Slate Canyon Hike

This past Friday I slipped out of the office a bit early and hiked up Slate Canyon. The canyon sits between Mount Buckley and an unnamed peak just to the north. I hiked through this canyon several times two years ago, but I almost didn't recognize it this time. With the large amount of snow that Utah received this year, the stream coming down the canyon is a good bit more swollen than in years past, making the hike more challenging.



The trail crosses this stream six or seven times. As swollen as it is there is never an easy crossing.



At this point the steam is completely covering the trail. The only way to continue on up the canyon is to follow the follow the rocks in the middle here.



The only time I saw much in the way of snow on the hike when I came across the remains of a large avalanche that covered the trail. This was at an elevation of about 6500 ft. After crossing the snow field I did not really see much snow until I got to about 7200 ft on an east facing slope.



Other than crossing fast moving streams and snow fields, the only other excitement on the hike was almost stepping on this snake.



Although it was a short hike there was some wonderful scenery. This is a picture of a rock fin that some friends took me rock climbing on two years ago. Now the stream runs right up against the bottom of the fin.



This is picture is characteristic of the scenery in the canyon. It really is quite breathtaking.



Finally this is a picture of Mount Buckley. It tops out at roughly 9500 ft and has no trail to its summit. Other than getting out and enjoying the afternoon, scouting a potential way to the summit was the objective of my hike.