With my parents in Ogden, Utah over Christmas, the family made the 10 hour drive to visit and we got a Christmas Eve hike in the Wasatch this year. One of my favorite discoveries around Ogden is Wheeler Canyon, which we cross country skied on Christmas Eve 2 years ago, and subsequently hiked up to the west rim last year. So this year I thought we'd have a go at the east rim.
The Mtns around Ogden typically get large amounts of snow, but this year it had been pretty dry so with ice cleats (micro spikes) I felt Pa and I could effectively bushwhack this rugged, beautiful range they have in their front yard.
Like many good bushwhacks, the route was short, steep, and started up a drainage on the side of the road. Just up and up through the White Firs until we reached the rim, and along that to the summit, if we had the daylight.
Leaving the chute-like drainage, the gorgeously mature, monolithically fir forest on the north-facing slope was free of brush, but steep. And it progressively became steeper. These graceful, robust coniferous creatures towered above us as a picturesque monolith, some responding to soil creep of the 45º+ slope with whimsically curved trunks. The couple inches of wet snow on the ground made for tricky footing even with the metal cleats, and I feared a fall would result in sliding into a couple trunks at concerning velocity before managing an arrest. The peaceful, pretty scene this temple of trees created belayed the powerful potential energy a tilt of the earth's surface to this degree will always involve. It was the steepest slope I had ever navigated with snow on the ground.
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I navigated us below some cliffs and crags to the rim, which also was an ancient Sevier orogeny thrust fault, separating proterozoic Perry Canyon formation from mississippian Humbug dolomitic sandstone, or slope from cliff. Our view opened to reveal a cloud-swirling Wheeler canyon and the northern Wasatch in much of its glory.
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The journey along the rim, while along cliffs, was far milder to navigate as we could stay on the Perry Canyon side of the fault.
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Higher along the rim views opened to the south in between clouds.
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We pushed through a tangle of Gambel Oaks, a common encounter on any sun-exposed face in these mountains. Gambel oaks are scrubby and often annoying, but don't stab or scratch and ultimately are mild compared to what you find in the San Gabriels. Here you can see their winter time leafless thickets (about human height) and low clouds obscuring the canyon rim.
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We reached the top of a rise where the oaks only made it to thigh-height and views opened up in most directions. With our short daylight waning and still many presents to wrap, we called it good, awkwardly attempting a group selfie before retracing.
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Coming down I wanted to avoid those steep Fir-covered slopes, as pretty as they may be, so stayed mostly in the oaks and maples. That also allowed for views of Pineview reservoir right below us.
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Sliding down into and then along our drainage chute, we made it back to the road with plenty of time for Christmas Eve tamales and family cheer.
I want to give a shout out to Caltopo, which I used for the first time to track with. On a somewhat technical route like this one, the slope-angle shading was a game changer, allowing me to thread the needle to avoid slopes and crags that could be dangerous with snow on the ground. You can see our path down intentionally avoided the red. I accomplished that not by observation on the ground, because upcoming slope-degrees, being progressive the way they are, couldn't really be judged until it was too late. It was by playing the slope angle shading like a video game. Really powerful tool.
2.23 miles, 1755 of gain.
