off-season alta tour

Our northern Utah hiking season has gotten to a slow start this year.  The spring was so wet and cold, and the snowpack has lingered for so long, that it's been challenging to get out into the Wasatch.  If we liked snowshoeing, that would have been different - there's been lots of snowshoeing to be had.  Putting our boots on dirt, however, that's been more difficult to come by.

Gunsight still skiable

We had to get out there, though, so on Saturday we left Milton to guard the house (no dogs allowed in Little Cottonwood Canyon, not even in cars) and drove up to Alta.  We weren't sure how long we'd be out since we weren't sure how much snow would be up there.  As it turned out, there's still quite a lot.

Heading up Rollercoaster

The day was gorgeous and largely cloud-free, as you can see from the photos.  I ended up misjudging my sunscreen application: I usually don't put SPF 50 on my lower legs when I'm hiking since they don't get the exposure my arms and face do.  But with the sun reflecting off the snow, I ended up getting a little bit sunburned on my calves and shins (and a sock tanline too - the horror!).  So, lesson learned.

These funky ridges were only about a foot high

We hiked from Albion Base to Alf's, starting on the Summer Road and then switching to the summer trail up through Sunnyside.  At Alf's, we intended to follow the dirt access road up the switchbacks through East Greely.  With all the snow, however, we missed the road's turn and instead just followed the groomed trails up Rollercoaster and Devil's Elbow.  These blue trails are steep when you're hiking straight up them, by the way.

Skier and split-boarder, heading down

After a stop at the still-iced-in Cecret Lake, we continued under the Sugarloaf chair and went up Devil's Way (also steep) to the top of the Collins lift.  Here we met a couple of dudes who we'd seen earlier, skiing down through lower Devil's Castle to the lake.  They skinned up to the top of Collins, then took their skins off and headed down the front side of Collins.  We ended up seeing over a dozen people out skinning and/or skiing.  There is still so much snow that you can ski top to bottom if you're willing to do the hike.

Grizzly Gulch drying out across the canyon

We followed their tracks down to Wildcat base, down Mambo, under the angle station (the only bare spot on the run) and down through Corkscrew.  It was easy hiking because we could glissade a little, and even ran a bit, the snow offering nice cushioning on our joints.  At Wildcat base, we turned right and followed the creek up to the newly redone Snowpine Lodge, where we could scramble back up to our car.  It wasn't a long hike but it was a pretty one.  And it confirmed our suspicions that, with the lingering snowpack, Alta's summer looks to be a short one this year.

Hike stats:  4.75 miles; 1,730 feet of elevation; moving 1:59 hours / 2.4 m.p.h.; overall 2:38 / 1.8 m.p.h.