A Not-Exactly-As-Planned Weekend

Friday evening started out with the springs on our garage door breaking when Nate got home. After finding someone to come fix them, we continued with our usual evening activities and waited for my brothers Allan and Ben to arrive. They were spending the night with us so that they could hike Mt. Ogden with us the following morning.

Unfortunately, we ended up taking a trip to the emergency room soon after they arrived. Instead of playing some games with my brothers that evening, we ended up spending about 3 hours at the hospital and went to bed much later than we had intended.

Saturday we hiked Mount Ogden. After our late night the previous evening, we got a later start than planned Saturday morning. Our plan was to hike up the west face of the mountain along the Beus Canyon Trail and ride the Snowbasin tram down on the other side. So, first we drove to Snowbasin to park one of our vehicles there. We lost some time when we went up "Old Snowbasin Road" (which turned out to be closed even though it should have been opened based on the time of year) instead of "Snowbasin Road."

After leaving one vehicle at Snowbasin, we drove back around the mountain to the trail head at the other side. We didn't start up the trail until sometime around 10:00 that morning. Then we made a wrong turn and went along the Bonneville Shoreline Trail for awhile before realizing our mistake and getting back on track.

From there it was a pretty steady and steep climb to the top. Parts of the trail were a bit overgrown by the brush, but the trail was easy to follow all the way to the top. There was a super steep road and then a bit of a scramble over some rocks to get to the peak, and on top there was a helicopter pad and transmitter cables that somewhat obscured the view.

View of the valley and Antelope Island from the trail

Looking back along the trail and up towards De Moisy Peak

Wildflowers on the slopes

Looking up toward Ogden Peak

Helicopter landing pad at the peak

View of The Great Salt Lake and Antelope Island from peak

View of Pineview Reservoir from the peak

Near the peak we met a couple of hikers who informed us that the tram was closing early that day; the last tram would leave at 4:15 due to a concert being held at Snowbasin that evening. We weren't too worried about making it at that point, but we did start to worry when we finally reached the top and realized the tram was much further away than we had anticipated. 

Road in the bottom right corner is what we followed down to find tram

Consequently, our time at the peak was cut short. We scrambled back down the steep incline and hiked/ran in the direction of the tram. A couple miles later, we arrived at the tram station at about 4:00. We jumped on a tram feeling pretty exhausted and also relieved at making it just in time.

Riding the tram down the mountain

Looking up at Mount Ogden from the tram

Nate and I grabbed Orange Creme Milkshakes at an Arby's on our way back. I don't think I have ever had a milkshake that has tasted so good to me; it just really hit the spot after that hike.

I am really glad we got to do the hike since I have been wanting to go for awhile. It was fun to hike with Nate and my brothers, and there were so many beautiful views along the way. And I am especially glad we caught the tram before it stopped that day.