STEWART FALLS

HIKERS: Amy, Brook

AMY'S NOTES: A yearly tradition. Drive up to Sundance, buy a homemade sucker on a wooden stick at the general store, ride Ray's lift to the top, meander down to the falls crossing creeks and wading through meadows of grass and aspen along the way, and then fill up on fish tacos at the Foundry Grill. I've managed to do this most every summer for the last couple decades. The menu at the grill changes but the mountains and incredible views of Timp are constants. A lovely mellow stroll through the mountains in late summer.

MOUNT OLYMPUS SUMMIT

DATE: Saturday, June 20
HIKERS: Amy, Dave, Matt
START TIME: 7:00 am
ELEVATION GAIN: 4200'
SUMMIT: 9026'
SUMMIT TIME: 3 hours 10 min
RT TIME: 5 hours
DISTANCE RT: 7 miles
WEATHER: Cool, scattered showers

AMY'S NOTES: Mt Oly has been a long time goal of mine. It was the mountain that filled the view from every window in the house I grew up in and served as my primary reference point in the Salt Lake Valley. As long as I could see Mt Olympus I always knew where home was. It was great to hike this with 2 guys that grew up next door.

The climb itself is straight up and pretty much a grind - think stair stepping. The top section involves some scrambling and jumping. At the summit there are spectacular views of Salt Lake to the east and all the rest of the Wasatch to the west. The weather conditions were great for keeping us cool but also made for very slippery rocks on the way down.

DIRECTIONS: The trailhead is roughly 1/4 mile north of Tolcate Hills Road along Wasatch Blvd at 5800 south on the east side of Wasatch Blvd., and is marked with a brown sign reading "Mount Olympus Trailhead". Park either along Wasatch Blvd. or in a slightly hidden parking lot just north of the trailhead.

TWIN PEAKS ATTEMPT

HIKERS: Amy, Dave, Justin
WEATHER: 53 F, Stormy - hail rain & thunder
ELEVATIONS:
SUMMIT: 11330'
DISTANCE RT:
RT TIME: 1 hour 45 min

AMY'S NOTES: Thwarted by stormy weather! A gorgeous hike cut short by hail, thunder, lightning, and other misc weather phenomenon. We hiked up an hour and reached the first meadow before deciding that this was not the day for a summit. Spotted a couple of rough grouse, watched low heavy clouds roll by, and to sound a little cheesy - generally marveled at the beauty around us.

DIRECTIONS: Big Cottonwood Canyon to the Mill B trailhead. From the bottom of the parking lot take the Broad Forks trail.

MOUNT NEBO

HIKE: North Route to Mt. Nebo's highest peak
HIKERS: Amy, Dave, Matt
START: 8,100 ft., 8:40 am
SUMMIT: 11,928 ft., 3 hours 18 min
ELEV. GAIN: 3,828 ft.
RT TIME: 6 hours
RT DISTANCE: 8.84 miles
WEATHER: 45 F at start, mix of sun & overcast, cool

AMY'S NOTES: Nebo is still one of my favorites. This was a first summit for Dave and Matt. A cold front moved in over northern Utah this weekend and the weather could not have been more perfect for a Nebo summit in August. Temperatures were in the 50's at midday and when we reached the summit alone we watched our breath while clouds rolled in over us. A short stay on top (approx 10 min) and we headed down. There was some concern about thunderstorms. We spent a total of about 30 min sitting around - so you could shave about 30 min off the hike if you were in a hurry. A great way to spend a saturday.

TRAIL: Start at the Monument trailhead off of the Nebo Scenic Loop Rd and follow the dirt road to the right from the parking lot. The trail begins at the end of the road, follow the fence line up onto the Nebo Bench Trail. The trail is very clear until you are close to the summit at which point just pick your way along the ridge line through the shale.

