Squaw Peak

A view of Timp from Squaw Peak

The Utah winter has been pretty mild so far this year which means I had a chance to summit another local peak without wearing snowshoes. So yesterday, Dustin, Ben and I left at 6:00am for Squaw Peak. I could tell it was going to be another glorious day for hiking because the stars were out.

The hike was pretty straightforward because of the easily distinguishable trail and the lack of snow. We started at the Rock Canyon trailhead heading east along the trail, eventually leaving it to head northwest and follow the trail up the First Left Fork drainage. This trail dumps into a beautiful meadow as you reach the Squaw Peak Ridge.

View of Timp from the meadow at the top of the First Left Fork trail

From there is was a short hike to the southwest and the summit. We reached the top around 9:30am. As expected, the views were spectacular. I especially liked being at the peak as the sun rose above Provo Peak.

View of Rock Canyon from Squaw Peak. You can see the parking lot and the Provo temple near the top of the photo.

Sunrise over Provo Peak from Squaw Peak

I would have liked to hang around some more but I had a team meeting to work on a couple of projects for school at 1:00. We headed down the trail and got to our cars around 10:30. I had a great time. I am feeling comfortable with the terrain to the east and am feeling more confident about attacking the bigger mountains just to the east of my last three climbs. The challenge is that real winter weather is coming. I am afraid I may have to wait till next summer to hike the big ones. Snowshoeing anyone?!