Racing the Sunset: Mount Wire & Red Butte Peak

Just when I thought I was done hiking for the year, Annie called me at work and let me know that I probably shouldn't come home tonight. No, not because we're fighting or anything like that, but because she had her sisters and their kids over to play cards all evening. So in an effort to keep myself sane I picked out a hike that I thought I could do before it got too dark and cold.  That left just a few options within easy driving distance of home: Red Pine Lake up Little Cottonwood Canyon, Dog Lake (either one) up Big Cottonwood Canyon, or Mount Wire up above the University of Utah.  I didn't really feel like driving up any big canyons, and instead decided to make the drive up to the University of Utah.

Apparently, though, there was an accident on the northbound freeway so I got stuck in some pretty heavy traffic.  I decided to get off at 9000 south, but as I started exiting I noticed that traffic was flowing just fine from there on.  But it was too late to get back on, so I made my way up to I-215 the long way. That probably cost me fifteen minutes.

I arrived at the trailhead pretty easily after that.  It wasn't so much a trailhead as a small trail off the side of the road in Research Park, but the coordinates were in my GPS so it was pretty easy to find.

This was a hike I planned to do earlier this year when the higher peaks were still covered in snow.  Mount Wire is only 7100' or so, so it's one of the first peaks available to climb in the spring.  In my rush to get out the door and beat the sunset I didn't have time to refresh my mind on the particulars of the trail. I always like to have a clear idea of the terrain, any trails branch off the main trail, and the average slope of each section of the trail.  That would have been great information to know...
The trail started out pretty flat and even.  It even crossed a tiny little creek just a few hundred meters in.  After a bit, it joined up with the Bonneville Shoreline trail.  What I would have known, had I taken the time to refresh myself on the trail, is that there are two trails that head up from the Bonneville Shoreline trail, only about 50' apart.  The moral of the story: Choose the Right (trail). I took the left.

The trail I took paralleled the right trail really close (on the GPS) for quite awhile, close enough that I thought it was possible the GPS was giving me wrong information (if you're in a deep canyon, which I was, it can put you a bit off where you actually are). Looking at the topography, it looked like the trails would meet up in a bit, and looking ahead, it looked like I could see where both trails pushed up on top of the ridge between the two trails.

At one point, I saw a trail that looked like it connected the two trails, and followed it for quite awhile, but it was steep downhill, and I knew if it didn't connect to the other I'd have to re-climb all that elevation.  I would find out later that I was within about 50 feet of the trail when I turned back. Another 10 minutes lost.

Finally, after more than a mile of hiking, my trail came to a sudden and abrupt end. It just ended right there, and the slopes all around me were steep. Very steep.  I saw a "trail" heading up to the right (the direction I needed to go) and saw two people coming down the real trail high up above at the top of the ridge (about 200' up).

So my choice was to either backtrack a mile, losing almost 1000' of elevation and preventing me from arriving at the peak before sunset, or climb up the near-vertical slope through scratchy bushes.  Had I not seen the 2 guys on the real trail, I probably would have just turned around, but knowing that the trail was there (and that the GPS was right after all) I climbed up the hill, scratching my bare legs to pieces and splitting open a finger.  But I made it to the real trail, and probably only lost ten minutes climbing through the bushes.

The trail (the real trail) was beautiful. Seriously. I was so amazed at how pretty it was. From the valley, it looks like a bare, ugly mountain, but when you actually get on the mountain it's covered in trees (which were all yellow and red).  If you're wondering which mountain is Mount Wire, it's the one with those two big white squares on its south slope, straight East of Salt Lake City.

There's also an old tower up on top of the mountain. If I remember correctly, this tower was part of the Airway Beacon System that guided airplanes at night for a few decades starting in the 1930's or so.

The last half mile was difficult.  It got really steep in a lot of places, and I almost turned back a dozen times. I kept taking pictures of the sunset thinking that that would be as high as I'd go. Then, after resting a minute, I'd decide to keep going a little further, and eventually made it to the top.

I didn't get to spend any time up on top.  As soon as I got there the sun dropped below the horizon and a mass of cold air blew in. It got dark really quick and the temperature dropped at least 20 degrees. I put on my jacket and giant headlight, drank some water and headed back down the steep trail.

On the way down I decided to make the short detour to Red Butte Peak (about 100' from the trail).

It took me 1.5 hours to get to the top, and just an hour to get back down. It was completely dark when I got to the bottom, but a bit warmer at the bottom than it had been at the top.

Overall, I climbed 2200' in 2.25 miles, stood on top of two peaks, drank 1/2 liter of water, ate 1 Clif Bar, and drew blood in 4 places.  It was a success!