Dale Peak - October 8, 2018

[scatman]

I was supposed to be exploring Coulter Creek in the Teton Wilderness over the weekend, but a forecast of snow for four days scared me away. Instead, I woke up this morning and decided to hike up an underappreciated peak in the Wasatch - Dale Peak. It's been over five years since I last hiked up Dale, and since I had to pick my daughter up in the early afternoon from school, this seemed like a good time to revisit and to fit my schedule.

Dale Peak is located along the east side of Parleys Ridge with Parleys Canyon on the south side of the ridge and Emigration Canyon to the north. The trail is actually an old Jeep road that follows the crest of the ridge for the majority of the hike, with quite a bit of up and down to it. Once you get to the base of the peak, it becomes a single track all the way to the top. Since I wasn't sure if the deer hunt here in Utah was in full swing yet, I wore my trusty Scatman Orange for this one.


The ridge to the north is the southern ridge of Red Butte Canyon with Mount Wire on the western end.


My destination - Dale Peak with a touch of morning sunlight on the summit


Grandeur Peak to the south with a skiff of snow up top


Looking west along Parleys Ridge


Old Jeep road and the Salt Lake Valley in the distance


Ended up on a game trail heading through this.


Argh!


Popped back out of the scrub oak and back onto the main trail with Dale and Grandeur Peaks in view


A little bit of fall color left. Little Del Reservoir in the distance


View west along Parleys Ridge with Perkins Peak (high point along the ridge)


Mount Aire along the Millcreek Ridge


I-80 heading towards Parleys Summit


Scatman Orange - with Grandeur Peak and Triangle Peak even further south.


View looking back east on my way down - the road back to my Jeep


Not much red on this hike, but this small maple stood out


It looks like the old Jeep road is heading straight for the conifers


The lonely Jeep waiting at the trailhead.

 

[LarryBoy]

The funny part was, I was all set to do Dale Peak this morning, but changed plans and did Lookout instead. A near miss, as they say. Did you get snowed on?

 

[scatman]

The funny part was, I was all set to do Dale Peak this morning, but changed plans and did Lookout instead. A near miss, as they say. Did you get snowed on?

No, I didn't get any snow. It looked like Park City was getting some though. The sun was peaking through the clouds occasionally on my way up. I looked over at Lookout when I was up top and told myself that I need to make it up that way someday. I've never done Lookout. I've attempted it twice (not the normal route) from the valley but ran out of time both times and once, I did pass the trail to the top on my way to Grandview a few years ago. Did you get snow?

 

[LarryBoy]

No, I didn't get any snow. It looked like Park City was getting some though. The sun was peaking through the clouds occasionally on my way up. I looked over at Lookout when I was up top and told myself that I need to make it up that way someday. I've never done Lookout. I've attempted it twice (not the normal route) from the valley but ran out of time both times and once, I did pass the trail to the top on my way to Grandview a few years ago. Did you get snow?

Yeah we got snow. Wind was howling up there with a few snow flakes; pretty dang uncomfortable to be honest.

When you say "from the valley", what do you mean? From Affleck Park or Killyon Canyon? Or, do you mean, from the Salt Lake Valley? Cuz that's a long ways

 

[scatman]

Yeah we got snow. Wind was howling up there with a few snow flakes; pretty dang uncomfortable to be honest.

When you say "from the valley", what do you mean? From Affleck Park or Killyon Canyon? Or, do you mean, from the Salt Lake Valley? Cuz that's a long ways

Yes. both times from the Salt Lake Valley. The first attempt was along the Black Mountain Ridge. I got a late start on that one and had to be home by 6:00 pm so the bushwhacking along the eastern end of the ridge killed me. The second attempt was with my daughter a couple of years ago and we hiked along the south ridge of Red Butte. We started at a decent time and got fairly close, but alas at our turn around time we hadn't quite made it, plus deep snow at the headwaters of Knowlton's Fork didn't help. It was a much more successful attempt than the first time though. That is if a failed attempt can be deemed a success.

 

[LarryBoy]

Yes. both times from the Salt Lake Valley. The first attempt was along the Black Mountain Ridge. I got a late start on that one and had to be home by 6:00 pm so the bushwhacking along the eastern end of the ridge killed me. The second attempt was with my daughter a couple of years ago and we hiked along the south ridge of Red Butte. We started at a decent time and got fairly close, but alas at our turn around time we hadn't quite made it, plus deep snow at the headwaters of Knowlton's Fork didn't help. It was a much more successful attempt than the first time though. That is if a failed attempt can be deemed a success.

That's ambitious. I don't think I've ever been along the entire length of the black mtn ridge. That is some interesting bushwhacking for sure...

 

[regehr]

That's ambitious. I don't think I've ever been along the entire length of the black mtn ridge. That is some interesting bushwhacking for sure...

The spring before last scat and I walked the entire rim of Red Butte Canyon, and our memories are sufficiently bad that we're discussing doing it again next spring. Doing this while there's still snow covering some of the bushwacking is a great idea. You could join us but you have to not mind some suffering.

 

[LarryBoy]

The spring before last scat and I walked the entire rim of Red Butte Canyon, and our memories are sufficiently bad that we're discussing doing it again next spring. Doing this while there's still snow covering some of the bushwacking is a great idea. You could join us but you have to not mind some suffering.

I'm all in! I've done the southern half of it during the springtime but dropped down into Red Butte itself (didn't know it was a restricted area until the motion sensors started squawking at us).

 

[regehr]

I'm all in! I've done the southern half of it during the springtime but dropped down into Red Butte itself (didn't know it was a restricted area until the motion sensors started squawking at us).

haha, I've heard of these but not experienced directly.
Starting from Big Beacon it's easy walking for a long time, some bushwacking (perhaps avoidable) when you drop down towards the City Creek ridge, then an old roadway or something, easy walking for another piece, then moderately heinous bushwacking + a bit of scrambling until past the summit of Little Black Mtn. It's a super nice walk.