Brighton Bowl Ridge Run
July 31, 2008
Brent Waddoups and Michael T. Hannan
Hikers know that few decisions are more important than “what” and “when.” On Tuesday of this week Brent and I did a portion of a ridge run which we had already put under our boot soles last September. Today would be different; we would make this a shorter version. Parking a shuttle vehicle at the Brighton Ski area, we drove in Brent’s maroon HHR back down to the trailhead for Bear Trap Fork and set out, our objective being Preston Peak, followed by a descent down through the Brighton area from the Crest Express ski lift. We did it, taking a total of 6.5 hours to complete our itinerary.
Why foolish notions creep into my head, I don’t honestly know. But they do, as sure as snow falls in Alaska and wind blows in Rexburg, Idaho. Brent must have been suffering from the same disease, because we began entertaining the idea of coming up on Thursday, two days later, and extending the exercise to include three more major peaks past Preston Peak. We began calculating elevation gain, mileage, time and required energy levels, the last item an important one for older folks such as us. After careful scrutiny and a heavy dose of “what do we care?” phrases, we decided it would be a go in spite of forecast near one hundred degree temperatures. Heck, just pack more water!
We met at 5:30 and drove to Brighton Nordic Center to park the Toyota. Just like on Tuesday we drove back down to the Bear Trap Fork TH where we began hiking at the stroke of six o’clock. Brent noted that the 48º temperature felt refreshing, and I agreed. On the way up the drainage Brent suggested that we make Desolation Peak our first objective since it was on the ridge we planned to run. Decision made – we’ll summit Desolation Peak which tops out at something like 9,990’ and lies ¼ mile north of Silver Peak.
The Bear Trap Fork trail is a scenic but steep climb from 7,560’ to a pass at 9,800’. For a short time the trail is an old Jeep road, now overgrown with weeds and saplings. Last September two large moose caused us a ten-minute delay early in that hike, but today the closest we would come to spotting wild life would be the occasional scurrying pika and some small birds flitting across the ridges. But the dense greens of the fork were beautiful. The trail crosses two different streams, and the flows were minimal. That fact was a blessing because the make-shift bridges were mostly skeletons of their former selves, more a scrap pile of deteriorating boards, helter skelter on the rocky streambed.
We began to see varieties of wild flowers mixed in with the verdant growth, and it was in pleasant contrast to the stark tall evergreens and stands of aspen through which we were making our way. Bear Trap Fork narrows and widens in random fashion, the trail passing through several areas which might be called meadows. The avalanche danger in this drainage is considerable because of the steep slopes on both sides, but the abundance of forest undoubtedly mitigates that danger. It was quiet and peaceful during the climb.
At the pass we intersected the Great Western Trail, a favorite of mountain bikers, and the tread tracks of many bikes were evident in the dry, soft ruddy dirt which made up the trail at this juncture. We spotted the tree-studded mound called Desolation Peak and headed straight for the top since there was no clearly defined trail from our location. Within a few minutes we were atop the peak, gazing east down to the roof of a ski lift belonging to the Canyons Ski Resort. I recorded in scientific fashion our total time to the top as 1+22; it was exactly the same time as it had taken us to top out on Silver Peak two days earlier! Due south of our vantage point lay the flat, boulder-strewn summit of Silver Peak. We had been hiking in the cool shade of Bear Trap Fork the entire way, but now we were flooded with the early morning rays of a slowly rising sun. It was 7:20, and for the next 8.5 hours we would only dip below 10,000’ a few times, and we were hoping that the higher elevations would give us cooler temps. Our hope was not in vain.
The west side of Silver Peak was a dark, shadowy triangle, the east side brilliant with verdant summer grasses still in their prime and a stand of pine trees like an island in an ocean of lighter green. We promptly headed down the Desolation Peak south ridge to a rocky saddle next to the trail. Taking all of 18 minutes, we hustled to the summit of Silver Peak where we decided to take a ten-minute break and snap a picture with Brent holding an ID sign. The day before I had taken some strips of cardboard and written the names and elevations of all of the peaks we were likely to cross today. If nothing else, it makes it easy to identify where we are, or were, as the case may be.
We intended to compare our times between summits today with those of Tuesday and last fall to make sure we were not falling too far behind. I also intended to take a summit photo and then a picture looking toward our next peak. This I was able to do, and in years to come I think they might be helpful to someone planning the same stupid trip. With nary a cloud in the blue heavens, we both smeared on liberal amounts of sun block and promised each other that we would repeat this routine regularly throughout the remainder of the trek. As soon as I had taken a picture of the distant Scott Hill I re-packed my Canon G5 digital camera and mini-tripod, swung my pack into position, grabbed my carbon fiber trekking poles and followed Brent off the summit.
