101 | Utah . Day 02: Maybird Gulch . LCC

On our second day in Utah, Gary and I made our way to Little Cottonwood Canyon where we met up with two free-heelers in the parking lot. New to the area, we asked the couple for advice when they decided to allow us to tag along instead.

With a warm day out, we covered 1,700 feet on the climb up over two hours while trekking along three miles of terrain. Although the weather was perfect, we were quite concerned with the quality of snow given that it hasn't snowed in a few days and temperatures were way above freezing.

At the top of our skin uphill, we reached 9,200 feet in elevation and descended down through the trees where the snow was wet and heavy. Fortunately, snow quality improved drastically while offering a pleasant surprise throughout the majority of the 2,600-foot descent.



Below is the topo map showing our route (directly to the east is Snowbird Ski Resort):




A look towards Pfeifferhorn Peak which stands at 11,329 feet:




Little Cottonwood Canyon:




Our original objective:







The video with music provided by The Pioneers:


Maybird Gulch . LCC . Utah (2009.01.31) from Thomas Armento on Vimeo.