Vegan.Hiker
Member
- Joined
- Jul 5, 2014
- Messages
- 2,099
Hi guys,
I'm a hiker from northern NJ just a few miles from NY State. I've been wanting to get a taste of Utah hiking for quite a some time but already used up most of my vacation days for a week in the White Mountains in NH next month.
So I went ahead and booked a Friday flight to Salt Lake City and fly back at midnight Sunday night. I'll get 2 days of hiking in and will only miss 2 days of work. The dates are Sept 19th - 21st.
I've never been to Utah, let alone hiked it, so I'd appreciate if anyone familiar with the area could help me dial-in my plan.
My tentative plan so far is as follows...
My flight arrives in SLC at 4:20pm. I plan on renting a car at the airport and driving to Timpooneke Campground where I will sleep Friday night (so I will be at the trailhead to Mount Timpanogos when I awake Sat morning).
Saturday I plan on hiking Mount Timpanogos. When I get back to Timpooneke Campground I intend on sleeping there again Sat night (and loading up on sleep again for the next day).
Sunday morning I plan on packing up my tent and heading north to hike either to Red Pine Lake (and beyond the lake to the summit of Pfeifferhorn if I have it in me). Either that or Blanche Lake. After the hike I was planning on stopping at Tanner Campground on the way back to the airport and paying for a site just so I can take a shower and change before flying home. My flight departs at 11:59 pm on Sunday night. Needless to say I will be pooped and probably my pass out for the 7.5 hr flight home.
Flight lands 9:30 am Monday morning. I'm taking the rest of the day as a recovery day before retuning to work Tuesday.
So my main questions are...
- Is it realistic to think I can do Mount Timp then Summit Pfeifferhorn the next day? I'm a capable hiker in pretty good shape but that's just a lot of elevation gain and mileage for a 48 hr window. Then again I want to get the most out of this trip.
- I'm still debating between Red Pine Lake (and possibly Pfeifferhorn) and the Hike to Blanche Lake for Sunday. I'm hoping somebody has done both and can make a suggestion.. As far as my priorities, I'm not a peakbagger. My biggest priority is finding beauty and if that means summiting a peak, so be it.
- I read that Mount Timp gets really busy on Saturdays. Should I re-plan so that Mt Timp falls on Sunday instead? I'd rather do the hike closer to the airport on Sun (hence Timp on Sat) and was assuming that mid Sept wouldn't be as busy as the summer months? Any suggestions?
- Anything else I should be considering? Any other hikes in close proximity to SLC airport I should consider instead of these? Any suggestions regarding my logistics? Also any differences in preparation from an east coast hike? My camelback is 3L and I always bring some aquamira just in case. I know rain gear/light jacket are a good idea because of the elevation. I ordered the Nat Geo Uinta National Forest trail map (pretty sure that will cover the hikes I mentioned). Anything else?
Thanks,
John
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
I'm a hiker from northern NJ just a few miles from NY State. I've been wanting to get a taste of Utah hiking for quite a some time but already used up most of my vacation days for a week in the White Mountains in NH next month.
So I went ahead and booked a Friday flight to Salt Lake City and fly back at midnight Sunday night. I'll get 2 days of hiking in and will only miss 2 days of work. The dates are Sept 19th - 21st.
I've never been to Utah, let alone hiked it, so I'd appreciate if anyone familiar with the area could help me dial-in my plan.
My tentative plan so far is as follows...
My flight arrives in SLC at 4:20pm. I plan on renting a car at the airport and driving to Timpooneke Campground where I will sleep Friday night (so I will be at the trailhead to Mount Timpanogos when I awake Sat morning).
Saturday I plan on hiking Mount Timpanogos. When I get back to Timpooneke Campground I intend on sleeping there again Sat night (and loading up on sleep again for the next day).
Sunday morning I plan on packing up my tent and heading north to hike either to Red Pine Lake (and beyond the lake to the summit of Pfeifferhorn if I have it in me). Either that or Blanche Lake. After the hike I was planning on stopping at Tanner Campground on the way back to the airport and paying for a site just so I can take a shower and change before flying home. My flight departs at 11:59 pm on Sunday night. Needless to say I will be pooped and probably my pass out for the 7.5 hr flight home.
Flight lands 9:30 am Monday morning. I'm taking the rest of the day as a recovery day before retuning to work Tuesday.
So my main questions are...
- Is it realistic to think I can do Mount Timp then Summit Pfeifferhorn the next day? I'm a capable hiker in pretty good shape but that's just a lot of elevation gain and mileage for a 48 hr window. Then again I want to get the most out of this trip.
- I'm still debating between Red Pine Lake (and possibly Pfeifferhorn) and the Hike to Blanche Lake for Sunday. I'm hoping somebody has done both and can make a suggestion.. As far as my priorities, I'm not a peakbagger. My biggest priority is finding beauty and if that means summiting a peak, so be it.
- I read that Mount Timp gets really busy on Saturdays. Should I re-plan so that Mt Timp falls on Sunday instead? I'd rather do the hike closer to the airport on Sun (hence Timp on Sat) and was assuming that mid Sept wouldn't be as busy as the summer months? Any suggestions?
- Anything else I should be considering? Any other hikes in close proximity to SLC airport I should consider instead of these? Any suggestions regarding my logistics? Also any differences in preparation from an east coast hike? My camelback is 3L and I always bring some aquamira just in case. I know rain gear/light jacket are a good idea because of the elevation. I ordered the Nat Geo Uinta National Forest trail map (pretty sure that will cover the hikes I mentioned). Anything else?
Thanks,
John
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk