Alta Recreation Area
Personal Notes
This page presents our personal notes on our visit to the Alta Recreation Area in Utah.
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Sunday, August 10, 2003
Catherine Pass Trail
We drove up Little Cottonwood Canyon, into the Albion Basin in the Alta Recreation Area. This is the same area we visited two weeks before. This time we decided to hike the Catherine Pass Trail. On the way in, just before the parking area for the trailhead, we spotted four bull moose. They were bedded down in a small meadow along the road. They seemed indifferent to our presence, remaining on the ground, looking about as if we weren't even there. From the road, we were probably 100 feet away from them, up an embankment.
We arrived at the trailhead parking area at about 8:30 a.m. The air was cool, and the sky was clear. There were maybe eight vehicles in the lot. The parking area has vault toilets, but no water. Our GPS showed an elevation of 9,458 feet at the trailhead. With 22 feet accuracy, the trailhead coordinates are N 40 34 983; W 111 37 112.
We headed up the trail, which takes off to the east, passing through an open meadow. The trail eventually meets a gravel road that passes near two ski lifts. After the last ski lift the road narrows back into a typical trail.
The trail varies from packed soil and sand, to rough rock and loose sand. The trail tends to be easy to moderate, with only a few brief areas that might be considered strenuous.
Watch the main trail, because there are a few places where side trails enter. There is one especially confusing intersection, as the main trail swings to the left and begins to climb. There is an obvious, but unmarked, trail that seems to go straight at the switchback. I believe this trail comes from the Albion Campground parking area, and is possibly the original Catherine Pass Trail. Stay to the left, on the wider, more heavily used path.
Above this area is a really nice meadow, with some great geological formations as a backdrop. It looks like a marshy area, and on your way down, from above, you'll notice that there is actually a small pond hidden in the reeds. You'll cross a narrow stream in this area, as well.
Catherine Pass is marked as 1.5 miles from the trailhead. Just below the pass, as you approach the top, there are a series of switchbacks. Once at the pass you'll have great views of Lake Catherine. The pass is well marked, with trail signs pointing toward a number of possible routes.
There is a trail that heads down to the lake, but we chose the route along the ridge to Sunset Pass, marked as .3 miles. This trail heads off to your right as you're facing the lake; up hill. It's a pretty steep, rocky climb, that eventually passes through an area of very loose sand. It is difficult climbing through this stuff, but I found that if I stayed to the inside of the trail, along the rock, that it was more compact and there were a few rocks to help gain footing. The sand is really only a problem for a couple of hundred feet.
Watch for the weathered limber pines in this area. They are very picturesque.
Once you reach Sunset Pass, marked only with a weathered trail sign indicating the Great Western Trail, you have several more choices. There is a trail that continues along the prominent ridge to the south, and obviously reaches the next bald peak along that route. There is an obvious trail that heads down into a bowl, to your right. This is the Great Western Trail. The next trail to the left, moving directly away from you, to the east, heads across a narrow saddle, then climbs up steeply, along a sometimes narrow, slippery, path, to Sunset Peak. The peak is quite obvious, as the highest point near you. That route can't be more than a quarter of a mile. There are also several less used routes that climb the bald peak to your left.
We took the route straight ahead to Sunset Peak. The trail goes down, at first, across a narrow saddle, then climbs up through a forested area. The trail is rocky in some areas, and slightly gravelly in others. There is also some shallow sandy areas on a slope that could be difficult to pass through if you are wearing flat soled shoes or tennis shoes. Heavy lugged boots seem to work best on this material. Just be careful, take one carefully placed step at a time, and you'll make it through.
Sunset Peak is a rock promontory, with 360 degree views. To the east you can see Heber and the Uintas, to the north you can see Lake Catherine, Lake Martha, and Lake Mary, as well as the Brighton Ski Area. To the west you can see parts of the Albion Basin and the Wasatch Range. To the south is Mount Timpanogos and Devil's Castle. Our GPS showed an elevation at the peak of 10,614 feet, but the altimeter is sometimes off due to barometric pressure changes.
We reversed our path for the hike back down. According to the GPS we hiked 4.8 miles round trip. Our average walking speed was a slow 2.4 miles per hour. Our overall average speed was 1.7 miles per hour, including stops. A bit slow paced for us.
There were very few people along the trail on our way up. Mostly the few early birds already on their way down, and a couple who had apparently spent the night backpacking back in there somewhere. However, on our way down, there were a great many folks along the trail. And the closer to the trailhead that we got, the more crowded the trail became. By the time we reached the trailhead, the parking lot was completely full, as was the Albion Basin Campground parking area. There were officials directing traffic and guiding people into parking areas. The lesson there is, go early, even if it is chilly when you first start out. You'll have a greater chance of seeing wildlife, and you'll have the trails mostly to yourself.
Other than the moose, we only saw three or four varieties of ground squirrel and chipmunks. There weren't a lot of birds about, but we did hear a few, and heard a woodpecker pounding away near Sunset Pass.
Sunday, July 27, 2003
Cecret Lake and Germania Pass
We drove up Little Cottonwood Canyon to the town of Alta, in the Albion Basin. The area is called the Town of Alta Recreation Area. The road is paved most of the way, then turns into a gravel road just after passing through the town, for about two miles. It is a good road. We parked in a parking area just outside of the Albion Basin Campground. There is another parking area about .5 miles back.
On the way through the Town of Alta we spotted a small ground squirrel that had been hit by a car. From the looks of the mess on the road, it hadn't been too long before we got there. Another squirrel was trying to pull the dead squirrel off of the road. It had to scamper away as we drove by. It was kind of a sad sight.
We just took our fanny packs on this relatively short hike. We figure we must have hiked a total of 5 miles. Maybe just a bit more. The air at 9:00 a.m. was pretty cool, but comfortable. The day warmed up some as we went along, but it was very pleasant, even when we were exposed to the Sun.
Cecret Lake Interpretive Trail to Secret Lake
We took the Cecret Lake Interpretive Trail up to Secret Lake. This is an easy trail with great payoffs in scenery. The lake is small but very nice. We spotted five mule deer and a fawn on the way up. Around the lake we spotted several small squirrels that were not quite as large as a prairie dog, but larger than a ground squirrel. We could hear other squirrels or marmots calling out from the rocks.
We did see quite a few people on this trail and around the lake, but it wasn't "packed." The map showed a trail around the south side of lake that hooked up with the access road to Germania pass. We found a path off in that direction, but ran into a revegetation area and we didn't want to cross that. We spotted two other hikers to the west of the lake, quite a ways up a steep slope. So we followed a trail up that way and soon met the hikers coming down. They were an older couple. The woman had decided she couldn't go any further because of the steep slope. They said they have a home down near Apache Junction, to the east of Phoenix. They are just visiting our area.
We continued on up the steep and rocky path to a saddle that passed on beneath a ski lift to the gravel road. We walked up the road the rest of the way to Germania Pass. There were several mountain bikers along the road. At Germania Pass we could look to the south and see Mount Timpanogos and other interesting slopes and peaks. There are also several ski lifts in the area, and this is where the skiers get off to start down.
We walked back down the road through meadows of flowers of all sorts of colors. There were quite a few more people coming up the road as we went down. We could have cut back to Secret Lake, but decided to take the more gradual road back down, meeting up with the main road again about .25 miles from the trailhead parking area. The road from Germania Pass to the trailhead parking area is about 3.4 miles, according to our GPS.
We did see a marmot on the way down.
