On January, 23rd, 2015 my usual hiking group consisting of my roommates, Weech and Sean, and my brother Tyler, decided to try a winter ascent up Little Black Mountain located to the NE above the University of Utah. Little Black Mountain's summit is just above 8,000 ft and is the highest summit available to hike just beyond the University of Utah's campus. In the past, I have hiked Little Black Mountain twice, once during the spring and once during the fall season. The hike to the summit from around the University Hospital area is long with around 12 miles in round-trip distance required. However, this hike allows for rewarding views year round. In previous hikes, I have been lucky enough to see a variety of wildlife, including deer, hawks, and elk.
We left for Little Black Mountain around 9:00 am in the morning. The hope was to possibly get back in time for the Gymnastics meet against Oregon State University set to start at ~ 3:00 pm. In my attempt to rush out of the door, I decided not to bring my winter-time hiking jacket. Looking outside, skies were partly sunny with temperatures in the mid-upper 30s. Thus, I decided I wouldn't need to bring a jacket, a poor decision I would regret later on.
The first portion of the hike takes place on the BST (Bonneville Shoreline Trail) going up Dry Creek. Dry Creek sits between Mt. Van Cott and the ridge line separating Twin Peaks and Little Black Mountain. After about one mile or so, our group had to make a decision. Do we continue on the BST towards Twin Peaks or do we take a short-cut and make the ridge line towards Little Black Mountain? We decided to take the short-cut towards the ridge line as it saves travel distance and time. The "short-cut" continues up dry creek until a point where the small canyon becomes to narrow to continue where hikers are forced to turn left to continue up towards the ridge. Usually the left turn is fairly obvious, but our group was led astray by a multitude of elk trails. We ended up prematurely turning left to head up towards the ridge following what we thought was a human trial, but was actually just one of the elk trails. We didn't realize we had taken the wrong trail until we had already climbed up around 200 feet or so.
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| Looking towards the Cottonwoods |
Nevertheless, we pressed on making our own trail up the south facing slope towards the ridge line. Tyler and I strapped on our snowshoes and broke the trail up the steep south facing slope. Even with snowshoes Tyler and I were sinking down about 4-5" while Sean and Weech post-holed another 3-4". After about 30-45 minutes of sluggish climbing through the wet snow, we finally made the ridge line between Twin Peaks and Little Black Mountain.
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| Ridge line between Twin Peaks and Little Black Moutain |
By the time we had reached the ridge line, weather conditions had deteriorated. Clouds filled the ski with breezy winds around 15-20 mph coming out of the southwest. Conditions became chilly on the exposed ridge line. Even though I had the proper snow climbing equipment, snowshoes, snow boots, etc. I lacked the proper attire for breezy winds. Sean was generous enough to loan me his wind breaker. Without the wind breaker, I would have been forced to turn around. We continued up the ridge towards Little Black Mountain for around another 1.5 miles before our group hit the wall. We did not have the proper equipment required to hike to the summit given the conditions. The breezy winds and approaching precipitation to our west forced us to head back down to the University.
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| Looking up City Creek Canyon towards Grandview Peak |
Even though we did not reach the summit, the hike was not a total loss. We were able to witness a herd of roughly 20-30 elk moving through the surrounding terrain below. The views towards the Cottonwoods, Oquirrh Mountains, and the GSL were also rewarding. Overall, I gained a further respect for climbing Little Black Mountain during the winter. Before we left, I felt fairly confident in our chances for a quick summit. I am sure we will be back to finish what we started.
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| Looking down the ridge line towards the SLC Valley |
Stats
Distance: 7.8 miles
Peak Elevation: 6850'
Elevation Gain: ~ 2,000
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