Broads Fork Twin Peaks - July 14, 2020

scatman

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In honor of my 56th birthday yesterday, I celebrated by hiking to the top of Broads Fork Twin Peaks with my daughter, and a former coworker and friend Jon, who recently retired. This was my daughter's third attempt to reach the top after the first two fell just short, while Jon has summited a couple of times before taking the standard route, he had never done the Robinson's Variation and was interested in seeing what it was like. Hopefully for my daughter's sake the third time will be the charm.

The weather was perfect for the hike, with cool temps in the morning and some intermittent cloud cover during the day to help keep the sun off of us at least part of the time.

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Entering the Twin Peaks Wilderness

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Broads Fork

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The trail runs through a beautiful stand of Aspen

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First view (early morning) of the Broads Fork Basin

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A good look at the route ahead - climb the couloir in the middle of the frame, scramble south across the ridge, then summit the
eastern Twin Peak, located in the upper left of the shot.

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Hillside full of False Sunflowers

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Stonecrop was common in the steep gully

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Penstemons too

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Making our way up the gully

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Slab country

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Heading for the saddle directly ahead

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More Penstemons

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Jon, accessing his situation. The snow at the head of the drainage caused us to have to
use the slabs more than we wanted to.


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Jon, holding onto a slab near the top of the couloir

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A look across Big Cottonwood Canyon towards Mount Raymond an Gobblers Knob

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Once at the saddle, one gets a good view of the Twin Peaks

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Heading south across the ridge towards the eastern summit

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Making our way along the ridge

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Entering the crack of doom. :)

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Beginning our final push to the summit of the eastern peak

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Some phlox up high

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A look down into Deaf Smith Canyon

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Parry's Primrose

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Some stair stepping left to get to the top

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A look over at the western summit, from just below the eastern summit

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Lone Peak across Little Cottonwood Canyon

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Heading over to the western summit

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The Pfeifferhorn with Mount Timpanogos in the distance

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On the western summit

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Back on the eastern summit, with Jon practicing good social distancing. It look like the third
time was the charm for my daughter.

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A look east along the Cottonwood Ridge with Sunrise and Dromedary Peaks

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A closer look at Sunrise

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The view, across the canyon, from the gully east of Twin Peaks that we were making our way down

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I didn't expect there to be snow in the gully. This caused us to be a little more careful
as we descended it.


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This was hilarious. The balloons were next to the gully and the clearish one behind the branches actually said "Happy Birthday" on it.
What are the chances that I'd run into this, in the sticks, on my birthday.


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Out of the gully, and making our way towards the saddle between Twin Peaks and Sunrise

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A look back up at the eastern summit

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A look down into Broads Fork Basin

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Clematis holding on

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Broads Fork

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Broads Fork, winding through the basin

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Blooming Horsemint was everywhere along the trail. There was an overwhelming smell of mint in the air. It was likes being wrapped
in spearmint chewing gum.


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Broads Fork Trail, on our way out, near the trailhead
 

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Very cool, two peaks, balloons and minty fresh, and Happy Birthday!
 
Wow! Happy Birthday @scatman and congrats to your daughter.
Love the blue penstemon, I'm going to order some seeds, we are in the right zone for it to grow here :)
 
What a great way to celebrate the day! Happy Birthday!


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That looks like fun and a great way to celebrate your birthday. Broads Fork is very underrated IMO.
 
Happy 56th @scatman !

I hope I can celebrate my birthdays in a similar fashion someday. Congratulations on making it to the top. . . an accomplishment that can confirm you've still "got it!"
 
No better way to celebrate a birthday than on a mountain in a kilt. Hope it was a good one.
 
That looks like fun and a great way to celebrate your birthday. Broads Fork is very underrated IMO.

I agree. Actually, the Wasatch Mountain Club rates it as the hardest summit according to one of their rating systems. They rate it a 14.9 in difficulty. The only higher ratings are for ridge hikes like the Beatout, Wildcat Ridge, etc..
 

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Happy 56th @scatman !

I hope I can celebrate my birthdays in a similar fashion someday. Congratulations on making it to the top. . . an accomplishment that can confirm you've still "got it!"

I'm sure you will be able to. The question really is, how many more years will I still "have it!" I'm guessing I'm on the downhill side of that question. :(
 
No better way to celebrate a birthday than on a mountain in a kilt. Hope it was a good one.

The only better way for me to spend the 14th would be in Yellowstone, which I have done a few times. I did end up with a few nice scratches on my legs, but other than that, it was a good day for the kilt.
 
Love it!!! And I'm jealous because I'm in Southern Utah where it is like hell with temps way above hundred degrees, bad air, dust and no way to go on a hike until September.

And what a cool coincidence to find these happy Birthday balloons on your birthday hike
 
Love it!!! And I'm jealous because I'm in Southern Utah where it is like hell with temps way above hundred degrees, bad air, dust and no way to go on a hike until September.

And what a cool coincidence to find these happy Birthday balloons on your birthday hike

Sorry about the hot temps down south. Are you still headed up to Yellowstone in the near future? You ought to get some relief if so.
 
Wow, what a hike - look like a lot of fun! Those solid slabs so high in the Wasatch Range are very interesting. Major Happy Birthday too- looks like Karma sent the balloons for you!
 
I love the balloons. And the clematis.
Happy birthday.
 
I'm sure you will be able to. The question really is, how many more years will I still "have it!" I'm guessing I'm on the downhill side of that question. :(

I know a couple who was still canyoneering and summiting peaks like Hayden Peak and what not well through their 60's. Just keep active and you never know....

Nice way to celebrate!
 
Happy Birthday!! Looks like a perfect hike to celebrate with all those flowers!

Glad you got to see the balloons I sent you ;)
 
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