TheDunedain
Not all those who wander are lost
- Joined
- Feb 11, 2012
- Messages
- 37
On a beautiful October the first of 2011 myself and my two friends Markus and Sam thought we would do an overnight backpacking trip up to the Maybird Lakes in Little Cottonwood Canyon. Maybird Gulch is accessed from the White Pine trailhead and is the next gulch over from Red Pine Gulch which definitely sees a lot more traffic than Maybird so if relative solitude is what you seek Maybird is great . Sitting under the 11,326 foot peak the Pfiefferhorn (which is without a doubt my favorite peak in Utah), Maybird Gulch offers a plethora of the scenic beauty the Wasatch is known for.
We left the White Pine trailhead at about noon and started up the trail. The fall colors were exploding everywhere and the slopes below Twin, O'sullivan, and Dromedary peaks on the other side of the canyon were covered top to bottom in red, yellow and orange. The trail is easy to follow and if you are used to hiking at high elevations it's a breeze even considering the huge elevation gain from top to bottom. From the trailhead to the Maybird Lakes it's about 3.5 miles and it took us about 2 and a half hours if I remember correctly.
Once at the lakes we set up camp and started lounging. There aren't many good spots to put a tent at either of the Maybird Lakes due to the fact that most of the area around the lakes is either sloped or very rocky but we found a decent spot and after some ground leveling the great lounging of 2011 began. Luckily we only brought my 3 person tent so we didn't have to worry about space for two tents. After the lounging and dinner we climbed to the top the steep hill above the lakes to catch an amazing sunset... As a side note if you backpack Maybird gulch or Redpine Lakes in either June or July be sure to get up high to catch the sunset. The views are amazing and when the sun sets it reflects on the Great Salt Lake which makes it look like two suns are converging into one and then they both go out...very cool.
The next day we had planned just to explore the upper reaches of Maybird but I was a dunce and had forgot my jacket at the top of the hill the night prior so we decided to climb back to the top of the hill and then ascend the ridge to look into Red Pine, then cut across the moraine under the Pfiefferhorn and up the opposite ridge to look into Hogum Fork. After reclaiming my jacket from the mountain we ascended the brutally steep (and sketchy) ridge to look into Red Pine. The views of White Baldy are fantastic from there and you can see both of the Red Pine Lakes. It's also worth noting that if you want to see nobody at all there is a pretty big pond and a meadow on top of the hill above the Maybird lakes that would make an excellent camp spot with great views.
Next we climbed down and cut across the moraine below the Pfiefferhorn where we saw a family of 8-9 mountain goats doing their goat thing on the steep slopes below the mountain. I know it is what they are made to do but it always amazes me how mountain goats can go up nearly vertical sheer rock faces. After watching them climb for a while we headed up the equally steep but somewhat less sketchy ridge to look into Hogum fork. Hogum fork is a really cool canyon with plenty of knife ridges and cool rock features that definitely call for exploration. From there we headed back to camp and back down to the trailhead.
Here's the picturinos. I don't own a camera and these were taken with my phone so they aren't the best quality. You get the idea though.
We left the White Pine trailhead at about noon and started up the trail. The fall colors were exploding everywhere and the slopes below Twin, O'sullivan, and Dromedary peaks on the other side of the canyon were covered top to bottom in red, yellow and orange. The trail is easy to follow and if you are used to hiking at high elevations it's a breeze even considering the huge elevation gain from top to bottom. From the trailhead to the Maybird Lakes it's about 3.5 miles and it took us about 2 and a half hours if I remember correctly.
Once at the lakes we set up camp and started lounging. There aren't many good spots to put a tent at either of the Maybird Lakes due to the fact that most of the area around the lakes is either sloped or very rocky but we found a decent spot and after some ground leveling the great lounging of 2011 began. Luckily we only brought my 3 person tent so we didn't have to worry about space for two tents. After the lounging and dinner we climbed to the top the steep hill above the lakes to catch an amazing sunset... As a side note if you backpack Maybird gulch or Redpine Lakes in either June or July be sure to get up high to catch the sunset. The views are amazing and when the sun sets it reflects on the Great Salt Lake which makes it look like two suns are converging into one and then they both go out...very cool.
The next day we had planned just to explore the upper reaches of Maybird but I was a dunce and had forgot my jacket at the top of the hill the night prior so we decided to climb back to the top of the hill and then ascend the ridge to look into Red Pine, then cut across the moraine under the Pfiefferhorn and up the opposite ridge to look into Hogum Fork. After reclaiming my jacket from the mountain we ascended the brutally steep (and sketchy) ridge to look into Red Pine. The views of White Baldy are fantastic from there and you can see both of the Red Pine Lakes. It's also worth noting that if you want to see nobody at all there is a pretty big pond and a meadow on top of the hill above the Maybird lakes that would make an excellent camp spot with great views.
Next we climbed down and cut across the moraine below the Pfiefferhorn where we saw a family of 8-9 mountain goats doing their goat thing on the steep slopes below the mountain. I know it is what they are made to do but it always amazes me how mountain goats can go up nearly vertical sheer rock faces. After watching them climb for a while we headed up the equally steep but somewhat less sketchy ridge to look into Hogum fork. Hogum fork is a really cool canyon with plenty of knife ridges and cool rock features that definitely call for exploration. From there we headed back to camp and back down to the trailhead.
Here's the picturinos. I don't own a camera and these were taken with my phone so they aren't the best quality. You get the idea though.
