April Snow Brings Out the Snowshoes!

I'm not putting my snowshoes away just yet!  Monday's storm brought over a foot of fresh snow to the Brighton area of Big Cottonwood.  Snow conditions yesterday afternoon were awesome!  This was my first experience with snowshoeing in April and I was treated to the most spectacular mountain vistas!

Guardsman Pass

The state road known as Guardsman Pass takes you from Big Cottonwood canyon over the mountain pass into either Heber Valley or Park City.  In winter this road is one of the few places where snowmobiles are allowed to traverse the roads.  But it is also a great snowshoe trail and the mountain is big enough for all to enjoy!  The snowshoe route is about 3 miles roundtrip and took slightly more than 3 hours total for us to snowshoe to the pass and back.  You will follow the snowmobile road for about 3/4 mile then veer to the right from the state road and head into the forest of lodge pole pines -- BEAUTIFUL!  At this point there is a sign warning snowmobilers to stay on the state road, but it is obvious that many ignore the sign.  The terrain gets pretty steep from here to the top of the pass and it is helpful to follow snowmobile tracks as much as possible.  This hike is challenging!  And my legs ached after 3 hours of hiking in the snow, but I love it!

At the top of Guardsman we found this amazing old tree.

The mountain vistas were gorgeous on this sunny afternoon.  We are looking back towards Gobblers Knob and Mount Raymond on the right.

I'm lucky to have a friend that loves the outdoors as much as I do!

I guess we can share the mountain if we have to!

Crazy Hiker Chicks Top 10 Reasons to Hike

# 10  Hiking is an excellent cure for boredom.

# 9   Hiking will strengthen your legs.  You may even notice calf muscles!

Mountain Goat Sighting

I hike for a lot of different reasons and sometimes like today when I have nothing else going on I'll plan a hike.  And quite often I break the cardinal rule of hiking and go alone.  The amazing thing about hiking for me is that I am always (99.9 percent of the time) treated to something special.  Today it was seeing mountain goats.  Two of them . . .  Mr. and Mrs.  Big, shaggy, beautiful mountain goats!  Wait!   I'm getting ahead of myself.  The mountain goats were spotted at the end of my hike so back to the beginning . . . . 

Giant Granite Boulders of Little Cottonwood

This hike begins at the mouth of Little Cottonwood Canyon from the UTA Park n Ride on the north side of the road.  This Park n Ride is well hidden from the main canyon road, but you will see a sign pointing the way.  It is on the opposite side of the road from the Temple Quarry and Little Cottonwood trail heads.  Park at the very far east end of the lot near the bathrooms.  You can see the beginning of a small trail, climb up and start exploring.  I followed the trail to some huge 1000 ft granite slabs that were geared for serious rock climbers.  I climbed over big granite boulders until I reach a place that looked back down into the Salt Lake Valley.  I had a lot of fun climbing boulders and I stopped to watch a pro climb up one of the granite slabs.  But the highlight was spotting the mountain goats.  Apparently, people see the goats on the mountainside all the time because very conveniently there is a telescope provided right at the parking lot to get an up close and personal view of these amazing goats.  

Trail goes right through this wall.  Looks like a pipe did to at one time.

Rock climbers paradise.

Huge slabs of granite and nice views across the canyon.

Granite boulder up close.  I need this piece for my kitchen counter tops!

Very fun time climbing on the boulders.

I brought home a piece of granite.  It's very beautiful!

  Rock Garden

Again, what is this plant???

  The mountain goats are right on the edge of these rocks . . . really!

Disclaimer:  I borrowed the photo of the mountain goat from the internet.  My little Olympus Tough Shot couldn't zoom in close enough, but this is what the goats looked like through the telescope provided at the Park n Ride.

    

Crazy Hiker Chick's Top 10 Reasons to Hike

# 10    Hiking is an excellent cure for boredom!