On Top of the Valley...Beginning the Climb

One down, 29 more to go.

Last Saturday (June 25th) just before noon, my buddy Tom Atwood gave me a phone call and asked, "Do you want to knock off an item on your list today?"

To which I obviously responded, "Heck yes. Let's do it."

About two hours later Tom, his girlfriend Nicole, and myself were beginning our ascent up the Deep Canyon trailhead of the Wellsville Mountain Wilderness area near Mendon, Utah.

It was a beautiful day for a hike, and I was thrilled to get out of the house and take a break from technology (Playstation 3, NCAA 11, cell phone, and a computer screen).  My short pockets were filled with ziplock baggies of sunflower seeds and baby carrots, and hanging from my belt was the water bottle carrier I sewed in Boy Scouts keeping my bottle of Gatorade cool and close by. Nicole couldn't find the My Little Pony backpack that belonged to her sister so they filled her "normal" hiking backpack with sunscreen, Nature Valley granola bars, and water. The backpack was about the only serious looking hiker that was in our little trio.



The hike began surrounded by some farmer fields, but quickly disappeared into a grove of maple trees. The trail was slender and surrounded by vegetation, and was a constant incline the whole way. The Wellsville Mountains are said to be the steepest mountains in the United States and North America. The base of the range averages only about 5 miles wide and the highest points are well over 9,000 feet.


The trail rose out of the maples and aspens and ran parallel to the empty river bed that the melting snow and rain use each year to stream down to the valley. My calves and lungs were burning, my heart was pounding, but the beautiful surroundings lessened the pain.

Eventually the narrow dirt path that sliced through the vegetation disappeared amongst the sagebrush and lingering sheets of snow. So we just made our way left towards the closest high peak we could see. We trudged our way through the thorns and bushes like a bull in a china shop. Seeking aid from the cutting branches we decided to hike up the hillside of snow. Nicole and I slipped and crawled our way up the stairs created by Tom's footsteps, taking a break every so often to relieve the burning in our legs and burning in our fingers and hands from he cold snow.

It wasn't long before we realized we obviously were no longer following the trail and had become trailblazers. We pushed through, Tom still leading the way as we literally crawled our way up the ramp of snow.

After hours or walking, climbing, slipping, crawling, slipping, and crawling again, we made it to the top. It was worth it.

At the Top with Tom. Cache Valley in the background.

The peak we hiked to was still covered with snow, but we took some time to take some pictures and have some granola bars, carrots, and water. Then we realized we had to get back down, and we all agreed the way we came up was not an option.

We began to plan our descent. From the top of the peak we could see the Cache Valley to the East and the canyon we had climbed up. To the West we could see some more peaks a little lower than us and a glimpse of the cities, interstates and Willard Bay of the Great Salt Lake. Down below us we could now see a V-shaped rock where the actual trail as suppose to take us. We climbed across the peak and did some surfing down the snow covered face. Surfing down the snow buried all the memories of the tough climb up.

Nicole preferred the butt-surf technique while Tom and I tried to stay up on our feet. After the surf, we made our way down to the V-shaped rock took in the great views looking over the Eastern side of the mountains. We took a few more photos and then surfed our way down the actual trail hidden under the snow. When the snow ran out we made our way back down the trail.

After the drive home and some showers we (Tom, Nicole, Vicki, and myself) headed to Texas Roadhouse to celebrate with a lime rickey and prime rib.

It was so rewarding to cross the first item off my 30 by 30 list and to do it with a best friend and hero of mine. Growing up in the shadows of the Wellsville Mountain range in Cache Valley it has always been a goal of mine to ascend above the shadow to the peak. I look forward someday to do the entire hike which starts at the Deep Canyon trailhead in Mendon and goes across the ridge line and eventually ends down at the southern Rattlesnake Trailhead in Sardine Canyon just past Sherwood Hills Resort. The Wellsville Mountain Wilderness area I think contains over 14 miles worth of trails and is said to be a great area for viewing hawks and other wildlife. We started in the late afternoon so obviously only had time to hike the first part, but I plan to visit the rest of the wilderness area and other trails.

I think it was very fitting that this was the first item I crossed off my 30 by 30 list; the first step in an enjoyable, yet challenging climb.