Five Hills Hike

Friday, October 3rd, 2009, some of the Liken to Hiken group (Nan, JoLynn, Laurie, Kim, and myself) abandoned plans to hike the Wellsvilles to Stewart's Pass due to freezing temperatures and snow on "them thar hills." Instead our fearless leader, Nan, selected an "easy" (NOT) hike to the Five Hills area which is the ridge between Smithfield Canyon and Birch Canyon.

When we left Logan at 7:30 a.m. the temperature was a mere 27 degrees so we bundled up and drove to the start of the trail. Nan always takes her suburban so we can all pile in. We followed the description in the "Cache Trails" hiking guide and started out at what we thought was the appropriate point.

The trail takes you along the ridge between the two canyons and is an up and down hike to the top of 5 hills. The ascent to most of the hills was quite steep, and I think too hard for someone expecting an "easy" hike. We disagreed on the count and are not even sure we made it to all five, but as usual we were all about taking pictures, enjoying scenery and each others' company.

At the various summits we could see the snow covered Wellsvilles to the west beckoning to us. The valley looked beautiful from that vantage point. After having a snack at the top of the last hill (we think), it was time for a song, dance, and video of both. We decided to sing the following song in a round: "I love the mountains, I love the rolling hills, I love the fountains, I love the daffodils, I love the fireside when all the lights are low, boom-de-odda, boom-de-odda, boom-de-odda, boom-de-ay, (repeat the boom-de-oddas) boom, boom, boom!" Aaaaah! The things one does when the air is thin! I want to download the video but I'm not sure I'll be savvy enough so maybe watching it on this facebook link will have to do.

http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=147448721524

The descent was a bit rough as there was no clearly defined path but the guide suggested descending down a gulley. I'm thinking we took the wrong one (which may indicate we really hadn't climbed all 5 hills) as travel down was steep and the gulley impassable at points. Being the bushwackers we are we made it down. JoLynn slid down by no choice of her own and Kim followed. We saw lots of bones that belonged to some type of animal, maybe a horse.

Once at the bottom, we saw the Birch Creek and took advantage of several photo ops among the beautiful fall leaves. Unfortunately for Kim and stupidly for me, we slid off rocks into the creek and sloshed our way to the car and home again.

I look forward to these Friday hikes--they have made my whole summer. I've developed wonderful friendships with these ladies from my neighborhood and can't wait till next Friday and the Wellsvilles. Hope I make it!!!

Parley's Peak

On October 26th, 2009, my sister, Marilee, and I were in Park City and wanted to hike so we bought a copy of a trail guide for the area and selected a hike in the area called Summit Park Trails called "Short Stack."

The trail was a series of switchbacks in a shaded, wooded area which was beautiful. The colors of the fall leaves were all around us. The theme for the day turned out to be dogs. The first dog we met was "Nickle," a Bernese Mountain dog. His owner told us about the trail we were on and suggested we continue on to WOS. We had seen this on the map but didn't know what it stood for. Apparently it is an acronym for "Weather Observation Station."

WOS was apparently a hang out destination for a group of scouts (I think he said) who would ascend to the spot to smoke whatever and drink beer. Through the years it became so well known that it officially made it on the map and trail markers. It turned out to be an unremarkable spot, but the hike on up the hill past our original destination was well worth the scenery. On this trail we encountered "Ranger" a Golden Retriever who appeared to have no master, but was enjoying the nonetheless.

The next person we met, who happened to be dog-less, was a young man with a French accent who encouraged us to continue on to the top of another mountain called Parley's Peak. He showed us the way and said we'd probably meet up with 2 female friends of his who were hiking this trail.

Since we were all about climbling to the top of something we headed up the trail. It wasn't long before we came across the 2 female hikers who encouraged us to continue up the trail as one could see the Great Salt Lake from the peak on a clear day.

We made it to the peak which was a beautiful view of many valleys along with the beautiful fall colors. It was a bit smokey from an apparent fire so we couldn't see all the way to the Great Salt Lake. The spot to rest was fun as there were many rock slabs fashioned into chairs to sit and rest.

Soon after our arrival to the peak, "Ranger" joined us still masterless. He was tired and found some shade to cool himself. No sooner did he arrive than someone was calling for a dog. We ran into the guy on the trail down who was looking for a yellow lab named "Cosmo." He also had another dog with him named "Marley" who liked similar to a Blue Healer. We told him about "Ranger" and he said his master was at the bottom of the trail looking for him, but thanked us for saving him a trip to the summit. We promised to watch out for "Cosmo."

When we go back to the junction of WOS and started down we ran into "Ranger's" master and reported our last sighting. He said he had seen "Cosmo" and called his master's cell phone to notify him. We were glad all the dogs were found and that we hadn't become lost ourselves!

Pat Hollow--Korean War Vet Plane Crash Site

Friday, September 4th, the Liken to Hiken group drove up Pat Hollow to the memorial site of a plane crash that claimed the lives of Korean War veterans on their way home in the early morning hours of January 6, 1953. According to information at the site, 37 servicemen and 3 crew members were on the flight which was making its way from Seattle, Washington to Fort Jackson, South Carolina when it crashed into the side of a mountain 8 miles west of Fish Haven, Idaho.

It took 5 days for rescuers to locate the crash site. Medics parachuted to the scene, but no survivors were found. Deep snow made it impossible to identify the remains so the wreckage was under military guard until June 20, 1953, when the recovery operation was completed.

After viewing the crash site we went back to the Pat Hollow forest service sign and walked up another road about 2 miles to a large sink hole. We climbed down in to a grotto like place and to our surprise we saw a couple of spelunkers looking for the entrance to a cave that is supposed to be in the area. The story gets better. The guy says to our fearless leader . . . "is your name Nan?" It turns out to be a guy she went to high school with. (What are the chances!) So we made ourselves at home and enjoyed our lunch. Fortunately we were able to climb back out.

This is a photo of our group at the Wind Cave trail head after we finished the Preston Valley hike.

Hikes of Summer 2009

I want to blog about my hikes this summer as a way to scrapbook them and remember the fun. I hike with a group of ladies from my neighborhood and it has truly made my whole summer. We live in Cache Valley (Logan, Utah) and have access to amazing hiking trails. Nan Schmidt has been the leader and suggests a hike and then we meet at her house at 8:00 am.

The first hike I went on, around the end of June, with the group (now known as the "Liken to Hiken" group) was the Preston Valley hike up the Beirdenou trail. We hiked to the summit and then down the other side connecting with the Wind Cave trail. The hike took about 5 1/2 hours and was a killer going down. I could barely walk for 2 weeks. The trail to the summit was beautiful and when we got to the top it was amazing to look out over the whole valley and the various mountain ranges. The wildflowers were also spectacular.