Fast Facts:
Base Elevation: 7,669
Peak Elevation: 11,489
Elevation Gain: 5,829
Distance: 9.6 miles
Elapsed Time: 6:45
Moving Time: 5:14
Date: August 25, 2024
We started at the White Pine parking lot and headed towards White Pine Fork. At the 1 mile mark, you will come to a junction and right goes to Red Pine Fork and left goes to White Pine Fork. Go left.
The next few miles are relatively boring as you walk along a fire road. After a few miles you gain elevation and you get views of the Birthday chutes on your left and the very impressive Lake Peak and Lake Chute on your right.
At about mile 5 and 10,100 feet the road turns to White Pine Lake but you want to exit the road and start the boulder hopping as you head towards West Pass.
The original plan was to summit White Baldy but upon getting on the ridge of West Pass, we realized that it would take several hours to get up and then back track down towards Red Baldy plus the clouds were building over White Baldy.
So we elected to head towards Red Baldy. The coloration of the rocks quickly change from white to red and the trek to the summit of Red Baldy was not very technical so it was a quick ascent.
But the descent from Red Baldy to Red Top is where it gets spicy. It quickly drops off and it is a no falls zone but the rocks are stable with ample amount of hand and foot holds so it is manageable. This section is short and then you are home free.
Once you hit East Pass, it is smooth sailing. East Pass sit at 10,700 and we got up to the top of Red Top Mountain at 11,200 in about 20 minutes.
From Red Top Mountain to Twin Peaks West was a quick 8 minute descent and 10 minute ascent. Twin Peaks West is the higher peak of the American Fork Twin Peaks at 11,489 and it is the highest peak in LCC.
From the top of Twins Peaks West, we headed across TP east towards Silver Creek Peak which took us another 20 minutes to check off another 11k peak.
From Silver Creek, it took us 15 minutes to retrace our steps and ascend up Twin Peaks East at 11,433. It was a relief to be done climbing but I was a little intimidated by the upcoming descent down Twin Peaks. If you have ever skied at Snowbird, you have looked up at Twin Peaks and have been in awe of the steepness of this peak. From the top of TP East, it feels as if you walk right off a ledge as you head down and even though there is a well defined path/trail, the rocks are very loose. It is very different than the descent from Red Baldy as Red Baldy was steep with jagged but firm rocks whereas Twin Peaks was not as steep but loose. Plus, after hiking for about 6 hours, I was fatigued so I took it slow and methodically made my way down to the Road to Provo.
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