We celebrated our day off by donning the old snowshoes and trekking to the top of Y mountain. It was a pretty glorious day. In the morning Erik had track practice and I was had to run the tennis team. Then after my great weightlifting workout we headed out that afternoon to conquer the mountain. Josh joined us. It was gorgeous and sunny, but by the time we reached the Y some clouds had rolled in. I thought that at 27 weeks pregnant this day would kill me, but I actually felt awesome the whole hike. We went a little bit slower than we normally would, be I felt great. Even super-hiker Erik was dying at times, but I was rolling no problem. We didn't even need the snowshoes until we were almost to the main meadow up Slide Canyon.
Erik and Mojo at the top of the Y
View of the valley from the top of the Y
After getting strapped into the snowshoes we started to hustle a little bit. Erik and I had to be back by 6 for a burro night with the Nevitt cousins and we were losing sunlight pretty fast. We followed one other groups tracks, it was nice not having to break trail. The tracks we followed turned off the main trail fairly early and headed up the mountain before the typical trail would. We decided to follow anyways, since we were short on time and thought this may be a harder route, but would get us to the top faster. After a nice brutal steep final pitch to the top we enjoyed the view for a brief moment. We just caught the last of the sun's reflection on Utah lake, it was gorgeous. We weren't quite on the summit, but we had the nice view and little light left so we headed back down.
Headed up Slide Canyon, my Baby Ras Bump is getting bigger!
Erik on the back side of Y Mountain, Squaw Peak behind him
Josh on the summit, Maple Mountain behind him
Last light on Utah lake
The original steep climb made for an awesome butt slide down in the snow. We had a blast running down in the deep powder, then after getting some speed jumping to our butts and sliding most of the way. It was SO FUN and there were only a few scary encounters with trees. By the time we got back to the meadow and took off our snowshoes it was dark, but the snow relfected enough light that we could still see pretty well the rest of the way down. I was the only sissy one who used a headlamp coming down the Y portion of the trail. My pregnancy balance is pretty bad! It was gorgeous coming down that snowy mountain in the dark with the city lights glittering off of the lake and the mountain.
We were late to the cousin burro party, but since Erik made his awesome mint chocolate cake, they forgave us, I think. Amazing finish to a physically challenging day. Nothing works up a bean burro appetite like snowshoeing.
If anyone is interested in the details of this hike, and how to find the trailhead, etc, here are some links:
http://www.summitpost.org/y-mountain/224762
http://www.willhiteweb.com/provo_hiking/y_mountain_269.htm
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