We had yet another visit from out-of-towners this past weekend: H's uncle and aunt, in SLC en route back to North Carolina after a Yellowstone trip. We picked them up Saturday midday at the airport, whisked them back home for a gab session, ran off to the Porcupine for dinner, tucked them into a guest bedroom for overnight and then took them back to the airport by 9:30 Sunday morning to catch their flight home. That was quick! Milton loved making new friends and seemed a little confused to see them go so soon.
Or maybe he was confused because as soon as we got home from dropping them at the airport, H and I flung on our hiking gear, tossed some beers in the cooler and drove up to Alta for a hike. (The dog was in full pout-mode when we left, since he hadn't gone to the airport with us and isn't allowed up Little Cottonwood Canyon.) With such a late start (10:30 a.m.), I figured the canyon would be inundated with other recreationists. I was very surprised to note only around 100 cars at the White Pine trailhead (that's not many, compared to the hordes parking roadside this summer) and just a handful up at the Albion parking lot at Alta. I know that folks like to come up to see the wildflowers and they're long past by now - but it was a gorgeous, clear day and I just expected more people. With 64 F and sunny, I was not looking in any gift horses' mouths, however.
We decided to do the recent Cirque series Alta course (modified only slightly (plus we weren't running)): up through Albion/Sunnyside to Alf's, up the access road switchbacks through East Greely to Collins, up the EBT to Snowbird pass, up to the Baldy summit, down Baldy shoulder and out through Collins Gulch. We'd then have to finish under the tow rope to get back to the car - uphill finish, of course. I don't know how those Cirque racers do it. There is so much up, some of it steep, and lots of it just a grind. Conditions couldn't have been more perfect, though, and while we were working on the ups, it wasn't hot so we weren't sweat-soaked. We saw deer, marmots, pikas and hawks.
Neither of us loves the scramble from Snowbird pass to the ridge to Baldy. It's loose underfoot, which I don't like, and a little exposed, which H doesn't like. It doesn't take long, however, and in just about ten minutes we were marching up the ridge to the summit. The wind started to pick up at that point, although we got out of it when we dropped onto the shoulder descent. Neither of us loves the shoulder descent. It's super steep and can be loose, although recent rains had dampened the dirt enough to give it some grip. From there, it was back to the access road for the steep-in-spots descent to base level.
The winds were kicking up dust devils when we got back to the car. Other than that it was extremely pleasant, so we had a beer and snacks and did some people-watching. It seems folks were getting even later starts than we did. This is very apparent when we headed back home: Snowbird's Oktoberfest is in full swing and the gorgeous weather was bringing Oktoberfesters out in droves. Prost!
Hike stats: 7.63 miles; 2:51 hours/2.7 m.p.h. moving; 3:25/2.2 m.p.h. overall; 2,380 feet of elevation
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