Ridge hiking along the Brighton Crest is a pleasant mixture of quartzite rock, trails, and game trails. Few hikers have plied this ridge, but we found an occasional cairn marking one of the paths we could follow. The route itself was straight forward in that we could literally see the ridges we needed to adhere to in order to get to Scott Hill. The east-facing slopes dropping down into Summit County were ablaze with violet, orange, yellow, blue and white wild flowers. And there was something almost magical about being able to look down into two separate counties. To our right we could see the upper reaches of Big Cottonwood Canyon with bare ski runs flanking the north sides. To our left we could see portions of the Park City and Canyons ski resorts along with forested cirques and the burgeoning community of Park City and its environs. And ahead of us and fanning out in clockwise direction were the peaks making up the high points of the Brighton Bowl.
Between Silver Peak and Scott Hill there is one peak which rises just above 10,000’, but it is unnamed. Scott Hill is unmistakable because there are a couple of radio equipment buildings and small clusters of antennae a hundred feet below the summit. In addition, an easily recognizable set of vehicle tracks lead around the base of this rounded peak. Getting there from Silver Peak took 1+16; we were twelve minutes faster today than on Tuesday, but who’s counting? A quick ten-minute break for a picture and a quick snack and we were off for Guardsman Peak.
The only tough part of this leg is the boulder-studded descent down to Scott Pass, a dip to about 9,400’ with the requisite steep climb out en route to the unremarkable blob of a summit for Guardsman Peak. The route down to Scott Pass is one of those “find-your-own-way” paths, and at times the loose rock was aggravating. At the pass we met a biker who was heading up the road we had just by-passed. He looked fit and ready to tear into that trail. We exchanged quick pleasantries and Brent led us up the steep climb to the easy summit ridge of Guardsman. We passed the little hut labeled “Mountain Patrol” and there we were, standing atop Guardsman Peak, a truly unspectacular arrangement of topography graced with several BLM pipe markers and a steel platform bracing an antenna. I used the platform to support my tripod and snapped the summit photo looking south. The leg had taken less than an hour, 0+55 to be exact.
The sun was now high in the sky and our elapsed time had passed the 4-hour point. We ambled down to Guardsman Pass where several cars were parked and a small number of bikers were grunting as they unloaded their equipment. When there we told a young lady where we had come from and where we were headed and she seemed impressed. She and her group were headed for “Salt Lake City,” but we weren’t quite sure what that meant and didn’t have the time or the inclination to ask. We had places to go and people to see!
I led up the steep trail to the unnamed peak now known as “10,420.” The trail winds in and out of the edge of the tree line, and we were most grateful for even the few chunks of ten and fifteen seconds during which we had some relief from the glaring sun. Our pace was slow but deliberate; we were constantly reminding each other that this hike was not as much about speed as it was about endurance, about having the energy to complete the hike. Gladly passing below the false summit on the east side we scampered down fifty feet to a small tree-lined saddle and then up through more pine trees to yet one more rocky summit. I recorded the time en route as 0+42, a full nine minutes slower than Tuesday. But we were not worried. We took only an 8-minute break, wanting to get going to Clayton Peak where we had planned to break for about 30 minutes.
There is quite a drop down from 10,420 to a saddle at about 10,100’ before one begins the ascent to the top of Clayton Peak. We took a GPS reading just to make sure of the elevation there. Then it was up, up, up. Take it easy, take it steady, make the push. Go around the rocks, use the steady boulders for steps, admire the random flowers, don’t look up too often. Ah, there’s the top of the Great Western Express lift – the summit is just a few hundred yards away. Here they come: gigantic boulders, stable and easy to scramble on. Now drop down a little to the east, now back up on the rocks. Hey, we’re there! And it was 0+32, eight minutes faster than Tuesday no less!
Here we ate, took the obligatory pictures and changed our socks. Changing socks was a pre-planned move and it was a good idea from the get-go. It felt good to air out the tired dogs and put on two layers which were both entirely dry. Psychologically we were feeling good since we knew that we were past the half way point of our journey. Now we were looking west at our next set of peaks and down at the familiar Snake Creek Pass saddle and the quiet ski lift housing. We calculated our water supply and both of us figured we had enough to last us comfortably.
Leaving Clayton Peak at noon exactly, we picked our way down the established trail which more or less follows the southwestern ridge of Clayton and then intersects the service road connecting Snake Creek Pass with the top of the Great Western lift. Thirty minutes after leaving the Clayton summit we were positioning ourselves for a summit photo of Preston Peak, the only summit to have its very own bronze plaque. We were anxious to get going, so the break was a meager five minutes, just time to take a picture and get out of there.
We did a small amount of bushwhacking before reaching the Crest Express lift; the trail coming down from Preston Peak is really difficult to follow. But we knew where we wanted to go. From there it was an easy climb up the Pioneer Ridge to unnamed 10,321, down another drop, this one on white limestone rock, weather-beaten and sometimes slick, and then past the turquoise-colored ore deposits to the pointed summit of Pioneer Peak. We were tired but we were feeling the excitement of knowing that we were going to make the trip unless one of us suffered a heart attack. All of a sudden we could hear voices, and not just one or two but a lot.
