June 6, 2026
For the third year in a row I enjoyed a long camping trip with some family along north Skyline Drive in the Wasatch Pleateau. The past trips were in late June through early July but this time, with the mild winter and low snowpack, we made the trip in the first two weeks of June. We stayed for 11 days and I did four good hikes. There were surprisingly few people camped nearby compared to previous years. Typically there have been more camp spots occupied by empty RVs than by actual people camping, but this time most of the sites I saw had people in them. During the week there were a lot of empty spots, and even on the weekends I saw one or two empty spots. It’s unfortunate that the Forest Service doesn’t enforce their rules against people who use public lands as their own private property, who park their camp trailers all summer and use them as “cabins” that they only visit occasionally. As is usually the case in early summer, there was a carpet of purple larkspur covering the higher parts of the plateau, including all around our camp.
This first hike was a shorter one, only five miles. Mark and I hiked from Swen’s Canyon to the top of the ridge to the south, and found a geocache and hit up peak 9,731′. I was mostly interested in just finding the cache but I threw in the peak to make it a longer and more interesting hike. We parked near the mouth of the canyon and ascended a side canyon to the south along a closed logging road. Where the road made a sharp 180-degree turn we left it and climbed up a steep drainage that led to the ridgetop. On top were many aspen carvings, and the oldest I saw was from 1906.
From where we topped out we went down the ridge toward the geocache, called Geronimo Mountain, which had only 14 finds in the last 17 years. We followed what looked like a very old road, with many fallen trees across it, but looking at the sat imagery it appears the road was created sometime between 1997 and 2004. The geocache container was a huge ammo box, but somebody had left the lid ajar (possibly a hunter who’d found it by accident?) and it was full of nasty water. I just signed the cotainer with a marker, and we took in the view for a bit before heading back up the ridge.
Going up the ridge there were a couple of steep spots but the going was relatively easy. Again our route followed an old road, and in one clearing we found a drill hole that had been surrounded by a barbed wire fence. I can’t find any record of the drill hole and don’t know whether it was for oil/gas or something else, but it appeared to be pretty old because anything drilled with modern equipment/methods would have disturbed the ground much more. We got above the trees and the ridge was gentle and rolling and covered in yellow wildflowers in some areas. Peak 9,731′ was very nondescript, just a flat spot on the ridge, and not prominent enough to have good views over all the other similar ridges/peaks nearby.
On our way down the ridge we stopped and sat on some boulders in the trees for a quick snack break. The rest of the descent was smooth and easy, with the only slow part being the steep drainage between the ridgetop and the logging road. We got back to the truck and it was a short drive back to camp, leaving plenty of time in the day to relax and make plans for another hike the following day.
Photo Gallery: Swen’s Canyon to Peak 9,731′
For the third year in a row I enjoyed a long camping trip with some family along north Skyline Drive in the Wasatch Pleateau. The past trips were in late June through early July but this time, with the mild winter and low snowpack, we made the trip in the first two weeks of June. We stayed for 11 days and I did four good hikes. There were surprisingly few people camped nearby compared to previous years. Typically there have been more camp spots occupied by empty RVs than by actual people camping, but this time most of the sites I saw had people in them. During the week there were a lot of empty spots, and even on the weekends I saw one or two empty spots. It’s unfortunate that the Forest Service doesn’t enforce their rules against people who use public lands as their own private property, who park their camp trailers all summer and use them as “cabins” that they only visit occasionally. As is usually the case in early summer, there was a carpet of purple larkspur covering the higher parts of the plateau, including all around our camp.
Aspen trees at camp
Camp
The doggos in their pen
A carpet of larkspur
Larkspur
This first hike was a shorter one, only five miles. Mark and I hiked from Swen’s Canyon to the top of the ridge to the south, and found a geocache and hit up peak 9,731′. I was mostly interested in just finding the cache but I threw in the peak to make it a longer and more interesting hike. We parked near the mouth of the canyon and ascended a side canyon to the south along a closed logging road. Where the road made a sharp 180-degree turn we left it and climbed up a steep drainage that led to the ridgetop. On top were many aspen carvings, and the oldest I saw was from 1906.
Logging road climbing out of Swen’s Canyon
Drainage above a bend in the logging road
Climbing the steep drainage
Wildflowers
Open meadow at the top of the drainage
1960 aspen carving
Bill Madsen, August 17, 1939
Illegible carving from 1906
1906
From where we topped out we went down the ridge toward the geocache, called Geronimo Mountain, which had only 14 finds in the last 17 years. We followed what looked like a very old road, with many fallen trees across it, but looking at the sat imagery it appears the road was created sometime between 1997 and 2004. The geocache container was a huge ammo box, but somebody had left the lid ajar (possibly a hunter who’d found it by accident?) and it was full of nasty water. I just signed the cotainer with a marker, and we took in the view for a bit before heading back up the ridge.
Old tree stand
Very old road
Spider web
Downed trees all along the road
Sign-in on the geocache
View down the ridge toward Electric Lake
Electric Lake
Boulger Reservoir
Going up the ridge there were a couple of steep spots but the going was relatively easy. Again our route followed an old road, and in one clearing we found a drill hole that had been surrounded by a barbed wire fence. I can’t find any record of the drill hole and don’t know whether it was for oil/gas or something else, but it appeared to be pretty old because anything drilled with modern equipment/methods would have disturbed the ground much more. We got above the trees and the ridge was gentle and rolling and covered in yellow wildflowers in some areas. Peak 9,731′ was very nondescript, just a flat spot on the ridge, and not prominent enough to have good views over all the other similar ridges/peaks nearby.
Steep ridge on the way to peak 9,731′
Chain hanging from a tree
Clyde Cox, 1939
Still following an old road
Alma, 1936
Drill hole
It’s a rottweiler!
1929 carving
Last steep part of the ridge
Nice gentle slope
View south across a meadow of yellow flowers
Loafer Mountain
Mark on peak 9,731′
Some sort of equipment near the peak
On our way down the ridge we stopped and sat on some boulders in the trees for a quick snack break. The rest of the descent was smooth and easy, with the only slow part being the steep drainage between the ridgetop and the logging road. We got back to the truck and it was a short drive back to camp, leaving plenty of time in the day to relax and make plans for another hike the following day.
Hi there! July 14, 1973, Steve Collard
1930 section marker
Either 1902 or 1912 carving
Down the steep drainage
Down the logging road
And back to the truck
Photo Gallery: Swen’s Canyon to Peak 9,731′
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