Invite and need information please! Sat Dec 12th Millcreek??

Ok so my new sport for winter time because it is 10X cheaper than skiing and it gets me outdoors is snowshoeing. However I have limited knowledge here.

I am helping plan a snowshoe event with the Meetup MtnBike group (talked these guys into being a snow group to keep us fit for mtn biking). Right now the plan is Saturday December 12th at 11:00 AM or Noon to start and hike for a couple of hours. Would like to snowshoe up Millcreek canyon, is this a good? Where do you suggest we start and head off to? Is there anything I should know about snowshoeing in Millcreek? Is there a better place we should consider instead of Millcreek? Any of you like to join?

After we are done we will be headed for pizza and beer at Rocky Mountain Pizza. Steve from the group owns this place and it is a great place for a large get together. I think it will be around $10-12 bucks for all you can eat pizza (beer is extra).

Thanks for any advice given! I need it as I tackle this new sport.

Mill Creek should be a lot of fun! Of course I won't make it.
That's a drill weekend. Damn. It's funny that I get upset when there's something going on I'd rather be doing but there will always be something going on that I'd rather be doing.

Shel Silverstein wrote about this phenomenon;

Hurk

I'd rather play tennis than go to the dentist.
I'd rather play soccer than go to the doctor.
I'd rather play Hurk than go to work.
Hurk? Hurk? What's Hurk?
I don't know, but it MUST be better than work.

:haha:

Chere' - Mill Creek is a very good place to snowshoe - generally low risk for avalanche danger - but always check reports before you go.

A really nice hike to start with is the Salt Lake Overlook trail. Start at the Desolation trailhead, right by MillCreek Inn. It's about 2 miles, or so, one way and ends with a beaufiful overlook of the valley go up, and back. You can also loop it around for a slightly longer and really neat hike. I have done the look clockwise, climbing up the steepest part, ending up at the overlook and coming down the overlook trail.

Grandeur Peak is a very nice snowshoe as well, start at the Church Fork picnic area. It climbs about 3.5 miles one way to the top of Grandeur Peak. Starts off steep but mellows out about half way up. Beautiful views.

You could also go up Rattlesnake Gulch, turn left at the top, and hike out to an overlook, about a mile out.

There's one more that we do, but I'm blanking on the name of the start... it's a great hike. You take the picnic area road up, right near the middle Pipeline trailhead, and then hike up on the ridge toward Elbow Fork and then back down the road to your car. I'll get ya the details on that when I get home. I can throw up some pics of all these hikes, too, if you want.

I'd love to join you but I have plans that day!

Karen,

I would love pics! It will help us decide on what we want to do. Thanks for the info! Sorry you and Don can't make it. But I plan on doing this alot this year so just keep watching I will post here.

Chere'

I will pencil this in on the calendar, would love to go up milcreek, lets hope for some snow by then and I have my snowshoes ready to go!

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Originally Posted by TreeHugger

There's one more that we do, but I'm blanking on the name of the start... it's a great hike.

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Start Bowman Fork picnic area hike the Terraces trail to Elbow Fork.

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Originally Posted by TreeHugger

You take the picnic area road up, right near the middle Pipeline trailhead

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Which is Birch Hollow

OK, here ya go! I thought I had more but this is what I found for now:

Here's a couple more...

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However I have limited knowledge here.

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Don't worry too much. the difference between a novice snowshoer and an expert snowshoer is about 20 feet distance. :haha:

Anyway, we started out kids on snowshoes at age 3:

http://www.summitpost.org/images/medium/140788.JPG

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At age six, my son did twelve miles in a day on snowshoes:

http://www.summitpost.org/images/medium/500399.JPG

Anyway, Mill Creek Canyon should be fine. White Fir Pass up Mill Creek is a nice one if you don't want to just walk the road.

My favorite easy snowshoe scenery wise is to go up the White/Red Pine trail in Little Cottonwood Canyon. You don't have to go that far or even close to the lakes to see some fantastic scenery.

Scott - where is White Fir Pass in Millcreek? I thought I've been on every trail up there, but havent heard of that - I need some new stuff to hike in that canyon.

Something I really like to do is bring a sled along. If you go to the right spots, you can snowshoe in longer and then hop on the sled for a quick trip out. Willow Creek (?) up BCC is a great spot for this.

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Originally Posted by TreeHugger

where is White Fir Pass in Millcreek?

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White Fir Pass is along the Bowman Fork trail.

I just came back from snow shoeing above Jacob City (@ 10,500' between Stockton and Ophir in the Tooele valley).

Only about a foot of snow at elevation, but the climbing was strenous and the views spectacular!

Did more uphill bushwacking (while shoe'ing) than anything else.

http://hphotos-snc3.fbcdn.net/hs086...._4860456_n.jpg
http://www.xmission.com/~jamesk/5mile/stockton2.jpg
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Hey Chere',

I may be able to join you for dinner afterward. I love Smokey Mtn Pizza, we go there a lot.

If you do SLO (Salt Lake Overlook) trail theres one tricky spot if you dont know about it... about 20 minutes in there is a sharp right turn up some rocks to continue the switchback, (it will probably be packed down though, if there's snow) if you dont know to look for it, you'll go straight and end up on Thaynes Canyon (not so bad anyway, Thaynes will eventually loop you back at the top!). Just thought I should mention that!

Karen

i live down in utah county and do my snowshoeing (mostly) down here. one of my favorite places is the national forest behind big springs park. you go up provo canyon to vivian park, go up the mountain road 3.3 miles to the park, go to the back parking lot, and the entrance to the trail is there. the first mile or so is fairly flat. then it gets rather steep and challenging. used to take my dog with me all the time, but she passed away in october. looking for some new snowshoe companions. i usually do a two day backpacking snowshoe trip up this area at the end of the year.
in the uintahs, you can go to norway flats. chances are you will see a moose or two while doing it.
took my son snowshoeing a couple years ago and laughed myself silly. he is fairly pigeon toed and kept tripping over the snowshoes. never did get the hang of it.
good luck. great sport and gives you a chance to get out of the winter haze and enjoy the sun.
"scars are tattoos with better stories"

Sadly I am going to have to cancel this or more like postpone this invite.

Stay tuned! I promise to bring the invite back soon.

Chere'