Peruvian Gulch & Mt. Baldy

Every now and then, I hike with my friend, who is a pro. She’s done more hikes than I can count, and I can only dream of having that kind of trail résumé. This one was a reminder that hiking with a pro means their idea of “a tough climb” may be your idea of “why are we still going up?”

Peruvian Gulch is a hard hike. I’m not going to sugarcoat it. You’ll swear your way uphill, wonder why you agreed to this, and then reach the top and think: Okay. Fine. That was worth it.

But apparently Peruvian Gulch alone wasn’t enough for my friend. Once we got to the top, we continued up Mount Baldy. Because some people finish a hard hike and think, “Lovely, let’s add another mountain.”

The good news: after the climb, the gondola ride down is free. At the top, there’s also a restaurant with beautiful views, where you can enjoy a well-earned meal while your legs quietly file a complaint.

This is Snowbird ski resort, and in winter the route becomes a ski slope. You need to be comfortable on a black diamond run to ski it. That is not me. I’m perfectly happy leaving the steep descents to people with better knees and less fear.

Then came one last surprise on the way down: Snowbird Oktoberfest. We celebrated the hike’s successful completion with German wurst and a well-deserved beer. A beautiful finish to a very hard day on the trail.