We looked over to Sunset Peak and saw a gathering of at least ten individuals, and from the hollering and singing we could hear we figured it must be a group of girls from the Brighton area. They were nothing if not exuberant, their voices carrying easily over to our position. It had taken us only 43 minutes to go from Preston to Pioneer. A seven-minute break seemed long enough, and we descended down a steep, rocky ridge to a narrow saddle. There we knew that we had about 500 feet to gain before standing atop Sunset Peak, but what else is new? We took it one step at a time; we ground it out, passing the big group of excited young ladies and exchanging greetings. We wished them well and didn’t bother to tell them from where we had come.
After 24 minutes of measured pacing we stood on the summit of Sunset Peak where we took a deserved 14-minute break. We knew that the way between here and Catherine Pass was gentler and kinder than all of the stuff we had been doing, and that was emotionally satisfying. The afternoon sun was beating down, there were no clouds to provide relief from the afternoon heat, and we gazed northwest to the next and final peak objective, Mt. Wolverine. A full eight hours after beginning our odyssey, at 2 o’clock sharp, we departed the Sunset summit and followed the sometimes sandy trail westward and then northward as we dropped to Catherine Pass, a very familiar destination for many Brighton and Alta hikers at 10,200’.
Once there we knew exactly what lay ahead of us. We were looking down to the right at Catherine Lake and Lake Mary and down to the left at the Albion Basin. But straight ahead was the annoyingly steep path leading to Tuscarora, a path which consumed 16 minutes of our afternoon and elicited many strange sounding grunts and exclamations from our diaphragms. But Tuscarora provided us with the open view of the ascending undulations leading to the summit of Mt. Wolverine. We had taken no break at Catherine Pass and we took nary a minute’s break at Tuscarora. We wanted to get to the top of Wolverine and have it out of the way!
Another 15 minutes was all it took. Whew! From Sunset to Wolverine had taken 0+46 and we were more than just happy. Of course, we knew it wasn’t over. The hike down to Twin Lakes Pass and then to Silver Lake and to the car was no small potatoes, but the arduous climbing was over. Mostly it would be a matter of hanging in there, of staying the course, of enduring to the end. We drank as much water as we could, emptying our bottles for the most part. We took a 14-minute break and left Wolverine exactly one hour after we had left the summit of Sunset. It was three o’clock and we figured we’d be down at the car by about 4:15.
On the unnamed bump between Wolverine and the pass we ran into Matt Van Horn and a friend of his from California. Nice to see them. Down we went, the tricky north ridge of the unnamed summit providing yet one more opportunity to concentrate so as not to crash on the scree and tippy boulders. From there it was simply a matter of toughing it out, suppressing the desire to ask for helicopter medical assistance and taking it one step at a time. We hiked either in silence or noted landmarks and quizzed each other on the exact whereabouts of the trail. Ah, railroad ties. Ah ha, the dam. Yes, this long rocky section. Oh, refreshing shade for a couple of minutes.
At last Silver Lake, lots of families with small children, a couple of fishermen with poles ready, the slats of the boardwalk and then the parking lot. It was now full with vehicles. It was 4:30, so the adventure had taken a total of 10 ½ hours. We had covered probably ten to twelve miles and gained over 7,000’ in elevation. Brent calculated it later at something like 7,600’ I had calculated 7,200’. Does it really make any difference? We were tired. We were happy. We were done for the day. We were pleasantly surprised when an old friend greeted us and provided iced beverages. What a treat!
On the last page I will give a breakdown of times as well as other information of interest to hiking nuts everywhere.
Break locations and time in minutes:
Silver Peak 10
Scott Hill 9
Guardsman Peak 10
10,420 8
Clayton Peak 28
Preston Peak 5
Pioneer Peak 7
Sunset Peak 11
Mount Wolverine 14
Total break time = 1+46
Route segment times (not including breaks):
TH to Desolation Peak 1+22
Desolation Peak to Silver Peak 0+18
Silver Peak to Scott Hill 1+16
Scott Hill to Guardsman Peak 0+55
Guardsman Peak to 10,420 0+42
10,420 to Clayton Peak 0+32
Clayton Peak to Preston Peak 0+30
Preston Peak to Pioneer Peak 0+43
Pioneer Peak to Sunset Peak 0+24
Sunset Peak to Catherine Pass 0+15
Catherine Pass to Mt. Wolverine 0+31
Mt. Wolverine to Twin Lakes Pass 0+32
Twin Lakes Pass to Nordic Center (car) 0+58
Bear Trap Fork TH elevation = 7,560’
