This weekend we made a "quick" stop at South Mountain. It's really close to home, and a short hike. ... if you don't get lost.

Stats:
Distance: 3.76
Time: 3:48
Elevation Gain: 1,581 ft

Google Earth Path:


Elevation Profile:


So, we set out saturday morning around 10:30am. We didn't take any snacks or food, just water. It's supposed to be a mile in and a mile out, nothing too intense so we figured we would be home in time for lunch anyway. We worked our way to the trail head which is actually a cul-de-sac in a neighborhood not far from us. It was surprisingly difficult to find our way through this neighborhood (we should have taken this as a clue). I barely read up on the trail, figuring it should be pretty obvious ... it wasn't.

Appa had a good time, like always while hiking. He likes to lead the way, but if there's no set trail to follow he gets confused and is harder to manage:


We ended up following some deer trails having a good old time, before realizing that we were not going where we wanted to go. The path we were on was not leading to the summit at all. We stopped to reevaluate:


Eventually we decided to just get up to the ridge and work our way over to the peak from there. We walked through some crappy terrain, scree, cactus, and thick brush that was snagging at us (though you wouldn't believe it based off our photos). We were ducking and twisiting our way through until we finally got the top.

Poor Appa dog was oblivious to the cactus, stepping wherever he wanted. He eventually got stickered in the foot with about 4 needles. He stopped dead in his tracks then tried to gingerly take a step, which is when I noticed we had a problem. After removing all the needles from the pads of his foot he was back to walking normal, only now he avoided cactus at all costs. Guess he learned the hard way.

Because of our lostness and frustration at what should have been an easy day we didn't get the camera out nearly as much as we wish we would have.

As we worked our way along the ridge line we came to a little sign ... from behind. Woops.

Then we came to another little sign, from behind ... again. Turns out we were in military land. Bad place to wander aimlessly. They'll nail you with a fine in no time flat if they catch you. We got lucky.

We we're wondering why there were strange buildings nestled in the middle of the mountains ... makes more sense now:


Finally made it to the top:


Panoramic. It's a full 360º view, so it's a little disorienting (click for larger view):


Appa couldn't help himself. Gotta chew on some sticks:


The way down was much steeper, more rocks, got into some scrambling, but far fewer bushes. At one point a small little herd(?) of deer came running by. Appa went NUTS. He kept looking back at where they went for a very long time. If he hadn't been on a leash I don't think we'd have a dog anymore.

By the time we got down we were STARVING. So we went out to eat. Now we want to do it again and this time follow the right path up.

Sounds like an eddy adventure! Glad you did not get caught in the military land and that's a great summit pic of u and appa. I always pack extra food and water cause you just never know what might happen, ken tells me all the time I over pack but better safe than sorry.

Love the pics!

Awesome!

Fun pics Riley.

Jealous of the elevation / topography you western folks have

So pretty pictures! That land looks so amazing to hike on! Appa looks like he is having a blast!

jbealer wrote:

I always pack extra food and water cause you just never know what might happen, ken tells me all the time I over pack but better safe than sorry.

Yeah, we normally do, but of course "just this one time" is the time we shouldn't have "just this one time'ed" it. Blast it all.

This is the western side of the valley, it's more deserty and dry, but it gives spectacular views of the Wasatch Mountains (the ones in the distance). I'll post some photos from the other side of the valley later in the season when we can get out more.

It was a fun hike, even though nothing quite went to plan.

rileyflorence wrote:

i know it's a dog forum, but this pic is way too awesome!

HA! Is it the left side of the Google Earth path that was your ascent? Those are some basic looking structures. Sounds like you were well into their land on the approach. I haven't hit anything military yet. Not much of that in our high country. We have more of the over zealous land owner trying to put signage up on forest land thing. I have, however, happened across a few signs from behind here and there...


Am I right remembering you using Android? If so, I can't say enough good things about BackCountry Navigator Pro. The individual sate add-ons are $6.99, but you get some very good BLM overlays showing private, state, BLM and USFS boundaries...

Yeah, that was our ascent... The Oquirrh mountains (the ones we were in, and live in) have a lot of private property, I really want to hit up all of the major peaks in this range before they're all gobbled up. The land owners here are intense, not to mention Rio Tinto and the copper mine. They patrol their borders in jeeps...

I'm on iOS, but that's not to say I haven't been tempted by BackCountry Navigator to make the switch. I really want to find a good dedicated GPS unit that has map overlays so I don't have to rely on my phone. I'd like to be able to have multi-day battery life on a GPS unit for long treks.

[quote="harrise"]


Is that the place they get the ingredients for Viagra?

Len, you are always so on top of those quotes!

Len you are too much

rileyflorence wrote:

I'm on iOS, but that's not to say I haven't been tempted by BackCountry Navigator to make the switch. I really want to find a good dedicated GPS unit that has map overlays so I don't have to rely on my phone. I'd like to be able to have multi-day battery life on a GPS unit for long treks.

Oh yeah. I forget about that battery-access-denied thing. I put that app on the tablet and that battery is a trooper. Full brightness and GPS only I can return from a 10 hour day with over 85% left. So far haven't had a chance to try it out for more than 24 hours of straight GPS.

I've thought about those solar things that are on Steep&Cheap every now and then, but the reviews are not good no matter what brand. Seems like one of them should perform acceptably.