Epic Experiences, LLC

Yesterday we hiked to Stewart Falls/Cascades. It’s a short local hike here in Provo, UT. The benefit being the nice refreshing waterfall at the end of the hike. We started at the Aspen Grove parking lot around 10:30AM. Distance to the falls and back is 4 miles. Total elevation gain was probably under 1000ft.

Overall it was a very nice light hike. The beautiful waterfall at the end was refreshing after a warm hike, and before the warm return. I suggest leaving in the morning for the benefit of fewer people and cooler temperatures.

I need to go on a hiking trip. I’d like to keep myself in shape for the Nebo trip I plan on doing sometimes this summer/fall. I’m thinking I’ll try the Big Springs to Rock Canyon hike again. This time a little lighter and faster. Will update as soon as I know the when and where of it all. If anyone has any suggestions please let me know.

I left Friday morning to meet up with my group. We were heading down to Brian Head, UT to do some climbing at the Overlook. The drive down wasn’t bad…around three hours total. We drove through Parowan and then through Brian Head. On the way I took note that Brian Head Peak was the high point for Iron County.

We arrived at camp, and immediately started setting up some lines for the group (Utah Climbing Club), most of which would probably be arriving Saturday morning. After hopping on some routes I was super impressed with the rock type. I’ve never climbed on that type before, and it was pretty awesome. It’s a type of volcanic rock called Welded Tuff. It’s got tons of awesome pockets, edges and cracks. It was truly great fun.

That evening we all got camp set up, and had our respective dinners. I took some delicious Mountain House sodium meals…They were tasty, but I was plagued with weird dreams all night for the two days I had these meals.

We were camped at about 10k feet. Which is of course nice and cool for sleeping. There were ATVs throughout the night driving by, which was annoying, but compared to the group from SUU that came at midnight to climb it wasn’t as strange. The next morning brought more people from the group, and much more fun climbing for the day. I hopped on some more difficult routes and thoroughly enjoyed the day. We were met with a rainstorm around 1pm. It cleared out fairly quickly as seems to be the norm with that area.

That evening we sat around the campfire for a while enjoying the warmth and talking about the great day of climbing. It was good fun..The next day brought the cleanup effort. Cleaning routes, and breaking camp. When I left I opted to stop at Brian Head peak, and get it knocked out real quick. It’s only about a 100 foot walk to the top from the parking area so it wasn’t too strenuous. I spent a few minutes taking pictures then went back down. Passing some deer on the way.

The trip was very enjoyable and I highly recommend the area for climbing and hiking.

This last saturday we went for a little hike to the highest peak for both Morgan and Davis counties. Climbing the highest peaks in each of Utah’s counties has been a personal goal of mine for a couple of years now.

We departed fairly late in the morning as the hike was a relatively short 4 miles one way. By the time we got to Farmington, and later farmington canyon it was already 11:00AM. We followed a dirt road up the canyon for about 8 miles through increasingly greener scenery. The dirt road eventually ends at Francis peak. We got our gear together and left the vehicles by 12:00PM.

The Great Western Trail (GWT) follows the ridge line for another few miles before the actual summit of Thurston Peak. We opted instead to follow the snow fields on the eastern side of the ridge. Practicing our crampon and self arresting skills. The snow fields fed 3 or 4 beautiful mountain lakes. The views overlooking Morgan county were fantastic. After a long trek over some fairly strenuous terrain we arrived at the summit. From there we departed and followed the GWT on the western side of the ridge all the way back to our vehicles. The conditioning hike went well, and knocking another peak off my list made for a great day.

The map for our upcoming trip.

June 14th we went for a short hike up Millcreek Canyon. We took the porter fork trail for about 1.5 miles. Started early evening. The hike followed a cabin access road most of the way before entering National Forest boundaries. The trail then made a fairly steady and steep ascent for another half mile or so before we turned around due to time constraints.

We’ve been planning on taking an overnighter in Provo Canyon, South Fork specifically. Our objective was to get out and spend a night outdoors, improve our hiking shape, and complete an objective to go over the Cascade Saddle down into Rock Canyon. Total the trip is around 10.66 miles. Could be easily done in a day for a fast hiker, but we opted to take a heavier packs and spend the night.

We got an early morning start, and mid day made it to the saddle, but due to some really ominous looking weather most of the day all decided to come back for another round rather than battle the cornices on the saddle. We turned back and camped in one of the meadows lower down. You can’t beat Big Springs’ views and I was happy with the how the trip turned out.

Join Us: for our first forest cabin party in the mountains to kick off the start of Epic Experiences LLC. From the cabin’s front porch, we will leave at 5 am hiking west along some of the most pristine paths that nature has to offer. We can expect to see lots of wildlife along the way such as; moose, bear, deer and elk. We may also see a mountain goats that have been reported in the area recently by other visitors. Photo opportunities like this do not come along everyday so be sure to bring your camera. Don’t forget that in the mountains weather can change very quickly so dress for the occasion. At completion of the 40 mile hike, a dutch oven and steak dinner will be waiting, provided by Dutch Williams and his crew.