June 25, 2012

Pfeifferhorn

The Pfeifferhorn - if you look really close, that's me (Jake) on the summit

When the temperature starts breaking the 100 degree barrier in the Salt Lake valley, we head to the mountains. Yesterday (Sunday) Andrea and I (along with 4 of our friends) went for an awesome hike up in Little Cottonwood Canyon. The goal was to reach the summit of the Pfeifferhorn, an iconic and beautiful 11,326 foot mountain. Its a 4.5 mile, 3700 foot climb from the White Pine trailhead. 

We took our time on the way up - stopping for breaks at Red Pine Lake and the upper lakes - it was such a beautiful day and we just wanted to soak in the outdoors as much as possible. Its good for the soul to have days like this. From the upper lakes, a couple of us continued on to the alpine ridge. I took off running from that point and made the push to the summit in good time while the girls watched from below. Other than some fun scrambling on the "knife edge" it was a straightforward route to the top. The views were just spectacular.

Unfortunately, at some point on the hike out at the end of the day, I dropped my camera. I didn't realize it until we were back at the car. I ran back up the trail for about 1.5 mile, re-tracing my steps, but I never was able to locate it. I'm not necessarily bummed about the camera itself, but I am sad about losing all the photos. I had taken about 100 awesome pictures throughout the course of the day, and I hate to lose the "evidence" of such a great day in an awesome place with our friends. I guess this means we'll have to go back up there... the upper Red Pine basin is one of the most beautiful places in the Wasatch range.

Luckily our friend Amiee sent me a few of her photos, so we have something to put on the blog...

Hiking around Red Pine Lake
Not much snow left!
Our crew stopping to take in the views
Red Pine Lake from above - Cottonwood Ridge in the background
Maybird Gulch
I'm the little speck working my way up towards the summit
Timp and Box Elder

3 comments:

  1. Pfeifferhorn was my very first hike... and probably one of my favorites. Great photos - sounds like you all had a great time.

    I did the same thing with my camera ascending Lone Peak and by a miracle some other hikers found it! Maybe someone will find it and contact you:)

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  2. Hey how long did that hike take you guys?

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    1. We did it in ~6 hrs r/t at a very leisurely pace... stops at all of the lakes. Guys run it in < 3 hrs r/t all the time, which seems pretty reasonable to me.

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