Hike 14
4/17/16
About 2 miles
Red Butte Canyon
We explored another new-to-me canyon that lies in the hills above the University of Utah. It astounds me how each canyon along the Wasatch Front looks completely different from the next. It blows me away that they can be so different and yet part of the same stretch of mountains. Red Butte Canyon is no exception!
It has redder rocks and soil with a more barren landscape, dotted with scrub oaks and wildflowers. It wasn’t too warm but it was sunny and really, really windy.
We followed the outer perimeter of the Red Butte Botanical Gardens before finding a closed gate on the road that leads to Red Butte Reservoir. Our goal was that reservoir, but it wasn’t clear which trail led the way, to the left or the right. The trail to the right seemed to double back in the direction we came, so we chose the left.
The trail to the right meandered up into the hills and got steeper and steeper and seemingly no where closer to the reservoir. Once we’d hiked about one mile, we decided to call it quits and head back down the mountain. The wind was making it difficult to really enjoy the hike and my oldest son’s allergies were going crazy.
He was a trooper though and earned the privilege of looking for geocaches on my phone while we hiked. 😉
It was a 2 mile workout for sure, especially with Matthew on my back, but the view really made it worthwhile.
Wobetxela 