rharris - Jul 28, 2008 11:37 am Date Climbed: Jul 20, 2008
Gad Valley Route
Directions on website were spot-on. It is hard to get lost between the parking lot and Gad 2, especially if you have any familiarity with Snowbird. Still, there is something about walking up ski runs, stepping over broken poles and discarded hand-warmers, that is less satisfying than most hikes. At least for the first half of the hike, you don't feel like you're out in the wilderness really. From Gad 2 the hike gets much more difficult. We left the Bananas ski run only about 100 yards into it, and headed up a steep slope to the top of the ridgeline. From there it is just very slow going and steep ridge walking, made more difficult by worn spots in the use trail where the footing was slippery, up to Red Top and then over to West Twin. I found neither a cairn nor a trail register at the top, so I built a small cairn on what was clearly the highest point. My 11 year old son and I took 6 hours round trip to complete the hike.
rharris - Jul 28, 2008 11:37 am Date Climbed: Jul 20, 2008
Gad Valley RouteDirections on website were spot-on. It is hard to get lost between the parking lot and Gad 2, especially if you have any familiarity with Snowbird. Still, there is something about walking up ski runs, stepping over broken poles and discarded hand-warmers, that is less satisfying than most hikes. At least for the first half of the hike, you don't feel like you're out in the wilderness really. From Gad 2 the hike gets much more difficult. We left the Bananas ski run only about 100 yards into it, and headed up a steep slope to the top of the ridgeline. From there it is just very slow going and steep ridge walking, made more difficult by worn spots in the use trail where the footing was slippery, up to Red Top and then over to West Twin. I found neither a cairn nor a trail register at the top, so I built a small cairn on what was clearly the highest point. My 11 year old son and I took 6 hours round trip to complete the hike.