For photos of last year's hike to nebo see: http://hazardstats.blogspot.com/2008/10/nebo-photos.html

ONEIDA NARROWS: BEAR RIVER, ID

AMY'S NOTES: Spent Saturday and Sunday running the Oneida with Virg and friends. Took both a hardshell and the new bandit. A fun Class I float above Redpoint Campground and a mellow Class II section below the campground with a couple of rock gardens to play in. About a 4.5 hour drive from home. Reminder to head up during the week to avoid the crowds and road dust.

DUSTY BERG TRAIL

HIKERS: Kim, Amy, Charlynn, Sandra, dogs (3)

TIME: Summit 25 min.

WEATHER: sunny, clear and cool- about 57F

KIM'S NOTES: This is the first ascent for us on this hike. It is a beautiful, but steep one. The Ponderosa pines through the lower section were my personal favorite. It is quite a narrow, hazardous trail. Loose dirt and gravel combined with the incline, plus tripping over all the dogs, it is amazing we didn't have more falls (yes, of course I fell).

BACKBONE

HIKERS: Jamie, Kim, Amy & dogs
SUMMIT TIME: 40 min to the gate
RT TIME: 1 hr 15 min (approx)
WEATHER: 77 F at finish

AMY'S NOTES: A lovely hike in Sanpete. A traverse through multiple ecological zones, small hamlets, and a stunning view of our latest public art water sculpture. Truly an inspiring place to live.

PROVO RIVER: LOWER TOWN SECTION

DATE: Monday, June 22, 2009
PADDLERS: Kim, Amy, Virg, Mark & Son
PUT-IN: Fire Station, Columbia Ln
TAKE-OUT: Utah Lake State Park
TIME: 2 hr (approx)
DISTANCE:
FLOW:

AMY'S NOTES: This section of the Provo really should be called the bushwack-swift-river-jungle-slalom run. This was the christening run for my new inflatable kayak. Unsure of how wet I would be getting, I opted not to take the camera so there are no pix of the river. But the first section was defined by a swift current moving through a winding landscape with several low bridges and branches for ducking, followed by a slow wide almost swampy section reminiscent of deep south places I've only seen in the movies.

SKYLINE MEANDER

HIKERS: Amy, Joane, Devyn, Bella, Sophie, the dogs
WEATHER: 72 F, Sunny

AMY'S NOTES: On top of skyline drive, east of ephraim in the mountains. Little Sophie and Bella weren't too psyched to be in the great outdoors, but Devyn loved it. As did the dogs and joane. It was about 15 degrees cooler and all the flowers were in bloom. Everything smelled great.

ALBION BASIN: LAKE CATHERINE

DATE: July 19, 2009
HIKERS: Amy & Lin
WEATHER: Sunny, 75 F
DISTANCE: 2.6 miles
SUMMIT TIME: 35 MIN
RT TIME: 1 H 55 MIN
SUMMIT ELEV: 10,000 ft (approx)

AMY'S NOTES: From Alta head up to the Sunnyside chairlift parking lot and take the Catherine Pass trail. A beautiful summer day filled with wildflowers, cool mountain water, pines, and a great escape from the heat in the valley.

BALD MOUNTAIN

HIKERS: Amy, Isa & Hope the dogs
SUMMIT: 20 min 40 sec
RT TIME: 42 min
WEATHER: 63 F, overcast

AMY'S NOTES: Fastest time yet! Ran the last stretch tripping with Hope biting my ankles the whole way. The goal of under 20 minutes is not far away...

BALD MOUNTAIN ON THE 4TH

HIKERS: Kim, Samantha, Andrew

SUMMIT: 26 min.

RT TIME: 45 min.

WEATHER: 61 f, cloudy

NOTES: a great way to start our 4th of July! I've never taken my kids on the Bald Mountain hike before. It was fun and it gives them a great appreciation of what I love to do. We had a fun time.

BACKBONE

HIKERS: Amy, Kim, Jamie, Isa, Hope

NOTES: Good hike, beautiful morning. I don't know how excited Hope was to be there. She whined a bit. Maybe it is because we are such amazing hikers that she had a hard time keeping up. Yeah, I'm sure that's it...

