Ah, September!

September is one of my favorite months in Utah and today was simply a beautiful day.  My plans were blown out of the water this morning when I was driving down I-215 and found out that Big Cottonwood was closed.  Then I thought I'd do a hike in Mill Creek, but it was blocked by a fire!  The intermediate option was Neffs Canyon, which requires considerable pain and agony to get to the good stuff, but once you are in the upper canyon, it's simply beautiful.

A rough, steep ascent of a bit over 2000 vertical feet puts you in the meadow and the start of the upper canyon.  Plenty of color today.  It seems a bit early.  Perhaps a good sign?  Let's hope so.



There are many bird's-eye views to be had of Salt Lake City in upper Neffs.  This one is from near the divide with Thaynes Canyon, which drops into Mill Creek Canyon.

More beautiful colors in the upper canyon along the divide between Neffs and Big Cottonwood.

I ended up bagging peak 9642, which was one of two minor peaks along the Neffs-Big Cottonwood Divide that I hadn't previously summited (Hobbs is the other).  The views into Big Cottonwood are spectacular and even after spending last week in the Alps, looking into the lower canyon was pretty damn impressive.

A couple photos to stimulate thoughts of backcountry skiing.  Gobblers and Raymond.

Mineral, Mill-B, Broads, Stairs Gulch.

Starting to get excited....