wasatch

With all the snow that has been falling, I decided today was a good day to break out my poor, neglected snowshoes and get out and do a little exploring. I've kind of been absent from snow-based recreation the last couple of years due to injury and a general preference for the desert, so this was...

I went hiking near Johnson's Hole in Provo Canyon with my son, Alan, in January of 2011 and we finally found the petroglphys there. Back in Fall of 2005, my neighbor, Don Roberts, and I hiked through the same area looking for them, but couldn't find any. I'd been through the area again several...

Trying out my first TR with the BBCode converter and a new blog I just started (wasatch-will.blogspot.com)... Being my first post of this new blog in which I intend to document what I hope to be many hiking and backpacking adventures throughout Utah's famed Wasatch Mountains, other parts of...

I did a little over-nighter on the Wellsvilles June 28th-29th. I think I was crazy to be hiking in 95 degree weather. The climb to Stewarts pass was a bear, once on top the temps dropped 15 degrees and the hiking to camp was a breeze. The wildflowers on the top ridge were unreal this year. I...

Storms have been pretty rowdy in the Wasatch for the past few days. Much lightning, thunder and rain with a smattering of hail as well. On July 3, my wife and I went for a quick backpack up at Alta. We stayed right on the Baldy ridge between Snowbird and Alta so we had a view of the valley floor...

Did a partial Timp hike for training purposes. Rode bikes from road closure barricade in AF Canyon to Timpanooke Trailhead, then by 10am we hiked in warm weather up the trail. Hit a few small snow patches 10 ft. from trail head, but half mile up it was completely covered. We all had good boots...

Here is a trip report that won't be finished for a couple years (at least), but I think it will be more enjoyable to share as it unfolds rather than write up volumes on it once it is all finished. I have tossed around the idea for a decade or so of hiking the length of the Great Western...

Ok so these are not my pics. Last summer I took my boys hiking up the ridge, straight up from the gaurd shack at Alta, to look over into Big Cottonwood canyon. Its a short hike. Great way to spend a summer afternoon with the boys; way better than sitting around the house and watching the guys...

Great hike for enjoying fall colors in Utah. We started in the neighborhood across and just up the road from the Silver Fork Lodge in Big Cottonwood. Since there is no parking available at this trail head we just parked along side the road and then started walking up through the neighborhood...

I can't believe I grew up in Utah and didn't get to lake blanche until just a few years ago. This is an amazing hike. the scenery all the way up is typical cottonwood canyon beautiful then you get to the top and Lake Blanche, sundial peak, all the granite and waterfalls and lush greenery...It is...

A sunny late summer afternoon hike to Lake Blanche wasn't enough. It had been years since the last time I stood on the airy dizzying summit of the Sun Dial and it beckoned in the afternoon light invitingly. Stopping to smell (photograph) the wildflowers along the way up to the lake proved a good...

What has become something of a winter tradition of mine, drclef and I set off for Broads Fork last weekend. Mixed terrain, diverse geology, open vistas, and grand views of one of the Wasatch's most spectacular cirques makes this destination one of Northern Utah's best. Approximately 1.5...

The full moon is supposed to come once a month. Once in a Blue Moon we get two full moons in a single month... and once every few years we see 13 full moons in a 12-month calendar year. This was the case in 2012. The 13th full moon occurred on December 28th. It followed a significant winter...

I haven't spent any time posting lately so I'm trying to make up for it a bit. This will just be a short list of the many hikes we've done from spring-fall. We've been committed to doing about 2 per week and it's been good for the soul. We live at the base of Little and Big Cottonwood Canyons so...

Headed down to Maple Canyon about a month ago for a day trip. We left from Salt Lake at about 11am and made it in 1.5 hours. Met up with some friends that had camped there and also my wife's twin sister and fam who had also traveled from SLC. We put up 3 routes all on the same wall and took...

Crossposted from my blog at www.livevicariouslythroughus.blogspot.com Maple Canyon is another place that's been on my radar for a while. We got out there this past weekend and had a blast. I sometimes wonder why it takes me so long to go to some of these places! Maple Canyon is no exception-...

Originally posted at www.livevicariouslythroughus.blogspot.com I didn't know whether to post this in hiking or other, but hiking prevailed. Our twighlight stop at Porcupine Reservoir over the Labor Day weekend really got me pumped up about looking for salmon, so Friday night we went camping...

A friend of mine and ultrarunner (Karl Meltzer) is the creator and race director of the Speedgoat 50k trail race at Snowbird Ski Resort. This is 30 miles of hard running with 12k elevation gain and 12k elevation loss. My wife did this race 2 years ago so I know first hand how nutty it is. The...

Hit up the Weber bright and early Saturday morning with a buddy of mine. We were on the river and fishing before the sun came up and it paid off. I landed my biggest Weber Cutty to date as well as another slab Brown among some other smaller fish. The Cutty hammered a size 2 sculpin pattern. I...

Up the long ladder. The common trail into Bells Canyon begins in the Wasatch foothills at the mouth of Little Cottonwood Canyon. Suburban development has cut off the best approaches into the canyon, so most hikers access it from the Sandy City/Salt Lake County trailhead located near 9600 South...