emigration canyon ridgeline

H was a man with a plan today!  We checked the NOAA cameras again when we got up - what a great real-time resource when you can't depend on the forecasts for anything - noticing that it was a sunny day on the east side of the Wasatch, while the west side is STILL gunked in.  Hiking gear was donned; the dog was squirted, fed, pooped and then locked in her crate; and we took off north- and east-wards.

After breakfast at the Other Place (Greek scramble for me; Denver omelet with cheese for H), we drove eight miles up Emigration Canyon to the Little Mountain Summit parking lot.  It was incredible, really, since we had scarcely left the valley and headed up the canyon road when the smoggy murk was just GONE, and bright blue skies and sunshine smiling down on us.  The parking lot overlooks Little Dell Reservoir, at the mouth of Mountain Dell Canyon, and down into Parley's Canyon where I-80 runs to Park City. 

Although there were several cars in the parking lot, we did not have much company on the "trail."  I put that in quotations because the book describes the route as "a  Jeep road [which] leads to a dirt trail, then to a game trail, before it disappears completely" then following the ridgeline over rolling hills to eventually overlook the whole of the Salt Lake Valley.  That description is entirely accurate.  We kept to the snowshoe tracks previously laid out (although we were just hiking which was fine for the outbound trip but the snow softened in the sun and we were post-holing for much of the return); these tracks eventually faded away as folks gave up before the summit, and by trail's end we were following the moose and mule deer tracks as they made their way up to the impressive lookout.

I don't think I've ever seen so much animal sign on a hike.  The foothills were practically plaid with all the animal tracks; there was scat everywhere; and when we had made our way up to the penultimate summit, we were walking through deer bedrooms: trampled spots under the scrub oak and curlleaf mountain mahogony.  Despite the abundance of hoofstock sign, however, we saw only chickadees and a flock of chukkars that startled us as much as we startled them.  I was really hoping for a moose but it was not to be today.  B actually could have come with us on the hike as dogs are allowed [edited: dogs not allowed], but she would have eaten SO much deer poop that it's really better that she stayed home.

The hike was 5.2 miles roundtrip (out and back) with a total elevation gain of 1139 feet, taking us 1 hour 45 minutes outbound and an hour and ten minutes back, with fifteen minutes for water, snack and view appreciation at the top.  Although it had been 20 degrees when we left the apartment, it was quite warm in the blazing sun outside of the smog.  Both H and I sweated through all our layers and, as we'd neglected to put on sunscreen, our faces ended up a little pink - a glorious day out there in the foothills of the Wasatch.