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Route |
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Lat/Lon:
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40.59390°N / 111.7203°W |
Route Type:
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Scramble |
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Time Required:
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Most of a day |
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Difficulty:
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Class 3 |
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Approach
From the mouth of Big Cottonwood Canyon drive four miles to the obvious S-turn. At the bottom of the S turn is a parking lot for Broads Fork and Lake Blanche trails. Broads Fork trail starts at the southwest corner.
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Route Description
Follow the standard hike up two steep miles of scenic terrain to the Broads Fork lower meadow at 8,240 feet (good campsite, but somewhat popular). The trail splits right before the meadow...right goes to the meadow, left goes higher towards Twin Peaks. Take the left fork to a stream crossing on improvised bridges. Follow the faint path as it climbs more rugged terrain to the upper meadow at 9,600 feet. From here Sunrise (11,275ft) and Dromedary Peaks (11,107ft) tower above. You'll need to get to the saddle between Twin Peak and Sunrise Peak. It doesn't look difficult, but it is deceptive. The climb begins up shifting small talus, and gradually becomes more interrupted by small cliffbands, but nothing severe. At the saddle (10,800 feet) you'll have a fine view into Little Cottonwood Canyon. From here one route goes low and away from the ridge, but I prefer to climb on the ridge for about 200 feet until the route is blocked by an 8 foot wall. Here look for a ledge on the left (Little Cottonwood) side...cross this narrow ledge to a crack that can be climbed back to the summit ridge. From here it is not far to the peak on easy terrain. The first peak (east) is the higher of the two at 11,330 feet...a 15-20 minute scramble will bring you to the west peak at 11,328 feet with a better view of the Salt Lake valley. The ridge seperating the Cottonwood Canyons is popular amongst mountain goats.
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Essential Gear
Early in the season the route to the saddle is snow-filled and an ice axe and crampons would be highly reccomended. In summer nothing more than sturdy boots and some nerve at rock scrambling. Bring plenty of liquid and sunscreen, etc...
Miscellaneous Info
If you have information about this route that doesn't pertain to any of the other sections, please add it here.
PellucidWombat - Feb 8, 2005 1:55 pm - Hasn't voted
Route CommentI don't know if you want to incorporate this info, but here's what TOPO! calculated for the route.
Distance: 3.80 mi (1-way)
Elevation Gain: +/-5,037'
Rustler - Aug 2, 2015 4:08 am - Hasn't voted
Updated Distance"We scrambled up, down, and across loose rocks, up and over rock walls (some low class 5 material with significant exposure), and up steep, loose couloirs to the summit of Broads Fork Twin Peaks 6.5 miles from the trailhead)." -SchLife is Good. Starting at about 6,125' at the bottom of the S-Curve, and the top of the peak at 11,330, the total vertical for Broad's Fork Twin Peaks is about 5,200'. Find further proof in the above "SchLife is Good" quote, one covers this ~5,200' vertical -- in about 6.5 hours -- one way, making it 13 miles round trip to the East Peak of the Broad's Fork Twin Peaks. I just hiked it today with my son (August 1, 2015). I can guarantee that after 40 years of hiking (e.g., King's Peak, Honey Comb Cliffs, Mt. Olympus, etc.) there's no way the hikers out there could climb the peak in highly suspect [i.e., incorrect] 3.5-3.8 miles one way from the bottom of S-Curve - unless one could fly a straight line up there like a bird. Again, the above quote from "SchLife is Good" AND my pedometer put this climb in the 6.5 - 7.0 miles one way and a 13-14 round trip range. (My body and my son's bodies' painful condition both tells us that too.)