Hike Sessions Mountains and Grandview Peak Loop Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National Forest, UT

Jun 11, 2023 — Grandview Peak is a significant summit deep in the Wasatch Mountains, requiring a long hike from any direction to reach it. Usually this hike is completed as an out-and-back from either the north after a long drive on Skyline Drive, or from the south via Lookout Peak. When planning our outing for the day I suggested both of these options, but Luke proposed we instead make a loop using trails I'd never heard of. I couldn't say no to such a juicy option even though this was day five of an already pretty exhausting trip. I met up with Luke and a bunch of his ultrarunning buddies outside of Mueller Park, where parking was free. If you drive farther into the park you have to pay. Knowing the Mueller Park Trail to Rudy's Flat is a popular hike that wouldn't give us any route-finding difficulties, we determined this would be best used as our descent. This left the Kenny Creek Trail (Kenney Creek Trail on some maps) for the ascent since none of us had completed the trail and it had a bunch of unknown factors. Going this way first would mean we would tack on a pair of peaks called the Sessions Mountains, adding a bit of vertical gain to the day. What I didn't expect was everyone in the group to start jogging up the trail, leaving me (a non-ultrarunner) cursing after them as I quickly mentally prepared myself for a more challenging day than anticipated.

The Kenny Creek Trail was in excellent shape for the first few miles, easy to follow as it quickly gained elevation up a green, lush slope. Without switchbacking much, the climb was a steady grade steep enough to have me sweating profusely in a short time. Occasionally there were breaks in the foliage where we got views toward Salt Lake City below. We had no issues keeping to the trail until reaching an elevation of about 7500'. Ultimately this is where we left the trail and started ascending to the ridgeline above, but this wasn't our original intent. The trail dropped a few hundred feet, and our maps all implied this was correct, but where the Kenny Creek Trail was supposed to branch off and continue up the slope we found no trace of it. The six of us had no luck after searching for a while, and a few of the runners (all promised trails the whole day) became low-key annoyed that we would be bushwhacking. And so we left the Kenny Creek Trail behind. Fortunately, the brush was minimal and soon we were above treeline. The grade was steep and we had to navigate around or through small portions of brush, but we quickly made our way up to the ridgeline. The sun was shining and the predicted poor weather seemed to be holding out for us.

Our first peak, Sessions Mountains - West Peak, was still out of sight even once we reached the ridgeline, blocked by various lumps along the way that we'd have to overcome. Until this point I was doing my best to keep up with the fast little twerps, but the introduction of rocky terrain and brush slowed everyone down a bit and I could more easily stick with the group. The ridgeline undulated a bit, three or four minor bumps adding some tedium to the hike, but overall the brush was minmal and for a long time the scrambling never exceeding Class 2. Along the way we noted hints of a trail, complemented by little colored tags, but we couldn't figure out where the trail had originated and also found it easiest to just stick to the ridge crest since the trail was not clear. There were sections of snow during our outing, which added some fun glissading to the mix. I think the terrain was overall pretty clear of brush, so I imagine the snow didn't help all that much in that regard.

A bit over half a mile from Sessions Mountains - West Peak we encountered a surprisingly rugged section of ridgeline. We pulled a couple of low Class 3 moves and otherwise had to just wrap around small outcroppings. Our maps read that the "trail" followed the crest, but there was no hint of it here, and the slopes on either side were too steep to support a trail. We were convinced at this point the trail no longer exists as it may have in the past when drawn on maps, or it's more so just a suggested "route" than an actual trail. Past the short, rugged section, we continued ascending along the ridge crest on Class 2 and ultimately made it to our first summit of the day.

I'm usually a talker on hikes, but with the speed we were all going I really couldn't carry a conversation. Maybe that was intentional? Had Luke told everyone I don't know how to shut up and this was the only way to do it? Without lingering, we dropped off Sessions Mountains - West Peak, the East Peak seen just ahead. At first there was only a faint trail, but soon we stumbled on the Great Western Trail, obvious and well-maintained. We passed a "No Trespassing" sign near the saddle separating the Sessions Mountains, but I can't imagine this is meant to be taken seriously. The ascent to Sessions Mountains - East Peak began along an old roadbed, then narrowed into singletrack again. However, the trail does not actually reach the summit, so we left it and followed the ridge to gain the summit of  Sessions Mountains - East Peak.

From the East Peak, we took a mental note of how steep the ascent would be to gain Grandview Peak, located just ahead. We dropped back to the trail leading to the saddle below and then headed up toward Grandview Peak. The ridgeline was rocky at times, and progressively became more steep. Class 2 got us to the summit, where we took in the glorious views of this remote Wasatch peak. We then dropped west and continued along the crest. Although overall the ridgeline leading away from Grandview Peak was meadow-covered, we encountered plenty of short spurts of brush that we could usually avoid with some poking around. Just like our ascent ridge, this ridge had plenty of little undulations that added more vertical gain to the day. There were a couple of short Class 2/2+ scrambles, but it was really mostly just an extended ridgeline hike with excellent views.

Eventually we reached Burro Peak, the last notable point along this ridgeline.  From here it would be all descent back to the trailhead. The snow mixed us up on the way down from Burro Peak, but I don't think there's much of a trail to follow anyway. Some topo maps indicate that there is one that heads down to the east of where we did. We encountered some downed trees, so maybe there's a slightly easier option? Either way, we found ourselves in a wide gully, following it for a quarter mile or so, but left it as soon as we noted an old roadbed leading back to the ridgeline at aroud 8400'. From this point forward the hike would include a trail. It began a bit rocky and narrow, but progressively became more eroded and wide.

The social trail descended along open meadows for a bit before entering the forest and dropping steeply, utlimately reaching Rudy's Flat. Rudy's Flat is just a wide, flat section of grass. I suppose it would be a nice hangout palce if we hadn't already been seeing open alpine meadows all day. There's a trail junction here, so make sure to pick up the Mueller Park Trail to the right or you'll be descending the wrong way. The remainder of the hike follows an incredibly well-maintained trail that descends at a very chill grade, at least relative to the rest of our day. It's mostly tree-covered, but there are some nice overlooks. The ultrarunners all darted off, now back on their favored terrain type. Luke stuck with me to chat as we jogged down at a more casual pace.

There's a small spur trail leading to a viewpoint of Elephant Rock. In my opinion, this overlook just serves as a nice turn-around point for hikers unwilling to continue along the Mueller Park Trail. Sure, it's a nice overlook toward the city with a white rock in the foreground, but it's nothing special. The upper portion of trail we'd just completed from Rudy's Flat had a few mountain bikers and hiker outliers, but the foot traffic increased significantly for the lower portion after leaving Elephant Rock. We got back to the cars and for the fifth time in four days, I managed to avoid rain by mere minutes.