shorter and offered a little more shade which I'm sure would be nice on a hot summer day. After reaching the bottom of the mountain head Southeast along the Bonneville Shoreline Trail for a little less than a mile back to the trail-head and parking area. The total 4.7 mile hike took us 2hrs 15min. at an average speed of 3.4 MPH. The hike can be done much quicker, but I figure it's better to take your time and enjoy the hike.

For more information and a trail map click on the link below.

View Mount van Cott 4-28-11 in a larger map
Mount Van Cott loop hike

Created on Apr 28 - Updated Apr 28 By http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msa=0&msid=214274234490526228173.0004a1fe5bf1686c80e03 Total Distance: 7.61 km (4.7 mi) Total Time: 2:15:38 Moving Time: 1:32:50 Average Speed: 3.37 km/h (2.1 mi/h) Average Moving Speed: 4.92 km/h (3.1 mi/h) Max Speed: 9.00 km/h (5.6 mi/h) Min Elevation: 1524 m (5000 ft) Max Elevation: 1928 m (6325 ft) Elevation Gain: 531 m (1741 ft) Max Grade: 0 % Min Grade: 0 % Recorded: Thu Apr 28 06:54:03 MDT 2011 Activity type: -