Probably 90% of the people who go out to the Stansbury Mountains are targeting Deseret Peak. That's a worthy objective, but there are other options.
Today, I hiked up to South Willow Lake, which similar to the Deseret Peak Hike starts in the Loop Campground at the end of the road in South Willow Canyon. However, instead of taking the standard Deseret Peak Hike, one instead takes the Stansbury Crest Trail, which meanders along at an elevation of about 9000 feet.
The views are quite nice back to the east with green desert-range meadows contrasting with the now baked out Tooele Valley. The Wasatch Range can be seen in the distance.
It is the meandering through basins and upper-elevation meadows that makes the hike for me. The lake itself is a worthy target, but isn't all that spectacular.
On the return, one looks directly at the famed Twin Couloirs, which are still holding a little snow.
I skied the west one once with some friends in a previous life.
According to the kid pictured below, they were skiable today, although the exit involved a much longer slog than we had. Probably a bit more than 2000 vertical feet of snow free ascent and descent
There were quite a few people out today and cars were parked in every nook and cranny near the trailhead when I left this afternoon.
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