Amy and I decided to get up real early on Labor day to attempt to climb Twin peaks which is one of the highest peaks in the Wasatch. They tower above the Salt Lake Valley and I have spent quite a while thinking about a summit attempt. I had read they were one of the more challenging peaks to hit. There is a 10 mile round trip and about 5700 feet of vertical climb involved. I had also read that the last several hundred feet were quite difficult with moderate exposure and steep rocky climbing. We got up at 4:30 and hit the trail at about 5:30. The first hour or so was in the dark with only our headlamps lighting the way. We plugged along in the dark up a steep trail that ended at a meadow near a pond with a beautiful view of the Twins, Sunrise and Dromedary peaks. It is quite a sight to behold. It didn't look to bad from that vantage point and we were sure we could get it done and maybe even do the triple traverse which is bagging all three peaks in one trip. Little did we know what lay ahead of us. The trail was ok after that but it was unmaintained and a bit hard to follow. We eventually came to a steep climb up to the saddle. It looked fairly easy, but when we started up it became challenging. The terain was loose scree and it was hard to get footing because of the steepness. It seemed every step forward you would lose a step in the slide. There were some small cliffs near the top that made it a bit easier, but also a bit nerve racking. We saw four beautiful mountain goats in this area and that was a lot of fun to observe them climbing effortlessly over the rocks and cliffs. We eventually made it to the saddle and the view was breathtaking. We could see over into Little Cottonwood canyon. We could see all of the ski resorts and many peaks from Lone Peak to Pfiferhorn. The Wasatch mountains are breathtaking! We had read there were two ways to the top from this point. Scramble down about 200 ft into little cottonwood and then ascend up a chute or go up the rocky ridge which had a few tricky spots with some exposure. We elected to go down into Little Cottonwood. This proved to be probably a good decision, although it was another tough climb up loose rocks and scree. We arrived at the east peak after about 3 hours and 40 mins. It felt extremely good to get to the top after a harder than expected climb. We had exerted more energy than expected and taken more time as well. We quickly took the 15 minute jaunt over to the west peak and the views from there were unbelievable. We observed the entire valley. We could see Mt Olympus below us and all the other prominent peaks in the Wasatch. We could see the Uintah mountains to the east as well. We spent about 30-40 minutes on top eating a snack and enjoying the views. We were the only ones on the top which was surprising considering it was Labor Day. We did see one other group below us on the way up but they had not yet arrived. We decided to descend along the ridge instead of going down the steep chute into Little Cottonwood. It actually looked easier than battling the loose rocks. It was actually a fun descent off the ridge. There was one spot where you had to inch your way down a vertical crack with moderate exposure below. There were plenty of good holds both for feet and hands so it wasn't dangerous really. Below the crack was a ledge that provided an easy way off the ridge to the saddle. We started down off the saddle and the next section proved to be the hardest section of the hike. Steep downhill with not very good footing. We made it and continued down the mountain. About halfway down Amy's knees started acting up in spite of the IB's that had worked so well the previous week on the Lone Peak hike. She gritted her teeth and fought off the pain and we made it down at about 12:30, just in time to rush home shower and head to my sisters house for a labor day bbq. The rest of the day was spent lounging by the pool and eating lots of food. A perfect Labor Day indeed!
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