Climbing Over a Mile to Provo Peak (#26)

At a quarter to six I pulled up in the parking lot for the “Y” trail, not exactly sure what to expect. I knew it would be a long day with a lot of elevation gain, but I had never stepped foot on this trail. To throw an extra element of difficulty, the temperature in Provo was supposed to get up to 97 degrees.

For those not familiar, the “Y” trail leads to the big “Y” on the mountain, above the campus of Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah. The “Y” stands for “Young.” The trail zigzags up 1,000 feet of steep elevation gain.

I fastened a headlamp to my ball cap, but knew I wouldn't need it. The first light of morning was already settling in and the path was made of white gravel. By 5:55 am I was on the trail.

Climbing the Y Trail, looking north toward Orem.

I worried about too many BYU students being on the trail at this early hour. I once hiked Mount Timpanogos and passed literally hundreds of them on my way up as they were coming down. This time, however, there were very few people. As I made my way up the long first switchback, a bald man with walking sticks passed ahead of me. Not a very good start, I thought. I'm already getting passed.

During the thirteen switchbacks leading to the top of the “Y” I passed only eight people coming down. In typical Utah Valley fashion they were all very nice and we traded salutations. It was a very quiet morning and that's how I liked it. By the time I reached the top of the “Y” I had already climbed 1,071 feet.

Beautiful sunrise, looking over Utah Lake toward Mount Nebo.

Now, instead of zigzagging, the trail made a b-line into Slide Canyon. The path stayed out of the bottom, but most of the time was too thick with vegetation to have much of a view. Looking back I was able to catch a couple glimpses of the valley and Utah Lake through the “V”-shaped cut of the canyon. It was here that I passed the bald guy with walking sticks, now returning to the trailhead. Little did I know that he would be the last human I would pass for the next ten miles.

Even though the vegetation was thick, it was beautiful. The sun still had not made an appearance. I passed through a stand of pines and aspens. Tall bushes of hyssop, coneflowers, and red baneberries abounded. I passed colorful bouquets of sticky purple geranium, showy goldeneye, aspen fleabane and silky lupine.

Red baneberry.

Sticky purple geranium. 

Along this stretch I noticed trails leading off to the right and left. The left fork, I'm sure, led to the top of Y Mountain, but the trail to the right I had no idea of its destination. Further along there was another trail that took off to the left that led to Rock Canyon.

I was pleasantly surprised and startled when five or six pine hens took off from their hiding places on the ground. As usual, they flew away one or two at a time, their portly bodies not flying far.

Junction to Provo Peak.  Lion's Head in background.

Glimpses of Rock Canyon and Cascade Mountain. 

Carvings in the aspen. 

At two hours and fourteen minutes into the hike I came to another junction. By this point I had traveled 3.3 miles and climbed 3,022 feet. Here I took an east-trending trail that wrapped around a large hill. The sides of the trail were so overgrown with vegetation and wildflowers that at times I could barely see it.

Some of the trees had old carvings in them, one with a date of 1935. Others were illegible, but were carved in cursive, which is an indicator of them being older. It made me wonder how long these trails have existed.

First sight of Provo Peak. 

Aspen fleabane. 

At last the trail finished wrapping around the hill, and for the first time Provo Peak came into full view, as well as the sun, which rose slowly from behind it. There was no surprise here. I knew I would have another climb of well over 2,500 feet.

Unfortunately, I had to lose 350 feet before I could start gaining again. Here I heard a hawk screaming high above in the air, as if she were shrieking a warning call. I stealthily moved forward, hoping not to appear as a threat.

Now I was at the longest steep section of the hike. The course followed a mostly well-defined trail up a shoulder of the mountain that probably zigzagged a hundred times. The higher I climbed, the more beautiful became the scenery. Capturing my attention most was the north side, with the fascinating geological formations of Rock Canyon and Cascade Mountain.

Looking toward Buckley Mountain and Slate Canyon. 

Gaining elevation toward the peak, looking north. 

I was surprised at how well my legs did. Yes, I did rest from time to time, but I didn't experience that painful burnout when the heat in your thighs is so bad it feels like your heart is about to burst out of your chest. Maybe it was the energy gel I drank just before this final push.

As I approached the summit, I noticed another group of people ahead of me on the peak. I thought I would run into them, but later learned that they were doing a ridge traverse, likely going from Hobble Creek to Provo Canyon. They were already off the peak and far below on the ridge by the time I arrived at the summit.

Provo Peak, elevation 11,018 feet.

From the summit looking north toward Cascade Mountain. 

From the summit looking southeast into Bartholomew Canyon. 

From the summit looking south along the ridge to Corral Mountain. 

The elevation gain from Kyhv Road was 2,670 feet. From Y Trailhead to Provo Peak I climbed a total of 6,266 feet. That's quite a bit. If I remember correctly, that's the second most feet I've ever climbed in one day, coming behind only to a trail marathon I did several years ago in the Tushars.

The view from the summit was excellent. Although most of Utah Valley was blocked by a front row of hills, I had a good view of the mountains around me: Y Mountain, Maple Mountain, Corral Mountain, Shingle Mill Peak and Cascade Mountain. It took me 5 ½ hours to reach the summit from the trailhead.

I enjoyed a smashed Subway sandwich while I rested my legs on the summit. I scanned the nearby slopes for any sign of game, but didn't see a thing. After a little more hydration, I was back on my feet and on the way down.

Looking west. The ridge in the foreground is what I climbed up. Kyhv Road at bottom. Squaw Peak also visible. 

The journey down was much quicker than the way up. In an hour and a half I was at Kyhv Road, and forty minutes later I was at the aforementioned junction. This time, instead of going north, I went south into Slate Canyon. Once again I spooked a flock of pine hens.

Not once on this hike did I come across running water. No streams or lakes. Once inside Slate Canyon I came to what used to be a stream. I could tell that heavy machinery had been up there and had buried a pipeline, obviously capturing spring water.

Although I had plenty of water, I was pleasantly surprised to find a little metal basin with fresh spring water issuing from a pipe. I knelt and put my mouth into the flow of water and took a long drink. It was ice-cold and tasted better than anything else I had drunk that day!

Fresh spring water. 

The rest of the hike in Slate Canyon was mediocre at best. There was no running stream, but the canyon was still thick with growth. The trail was a four-wheeling road that was very rocky at times. The canyon walls had some interesting rock formations. The heat was now setting in and I was glad my hike was almost over.

Not until I reached the mouth of Slate Canyon and was walking along the Bonneville Shoreline Trail did I pass another person. That was ten miles of no one. Not what I expected. By the time I reached the car I was ready for my hike to be done.

Provo Peak was a good one. The view from the top was better than average. I was very satisfied that my legs did so well climbing over 6,000 feet. I don't know that I wold hike Provo Peak again, but certainly I would like to hit some of the nearby summits such as Cascade Mountain and Kyhv Peak. ♠

Slate Canyon.

Provo Peak

Distance from car: 5.8 miles

Elevation gain: 6,266 feet

Final elevation: 11,018 feet

Total elevation gain: 6,909 feet

Total distance: 13.6 miles

Y Mountain. 

Provo Peak as viewed from near Spanish Fork.