Hiking Utah's Ultra Prominence Peaks is not for the average hiker - many of these peaks require hiking off trail, very early morning starts (sometimes 3am), route finding, long days, crossing exposed ridge lines, extremely steep and rugged terrain, and sometimes a river crossing. In addition to these "fun" circumstances, I've also dealt with bad sun burns, running out of food, running out of water, reading the map wrong, forgetting socks, starting out too late in the day, ending after dark, getting annoyed by people I'm hiking with, and as the movies say, have experienced blood, sweat, and tears. So why do I keep doing it? What is the draw for people to complete Ultra Prominent Peaks?
Willow Heights Lake is a popular destination year-round in Big Cottonwood Canyon for families looking for a short hike with the kids, for backcountry skiers in Winter, and for me, what I call a "bonus hike". A bonus hike is a super short hike that I will do after another longer hike in the area. In this case I just hiked the Mt. Wolverine Cirque to Brighton Lakes (8 miles), and wanted to see Willow Heights at the height of Fall.
This weekend, I learned to play Disc Golf for the first time at Solitude Mountain Resort. Disc Golf, aka Frisbee Golf or FOLF, is much like traditional golf except instead of using clubs and a small ball, players use a disc or frisbee. Disc Golf shares the same object as regular golf, where the object of completing each hole is to get the disc in the target in the fewest throws or "stokes". The disc golf is thrown from a tee area to the target hole - an elevated metal basket. I decided to bring my friend (who also happens to be my boss at my regular job) along so I could have a "pro" show me how it was done and so I could learn the right way to play disc golf.