I took an early morning hike from Brighton past Lake Mary to the top of Mt. Tuscarora in early August. I wanted to get to Catherine Pass to see the sunrise and I made it in time for that. The sunrise was spectacular!
This is an area I have hiked a lot. The trailhead starts from the main parking area at Brighton Ski Resort. From here I have hiked to four lakes, Catherine Pass, Sunset Peak, Mt. Tuscarora and Mt. Wolverine. I have also hiked the Wolverine Cirque starting at the trailhead at Brighton.
My hike started well before sunrise. The moon was full and bright in the sky and stars were everywhere. The moonlight was bright enough in places I could turn my headlamp off. I got to Lake Mary and took a pretty cool photo of myself with the moon in the background reflecting off the water of Lake Mary.
Leaving Lake Mary I passed Lakes Martha and Catherine and got to Catherine Pass just before dawn. I just hung out at the pass watching the sun come up before heading higher to 10,601 foot Mt. Tuscarora. By the way, on the other side of Catherine Pass is the ski resort of Alta, Utah. The hike from that side is gorgeous and goes through the Albion Basin, which is packed with amazing wildflowers in the middle of summer.
From Catherine Pass to the top of Mt. Tuscarora the trail got pretty steep. Parts did require the use of a hand at times to help with balance, but it wasn’t too bad for this Old Hiking Dude, aka Sam Chapman. The sun was a little higher in the sky when I got to the summit. The view looking down over Lakes Martha and Mary was amazing!
From the top of Tuscarora I simply turned and followed the path I had just come up – with a little detour. I decided to take a quick loop around Dog Lake and I am so glad I did. There were 5 moose at this small lake! I saw a solitary bull just munching on branches. There were also 3 more bulls with a cow!
From Dog Lake I headed back down the trail, passing Lake Martha and Lake Mary again. The view of Lake Mary from above was very nice!
The hike covered just under 7 miles and gained about 2,130 vertical feet. The trail is what I would call moderately strenuous until getting to Tuscarora – and the views were amazing!
Leave a comment