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!!!