Weather:  103 F that day in the valley, a few clouds, very hazy.
Present were:  Mike, K7DOU;  Tim, KK7EF;  Dale, WJ7L;  Brett, N7KG and his sons Nathan (KD7YYN) and Alex;  Clint, KA7OEI.
Destination:  Catherine Pass from the Little Cottonwood side and on to Sunset Pass - or wherever one felt comfortable.
Question of the day:  "What's his problem?"  (For an explanation, see below.)
Total distance:   4.77 miles, round trip.
Times:  Depart vehicle:  1900;  Discovery of closed trail:  1905;  Joining the main trail:  1912;  Arrival at Catherine Pass:  2000;  Arrival at Point Supreme:  2012;  Arrival at Sunset Peak:  2027;  Depart Sunset Peak:  2045;  Return to Catherine Pass:  2102;  Return to vehicle:  2137
Altitudes in feet ASL (approx) from GPS:  Vehicle:  9370;  Catherine Pass:  10100;  Point Supreme (the pass above Catherine pass):  10400;  Sunset Peak:  10659
Elevation gain/loss:  To the pass above Catherine Pass:  1030;  To Sunset Peak:  1289
Local sunset on this date:  8:59 PM - (We've lost nearly 3 minutes of daylight since last week.)

We went to this same place in 2004 - click here to see pictures from that trip.  Elevation readings will be slightly different owing to different GPS readings.

Images (61-1094k each, .JPG):
 

• IMG02585 - A view across Albion Basin toward Sugarloaf
• IMG02587 - Mike, just before we got within reading-distance of sign at the closed and posted (old) trail.
• IMG02589 - A larger-than-usual meltwater pond, along the trail.  Similar is #2588.
• IMG02590 - Dale and Tim talking, near the meltwater pond.
• IMG02593 - Mike, on Catherine Pass, with Lake Catherine and Clayton and Pioneer peaks in the background.
• IMG02594 - Tim and Dale discussing what lies further along the Great Western Trail.
• IMG02597 - The silhouette of Mike, on a snowfield at Point Supreme.
• IMG02598 - The Brighton Bowl, as viewed from the trail to Sunset Peak.  #2605 is similar, taken from Sunset Peak.
• IMG02599 - Dale and Tim on Sunset Peak.
• IMG02600 - Mike, Nathan, Brett and Alex on the snowfield at Point Supreme, as seen from Sunset Peak.
• IMG02602 - The obligatory shot of Timpanogos, as seen from Sunset Peak.
• IMG02603 - Tim and Dale, looking out towards the Uintahs.
• IMG02606 - Tim carefully working his way down a snowbank, just below the peak.
• IMG02610 - Overlooking Lake Catherine with the warm colors of the setting sun highlighting clouds behind Clayton Peak.
• IMG02612 - Brett, Alex, Nathan and Mike trekking across a snowfield just above the meltwater pond.
• IMG02613 - Another view of the meltwater pond, just after sunset.
• IMG02614h - Another view of Sugarloaf with the moon (and Jupiter) well after sunset.

Note that GPS elevation data is sometimes a bit "ratty" due to frequent blockage and degradation of the satellite signal.

• The recorded GPS track of the hike.  The point marked "CTRPIN" is actually Point Supreme.
• The elevation profile of the hike
• A more detailed map with the GPS track of the hike (plus surrounding landmarks)

On this day, it reportedly hit 103 degrees in the valley - the hottest day in several years.  For this reason, we decided to do a higher-altitude hike, but our choices were limited by the fact that some of our higher-elevation potential destinations are still snowbound.

Our initial thought was to try Cecret Lake, go up to the pass below Sugarloaf, and if snow conditions weren't too severe, up Sugarloaf.  Once we got into Albion Basin, however, what we saw changed our mind, noting that the north-facing portions of the trail still seemed to have plenty of snow on them.  The obvious alternative was to try Catherine Pass.

During our indecision, we passed the Catherine Pass parking lot (the "new" one) and soon came across a very small parking area near the now-gated road that once included the trailhead and parked.  After a short walk, we spotted a problem:  The original trail that had gone up was not only blocked with rocks and logs, but was posted both with a "Restoration Area" and a "No Trespassing" sign.  Turning around, we followed another spur road and did finally meet up with the newer trail routing near the ski lift tower.

