unrelenting

We got a late start for our hike last Sunday, sleeping in, walking the dog and then going out to breakfast (Cottonwood Cafe: french toast for me; Denver omelet with home fries and sourdough toast for H), but since we're in the end of September, the heat wasn't an issue.  Sunday was just gorgeous with cloudless, Utah bluebird skies; the temperature at noon at the trailhead in Millcreek Canyon was around the low 60s and even in the sun, later in the afternoon, it didn't get above 80 F - perfect.

Alexander Basin

The trail we did is one we've been talking about ever since we started hiking out here, but we'd never done it because it was described as being so steep: Alexander Basin to Gobbler's Knob, described in our guidebook as "[n]o one lost any time cutting switchbacks when making this trail."  No kidding.  We hiked 4.9 miles round trip with a 3,083 elevation gain.  Let me repeat that: almost 3,100 feet of elevation gain in just under 2.5 miles.  The trail (hard packed dirt, some loose gravel, rocky) goes straight up the center of Alexander Basin and the up starts right from the trailhead.  It's really, really steep.  Really steep.

Looking east down towards Mt. Reynolds/Butler Fork

Alexander Basin itself is a tiered bowl, full of the remnants of the summer's wildflowers.  At the top of the basin, the terrain falls away to the south, opening up into another gorgeous bowl that drains into Big Cottonwood Canyon above Butler Fork.  We walked along the ridgeline first to an overlook a little to the south of the peak, floored by the expansive views in all directions.  To the south and east, we could see the top of the tram at Snowbird and Devil's Castle at Alta over in Little Cottonwood Canyon, the Silver Fork Lodge and Solitude's entry in Big Cottonwood Canyon; to the northeast we were able to pick out Parleys and Emigration Canyons and the backsides of the Park City area ski mountains.  It's really fun now as we're getting more familiar with the area to know what we're looking at.  And from up on that ridge, we were looking at a lot.

We figured out the self-timer!

We retraced our steps along the ridge to summit Gobbler's Knob - just a few feet higher but if you're going to climb a mountain, you might as well reach the top.  Our descent was slow at first, what with the loose rock underfoot and the steepness of the trail, but once we reached the middle of Alexander Basin we were able to make pretty good time (just under three hours hiking time, with just over an hour spent soaking in the views at the top).

Once down we changed into dry clothes and drove back down Millcreek Canyon until we found a spot by the stream (we had to go quite a ways down since all the picnic spots were full of families enjoying their late September dinners al fresco).  There, we cracked open a couple of PBRs (naturally), watched a couple of funny little American dippers* ducking and diving into the creek for their own meals, and just enjoyed being outdoors again on a glorious Utah afternoon.

* Thanks to Paul for the ID!