This was the year I wanted to get three highpoints that involve glacier travel: Hood, Rainier and Gannett. I shoulda just picked a week in May and drove out to climb Mt. Hood by myself. I coulda done Mt. Rainier too if other plans had solidified. And Gannett… Gannett woulda fallen through had I not…
Author: Backcountry Fever
Scaled the Dragon’s Tail to Grandeur
I was happy to see Grandeur make the list again for 2022’s Six Pack of Peaks Challenge! After last year’s Double, I’ve hit this peak now five times but always wanted to scale the Dragon’s Tail to the top. This route does follow along a narrow ridgeline once you get up on the tail. However, it’s…
Rolling Hills to Lookout Peak
There is nothing really too spectacular about this foothill behind Salt Lake. However, we took an afternoon to knock it off the list as part of this year’s Six Pack of Peak Challenge. I’ve known about this peak for a while. I remember first reading about it from GirlonaHike.com while searching out routes to Grandview…
Grand Canyon Double R2R: Second Leg, BA to NK
Everything was going according to plan as the group enjoyed an evening together on the South rim. While the majority felt excitement about tomorrow, a few were contemplating their readiness for this Grand Challenge. This is the opposite kind of hike in every way you can think of. It reminds me of what the Park…
Grand Canyon Double R2R: First Leg, NK to BA
Hiking the Grand Canyon is one of those experiences where once just isn’t enough. I’m not sure you can take it all in even after doing it twice. How many times does it take? Not sure yet. This past weekend, I hiked across for the 4th and 5th time and still loved every minute of…
My Favorite Route to Deseret Peak
May has been a busy month for me, all consumed by a garden project I’m working on for my wife. I volunteered to do it to save a few bucks but had no idea it would cost me a fortune in time! As a result, I’ve missed out on a lot of mountaineering adventures this…
Timp from Everest Ridge
This year’s Six Pack of Peaks Challenge for Utah wasn’t announced until late March. Before then, I honestly didn’t think this would continue for Utah again in 2022. I was sure it died a quick death after its inaugural year. From what I can tell, this challenge didn’t get much participation despite how many people…
Better Backcountry Communication
There have been a few situations in the mountains where I wish we all carried radios. The most recent was during our hike to South Lone Peak last month where our group got separated on the way up. A very qualified friend ventured off on his own. Which is fine, he totally knows what he’s…
Water Weight and Snowpack
I read UAC avalanche reports every day for the areas I like to play in. The intent to follow what is going on in our mountains for better decision making around safe winter recreation. Yesterday’s forecast referenced the natural avalanche on Little Water Peak and mentioned something I found very interesting. The analysis part of…
2021 Year in Review
2021 was a great year for getting some hiking stuff accomplished! I wasn’t so much about reaching a specific mileage tally or total elevation gain this time. Instead, my focus was more about knocking a few significant things off my list. My biggest goal for the year was to get all lower 48 states west…