Continuing up the trail, we noted again the misplaced bridge:  A nice, wooden bridge that crossed a small cut (created, apparently, by water discharge from a now-abandoned mine) spanned a dry bed while just a few yards uphill, hikers had to navigate a torrent spilling across the trail.  At about this time Tim called on the radio asking if we'd seen the Moose.  The meese (there were at least two) weren't on (or even near) the trail, but a short distance off the main road below, grazing in the verdant growth near one of the streams.

As the trail transitioned from its cut alongside the hill into the canyon, we started to run across a few snowfields and the accompanying runoff.  Not surprisingly, the snow was very slushy and one crossed the relatively frequent snowbridges with some trepidation, expecting at any time to find oneself suddenly knee-deep in snow with a foot the near-freezing water running underneath:  Fortunately, that did not happen on the way up.

Crossing a few more snowfields and snowbanks, we came to the meadow, complete with a larger-than-expected pond of fresh snowmelt.  Circumnavigating this and further climbing brought is to Catherine Pass, itself clear of snow.  The cirque below was not full of snow - although Lake Catherine was about as large as it could ever get - and the path up the ridge to Sunset appeared to be clear, so we pressed on.

The ridge run from the pass, to Point Supreme, and on to Sunset Peak had some snow, but nothing more difficult or challenging than what had already been encountered below:  One needed only take reasonable care to avoid accidentally skiing or losing footing (one-in-the same for some of us...)  Tim, Dale, and I arrived at Sunset peak and stayed until just before sunset, hastening that event with our decent back down to Catherine Pass.  The rest of the group (Mike, Brett, Nathan, and Alex) did not go further than the snowfield at Point Supreme.

The trip down was mostly uneventful with careful traversing of snowfields in the gathering twilight, but there was one minor casualty:  One of Mike's walking sticks was broken, apparently when it punched through a snowbridge unexpectedly.  As we reached the vehicles it was still light enough not to require flashlights and we spent a few minutes looking at the spectacular snow-covered scenery highlighted by the half-moon overhead.

On the way down the canyon, usual deer-avoidance measures were necessarily undertaken and most of us got together and met at the TGI Friday's near Cottonwood Mall (Which does close at 11 PM on Wednesdays) for a traditional after-hike "dime lime."

By the way, Mt. Tuscarora is the peak closest to Catherine Pass;  Mt. Wolverine is the next one to the west.

• Some of these images - particularly those taken near the time of sunset-  are fairly strongly cast yellow/orange.  This is due to the atmosphere being very hazy because of large fires in the western U.S.
• If you want one (or more) of these images and wish some sort of adjustment (color, brightness, exposure, etc.) please let me know:  All of these image have been processed in some way.
• These images are 61-1094k in size, .JPG and are in chronological order.
• No-one ever said that all of these images (or any of them) were good.  Some of them may have definite focus/exposure "issues."
• EXIF data is present for most of the images, showing time, date, and precise exposure conditions.  Recent versions of Irfanview will show this in the "View->Image Information->EXIF" tab.  Note that cropping/noise reduction required the use of another program which may have removed some/most of this EXIF data.
• Images suffixed with "h" are half-size.  This was done for images that were somewhat out of focus (due to misfocus or camera/subject movement associated with long shutter times) or those that required some extra noise reduction and had lost some detail anyway.
• All images taken using a Sigma SD-10 camera and were taken using the 18-50mm zoom lens, except as noted in the EXIF data.

Along the final traverse of the road to the campground in Albion Basin (but before the Catherine Pass trailhead parking) we spotted a man (in his mid-30's, maybe) wandering along the road with this dog.  As we approached, he made a motion with hand that might have been a sort of a wave, or a gesture requesting that we slow down (we weren't going very fast, anyway...)  As Tim pulled up, he asked the man what he'd wanted to which he'd said that we were going too fast and were raising too much dust.  Tim's reply was rather neutral (along the lines of "Oh, ok..."  the man was, after all, walking along a heavily-traveled, dusty gravel road!) to which he replied with a mild obscenity, hence the question "What's his problem?"

Go to the 2005 Wednesday Night Hike page, or main Wednesday Night Hike index page.