Ensign Peak

Mar 25, 2008

From The Archives

Current mood:accomplished

Winter was long and dreadful. I was beginning to feel more cooped up than Oprah’s vajayjay. I decided I need some nature so I started looking around for new hiking trails. I found this random website. I searched by my local zip. I found a trail named Ensign Peak. Since it has been, o I don’t know how long since I last hiked I went for this trail because it was relatively short, and was marked as "easy". Easy. Easy if you happen to still be a 14 year old with tons of energy and not a thing wrong with you. Alas I am getting ahead of myself. Inna Minuten Bitter.

After doing my online research, and sitting around for a while longer I head out.

Directions
Quick drive down to the capital, (head east)
over to east capital blvd. turn left (north)
Up the hill to N. Sandhill turn right. (west)
drive right around the church
first left and there is the trail head.

I include these directions if you decide to head out there. And it is not as easy to find as it would appear. So we start up the trail. Just a few feet up there is a turn off that goes up the hill towards what at first appeared to be a small hilltop cemetery. Naturally I was drawn to this. So I bounded up this aways.

Not a cemetery, rather just a few short.. cement pillars. But even this really short, less than 5 minute hike provided an exceptional view.

Downtown as seen from a peak that has a name which I forget.

Those of you who don’t like to veer off the path, don’t fret. You don’t have to go back down the hill to return to the main trail. Continue following the path and the link up again 20 yards ahead or so. Now back to the trail, you know, as that website formerly announced as "easy" Its not quite easy. Granted, I am not that young viral buxom lad I used to be, I work a desk job, I drink, I don’t exercise, oh yea, and I smoke. But even with all that aside, I definitely would not consider this to be an easy trail. Memory Grove, now that is easy. (see next blog) and as I wouldn’t go so far as say this was advanced, I would definitely consider this trail to be moderate. There were several really steep inclines, loose rocks, and a few spots with sheer drop offs. YIKES! Also if I am going to review a trail, and someone reading this might take this information and decide to go for a hike with it, I think I also need to include it is not a spectacularly beautiful trail.

However, the trail is short, and really the end resulting view is what you’re after.

 
Now this. This was worth it.

And so was this. (yes that is the great salt lake out there)

 
Close up of downtown.

From this peak you can see All the way from the Wasatch Mountains, the Avenues to Sandy, clear out to the Oquirrh Mountains, West Valley, Magna, etc. To the great salt lake , Bountiful, etc.

As you can see from the photos, since it is still early spring the infamous "Just like Jell-O it slides down the mountains into the valley at nightfall" Salt Lake smog is still a reality. I didn’t make up the quoted name. There is a local meteorologist whom every single winter makes that insipid Jello-O analogy when speaking of the smog. Only in Utah.

To sum everything up this particular trail was short. Probably a 20-30 minute hike (up), and had a fantastic ending view. (which according to that site is best seen at sunset.. however.. I don’t think I would like to hike down with it being too dark). Downfalls: It is a bit of an adventure to find, and is not a particularly naturerific trail. I haven’t created any reference system yet, but I’ll give this trail 5 squirrels out of 10.

Stay tuned for my trek through Memory Grove in me next blog. No, My day of Nature Assimilation isn’t over yet. (but this blog is)

Well I’ll be. The original source of the Squirrel Rating system has been discovered. hehe.

After a few years of doing some local hikes I would like to update my original ranking to 7 out 0f 10. Yea, the hike itself was not impressive, but the view at the end makes it.