Lone Peak and Cottonwood Traverse

I hiked Lone Peak again, this time from the Cherry Canyon Logging Trail side. I got a nice and early start and enjoyed the Salt Lake Valley lights leading up to sunrise.

Outlaw Cabin

I love this section of the hike.

It leads up to this epic view of Lone Peak right through the window.

At the peak looking south into Utah Valley.

Looking north, dreaming of hiking Twin Peaks, and imagining how cool it would be to tackle the Cottonwood Traverse section of the WURL, from Twin Peaks to Mount Superior…

Well, a couple of weeks later, I decided to tackle Twin Peaks. It was another early start hiking in the dark. Here I am, looking up at the final push to the saddle.

Oh yeah, made it! Grabbing a selfie with Lone Peak in the background.

Such a great panoramic view of Salt Lake Valley and the canyons.

Looking to the south on the other side of Little Cottonwood Canyon, remembering hiking a good bit of that ridge two years ago on the Beat Out hike.

While at the top on the East Twin, I met Jake. He started at a different spot than me, but he was hiking the Cottonwood Traverse. I had aspirations to do it, but it wasn’t in the plans for the day. While he popped over to the West Twin, I continued back down to the saddle. But then I just kept imagining how cool it would be to do the Cottonwood Traverse. So, I chilled at the saddle for a while waiting for him to catch up, inventorying my supplies and mustering the courage to ask to join him. When he arrived, I asked him more about the rest of the hike and asked if I could join along in the adventure. His hiking buddy for the day had bailed out due to missing his alarm, so he was actually glad for the company on this difficult ridge scramble. So, I made a new friend and we set off on the expanded adventure.