Bountiful, UT canyon snow trip

I went up Ward Canyon today for a quick snow run. It was pretty good, since I was by myself and not familiar at all with the conditions, let alone the trail itself, I went up Ward Canyon road first, then chose to come back down Old Ward Canyon road.

Up at Buckland Flats:






Turned at the lookout point. I made the mistake of stopping in the deeper snow. I was stuck for a little bit, but some shovel action to clear out the snow from in front of and behind the tires was all I needed to get moving.






While I was hanging around checking out the area, I saw a helicopter fly past, not sure if it was the Forest Service or what, but I was glad to have chosen to not risk going past the gate in case they were looking for people doing just that. The road past Buckland Flats is closed and anyone driving on it will get a potentially hefty fine.

I instead chose to go back down via the Old Ward Canyon road. Going back down the newer road would've been too boring. Judging by the tracks on the trail, the only vehicles on it recently were a snow cat and some snowmobiles.








Broke out of the trees after a while.




The trail started getting a little more technical, at this point here I got pretty tippy.




While going downhill made it very unlikely I'd be getting stuck, but it also increased the risk of sliding off the trail. There were several spots that made my rather anxious, but I was able to get through them OK.

A view from the trail out across the valley.




I got down to near the bottom and stopped to check out the view. In the lower left you can see a Land Cruiser some one was so kind to have left across the trail. From where I was I couldn't tell that there wasn't any room to pass it. When I got down to it I was loathe to find that out, in addition the road was pretty much nothing but ice. I barely managed to stop in time to avoid hitting it. Fortunately I did, and was able to driver over the berm of the road and down the side of the hill to get down to the parking lot.




All in all it was a good trip.

Awesome pic's glad u did a great job. Showing my wife taking her to Okla this Wkend to drive in the Snow she's NVR really seen real snow born n bread Dallas Texas

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Looks like a fun, and cold, day!

Yep, it was 17 degrees when I got to the base of the hill, but by the time I got up to the top it had actually warmed up to about 20. I ended up having to do the last 2/3rds of the drive back down with my window open, it was pretty warm inside the H3 with the sun.

Nice views.

I miss living up there. thanks for posting.

nice pics, glad all went well

Damn, that was cool. Took some guts to run that in the snow. What did you think of the washed out obstacle at the start of the trail?

Not sure where you're talking about exactly, I started up at the top and just drove down it, I didn't want to try going up it since I had no idea what the conditions were like and how stuck I'd get. I have a winch and shovel so I would have eventually gotten out, but still. There were a couple of spots towards the bottom that I could tell the trail was getting washed out and will probably need to be fixed next year after the melt, one in particular I was rather nervous about, but made it over it OK. I just made sure to go over it quick enough that my rear wouldn't slide out and drag me down the hill, or get stuck. The part I mentioned getting really tippy on wasn't too bad but it does look like it has been getting washed out pretty bad, I'd like to try the trail once the snow all melts next year.

I only wish someone else was with me just to take pictures of all those parts. I couldn't exactly stop and get out while my truck is flopping around on two wheels.

It's times like that where having a good drone with a good camera on it that can hover almost perfectly still would be great, you can send the drone up ahead a bit and have it film you going over obstacles. Even if you have other people with you, it'd be nice because sometimes you're just not at a spot that someone can or would want to walk through to get ahead.

Damn JPaul... that drop in is all washed out and very tippy at the top of the trail. It didn't used to be like that. If you ran it backwards it was at the very beginning. Maybe the snow hid exactly how tippy that is. Tire placement was very important before the snow... frankly I give you respect for doing it in the snow. I'm locked front and rear and running 40's with a winch... and I'm not sure I would run that right now.

There is also a washed out section where the trail gets very tight and the canyon drop would be to your left and damn intense if you are heading down... That part would scare the sh!t out of me covered in snow.

I think I know where you are talking about now. I remember a bit towards the top of the trail that I ended up having to straddle the cut in the middle of the trail, otherwise I probably would've messed up my driver's side. Straddling it I made it over fine.

The thing is, once I got a 100 feet down the trail I realized there wasn't anywhere to turn around so I was pretty committed to just keep going and hope I made it. That and I'm familiar enough with my rig to know how hard I am pushing it and my luck.

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