NEW CANYON- NEW PUPPY

HIKERS: Kim, Jamie, Amy, Isa, Hope

NOTES: Our first hike with Amy's new puppy, Hope! We were thrilled to have her join us. She is about the cutest thing ever!! She is still learning not to get under our feet, however, and I stepped on her. She seemed to be okay later, so all is well. Good weather for hiking. Beautiful summer, blue skies, lots of greenery, overall, just a great hike.

MAPLE CANYON LOOP

HIKERS: Kim, Jamie, Amy
SUMMIT SNAFU: 1 hour 7 min
SUMMIT: 1 hour 55 min
RT TIME: 2 hours 35 min
ELEVATION: ?
WEATHER: sunny, cool

AMY'S NOTES: Totally missed the loop. Hiked almost to the top of central drainage before realizing our mistake. Doubled down and found the route. Abundant green. An alpine canyon in the desert.

PETEY BISHOP'S

HIKERS: Kim, Jamie, Amy, Isa the dog
SUMMIT TIME: 1 hour 2 min
WAY POINTS: Fork 32 min, Flood Zone 42 min
RT TIME: 1 hour 47 min
ELEVATIONS: Summit 7800'
WEATHER: 50 F - 59 F, overcast & rain

AMY'S NOTES: This is Jamie's favorite. Our time is one minute longer than last summer, but interestingly our fork and flood times were also longer (29 & 37 respectively for last year) which means we cruised on the upper stretch this morning. The last section above the flood zone is the steepest. Temperatures were cool with rain on the way down, perfect for the strenuous climb of Petey's. Kim and I hit the Satisfied Ewe afterwards for bacon, sausage, eggs, and a warm up coffee. For comparison see http://hazardstats.blogspot.com/2008/09/petey-bishop-summit-again.html

BACKBONE

HIKERS: Kim, Jamie, Amy, Isa the dog
RT TIME: 60 min approx.
WEATHER: 44 F, sunny

AMY'S NOTES: A quick jaunt up and down the backbone. A trail suffering from severe scoliosis. The 9th and 10th vertebrae were in particularly bad shape.

DITTO- NEW CANYON

HIKERS: Kim, Amy

TIME: 6:36 am-

ROUTE: to the irrigation divider

WEATHER: 50 f, cloudy and breezy

KIM'S NOTES: Amy was tired from her Bald Mt summit trip (and I'm always tired), so we did New Canyon again. It was a great morning for hiking. We made some plans and had a great chat. Less mosquitoes today, Yay!

NEW CANYON

HIKERS: Jamie, Whitney, Kim

TIME: 7:06 am- 7:49 am

ROUTE: to the irrigation divider

KIM'S NOTES: We were still tired from doing Bald summit, so we just did a quick, easy trail this morning. We fought through hoards of mosquitos and got bit lots even with the bug spray Jamie brought. It was fun to have Whitney join us even though she makes fun of our blog.

DITTO - BALD MT SUMMIT

HIKERS: Amy, Isa the dog
SUMMIT TIME: 1 hr 45 min
RT TIME: 3 hr 20 min
ELEVATIONS: 5900 ft - 8464 ft
DISTANCE: 9.2 miles RT
WEATHER: 50 F - 70 F, nice breeze & sunny

AMY'S NOTES: You know you love your dog when you let her drink from the same camelback. Once again a beautiful morning in Sanpete - we seem to have an endless supply and I have yet to tire of them. The flowers were out in abundance this morning and I've decided my favorite part of this hike is near the top when you step out of a steep narrow oak section and walk into the wide expansive view of the rounded sagebrush top. In the early morning the sun lights everything up from behind including the zillions of swarming mosquitoes. (Aside: I was laughing at myself while thinking how much easier this was than the last time I did this in Jan with no snow shoes...)